Blog Tour: M.P. Kozlowsky, Juniper Berry Giveaway

Today I have the privilege to welcome M.P. Kozlowsky on a stop from his blog tour for his middle grade book, Juniper Berry. He’s graciously composed a guest post and it’s very fitting to my situation since I’m at home right now with a 3 week old newborn.

I was sent a copy of Juniper Berry to read and review but unfortunately I’ve only been able to make it through the first few pages. Why? Basically because of the newborn. I hope to read it soon though!

Here’s what M.P. has to say about having a child and how it changes you forever.

A Creature of Habit Come Undone

Juniper Berry was written during a different time.  B.C.  2009 B.C. (Before Child).  I had a strict routine which I followed religiously, both a blessing and a severe thorn in my side – this included lunch at 11:12, walking the dog at 2:52, washing dishes at 4:54, among other odd intermissions.  In the middle of all this, however, was a good full day of writing.  But, that was assuming that I wasn’t interrupted by the super or a phone call or an errand.  If something disrupted my routine I couldn’t write; I couldn’t get in the right head, so to speak, the trance was broken.  To sit down in front of the computer I had to be in such a specific frame of mind, so focused, and, most importantly, I couldn’t have that damaged in any way.  I had certain meals I ate on certain days and at certain times and if we didn’t have peanut butter this threw everything off.  I would browse the internet in a predetermined order, I had to place phone calls at specific breaks in my day, and if I didn’t I couldn’t think straight.  But this was my ritual and I perfected it and I accomplished incredible amounts of writing because of it.  Then I had a baby.

This changes everything.  Suddenly my routine was gone, snatched away overnight.  I had to conform to the erratic whims of my daughter.  I could only write when she was napping, but this time was brief and ever changing, and the responsibilities piled up all around me.  I was so tired.  My mind wasn’t allowed to focus.  I had to accept constant distractions, I had to write through them, adjust my thinking, my writing method.  I understood this and accepted it.  As a parent, I knew I now had to become selfless.  It wasn’t about me and my idiosyncrasies anymore.  It was about her, my daughter, my Margeaux.  To be the best father and husband, I had to change who I was as a writer.  And I learned that I didn’t control my routine, my routine controlled me.  Sure, my output has slowed, but I have grown.  My baby is new; I am new.

M.P. Kozlowsky (very short!) Biography

M.P. Kozlowsky was a high school English teacher before becoming a writer. Juniper Berry is his first book. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter. www.mpkozlowsky.com

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Thanks so much M.P.! I couldn’t agree with you more, that’s for sure. I’m the last stop for M.P. but you can go back and see his other stops!

Juniper Berry Blog Tour: Part II
Tuesday, May 10th - Interview and Giveaway at Another Gray Day
Wednesday, May 11th - Interview at Bri Meets Books
Thursday, May 12th - Interview at Book Yurt
Friday, May 13th - Review and Giveaway at The Book Maven's Haven
Saturday, May 14th - Review at MundieKids
Sunday, May 15th - Guest Post at Kid Lit Frenzy
Monday, May 16th - Review and Giveaway at Kid Lit Frenzy
Tuesday, May 17th - Interview and Giveaway at MundieKids
Tuesday, May 17th - Guest Post and Giveaway at The Cozy Reader

Juniper Berry Writing Contest:  To celebrate the release of M.P. Kozlowsky’s debut novel Juniper Berry, Walden Pond Press is inviting all writers aged 9-14 to write their own tales of terror and temptation in at least 500 words. One grand prize winner will receive an iPad, a library of Walden Pond Press eBook, paperback and hardcover novels, and his or her story published online at Walden.com. Author M.P. Kozlowsky will select the winner. To learn more: www.walden.com/win/juniperberry.

Juniper Berry by M. P. Kozlowsky 240 pages, Walden Pond Press, (2011-04-26) $10.02 (Amazon.com)

Juniper Berry Trailer

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of Juniper Berry!

Details

Ends 05/24 at midnight eastern time

Entrant must be 13 years of age or older.

Open to US & CANADA mailing addresses only. Shipping directly from the publisher.

If shipping info is not supplied in the form, selected winner must respond to my email within 3 days or a new winner will be selected.

Extra entry for sharing this giveaway. Direct link is required.

Go to The Cozy Reader to enter and update your following!

Blog Tour: Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2) by Rachel Hawkins and Giveaway

Today I have the lovely pleasure of having YA author Rachel Hawkins to answer just a few interview questions! I kept it short and sweet and asked what I wanted to know. I’m not a fan of most general interview questions so I hope you find these interesting, at least. :)

Rachel Hawkins Interview

About the book:Was it easier to write book two of the series than book one? How so or not so?
Oh, no, haha! Book 2 was MUCH harder! I think it's because in HEX
HALL, I was just writing with no expectations, no readers, just for my
own amusement. With DEMONGLASS, I knew I'd have LOTS of readers, and I
really, really didn't want to let them down. Also, in the 2nd book of
a trilogy, you have to wrap up some plot threads, leave some for book
3, introduce NEW plot threads....yeah, sequels are a lot of work!

How do you feel about your book covers? (I think they're great!)

I ADORE them! I'm so thrilled with how Hyperion really nailed the
whole, "These books are funny! But also scary! And yet funny!" aspect
of the series. Also, I want all of Cover Sophie's outfits.

When will book three be available? And is it the last book of the series?

Book 3 will be out in Spring 2012, and it is the last of Sophie's
adventures! However, I'm working on a spin-off set in the HEX HALL
universe, so I'm not totally done playing in that world yet. :)

Miscellaneous Facts:

Which do you prefer: warm, sunny day or cool, rainy day? And why?

Cool, rainy days! Sadly, I live in the South, and while rain is not so
hard to come by, cool often is! I think I dig rainy, cool weather so
much because I am so very indoorsy. Cold+rain= the perfect excuse to
stay inside and read and write!

If you could live anywhere where would that be? Why?

London. See above, RE: Cool and rainy. :) Seriously though, it's just
such an awesome town. Ancient and modern all at once. (The boys with
cute accents don't hurt, either.)

Thanks so much Rachel! I'm excited to hear about the spin off series!
Demonglass is released today! But if you haven’t purchased your copy yet be sure to enter the giveaway below for a chance to win one of TWO copies!

Demonglass (A Hex Hall Novel) by Rachel Hawkins 368 pages, Hyperion Book CH, (2011-03-01) $9.99 (Amazon.com)

Haven’t read Hex Hall yet? Check out my review to see if it’s something you’d enjoy!
I haven’t started my review copy of Demonglass yet, and I apologize for not having a review to go along with this blog tour but I’ve been in the worst funk lately. I’m blaming the pregnancy hormones. :( I plan to start it very soon and have a review up just as soon as I do finish it.

Series

Hex Hall (Book 1) by Rachel Hawkins 336 pages, Hyperion Book CH, (2010-03-02) (Amazon.com)

Demonglass (A Hex Hall Novel) by Rachel Hawkins 368 pages, Hyperion Book CH, (2011-03-01) $9.99 (Amazon.com)

Giveaway

Enter to win one of TWO copies of Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins!

Details

Ends 03/08 at midnight eastern time

Entrant must be 13 years of age or older.

Open to US & CANADA mailing addresses only. Shipping directly from the publisher.

If shipping info is not supplied in the form, selected winner must respond to my email within 3 days or a new winner will be selected.

Extra entry for sharing this giveaway. Direct link is required.

Please go to The Cozy Reader to enter this giveaway.

Blog Tour: A True Princess by Diane Zahler

Today I am privileged to host author Diane Zahler here on her blog tour! I'm reading her book, A True Princess, right now and loving it! I was skeptical of reading it though because it is labeled middle grade but so far it's superb! I wanted to have it finished before the blog tour but I started it late and haven't had too much reading time. I'll have my review up soon though!

Without further ado: Diane's guest post!

Retelling a Fairy Tale: Coloring Outside the Lines

Diane Zahler

One of the challenging things about retelling a fairy tale is that the original versions are usually so short.  They’re almost pure plot, with very little description. There’s often a princess or a prince, but sometimes they aren’t even named, or they’re named after what they look like or what they do. Snow White is named after her skin, for example. Sleeping Beauty sleeps. Beauty in Beauty and the Beast is beautiful. Even Rapunzel is named after the herb her mother wants when she’s pregnant. There’s usually somebody evil – a witch or a bad fairy, a nasty wolf or an evil elf, but again, these characters aren’t well developed. The setting, too, is only described in broad outline. A writer has a great deal of freedom when it comes to coloring in these tales.

A novel-length version of a fairy tale needs a lot of details that aren’t in the original. Children’s first contact with fairy tales often comes when their parents read to them when they’re very young. Hearing the stories, kids fill in the outlines themselves with their imaginations and their limited experience. As they get older and look at picture book versions, they use the illustrations as a jumping-off place for coloring in the tales imaginatively. By the time they’re reading novels, they can both imagine the author’s vision of the story and create their own mental images as they read. And when a retelling of a familiar story goes outside the lines, it gives readers even more to work with – the idea that the old story can be made new again. That’s what I’ve tried to do with A True Princess. Though it’s based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Princess and the Pea,” I included characters not in the original – a heroine who doesn’t know who she is, her two friends Kai and Karina, fierce falcons, menacing wolves, and an evil elf-king and his beautiful daughter inspired by Goethe’s poem “The Erl-King.” I set the story in an imaginary far northern landscape and described a mysterious forest through which the characters have to journey on a perilous quest. The plot includes pieces of “The Princess and the Pea,” but it goes far beyond that simple story. I’ve colored outside the lines for sure – but that’s the fun of retelling fairy tales. And I hope it’s part of the fun of reading them, too!

About Diane

Diane Zahler, author of A True Princess, has loved tales of fairies and magic since before she was old enough to read. She has worked in the children’s room at a public library, in children’s book publishing, and as an elementary and high school textbook writer. The Thirteenth Princess, her first novel for young readers, was published in 2010. She lives with her husband and dog in an old farmhouse in the Harlem Valley that is held together with duct tape and magic spells. Diane’s website is: www.dianezahler.com.

A True Princess by Diane Zahler 192 pages, HarperCollins, (2011-02-01) $10.79 (Amazon.com)

Summary

Twelve-year-old Lilia is not a very good servant. In fact, she's terrible! She daydreams, she breaks dishes, and her cooking is awful. Still, she hardly deserves to be sold off to the mean-spirited miller and his family. Refusing to accept that dreadful fate, she decides to flee. With her best friend, Kai, and his sister, Karina, beside her, Lilia heads north to find the family she's never known. But danger awaits. . . .

As their quest leads the threesome through the mysterious and sinister Bitra Forest, they suddenly realize they are lost in the elves' domain. To Lilia's horror, Kai falls under an enchantment cast by the Elf King's beautiful daughter. The only way for Lilia to break the spell and save Kai is to find a jewel of ancient power that lies somewhere in the North Kingdoms. Yet the jewel will not be easy to find. The castle where it is hidden has been overrun with princess hopefuls trying to pass a magical test that will determine the prince's new bride. Lilia has only a few days to search every inch of the castle and find the jewel—or Kai will be lost to her forever. -- Goodreads

Diane's Blog Tour Schedule

Date	Blog Name	What's Happening
February 1	The Compulsive Reader	Review, book giveaway
February 2	The Brain Lair	Author interview, review
February 3	Jean Little Library	Review
February 3	Galleysmith	Author post, review
February 4	Write for a Reader	Review
February 5	The Cozy Reader	Author post, review
February 6	Libri Dilectio	Review
February 7	Tales from the Rushmore Kid	Interview with my editor
February 8	Green Bean Teen Queen	Review
February 8	Mother Daughter Book Club	Review
February 9	There's a Book	Author interview, review
February 10	Mrs. V's Reviews	Author interview, review
February 11	The Cazzy Files	Author interview, review
February 11	Sonder Books	Author interview, review
February 12	BookScoops	Author interview, book giveaway, review

Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour: Scott Nicholson

I’m pleased to be apart of Scott Nicholson’s Kindle blog tour!

Check out his other stops for more chances to enter for the Kindle giveaways.

Twelve novels published. Five short-story collections. Two screenplays and counting. My first translated self-published e-book. My first novel collaboration. A young-adult series underway.
A busy year. A lot of words.
And plenty more to put out.
The 90-day blog tour has been a lot of fun but a lot of work—the equivalent of a novel in extra writing. So one of the first orders of business is to collect all the posts into a non-fiction book called “90 Days of Nightmares: A Writer’s Journey.” I’ll probably sell it for 99 cents for Kindle and Nook and offer it free at my web site.
I have enough short stories for three more collections and I will be releasing them with a couple of bonus guest stories and other extra material in each, and these will likely be 99-cent specials.
My thriller Liquid Fear, a novel dealing with bioethics, is about 25 percent done, and it’s more in the mold of Disintegration and The Skull Ring. It’s been calling out to me and will probably be the next project, depending upon what else happens with my other books. And PS Publishing is soon releasing the signed, limited-edition hardcover of my paranormal mystery Transparent Lovers.
I’ve started both the next book in the October Girls paranormal-romance series and the sequel to As I Die Lying, so they should be good counterbalance to the heavier Liquid Fear. And J.R. Rain and I will likely continue the Cursed! series if readers want more. Of course, I’ll be putting out the rest of my screenplays, and Ted at Dellaster Design is working on formatting comics for Kindle and Nook. And the children’s book If I Were Your Monster is being proofed and should be out in a week or so, and artist Lee Davis and I are already kicking around another book.
The point of all this isn’t to brag, though I do take pride in my work. The point is that you’re determining what I am writing next. Disintegration is my biggest e-book hit, and though I do want to write the third book in the Littlefield series and bring back the sheriff from The Red Church and Drummer Boy, I will let that wait a little while. Mysteries and thrillers fare better than supernatural novels for the most part, and if I have just as much fun writing all of it, why not write the stuff you like best?
On the promotional front, I’ll keep sending out review copies to bloggers, but we all need a break from Scott Nicholson. Check my web site for special combo deals on signed paperbacks, and also, beginning Dec. 1, I am giving a free e-book version with any signed paper book order, so you can have one for the shelf and one for the e-reader of your choice. And I’ll be back in the spring with one big promo blitz and giveaway with whatever book is ready for release.
So consider this an informal poll of what you would like to see next from me. While it may come down to whatever calls to me the loudest, your opinion is important to me, too.
After all, as I’ve said repeatedly, in this new publishing era, you are the boss.

*

Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the YA paranormal romance October Girls and the thrillers Disintegration, As I Die Lying, Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring, Burial to Follow, and They Hunger. His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, and Solom. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, Curtains, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, and Flowers.

The Kindle Giveaway is part of Scott’s blog tour. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm. To be eligible for the Kindle DX or Kindle 3, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. He’s also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing!

Blog Tour: Cinda Williams Chima

I have the honor of posting a guest post from author Cinda Williams Chima! Her newest book, The Exiled Queen, just released this week!

I was fortunate to received both of these books for review, however, I haven’t finished the first book yet! I just wasn’t in the mood for the epic fantasy but I’ll be getting back to it soon.

Demon King, The (A Seven Realms Novel) by Cinda Williams Chima 528 pages, Hyperion Book CH, (2010-08-31) $9.99 (Amazon.com)

Exiled Queen, The (A Seven Realms Novel) by Cinda Williams Chima 592 pages, Hyperion Book CH, (2010-09-28) $17.99 (Amazon.com)

The Art of the Crossover Novel

When I was a teen, YA lit was in its infancy, and so it was adult books that I devoured—everything from the original James Bond novels to my mother’s historical fiction. And fantasy—lots of fantasy, including Mary Stewart’s Arthurian novels, David Eddings’s high fantasy, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Mercedes Lackey’s novels.

Fantasy is a natural crossover. Mainstream fantasy often involves coming-of-age stories, so it’s not uncommon for adult fantasy to have adolescent viewpoint characters. It’s a time of life when transformations occur and latent powers manifest.

These days, we’re seeing more and more adults turn back to the teen shelves to find compelling fiction of all genres, but especially fantasy and science fiction. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/sep/19/thegrandtraditionofcrossov

Recent examples of crossover books include J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, Kristin Cashore’s Graceling and Fire, and Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy.

http://sjaejones.com/blog/2010/the-breakout-or-crossover-ya-novel/

Those of us who write YA fantasy have our feet firmly planted in two different worlds—those of teen lit and mainstream (adult) fantasy. When you walk that borderline, you can end up pleasing both audiences, and so produce a highly-successful crossover that appeals to all ages. Or pleasing neither, and then your book ends up on the bargain table.

Mainstream fantasy fans are sophisticated readers familiar with standard fantasy tropes and archetypes and dismissive of stories that tread over familiar ground. They are usually willing to embrace high fantasy with its complicated names, magical terms, and detailed world-building.

Teen readers, on the other hand, might be enchanted with a classic fantasy story, well told. But they quickly lose interest if overwhelmed with excessive fantasy jargon and dense architecture. So it is a challenge to write fantasy that is both appealing to adult readers and accessible to YA readers in general.

My Heir Chronicles series (The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, The Dragon Heir) is contemporary fantasy set in the magical Midwestern world of Ohio. I always intended it to be YA fiction, but my agent thought it might be attractive to adult imprints as well, so she shopped it to both. Some YA publishers said it seemed more suited for adults, and some adult publishers recommended that we try YA imprints. Eventually, two YA publishers made offers, and it sold as YA to Hyperion.

That was the best thing that could have happened. The Heir series has been a best-seller with teens, but has managed to attract adult readers as well.

My new Seven Realms series (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen) is high fantasy. It’s set in a quasi-medieval world I created for The Star-Marked Warder, an unpublished adult fantasy trilogy. For my YA series, I took two pivotal SMW characters back to when they were sixteen years old. Although I intended it for teens, the series is being published as YA fiction in the U.S., and as adult fiction in several countries overseas.

I don’t know that you can set out to write a crossover novel—you write the best story you can and then let the readers decide. Fortunately, a book that is respectful of teens as readers will often appeal to adults.

Here are some strategies that may help a book cross over:

• Create layered, realistic, engaging characters. Although YA books will always focus on young characters, crossover books feature characters that resonate with all ages.
• Get beyond high school. I don’t mean that your story can’t be set in a high school, or feature characters of high school age—but it should involve larger themes and a broader scope than who’s going to ask me to the prom or am I going to make the soccer team. Most adults have no desire to go back there.
• Consider historical fiction. Period pieces can work well as crossovers. Extended adolescence is a modern phenomenon. In the past, teens were expected to function as adults—they were often out on their own, earning their own living, drinking in taverns and getting into the kinds of complicated situations and scrapes that appeal to adults and teens alike.  YA authors can often get away with more in a period piece—nobody worries so much about teens who grow up fast.
• Consider voice. Voice relates to character and scope. A strictly YA voice tends to be very immediate, narrow and self-conscious; a crossover voice has a broader  perspective—it is more inclusive of the past, present and future.
• Tell the truth, and never, never, never condescend. Neither adults nor teens want to read a book that has been “dumbed down” in any way.
• Don’t try to teach anybody a lesson. If a reader takes away a lesson from your story, then fine, but story comes first.
• Lobby for a cover with broad appeal. Adults don’t want to carry around a book that outs them as a reader of YA fiction.

The good news is that much of what appeals to teen readers appeals to adult readers as well—characters that they can relate to, tight, clean, accessible  writing and a fast-paced plot. In other words, a good story well-told.

The Demon King is now available in paperback, and The Exiled Queen released September 28. There will be four books in the Seven Realms series, followed by two more Heir books.

Excerpts from each of my books are available on my website, www.cindachima.com. Help for writers can be found under Tips for Writers, including a document called, “Getting Started in Writing for Teens.”

I blog at http://cindachima.blogspot.com/, where you’ll find rants, posts on the craft of writing, and news about me and my books.

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Thanks so much to Cinda for stopping by!

Alpha Blog Tour! (and Giveaway)

If you’ve been following me for a while then you know just how much I LOVE Rachel Vincent’s Shifter series.

This coming week she will release her final installment to this beloved series with ALPHA.

I’ve already devoured Alpha through the lovely promotion done by NetGalley. You can read my review HERE. While I wasn’t a fan of the ending, because of the fact that it was ENDING, I really enjoyed Alpha.

Rachel was so kind to add The Cozy Reader as a stop on her Alpha Blog Tour. Below she discusses the lovely and ever increasing in popularity, love triangles.

Rachel Vincent on Love Triangles

Love triangles. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t deny they’re a large presence in romance, as well as in genres which typically have heavy romance subplots, like my Shifters series. Now normally, I’m a path-not-taken kind of girl. So why, Rachel, you might be thinking, did you decide to take the Shifters series down the love-triangle path?

The simple answer is that I didn’t. Not originally.

I come to urban fantasy by way of horror and high fantasy, rather than through romance, so when I started Stray, I had no idea there were genre expectations for the romance subplot. And what little I may have intuited probably came through movie watching. I didn’t know that love triangles were a common “thing.” I didn’t know that romances were supposed to have happy endings. I didn’t know that what I was writing would eventually be shelved in the romance section of your local bookstore (if you’re in the US).

And I didn’t intend for the whole Marc/Jace thing to be a major focus of the books. So imagine my surprise now that “Who is she going to pick?” has become the question I’m asked most often. By far. You guys are really serious about this! ;)

So what did I intend? I intended for Faythe to have options. Choices. If you’ve read the series, you know that freedom and independence are two of the big themes. Faythe is a feminist living in a staunchly patriarchal society, and while her father is one of the more liberal Alphas, most of the others—even his allies—are not so eager to give the few women in their society such extreme freedoms of choice. Because they’re needed to repopulate the entire werecat species.

So it was really important to me for Faythe to know she has options, even if no one else recognizes that fact.

I’ve heard from a lot of people who seem to think that the love triangle aspect is the true fantasy element in my urban fantasy (Evidently the shape shifting doesn’t count!) because no one in real life could possibly have two such wonderful men interested in them. But that, I believe, is not true. I’ve known many people (and have, on occasion been one of them) who had romantic interest from more than one person at a time. How many people from your high school got more than one invitation to prom? How many girls (or guys) were secretly (or not so secretly) crushed on by their sig. other’s best friend? Or some stranger? How many junior high (or college girls) are in love with an entire string of boys they’ve never even spoken to?

Does everyone act on more than one interest at a time? Of course not. But some do. Even in real life. Especially at Faythe’s particular position in life.

By the end of the series, it’s easy to forget that Faythe is only twenty three years old. In the beginning, she’s stubborn and impulsive, fighting for her freedom before she really has the means to defend it. But a couple of books later, we have a better view of the society she grew up in and we come to understand that freedom isn’t just going to be handed to her. She’s going to have to fight for it, and fight she does. She takes on enormous responsibility and makes decisions knowing that someone’s going to die, no matter what she chooses. So it’s easy to forget that most people her age have no idea who they want to spend the rest of their lives with, and of those who have made that decision by twenty-three, more than half (in the US, at least) will later change their minds completely.

So let me pose a question (in good, clean fun) to all the Marc/Faythe/Jace skeptics out there, criticizing Faythe for “dragging” this out: do you think it would be responsible to make a decision of this magnitude—a life-long promise—without thoroughly exploring all of your options? Wouldn’t that be doing a disservice to both men involved? If you were Marc/Jace, would you want Faythe to commit to you without knowing for sure what she wants? Wouldn’t that be worse than taking the time to explore the issue properly?

Okay, that was more than one question, and since you can’t tell my tone from a type-written essay, let me assure you all that I’m smiling as I write this. I love all the discussion and dissenting opinions. ;)

That said, do I mind it if you prefer one guy over the other? No! I love that! I also love that the opinions so far are almost split down the middle. And I’m thoroughly amused by all the people who love one or the other the most because “he’s hotter.” I may be the writer, but you guys have some great imaginations! ;)

Thanks so much for having me Jessica!

Alpha Teaser

"Yeah. And if you try to stop her, she'll ground you till your thirty." -from Alpha, pg 437

 

Giveaway

If you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy of Alpha yet, (why not!?!) then this is your chance to enter to receive a copy!

I’ll be making this an International Giveaway and order from The Book Depository, so please make sure your country is on their shipping list.

I’d like the winner to have this book as soon as possible so this will end in just a few days! To enter please head over to The Cozy Reader and see the details.

What You’ve Missed!

Still subscribed here? You’ve been missing out!

Please update your feeds and follows to the new blog address over at The Cozy Reader!

But here’s a list of the posts you’ve missed! Check them out!

Giveaways Around the Web

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox: Week 16 & 17

In My Mailbox: Week 18

In My Mailbox: Week 19

In My Mailbox: Week 20

In My Mailbox: Week 22

In My Mailbox: Week 23

Author Guest Post

Author Guest Post: Kelly Link

Kelly Link Blog Tour

Cover Art

Cover Art: Unraveled (Intertwined, Book 2) by Gena Showalter

Cover Art: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Trailers

Trailer: Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Trailer: Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, # 2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Movie Trailer: Easy A

Book Trailer: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Trailer: My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, Book 3) by Rachel Vincent

Reviews

Review: Gone (Wake Series, Book 3) by Lisa McMann

Review: Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Review: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Review: My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, Book 3) by Rachel Vincent

First Line Friday

First Line Friday: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

First Line Friday: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

First Line Friday: Spirit Bound (VA, Book 5) by Richelle Mead

First Line Friday: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

First Line Friday: Promise by Kristie Cook

Tuesday Teaser

Teaser: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

Teaser Tuesday: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Miscellaneous

Waiting on Wednesday: Manifest by Artist Arthur

Fun Facts: Reading Habits

BEA 2010! Here I Come!

Sneak Peek! Torment (Fallen, #2) by Lauren Kate

Free Reads!

Post BEA 2010!

Happy Reading!

The Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour day 10!

Contest is closed! Winner announced HERE!

Today I’m hosting the Haunted London Blog Tour Day 10 for the amazing author Leanna Renee Hieber. I read and reviewed her amazing book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, back in July. You can read it HERE.

From the back cover:

What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death….

The Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour Day 10!

Thank you, Jess, for allowing the Haunted Tour to roll into your fine blog, you were one of my earliest reviews, and such a glowing one at that, it's something I'll never forget.

The Ten Bells – 84 Commercial Street, E1 “Jack the Ripper’s Local”

For those of you just joining us, the purpose of this Haunted tour is to celebrate the release of my Gothic Victorian fantasy debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. This Tour will introduce you to some of the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in my book. When Professor Alexi Rychman and his Guard of spectral police make their rounds, it is to any number of London phantasms. Since these characters are familiar to The Guard, I don’t get to tell their full story in the book, here I can give them their due. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of the novel, first in the Strangely Beautiful series!

Today we discuss the haunted Ten Bells, said to be a favourite of Jack the Ripper.

In the early hours of November 9^th 1888 Mary Kelly left The Ten Bells pub. Later, across the street from the pub, in Miller’s Court, off Dorset Street, a body nearly unrecognizable as a human female was found, mutilated beyond all recognition. It was thought perhaps the killer followed her from The Ten Bells and into Miller’s Court.

Numerous live-in staff in the upper stories of the Ten Bells told fearsome tales of being awoken by dread in the middle of the night only to find a spectre of an old man dressed in 19^th Century clothing lying beside them! Many people saw him, no one was quite sure who he was until in the year 2000, an antique metal box was found hidden in a corner of the cellar. Inside were the effects of George Roberts, along with a press cutting that spoke of his being murdered (with an axe) at a Welsh cinema. A man named George Roberts had kept The Ten Bells in the transition between the 19^th and 20^th centuries and it was assumed the ghost was the former pub owner.

While Mary Kelly doesn’t get the time and full homage she deserves in my book, as her death comes right near the climax of the novel, her death is mentioned in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker as such:

The air was sick. A virulent force was tearing through the streets toward a specific destination, ready for a reckoning. It growled and roiled and cut a path like a whirl of ancient blades. Its casualty would be an unspeakable shame. Neither Alexi nor his cohorts had any inkling that there would be another mutilated corpse in the morning, nor that this would be the worst.

There would be nothing, when all was said and done, to ever suggest that this woman, torn utterly to pieces, had once been a human being. The Ripper had struck again, swiping ferocious, merciless, unthinkable paws down Dorset Street, en route to the evening’s festivities.

I’m indebted to Richard Jones, founder of the fabulous Discovery Walks of London and author of the fantastic compendium “Haunted London” and “Walking Haunted London” published by Barnes & Noble Books, a main resource for my research.

Visit him at www.haunted-london.com.

Come visit me at www.leannareneehieber.com to find out more about The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and follow along on the rest of the Haunted London Blog tour! While you're at my website, if you have a copy of my book why don't you enter my CONTEST? I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved writing it!

Be sure to comment to be entered to win a signed copy!

Blessings!

Leanna Renee Hieber

www.leannareneehieber.com

www.twitter.com/leannarenee

Leanna is an awesome author. If you haven’t picked up a copy of this yet then you must! Start out here by commenting to be entered into the signed copy from Leanne Renee Hieber. One entry per person. You have until 9/2 to enter!

Don’t forget to follow along on the tour! There’ll be more chances to win this amazing book!

Here’s the very cool book trailer too!