THE NEAR WITCH: A winner and a new *international* contest!

The last winner (courtesy of D*H) of THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab is:

Aydrea

Yay! Please email me your address asap.  

Also, since none of these lovely giveaways were open to international, I'm going to give away one to you from The Book Depository! 

So, if you're international and you been itching for a chance to win THE NEAR WITCH, fill out this form below and if Book Depository ships there, you can win!!

• Open until July 15 at midnight! 

• Not eligible if you've already won a copy

• This DOES include Canada. (Anywhere not US)

Cassandra Clare and Holly Black re-cap

It was a sunny Friday afternoon when this lovely blogger and her #entourage signing friends (Gail, Nikki, the other Danielle and Jen) hopped in the car for a two-ish hour ride to South Hadley, MA. This cutesy little bookstore called The Odyssey hosted a signing for two big-time authors, Cassandra Clare and Holly Black.

It was my Cassandra Clare signing—and I’m a huge Cassie Clare fangirl, so I was pretty excited. I’m still excited. I was also excited for Holly! I’m knee deep in White Cat and loving it. If you’ve never been to a Cassie Clare/ Holly Black signing—it looks a little something like this. Well, that's the line. It was packed out! ---->

And if you didn’t know this, Cassie is super hilarious and Holly is probably the sweetest lady I’ve ever met in my life. So they are both winners—and you can tell they’re friends because they bounce comments back and forth like it’s second nature. I love it. It made for a thrilling event.

Cassie and Holly both did readings. Cassie from Clockwork Prince (WOW!) and Holly from Red Glove.  I got a small snippet from Cassie before my camera freaked out.

Cassie reading:


They also did q&a from the audience. Here are some recaps from that!

What’s harder about a series: the first book or the last?

Holly: The first book because you have to do so much world building.
Cassie: The last book because you have to pay-off everything you’ve set up.
Holly: The last can be difficult if you didn’t figure out something you thought you would by then.

Where did the idea for Shadowhunters come from? Which side has more in the uprising? Which book was your favorite to write?

Cassie: Shadowhunter idea came after visiting with a friend and seeing tattoo designs and then playing the “what-if” game. That friend still does the drawings for all the runes in the books; The Clave because they had warning and enough time to gain help from the Downworlders; City of Glass because of the pay-off.

Do you like writing Jace or Will more?

Cassie: “That’s hard. Jace is comfortable. I’ve known Jace longer and better; he's very easy and familiar. Will is crazy!”
Holly: “Crazy as a bedbug!”
Cassie: “He’s very fun because you don't know where he will go and there's pleasure in that.”

Do you feel bad for killing off characters and have you ever not killed a character?

Holly: Cassie doesn't feel bad ever! I've never planned to kill someone and not killed them but I have given more scenes because I liked them.

Cassie: I've put off killing them (like the character that dies in the third book) because I thought it would be more upsetting to the readers if he was around longer. I enjoy slaying. And if they didn't die it'd remove the conflict from the story and happy people are boring.

Favorite character from each other’s books?

Cass: Rioban in Tithe; Jarrod, Ian and Cassel’s grandpa in White Cat.

Holly: Luke and Will. I love Luke. She’ll tell me about something and I’ll always ask “Well, what about Luke?” or “How does that affect Luke?” And Will but not in a shipping way. I love Will because he’s crazy. There’s a scene in the new one where he chases a demon in a circle at a party. There are guest and everything and he’s chasing the demon around and yelling.

Cassie: It’s a small circle

Holly: That’s worse!

Why do you change POVS in the book? (Someone also asked specifically about “more Alec in CoLS” and “why Holly switched between Tithe/White Cat”)

Cassie: You get the most interesting things that way from all the characters with the back and forth. Otherwise, you’d be watching people sleep and eat pizza. And yes, there will be more Alec in book five because he follows up on an offer made in CoFA.

Holly: Book two (of Tithe series) was supposed to be new book about kids who live in subway and deal with addiction with the twist of a modern tale about a girl who wants to be a knight. Then, as I wrote it I ended up putting in the same world as Tithe.

With Curse Workers, I wanted to try something new so I did first person and present tense. But hard things are hard—and you can try them but they are still hard. Now, I have to keep going on it but I may not do it again.

Where did Magnus come from?

Cassie: I was clubbing with my friend John in NYC and he was encrusted with glitter. We went Sbarro’s to some Coke to drink and the lady behind the counter says, "Never in my life have I seen such a shiny man!" And there was Magnus. John, like Magnus, is very intelligent, rounded, wise, fun and sparkly. Initially Magnus was only supposed to appear at the party but I liked him and he got more screentime.

*Possible spoiler for CoB-CoG* How did you get the idea to have Jace and Clary believe they were brother and sister?

It was a real-life story that she saw in a hotel in England. A boy and girl were married and both were adopted. So, they did genetic screening to see if they carried any factors that could affect their children. The results came back that they were brother and sister. The country made them get divorced but the idea that you loved someone that you absolutely couldn’t was really appealing.

What advice do you have for writers?

Holly: We have a list for this. I handle advice and Cassie handles writers block.

1. Read everything and read outside comfort zone to learn new ways to do things. 2. Write a lot and figure out your style, plot and characters. 3. Get a crit partner at the same level you are how can tell honestly how it is and ask you hard questions. The accountability is important so they can ask, "Why didn't you do this?"

Some other tidbits of information:

• Would Holly and Cassie ever co-write a book? Yes! They have written shorts together and would be interested if schedules worked out.
• In the overall series of Infernal Devices you will find out where/what Tessa's parents are any why/how she was in City of Glass with Magnus.
• In original draft of City of Glass, Alec and Jace kissed but she took it out because it didn’t work. It’s online somewhere though if you are curious.
• Cassie has no tattoos of her own, but she’s really honored that people get them because of her books. “You’re always obsessed with things you don’t have yourself.”
• Weirdest fan encounters: someone threw water on Holly but no one knows why. Cassie met a couple who were naming their baby Jace. When she asked the father if he was okay with it he said “That’s a badass name!” And thought it was cool that Jace has a flying motorcycle and kills demons. 
• Holly said: “I knew I wanted to write b/c I looked around one day and everyone else had grown up and stopped but I hadn’t.

It was a great event! They did the signing after and we spent two hours waiting in line for Cassie, but it was fantastic. I got to chat with Holly some while we waited; we talked about make-up, writing and I even convinced her to read CLARITY. The time passed quickly.  Plus, since we were the last ones up to see Cassie and they ran out of chapter samplers and TMI postcards, Cassie gave each of us some Shadowhunter goodies! The other Danielle and I now each half a friendship rune necklace--so that's all sorts of awesome. The other perk? We got to get a group shot!

So many WRITING-type contests!

I'm not sure how many of you are writers. (Hopefully there are some that follow me!!) But there are A LOT of contests going on in the blogging world. I wanted to share everything that I've seen pop up--and I'm sure there are tons more I'm missing. If you know of one, post it for me in the comments!

Lynette Labelle is offer a query/opening page critique. All you have to do is follow some of her blogs and spread the word. So check out this one! Lynette will even be teaching a class about hooks in April. You can get more information on that here.

WriteOnCon is having many query contests! What is WriteOnCon? "WriteOnCon is a totally free, interactive online Writer’s Conference held annually during the summer. Our first Conference, held August 10-12, 2010, had over 11,000 attendees." Click HERE to read the story in Publisher’s Weekly and HERE to see the about on the website. I attended last year and loved it! It was very helpful and fun.

Some things up as of Monday:

Query letter critique: Jill Corcoran with Herman Agency
Query letter critique: Ginger Clark with Curtis Brown ltd.
Query letter phone critique: Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary
Query letter critique: Jennifer Rofe of Andrea Brown Literary
Query letter critique: Marietta Zacker of Nancy Gallt Literary
Query letter critique: Beth Fleisher at Clear Sailing Creatives
Query letter critique: Tina Wexler at  International Creative Management


added: 
First three lines contest
 
 That's it for now! I'll keep updating this as I see more come along. Don't forget to add something if you find it! And good luck if you enter.

Interview with Kim Harrington

Kim Harrington lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son. When not writing, she's most likely reading, watching one of her favorite TV shows, or fantasizing about her next vacation. She has no psychic powers and is cool with that. Her debut young adult novel, Clarity, is coming out March 1, 2011 (TODAY!) from Scholastic.

If you were an item on a Mexican restaurant, what would you would be and why?

Enchilada because I'm cheesy.

Do you remember where you were/what you were doing the first time you heard Clare’s voice?

I don’t remember, but I imagine I was sitting in my living room since that’s where I usually brainstorm. 

What type of research did you have to do for this book?

I visited a few psychics. That was fun! I got help from a security camera expert for one scene. And I researched what kinds of police programs a 17-year-old could be involved in. I didn’t need to research Cape Cod since I’ve spent so much time there, but of course I made a few trips for inspiration. :) 

What are the last five songs played on your I-pod?

Okay, this is going to be a whole lot of random…

Interpol – “Pace Is The Trick”

Buffalo Tom – “I’m Allowed”

BLK JKS – “Lakeside”

Explosions in the Sky – “Your Hand In Mine”

Cypress Hill – “How I Could Just Kill a Man”

Tell us a funny story.

The secret in my author photo is pretty funny: http://kimharrington.blogspot.com/2011/01/secrets-of-author-photo.html

If you could be a character in any novel you’ve ever read (that’s not your own), who would you be and why?

I can’t think of any. My favorite books pretty much torture their characters. Their lives have too much conflict for my taste. I like my fiction exciting and my real life drama-free.

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?

I’d say DORK DIARIES, but I think that already exists.

If you could have any special power, which one would you choose and what would you do with it?

I would want to teleport because I’m so impatient. Long car rides, plane rides…I want to just get there! Teleportation would rock.

What’s the journey of a book for you? (How does it start, how do ideas develop, writing process, edits.)

Idea development actually differs from book to book. With Clarity, the characters came to me first. I developed them, then came up with a plot. With my standalone that’s coming in 2012, the plot came first and I developed the characters second.  My writing process, however, seems to be the same for each book. While writing the first draft, I work steadily day after day. I’m not a burst writer. I could never write 6000 words in a day. I also go back and edit what I wrote the previous day before I start writing new words. It gets me back into the right voice.

How did you get interested in writing YA?

Mainly from reading it. Some good advice is to write the book you’d like to read, so it came from that.

Describe Clarity in six words.

Murder mystery, beach town, hot guys.

Which character is the most fun and the least fun to write?

Clare is the most fun to write because she’s funny and snarky. Hmm…least fun…that one’s hard. Maybe a side character, Phil, because I pity him.

Which of your characters will be the biggest surprise to readers?

[redacted for spoilage]  ;) I loved Mdm. Maslov, but that's because I adored her.

What’s one thing you want people to know about your book if it’s all they ever get to know?

Holy crap, this is the hardest question ever. Maybe I should make something up… IF YOU READ THIS BOOK, A GENIE WILL GIVE YOU THREE WISHES.

Someone said Clarity, “I'm grateful to have finally found a story to fill the Private-Detective-shaped void left in my heart after VERONICA MARS was canceled.” I agree with it. But as a VERONICA MARS fan yourself, what is your response?

As a Veronica Mars fan, it’s a HUGE compliment. Anytime someone compares the two, my heart smiles. (Hearts can smile. Really.) 

And FTW….The world is about to be destroyed by evil green alien penguins. You are the only one who can save it and you have at your disposal: a broken oil lamp, duct tape, a wooden spoon, a bike horn and a pair of sneakers. What would you do? 

First, ask Danielle if she’s on crack. Then, find out she’s serious, put on the sneakers and run.

Thanks Kim! And I may be on crack. The tests are still out. (kidding!)

I love Kim. Check out my review of Clarity right here and it comes out today everywhere---so go buy it!! You won't regret it. 

Kim's launch party is Saturday--and I'm going. So, I'm going to give you a chance to win a signed and personalized copy of Clarity. All you have to do is fill out this form. And, if you want to tweet about this contest or share it on your blog or facebook or something...that would be lovely. It's not required. 

This is open internationally and ends at midnight on Friday, March 4.

ALSO, part of the joy of a launch party is asking the authors questions. So, if you have any questions you want Kim to answer, leave it in the comment and I'll ask some on Saturday and share them in the recap. Make sure they're good!

Breathless Reads Tour

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of journeying to New York City with some of my blogger buddies (Gail of Ticket to Anywhere, Nikki of Wicked Awesome Books, Dani of Overflowing Shelf & Jen of Secret Life of a Bibliophile) to the first stop on the Breathless Reads tour at Books of Wonder.

It was a long day--complete with six hours of driving and 2 hours on a train where we ladies talked loudly and excitedly about books, blogging, authors, music and everything under the sun. It was joyous. We had pizza, met some other bloggers & delivered cookies to our author friends. (Yum.)

The authors: Kirsten Miller, Brenna Yovanoff, Andrea Cremer, Ally Condie & Beth Revis. The first part of the signing was q&a with the authors.

Here are some highlights from that thanks to Jen, who furiously tweeted as many answers as she could. She rocks. :) 

Q: Is there any of you in your character?

Brenna: My crit partners tell me I am the Morrigan. She went on to explain that it's only occasionally. 

Beth: There's a little bit of me in all my characters. Amy embodies the loneliness that she felt and Elder the adventure and desire to know things that she doesn't understand.

Q: What advice to do you have for young writers? 

Brenna Yovanoff

Beth said to find things that you're interested in go do those things instead--you have to experiences to write about and writing can't get in the way of living.

Brenna said to write. She spoke about having a balance between the living and the writing or one wouldn't get done.

Ally said to have a something else happening in your life as well---and to write.

Andrea Cremer

Andrea said that you need to write for yourself, for the story that has to be told--because if you do it any other way then you won't be satisfied.

Kirsten says you have to have a thick skin so you're able to handle the things people say to you. She also said to be able to sit for a long time.

Q: Did you always want to be a writer?

 

Beth said: "I always wanted to be a writer because typing was cool and I was good at it. Then, someone said I should have another plan. I agreed that I wanted to have money--so I became a teacher....I took a creative writing class that wasn't fun." Beth said the teacher wouldn't let her write what she wanted to but eventually she started writing. She talked a lot about blowing stuff up, which all her early stories involved. "I wrote ten really bad novels and then a good one."

Ally and Andrea both taught prior to writing, and both wanted to write. Andrea started because she broke her leg and was in a cast for 12 weeks. So, she used the time to write. Ally started writing because she stayed home with her son and "babies go to bed at like 7." Everyone had great answers! I wish I would've been able to catch them all for you.

Beth shared a story about "Frexing" that was really great. She initially used "Frak" but didn't know about Battlestar. So, she was searching for a term they could use on the ship and she read "Frex" on a blog. She liked it, used it & discovered it meant "For Example." Luckily, it also ended up being an acronym for....well, I won't say. It's in the book. You go search and figure it out!

Q: What's harder to write: the first line or the last?

Kirsten says the first line is the hardest because everything starts there. Andrea says the last because it has to be perfect. Ally said the last as well. Brenna said the first. Beth said both--but even more important is the line in the middle of the book. :)

Q: What was your favorite subject in high school?

Kirsten Miller

Kirsten was good at English and liked English. But--she really loved Chemistry (even though she wasn't good at it.) "We had an expensive, fancy lab and I really wanted to blow things up!"

Andrea said drama and history--which she taught at a college level prior to writing.

Brenna didn't really care about English back then; she loved PE.

Ally said Biology because they didn't have an expensive, fancy Chemistry lab but they did have "lots of dead animals" she could cut up.

Beth said history and science. And typing.

Ally Condie

Q: Can you remember the first story you ever wrote?

Ally's first story? "It was called Unicorn Party. I had plastic unicorn necklace and I dropped in the stable." (It became REAL!) "I had a real unicorn--and it was pregnant. I had pregnant unicorns so naturally, I had a party to celebrate. That was the whole story."

There were many more great questions and answers. It was a fun stop and they are hilarious ladies! If they come anywhere near you make sure you're there!! Check out the rest of the dates here.

Us with Kirsten Miller

Us with Ally Condie

Us with Andrea, Beth and Brenna. :)

What would a signing be without a prize for my lovely followers?

What you can win:

Prize 1: Buttons & an ARC (I have Eternal Ones, Across the Universe and Nightshade to choose from)

Prize 2: SIGNED bookmarks for The Replacements, Nightshade & The Eternal Ones....and an ARC. (Same options as above, minus winner's choice.)

Prize 3: This poster signed by all the authors. 

To win: 
Leave a comment on ANYWHERE ON MY BLOG that includes #breathlesstour in the comment (and your email if you aren't a GFC follower) so I can find you. OR fill out the form. Please do NOT do both.



I'm going to draw three winners based off the comments using random.org (starting with prize #1).  US/Canada only.  The contest will end Thursday, February 17 at midnight.

Julie Kagawa Giveaway!

It's been a great week celebrating Julie Kagawa! I love The Iron Fey series & Julie! I hope you do as well!

Here's a fun excerpt direct from The Iron Queen...

Ash strode to a nearby rock, swooped down, and tossed me a long, slightly curved stick.  When I caught it, I saw that it was actually a leather sheath with a gilded brass hilt poking from the top.  A sword.  Ash was giving me a sword … why? 
            Oh, yeah.  Because I wanted to learn to fight.  Because I’d asked him to teach me. 
            Ash, watching me with that weary, knowing look on his face, shook his head.  “You forgot, did you?”
            “Nooooo,” I said quickly.  “I just … didn’t think it would be this soon.”
            “This is the perfect place.”  Ash turned slightly to gaze around the clearing.  “Quiet, hidden.  We can catch our breath here.  It’s a good place to learn while you’re waiting for your father to come out of it.  When we’re done here, I have a feeling things will get much more chaotic.”  He gestured to the sword in my hand.  “Your first lesson begins now.  Draw your sword.”
I did.  Unsheathing it sent a raspy shiver across the glen, and I gazed at the weapon in fascination.  The blade was thin and slightly curved, an elegant looking weapon, razor sharp and deadly.  A warning tickled the back of my mind.  There was something about the blade that was … different.    Blinking, I ran my fingers along the cool, gleaming edge, and a chill shot through my stomach.   
            The blade was made of steel.  Not faery steel.  Not a fey sword covered in glamour.  Real, ordinary iron.  The kind that would burn faery flesh and sear away glamour.  The kind that left wounds impossible to heal. 
            I gaped at it, then at Ash, who looked remarkably calm to be facing his greatest weakness.  “This is steel,” I told him, sure that Leanansidhe had made a mistake.
            He nodded.  “An eighteenth-century Spanish saber.  Leanansidhe nearly had a fit when I told her what I wanted, but she was able to track one down in exchange for a favor.”  He paused then, wincing slightly.  “A very large favor.”
Alarmed, I stared at him.  “What did you promise her?” 
        “It doesn’t matter.  Nothing that endangers us in any way.”  He hurried on before I could argue.  “I wanted a light, slashing weapon for you, one with a good amount of reach, to keep opponents farther away.”  He gestured to the saber with his own weapon, a blindingly quick stab of blue. "You’ll be moving around a lot, using speed instead of brute force against your enemies.  That blade won’t block heavier weapons, and you don’t have the strength to swing a longsword effectively, so we’re going to have to teach you how to dodge.  This was the best choice.”
“But this is steel,” I repeated, listening to him in amazement.  He could teach a class with his knowledge of weapons and fighting.  “Why a real sword?  I could seriously hurt someone.”
“Meghan.”  Ash gave me a patient look.  “That’s exactly why I chose it.  You have an advantage with that weapon that none of us can touch.  Even the most violent redcap will think twice about facing a real, mortal blade.  It won’t scare the Iron fey, of course, but that’s where training will come in.”
            “But … but what if I hit you?”
             A snort.  “You’re not going to hit me.”
            “How do you know?”  I bristled at his amused tone.  “I could hit you.  Even master swordsmen make mistakes.  I could get a lucky shot, or you might not see me coming.  I don’t want to hurt you.”
            He favored me with another patient look.  “And how much experience do you have with swords and weapons in general?” 
“Um.”  I glanced down at the saber in my hand.  “Thirty seconds?”
              He smiled, that calm, irritatingly confident smirk.  “You’re not going to hit me.”

Ah! It's so lovely isn't it?! The book is amazing!  On to the winning....The lucky winner will receive your choice of the series from the Book Depository. It's open international if TBD delivers there.  Contest closes January 30 at 9 pm EST.

Click here to enter!

200 Followers Giveaway!

I'm excited! 200 followers--that's so awesome! You totally, totally rock!! I'm not going to delay  the giveaway news with some big speech. BUT if I could do this, I would...



O_O hehehehe...

And as The Doctor would say to each of you: You are brilliant. (Really. He would. I promise. You can see here.)

Anyway. We're casting lots for prizes! Here are the rules, it's pretty simple.

• You get three lots (entries) for being a follower. You can use them toward anything that you see here! They can go toward one prize or you can split them up. It's your choice. 
• If you are casting all your lots toward one book, there's an option that says "Add the rest of my lots to this entry." If you click that, whatever remains will go there.
• You MUST BE a follower to enter. Since, I'm celebrating you. :) Normally I don't require that.
• This IS international.
• Giveaway ends on January 11.   

 There are no extra entries but feel free to spread the word!  


Here's what's up for grabs! (All are ARCs) You can click on a book for the info.

And this Author Swag Pack!! I have two of them. :)

It includes: Brightly Woven bookmark, Mockingjay tattoos and mini-posters, an Across The Universe goody, signed A Touch Moral swag, Michelle Zink bookplate & signed Angelfire swag. 

That's the giveaway!!! Here's the form. Thanks for following!! 2011 is going to be such fun!

Win an ARC of Across the Universe!

I posted a review earlier. You can read it here.


Don't forget that you can enter to win an ARC of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. Just fill out this form. Contest is US/Canada only. Ends Thursday!





My mini-review:

Godspeed that has been travelling though space for 300 years. The people aboard are waiting for the new society that lies ahead. These are the people who will populate the uncharted territory—them and the secret stash of frozen bodies that lie under the main levels of the ship. Amy is one of the frozen. When she is woken 50 years before Godspeed is scheduled to land on the new planet, everything goes into chaos. She’s too different, too much of anomaly and her very existence threatens everything, including Elder. Elder is the next in line to lead the ship to safety and despite the commands from Eldest, the current leader, there’s something about Amy that he can’t ignore.  Elder finds himself at the center of a mystery that’s bigger than both he and Amy, he knows she’s the only person he can trust. But can Amy allow herself to trust Elder? The answers to everything lie within each other. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is an adventure that everyone will want to read—boys and girls, moms and dads—and you won’t want to miss this incredible thrill ride, that’s part-dystopia, part-sci-fi and part-all the things you’re afraid to wonder about.

Book Talk: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Publisher: Penguin/Razorbill
Date: January 2011
Series or Standalone: First in series
ISBN: 978-1595143976
Format: Hardcover,  416 pages
Description:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awake on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into a brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

First line: Daddy said, “Let mom go first.”

From the opening pages of Across the Universe, you can tell this book is going to be magic. I read this book in one sitting and closed it in begrudgingly, not wanting it to be over. Beth Revis did an amazing job telling this story. She weaved in so many small details and each one of them built on the other to create this world of metal and lies, tucked away in the abyss of space. It’s a thriller, dystopia, sci-fi, romantic adventure all in one.

Godspeed that has been travelling though space for 300 years. The people aboard are waiting for the new society that lies ahead. These are the people who will populate the uncharted territory—them and the secret stash of frozen bodies that

lie under the main levels of the ship. The frozen are the best and brightest that Earth had to offer and volunteered to go to the new world and help create the best life possible.

Amy is one of the frozen. She volunteered to go because her parents were going, but really, she had nothing to offer a new world—she just didn’t want to be alone. Amy is awoken 50 years before Godspeed is scheduled to land on the new planet and her awaken throws her life—as well order on the space ship—into chaos. Amy is a freak in a very controlled environment, a place where everyone looks and acts the same—and no one is supposed to talk to her.  Half of this incredible story is told in her perspective.

The other half is told from Elder’s perspective. Elder is also a teenager—a very important one. He’s the next in line to lead the ship and is under instructions from the current leader, Eldest. Eldest is constantly frustrated with his successor because of their differences, which makes Elder a target of Eldest’s anger and frustration and Eldest doesn’t teach Elder as he should. Once Amy is thawed, Eldest questions how can Elder be a good leader if he is blinded by the trouble Amy will cause.

Elder ignores the warnings about the girl with red hair. Elder quickly falls for Amy, and as more of the frozen start to die it causes him to see that things on Godspeed aren’t quite what they seem. Maybe Eldest isn’t what he seems. When Elder finds himself at the center of a mystery that’s bigger than both he and Amy, he knows she’s the only person he can trust. But can Amy allow herself to trust Elder? The answers to everything lie within each other.

It’s such a marvelous story. The story jumps between Elder and Amy, which adds more to the book than if it had just stayed in one perspective.  It has so many twists and turns it’s like a rollercoaster. All the characters in the story are well developed and important. Every person has a role to play. You will laugh, cry and be sitting on the edge on the edge of your seat.

Beth Revis weaves this story together and leaves no holes. She uses all the fears, the hopes, the questions of life in the future. She makes a world so vivid and haunting, you want to jump in the pages. I know I did. I loved this story. It’s mysterious and romantic and sad and just when you think you’ve got it figured out, you find out you don’t. The characters are solid and their voices so vivid. I love the imagery that Revis uses—it’s obvious that Godspeed has lived in her head for a long time. It’s incomparable to any book that currently exists in YA.

I can’t wait for the sequel!

Also, you can enter an ARC giveaway here!

Courtney Summers Prize Pack

It's a been a great week celebrating and sharing Courtney Summers. Here's a sneak peek of Fall For Anything. Enter to win below!

My hands are dying.

I keep trying to explain it to Milo, but he just looks at me like I'm crazy.

"They don't feel warm—they haven't." I squeeze the tips of my fingers as hard as I can, which hurts. "They're not numb, though . . ."

"Maybe you have that . . . Raynaud's disease," he says. He takes my right hand and studies my fingers. They seem healthy, pink. He shakes his head. "They're not blue.

"But they're cold."

"They feel warm to me."

"They feel cold," I insist.

"Okay, Eddie," he says. "They're cold."

I jerk my hands from his and then I rub them together. Friction. Heat. Milo can say what he wants; they're freezing. It's the hottest summer Branford has seen in something like ten years, but I haven't been able to get my hands to warm up since it happened.

I hold them up again. They don't even look like my hands anymore. They don't even look like anything that could belong to me, even though they're clearly attached.

"They're different," I tell him.

"Would you please put your hands down?" he asks. "Jesus."

My hands have changed. I catch Milo looking at them sometimes, and I see it on his face that they're different, no matter what he's saying now.

We're at the park, sitting on the picnic tables, watching a summer world go by. Kids play in the fountain with their parents. Pant legs are rolled up and big hands are holding on to tiny hands, keeping them steady against the rush of water. The smell of burgers and fries is in the air; food. It reminds me the fridge at home is empty and I have to go grocery shopping today or my mom and I will starve. I don't even know how long the fridge has been that empty, but I noticed it today.

"What's in your fridge?" I ask Milo.

"Doesn't matter," he says. "My mom isn't home." 

We're stuck between my house and his lately. He hasn't been allowed to have girls at his place unsupervised since he hit puberty and I don't like hanging out at my place now.

It's too depressing.

Click here for more of this excerpt. You can also read AWAKE, a bonus short-story told from Milo's perspective. (He's Eddie's best friend.) It's spoiler free and from a boy's perspective. It takes place before the events of Fall for Anything and you can read it here.


Now...the winning!!!

Courtney Summers Prize Pack

The lucky winner will receive Cracked Up To Be, Some Girls Are and Fall For Anything---all SIGNED and PERSONALIZED by Courtney!

*Contest closes December 20th at 9 am EST.
*US/Canada only!

Click here to enter!

a VA holiday giveaway!

If you didn't know, LAST SACRIFICE, the final book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, came out on Tuesday. I wrote a non-spoiler review for it here. I bought the copy at work and they had these amazing bookplates that you could get with the book.

See?

And since it's Christmas and I love all of you....I'm going to give you a chance to win this.

Yup. It's true....And I'm going to toss in a VA book. You can pick the one you want so if you're missing a piece of the series, now's the chance to get it. OR to give it as a gift. I'm even going to open it up internationally---but only if the Book Depository delivers to your country.

All you have to do is fill out the form completely and leave a comment with an answer to one (or all) of these questions:


What do you like about this series? Which character is your favorite? OR If you've never read the books, tell me why you want to/what appeals to you about them?
 
And don't forget to explain the reason. Meaning, I want more than "Carl." I want to know why you like Carl. (There is no Carl so don't write that.) I'm just looking for things you think about the series b/c opinions are fun. 

You can gain extras by: Tweeting this contest (include @daniellebunner)and being a follower of this blog---neither are required.

Contest ends Sunday morning!

2011 Debut Author Challenge and a giveaway!!!

This will be first time and I'm excited! For what? The 2011 Debut Author Challenge! I'm really, really excited. I think my goal is going to be 24 books (because I don't do odd numbers) and I it shouldn't be so hard with so many amazing reads coming out. You can find more information about the 2011 Debut Author Challenge here!

Here are the books I know I'm reading...it's more than 24 but I've already read some of them.  BOLD means I’ve read it. ITALIC means I own it.

·       A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

·       Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Already read, doesn’t count)

·       Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

·       Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

·       Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

·       Clarity by Kim Harrington (Already read, doesn’t count)

·       Entwined by Heather Dixon

·       Falling Under by Gwen Hayes (Already ready, doesn’t count)

·       Hourglass by Myra McEntire

·       How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain

·       I Am J by Cris Beam

·       Illegal by Bettina Restrepol

·       The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

·       Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker

·       Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

·       The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

·       Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

·       Luminous by Dawn Metcalf

·       The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab  (already read, doesn’t count.)

·       Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

·       Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

·       Popular by Alissa Grosso

·       Possession by Elana Johnson

·       The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner

·       Rival by Sara Bennett-Wealer

·       So Shelly by Ty Roth

·       Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O’Roark Dowell

·       The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

·       Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

·       Vesper: A Deviants Novel by Jeff Sampsen

·       Warped by Maurissa Guibord

·       Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

·       Wildefire by Karsten Knight

·       Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

·       Wither by Lauren DeStefano

·       XVI by Julia Karr

Woo! I'm excited. What are some books you're looking forward to?

Oh yea, now you want to win some stuff.  I thought so. Well, take your pick for an ARC and this contest closes on Friday at noon! Happy Thanksgiving.

• SIGNED ARC of MATCHED by Ally Condie
• Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
• The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
• As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Perkins
• My Fake Boyfriend by Springer
• It Started with a Dare by Rech

Also, I'm not on Twitter this week. SO if you tweet this contest, I'll give you 3 extra entries toward the book of your choice. Yup.  That's a true story. No requirements to enter except filling out the form. And, since it's for Thanksgiving, I'll be thankful for everyone and open this internationally!

Click HERE to enter. (Be sure to indicate which ARC you want to win or I'll just throw you into a random one.)

Don't forget to tell me what books your looking forward to in 2011! Maybe this will shape some future contests.