Blog Tour and Interview: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

Title: THE DEAD GIRLS OF HYSTERIA HALL
Author: Katie Alender
Pub. Date: August 25, 2015
Publisher:  Scholastic Press
Pages: 336
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

Synopsis:
Asylum meets Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, in this riveting tale of ghosts, secrets, and family, from master of suspense Katie Alender. Delia's new house isn't just a house. It used to be an insane asylum, a place to lock up "troubled" young women long ago. And a restless, wicked spirit is still at play--and it doesn't want defiant girls like Delia to go anywhere. So the house kills her. Now Delia is a ghost, trapped in her creepy home forever. As she meets the other ghost girls who haunt the narrow hallways, as well as the handsome ghost boy on the grounds, she learns shocking truths about the house's history. Delia also realizes that her alive and grieving sister might be the house's next target. Can Delia unlock the mystery of the old asylum, save her sister, and free herself?

Kirkus (starred review): "This superior ghost story keeps the creep factor high… A really scary and original ghost story, well told. Read it with the lights on."   School Library Journal: "Alender has created a chilling tale of forgotten tragedies and family secrets. A great choice for fans of horror or 
suspense novels." 


INTERVIEW

1. You seem to write a lot about ghosts. Do you believe in ghosts and have you ever had an experience you can't explain? 
I don’t necessarily believe in ghosts, but I can’t count them out, as I know numerous people who are confident that they exist. Who am I to say they don’t? I did have one experience that I can’t explain — a night I could have sworn I heard my husband come home and sit down to watch TV, but when I went upstairs there was nobody home. We had just bought a pair of lounge chairs from an estate sale at the home of a writer who had passed away, so I sometimes say that his ghost followed the trail of writing energy (and chairs) to have a little walk around my living room. 

2. Out of all your books which was your favorite to write and which did you have a harder time on? 
Oh, man. They’re all hard! They all hit a certain point where you think, “Okay, this is the one I’m not going to be able to do. This is the book that will ruin me.” But the process being so scheduled is enormously helpful in terms of pushing you past those thoughts and back to work. I think the one I enjoyed writing the most was probably the second Bad Girls Don’t Die book, From Bad to Cursed. Because I understood the characters’ journeys so much, and I was fascinated by the things they were doing under the influence of a not-so-nice spirit. 

3. If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why? 
I don’t actually want to have written anyone else’s book, but I’ll say Harry Potter because then I would have a castle and a theme park. 

4. If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it? 
Probably “Honestly.” I feel myself saying that a lot. I used to think that if I ever wrote a memoir about my childhood, it would be called “Alligator Dreaming,” because I grew up in South Florida, where there are alligators. And for many years I would have random dreams about alligators. 

5. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? 
Stephen Colbert (because he’s hilarious), Jim Gaffigan (because he’s hilarious), and my daughter (because she’s hilarious).  

 About Katie: Katie Alender is the author of The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall, Famous Last Words, Marie Antoinette: Serial Killer, and the Bad Girls Don’t Die series. She is a graduate of the Florida State University Film School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. When she’s not writing novels, she can usually be found quilting, reading, eating delicious high-calorie foods, and hanging out with her friends (on very special occasions, she manages to do all of those things at once).
Find Katie on the web:  |Website|Twitter|Facebook|Instagram|Tumblr|Wattpad



 Giveaway Details: 3 winners will receive a finished copy of THE DEAD GIRLS OF HYSTERIA HALL. US Only.

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Tour Schedule:
Week One:
8/17/2015- The Cover Contessa- Interview
8/18/2015- Twisted Book Junkie- Review
8/19/2015- Fiktshun- Guest Post
8/20/2015- BITTERSWEET ENCHANTMENT- Review
8/21/2015- Mundie Moms- Guest Post

Week Two:
8/24/2015- The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club- Interview
8/25/2015- Pandora's Books- Review
8/26/2015- bookaholics anonymous- Interview (YOU ARE HERE)
8/27/2015- A Dream Within A Dream- Review
8/28/2015- Such a Novel Idea- Guest Post

Blog Tour and Review: Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen

Jubilee Manor (Landry Park #2)
by Bethany Hagen

Publisher: Dial/Penguin
Release Date: August 11th 2015

Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction
Rate: 4 Stars

Synopsis:

The thrilling conclusion to Landry Park is full of love, betrayal, and murder--perfect for fans of Divergent, The Selection, andPride and Prejudice.

In Landry Park, Madeline turned her back on her elite family, friends, and estate to help the Rootless. Now, in Jubilee Manor, she struggles to bring the Gentry and the Rootless together. But when Gentry heirs—Madeline’s old friends—are murdered, even she begins to think a Rootless is behind it, putting her at odds with the boy she loves and the very people she is trying to lead. If she can’t figure out who is killing her friends and bring them to justice, a violent war will erupt and even more will die—and Madeline’s name, her estate, and all the bonds she’s forged won’t make any difference.

This conclusion to Landry Park, which VOYA dubbed "Gone with the Wind meets The Hunger Games,” is a richly satisfying, addictive read.

Jubilee Manor was a bit more gory then Landry Park, but that didn't sway my liking of it at all.

Quotes

"We gravitated toward what was easy, and nothing about death was easy."

"You know he likes to throw himself into things.""I would like to throw him into somethings right now."

"They are the people who raised you, who cared for you. They are the ones who made you who you are."

"There had been so much pain, so many shattered designs and wishes and longings, and yet my reflection never changed."

"Is a black hole content with only swallowing half a star? Half a galaxy? No, it wants it all."

Follow the Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Bethany Hagen was born and raised in Kansas City. She grew up reading Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, and all things King Arthur, and went on to become a librarian. Landry Park is her debut novel.

US ONLY

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Readathon: Bout of Books 14: Book Road Trip

 Challenge Host: Steph in Wonderland               Character Soulmates

I'd like for you to come up with a list of the top 4-5 states/places you'd love to visit and find a book (you either read or want to read) that takes place in that state/place or a book by an author who lives or is from there. :]

Book Road Trip

I Love making these graphics. :)

Readathon: Bout of Books 14: Character Soulmates Challenge

 Challenge Host: Blue Books and Butterflies                Character Soulmates

1.) Pick two characters from two different books who you think will be great together in a romantic relationship. These characters must have never been in the same book together or met before.
2.) Comment on this post telling me which characters you picked and what books they are each from. You can't forget to give them a cool ship name too! An example of a ship name can be "Percabeth" for Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. If you have a blog or a youtube channel, you can also just put this info in a post/video and leave a link to it in the comments.
3.) Give me a short reason as to why you paired those two as a cute couple. Convince us that it is meant to be.
4.) I will be tweeting out my favorites using the hashtags #CharaSM and #BoutofBooks, so leave your twitter name in the comments as well if you want to be mentioned if I tweet yours out.

Character Soulmates

I picked David from Landry Park and Lena from Delirium

I chose these two because I believe they are both strong and willing to fight for what they believe. David believes in the cause for the rootless to have lives free from the Gentry and Lena believes in the rebellion with the group from the wilds.

Readathon: Bout of Books 14: All Four Seasons

                  Challenge Host: Kimberly Faye Reads               All Four Seasons:

1. Find a book cover to represent each season – spring, summer, fall and winter. Take a photo, make a graphic or (if you’re an eBook reader) a list of your picks.
2. Share your photo, graphic or list on your blog, Instagram, Twitter or anywhere else publicly. If you tweet it, don’t forget to mention me @kimberlyreads and use the hashtag#4SeasonsBookCovers!
3. Comment below with a link to your challenge picture (Or, list out your picks for each season.)
4. You MUST be participating in Bout of Books 14 – AND complete this challenge – to be eligible to win the giveaway.
5. HAVE FUN!

ALL FOUR SEASONS

Giveaway: Clear your shelf

I also have Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Life after theft by Aprilynn Pike

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Readathon: Bout of Books 14: MASH Book Edition

                  Challenge Host: Rocky Top Real Talk                 MASH the book edition:

MASH is a fun little game where you write up options for your future and then after getting a number, go through until you have one choice for each category - and have your future right there in front of you! 

How to play:

• Create a MASH game. My go-to categories as a kid were significant other, car, city (I would live in), # of kids, job, and pet, but you can choose what categories you want - this is just for fun. Don't forget to put MASH at the top!
• Fill in your categories with choices - I always did 4 per category. You can do 3 or 5 or how ever many you want. Here's where you can get creative! I chose to pull my s/o's from books (Braden from LA Candy, Daemon from Lux series, Adrian from VA/Bloodlines, and Jason from Heroes of Olympus), however, you can choose to live in fictional places or have fictional pets, etc. Pull from your favorite books as much as you want.
• Now you need a number...draw a spiral and fill in the spaces. Make tally marks and stop randomly. Use a random number generator. It's up to you. Once you have your number, it's time to officially play.
• You can start at MASH or at your first category. I always did the first category. Count your number. Mine was 8. I crossed out the 8th item. Then I continued through the categories and the letters in MASH until one option from each category was left. Once a category only has one, you skip it when counting.

MASH