The Farm: Escape is Only the Beginning Blog Tour & Giveaway!!

Today I'm thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Emily McKay's The Farm. This book is thrilling and unexpected and just all around awesome. Look for my review to be posted next week. In the meantime, I have a brief Q&A with the author and a giveaway!!!!!

Synopsis: Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...

Amazon / Goodreads

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Amazing, right?! Now, Emily McKay gives us some insight into The Farm's setting and her experience writing both Young Adult and Adult novels...

Q. Is there a specific reason that the story takes place in Texas? Was it a purposeful decision, or a random selection?

A. I live in Austin, Texas, and the landscape of this state—particularly between the major cities—lends itself well to a post-apocalyptic novel.  Also the drive they take out of Texas is a drive I took every summer growing up when I was visiting my family in the Ozarks.

Q. When writing a YA novel, what are the things you are conscious of in terms of language choice, character development, etc? What are some of the differences when writing a YA novel and compared to an Adult novel?

A. I think whether I’m writing a YA novel or an adult novel, my number one focus is on telling a kick-ass story.  And while I edited a little for language and content in the YA novel, I think YA readers are some of the savviest ones out there and I knew I had to bring it if I wanted to impress them.  I hope I did.

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And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. Thanks to the lovely folks at Penguin I have a prize pack to offer to one lucky reader!!!

The prize pack includes a copy of The Farm and a Vampire Apocalypse Survival Kit.

Rafflecopter is being wonky so just leave a comment for Emily and don't forget to include a way for me to contact you (email, twitter, etc.). I'll pick a winner on 1/15/2013!!! If you tweet or facebook about the giveaway, leave a link and I'll give you 2 additional entries.

Good luck and don't forget to check out the rest of the blog tour for more content and more chances to win!!! To learn more about the book or the author, please check out the book's website at: http://www.escapethefarm.com/

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE 
Nov. 26  ICEYBOOKS  http://www.iceybooks.com/
Nov. 27  THE READING FEVER  http://www.thereadingfever.com/
Nov. 28  READ NOW SLEEP LATER  http://www.readnowsleeplater.com/
Nov. 29  KATIE’S BOOK BLOG  http://www.katiesbookblog.com/
Nov. 30  MY OVERSTUFFED BOOKSHELF  http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Dec. 3    WASTEPAPER PROSE  http://www.wastepaperprose.com/
Dec. 4    CORNUCOPIA OF REVIEWS  http://cornucopiaofreviews.blogspot.com/
Dec. 5    THE READING GEEK  http://thereadinggeek.blogspot.com/
Dec. 6   CHICA READER  http://chicareader.blogspot.com/
Dec. 7   THE READING DATE  http://thereadingdate.com/
Dec. 10  YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS  http://youngadultbookreviews.com/
Dec. 11  LITERARY ESCAPISM http://www.literaryescapism.com/
Dec. 12  THE LIBRARIAN READS  http://thelibrarianreads.com/
Dec. 13  ACTIN UP WITH BOOKS  http://actinupwithbooks.blogspot.com/
Dec. 14  YA LOVE BLOG  http://yaloveblog.com/
Dec. 17  ADDICTED 2 NOVELS  http://www.addicted2novels.com/
Dec. 18  POISONED RATIONALITY  http://www.prationality.com/
Dec. 19  BREE’S BOOKS  http://www.breesbooks.com/
Dec. 20  GONE WITH THE WORDS  http://www.gonewiththewords.com/

12 Days of Morganville Madness!!!!

I am super excited to be part of the 12 Days of Morganville Madness in honor of the release of Book #12 in the Morganville Vampires series, Black Dawn.

I'm featuring Book #2 - The Dead Girls' Dance and I've got some exciting things for you courtesy of Penguin (click on the links):

1. My Review of The Dead Girls' Dance
2. Q&A Session with Rachel Caine about The Dead Girls' Dance
3. GIVEAWAY!!!!! 

Each tour stop will be hosting a giveaway of the book they are featuring, so if you want the chance to win more books, you have to visit the rest of the stops. I've included the schedule and links for you below:

April 20th: Glass Houses

April 21st: The Dead Girls' Dance

April 22nd: Midnight Alley

April 23rd: Feast of Fools

April 24th: Lord of Misrule

April 25th: Carpe Corpus

April 26th: Fade Out

April 27th: Kiss of Death

April 28th: Ghost Town

April 29th: Bite Club

April 30th: Last Breath

May 1st: Black Dawn

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Review: The Dead Girls' Dance

The Dead Girls' Dance (Morganville Vampires #2), Rachel Caine

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult

Source:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of a blog campaign. My review is my honest opinion.

Synopsis from Goodreads:  Claire Danvers has had her share of challenges—like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm and, above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with blood-sucking fiends.

On the plus side, so far Claire and her friends have managed to survive getting on the wrong side of some Morganville VIPs... Vampire Important Persons. But their temporary peace is in danger of collapsing, thanks to the arrival of her new boyfriend’s scary father and his vampire-fighting supporters.

My Review:  What can I say except that I wish someone had told me sooner how awesome these books were? I read both Glass Houses (Book 1) and The Dead Girls' Dance (Book #2) in a single sitting. They are quick and fun and oh so fantastic. Glass Houses ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger and I think if I hadn't had the second book right there in my hands, I would've died. Waiting must have been unbearable for readers who've been with this series since the beginning.

The Dead Girls' Dance picks up exactly where Glass Houses ends and continues the story. Shane's dad is causing all sorts of trouble and we get to learn a lot more about Shane, who btw, I LOVE. For me, whether or not I am going to adore a book or series comes down to the love interest. And Shane? Well, he's perfect for me.  Protective, loyal, and just the perfect amount of smart ass.

Claire seems to come into her own in book 2 as well. She's fiercer, more determined and I think I like her even more than I did in Glass Houses.

All in all, a wonderful follow up to Glass Houses. The action and suspense is amazing. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and now that I'm done, I'm really sad that I don't have the other, what? 10 Books? Wow. There's a reason there are so many of these books and a reason they're so popular. They're awesome. And if you're like me, and you haven't read them before, you should pick them up. Like, now.

Goodreads / Amazon 

Q&A with Rachel Caine

And now Rachel Caine has been kind enough to stop by the blog for day #2 of the 12 Days of Morganville Madness Tour. Read on, and don't forget to leave a comment for Rachel!!

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Q. What kicked off the concept for this book?

A. I knew that I was going to have to deal with the questions I'd set up in the first book -- most urgently, who was Shane's dad, and what was he doing in Morganville? And that led to the revealing discovery that Shane wasn't being straight with his friends, either. And had hidden agendas of his own. 

Q. Which character do you think stood out in this book, and why?

A. I think Frank Collins really held the stage well; he was a frightening character, and unfortunately a lot like some of the scary parents of friends I had growing up. I really felt I understood what it would be like to grow up under his influence.

Q. Five things you loved about writing this book...

A.  Bringing Michael back and learning how to write him with his ghostly status out in the open to his friends. Like Shane, he was hiding a pretty important secret.   

Eve, again, who just kept getting more and more funny and sharp to me.   

Shane. This was really all about his relationship with his dad, and how his guilt and pain drove everything he did -- even down to beginning to fall for Claire.

Oliver becoming a genuine bad guy. He stepped up to the challenge of being a perfect foil for Frank Collins's hate, and did it with style.   

I got to do another cliffhanger, because I am evil.

Q. Five things you didn't love about writing this book...

A. There's nothing sexy about sewers.

I really wanted to give Monica a comeuppance, but I realized she had more vile things to do to our characters, so ... she got a pass. Unwillingly.   

I worried that I'd taken the terror a little too far, with Claire getting almost assaulted at the Dead Girls' Dance party.

Not enough university things in this book, again, though hey, there was a killer frat party. So that happened.

I really could have used Sam more.

Q. If you could do this book over, what would you do differently, and why?

A. I'd probably rethink the motorcycle gang and make their motives and methods a little more definite; Frank's not the kind of guy to roll into town without a pretty definite plan of action!

Q. Favorite quoted passage from the book...

A. From Shane, in the cage at Founders Square: "Hey," he said softly. He moved closer to the bars, pressing his face between them. "I always said you were jailbait, but this is ridiculous."

Q. What you learned from this book...

A. Monica really will go to any lengths to get her revenge. Even if she doesn't know what it's for.

Q. Fun research moment...

A. I decided that I wanted to base Amelie off of a real, historical person, and I was able to find an obscure French princess from the 1300s who, although the youngest and quietest of her violently ambitious family, somehow managed to be the last one standing for the throne. Unfortunately for her, her reign didn't last long, as a long-lost brother came back from the dead to cut it short. Sounded just like the kind of person who'd come back as the Founder!

About Rachel:

Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of more than 30 novels, including the immensely popular Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, and the Outcast Season series.

In 2011, Rachel published the first novel of her new series, The Revivalist, with the release of Working Stiff in August.

She has been honored with a Paranormal Pearl Award and an RT Booklovers Award, and was recently awarded a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. Her first young adult novel, Glass Houses, was chosen for the Texas Tayshas List in 2009.

Rachel has appeared as a guest at over 100 science fiction, fantasy, mystery and romance conventions and conferences over the past 20 years, including Dragon*Con, San Diego ComicCon, the World Fantasy Convention, and the World Science Fiction Convention. She has been featured in several national publications including People magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and Vanity Fair, and on international, national and local television and radio.

She was born at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, attended Socorro High School in El Paso, Texas, and earned a bachelors degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. She’s worked in many jobs, including accounting, graphic designer, insurance investigation, corporate communications, and web design, to name just a few. She became a full time writer in 2010.

Rachel is married to award-winning fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, and has two iguanas as pets: Popeye and Darwin

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Morganville Madness Giveaway!!!

Finally, are you ready for a super spectacular giveaway where you can enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Dead Girls' Dance and a Black Dawn bookmark?!!!!

Just fill out the rafflecopter below. US only. Sorry international followers!!

Blog Tour: Protected by Cindy M. Hogan

Today, I'm featuring the Watched series by Cindy M. Hogan in celebration of the release of book #2, Protected.

Book 1: Watched

Synopsis from Goodreads:  It takes more than a school trip to Washington, D.C. to change fifteen-year-old Christy's life. It takes murder.

A witness to the brutal slaying of a Senator's aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI, but also by two hot boys. She discovers that if she can't help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.

Praise for Watched: "A fantastic read, full of suspense and excitement! Cindy M. Hogan writes brilliantly and she knows just how to keep you on the edge of your seat. It's virtually impossible to just relax reading this book and when you finish you feel as if you've been right there in the midst of it all!" - Kitty Bullard, GMTA review

"Fast paced suspense." - C.K. Bryant, author of Bound

"I loved it! This is a clean, YA suspense novel that I was happy to have my teenage daughter read. We both agreed that the characters were real and the situation was believable. Once you sat down with this book you did not want to get up until you were done. The suspense and action grabbed a hold of you until the very end. Both my daughter and I are excited that the second in the series is coming out." - D. Chapman, Amazon reviews

Goodreads / Amazon

 

Book 2: Protected

 

Synopsis from Goodreads: She has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of. She has a shot at becoming popular. Life is great! Until they find her. Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows, including herself.

Praise for Protected: "From bullies to terrorist, Christy faces challenge after challenge in this stunning sequel that raises the stakes, both for her saftey, and her love-life. A fantastic addition to a series that is sure to catch the hearts of readers." - Heather McCorkle, author of the Channeler series

"Protected is a thrilling follow-up that left me sitting on the edge of my seat and begging for more." - Magan Vernon, author of How to Date an Alien

"A suspenseful, romantic, and intriguing novel. Protected is a riveting novel that I couldn't put down until the very last word." - Miriam Barton, author

"This anticipated sequel sizzles with equal parts thriller, suspense, and romance. A spine tingling story I could not put down." - C.K. Bryant, author of Bound

"Protected has equal parts romance and thriller. This fast paced novel has a little something for everyone!" - Lani Woodland, author of Intrinsical.

Goodreads / Amazon

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If you want to check out more about the series or the author, head on over to Cindy M. Hogan's blog or check out yesterday's blog tour stop!!

Guest Post: Alien Zombies

 

Today, I'm delighted to bring you a guest post by author Aubrie Dionne as part of her Tundra 37 Blog Tour. In case you guys don't remember I last hosted Aubrie when she released the first novel in her A New Dawn series last year. You can check out my interview here. Feel free to also check out my review of Paradise 21, the first book in the series. I've recently completed Tundra 37 and loved it, so expect a review on that later this week.

Okay, enough from me. Here'e Aubrie:

Alien Zombies

Yes, you read it right: aliens and zombies (two of my favorite things) combined. I wanted to write a zombie book, but I didn’t want it to be like all the other ones out there, with decaying humans eating people’s brains. I wanted to put my own twist on it, make the zombies original in a way that made sense with my sci fi world. This is how A Hero Rising came about. 

So, I came up with Morpheus, a substance gleaned from minerals mined on the moon. In A Hero Rising, resources on Earth are used up, so scientists send giant lunar freighters to the moon. Sure, it’s a great source of minerals, but little do they know an alien virus resides deep within the rocks. Exposure to this virus will not only give you superhuman speed, but will make you want to kill and transform you into a creature from another world.

This is the main reason for the fall of Old Earth. Sure, overpopulation has eaten away at dwindling resources, but it’s the outbreak that’s the last straw. In an attempt to keep the virus under control, the World Coalition bombs entire cities, and everyone who’s anyone has a ticket on a colony ship.

But, what if you were left behind?

Aubrie Dionne

Romantic Science Fiction and Fantasy
Get Swept Away to Other Worlds...
http://www.authoraubrie.com
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

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About the Book:

Tundra 37 (A New Dawn #2)

Synopsis:  Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.

Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.

With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/tundra-37/

Amazon               Barnes and Noble

Tundra 37 Book Trailer:

http://youtu.be/3XcwFtmeTcM

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About the Author:

Aubrie is an author and flutist in New England. Her stories have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, A Fly in Amber, and several print anthologies including Skulls and Crossbones by Minddancer Press, Rise of the Necromancers, by Pill Hill Press, Nightbird Singing in the Dead of Night by Nightbird Publishing, Dragontales and Mertales by Wyvern Publications, A Yuletide Wish by Nightwolf Publications, and Aurora Rising by Aurora Wolf Publications.  Her epic fantasy is published with Wyvern Publications, and several of her ebooks are published with Lyrical Press and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. When she’s not writing, she plays in orchestras and teaches flute at Plymouth State University and a community music school.

http://www.authoraubrie.com
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

DIES IRAE Blog Tour Stop

Today, I'm thrilled to have a guest post by Christine Fonseca as part of her DIES IRAE blog tour. DIES IRAE was published February 1st, 2012 by Compass Press and is available now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. DIES IRAE is a prequel novella that is part of her REQUIEM series, the first novel of which, LACRIMOSA, will be published March 21st, 2012.

So, anyway, that's enough from me.  Here is Christine:

Top 5 Random Facts About Me

First, I just want to thank Melanie for participating in my tour today. When she asked me write a guest post, I was initially stumped, trying to think of something – anything – that readers might want to know. When I couldn’t come up with anything I liked, either because I was already writing a similar post, or because my brain was a little fried, I turned to my teen group and asked them. Thank goodness for my teens! Their suggestion—five random facts about me.

Now that is something I can do.

So, here you have it—5 Random Facts about Me:

1) I minored in theatre-dance with an emphasis in choreography in college; um, yeah, I was the ONLY one who minored in theatre-dance.

2) I once went shark diving. I have also swum with manta rays. I count both experiences as some of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

3) I played the viola for 13 years. Not certain what a viola is – just think of a violin, but bigger with different strings.

4) I can quote almost every line from the original Star Wars movies. Can you say geek??

5) Despite my inner geek, or maybe because of her, I also modeled for years and was Miss Congeniality in the Miss Teenage California Pageant. Of course this happened many years ago—many many years ago!

There you go – my randomness. Anything else you want to know, feel free to ask.

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DIES IRAE - A Requiem Novella (Compass Press, Feb 2012)

“Dies Irae is the perfect introduction to Christine Fonseca’s Requiem series. The beauty of the words will tempt you, the tragedy of the story will break you, and the love, woven throughout like music through the trees, will haunt you for days afterward. Dies Irae promises a tale unlike any you’ve read before.” 

- Ali Cross, author of BECOME 

Synopsis from Goodreads: Some sacrifices should never be made—even for love.

Mikayel lives by one rule—obey the orders of the angelic Council at all costs. That is, until he and his friends, Azza and Demi, are sent to Earth. Assigned as Watchers while they await their decision of which angelic order to serve, the three assume the bodies of teenagers and experience life as human.

The sensations are overwhelming as the angels experience a host of human emotions—rage, terror, love—and come ever closer to breaking one of the unbreakable rules—never fall in love.

But being human isn’t the only problem facing the three angels. Unbeknownst to the Council, demonic activity is on the rise, threatening to break a tenuous peace that has existed for a millennia; a peace Azza seems bent on destroying.

Caught in a struggle for power with unseen demonic forces and Azza, and fighting against his rising emotional attachment to Demi, Mikayel must now decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for his new found love—a decision that could reignite an ancient war and will threaten the only thing that matters to the angels, the survival of humanity.

LACRIMOSA - Book #1 in the Requiem Series (Compass Press, Mar 2012)

"LACRIMOSA reaches out, grabs readers by the heart, and takes them on an emotional journey from the first page to the last. The last novel you'll need to read to understand true sacrifice." - Elana Johnson, Author of POSSESSION

Synopsis from Goodreads: It’s been three thousand years since the fall of Azzaziel and the rebirth of evil; three thousand years since the Sentinal Order, an elite group of warrior angels, returned to Celestium. Their job—rid Earth of the dark creatures, the UnHoly. And with luck, end Azza’s rule.

As if casting out demons isn’t hard enough, five-hundred-year-old Nesy has to masquerade as a teenage girl to do it. Nesy is the best of the Sentinals. She never makes mistakes, never hesitates, never gets emotionally involved. Until she meets Aydan.

He is evil incarnate; a fallen angel that feeds off the souls of others. Everything Nesy is supposed to hate. But she can’t, because he’s also the love of her former life as a human girl—a life that ended too soon, tying her to emotions she was never supposed to feel.

Now Nesy must choose between doing her duty—damning Aydan to the fiery depths of hell—or saving him, and condemning herself. And her choice may cost her, and Celestium, far more than anyone realizes.

How much will she sacrifice for love?

Other Current Releases:

101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids

Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students 

Find Christine online at her Website and her  writer's blog.

Spruce Knoll - Endangered Species Blog Tour

A special edition of Heather McCorkle’s The Secret Of Spruce Knoll is releasing from Compass Press this month and she’s doing a special tour to go along with it. The special part, a percentage of the proceeds from every special edition sold (in every format) between its release date and 12-12-2012, will go toward Heather’s favorite charity that protects endangered species. Her goal is to make at least $10,000 for the charity.

Of course there are prizes during the tour which runs from December 1^st through the 17^th. Prizes include a symbolic endangered species adoption of the winner’s choice (a $50 donation by Heather to the charity for the endangered species of the winner’s choice, and cute stuffed animal for the winner!), signed copies of her novels and great swag. For full details, and to enter, go here. http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com/

For the tour Heather has asked each blog host to pick their favorite endangered species and she will tell us a fun or interesting fact about that animal. For my species I picked the Emerald Hummingbird.

Heather's Interesting Fact: This beautiful bird lives in the arid thorn-forests and scrub of Honduras. It’s diet consists of insects (of course *shudders*), flowering plants, and orangepipe cactus. I can’t even imagine how treacherous eating cactus would be, especially considering that I’m accident prone. Emerald hummingbirds are endangered mostly due to clearing for agriculture and hunting. 

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Let's all take a moment to thank Heather for stopping by and for all the work she is doing to help endangered species. And of course you can all do your part by purchasing the special edition of Spruce Knoll!!!

Buy links for the books:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Spruce-Knoll-Channeler-ebook/dp/B006BL0WR8 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1036661905

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