Tour Stop with Adelle Griffin, Author of Tighter & Contest!

Here is a twitter conversation between Jamie Atkinson, the protagonist of Tighter, and her best friend, Maggie, plus Milo McCrae and Sebastian weighing in-

@jamie93 here is weirdness. The Situation is at my gym. #jerseyrocks

(retweeted by @thisisreallymaggie and others)

@mmcrae um … are we supposed to be impressed?

@jamie93 hater I thought I asked you to unfollow me @mmcrae

@jamie93 I was gonna to do this yoga class but think I’m going to leave. #wierdkarma #thesituation

@thisisreallymaggie Jamie *squeals* you better get a twitpic of him ASAP

DM @jamie93 to @thisisreallymaggie I can’t! he’s on the rowing machine. plus it’s too creepy.
@bassman I just uploaded a clip of myself auditioning for Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Bitly
(retweeted by @jamie93)

@jamie93 can I be your date when you win an oscar? U better say yes! @bassman

DM @bassman to @jamie93 I would settle for a weekend visit.

DM @jamie93 to @bassman serious? Are you coming up?

DM @bassman to @jamie93 yep w tix for – nope not sayin. Surprise.

@thisisreallymaggie grilled bacon mayo sandwich = heartburn

@jamie93 thanx for the overshare @thisisreallymaggie

@thisisreallymaggie tweeps i need help for my heartburn

@randomlydylan you just burp it out fine @thisisreallymaggie

@thisisreallymaggie ew dude who are you? @randomlydylan

 TIGHTER BY ADELE GRIFFIN

Knopf Books for Young Readers (May 10, 2011)

When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Brilliantly plotted, with startling twists, here is a thrilling page-turner from the award-winning Adele Griffin.

Want to win a copy of Tighter? 

Official Rules:

1.You must be 13 year or older to enter.

2. Open to entrants with a valid U.S./Canadian mailing address only. 

3. Entries must be received by Midnight EST on June 8th 2011.

4.To enter to win, simply leave a comment below including your email address.

For more information on upcoming Adele Griffin tour stops, check out the Teen {Book} Scene.

Adele Griffin has written a number of books for young adults, including Where I Want to Be, Amandine, The Other Shepards, the Witch Twins and Vampire Island series, Picture the Dead with bestselling illustrator Lisa Brown, and the new "Generation Facebook" novel The Julian Game. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Die For Me by Amy Plumb

DIE FOR ME 

BY AMY PLUMB

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (May 10, 2011)

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

Book Opening:

"Most sixteen-year olds I know would dream of living in a foreign city. But moving from Brooklyn to Paris after my parents' death was anything but a dream come true. It was more like a nightmare."

 Notable Scene: 

"All of a sudden I felt that old me- the pre-car-wreck Brooklyn me- was outside looking in at the new me, the me that not even a year ago had been forced to instantly grow up. " Page 124- ARC 

Die for Me was a book with a creative premise and suspenseful storyline in an exotic setting. I loved the description of the book (and jaw-dropping cover too).  The synopsis revolving around a grief-stricken 16-year old girl who moves to Paris and meets Vincent, a boy with a few supernatural secrets of his own intrigued me right from the start. Having been to Paris not too long ago myself, I looked forward being whisked back to a place within which I have so many happy memories.  Upon reading Die For Me, it was obvious that the author Amy Plumb also has a great affection for the city herself. The way she captured all the things which make Paris uniquely beautiful—the historical landmarks, the bustling cafes, the thrill of art museums like the Louvre and the draw-dropping architecture of the city itself—it was all described perfectly, reminding me of a painter's artful brush drawn across a canvas. For me, Paris was the real pull of the book. I think if Die For Me had taken place in any other city the book wouldn't have come together with as much allure and drama as it did.  But when you mix in this romantic, mysterious city, the story takes on a whole new trajectory and life of its own. After all, who hasn't dreamed about moving to Paris and falling in love?

I thought Amy Plumb's new brand of supernatural creature entitled "the Revenants" was unique and plausible. This is a novel where the supernatural world shimmers below the surface but doesn't saturate the story.   I appreciated the fact that it was all realistic and never too "over-the-top" which when done poorly, can make a novel seem almost ridiculous. There's a very tricky line a writer must draw when deciding how much magic to incorporate into a story. I thought Plumb did a fantastic job creating her new brand of supernatural. However, I have to admit that once I uncovered some core secrets regarding the Revenants, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I know not all of them were good, but I also wanted Vincent and his friends to be a little less "good" if you catch my drift—more of a dangerous sort of fallen angel than what they actually turned out to be. C'est la vie!

I also thought Kate fell in love with Vincent rather quickly. I have to say I've been there and done that so many times to really get swept away in YA romances anymore- but I know a lot of readers will appreciate the romantic aspect of their relationship and not be bothered by the quick progression of it. I did appreciate the construction of the other characters, particularly the minor ones like Kate's sister Georgia, their grandparents and the colorful members of Vincent's ragtag Revenants gang. I thought that Amy Plumb brought them all to life with great attention to detail- so much in fact, that I enjoyed their respective side stories more than the actual romance between Kate and Vincent themselves! All the characters felt extremely real to me and I could envision each one's appearance and personality to the letter. 

While I didn’t devour and fall in love with Die For Me the way I thought I would, I will say it's a series with a lot of potential. One with a creative mythology, breathtaking setting and well developed characters- I look forward to seeing what lies ahead in Kate's future.

Amy Plum grew up in Birmingham, Alabama before venturing further afield to Chicago, Paris, London and New York. An art historian by training, she finally traded a tiny apartment in Brooklyn for a rambling farmhouse in a village of 1300 people in the French countryside. She lives there with her French husband, two young children and big red dog Ella, and spends her time writing in a tiny ancient stone house in her garden. To learn more about the book, visit Amy Plumb's Official Website. 

Guest Post with Steve Hockensmith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

The story opens with our newly married protagonists, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, defending their village from an army of flesh-eating ‘unmentionables.’

But the honeymoon has barely begun when poor Mr. Darcy is nipped by a rampaging dreadful. Elizabeth knows the proper course of action is to promptly behead her husband (and then burn the corpse, just to be safe).

But when she learns of a miracle antidote under development in London, she realizes there may be one last chance to save her true love—and for everyone to live happily ever after.

Five Questions Steve Hockensmith Is Asking Himself

(1) Why are you guest-blogging at The Book Butterfly? You’ve never written a YA novel.

Au contraire, mon ami! But I have! I just didn’t set out to. Take my newest book, for instance: Dreadfully Ever After. It’s the sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I didn’t try to write it in the style of Jane Austen -- it’s got a more modern vibe than that. Yet certain ground rules still apply. No swearing. No sex (though there’s plenty of repressed passion). Family drama. Young, strong-willed heroines trapped by social convention. Reanimated corpses feasting on the flesh of the living. Put it all together and you’ve got a book that fits quite snugly in the YA category even if NSYA (Not So Young Adult) horror fans and Jane Austen fans were the original target audience.

(2) Do you think any of your other books could qualify as YA?

Well, certainly Dawn of the Dreadfuls, the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies prequel that came out last year, would fit for all the reasons mentioned above. No swearing, no sex, reanimated corpses, etc. And since it takes place four years before the original PPZ, the heroines are all in their teens. That’s gotta help. I also write mystery novels -- the “Holmes on the Range” series -- that might appeal to the YA crowd, particularly boys. It’s about a pair of young cowboy brothers who set out to become detectives using the methods of their hero, Sherlock Holmes. There is a certain amount of PG-13 swearing, though. And though there’s no sex, the existence of sex is acknowledged. (My heroes help out prostitutes on more than one occasion.) And some of the deaths are pretty gruesome. In fact, the first book in the series opens with the guys trying to piece together a body that’s been trampled by a herd of.... O.K. So maybe my mysteries aren’t so YA-friendly after all.

(3) Now that you’ve stumbled into the YA field, would you like to stay?

Oh, yeah! I’m so ignorant about the field, though. I mean, I know next to nothing about the current marketplace. I have the impression that it’s dominated by female readers but people are always looking for books that would engage teen boys. And I think every series has to feature a handsome, broody young vampire. Who glimmers. Or maybe sparkles. Or does he just glow? See what I mean? There’s so much I have to learn!

(4) If you don’t know anything about the YA field, what makes you think you could write more YA books?

Whoa. Good question. Arrogance?

(5) Fair enough. Ready for lunch?

Totally. I’m thinking Chinese today.

Steve Hockensmith is the author of two Pride and Prejudice and Zombies novels and five Holmes on the Range mysteries. He also talks to himself a lot. You can learn more about him at www.stevehockensmith.com.

Bryan Cohen Blog Tour & Giveaway Stop

A Compelling Goal

By Bryan Cohen

I am a total nerd. Throughout most of middle and high school I played an extensive catalog of video games. Sure, some of them were the fun shoot ‘em ups that even the popular kids would play from time to time. Most of the games I played, however, involved wizards, warriors, and dragons. I loved becoming immersed in games like those in the Final Fantasy series that took 50+ hours of my time to complete.

Every once in a while, I start feeling the pull of these games and I am compelled to begin playing them again. The only way I am able to get myself away from their time-sucking grasp is to give myself a more exciting and interesting real-life challenge to face. To get away from a game centered on quests, I have to give myself a real-life quest.

I realized later in life that these games were so interesting to me because they were goal-oriented. I didn’t have many goals myself at the time, so I let Nintendo and Sony come up with them for me. “Find the special jewel in the mystical cave” or “create an antidote using a flower from the hidden forest” and so on. Sure, these goals were pretty silly, but they were clear and positive and I was confident I could achieve them. If you don’t have a compelling goal in your life, someone or something (perhaps even a video game producer) will come up with your goals for you.

It is up to you to design the direction of your life. You simply need to make sure the destination is exciting enough for you to put things like video games and other time wasters off to the side. In college, this compelling goal was to write, act, and direct in my school’s theatre program. I put everything I had: time, ideas, love, and anything else I could muster into every show I was a part of. Let me tell you, when a show went well, I felt a heck of a lot better than I did defeating an army of evil orcs.

Nowadays, my compelling goal is to write and publish my work to help and/or entertain people. If I ever feel sucked into a time waster, I just remind myself that my real-life goal is a lot more exciting and tangible. The first step in this process is to create an interesting goal to achieve. Until then, any shiny light of entertainment or ho-hum task given to you by someone else will be who you are and what you do.

CONTEST 

Bryan Cohen is giving away 100 personalized writing prompts to one giveaway entrant chosen at random during the blog tour. Personalized prompts are story starters that cater specifically to a writer’s subject matter, strengths/weaknesses, etc. Cohen will create the prompts to cater exclusively to the winner.

 
He is giving away free digital copies of his book The Writing Sampler to everybody who enters, which includes excerpts from each of his four books on writing. The book contains essays, writing prompts and tips and tricks to enhance your writing skills. In addition, for each of Cohen’s books that reach the Top 500 on Amazon during his blog tour, he will add a $50 Amazon gift card to the drawing (up to six $50 cards in total)!


To enter, simply post a comment to this blog post with your e-mail address. Entries will be counted through June 2nd, 2011.

Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. Since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he has written four books (1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More, 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade, Sharpening the Pencil: Essays on Writing, Motivation, and Enjoying your Life, and Writer on the Side: How to Write Your Book Around Your 9 to 5 Job), several plays (Something from Nothing and Chekhov Kegstand: A Dorm Room Dramedy in Two Acts) and he was the head writer for an un-produced Web series (Covenant Coffee). His writing and motivation website Build Creative Writing Ideas has had over 100,000 visitors since it was founded in December 2008. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Follow Bryan on Twitter @buildcwideas.

Creatively Stuck? Check out http://www.build-creative-writing-ideas.com

Splash into Summer Giveway: Win Corsets & Clockwork!

Welcome to Tour Stop Number 125 in the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop! 

The Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners. 

It takes place between May 25th and May 31st.

There are over 300 blogs participating in this giveaway. Check out the tour list HERE for more chances to win!

GIVEAWAY

ONE FINISHED  COPY OF 

CORSETS & CLOCKWORK

BY ANN AGUIRE, MICHAEL SCOTT, ET AL

Loading...

Loading...

Dark, urban fantasies come to life in the newest collection of Steampunk stories, Corsets & Clockwork. Young heroes and heroines battle evils with the help of supernatural or super-technological powers, each individual story perfectly balancing historical and fantastical elements. Throw in epic romances that transcend time, and this trendy, engrossing anthology is sure to become another hit for the fast-growing Steampunk genre!

This collection features some of the hottest writers in the teen genre, including: Ann Aguirre, Jaclyn Dolamore, Tessa Gratton, Frewin Jones, Caitlin Kittredge, Adrienne Kress, Lesley Livingston, Dru Pagliassotti, Dia Reeves, Michael Scott, Maria V. Snyder, Tiffany Trent, and Kiersten White.

Official Rules:

1.You must be 13 year or older to enter.

2. Open to entrants with a valid U.S. mailing address only. 

3. Entries must be received by Midnight EST on May 31st 2011.

4.To enter to win, simply fill out the form below

FORM

Mercy by Rebecca Lim Giveaway- Ten Copies Up for Grabs!

Welcome to  today's tour stop in celebration of Rebecca Lim's recently released novel, Mercy! I'm thrilled to be giving away TEN finished copies courtesy of Hyperion. Details below.

 GIVEAWAY

MERCY BY REBECCA LIM

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (May 17, 2011)

Mercy is an exile from heaven with shattered memories of who she used to be. She’s doomed to “wake” repeatedly on earth in a new body, each time assuming a new life. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by her lost love, who pleads with her to find him.

But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen-year-old reeling from the loss of his twin sister, Lauren, who was kidnapped two years ago. Only Mercy and Ryan believe his sister is still alive. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose: she can help. So she doesn’t understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the mystery of Lauren’s disappearance, danger looms just one step behind.

Will Mercy be able to harness her extraordinary power in time? The first in a dazzling new series, Mercy masterfully weaves romance, mystery and the supernatural into a spell-binding tale that readers will devour.

Official Rules:

1.You must be 13 year or older to enter.

2. Open to entrants with a valid U.S./Canadian mailing address only. 

3. Entries must be received by Midnight EST on June 3, 2011.

4.To enter to win, simply fill out the form below.

Good luck!

FORM

Rebecca Lim is a writer and illustrator based in Melbourne. She has written seven books for children and young adult readers, most recently the Whiffy Newton series published in Australia and internationally. She has also won several adult writing and poetry prizes.

In My Mailbox!

  In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

From JuJu at Tales of Whimsy - thank you! 


SCONES AND SENSIBILITY BY LINDSAY ELAND (December 28, 2010)

Seek tirelessly and you shall not find a contemporary heroine of middle-grade literature as refined and romantic as Miss Polly Madassa. Still swooning over the romantic conclusions of Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, twelve-year-old Polly decides her purpose in life: helping along lonely hearts in search of love. Polly's only task this summer is to make deliveries for her parents' bakery, leaving ample time for this young cupid to find hearts to mend--beginning with the kite-store owner, Mr. Nightquist, who will pair perfectly with Miss Wiskerton (the unfairly labeled town curmudgeon). Polly's best friend Fran Fisk is in desperate need of a mother ever since hers ran off with a man she met on the Internet; Polly must find a match for Mr. Fisk. And while she's at it, it wouldn't hurt to find Clementine, Polly's teenaged sister, a beau worthy of her (so she can shed that brute, Clint). Polly's plans are in full swing, so she definitely cannot be bothered by the advances of classmate Brad Barker.

But maybe Polly should have turned her attention to Miss Austen's Emma next, because she quickly learns the pitfalls of playing matchmaker. How will Polly patch up her own relationships, while ensuring that destined love can take its course?

LIBRARY

INFINITE DAYS BY REBECCA MAIZEL

"Throughout all my histories, I found no one I loved more than you...no one."

Those were some of Rhode's last words to me. The last time he would pronounce his love. The last time I would see his face.

It was the first time in 592 years I could take a breath. Lay in the sun. Taste.

Rhode sacrificed himself so I, Lenah Beaudonte, could be human again. So I could stop the blood lust.

I never expected to fall in love with someone else that wasn't Rhode.

But Justin was...daring. Exciting. More beautiful than I could dream.

I never expected to be sixteen again...then again, I never expected my past to come back and haunt me...

(I just want to say this is one of my all-time favorite vampire books--I devoured this book and was left reeling for more. I can't wait for the sequel!)

UNEARTHLY BY CYNTHIA HAND (January 4, 2011)

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

( I just started this one and so far I'm really loving it!  I love that Clara knows what she is from the start and I don't have to wait for 1/2 of the book for her to come to terms with her abilities. Seems like a creative blend of  angel mythology and mystery. Looking forward to reading on! )

What's in your mailbox?

Win a copy of Viola in the Spotlight by Adriana Trigiani!

VIOLA IN THE SPOTLIGHT (Viola in Reel Life)

BY ADRIANA TRIGIANI

I am in the midst of a conundrum.

Viola is finally where she belongs—back home in Brooklyn, where there are no khakis or sherbet-colored sweaters and people actually think her yellow flats are cool. With two whole months of nothing to do but hang with her two best friends, Andrew and Caitlin, this is going to be the best break ever!
But her BFFAA, Andrew, has started acting weird around her, and a new boyfriend has her friend Caitlin ditching her every chance she gets. When Viola's roommates from Prefect Academy show up for a visit, she starts to wonder—is Brooklyn where she wants to stay? When a tragic event shakes everyone's world, Viola realizes it's not where she belongs that matters—it's who she's with that really counts.

In this heartwarming follow-up to bestselling author Adriana Trigiani's teen debut, Viola in Reel Life, Viola just may be ready to get out from behind her trusty video camera and take the starring role in her own life.


Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her hilarious and heartwarming novels. She was raised in a small coal-mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. Trigiani chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, which was followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, and Rococo were all instant New York Times bestsellers Adriana also teamed up with her family for Cooking with My Sisters, which was cowritten by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mother. The cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family. Trigiani's novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

I have TWO finished copies of Viola in the Spotlight up for grabs courtesy of Harper Teen!

TO ENTER TO WIN: 

Leave me a comment (along with your email address).
Bonus entry if you answer the following question-

Is there anyplace you've ever lived that you are homesick for?

(Ex: I grew up in New Hampshire and I get really depressed living in Florida where there's no changing of the seasons or snow for Christmas. Sure don't miss shoveling the driveway though!)

Official Rules: Open to entrants age 13 years or older with a valid U.S. or Canadian mailing address. Contest ends at 5/28 midnight eastern standard time.