Book Launch! Marie Rutkoski's The Winner's Curse

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

You've been waiting - the time is now. Pre-order links below!

 

As a general's daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin's eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him'with unexpected consequences. It's not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner's Curse is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 

Buy LINKS:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  iTunes | IndieBound |  Google Books |  Books-A-Million | 

Follow:
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16069030-the-winner-s-curse
Website: www.TheWinnersCurse.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winnerstrilogy

Book Trailer:

 

Author Information

Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other honors. Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alant McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.marierutkoski.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarieRutkoskiYA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@marierutkoski
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1238111.Marie_Rutkoski
Instagram: @MarieRutkoski

Cover reveal - Holly Schindler's FERAL!

Today we have another cover reveal. This one is for Holly Schindler's upcoming book - FERAL, available from Harper Collins August 26, 2014. What an awesome title. Gives me goosebumps.

The cover and back copy are just as spine-tingling:

 It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

 

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

 

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

 

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

 

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

 

 Pre-order now so you don't forget! Add to your Goodreads TBR list. Other books by Holly.

Keep up with Holly on her website and blog.

Holly Schindler taught music lessons after she graduated from college, and decided to become a writer to connect with the kids and teens whose music once filled her home. She lives in Springfield, Missouri.

 

 

 

 

 

Share your opinion of the cover and blurb! 

Author Interview - Thomm Quackenbush and free Valentine's Day book

Today I'm interviewing Thomm Quackenbush, author of the Night's Dream trilogy and a collection of short stories titled Find What You Love and Let it Kill You (available free on Valentine's Day). These books, along with a couple other shorter works are available on Amazon.

Artificial Gods is the last in the Night's Dream trilogy, following We Shadows (4.5 stars) and Danse Macabre (5 stars).

All Jasmine wanted was a calm summer in Pine Bush. When she sees a UFO her first night home from college, she is willing to brush it off as swamp gas reflected off Venus, until two men arrive at her door to harass her into silence about a picture she did not take. Soon she realizes Men in Black may be the least of her worries and that ignoring the Grays and their plans for her will only embolden them. If she doesn't figure out why she is so interesting to aliens, Men in Black, and a mysterious man who seems to brush off harm, she may not have an autumn to look forward to.






Here are Thomm's answers to my author interview questions:

1.  Where/how did you come up with the idea for your story? Did it suddenly pop into your head or were you brainstorming?

My last published novel was Artificial Gods, about the relationship of two sisters overshadowed by UFOs and apparent agents one summer.  The town where the story takes place, Pine Bush, New York, is only an hour's drive from where I grew up and really has played host to near nightly sightings of UFOs and associated strangeness.  In my late teens and early twenties, some of my friends had a small obsession with the town, based in part on the late Dr. Ellen Crystall's book Silent Invasion, all about her research and experiences in the town.  Though I visited a few times and, in the course of researching this novel, attended meetings of their United Friends Observer Society, I didn't feel as though I was the right person to write another nonfiction book about the phenomena.  Aliens and the like fit very well in my established fantasy universe, begun by We Shadows and continued in Danse Macabre.  I build up two very minor characters in those novels to be the stars of Artificial Gods.

In a lot of ways, this was one of the stories I was always meant to tell.  I was a voracious reader of the paranormal from the time I learned to read—I have no idea why—and becoming a fantasy author seemed one of the better uses of this knowledge.  When I was five or six, I remember having seen of the one Great Hudson Valley UFOs (frequent sightings of massive, triangular ships in the sky in the 1980s that aroused international attention).  I was terrified, but also gratified.  Now people would understand how weird the world truly was. 

My parents insist they have no recollection of this object and it does seem like the sort of thing that would stick out in one's mind.  That experience, especially how baffled people are when I mention this sighting, was seed enough to inspire this book.

My upcoming book, Flies to Wanton Boys, marries the aftershocks of Artificial Gods and Danse Macabre.  The daemons—the catch-all term for those children of mythology that quietly roam the earth—are growing more brazen in their interference with humanity and they attract the worst kind of attention.

2.   Did you start with the main character, the world or the overarching concept?

The Night's Dream universe had its origins in my idly wondering if the world might not be much stranger than we are led to assume.  Most people are unaware because it is safer to ignore it.  Those who are aware of the actual composition of the world often go insane, if they are not first bled dry by a vampire or spirited away to a fairy realm that no longer has residents.  (It is named in honor of Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” where fairies torment and confuse human beings who are never any the wiser.)

I sketched out the rough idea, but it was nothing more than world-building.  I needed a protagonist who could realistically inhabit and surmount this world, but everyone I tried to insert felt wrong and the story wouldn't coalesce around them.  Around this time, a friend of mine killed himself.  I coped by writing a story about it (“So It Passed,” which was featured in my anthology Find What YouLove and Let It Kill You), which I submitted to my local newspaper's short story competition.  It was rejected outright, lacking both cheeriness and horse-riding, but I couldn't get the main character out of my mind.  I slipped her into the world and suddenly it bloomed.  This shy, damaged young woman who retreats into fantasy trying to cope with a death was exactly the sort who could succeed in the universe I created. 

 3.   Panster or Plotter? Or in between?

I keep my plots loose to give my characters room to grow and tell the stories they need.  I tried to be more rigid with Artificial Gods, but found that my protagonist Jasmine refused to submit to certain plot points.  This ended up being a crucial aspect of her character and made her story much deeper than I initially intended.  When I went to revise for my revelation, I found that it was well foreshadows already.      

4.   Are you a fan of writing contests?

I would be if I had been more successful.  Honestly, I see a lot of people either pander relentlessly to the flavor-of-the-week or treat them as a popularity contest, neither of which is assuring that the winner is a particularly good or marketable story.  But, again, I might say this because I have never won first place. 

5.   How did you find your agent? How many query letters did you send?

I am currently unagented.  I have had professional flirtations with a few literary agencies, but they tend to involve three months of them emailing me and wanting more and more information, then either going completely silent or closing up shop.  Double Dragon Publishing did not require the intercession of an agency and have been unfailingly above the board, though I would not be averse to an agent now that I am soon to have a fourth book out.

In total, I think I have probably sent out a hundred query letters over the years and have gotten back perhaps thirty form rejections.    

6.   What's the best marketing tool you've found so far?

I have become increasingly active on Tumblr (thommquackenbush.tumblr.com).  It allows me a more personal connection with my fans and it's great when I'm reblogged by strangers.

7. What do you like best about your mc?

Jasmine was a new experience for me.  Shane in WeShadows and Danse Macabre is a dreamer and thinker.  Presented with the uncanny, Shane wanted to understand it and her place in reference to it.  Jasmine wanted to avoid.  She was a popular girl in high school entirely because she was pretty and active in clubs.  Though she is in college, the paranormal has no place in her conception of the universe.  Like most people in my universe, the urge to ignore is powerful.  It was tricky to work with someone who would just as soon have not been involved with the events of the book.  She wasn’t curious or adventurous about the supernatural, so I had to frame her avoidance as her motivation.  Thankfully, she had a more inquisitive younger sister to goad her along

8. What do you like best about your main antagonist?

Possibly that there isn’t one, at least not a fixed one.  It is much more man-against-himself and man-against-nature.  There are a few characters who act antagonistic from the viewpoint of the main characters, but their motivations tend toward internal nobility; aside from the vampires in Danse Macabre, no one has been explicitly evil.  Even with the vampires, it was more characters acting without a superego, the part that makes us want to function as social creatures and not sociopaths.  One of the main villains there still had enlightened self-interest that could masquerade almost as a conscience.  I am a fan of nuance.  

9. Please share any upcoming news and links so readers can follow you, find your books, etc.

I have just posted an anthology of my shorter works to Amazon, called “Find What You Love and Let It Kill You.”  Given the subject matter, I am making the ebook free on the Kindle on Valentine’s Day (as well as during No Such Convention, from February 21-23).

About Thomm:

Thomm Quackenbush (1980-present) was born in Beacon, New York. He is a novelist and teacher in the Hudson Valley, where much of his Night's Dreams series takes place. He has been published by Double Dragon Publishing, Cave Drawing Ink, The Journal of Cartoon Over-Analysis, Broken City Magazine, The Toucan, and Paragon Press. 

Officialwebsite | About me page  

Amazon Author's Page |
Double Dragon Publishing Author's Page |
Facebook Fan Page | Goodreads |
Shelfari Author Page

Tumblr | Twitter

Cover Reveal - Stacey O'Neale's The Shadow Prince plus giveaway!

This prequel novella will be FREE and available on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble on March 25, 2014!

Every 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?

Mortal Enchantment (Book 1)

ebook, 262 pages

Expected publication: May 20th 2014 by Phoenix Reign Publishing

≥GoodReads≤

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stacey O'Neale started her career in publishing as a blogger turned publicist for two successful small publishers. She loves to write stories with swoony paranormal heroes, snarky heroines, and lots of kissing.

When she's not writing, she loves blogging and fangirling about books on twitter. Occasionally, she leaves her computer to go outside.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Cover Reveal - Brigid Kemmerer's SACRIFICE

Sacrifice: Book 5 in the Elemental Series

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Release date: September 30, 2014

This cover is so hot, you need to be clicking on Goodreads and pre-ordering like 2 minutes ago.

 

Right? Right! Now that you're back, here's a little bit about the book:

One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.

Michael Merrick is used to pressure.

He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.

But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.

They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight…

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17149158-sacrifice

Brigid Kemmerer website: http://www.brigidkemmerer.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrigidKemmererWrites?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrigidKemmerer

Haven't read the others in the Elemental series? You can get them here (and they all come with awesome covers too!)

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | iBooks |  IndiBound

 

About Brigid:

 

Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real "novel" was about four brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she's had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Win an ARC of Sunrise, the 3rd book in Mike Mullin's trilogy!

In case you haven't read Mike Mullin's Ashfall and Ashen Winter, go buy them right now. The trilogy is a story of survival after the super volcano under Yellowstone explodes and pretty much ends life as we know it in the US.

Coming soon (available for pre-order) is Sunrise, the third book, which I'm sure will be just as awesome as the other two.

But if you'd like the chance to win an ARC - visit Mike's blog.

Check out this giveaway link to Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Adventures in YA Publishing is on of my favorite blogs - I visit every day. It's primarily hosted by Martina Boone, but several awesome people are involved in coordinating guest posts, contests and the First Five Pages Workshop.

Today, the guest post is by Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. She gives us ton of great pictures from Prague and a Rafflecopter opportunity to win the signed trilogy!

Don't miss this one!

Also, don't forget that I'd love to help launch your book or do an author interview. Just contact me via email or twitter. I've got a review of Elana Johnson's new book in verse, Elevated, coming up. Cover reveal below.