Thursday, April 17, 2014

Release Day Blitz: DIVIDE by Jessa Russo

DIVIDE IS LIVE! DIVIDE IS LIVE!



Today we're celebrating the release of DIVIDE--Jessa Russo's upper young adult fantasy fairytale redux of Beauty and the Beast (what a mouthful!)! 

Please join us all day (4/17) on Facebook for the Release Day CELEBRATION!!!
Author visits, surprises, and giveaways you don't want to miss!
Click HERE to RSVP

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes&Noble | Goodreads

From senior class president to dejected social outcast, with just the flick of a match.

After accusations of torching her ex-boyfriend’s home are followed by the mysterious poisoning of her ex-best friend, seventeen-year-old Holland Briggs assumes her life is over. And it is. But not in the way she thinks.

As Holland learns the truth about her cursed fate—that she is descended from the Beast most have only ever heard of in fairytales—she unites with an unlikely ally, good-looking newcomer Mick Stevenson. 

Mick knows more about Holland’s twisted history than she does, and enlightening as it is to learn about, his suggestion for a cure is unsettling at best. Holland must fall in love with Mick in order to break the spell, and save their future generations from repeating her cursed fate. Having sworn off love after the betrayals of her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, this may be difficult to accomplish. 

Complicating things further for Holland and Mick, time runs out, and Holland’s change begins way before schedule. With Holland quickly morphing into a dangerous mythical creature, Mick struggles to save her.

Should they fail, Holland will be lost to the beast inside her forever.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Blog Hop: The Writing Process plus #Writemotivation update (April 2014 No. 1)

So I've been a bit quiet over here. Mostly I've been busy either revising HJ (for the billionth time), playing on the computer, doing Grad School stuff, or just being lazy. I'll let you pick one.

Anyway, April has started off slow in writing but busy in others.

However, I was recently tagged by one my fellow #writemotivation tweeps, the lovely Carissa and should probably A) do this post and B) update on my goals for the month.

Here are the four questions she asked.

1. What writerly endeavors am I currently working on?
Currently, I am working on the 7th revision of my YA contemporary novel, Hate Jacket. I was halfway through revision 6 when my awesome CP, Bonnie, recommended that I delete one of the characters. It's actually an awesome idea, but it meant I had to go through and remove a primary character and replace them with another. This means starting back at the beginning and reworking some scenes to replace one character with another. Not a huge deal, but one that I have to make sure I do completely or it will be confusing. I'm hoping this fixes the plot issues I've been having.

At the same time, my brain is starting to itch to start a novel that I'm not even ready to start until I'm done with Romeo and Juliet escape Hell (my NaNo novel that I'm stopped at 40K with and need to break apart and maybe do some plotting to figure out how I got stuck). Said new novel is awesome and shiny and based on the music of Meg Myers. If you follow me on twitter, you'll probably see me talk about her music. It's dark, moody, obsessive, and it gives me awesomely cool story ideas (I feel like a creeper talking about it all the time, but it is just that awesome). I let her music influence a story, titled THE KNIFE, that got published in Issue 17 of Veux Magazine. They did a beautiful spread of photos with models and everything. Blew my mind. Check it out.

Anyway, I had to get some of the Meg Myers story, titled Something Beautiful, out of my head so I could focus. I wrote the first few lines and they really popped. Now my brain is all WE MUST WRITE THE PRECIOUSSSS! But I can't. Even though I've got the end figured out. R&J needs to be finished first. I have people who want to read it.

We won't talk about what I'm doing with the penname stuff. Needless to say, he has some cool stuff in the works, but we won't talk about it here. Because this is for my YA, etc. writing and not for the more adult themes that he works on.


2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?
Hate Jacket is dark. Yes, there is dark YA out there. I think HJ is different because the main character is A) male and B) not an alpha male. He's a Beta at best. Really, he's angry, depressed, and abused. He's a victim and he has to stand up and stop being a victim before he can take control of his life and move forward. It deals with a lot of issues that I don't think get mentioned much in YA, especially from a male's perspective. Usually these types of books center on a girl.

3. Why do I write what I write?
Honestly, I wanted to be a scifi/fantasy writer. Unfortunately, my brain has decided it has an easier time writing stories about real world stuff. I have some scifi/fantasy story ideas (R&J being one), but I seriously struggle with them. Not sure why. I used to read SF/F exclusively growing up.

4. How does my writing process work. 
It's supposed to work? Wait. Did I miss something here?

Seriously? I'm a quasi-pantser. I write and then outline later. To some degree my brain wants to figure out the characters a bit first. However, I have learned a lot from writing Hate Jacket under the mentorship of Nicole Rescinti. One of them is that I think I can outline. Or at least, outline in the way that makes sense to me. I know I'll never do a point by point outline. It's not how my brain works. How it works is to write a couple sentences for each chapter as I go. However, if I can channel that before I start writing, I might be able to maybe avoid getting stuck like I have with R&J.

Now for my #writemotivation goals
Grad School
  1. Finish my LibGuide (Due April 11) YES! You can see it here.
  2. Finish up my reflection journal. Haven't finished this.
Writing
  1. Finish revisions of the first half of HJ. Almost done.
  2. Stop getting anymore cool ideas for revising HJ. Thankfully, no. I think this is done. I do need to stop getting ideas for Something Beautiful though.
  3. Cheer on my #writemotivation buddies. I've done some of this. Need more and visit some blogs.
  4. BLOG (I'm so bad about this). Ack! So bad! But I'm getting there.
  5. Read my beta reading that I've been putting off. I am doing this!

'Till Next Time

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Cover Reveal: Mortal Enchantment by Stacey O'Neale

Today, Stacey O'Neale and Phoenix Reign Publishing are revealing the cover for
MORTAL ENCHANTMENT, releasing on May 20, 2014!

Check out the awesome cover and enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card!!!

On to the reveal!

Mortal Enchantment


“Mortal Enchantment spins a unique twist on elemental mythology. This series is not to be missed.” Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

In Kalin Matthew's world, elementals control the forces of nature. They are divided into four courts: air, woodland, fire, and water. At sixteen she will leave the life she's built with her mortal mother. Kalin will move to Avalon to rule with her father—the elemental king of the air court. Along the way, she's attacked by a fire court assassin and saved by Rowan, a swoon-worthy elemental with a questionable past.

Worst of all, she learns her father is missing.

To rescue him, Kalin will have to work with a judgmental council and a system of courts too busy accusing each other of deceit to actually be able to help her. But, they aren’t her biggest challenge. With the Midwinter’s Ball only five days away, Kalin must take over her father’s duties, which includes shifting control of the elements—power Kalin has yet to realize.

As Rowan attempts to train her, a war looms between the four courts. If Kalin fails, her father will die and the courts will fall, but the betrayal she’s about to uncover may cost her even more...


If you haven't read THE SHADOW PRINCE, you can download if NOW for FREE from Amazon and Barnes & Noble!!!

The Shadow PrinceEvery sacrifice has consequences.

Sixteen-year-old Rowan has spent most of his life living among the mortals—learning to control the element of fire, impatiently awaiting the day his vengeful mother, Queen Prisma, will abdicate her throne. When he finally returns to Avalon for his coronation, his mother insists he must first prove his loyalty to the court by completing a secret mission: Kill Kalin, the half-human, half-elemental daughter of the air court king. Willing to do anything to remove his mother from power, he agrees to sacrifice the halfling. He returns to the mortal world with his best friend, Marcus, determined to kill the princess. But as he devises a plan, he starts to question whether or not he's capable of completing such a heinous task. And what price he will pay if he refuses?
Available for FREE on Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Also available in PRINT from Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Photoshoot-21Stacey O'Neale lives in Annapolis, Maryland. When she's not writing, she spends her time fangirling over books, blogging, watching fantasy television shows, cheering for the Baltimore Ravens, and hanging out with her husband and daughter. Her career in publishing started as a blogger-turned-publicist for two successful small publishers. Stacey writes young adult paranormal romance and adult science fiction romance. Her books always include swoon-worthy heroes, snarky heroines, and lots of kissing.
Stacey loves hearing from readers. Follow her on Twitter @StaceyONeale, look for her on Facebook, Pinterest, and GoodReads. You can also visit her blog at http://staceyoneale.com/.

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