Cover Reveal & Giveaway: A Curse of Ash and Iron by Christine Norris

Congrats to my agency sister, Christine Norris, on the gorgeous cover for her novel, 

A Curse of Ash and Iron!

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Release date:  May 21, 2015

Watch the trailer!

About the book: 

Benjamin Grimm knows the theater is much like real life. In 1876 Philadelphia, people play their parts, hiding behind the illusion of their lives, and never revealing their secrets.

When he reunites with his childhood friend Eleanor Banneker, he is delighted. His delight turns to dismay when he discovers she has been under a spell for the past 7 years, being forced to live as a servant in her own home, and he realizes how sinister some secrets can be. She asks for his help, and he can’t refuse. Even if he doesn't believe in ‘real’ magic, he can’t abandon her.

Ellie has spent the long years since her mother’s death under the watchful eye and unforgiving eye of her stepmother. Bewitched and hidden in plain sight, it seems no one can help Ellie escape. Not even her own father, who is under a spell of his own. When she sees Ben one evening, it seems he is immune to the magic that binds her, and her hope is rekindled along with her friendship.

But time is running short. If they do not find a way to break the spell before on New Year’s Eve, then both Ellie and her father will be bound forever.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway on YA Books Central!

Learn more about Christine Norris and here books:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads 

Cover Reveal: Don't Forget to Breathe by Cathrina Constantine

Congrats to Cathrina Constantine on the stunning cover of her latest novel,
Don't Forget to Breathe!

Coming from: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly

Release Date: February 7, 2015

Genre: YA/Haunting Mystery

About the book:

Sixteen-year-old Leocadia arrives home from school to find her mom’s bloody body. Unaware that the killer still lingers, she rushes to her mother’s side, only to be grabbed from behind and then everything fades to black. After a year of retrograde amnesia and battling personal demons, Leo’s dreams are getting worse—she’s starting to remember. More bodies are discovered and they seem to be oddly linked to her mom’s unsolved homicide. When Leo allows her friend, Henry, to drag her to the haunted Lucien Mansion, misty ghosts appear, ghosts that just might lead her to her mother’s murderer. Will Leo let her memories threaten her into a relapse or, will she fight to find her mother’s killer – only to become his next victim?


Find Cathrina Constantine
Facebook | Blog | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

News, Tips on Setting Scene, and a Tuesday Teaser

Hi everyone! 

I'm currently in what I like to call the quiet before the storm. My editor is going over my revisions for Entwine. I"m sure there will be more changes and I'm excited to find out what they are. The cover designer has the book on her list of to-do's. I've started a list of things to do for the launch. My current WIP, the YA realistic romance that's I've mentioned, is coming along nicely. I actually have time to kick my feet up and breathe. It's a nice feeling. =)

If you could use some times on setting a scene, I visited Uncommon YA last week and share my tips.

While I wait to receive the next round of revisions on Entwined, I thought I'd share a teaser from my standalone novel, Challenging Destiny. Enjoy!

Teaser:

 “One kiss?” She craned her neck to bring her lips to mine.

 Her perfume was intoxicating, a mind-blowing blend of wild roses and lilies. I couldn’t resist her any longer. I let her purse fall back to the ground and covered her mouth with mine. She tasted as good as she smelled. Her lips were hot, almost too hot. Her fingers twisted around my hair.

 My hands wandered down her back, stopping just below the pockets of her jeans. Cupping her butt, I lifted her up so that I wouldn’t have to lean over. Her legs wrapped around my hips.

You can read CHALLENGING DESTINY today on

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Lights, Camera, Action! CHALLENGING DESTINY Book Trailer

I'm very excited to reveal the book trailer for CHALLENGING DESTINY. I hope you enjoy it!

A big thank you to The Books Machine for creating this awesome trailer. They will be offering a book trailer service to authors everywhere in the near future. As soon as the details are available I'll pass them along. Their service is now available. Click here to find out more. 

About the book:
Logan and his sister, Ariana, are destined to be pawns in the battle between heaven and hell. Demons want Logan to open the gates of Hell. Ariana has the power to stop them, but in doing so she’ll damn her brother for eternity. To save themselves and mankind, they must derail the biblical event.

Follow one of the links below for more information about this book:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Cover Reveal: Something Wicked by Carol Oates

I'm a couple days late for the reveal, so you may have seen this already, but Carol is such a great writer and I'm excited about her new book, so I wanted to share the news of her upcoming release with my followers. 

Isn't the cover for Something Wicked, well... wicked? 

New Adult

Historical/Contemporary Supernatural

From Omnific Publishing

We don't have to wait much longer to snatch up Carol's new book. Just about two weeks, so mark your calendars!

Releasing January 20, 2015

About the book: 

Infected by the vampire virus on the streets of Dublin in 1886, the search for a cure brought Henry Clayton to London and to the brink of madness. Salvation and friendship arrived in the form of Dougal, an immortal Highlander with a devilish sense of humor and a love of life.

Amidst turmoil in vampire society, Henry returns to modern day Dublin. The Circle, a cult determined to awaken their Celtic blood god, the first vampire, is once again active.

When Henry meets a young American woman who sees past his human pretense, he fears exposure. However, his fear is overshadowed by curiosity. What is the source of the strange energy between them? Why are vampires stalking her? Determined to find answers, Henry takes Ari into his home and under his protection.

As their connection grows, Henry begins to suspect Ari isn't what she claims to be. Their shared history may hold the answers to his uncontrollable bouts of rage and thirst. Perhaps, even a cure for his wicked blood.

Add it to Goodreads 

About the Author 

Carol Oates came into the world on Christmas morning, in an elevator. Raised just across the street from the childhood home of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, it was only a matter of time before Carol’s love of all things supernatural would emerge.
She began experimenting with fiction at school and keeps the notebook containing her first unpublished novel in her desk drawer. Over three decades later, all her stories still begin life scrawled on paper.
When not writing, Carol can be found exploring history, old buildings, castles, and tombs. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

 

Let's Start 2015 Right

Happy New Year! 

It's not only the first Wednesday of the month, but it's the first Wednesday of a new year, and I predict 2015 is going to be great for all of us. Today, I'm combining my Insecure Writer's Support Group post with some simple goals. If you're not familiar with IWSG, it's pretty amazing. You can learn more about the group by clicking here.  As always, I'd like to thank Alex Cavanaugh and this month's hosts.

I hope you enjoyed the holidays. Mine were very nice, and my husband and I even managed to get our four boys together for Christmas. (Something that doesn't happen often with them being older.) It was a lot of fun to have them all here at the same time. But, with the holidays past, it's time to get back into good routines.

I checked my goals for 2014. I met my networking goals, exceeded my reading goals, and sort of met my writing goals. I finished revising the MG novel I mentioned, although I haven't done much to shop it around. I completed the first draft of my contemporary YA, but it's far from ready to be seen by my agent. And I never get to the NA novel I want to write. I did, however, write and sell book three in my Embrace series. While that's not exactly what I had written in my 2014 goals, I'm happy with what I did accomplish.

My goals this year:

• Continue to visit as many blogs as I can.
• Read at least two books a month.
• Launch Entwined, the third book in my series.
• Polish my contemporary YA.
• Exercise regularly.
• Visit somewhere new.

This list is a work in progress. :)  

As far as insecurities. I'd like to say I'm all good. It's always nice to start the year off that way, but I just finished the first round of revisions on Entwined and I will admit there's a chapter I'm not so sure about. I'm hoping my doubts are because I reread the chapter several times while working on revisions. So, to keep myself from making changes that I may regret later, I sent my revisions back to my editor with a note about my concerns to get her thoughts. In a few weeks, when the scene isn't fresh in my head, I'll revisit it. Fingers crossed it flows good.

How are you doing this month? Any insecurities? Did you meet your goals for 2014? Do you set new year's resolutions?

P.S.: I must have missed the request for IWSG members to introduce ourselves. So I'm adding it here...

By day, I'm a senior technical support technician. That's a fancy way of saying I work in IT. By night, and really anytime I'm not working at my day job, I enjoy being with family, hanging with friends, and writing young adult fiction. I have three paranormal romance/thrillers out: Embrace, Hold Tight and Challenging Destiny. The first two are part of a series with the third book coming out this April. I've been writing for almost ten years. My husband is the one who coaxed me into writing my first novel, which is not one of my published works. At the time, I wasn't thinking of publication, but I enjoyed writing so much I kept going. I'm also an active member of SCBWI.