It was a full house!!  The questions that were asked, as always, were insightful.  During the whole event, I tweeted using #pitchdarkdays.  That was fun and challenging!!  I realized how difficult it is to listen, condense to 140 characters, and remember a hash tag.

Since I mastered that, my next step is to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Here are some pics of the fab trio:

Yes, they are as friendly as they appear!

Ellen Schreiber, Me, Veronica Rossi, and Tahereh Mafi

As an added bonus I was surprised to see the uber cute author, Kiersten White (whom I just adore and I’m sure came to the event just to hug me.  Kiersten, isn’t that true? *crickets*) AND met the fab debut middle grade AND YA author Shannon Messenger (I see a friendship in our future)!

Needless to say it was a super cool night. Thank you, Harper Teen, for allowing me to be a small part of this fantastic tour!  I truly appreciated it!!

Love, STACKGIRL Shannan

THE AD:

We’re looking for someone that would be willing to do back-end, non-glamorous type things. You know, like changing our sidebar content out (it’s quite simple), uploading pictures, scouring the internet for book news, tweet and facebook on occasion, tagging posts*, editing posts (tweaking them), help develop creative content, and maybe writing the occasional  book review or book related post and lots of other things we haven’t thought of yet.

*familiarity with wordpress, html, SEO stuff and other social media would be a plus.

THE BENEFITS:

We know what you’re thinking, “what’s in it for me?” We’re so glad you asked, because the benefits are pretty fly (especially if you’re a ‘glass half full kinda person’). Here’s what you can expect:

1. You’re very own Girls in the STACKS tshirt (authors will fight to sign your t-shirt … oh wait … it’s black)
2. A STACK Girl email account
3. BOOKS, ARCS, AUDIO – we’re good sharers’
4. You get to say you’re one of us (you’ll be fighting off hordes of fans clamoring for your autograph – yea, we’re delusional)
5. Really, we’re just trying to sell a job that you would do for free. You’re cool with that, right?

CONTACT:

So, if you’re interested send an email to stacy@girlsinthestacks.com. Please include information about yourself, why you think you would be a good fit, a writing sample – or whatever, be creative.

UPDATE: WOW, we’ve had an overwhelming response!!! Thanks to all those that want to join the team, the enthusiasm shown has been mind-blowing!! We’ll be deciding this weekend (2/5/12)!! Wish us luck, it’ll be hard!

A) I had read and thoroughly enjoyed
B) I had just given away to my father for Christmas (it was autographed!!)
C) I interviewed Jack Gantos when he came to St. Louis in September promoting the book!
D) I love Jack Gantos and was thrilled that he finally got some well-deserved recognition!

So here is my metaphor for my “relationship” with Jack Gantos: He is the amazingly cool kid in high school wearing the Ramones t-shirt, skinny jeans, and Chuck Taylors who is too cool for school but loves to show his brilliance by making witty remarks in honors English. I am the dorky girl with the oversized glasses, permed hair, braces and lack of fashion sense, sitting in the corner, worshiping from afar.

As you can tell in my picture with Jack, I’m a little star-struck to be attending an awesome dinner party at NCTE 2010 where he talked to me like I was a normal person and put his arm around me for the picture!

What did we talk about? The fact that his non-fiction memoir A Hole in My Life is the most stolen book from my classroom (because it deals with the time when he, as a teenager, helped sail a boat into NYC full of hash, but alas, got caught and went to jail for a year=hole in life). It definitely is a book kids want to read, but when they finish, they pass it on to their friends and not so much back to me.

Then he came to St. Louis this September and was gracious enough to grant me an interview for Vocabgal -which will be posted next Thursday, Feb 2nd! Again, he chatted with me like I was a normal human being, rather than a star-struck fan (I kept my giggling to a minimum I hope.)

What I love about Jack is that he bases much of his writing on his own personal life, and he has a fascinating, if not always warm and fuzzy, life. Dead End in Norvelt is so interesting because it is almost another memoir -he based it on the time he spent as a child in the town of Norvelt-a town named for Eleanor Rosevelt who created this awesome, pseudo-socialist community where everyone built each others’ homes and paid each other with their own goods and services. Jack’s mother had grown up in this town and, as the book opens, has moved back with her family, but Jack’s father is not as happy with the location…

Jack’s sense of humor and comedic timing describing the events of the story make the book laugh-out-loud funny, yet the poignancy of his task to help the town’s nurse write the eulogies for the last original townsfolk is rather touching (and the fact that these townsfolk start dying off rather quickly also poses a mystery to be solved).

My favorite part of the story is when Jack has to sneak inside an old woman’s house to see if she is dead, so he dresses up in his Halloween costume-which, of course-is a Grim Reaper outfit. The woman isn’t dead, but almost dies when she sees the embodiment of death itself creeping toward her.

This is what you can expect from the book that has it all-humor, excitement, love, eccentricities and Jack’s personal flair. I think the autograph he created just for this book conveys it all!

So, what did I do when I was given this prestigious opportunity?  I did what any respectful blogger would do, spun around my living room floor singing, “the hills are alive with the sounds of music…,” very gleefully and then I packed a suitcase, put my kids (and hubby) in the car, and hit the road to spend a weekend away full of book adventures!

Who’ll be there?? Just a few of they’re so-hot-if-you-touch-them-you-will-burn-yourself authors;  Tahereh Mafi (SHATTER ME), Ellen Schreiber (MAGIC OF THE MOONLIGHT) and Veronica Rossi (UNDER THE NEVER SKY)!!!!

So…come meet, chat with, ask questions and have your books signed by these fabulous authors -TONIGHT!

Want to participate virtually? If you’re like the other STACK girls and live in a cold place and can’t make it tonight, you can still join in on the fun! Here’s how; follow Pitch Dark on facebook and twitter and then follow tweets, using the #pitchdarkdays on twitter!! I’ll be live tweeting throughout the entire event!

Check out the rest of the tour dates!!
Friday, January 13^th
SAN DIEGO
Mysterious Galaxy, 7pm – Shannan will be here!

Saturday, January 14^th
PHOENIX
Changing Hands, 4pm

Thursday, February 16^th
DALLAS
B&N Southlake, 5pm   – Stacy and Nancy will be here!

Friday, February 17^th
AUSTIN
B&N Austin, 7pm

Saturday, February 18^th
HOUSTON
Blue Willow Book Shop, 4pm

Tempest by Julie Cross
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Julie Cross online: Website / Twitter
Find Tempest: Amazon / Goodreads

From Goodreads: The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just  harmless fun. That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future. Desperate  to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this  powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him. Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

FANTASY CASTING: 

Who would you choose to play the part of Miss Stewart?  Julie Cross and I have made our decisions.  Comment below on who you would want to be in the movie version of Tempest.  If you are fans of Glee or The Vampire Diaries, you will surly be fans of our picks!!

Julie Cross has picked Naya Rivera (left), and while I think she is gorgeous; I like Kat Graham (right). Kat is super talented and seems to have the essence of Miss Stewart.

Teaser Quote: October 12, 2007 (2:30 p.m.)

My hands were on her face, her mouth moving with mine, fingers curling around the back of my neck, the stream from the shower running over us like a waterfall. It was just like the first time…a couple of years in the future.

GIVEAWAY!!!!

Click  this FORM  to try to win 1 of 5 signed copies of Tempest by Julie Cross. Readers can enter on each blog, for a total of 15 entries and must leave a comment to enter. This is the last night of the giveaway.  It ends at midnight tonight so enter away. Check out the Tempest Blog Tour Page for a list of everyone on the blog.

*We’re sorry, but we couldn’t hold this in any longer … What’s up with Peeta’s hair?? Is it just us, or does it look forced and unnatural? Are we experiencing another “bad wig” moment a la Jacob? (yes, we do realize Josh Hutcherson is not wearing a wig, that makes it even more disturbing.)

Heidi Ayarbe’s newest book, WANTED, is coming out in May.  And we wanted to have a little fun.  We are revealing the cover of Wanted tomorrow, along with the awesome Kari at A Good Addiction and of course, on Heidi’s blog.  Along with that we will have LOTS of giveaways - including a SIGNED arc of Wanted .  Ohhh, I am so excited I can’t stop thinking about it.

Wanted is a take on Bonnie and Clyde – read Heidi’s cool research on them.  So in light of that we thought it would be fun to pair YA couples that could take the country by storm!  If so, comment away on any of our blogs.

Mine? Of course, Katniss from The Hunger Games.  That girl can do anything.  She’s my hero!  And  Ethan from Beautiful Creatures.  He’s swoon worthy and those two would rock it!

So, come back tomorrow for the cover reveal of Wanted by the wonderful Heidi Ayarbe and lots of giveaways!  I mean lots.  lots and lots.

—–

where to click: goodreads amazon twitter HarperTeen

—–

There are a ton of favorable reviews for Shatter Me, and all before the book hit the shelves. Are you  feeling awesome?
I’m feeling humbled and grateful and mildly terrified, actually. I still can’t even believe this whole thing is real. November 15th will come and go and I still won’t be sure.

Do you have a favorite part of Shatter Me? Ours are the memories of Adam and Juliette in grade school. Sigh…
I do love the unfolding of backstory – learning about a character’s history and their motivation for doing what they do. But I think I love the kissing parts best. Haha.

What is your one vice while you do your edits?
When I’m working I drink wayyyyy too much tea and eat a lot of chocolate. It’s terrible.

Do you have the whole trilogy mapped out already or are you taking it one book at a time?
I know, generally, where the series is going and how it will end, but things get clearer and more solid with every book I write. I’ve just finished the second book, for example, which means I now know more definitively where the characters are headed than I did at the end of the first book. I like to leave things a little loose in my mind to allow room for the unexpected; characters, once brought to life, are very dynamic. They’re constantly changing and their decisions shape the course of the story. I have to let them lead the books.

Are you doing anything exciting for the release of Shatter Me?
I’m having a launch party on the 16th (the day after the book comes out) but other than that, no. I’ll probably get myself to the bookstore on the 15th and spend a while staring at it on the shelf. I’ll also try not to embarrass myself by crying in public.

Describe your reaction from the call saying your book was going to be published.
I think I used a bad word. I also fell down and didn’t hear anything Jodi (my agent) said for the rest of the conversation. She basically had to repeat everything to me again. And then I called my mom who started crying and screamed a lot.

Then I had to pull myself together and walk back into my office like nothing had happened.

You say you are addicted to coffee, but the real test is, do you have a Starbucks GOLD card?
You know – I don’t actually get most of my coffee from the outside; I have a Nespresso machine that does everything for me. I just pop in a coffee pod and attach the milk canister and press a button and it makes me the perfect latte. I’m obsessed with it.

LIGHTING ROUND!!!

boots or flip flops? Boots forever and ever.

beach or mountains? I prefer the mountains. The Alps, specifically.

chocolate or gummies? Chocolateeee

texting or emailing? I can text in my sleep.

spooky or silly? I love silly. I hate spooky.

latte or frappuccino? Latte.

—-

See.  I told you she was made of awesome.  Check out the rest of the tour and if you happened to miss a day, which I am sure you didn’t, but just in case you did, just click on the blog link below.  They are made of awesome too.

Monday: The Story Siren

Tuesday: Bookalicio.us

Wednesday: Reading Teen

Friday: The Book Smugglers

——

GIVEAWAY!!! GIVEAWAY!!!! GIVEAWAY!!!!
Want to win your very own copy? Follow the rules and enter below!!

official rules:
*open to US only
*must be 13 years or older
*one entry per person
*giveaway ends November 17, 2011 at 11:59PM CEN

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

And because I have no shame, I’m posting another picture of Tahereh and I.  No shame at all…

10/24 update -  James Frey is using a writing factory of MFA writers to write the I AM NUMBER series, read this.

*as always you can find us on itunes*

She’s talking all about her new book Virtuosity (read me review here) – cover design, plays a little violin for us (WOW!) AND she tells us about her 2013-yet-to-be-named-book about two sisters and romance. For more, press play.

GIVEAWAY!!!! GIVEAWAY!!!!! GIVEAWAY!!!!!
Want to win a signed copy of this fab book? Just read the rules and fill out the form below.

official rules:
*open to US only
*must be 13 years or older
*one entry per person
*giveaway ends October 24, 2011 at 11:59PM CEN

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

Need even more? For the complete Dark Souls book tour click here.

but first little more about Dark Souls…
publsiher: Scholastic
release date:August 1, 2011

description:
Welcome to York, England.

Mist lingers in the streets.

Narrow buildings cast long shadows.

This is the most haunted city in the world. . . .

Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won’t run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . .

Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York’s hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy — one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York’s haunted souls?

——

Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter, definitely. I couldn’t make head or tail of LOTR!

high heels or flip flops

I like the look of high heels, but I grew up in New Zealand, where flip-flops were (almost) mandatory.

truth or dare

I’d choose truth, but that doesn’t mean I’d REALLY tell it!

werewolf or vampire

Can I say: neither? I’m much more interested in ghosts.

Peeta or Gale

Gale.

dialogue or description

I’m a novelist, so I lean towards the many things you can do with point of view – we don’t have to lean quite so hard on dialogue.

thesaurus or dictionary

Both, though the latter has the edge. English is an amazingly huge language. Why stick to just a few hundred words?

football or American football

Football (as in soccer, or rugby). Too many commercial breaks in American football!

scary movies or rom-coms

I’m not very good with scary, but so many rom-coms these days feel tired or trite, and insult our intelligence. (My favorite rom-com: ROMAN HOLIDAY.)

Fanta or red wine

At home: red wine. On vacation somewhere hot: Fanta during the day, and white wine at night.

plotter or plunger

Depends on the book. For YA novels, I tend to plot. For my other books, I wend my way in.

—–

Awesome answers!!! I love that Paula writes about ghosts yet is ”not good” with scary movies. Though we may have to question her Gale response, hmmmm…

Do you dare to face your fears? Turn down the lights, turn up your speakers, and answer the multiple choice questions to find out what you’re really afraid of. Girls in the Stacks and Patrick Carman present the Dark Eden Fear Test.

I’ve taken the fear test.  Mine is Death.  ummm…yeah.  I’m a wimp!  I need to keep my imagination under control.

——

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman
release date: November 1, 2011
publisher: HarperCollins
author links: twitter website

description – When Will Besting approaches Fort Eden for the first time, he knows something isn’t right. With more terrifying secrets at every turn he discovers a hidden fear deep inside himself, a dark mystery a thousand years in the making, and the unexpected girl of his dreams. But can he save everyone from the dangers of Fort Eden before it’s too late?

Also, check out this freaky book trailer.  ummm… I’ll just live with my fears thank you very much!

Check out all the stops on the Dark Eden blog tour!

October 3rd: The Bookish Brunette
October 4th: The Reader Bee
October 5th: Novel Novice
October 6th: The Bookworms
October 7th: Girls in the Stacks
October 10th: Between the Pages
October 11th: Dark Readers
October 12th: Letters Inside Out
October 13th: The Book Faery
October 14th: Books Complete Me
October 17th: Two Chicks on Books
October 18th: Starry Sky Books
October 19th: Great Imaginations
October 20th: Once Upon a Twilight
October 21st: Me, My Shelf and I
October 24th: Fiktshun
October 25th: PageTurners
October 26th: Icey Books
October 27th: Truly Bookish
October 28th: Stuck in Books

We at Girls in the STACKS have a special place in our hearts for Becca Fitzpatrick. She was our blogs first interview, first video (see it here) and first author of a book both Shan and I (Stacy) read that we went completely nuts over. She will always be tops with us. Always.

From conception to final product, what has been the best part of your debut writing journey?

Honestly, there have been so many wonderful parts in my  path to publication it’s hard to only acknowledge just one part as the ‘best’,  but if I had to – I can say without question it has been the wonderful and kind  support that the blogging community and readers from around the world have shown me.

When I was writing THE FAERIE RING I was just writing a story that I  wanted to read. Sure – you dream of selling it and being published and other  people reading your story too – but it’s quite AMAZING when people you don’t  even know send you an email or a note about how excited they are to read your  book. Also, my publisher, Tor Teen, and editor, Susan Chang, have been SO  fantastic in supporting the book from involving me in the cover design (which I  LOVE) and also providing me with the opportunity to do signings at BEA and ALA.  I have met so many wonderful people along the way, like my fellow debut authors  at The Class of 2k11, as well as readers. I feel like I’ve had my 15 minutes and WAY more and my book isn’t even out yet!!

How is your family reacting to all the praist of The Faerie Ring?

My family has been very supportive the whole way. I don’t think hey really believed I would ever sell the book (that’s why if there are any unpublished writers out there reading this – remember – NEVER give up – nobody else is going to pursue your dream but you!) but they were very happy when it  did sell! Also, they’ve been very patient because the process is s-l-o-w and  it’s been two years since I sold the story to Tor Teen. After awhile, their eyes sort of started to glaze over, if you know what I mean, so I don’t talk about it a lot, but now that it’s so close – they are hearing about it more!

For more information on The Faerie Ring, check it out at goodreads and make sure and stop by Kiki’s blog, as well The Class of 2k11!!

—-

Check out the rest of The Faerie Ring blog tour hosted by the fab girls at MUNDIE MOMS:

9/30- A Blog About Nothing- author interview, *book  giveaway
10/1- The Secret Life of A Bibliophile- review
10/3- I Read Banned Books- author inteview
10/4- Mundie Moms- author interview
10/5- Reading Teen- guest post
10/6- The Story Siren- review & author interview
10/7- Eve’s Fan Garden- review, *book giveaway
10/8- Page Turners- review

Want to know more? Just check out DARK DAYS here and here.

Like we mentioned earlier DARK DAYS are coming, but first we have DARK“Kiersten White shows off her comedic timing” DAYS, in which Kiersten White interviews herself. Brace yourself for funny and touching moments. Eh, who are we kidding the whole thing is just chuckle after chuckle.

Kiersten: Hi Kiersten! I’m so excited to get to interview you today on behalf of Girls in the Stacks for the Dark Days Tour!

Kiersten: Thank you for taking the time to—wait. Umm, is something wrong here?

Kiersten: No, I’m good to go. First, I wanted to ask about

Kiersten: WAIT. Kiersten, I’m Kiersten. You’re interviewing yourself. I mean, I’m interviewing myself. That doesn’t make any sense. And you aren’t even a Girls in the Stacks team member. They are all way more articulate than you.

Kiersten: Don’t be a diva. You agreed to this interview.

Kiersten: You are so weird!

Kiersten: Not as weird as you are. Well, exactly as weird as you are. Moving on. Why did you give up your lifelong dream to be a photographer for National Geographic and decide to write YA books instead?

Kiersten: What are you talking about? I wanted to do that for like two weeks. In fourth grade. Until I heard they had to sleep in nets in the canopy of the Amazon with a hundred billion bugs. But I did want to write and illustrate picture books instead of YA until I realized I was a really crap artist, and that I was the most interested in YA stories in my head.

Kiersten: You ARE a really bad artist.

Kiersten: Shut up. So are you.

Kiersten: I’m interested in this “YA stories in my head” phrase. Have you always carried around stories in your head? What kind of storage do you use? Are we talking Tupperware? Or luggage? And if so, do you use the luggage with the little rolly-wheels, because otherwise what’s the point, it’s so hard to lug anywhere!

Kiersten: I’m thinking more along the lines of a cement mixer. Everything churning all the time, getting mixed up together, and then suddenly BAM out of nowhere I dump a whole story into the waiting framework!

Seriously though, I’ve always told myself stories, even had running strings of narrative that I’d go back to when I was bored or stressed. I remember lying awake in bed at night for hours, running the same scenes over and over in my head, tweaking, fine-tuning, re-imagining. The first YA book I ever wrote was a development of one of those ideas that I’d been playing with since I was a young teenager.

Kiersten: So, again we are back to the weird thing.

Kiersten: I even dream in stories. I thought everyone did—dreamt stories that they  weren’t really part of, just watching, maybe the main character but not usually. My husband has informed me that this is odd, though.

Kiersten: You mean our husband.

Kiersten: No, I mean MY husband. If you think I’m going to share, you’ve got another thing coming.

Kiersten: You do realize we are typing this while he sits on the floor, reading. This is kind of creepy.

Kiersten: Are you going to ask me another question or what? I don’t have all night. We look terrible when we don’t get enough sleep.

Kiersten: Which is always. Okay, two more questions. What would you say your biggest inspiration is for stories?

Kiersten: Emotions. I’ll hit on something that strikes an emotional chord in me—whether it is a book, a movie, a song, even an image—and I’ll want to create something to capture that particular feeling. I think that’s why I start so many things but know within a few dozen pages whether or not they’ll work. Even if I like the plot, if it doesn’t have a soul, doesn’t have the emotional core I wanted, I won’t continue. That’s also why you can enjoy books across genres. No matter what they use to tell the tale, whether it’s monsters or science or high school, the emotions at the center of it all are what we relate to as people.

Kiersten: You are, like, so totally deep.

Kiersten: Liar.

Kiersten: Okay, yes, I’m a liar. I can also fake cry on demand! But you already knew that. Last question: Why haven’t we talked about Paranormalcy and Supernaturally, the novels you’re going to be on the Dark Days Tour to promote?

Kiersten: Because we are terrible at self-promotion. But, if you insist, how about, HEY GUYS READ THOSE BOOKS THEY ARE AWESOME.

Kiersten: Works for me.

Kiersten: Excellent. Chocolate?

Kiersten: Always.

——

Need more DARK DAYS excitement? Well, you’re in luck – check out the trailer below!! It’ll make you wish you lived in one of the cities below.

Meet HarperTeen authors Claudia Gray (FATEFUL), Kiersten White (SUPERNATURALLY), Amy Garvey (COLD KISS), Anna Carey, (EVE), and Jocelyn Davies (A BEAUTIFUL DARK) as they visit the following cities:

Wednesday, October 12^th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway
*Lynnwood, WA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Thursday, October 13^th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Avenue
*Huntington Beach, CA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Friday, October 14^th
7:00 PM
Tattered Cover
9315 Dorchester Street
*Highlands Ranch, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Saturday, October 15^th
1:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
2999 Pearl Street
*Boulder, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Sunday, October 16^th
2:00 PM
Anderson’s
123 West Jefferson
*Naperville, IL*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

In celebration of the HarperTeen Dark Days tour, I’ve come up with some Dark Days of Literature—things that, were they to have happened, would be so dark it’s almost not worth thinking about.

1. Frodo keeps the ring. He uses it to become the All Powerful Overlord of the Shire, forcing all of the hobbits into slavery to support his pipeweed habit.

Also, everyone dies of lung cancer.

2. Lucy, Peter, Susan, and Edmund enter the wardrobe. It is just a wardrobe. Thus starts the most boring summer in the history of  summers, and they all become mathematicians.

3. Instead of receiving an owl-delivered invitation at age eleven, Harry gets a pigeon. It’s all downhill from there.

4. Like all of my teenage diaries, Mia’s Princess Diary starts with a New Year’s resolution to write every day. And ends two days
later.

5. Edward fails to resist the urge to kill Bella that day in Biology. The Twilight series is much, much, much shorter. Jacob never gets to take his shirt off.

6. Everyone in Panem is well-fed; the Moderately Peckish Games lack tension.

7. Milo doesn’t even make it past the Phantom Tollbooth before the toy car’s battery dies. He goes back to being bored.

8. Alice mistakenly falls down a robot hole rather than a rabbit hole, and short-circuits the Cyborg Mad Hatter with tea.

9. Sherlock Holmes gives up detective work and instead writes Murder Mystery Party Games full-time. It’s always the maid.

10. And finally, in what would be this author’s personal Dark Day, the internet breaks, and I am forced to actually be productive.

Or, you know, take a nap.

—-

We don’t even want to think about #1, #3, #5 or #6 (shivers). Hey, check out the video for the Dark Days tour and prepare yourself, because you’re gonna want to go!!

Here are the tour dates, are they rolling through your town? Sadly, they’re not coming through Texas. We’ll try and not hold that against HarperTeen (haha).

Wednesday, October 12^th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway
*Lynnwood, WA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Thursday, October 13^th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Avenue
*Huntington Beach, CA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Friday, October 14^th
7:00 PM
Tattered Cover
9315 Dorchester Street
*Highlands Ranch, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Saturday, October 15^th
1:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
2999 Pearl Street
*Boulder, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Sunday, October 16^th
2:00 PM
Anderson’s
123 West Jefferson
*Naperville, IL*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Author

from the press release: “If Carl Hiaasen married Raymond Chandler and engaged Dave Barry to be a  surrogate mother, Plugged would be the progeny.” ~ Bookreporter.com

Millions loved the bestselling young adult fantasy saga Artemis Fowl by Irish author Eoin (“it’s pronounced Owen”) Colfer, and now he returns with PLUGGED, a new novel that’s decidedly grown up. This wickedly funny crime caper features Daniel McEvoy, an Irish ex-pat bouncer at a seedy, small-time casino. Balding, bawdy and bold, Dan’s got plenty of problems: The fact that his girlfriend was just murdered in the parking lot is uppermost in his mind. That is until lots of people around him start dying, and not of natural causes. Suddenly Dan’s got half the New Jersey mob, dirty cops and his man-crazy upstairs neighbor after him and he still doesn’t know what’s going on. Bullets are flying, everybody’s on the take and it all may be more than Dan’s new hair plugs can handle…Narrator John Keating expertly delivers Dan’s bawdy, bold banter in this twisted comic noir.

Listen to an audio clip: Plugged, an excerpt

Sarah’s take: This is a book that is BETTER on audio! I’m serious-you can check out the clip above, or-better yet-win one of the two copies we’re GIVING AWAY! Because the protagonist telling the story is Irish, the book sounds so much better being read by John Keating. You can hear the brogue in words like “arse” and the irony of such a lovely voice cracking jokes, discussing murder and discussing his psychological need to PRO-tect all the females in his life-well it’s hilarious and awesome!

I just received the book on Tuesday (no fault of the fabulous AudioGo who sent it two weeks ago), so I have, alas, not finished it. But so far, it is a crazy wild ride that totally makes sense with Bookreporter’s little blurb at the top. I don’t know that I can review it with any more justice than that! I will tell you that there is a lot of swearing, murder and the occasional romp so you must be at least 16 to win our contest. Be ready for a wacky ride; at one point, Dan realizes that all the people around him are crazy-and the voice in his head asks him if maybe the common denominator is Dan, rather than everyone else. However, Dan truly isn’t the crazy one-he’s quite the likeable guy (again, it goes back to that awesome accent)-but the story and characters are definitely like no other I’ve read!

Be sure and check out the other tour stops below for some Eoin Colfer and more PLUGGED greatness!!! 
September 2 –  In Real Life
September 5 –  Teresa’s Reading Corner
September 8 –  The Literate Housewife
September 9  - Devourer of Books

GIVEAWAY!! GIVEAWAY!! GIVEAWAY!!

We have two (that’s right, TWO) audio copies to giveaway! We couldn’t be more excited to share this book with you! Read the rules and enter below!!

Official Rules
*US only
*must be 16 years old or older to win
*only one entry per person
*giveaway ends September 8, 2011 at 11:59pm CEN

Contest now closed. Congratulations to the winners: Evelyn and Shannon!

We are super excited to be kicking off the official blog tour for Delirium, the special edition and even more thrilled to have Lauren answer a few questions about the cover redesign!!

1. What input, if any, did you have in this special edition version?

Y’all know her, she is the author of the spooky ghost story,  The Revenant.  She’s guest posting about some of her confessions!!

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Here’s my not-so-secret confession – sometimes it seems like I’m constantly trying to AVOID writing. I have bursts of productivity here and there, and I tend to be more focused when I’m on deadline, but on most days I’m far too easily distracted by the pretty, shiny things that are NOT writing.

Shall I make a list for you?

Shiny thing #1: My husband. He’s my favorite person in the world, and he’s very nice to hang out with.

#2: My cat. He is so sweet, furry, and infinitely squeezable. See what I mean?

#3: Other people’s books. So delicious and so distracting. But I don’t feel too guilty about reading because it’s part of my job, right? RIGHT?

#4: TV – I am an unrepentant TV addict. I like to believe watching TV helps me think about plotting and characterization – what works and what doesn’t. I’m a visual learner, you see.

#5: Movies – same as above.

#6: Travel – in some ways, this relates back to #1. My husband travels a lot for his work, and I often tag along. We also spend six weeks every summer in Oxford, England while he teaches in a summer school program at one of the university colleges. You can imagine what sorts of distractions I run up against there!

#7: Writing conferences, school visits, etc. – I’m a bit of a conference junkie. It’s just so energizing and inspiring to spend time with other writers and learn about the craft. These days I occasionally get presenting gigs at conferences, which is great fun because I miss teaching and it’s a thrill to talk to new writers. School visits are wonderful, too – teen writers are amazingly enthusiastic and committed to their craft. Preparing for conference and school visits takes time away from actual writing, but at the same time it feeds my soul in a lovely way.

And finally, there’s the Internet. But let’s not go there, shall we? This is a guest blog post, after all!

Thanks for letting me stop by, Stacy!

from amazon: Now, as seventeen-year-old Princess Alera of Hytanica is besieged from all sides by suitors vying for the Throne, a teenage Cokyrian boy, Narian, is encountered within the walls of her Kingdom, a boy who will show Alera a world where women serve a purpose and not just a husband. As Narian helps Alera find her voice, she struggles against an arranged marriage that will shatter the life she has scarcely begun to live. And when Narian’s shocking past is uncovered, and war with Cokyri looms once more, he must fight to defy a fate ordained at his birth.

my take: I like to call this book a non-fantasy fantasy with historical elements. Why? Well, Kluver seems to have created her own historical world where she has written her own rules and mixed in a very modest amount (almost none) of black magic. Think vernacular. Think names (Cokyri? Hytanica?) Think plot points that don’t mesh together.

The heart of this book is about Princess Alera and her search for a suitor that will ascend the throne as king. As important as it is for Alera to find a suitable partner that will soon be king, her quest at times seems trite, especially with the looming war with the Cokyri. It’s at these times she seems selfish, willful and childish. My biggest complaint though, her rash decision making and her willingness to throw a long trusted guard under the bus, yet wholeheartedly trust a young man she knows nothing about.

Let’s talk about Narian. He is a thief, disrespectful thief who is super shady. Though I will concede the shadiness, I think he was written that way on purpose to give him an allure of mystery. To me, his mystery seems, well, shady. Oh, but he is hot.

My pick for Alera; London. He may have been almost twice her age, but he is exactly the man she is searching for. He is trustworthy, a natural leader, and intelligent.

There are other points that I questions, but since they are spoilery I will omit them here. (I will share though if you send me an email)

What are some things that I liked? The story was interesting, and given the age of the author when she wrote it (14) she did a fantastic job. Though like other reviewers have said, I think if she had more years to marinate on this story, gain life experience, it could have been stellar. I also liked London. And Steldor.

I give this book 3 STACKS

Stacy

Fallen(Georgia Series #3) by Karin Slaughter
publisher: Delacorte Press
audiopublisher: audiogo
release date: June 21, 2011

book info: Goodreads

from Goodreads: There’s no police training stronger than a cop’s instinct. Faith Mitchell’s mother isn’t answering her phone. Her front door is open. There’s a bloodstain above the knob. Her infant daughter is hidden in a shed behind the house. All that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations taught Faith Mitchell goes out the window when she charges into her mother’s house, gun drawn. She sees a man dead in the laundry room. She sees a hostage situation in the bedroom. What she doesn’t see is her mother. . . .

When the hostage situation turns deadly, Faith is left with too many questions, not enough answers. To find her mother, she’ll need the help of her partner, Will Trent, and they’ll both need the help of trauma doctor Sara Linton. But Faith isn’t just a cop anymore—she’s a witness. She’s also a suspect.

  My thoughts: So Karin Slaughter’s Fallen was the first audiobook I got free as an official member of GitS-yeah! Even better, audiogo- the audio publisher, offered GitS a chance to be on the Karin Slaughter blogtour as part of the deal Hurrah!

So I listened to the whole book, then looked it up on Goodreads only to discover there was a backstory for both the Will and Sara characters.  Obviously it reads so well on its own that you can go grab Fallen first, or you can go back and read the other two books in the series—along with several other presumably awesome books as Karin Slaughter is a multiple-bestselling crime novelist.

So the book-GREAT!  Having a small child myself, I wasn’t sure if I could handle the “small baby in a shed while murder happens in the house” scene but the opening sequence was just kick-butt action and small baby Emma was never harmed.  I loved how realistic the characters were –and that the book was told through multiple points of view so you know that Sarah likes Will and Will likes Sarah, Faith is worried about her kidnapped mom Evelyn, hostage Evelyn is worried about her daughter Faith etc.  Plus, the characters are unique -Faith is a cop who had her first child at 15 then went on to follow in her mother’s footsteps of being an officer, Will is dyslexic and so chooses to listen to his interviews rather than read his notes (go audio!) and more.

Karin also has tons of interesting factual details woven into the story like how hard it was for Evelyn and other females to be cops in the 70’s, how Faith has to deal with her blood sugars because of being recently diagnosed as a diabetic, and how so many criminals illegally have cell phones in prisons (who knew?)!

The narrator, Shannon Cochran, made this performance great, especially having to juggle four different narrators.  Since this is an adult novel, the adult narrator didn’t sound too old-she sounded just like seasoned cops (or, for Sara, a doctor/coroner) should sound.

The ending totally surprised me, and although the guy’s motivation wasn’t fully developed enough for me, I am definitely putting Slaughter on my thriller author list –and not just because I will never forget her name when I go into a bookstore looking for a suspense novel!

offical blog tour stuff: As part of her blog tour, I have one of a series of Q&A points with Karin Slaughter (and free audiobooks to give away-see below); however, it will be worth your while to go back, starting with Jen’s awesome review and longer Q&A to get more details and see the whole Q&A, plus it’s really cool to see other bloggers’ perspectives on the same book:

6/21 – Jen’s Book Thoughts (this is a MUST visit stop)
6/22 – In Reference to Murder
6/23 – Book Addict Reviews
6/28 – Dew on the Kudzu
6/30 – Beth Fish Reads
7/1   -  Teresa’s Reading Room
7/5   -  You’ve Gotta Read This

Question for K. Slaughter: You never pull any punches with your characters, and often put them through an emotional or even physical ringer. This novel feels a little different, a lot more psychologically suspenseful with the mystery of Evelyn’s fate. Is that a conscious shift or just what this book required?

Answer from K. Slaughter: There’s not a conscious shift, but I was aware when I was writing the book that it was more psychological.  That’s the great thing about writing in a series—you get to do a different type of book each time.  Some, like Fractured, are more rip-roaring out of the gate.  Others, like Fallen, are more of a steady build.  Then others still are like Kisscut, which I think of as one of my darkest works.  I love changing the focus and making sure that I’m telling each story as a stand-alone by giving it its own style.  My only goal in writing is to make sure each book is better than the last.  I don’t want to do the same thing over and over again.  There are authors who do that, and I love their books even though it’s always the same, but for me, my preference is always to do something different. Those challenges keep me on my toes and hopefully my readers appreciate that the story I am telling is just as exciting as the one they are reading.

FYI: Karin Slaughter is a huge fan of libraries and helped start SaveThe Libaries.com -check it out library lovers!

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GIVEAWAY!!! GIVEAWAY!!!! I get to give away audio copies of Fallen and possibly another Slaughter audiobook (and those aren’t cheap people!) Complete the form below by July 20, 2011, (my birthday and the day I will offer up some of the previous audiobooks I’ve reviewed!) to hopefully win one of Fallen copies…

offical rules:
-US only, sorry
-must be 18 years old or older
-giveaway ends at midnight (CEN) on July 20, 2011

If you’re in Tennessee you’re in for a treat, FROM ASH TO NASH is heading your way! This tour is the brain child of YA authors Myra McEntire, Victoria Schwab and Beth Revis.  We are totes jealous of all you Tennesseans.

Click here for the complete tour schedule.

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Are you a Harry Potter fan? If so, have you heard about The Potter Games? I have it on good authority that it is pretty cool. Just sayin.

Make sure and check out the ThePotterGames.com on 7.11.2011 – you wouldn’t want to miss out!!

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We are totally excited for the release of Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead by Jason Henderson. This is the second installment in a super cool series. Check out the trailer below, we think you would agree.

Bloodspell

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Hey Christian, thanks for stopping by today. We’re excited you’re here, because it’s not everyday we get to host a vampire. A gorgeous, educated and well-rounded vampire. That’s also a twin.

1. Christian, we have to know. What was it like growing up with Lucien, your twin? 

Thank you for inviting me, and for your kind words. Identical twins are rather a unique phenomenon – after all, can you imagine looking at an entirely different person and seeing your own face in theirs? Only they’re not you, they a totally separate being. It’s a little surreal, but you get used to it. Growing up with Lucian was like having a best friend around all the time. We did everything together as children, and although there was natural competition between us, we were very close. Lucian was always the more adventurous one of the two of us, not that I didn’t have my moments, of course, but he took pushing the limits to new levels. Back in the early nineteenth century when we were children, things were very different to the way they are now. Many of the freedoms teenagers experience today didn’t exist back then. And at fifteen, boys were considered men, and we were already being groomed to run our own affairs. As teenagers, Lucian and I started drifting apart because we simply had different interests. I loved art, and the opera, and books. My favorite book was The Last of the Mohicans, published in 1826. I still have a first-edition copy in pristine condition! Lucian, with his unbridled penchant for danger, was more interested in other things, like gambling and girls. Put it this way – he was interested in anything really that would have antagonized our father, who was quite a strict man. Both too much alike, Lucian suffered from a constant desire to prove himself to our father, and felt as if he could never measure up, especially with me in the picture. In hindsight, I can only appreciate how difficult it would have been to live in an older twin’s shadow. One time, Lucian was almost horsewhipped by our father for stealing a horse. Not that we didn’t have enough thoroughbreds of our own … Lucian did that purely on a dare. As always, it fell to me to rescue him. I didn’t mind – Lucian was my brother, and brothers were supposed to look out for each other. Of course, all that has changed now but it is what it is. C’est la vie. That’s life. I can only hope that in time we can become as close as we once were – and time is one thing that we both have a lot of.

2. What’s your favorite thing about being a vampire? Be honest.

You mean apart from immense wealth, fabulous good looks, and being able to live forever? I’m just joking. Art. Music. Books. Travel. For me, and I do consider myself to be the exception not the rule, being able to immerse myself century after century into the creative talents of man, is by far the greatest thing about being a vampire. Immortality, despite my sarcasm earlier, does have its perks. With it, I have been able to master hundreds of musical instruments, read as many books as I could get my hands on, travel to as many cities as I can imagine. Surrounding myself with the beauty of art and culture has brought color to my existence. That said, being able to compel people to do my bidding at any given time does have its advantages!

3. You’re a master of music (wicked piano player), are well-educated and can throw a good punch. Is there anything you can’t do?

You flatter me. But that’s just a product of what I am. With an eternity of time at my fingertips, learning to do anything new is interesting … and distracting. It draws away from the monotony of an immortal existence. Vampires have to work very hard to retain their humanity. Some choose not to. Others, like myself, prefer to not forget who we were and to celebrate the beauty of human creation. Unlike my brother, I’m not into the politics of the Vampire Houses nor am I interested in ruling on the Council, so I have to distract myself with other things. The things I enjoyed when I was human are much the same. And you know what they say, with practice, anyone can become a master at anything. Don’t get me wrong. The process of learning can become laborious, but I find that if you’re open to it, there’s always something new to discover. I even took a vow of silence for five years in Thailand many years ago. Five years may seem like a long time to you but it’s a blink of an eye to me. I discovered many important things about myself during those years, including not taking life for granted – after all, just because I’m a vampire, doesn’t mean I can’t die. Despite my many talents, a sharp stake can change the odds of my survival pretty quickly. So I’m still appreciative of the time I get to be in this world.

4. Talking about music, what type are you listening to these days? What’s on your ipod?

Technology is wonderful, isn’t it? Who would have thought a hundred years ago, you would have portable digital music on a something no bigger than a card deck. I love it. On my iPod, I’ve got the classics, of course. I can never have enough Bach or Vivaldi, or any of the concertos. In terms of what’s current, I also enjoy some of the more popular artists like Adele or 30 Seconds to Mars. I’m also a big fan of Katy Perry, she’s quite a versatile musician, and of course, the extraordinary and fascinating Lady Gaga. I also quite like Eminem. I caught one of his concerts in NY a few months ago at Yankee Stadium. He’s very passionate about his craft. I don’t mind some Lady Antebellum from time to time, and am also known to lose myself in some Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. It all depends on the day, and the mood I’m in, as I gather it works for most everyone else.

Here are the current top 5 on my iPod, a couple of which I have to thank Tori for:-

1)      Rolling in the Deep, Adele
2)      Sweet Dreams, Emily Browning (Tori)
3)      Closer to the Edge, 30 Seconds to Mars
4)      Black and Yellow, Wiz Khalifa (Tori)
5)      Jar of Hearts, Christina Perri (Tori)

5. Since we are a book blog, we gotta ask you about books. What are you reading these days? What’s in your STACKS?

Ahhh, books. People may come and go, but books, they live forever. Blood aside, they have been the single most treasured constant in my life. At Fontainebleue, our family estate just outside of Paris, I have an entire library covered wall-to-wall with books, many of them first editions and some of them even signed by the authors. They are some of my most prized possessions. I’ve read them all, and I read anything I can get my hands on – fiction, non-fiction, memoir, young adult, political, satirical, you name it. Of course, books have evolved with the years, and from time to time, I’ll find myself caught up within a specific genre. Right now, funnily enough, my penchant is for what you call urban fantasy (even though it’s more or less reality for me), especially the young adult kind. I guess I am technically still a teenager, after all. I find it fascinating and very entertaining to read about vampires or werewolves and what humans think about us. There’s a lot of truth in many of these so called fiction books, but that’s a discussion for another time. Here’s an iPhoto of what my STACK looks like right at this moment. The top one is of course my story, Bloodspell. It’s really quite self-serving to have that as number one, isn’t it? Ah well, I hope you will forgive the eccentricities of an old but still young vampire.

Thanks again for stopping by, it was fun. Come again anytime. We’ll leave the lights on for you.

Thank you for having me. No lights required, I quite enjoy the dark.

We talked forever (yay!) with Suzanne Young about her newest release, A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL. She totally rocked it. 

She also totally dished on the forthcoming sequel, A WANT SO WICKED and her 2013 release, THE PROGRAM. This one is a must listen.

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This is my top ten list of TV shows of ALL TIME.  That does not mean that I watch them much anymore, although I may have a marathon from time to time, and I most certainly own most of them on DVD.

Degrassi Junior High/ Degrassi High – The original, and best, of any television program about teens EVER.  Nothing before or since can touch this.  Nothing.  You just have to get past the clothes and the massive consumption of Granola Dipps.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Buffy takes a very close second.  I love the show so much, it sometimes chokes me up when I think about it.  Thank god for the comics. I cried when I met Joss Whedon.  Yeah, I’m that girl.

Beverly Hills 90210 – While definitely full of cheese compared with my first two choices, I recently watched the entire ten seasons again.  And I loved them.  In fact, I miss everyone very much.  I may have to start again from the beginning.

Northern Exposure – This is the sweetest show.  Another group of people I completely miss not being in my life.  My favorite was Ed.  What happened to Ed?

Freaks and Geeks – I watched this while it was on the air (come to think of it, I watched all of my favorites when they were originally aired), and I have watched it twice through since.  Can there really be only one season?  Paul Feig-written episodes are my faves.

Roseanne – This show amazes me when I watch it now.  The acting and writing are beyond anything in other sitcoms and the relatable plotlines and characters were sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes scary, always believable.  Well, until they won the lottery.  But that was all a tragic dream anyway.

The Monkees – Also one of my favorite bands of all time.  So silly and sweet and fun.  I watch it with my daughter.  She makes me talk to her through a bobblehead of Davy Jones.

Girlfriends – I really really love this show.  I am so glad I found the reruns on BET because I missed them.  The WB really screwed us fans by not giving the show a proper finale.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete – Maybe I’m biased because I interned on this show back in college.  I was an awesome intern.  The show combined everything I loved: romantic writing, quirky kids, and great music.  Plus, I got to hang out with Iggy Pop.

Tales from the Crypt – Still the best horror show ever made.  I love the Crypt Keeper, I love the tales, and I also love the comics.

I don’t know if any of these will make the permanent Top Ten list, but these are some of my current faves:

Ghost Adventures
Treme
True Blood
How I Met Your Mother
Parks and Recreation

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Julie, you had us at True Blood, Parks and Recreation and Degarassi, in that order.