Blog Tour: Oblivion by Sasha Dawn

Tour Schedule

GUEST POST WITH SASHA DAWN

Behind the scenes

·         Elijah Breshock is a talented marine mechanic. This never comes into play in the book.

·         John Fogel shares a last name with a friend who died too soon. Miss you, JF!

·         This book began as a reincarnation tale.  My agent and I pulled the entire thread out, and to my surprise, it worked!

·         The labyrinth behind the Church of the Holy Promise was inspired by the labyrinth at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco.

·         The poetry Callie writes is taken directly from my poetry notebooks, which I’ve kept since I was a teenager.

·         The underlying theme of faith plays with the piece in one of two ways, depending on what you believe in: Greek mythology or Christian dogma

 ·         There really is a Lake Nippersink in northern Illinois

·         Callie is not doing well in French class. That’s why her French is poorly spoken.

·         Lindsey has not always been an only child. She had a sibling who died of SIDS when she was a toddler. The Hutches don’t discuss it, but it’s a subconscious reason Lindsey and Callie are drawn to one another.

·         The Lehmann Library is named for one of the first families to settle in a town near me.

·         Elijah has a criminal record, but only because he took the fall for his friends when they borrowed a boat for a joyride.

·         Warren Ewing didn’t want to take Callie’s case, but she’d already been assigned to two other social workers, who didn’t work well.

·         Detective Guidry is patterned after a detective I observed while he was on the witness stand during a murder trial. I was in the jury box at the time.

·         If Callie were to try her hand at sports, she’d rock at volleyball.

                                        ·         Lindsey designs her own t-shirts.

  

Sasha Dawn teaches college composition to America’s youth at McHenry County College and the College of Lake County. She’s drawn to suspense, the survival instinct in people, and has a crush on Thomas Jefferson. She lives in a suburb of Chicago.              |Twitter|Amazon:Oblivion                                                

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Signing Recap: Dangerous Creatures in Texas

My second signing in just a few weeks. I kept contemplating whether or not to go to this one, but in the end the #booknerdigan in me came out and I had to go. I really need to get some blogger/reader friends that would go with me because I know my poor mom has no clue what's going on. Although, at this signing my mom enjoyed the band they had playing as the signing part to place. Apparently the band was hot. She kept taking pictures of them with her 90's phone.

The Irving Public Library again did a fantastic job with the set up. I actually loved the decorations at this one more than the Dark Days, but it could be because red and black are my favorite colors. They had it decked out in black and red hearts, balloons, streamers, and when you walked in an awesome black tree on the wall made of tissue paper I think with red hearts as the leaves. It was awesome. I totally should have taking a picture of it, but like I said I'm horrible at picture taking at events. They had red velvet (Yummy), chocolate, and vanilla small cupcakes and pink punch. Then of course baggies of candy.  They also of course had a few little knick knacks like buttons, posters, and a strands of pink hair for everyone. I didn't get enough buttons to give out when I do giveaways, but I got a few posters like the one in the picture to the right.

Finally we were all seated and it began with Kami and Margaret walking down the aisle. Let me tell they have got some energy in them. Then the librarian started with questions, and again guys I'm horrible with remembering questions and their answers. So here's a bit of what I could remember. Before the questioning began Kami knocked something over on the ground and Margaret responded with "Everyone Tweet that Kami just broke the Irving Public Library.

• Kami hates the tv show Glee with a passion. lol 
• Kami is superstitious and will not stay in a room with the number 13 in it. She told us she had a hotel room down here in TX once that was 1213 I believe and she told Margaret she would stay in it, but 5 minutes later went to the desk clerk and asked for another room that didn't have the number 13, and he proceeded to ask her are there any other numbers I should be aware of to which she answered 666.
• Beautiful Creatures was written as a dare from 7 teenagers: 5 girls and 2 boys
• All the weird people in the Beautiful Creatures are based loosely on their family like the 3 aunts.
• Kami likes to kill people off in the books
• Margaret wanted to lay in a grave to get a perspective from there.
• Pretty much every book makes Margaret cry.
  
  I really enjoyed listening to them, and it's funny because the whole time I was thinking how much they sound like my best friend and I when we were working on writing a story together. My friend so much like Margaret Stohl in that she would always write the sad scenes, and stuff and me I liked being the one to write about death and killing like Kami. We would always trade off chapters, and she would pretty much edit the hell out of mine. It's nice to see that it can work and it gives me hope and inspiration. Thank you ladies for giving me something to remember. :)

Here I am with Margaret Stohl on the left and Kami Garcia on the right.
Then the signed books below. I love how they used their titles as part of their signing. :)

Signing Recap: Dark Days Tour 2014 in Texas

Yea, another signing I got to go too. It was the Dark Days Tour in Irving, Texas. I was pretty excited to go because I've wanted to got to a dark days tour not to mention I wanted to see these authors as well. I think the Irving Public Library did a very good job on setting up the place as you can see from the pictures below. (Note a few pictures were taking from Twitter and Kimberly Dertings FB page. I suck when it comes to picture taking.)

I know I'm a little late putting this up, but hey better late than never right?

This was the view from where I was sitting. 

I'm always horrible at recapping the event because I can never remember the question or answers.

However, I do remember one question and the answer Kimberly Derting gave..it was somewhere along the line of "What would people be surprised to find in your search on your computer?" and her answer was things about serial killers and murders. She was researching stuff for her body finder series, and if you've read those books you know there are chapters that have the killers thoughts. Then another one was about the dentist scene I believe in her book the taking (I haven't read it yet so I'm not quite sure.) She said she got that idea from taking her daughter to the dentist, and then she started talking to the dentist.

 I really should remember more stuff or at least write things down, but all in all it was a really fun event, and a whole lot of people were there.

I didn't get an actual picture with Danielle Paige,
but I snapped this one which was okay. :)

I know that there were a few bloggers who came, but seeing as how I'm kind of quiet and don't mingle much I didn't say anything to them, but I did catch the name of their site which was The Girls in plaid skirts. 

Anyways, I was sitting at the back almost so it took a bit for me to get up and get my books signed but eventually I did. The only one I didn't get signed was Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong (I did buy it though along with The Elite because I had to have a book signed by Kiera Cass and I have The Selection on my kindle.) I've only ever read books from Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder Books) I guess need to get on and read The Selection Series which might be soon because I'm on a bit of a dystopian kick still.

I was able to get a picture with two of the authors Kiera Cass and Kimberly Derting so I was pretty thrilled with that.

I would say all in all it was a fun event!

Blog Tour: The A-Word with a Guest Post from Joy Preble

Tour Schedule

GUEST POST WITH JOY PREBLE

One of the things I’ve most appreciated from the various review of THE SWEET DEAD LIFE and now THE A-WORD is not only the appreciation of Jenna’s sassy voice but also the acknowledgment that although there angels and mystery and romance and blackmail and poisoning, at the core, I have written a sibling story. And while sibling stories abound in MG lit, there are fewer of them in YA. And the truth is, everyone loves a sibling story! As Harper Collins editor Jocelyn Davies observed at a recent conference I attended, one of the reasons Frozen resonates with everyone (besides that we all love bellowing Let It Go!), is that it too, is a sibling story. And to quote Davies, “No relationship is as rich and emotionally complex as a sibling relationship.”

For me, the fact that underneath, they really love each other, is one of the most appealing aspects of writing Jenna and Casey. No matter how rough things get or how obnoxious they may act, these two have each other’s backs. Often I don’t show this too overtly. 

For example in THE A-WORD, Casey has bought Jenna a make up kit for her birthday. And trust me, angel or not, this boy does not know jack about make up. But he’s made the effort and Jenna knows it. All well and good. But I knew I could use this to express something deeper. So rather than have her tell him that she loves him for doing this, I wrote this, the first voice being Jenna:

I hugged him hard. “I love it,” I said.”

“Me, too,” he whispered.

And so the moment gets a bit of nuance. We all know what they’re really saying, which is not just about the gift. But it wouldn’t work for Casey to say “I love you,” right out, even though he obviously does. They speak instead through the gift.

Of course, these two really do have only each other. The Samuels family is pretty darn dysfunctional and in the end, it’s Jenna and Casey (whether alive or dead or somewhere in between) who must team up to figure out the overarching mystery and figure out how to hang in there despite mounting circumstances. Plus I love that they ‘get’ each other, even if they won’t admit it.  Two big-mouthed kids using sass and wit to overcome a lot of bad stuff.

With Jenna and Casey, like with a lot of siblings, it’s often not what they say, but how they say it.

  

   Joy Preble is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed Dreaming Anastasia

series as well as The Sweet Dead Life, the prequel to The A-Word. A former English teacher, Joy grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Northwestern University. Sheis now a full-time writer and lives with her family in Texas, where she has learned to say "y'all" without any hint of irony.  |Website|Tumblr|Twitter|Facebook| 

Book Review: Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

AUTHOR: Mindy McGinnis
PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegan
PAGES: 320
STAND ALONE/SERIES: Companion (In A handful of dust)
SOURCE: Bought
OUTLINE:
Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own

MY THOUGHTS

An Ashley Quirk
This has to be said first while I was reading this the jingle from the FarmersOnly commercial kept popping in my head. Have you guys seen this commercial? Ever have that happen to you where you reading a book, and you can't get a certain commercial, or something that you think pertains to the book out of your head? Maybe, it's just me.

Quick ThoughtThese type of dystopians always put me on edge a little because it deals with something precious to us. WATER. 

PACING

The first 3rd of the book (I'm guessing here) was slow and in my opinion not much happened. Setting up for the rest of the story maybe? It wasn't until one event happened that it started picking up, and we started getting more from the story like other characters, why they were guarding their pond,

Then the last 3rd of the book (again guessing here) is where the action started and things got heated up. (Not that there weren't a few other scenes where stuff wasn't heated ;p) For the most part though is was a mild pacing. 

CHARACTERS

Lynn was the MC and as much as I wanted to like her there just wasn't that connection. Don't get me wrong she wasn't a horrible character in the least bit, but I just didn't feel that friend vibe from her. Maybe it's because she was so isolated from everyone for so long. She was never really a weak character though during the story she always managed to survive, and I understand she did what she had to. That's how her mom taught her to be. #toughcookietocrack I did like how she seemed to care for this little girl.
Stebbs reminded me of the grandpa type. Just kind of there until someone needed him. #awesomeoldguy

Eli the young guy who watches over his family while they are in the woods, and then of course you know he's going to meet our MC, and the rest is pretty much YAish after that. I will admit I enjoyed Eli. That is all. #Iwillnotcry

Lucy being so young and going through what she did I would have totally cracked, but she simply found the good in her life. It's the simple things that seem to make kids happy, and sometimes I wish I could go back to being a little kid. #idontwanttogrowup

ENDING

I think this is what really killed me. I got attached to SOME of the characters so when things started happening and someone got hurt I wanted to cry. This is how I felt! #whywhywhywhy

Bout of Books Challenge Day 5: Rainbow of Books

Here’s your challenge: Create a stack of book spines from your bookshelf, or post pictures of the covers, that go in rainbow order.

So, you start with white on the bottom, then red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (purple), violet (like a darker purple), and then black! The spine should have at least a majority be the color you are looking for, but just use your best judgement to get the rainbow-like flow. 

 The books I used to build this were:

Black: Panic By Lauren Oliver

Violet: Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Indigo: Bite Club by Rachel Caine Blue: Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic (Read)
Green: Cross my heart and hope to spy by Ally Carter (read) 
 Yellow: Displacement by Thalia Chaltas

Orange: Lover Revealed by Jr Ward

Red: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake (read)

White: The Program by Suzanne Young (read)

I Had a lot of fun with this one although finding orange and trying to distinguish violet and indigo took a minute. lol

Follow Friday: Picture this author

Question of the Week: Have you met a favorite author and have a picture? Share.

Rachel Caine Signing
A few more authors
Then here are the two most recents ones I've gotten
Sorry my pictures really suck!

Kimberly Derting: Author of The Taking,
 The pledge and The body Finder Series

Kiera Cass: Author of the selection series

Bout of Books Challenge Day 4: Spell It Out

Todays challenge is from Kimberly over at KimberlyFayeReads

The Rules
Use the first letter in any book you’ve read or want to read to spell out a word. You can choose first name, initials, your birthday month, or your zodiac sign.
I have chosen my first name ASHLEY

A- After by Amy Efaw

S- Starters by Lissa Price

H- Hereafter by Tara Hudson

L- Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington

E- Entwined by Heather Dixon

Y- You are so dead to me by Stace Jay