C.M. McCoy's Blog, page 11
January 8, 2017
2 Giveaways: Harry Potter Illustrated & Signed EERIE
Win Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Hardcover
(2 copies available) via Amazon Bouncy Box
Ends 13 Jan 2017
Contest Link: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/8ea0c4f95bd160ed
Win a SIGNED paperback of Eerie
Ends 18 Mar 2017
(1 copy available) via Goodreads
Contest Link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/217854-eerie
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December 13, 2016
{Big Giveaway} Holly Jolly Hop! Kindle Paperwhite or $50 GC
Welcome to the Holly Jolly Page Hop Grand Prize Giveaway!
December 9, 2016
{Giveaway + Review} First Pages – FALLS THE SHADOW (teen SciFi) by Stefanie Gaither
First Pages is a series featuring an early draft of a published book’s first page and a short commentary from the author describing how that draft evolved into its published form. Being the first-page whore that I am (you can find me at Barnes and Noble flitting from book to book, reading a bit of each first page with either a nose wrinkle or approving nod), I’ve read a couple thousand first pages, and I started this series to study how authors get it right. It takes a lot of courage for authors to share their first or early draft, so these are a real treat!
In this installment of the series, we look at FALLS THE SHADOW, a Young Adult Soft SciFi involving siblings by Stefanie Gaither (Nov 2015, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). Reviewers have lauded the intriguing concept and compelling characters in this novel: “A solid debut whose gut-punch ending leaves room for a sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)
Early Draft of First Page
Chapter One: The Replacement
I took some of the flowers from my sister’s funeral, because I thought her replacement might like them as a welcome-to-the-family present.
They were in my lap, some of the velvety petals with little tears and creases in them, because I couldn’t seem to get my fingers to hold still; Mother had already fussed at me for dragging my nails through the leather seats (you’ll leave scratches!) and for drawing pictures on the foggy windows (those were just cleaned!). And when I absently sent yet another piece of petal fluttering to the floorboard, her hand snapped out, wrapped like a whip around my wrist.
“Honestly Katelyn, I wish you would stop fidgeting. There will be nothing left of those flowers by the time we reach Huxley.”
I sank farther down into the seat. The seatbelt cut into my neck and shoulders, but I ignored the burning and focused instead on the wobbly, watery world outside my window. Any second, the towering gray buildings of the Huxley Laboratory Compound would be coming into view. Father was already there. He probably already had the paperwork filled out, and New-Violet was probably already waiting by his side.
Not New-Violet, mother’s voice scolded my thoughts. Our Violet. The same, the one and only Violet.
She was right, of course. The girl we were picking up couldn’t have been any more identical to the big sister I’d always known. She was her perfect genetic copy. And thanks to our full cooperation with the labs, she had all our family’s memories, too. She would fit right in. It would be like Violet never left.
I was still nervous.
Some thoughts from author Stefanie Gaither
The first line was the same from the first draft to the final—it usually is for me. One reason for that is because I generally don’t start a book unless I have two things in order in my head: a strong blurb and a strong first line. I come from a marketing background, and I know how important these first-impression words are, so I really, really stress over them! Another reason is that I’ve also never really been the quick drafting type. I take my time and edit as I go, even though I know a lot of people say not to do that. I’m too much of a perfectionist to not at least try to make my first attempt as close to a ‘finished’ product as I can make it. And in the case of my first page, I got pretty close.
The rest of the book… not so much
December 6, 2016
{Giveaway} Did you love SABRINA? You’ll love ALTERATIONS!
Alterations
by Stephanie Scott
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 6th 2016
Bloomsbury Spark
Summary from Goodreads:
If anyone saw the prom boards Amelia Blanco makes on her favorite fashion app, they’d think Ethan Laurenti was her boyfriend. They wouldn’t know that all the plans she’s made for them are just dreams, and that she’s the girl who watches him from the kitchen while her parents cook for his famous family.
When Amelia’s abuelita enrolls her in a month-long fashion internship in NYC, Amelia can’t imagine leaving Miami–and Ethan–for that long. As soon as she gets to New York, however, she finds a bigger world and new possibilities. She meets people her own age who can actually carry on a conversation about stitching and design. Her pin boards become less about prom with Ethan and more about creating her own style. By the time she returns to Miami, Amelia feels like she can accomplish anything, and surprises herself by agreeing to help Ethan’s awkward, Steve-Jobs-wannabe brother, Liam, create his own fashion app.
As Liam and Amelia get closer, Ethan realizes that this newly confident, stylish girl may be the one for him after all . . . even though he has a reality TV star girlfriend he conveniently keeps forgetting about. The “new and improved” Amelia soon finds herself in between two brothers, a whole lot of drama, and choice she never dreamed she’d have to make.
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Alterations-Stephanie-Scott-ebook/dp/B01M59LROR/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/alterations-stephanie-scott/1124822027
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/alterations-2
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/alterations/id1166705649?mt=11
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781681191928
About the Author
Hello! I write Young Adult stories about teens who put their passions first. I’m an active member of Romance Writers of America and its online YA chapter YARWA, and I mentor writers in online pitch contests. I love dance fitness and cat memes, and Pinterest is driving me broke. I live outside of Chicago with my tech-of-all-trades husband. You can find me most often online on twitter and Instagram at @StephScottYA. My debut ALTERATIONS about a fashion-obsessed loner who reinvents herself releases 12/6/16 from Bloomsbury Spark, and I’m a contributor to the young adult short story anthology WELCOME HOME out in spring 2017.
Author Links:
GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
December 1, 2016
Before the Holidays Giveaway Hop
Happy December everyone! Welcome holiday hoppers
About 
me: I’m an Irish dancer and former Air Force officer living in the Great White North. Though I earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and one in German from Penn State, I’m far happier daydreaming. Fun fact: while working 911 dispatch for Alaska State Troopers, I learned to speak in 10-codes, which I still do…but only to annoy my family. Also, I have one pointed ear. Just one.
I love the Christmas season. I love the frigid weather, I love the smell of scotch tape, and I love this whole spirit of giving and spiritual celebration–it’s my favorite time of year 
November 6, 2016
$100 Gift Card Giveaway!
Eerie received a great review from Kirkus Reviews, and we’re celebrating with a $100 Gift Card Giveaway!
“…weird and wonderful characters… A charming and inventive tale, with a brave heroine confronting romance and dangerous entities.” – Kirkus Reviews (read the full review)
Hailey Hartley has just enrolled in the world’s premier supernatural university. It’s a school she’s never heard of, located in a town called The Middle of Nowhere, and run by a creature that’s not supposed to exist. But at least she got a scholarship…
When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds only one place offers her answers–a paranormal university in Alaska. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her otherworldly classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil monster doesn’t decide to kill her himself.
Check out the sensational teen paranormal book featured in PEOPLE Magazine:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2d9KKNo
UK: http://amzn.to/2axU2jX
Canada: http://amzn.to/2aqrzh0
B&N: http://bit.ly/2ag7H30
Apple iBooks: http://apple.co/2b0HHpC
BAM: http://bit.ly/2atPKg8
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2az5axE
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2aGH9q7ha
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October 24, 2016
Giveaway Roundup – Kindle, Gift Cards, Illustrated Harry Potter Hardcover and MORE :-)
October is Giveaway Month for the Eerie blog.Go get your free entries!
All of my giveaways are open internationally
October 18, 2016
{Spotlight + Giveaway} Fools Rush In (SciFi Romance) by Donna S Frelick
Fools Rush In
by Donna S. Frelick
Genre: SciFi Romance
Release Date: 18 October 2016
Publisher: Ink’d Press
*For 18+ readers due to sexual content
Summary from Goodreads:
She thought she had the toughest job in Rescue—until the day she had to convert a pirate into a hero.
Interstellar Rescue “conductor” Rayna Carver is deep undercover on a slave ship bound for an isolated region of space when the ship is attacked by pirates. Her liberator is Captain Sam Murphy, a man known in the spacer bars to love only profit, adventure and women.
But Murphy hates a few things, too, chief among them slavers. Will it be enough to gain his help for Rayna’s mission—ferreting out two spies bent on sabotaging an arms factory to turn the tide in an alien civil war?
Buy Links:
Excerpt:
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? This is a restricted area.”
Still clinging to the grab bar, Rayna glanced up at the captain’s face. His expression didn’t match the censure in his words. The furrows between his brows didn’t look like anger, but she couldn’t quite interpret their true meaning.
“For a pirate ship, you sure have a lot of rules.”
“Discipline is necessary no matter what kind of ship it is.” His lips curved upwards. “Now answer my question.”
Sam Murphy really was a fine-looking man, a dangerously fine-looking man, with those green eyes and a face that belonged in holovids rather than on the deck of a real ship. But damned if he was going to back her up, even in zero G.
“You saw what I was doing; I was working out. The ribs have healed—almost. I didn’t think I’d have to ask permission, especially since I was back here with the waste processors.”
Murphy leaned in closer. In spite of herself, Rayna inhaled and took him in. God, he smelled good—like … the first breath of fresh air dirtside after months on a ship. For a second she was lost, drifting as surely as if she had let go of her mooring on the hull.
“This is my ship, Little Bit.” His voice was a seductive purr. “You need permission for everything.”
Heat flashed from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet. Rayna meant to shout, but her voice came out in a matching sultry whisper. “Why you puffed up, self-righteous, arrogant—” She got her hormones in check and started over. “Control seems to be your middle name, Murphy. Well, let me tell you something: I joined Rescue because Independence is mine.”
“Do I have to remind you you’re a guest on my ship?” His expression had tightened into a smoky scowl. “The one place I have plenty of room onboard is the brig—maybe you’d like accommodations there.” His eyes held hers like he meant it, but a muscle jumped in his jaw. His tell, she realized. He wanted something quite different for her. That heat flashed through her once again, and this time she was certain it had nothing to do with anger.
Damn it.
“All right, yeah, I saw the big ‘Keep Out’ signs. But every other square centimeter of space on this tug is occupied. I needed a workout, and zero G is a good place to get started. I didn’t think anyone would be back here.”
His expressive face changed yet again, the hard lines around his mouth and eyes going soft as the tension drained from him. “Any day but today you’d have been right.”
“What’s different about today?”
He scanned the empty hull space before he answered. “The ship’s on lockdown; I’ve ordered a full security sweep in hull space.”
Understanding dawned. All that bluster was because Murphy was feeling protective. She looked up at him and, yep, there it was, shining from those eyes, despite his stern refusal to smile.
But just because her body responded instantly with eager anticipation didn’t mean her mind should be onboard with this program. Seriously, how would it ever work between them? He was a pirate, for chrissake. According to him, she was an interfering bleeding heart. The only thing they had in common was a disregard for authority, and they would never even agree on the reasons for that.
Oh, but, damn, he smelled so good. He kept floating closer, and she was so tired. She wanted to let go and settle into those arms.
“You miscalculated.” His arm was around her shoulders again, his lips against her ear.
“What do you mean?” Her protest came out in a breathy murmur.
“You’re exhausted. You weren’t ready for this much exertion.” He was so close, so warm, encouraging her to let go. “I bet you didn’t ask Doc Berta for permission either.”
She finally gave up and transferred her hold to him, arms and legs wrapping around his hard body. He hooked both feet around the handholds below them, anchored one hand and used the other to clasp her to him; she was so small in comparison, his arm stretched all the way across her lower back.
She looked up at him, lips inches from his. “I don’t ask permission for anything.”
About the Author
Donna lives on 44 beautiful mountain acres in Marshall, NC, near Asheville, with her husband and two talkative cats. Her home is part of an intentional community of long-time friends called the Snowbird Surf Club.
For fun she travels when she can, reads, watches movies and enjoys her family (two great girls–now grown and married–one Zen master grandson and one diva princess granddaughter.
Donna holds black belt rank in two martial arts styles and taught both karate and tai chi for many years. She still practices tai chi and chi gung every day to counteract all that sitting in front of a computer to write!
Author Links:
Website | Goodreads |Twitter | Facebook
GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Rafflecopter direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/240fc93739
Blog Tour Organized by:
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October 13, 2016
Giveaway + Blog Hop Hunt – Virtual Fantasy Con – Featuring author Em Shotwell
Hi, I’m C.M. McCoy, author of EERIE (teen paranormal set in Alaska and featured in PEOPLE Magazine) and I’m your host for this stop in the Hunt.
If you would like to find out more about the Hunt, please click here – http://vfcscavengerhunt.weebly.com/
Somewhere on this page is a hidden number. Collect all the numbers from all the authors’ posts, and then add them up. Once you’ve added all the numbers, and if I am your last author, please head to the official website and click on the ENTER HERE page to find the entry form. Only entries will the correct number will qualify to win.
The author I’m pleased to be hosting for Virtual FantasyCon’s Blog Hop Hunt today is fantasy author, Em Shotwell:
Hi Guys! My name is Em Shotwell and I hail from south Louisiana. I write Magical Realism featuring lovable weirdos and misplaced misfits. My characters come from small southern towns, and will bless your heart (then kick your ass). My debut novel is titled BLACKBIRD SUMMER and is available in all formats (including hard cover) online wherever books are sold. But more about that in a minute.
I think this is the part where I tell you a little bit about myself. Weird.
Here are some non-writerly-random-facts:
-Angsty teen romance novels have nothing on my adolescent years. Seriously- I started dating my now husband when I was 17…two weeks before I was diagnosed with cancer. Pink wig. Rebellious spirit. Issues. Therapy. Yep. All of that and more.
-I am a foster care advocate and former foster parent. I have written articles and spoken at events about this subject that is near and dear to my heart.
-I am a complete whovian. I used to blame it on my kids…but nope. It’s me. I’m the reason that the Shotwell house is always watching The Doctor. J
-I am a wife to a husband who gets my very weird sense of humor, and the mother to two amazing mini-men. I have a puppy named Gryffin who worships me and a cat named Cashew who is secretly trying to kill me.
BLACKBIRD SUMMER:
“When the world fears the Unknown, being Gifted is a Curse…”
In the cornerstone of the rural south, Brooklyn, Mississippi, no one dares make eye contact with the strange Caibre family. Until the rewards are worth the cost. The townsfolk come, cash in hand, always at night, to pay for services only a Gifted can provide.
No matter the 29 Gifts prevalent in her family, at twenty-one, Tallulah is expected to follow the path laid out for her: marriage, babies, and helping her mama teach the family home school program. She’s resigned to live the quiet life and stay out of trouble…until she meets Logan.
An outsider and all around rebel, Logan doesn’t care about her family’s reputation. Yet after a tragic loss wreaks havoc on the crumbling relationship between the Caibres and the townsfolk, Tallulah must decide if love and freedom are worth risking everything.
Praise for BLACKBIRD SUMMER:
“Blackbird Summer is dark and entrancing Southern Gothic gold. I couldn’t stop reading, and I couldn’t catch my breath.”-Andrea Berthot, author of THE HEARTLESS CITY
“The true genius behind Shotwell’s writing is her ability to make you lose yourself in the story. I had a hard time putting it down, always telling myself I would read just one more chapter.”- Rebecca Lovell, Author of THE DETECTIVE’S BROTHER.
Get your copy of BLACKBIRD SUMMER at these fine retailers!
All Romance eBooks: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1ARe
Amazon Print: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1AmzPrt
Amazon Digital: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1Amz
Barnes & Noble: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1BN
City Owl Press: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1CO
iBooks (Apple): http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1iBooks
Kobo: http://smarturl.it/Blackbird1Kobo
I would also like to offer you a FREE short story! THE CHANS is the prequel short story set in the Blackbird Summer world. It is from the point of view of love interest, and all around goofy guy, Logan. JUST CLICK HERE TO CLAIM YOUR COPY FROM INSTAFREEBIE!
THE CHANS:
Logan has spent his entire life knowing he was different. An invisible force has guided him through important—and not so important—decisions, always pointing him in the right direction. His Gram calls his sixth sense the Chans, a word that means luck in her native Haitian creole.
One afternoon, while driving home from a faculty meeting at the school where he teaches music, Logan feels the familiar tug of the Chans. Usually the pull is like a suggestion being whispered in his ear. This time, however, it is a demand—one he is compelled to follow.
When the Chans leads him to a ramshackle diner in an out-of-the-way rural Mississippi town, Logan thinks there must be a mistake. But before he talks himself into leaving, a woman walks in that will change his life forever.
Come say Hi online! I’d love to talk with you about books, Doctor Who, food, and anything else awesome or fun! I love hearing from readers as well as other writers.
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Don't forget to enter my current giveaways below before you leave :-)
Did you find the number? If you did,
then click Em Shotwells’s link – http://www.emshotwell.com/ to continue Virtual FantasyCon’s Blog Hop Hunt.
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October 4, 2016
{Bonus Giveaway + Hunt} YA Scavenger Hunt
Welcome to the YA Scavenger Hunt!
This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our grand prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!
Go to the YA 
Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are eight contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! This post is part of the PURPLE TEAM–but there is also a red team, an orange team, a gold team, a green team, and a blue team. Each team has a whole different set of books you could win!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve “hidden” my favorite number in bold red. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the purple team, and then add them up (you may need a calculator!) Also, be sure to enter my exclusive bonus giveaway in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post to win an Alaska Purse stuffed with goodies!
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify to win the grand prize.
Rules: Open internationally. Anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by 9 Oct, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Today I’m hosting author A.E. Decker (Ann) on the Eerie Blog for the YA Scavenger Hunt.
Find out more about her and her books here:
| Author Website | Amazon │ Barnes & Noble │
Ann is hosting TWO giveaways during this hunt:
Goodreads: Meddlers Goodreads
Twitter:https://twitter.com/MoonfallMayhem
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Before there was The Falling of Moon, there was this little guy.
My name is A. E. Decker, and I’m the author of The Falling of the Moon, the first novel in the Moonfall Mayhem series, published by World Weaver Press. Back in 2007, I was working as a doll-maker. I had a shop at a RenFaire, and a vendor’s stand at several conventions. Between bouts of sewing, I wrote fanfiction, or pieces of novels that ended up going nowhere. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was looking for a story. I found it in tufts of alpaca wool, pipe cleaners, and two big, orange eyes, all twisted into the shape of a bat-winged kitty.
As soon as I finished this little critter, I knew he had a tale to tell. Because I was so busy, I figured I’d write a short, sweet middle-grade book where my bat-winged kitty, who I’d dubbed “Moony,” would help his hapless owner out of a series of difficulties. I figured I’d base my story on “Puss in Boots,” and give it a vampiric twist, both for fun and to match Moony’s fangs and bat-wings.
Then I asked the question that changed everything: Why did the miller (or, in my case, the Count) only leave his third son a cat in his will?
What if the third son was a daughter, and the Count only left her a cat because he figured she was only going to marry and leave his family anyway? This is a scenario that happened within my own family, and it thinking about it changed my perspective of the entire story. Suddenly the protagonist was no longer Moony, but Ascot, the Count’s daughter, who had to learn how to tell fact from fantasy in a world of fairytales gone awry. And suddenly, my book went from a single middle-grade novel to a five book YA series.
What didn’t change was that, at its heart, The Falling of the Moon remains a story about stories. We humans are very good at making narratives of our lives, but sometimes, like Ascot, we fail to recognize when we’re following the story that’s set out for us because we want to, and when we’re doing it because we’re “supposed” to. If my readers get anything out of the Moonfall Mayhem series—aside from enjoyment, I hope!—it’s the thought that to truly live our lives to the fullest, we must sometimes veer from the script.
Anyway, as a special treat to those taking part in the fall 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt, I thought it would be fun to go through The Falling of the Moon and point out references to specific stories I’ve hidden in the text. At least, the ones I can remember. (Embarrassed cough.) See if you can guess them before I tell you!
Chapter 116, “Mourning Become Eclectic,” contains two references. Here’s the first, to kick things off:
“He can’t be worse,” said Ascot. She looked up at the spiders. “Can he?”
“Serves you right if they instantly weave a giant ‘yes’ into their webs,” said Vlad.
“No, spiders only write when there’s some goat or pig they want to praise.”
Pretty easy, right? It is, of course, a reference to E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. The second is trickier and less literary in nature, hidden in the description of Ascot’s faithful companion, Moony:
Moony grinned. Even for a Vicardi cat he was tiny, dark gray save for a pale muzzle and a white streak above his right eye such as a mad barber might sport. Two bat-wings sprouted from his back, just large enough to allow him to flutter, and his thick, bushy tail crackled with static. Taken altogether, he resembled something that had been left out in the rain to attract lightning.
Any ideas? Concentrate on the phrase “mad barber,” and you just might…attend the tale of Sweeney Todd! I’ve always been a Stephen Sondheim fan, and the first draft of The Falling of the Moon was written in 2007, the year Tim Burton’s film version of the show came out. Johnny Depp’s white streak somehow made it into the story.
Chapter two, “The Heir Cut,” starts with what is probably the most significant reference in the whole book:
Half an hour afterwards, at precisely three o’ clock, Count von Abberdorf’s scaly green lawyer crept up the hill to preside over the reading of the will.
Vincent inherited the castle.
Vlad received Igor.
Ascot got Moony.
If you’re having trouble with this one, think “mill” instead of “castle” and “donkey” instead of “Igor.” Then, take a look at Moony, up at top. That’s right—this is a “Puss-in-Boots” reference; the story that kicked off my entire adventure of writing the Moonfall Mayhem series.
Skipping ahead to chapter four, “There’s Always a Catch,” we have two slightly obscure references in a single paragraph:
Rags-n-Bones located a shop with a tiny sword on display. It had been pawned by a dwarf who ran away from the circus to become an accountant, and the proprietor gladly traded it for a pair of silver candlesticks.
I’m betting the “pair of silver candlesticks” might sound familiar to several readers. It’s a reference to the pivotal scene from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, where the kindly bishop gives Jean Valjean his valuable silver rather than let him be arrested. I couldn’t resist sliding it in.
But the “dwarf running away from the circus” bit is also a reference; just an oblique one. I am a tremendous admirer of Terry Pratchett’s work, and one of his Discworld novels, Making Money, features a clown who does indeed run away from the circus to work in a bank. When is Death going to bring Pratchett back, by the way?
Moving on, the title of chapter five, “Canines and Punishment,” is an obvious reference to Dostoyevsky, the favorite novelist of Dmitri, my very erudite talking wolf character. I enjoy making up the chapter titles, by the way, even if I sometimes feel I spend too much time on them!
Here’s one from chapter six, “Winning Friends and Influencing People,” that I’m sure you’ll get in an instant.
“Does anyone know anything about Prince Parvanel?” she asked.
“He’s blond and handsome and likes frogs,” said Rags-n-Bones, swinging by his ankles from the branch of a nearby maple.
Nothing tricky here: it’s a reference to the “The Frog Prince.” My reluctant prince needed a quirk, but instead of turning into a frog, as your sensible, classic fairytale prince would do, he simply wants to be a herpetologist instead.
Chapters ten through twelve deal with the ball; one of the central scenes in the novel. You can’t have a proper fairytale princess story without a ball. A lot of the tropes I’m spoofing in this section come straight from the Disney movies, where some girl in a poofy-sleeved gown always seems to have a bluebird twittering on their fingers, and mice in hats running about their feet.
Of course, in The Falling of the Moon, the friendly little animals are used to engage in acts of sabotage. But there is one scene in chapter eleven, “The Lapdogs of War,” that I want to point out specifically.
“Enjoying yourself?” asked Catch, dipping Ascot at the end of a note. The man possessed a certain grace; she had to give him that. But not much else.
“I’d rather you were Prince Parvanel.”
“I can’t say I feel the same.” He smiled. White teeth, surprisingly sharp.
Romantic leads who think they don’t like each other, dancing together? Hello, Pride and Prejudice! It’s almost impossible to write such a scene without thinking of Jane Austen’s masterpiece.
Back to an easy one, this time from chapter thirteen, “The Not-so Secret Garden.” (Which is, itself a reference to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, but that’s too obvious, isn’t it?)
“That’s right,” said Maggie. “I hear a couple of hucksters sold this one king what they claimed was a magic robe, only they really had him walking around in the nip.”
A king in the nip? That’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” of course.
Chapter Sixteen, “The Grapes of Wrath”—yes, Steinbeck—introduces a homage to one of my favorite pieces of literature in the person of perhaps the silliest character I’ve yet created.
Didn’t Catch mention that Jeck was beheaded? Yes, he had. Of course. A headless horseman. Was there some clause stating that if you died of decapitation you had to come back with your rump plunked on a horse’s back?
Jeck the Chipper, the subject of the above paragraph, is thus far the only character from the Moonfall Mayhem series to get his own short story, “Death and Taxes,” published in World Weaver Press’ Specter Spectacular anthology. Considering he was originally intended to be a one-note joke character, he came a long way. And, as you have no doubt surmised, he is based off the most famous of all headless ghosts from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
There’s a section in Chapter Twenty-three, “Amazement,” that I can’t quote here without risk of spoiling a plot twist for those who haven’t read The Falling of the Moon, (What are you waiting for, by the way?) but it refers to Catch, who is, in turn, a reference to “Snow White.” Long ago, an art teacher brought in a picture book of the story with the most wonderful illustrations. The image of the huntsman in particular captivated me. Instead of being the usual, paunchy middle-aged fellow he’s portrayed as, he was young and slim and wearing a long coat, staring indifferently to the side as Snow White pleaded for his life. I’ve never forgotten that picture, and have often tried to catch it in writing. (See what I did there?) Anyway, if you look for them, you’ll find quite a few nods to Catch as the huntsman throughout The Falling of the Moon.
I’ve never seen that book again, by the way, despite searching for it. Catch is an elusive character, too.
Last reference! This is from chapter twenty-seven, “Boxing Day.”
Ascot turned her attention to the red cushion with its keys. Each one had a scrap of paper tied to its bow with a silk ribbon. A seventh curl of paper lay all alone. Taking up each in turn, Ascot read the words aloud.
The gold key. “Who chooses me risks their heart.”
The silver key. “Who chooses me chances their happiness.”
The glass key. “Who chooses me dares mockery.”
The black key. “Who chooses me gambles with fortune.”
The white key. “Who chooses me wagers their future.”
The ugly iron key. “Who chooses me hazards their soul.”
The solo scrap. “Who chooses me invites mysteries.”
This was one of the scenes I had planned from very early on, and it never really changed. The box challenge is straight of out William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, except Ascot doesn’t have a helpful song playing in the background, whose rhymes point her to the right answer.
Ascot’s story continues in The Meddlers of Moonshine, which will be published on October 25th. Thank you for participating in the fall 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt. Good luck! As a final bonus, here are two pictures of my sister’s version of Moony. My eyesight’s gotten too dopey for doll-making, but her skills are still sharp.
Go now, and write your life into a beautiful story.
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And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 116. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the purple team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
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