I Become Shadow Blog Tour: Guest post by Joe Shine

I Become Shadow
by Joe Shine



Publication:
June 10th 2014
by Soho Teen













Ren Sharpe was abducted at fourteen and chosen by the mysterious F.A.T.E. Center to become a Shadow: the fearless and unstoppable guardian of a future leader. Everything she held dear—her family, her home, her former life—is gone forever.

Ren survives four years of training, torture, and misery, in large part thanks to Junie, a fellow F.A.T.E. abductee who started out as lost and confused as she did. She wouldn’t admit it was possible to find love in a prison beyond imagining, but what she feels for Junie may just be the closest thing to it.

At eighteen they part ways when Ren receives her assignment: find and protect college science student Gareth Young, or die trying. Life following a college nerd is uneventful, until an attack on Gareth forces Ren to track down the only person she can trust. When she and Junie discover that the F.A.T.E. itself might be behind the attacks, even certain knowledge of the future may not be enough to save their kidnappers from the killing machines they created.

GUEST POST

When people have asked me who I would cast in the I BECOME SHADOW movie it's hard.

The majority of characters are straight out of my imagination and unless we get a police sketch artist to help me out that's where they'll stay. (not to self: hire police sketch artist, that would be cool)

Cole, however, is a completely different story. I've had him cast in my head from the moment I dreamt him up. From day one Tim Roth has been my Cole. He not only looks like he could beat the hell out of you, but also has that uncanny ability to make you dislike him immediately. Cole's role in Ren's development is crucial and the actor playing him will need to be her instant nemesis. Tim Roth, as Cole, is capable of that and more.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Joe Shine grew up in Austin, TX (the greatest city ever), and is a graduate of Texas A&M University. He has an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California, and after brief stints in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, Joe returned home to Austin (repeat: the greatest city ever).
Joe has a normal human job like most everyone else but hopes to become a full-time writer one day, and this is where you, the reader, must do him a really big solid and love I Become Shadow, his first novel.



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Twelve Steps Blog Tour: Guest Post by Veronica Bartles

Twelve Steps
by Veronica Bartles



Publication: 2014
by
Swoon Romance











Sixteen-year-old Andi is tired of being a second-class sibling to perfect sister Laina. The only thing Andi’s sure she has going for her is her awesome hair. And even that is eclipsed by Laina's perfect everything else.

When Andi’s crush asks her to fix him up with Laina, Andi decides enough is enough, and devises a twelve-step program to wrangle the spotlight away from Laina and get the guy.

Step 1: Admit she’s powerless to change her perfect sister, and accept that her life really, really sucks.

Step 4: Make a list of her good qualities. She MUST have more than just great hair, right?

Step 7: Demand attention for more than just the way she screws things up.

When a stolen kiss from her crush ends in disaster, Andi realizes that her twelve-step program isn’t working. Her prince isn’t as charming as she'd hoped, and the spotlight she’s been trying to steal isn’t the one she wants.

As Laina’s flawless façade begins to crumble, the sisters work together to find a spotlight big enough for both to shine.

Guest Post by Veronica Bartles

My favorite part about writing TWELVE STEPS was the relationship between the two sisters, Andi and Laina. Even though they drive each other crazy, they mostly love each other. I have three sisters. I was sandwiched in between the “gorgeous and insanely popular” sister and the “too adorable for words” sister. As “the smart one,” I felt like I could never keep up. But even though we often fought in the privacy of our own shared bedroom, my sisters and I loved each other like crazy, and we knew we could always count on each other when it really mattered. That’s the kind of relationship Andi and Laina have.
My sister and I were in the band together in high school, and for the band banquet at the end of my senior year, each of the seniors was assigned to an underclassman for the senior roast. Of course, they paired me with my little sister (who was a sophomore), since she would obviously be the most likely to have great dirt.
She spent weeks tormenting me.
“Remember the time we were getting on the bus after the band trip, and you tripped and fell flat on your face because [name of guy I had a crush on omitted] asked you for a piece of gum? Maybe I’ll tell that story. I could even just stand up there and present you with a package of gum and tell you not to trip.”
“Remember that time I stole your diary and read all about your secret crush on [name of different guy omitted]? Maybe I could tell the story about how you pretended to fall asleep on the bus so you could lean your head on his shoulder.” “Remember that [even more embarrassing story – mortifying enough that I don’t even want to give a clue here]? Maybe I’ll tell that story. People would think it’s hilarious!”
Every day, she thought up a new, even more embarrassing tale that she could share when her turn came. And even though I begged her to have mercy, she insisted that the whole point of the senior roast was to come up with the most embarrassing stories possible. Everyone would be disappointed if she didn’t have something spectacularly embarrassing to share about me. That’s why they picked her to do it, after all.
By the time the band banquet rolled around, I was so nervous that I thought about skipping it altogether. But I knew that would be even worse than bravely facing the embarrassment I’d soon endure. If I wasn’t there when she told whatever embarrassing tale she was about to share, there was no way I could even hope to do any kind of damage control. So I dressed up and plastered a smile on my face and walked into the banquet with my head held high. And when it was our turn, I stood in front of the room with her, trying not to hyperventilate as my little sister prepared to destroy me.
She pulled out a pack of gum and flashed an evil grin at me, as she rolled her eyes toward the boy I had a crush on, who was sitting right in the front of the room.
I think my heart stopped beating.
Then, without saying a word, she set the gum down on the table beside her and pulled out a pair of angel wings and a halo. “I know I was supposed to find some embarrassing story to tell,” she said, “but you’ve all met Veronica. She’s kind of perfect. She doesn’t really make mistakes. And I couldn’t find anything worth sharing. I guess Veronica’s just an angel.”
Because that’s what sisters do. We may torment and tease, and make life miserable from time to time, but at the end of the day, we’re here for each other.
No matter what.

As the second of eight children and the mother of four, Veronica Bartles is no stranger to the ups and downs of sibling relationships. (She was sandwiched between the gorgeous-and-insanely-popular older sister and the too-adorable-for-words younger sister.)
She uses this insight to write stories about siblings who mostly love each other, even while they’re driving one another crazy.

When she isn’t writing or getting lost in the pages of her newest favorite book, Veronica enjoys knitting fabulous bags and jewelry out of recycled plastic bags and old VHS tapes, sky diving (though she hasn’t actually tried that yet), and inventing the world’s most delectable cookie recipes. TWELVE STEPS is Veronica Bartles's first novel.



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Liv, Forever Blog Tour: Guest Post by Amy Talkington

Today author Amy Talkington guest post's as part of the Blog Tour for her debut novel Liv, Forever! She'll be talking about Who Would You Cast for the character of Abigail, so.. here you go!

Liv, Forever
by Amy Talkington



Publication: March 11th 2014
by
Soho Teen











When Liv Bloom lands an art scholarship at Wickham Hall, it’s her ticket out of the foster system. Liv isn’t sure what to make of the school’s weird traditions and rituals, but she couldn’t be happier. For the first time ever, she has her own studio, her own supply of paints. Everything she could want.

Then she meets Malcolm Astor, a legacy student, a fellow artist, and the one person who’s ever been able to melt her defenses. Liv’s only friend at Wickham, fellow scholarship kid Gabe Nichols, warns her not to get involved, but life is finally going Liv’s way, and all she wants to do is enjoy the ride.

But Liv’s bliss is doomed. Weeks after arriving, she is viciously murdered and, in death, she discovers that she’s the latest victim of a dark conspiracy that has claimed many lives. Cursed with the ability to see the many ghosts on Wickham’s campus, Gabe is now Liv’s only link to the world of the living. To Malcolm.

Together, Liv, Gabe, and Malcolm fight to expose the terrible truth that haunts the halls of Wickham. But Liv must fight alone to come to grips with the ultimate star-crossed love.

Who Would You Cast for the character of Abigail

ABIGAIL – ALLIE GONINO

Abigail is the reigning queen of Wickham Hall and she’s set on keeping everybody in his or her place, particularly Liv. She’s manipulative, a control freak, and she just might’ve murdered Liv.
With her secretive smile, Allie Gonino (“The Lying Game,” “10 Things I Hate About You”) could be a perfect choice for Abigail. She has poise and pomp, confidence and control... and consistently perfect blond hair.

Sophistication with a sideways glance.

Can we trust her? Don’t think so.

Something about her just says, “don’t mess with me.”


If you want to know all the latest on Liv, Forever follow me on Twitter @amytalkington and Tumblr http://amytalkington.tumblr.com

Amy Talkington is an award-winning screenwriter and director living in Los Angeles.

Before all that she wrote about music for magazines like Spin, Ray Gun, Interview, and Seventeen (mostly just as a way to get to hang out with rock stars).

As a teenager in Dallas, Texas, Amy painted lots of angsty self-portraits, listened to The Velvet Underground and was difficult enough that her parents finally let her go to boarding school on the East Coast. Liv, Forever is her first novel.



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Guest Author: Connie L. Smith

Essenced
by Connie L. Smith



Publication
date:
July 29th 2013












Years ago, demons were forced out of the earth’s realm by a band of supernatural fighters, banished from the place and its people in the aftermath of a horrific war. It should’ve ended there – would’ve – if not for the final demon’s claw snagging on the open portal. What felt like victory became only a reprieve, the winning warriors understanding that the tear would spread, and the demons eventually would escape exile. It was only a matter of time, and a need for future defense – a question of genetics and essences, magic and power.

Now, centuries later, a new army must bind together – one of teenagers with inhuman potentials and abilities…

AJ went to bed Sunday night an average teenage girl, clumsy and athletically lacking. So when she wakes up Monday morning with super-strength, she does what any rational person would do: She goes into denial. When a smoking hot guy in a suit shows up, rambling about the end of the war and demons spilling through some kind of rift, she refuses to listen, telling herself he’s insane. Except weird things just won’t quit happening, and the guy keeps popping up in her life, trying to explain the changes suddenly happening within her. Is she crazy, or is this guy… not so crazy after all?

Guest post by Connie L. Smith

There are a few things that I absolutely stink at:

1) Folding a fitted sheet.

2) Driving.

3) Writing a guest blog post.


Luckily I didn’t have to drive anywhere or fold a fitted sheet to have this come to pass. Still, it’s a complex situation. I want to write something that will snag your interest, but not something so ridiculous that you’re basically thinking, ‘Why in the world would she write that???’

So where exactly do I draw the line? Can I tell you about the tiny vampires that lived in my dorm at college? Would it be a bit too much to ramble about my interest in Julio-Claudian emperors and their… quirks? Is it too bland to just tell you about my favorite breakfast cereal?

This, I think, is one of the overlooked complications of an author’s life. Being on blogs helps you get exposure, and hopefully gets people to consider reading the book you’ve spent a good chunk of time on, but it leaves you with an overwhelming sense of impeding doom. You know. Looking at your calendar, realizing you have four days until it posts, noting that you have nothing important to say, and preparing yourself for the meteor that will no doubt crash into your house if you miss that deadline. Okay, so maybe that won’t happen. But a bunch of people will be reading it, experiencing your writing for the first time, and you want it to be good.

Well, maybe not good, but memorable. Persuadable. Different.

Like the rest of writing, I think the key might be in finding your own techniques and preferences, and going with them. Writing is not a mathematic equation, or a structured fortification that you have to build with exact guidelines so the whole thing doesn’t fall to pieces. You might love writing with strong vocabulary, while another reader/author thinks simpler is better. One publisher might want limited omniscience from the narrator, while another wants to know what’s in everyone’s head. Some things contradict, and some are open for approval. You might agree, or you might have other inclinations.

Any tips that others give you could very well be helpful, but they’re to be used at your discretion. It is your work, after all. It should be something you’d want to read, regardless of whether or not the authors you follow on Twitter agree with your preferences.

That, to me, is one of the most important ingredients in being the author of books you can be proud of. Write what you want, what you like, and do it to your best ability. Read and read and read some more until you discover what you do like, and hold to that as you journey through your works. Ideally you’ll grow, but don’t lose sight of who you are as an author by concentrating on who other people say you need to be.

Maybe the same thing can be said for blogging. I had a livejournal for years, and I had so many updates on that thing. But my readers were mostly friends who knew me enough to make the experience personal. Switching from personal updates about my life to a more general line of topics is an odd transition, but one that I’m attempting to learn to do. Maybe the secret in learning that is to read and read and read other blogs, discover what I like, and grow as a guest blogger.

Until then, I’ll just let a blank page guide me, and hopefully I’ll type something worth reading.

This post hasn’t been shocking or revealing, but it’s been honest. I hope you can appreciate that.



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Dead Living Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway (INT)

Dead Living
by Glenn Bullion

Published: January 7th 2013
Publisher: Permuted Press
Genre: Horror/Zombies
Amazon | B&N

It didn’t take long for the world to die. And it didn’t take long, either, for the dead to rise.

Born on the day everything ended, a world filled with the walking dead is the only one that Aaron knows. Kept in seclusion, his family teaches him the basics. How to read and write. How to survive.

Then Aaron makes a shocking discovery. The undead, who desire nothing but flesh, ignore him. It’s as if he’s invisible to them.

The survivors of the old suburb of Lexington call a high school their home. They live day to day, without any of the luxuries mankind used to enjoy. Samantha is a product of the new world. Alone, cold, looking out only for herself. She and the other residents of Lexington feel their hope dwindling. They need change. They need someone who can face the corpses. They need someone who can live in a city of the dead.

They need Aaron.

My favorite scene to write in Dead Living
by Glenn Bullion

I’d like to think Dead Living is a solid little zombie tale. It doesn’t just follow a group of blank slates who are fighting zombies, struggling to survive (although there is plenty of zombie munching). It was rewarding to breathe life into the cast of characters, and I actually struggled when it came to writing a few death scenes. The beginning of the book was particularly painful, but I won’t go into too many details to avoid spoilers.

I did have a few scenes that I loved putting together. Ironically one of them is more character driven than action, while the other scene is the complete opposite. The two main characters in the novel are Aaron and Samantha. The young pair couldn’t be more opposite, and I loved the dynamic they had with one another. I loved writing the scene in which they first meet, in zombie-overrun Baltimore. Looking at the situation from each character’s point of view, Aaron wonders why a woman is running for her life in a city where she shouldn’t be. Meanwhile, Samantha is curious as to how a man could survive on his own in the thick of a zombie horde. There’s immediate tension, as Aaron wants things to go back to how they were, but he can’t kick Samantha aside. Samantha wants nothing more than to get back to her camp, but needs Aaron’s help in order to survive.

The other scene I constantly come back to is an action-driven one near the end of the book. I won’t spoil anything that’s not on the back cover of the book. Aaron is essentially the rarest type of human in the zombie apocalypse. He’s immune to the undead, and he is actually a kind, hopeful man. But, as the scene I’m talking about goes into, every man has his limits. Revenge is something that is hard to walk away from, and what kind of damage could someone do if he didn’t have to worry about the zombie horde?

I had a lot of fun creating Dead Living, even with the scenes that choked me up a little. Hopefully anyone who enjoys zombie fiction agrees with me. Happy reading.

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About the author

I live in Maryland with my wonderful wife and four cats. I love gaming, computer technology, movies, and of course, reading and writing. I love science fiction and especially horror and the paranormal. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, anything supernatural, all beautiful subjects.

I’ve been writing since I was twelve years old. There’s just something about creating a story that I like. I always try come up with something that hasn’t been done, or is unique in some way. It could be someone with demonic powers, or something much more simple, such as a person that zombies ignore. It’s fun to create a character, give him or her a personality and background, and watch them evolve through a story.

I’ve tried other subjects, but always drift back to horror and paranormal. There’s a reason why we keep going back to horror movies and books, why they’ve made fifty Friday the 13th movies. People like to be scared, but more than that, I think paranormal and horror stir the imagination like nothing else. We’re all just a little nervous to open that closet door at midnight, or look under the bed.

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Shadow of Time Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

Shadow of Time
by Jen Minkman

Published: January 1st 2013
Publisher: CreateSpace
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Amazon |

All Hannah needs is a nice and quiet vacation after her first year of teaching French at a high school. She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their mom’s log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben’s childhood friend from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and Hannah can’t help but feeling more for him than just friendship.

But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it’s not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer – and why is Josh always present in her dreams?

Sometimes, the past has a way of catching up with you.

Publishing paranormal romance in Europe
by Jen Minkman


Writing paranormal romance in Europe is quite a challenge. Why, you say? Because most of the books in the genre are in English. This means all other European countries usually stick to translating those bestselling books into their native languages, because they are bestsellers and everybody knows who Stephenie Meyer is, even if the book itself is in Spanish, Hungarian or Finnish. Sales guaranteed.
I decided to turn this whole process around. After signing a contract with a Dutch publisher (yippee!) to get my paranormal romance ‘Schaduw van de Tijd’ on the market in the Netherlands, I then took my manuscript and translated it into English so I could publish ‘Shadow of Time’ through Amazon and make sure my book ended up on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, all the other European branches of Amazon as well as all the Kindle stores, including the new one in India. In April, the book will go live on Smashwords as well, making it accessible for everyone without a Kindle. Sales guaranteed (I hope!).

Curious about the whole self-publishing process? Well, read on.
First of all, I spent about three months translating and re-writing my book into English. I am more or less bilingual, but of course I did call on a few other teachers of English (I myself am one) to help me every now and then (those teachers being my dad, my mom and my sister). Yes, we are indeed one such family with a single big talent that we all use to earn a living. ;)
After translating the whole book, I sent it off to an American freelance editor who checked my text for cultural inconsistencies (one notable error was my main character eating pancakes with jam for breakfast – however, Americans use maple syrup!) as well as grammar and U.S. spelling. I mainly speak British English, but the book is set in Arizona, so that would be weird. This is when I found out that ‘no-one’ is actually spelled ‘no one’. (*ashamed*!)
After that, the real work began. I e-mailed so many book blogs I lost count, asking them to run a promotional, giveaway or review for my book. I set up my own blog tour (of which this blog is part), making sure I would have blogs from all over the globe. I ran give-aways on Goodreads, participated in give-away blog hops, and basically tried to sell myself and my book from June till December.

Why did I think this book deserved to be published in English as well?
When I started work on ‘Shadow of Time’, I had no idea it would require me to do weeks and weeks of research about Navajo Nation and the history of the Navajo people. I set out to write a paranormal love story, but ended up obsessing over every last bit of history and culture in the book being flawlessly described. I learned so much about the hardship the Native Americans had to go through, their rich language and culture, and the state that present-day Navajo Nation is in, that I felt I had to share it with the world. Don’t worry, the book hasn’t turned into a major info-dump fest where I flaunt all the knowledge I’ve acquired (all those Umberto Eco-ish ramblings were cut out in the third draft :), but the story does have a background that hopefully gives readers a feel of what life is like on a reservation. I hope everybody will enjoy reading ‘Shadow of Time’ as much as I enjoyed writing it!

And now it's time for a giveaway!
And remember, Shadow of Time will be available on Smashwords from March 14th onwards!

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Cityglitter Blog Tour: Guest Post by Carla Caruso

Celebrities who may well be magical

by Carla Caruso

Many people love a story with a touch of magic – whether it is in book or film. Me included!

Hence, my new book, Cityglitter, centres on a posse of glam fairies, known as ‘cityglitters’. You can spot this variety of fairy in your midst because they can’t help from wearing a splash of pink amid their outfits, they look like Victoria’s Secret Angels but have actual wings (hidden from human eyes), and they naturally smell like perfume Mariah Carey would put her name to.

It made me ponder which well-known faces, regularly seen out and about on the A-list circuit, could actually be magical, too. You know the types who never have a hair out of place or put a foot wrong on the red carpet. Well, it’s fun imagining it anyway… here’s my list.

• Blake Lively. She’s always getting about in gorgeous, princess-style frocks and wearing little plaits in her wavy blond hair – very fairy-ish. Plus, she magnetised Ryan Reynolds with her ethereal charm. Who knows? Maybe she’s got a spot of fairy blood in her.



• Kate Hudson. Her mum’s a little bit kooky and Kate herself has the tinkling laugh down pat. I could so see her in a tutu and pair of stripey socks!



• Drew Barrymore. She befriended an alien in E.T. and she looks forever-young, like she’s sipped from the fountain of youth. Who’s to say she’s not otherworldly?



• Miranda Kerr. She’s been a Victoria’s Secret Angel – just maybe the wings she had on display weren’t fake? Plus, with her doll-like face and endless pins, she’s got “perfect fairy girl” stamped all over her.



• Criss Angel. Uber dark, uber mysterious… perhaps his illusions are actually – deep breath in – real?



• Channing Tatum. Surely being that attractive can’t be human? We say: fairy bad-boy all the way!

Cityglitter by Carla Caruso (Destiny Romance) is about a gorgeous fairy living a glam life in the big city, who does the one thing she promised herself she’d never do: fall in love with a human.

www.destinyromance.com

Cityglitter
by Carla Caruso

Published: September 15th 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia

Amazon |

Christelle is like any other 20-something living in Sydney, Australia – except for one huge secret. She enjoys cocktails with girlfriends, luxury brand launches, gossip and shopping. For an added touch of spice, there’s also the sizzling connection with her new boss, the gorgeous Jasper.

Then Christelle’s younger sister, the hapless and naïve Trixie Fifi Panache, arrives unannounced, and things begin to fall apart. Not only does Christelle have to deal with her sister’s exploits and embarrassing mistakes, but she also has to live with the fear that her escapades will reveal the truth: Christelle and Trixie are half fairy, half human, and hidden beneath their clothes are a pair of gorgeous wings. To make matters worse, Christelle has fallen for Jasper, but knows that taking the relationship any further threatens exposure. And no love could survive that, could it?

Cityglitter is a charming, magical romance that leaves in its wake a glitter of fairy dust. With inner-city fabulousness and sophistication, this fun celebration of love will add more than a touch of sparkle to your life.

Crashing Eden Blog Tour: Guest post + Giveaway (INT)

I'm so happy to be part of Crashing Eden Blog Tour! Please welcome author Michael Sussman!

How I Wrote Crashing Eden

My first novel, Crashing Eden, tells the story of Joss Kazdan, a 17-year-old juvenile delinquent who is
depressed and guilt-ridden following the loss of his younger brother.
After suffering a concussion, he awakens to a beautiful sound that no one else can hear. He becomes convinced that it’s the primordial vibration of the universe, and by attuning himself to it he experiences ecstasy and feels at one with the cosmos. Things get even stranger when friends of his are able to construct a device that produces this same Edenic consciousness.
I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’ll just say that what starts out so promising, soon leads to generational conflict and cataclysmic destruction that threatens the very survival of humanity!


You may wonder: How did I come to write such a strange novel? I believe the story emerged from the convergence of the following three strands of my life.

1. Adolescence was a painful and confusing time for me, when my struggles with depression first began. I experienced mood swings, became increasingly introverted, socially isolated, and had to contend with deep feelings of guilt, self-hatred, and suppressed rage. These experiences were influential in my later becoming a psychologist, helping others to cope with the ravages of depression.

2. During my later teens, I developed a passionate interest in Eastern mysticism. I read books by mystics and gurus, started to meditate, and even joined a cult called Divine Light Mission. In my quest to transcend mundane existence, I also lived for a while in a commune located—I kid you not—in Paradise, Nova Scotia.

One night, I suffered a concussion in a car crash in which I was a passenger and was lucky to survive. Like my protagonist in Crashing Eden, I spent the days following the concussion in what I can only call a state of grace, filled with deep feelings of gratitude and joy.

3. Throughout my life I’ve been interested in world mythology. I’m especially intrigued by the widespread myths suggesting that humans have degenerated from an ancient state of grace, symbolized by Paradise or the Golden Age.


To sum up, I believe that my history of depression and experience as a psychotherapist allowed me to get inside the head of my adolescent protagonist and find his voice. My fascination with mysticism and my personal experience of grace led me to conceive of a transcendent state to which my protagonist aspires. And my familiarity with the Golden Age myths provided a framework for the story.

From there, I used my imagination to envision how the God of the Old Testament might react to an impudent gang of teenagers who discover a way to crash the Gates of Eden. That’s when the story gets really interesting!

And now it's time for the giveaway! Michael will be giving away three copies of Crashing Eden!


Crashing Eden by
Michael Sussman

Published May 11th 2012
(first published May 1st 2012)
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Format: Ebook
Pages: 225
Series: -

Amazon |

For one boy and his friends, the path to Paradise comes at a cost — one they may not be prepared to pay.

When a biking
accident leaves 17- year- old Joss Kazdan with the ability to hear things others can’t, reality as he knows it begins to unravel.

A world of legends exists beyond the ordinary life he’s always known, and he is transported to the same Paradise he’s studying in World Mythology. But the strange gets even stranger when his new friends build a device that delivers people through the gates of the Garden of Eden.

Now Samael, the Creator God, is furious. As Samael rains down his apocalyptic devastation on the ecstasy-seeking teens, Joss and his companions must find a way to appease Samael—or the world will be destroyed forever

There will be THREE (3) winners chosen.
Winners have 72 hours to reply email, or there will be new winners chosen.
The giveaway will end on September 2nd at 12:01 AM.

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Author Bio

Michael Sussman is the author of Crashing Eden, a YA fantasy/paranormal novel, and Otto Grows Down, a children’s picture book featuring illustrations by Scott Magoon.
Dr. Sussman is a clinical psychologist and has also published two books for mental health professionals. He’s the author of A Curious Calling: Unconscious Motivations for Practicing Psychotherapy and the editor of A Perilous Calling: The Hazards of Psychotherapy Practice.
He resides in the Boston area with his son, Ollie.


Links
Buy from Amazon | Buy from Amazon UK paperback /

e-book | Buy from Barnes & Noble | Buy from Smashwords

| Author’s website and blog | Twitter @MichaelBSussman

| Facebook Fan Page

Guest Author: Audrey Hart

I'm so happy to introduce my very first guest author, lovely Audrey, the author of The Dig (Zoe and Zeus trilogy) (read my review here!)!

I was so happy, when Audrey agreed to tell us the story behind Zoe and Zeus, something I always want to know when I read a great book! :) So, here you go!

The story behind Zoe and Zeus trilogy by Audrey Hart

Last year, I was lucky to visit the Minoan ruins in Crete. I was in awe of everything. Imagine, people lived here 4000 years ago. And I became so interested in the people who spend their lives hunting down these ruins.

One afternoon, my iPhone buzzed and slipped out of my pocket. I gasped, thinking it had fallen between the cracks. And I freaked out and was really surprised about my reaction. Anyway, the next time I sat down to work on my novel, I kept going over that moment in my head. And then I knew that I wanted to write about a girl who lost her phone in a symbolic way. That was my a-ha moment, I guess. I can tell a story about a girl who will learn that she’s not the disconnected person she thinks she is.

The Dig is the first book in a trilogy that follows outsider Zoe Calder on her travels through time to Ancient Greece where she discovers that she has special powers. She meets Zeus. Hello crush!
And then she endures trials and heads to Mount Olympus with Zeus where she clashes with the clique of gods. They’re all pretty rankled by her budding relationship with Zeus. After all, where did this Zoe come from? Why does she have powers? At school, Zoe understands that her outsidery status is her own doing. But here, the tables are kind of turned. And ultimately, she learns a lot about her own power, the power that we all have, whether or not we can, you know, move actual mountains.

A big decision I made writing The Dig was to adapt the gods to be teenagers. When I meet new people I always wonder what they were like in high school. I think you learn so much about someone when you learn how they evolved, or haven’t. So I liked the idea of Zeus, who has this reputation for being so cold and domineering having had a period in life where he was actually kind of vulnerable.

And who knows? Maybe the image he has now is totally untrue and he never did all these terrible things. Or maybe he got fed up on Olympus and eventually turned into the Zeus we read about it books. Teenage years are formative years, and that’s what makes the stakes so high.
Plus, the Olympian gods are such strong characters. It was exciting to me to make the leap that they might have been real people with flaws and baggage like all of us. Then we have Zoe, who can be cynical about people, learning that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. In high school, we all tend to put certain people on pedestals because of their appearances or their abilities.
And I like the idea of Zoe dealing with a group of kids who are literally on pedestals. What a great journey for a teenage girl who thinks she’s sort of immune to cliques, to be alone, on Olympus with the ultimate clique of teens. And I think the reason she falls so hard for Zeus isn’t just that he’s, you know, Zeus who’s hot and can fly, but also that through spending time with him, she’s changing her outlook on people. And that’s a powerful experience.

This is my first novel. I had always wanted to write a coming of age story about a strong, independent girl learning about her strengths, her weaknesses and her capacity for love.
I want to send out a BIG thank you to all of my readers. I’m so thrilled with the overall response to The Dig thus far. Everyone is so articulate, opinionated and passionate about literature and I feel so fortunate that all of these wonderful people are taking time to read my book.

A friend of mine said I should write a movie instead of a book because nobody reads anymore. And I mean obviously, this friend was gloriously way off base. I also love to hear from readers about what they liked and didn’t like, so I want to encourage everyone out there to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. There’s nothing more fun than hearing what people like and don’t like, especially because this is only the beginning of Zoe’s adventure!

Thanks for the awesome post, Audrey, I just love it! :) And your friend was definitely wrong, people do read! :)

This or That

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I'm guest posting on Jodie's blog today!

If you'd like to check it out, CLICK HERE!