Jennifer Echols's Blog, page 3

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Denise Jaden!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Cirucit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases.

I'm so happy to share a book birthday (not to mention an awesome editor) with my friend and fellow Simon Pulse author Denise Jaden! Leave a comment on this post and you're entered to win one of four boxes of books. Details here!

NEVER ENOUGH

From the author of Losing Faith, a novel about two sisters and the eating disorder that threatens to destroy their family.

Loann’s always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire’s ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister.

But as Loann slips inside Claire’s world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire’s quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. And Loann is frightened she could lose the sister she’s always idolized.

As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it’s too late?

Jenn: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?



Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others? Is it part of a series, unrelated but the same sort of book, or a real departure?

Denise: Like Losing Faith, my debut novel, Never Enough is also a young adult contemporary novel, but it is not part of a series and is unrelated. They have a similar tone, both deal with family issues and grief, yet both include some light moments and humor.

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Denise: I don’t know if this is "weird," but I strolled the hallway of my old high school while in the midst of writing my first draft, to get the feel of it again. I took some notes and pictures, got some strange looks. You know, the usual. :)

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Denise: Oh, SO MANY great books! The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard, and Zero by Tom Leveen, to name a few.

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Denise: I’m working on another YA contemporary romance/mystery, tentatively titled Foreign Exchange. It’s about a girl who sneaks off of her class trip in Europe, along with her crush, to find her missing best friend.

Jenn: Which sounds SO AWESOME. Thanks for visiting, Denise, and best of luck with your release and your future writing!

Lucky number nine

About six years ago, my first book, Major Crush , was published by Simon & Schuster. There was no advertising and no fanfare for the book. It went on to sell very well, but on release day I had no way of knowing that would happen. So after months of working the social media angle on MySpace (chuckle) and sending all my author copies to the few online book reviewers out there who were interested in YA, I spent that August day in 2006 alternately copyediting medical journal articles about nasal polyps, staring out the window in a forlorn manner and wondering when the marching band was going to show up on my lawn, and checking my sales rank on Amazon.

I am forlorn no more. Today is my ninth release day, with Such a Rush in stores. There is still no marching band on my lawn, but at least I am not expecting it now. I have a husband to check my sales rank for me and only report the good stuff. Most importantly, I have book due, so I will spend the day writing, which is all I ever wanted. Especially around release day, it's so easy to get caught up in the sales rankings and advertising and anxiety about competition, and it's so important to remember that a love of writing is what got me here. I am very grateful.

I don't know what this book release will bring, but the lead-up to publication day has been nothing short of wonderful. The book has gotten favorable reads on Zoey Deschanel's site Hello Giggles and at Seventeen Magazine . Thanks again and again to all the book bloggers who have reviewed Such a Rush and posted their supportive comments for other readers to see.

Tonight I'll be signing copies of the book from 5 to 7 at Barnes & Noble at the Patton Creek Shopping Center here in Birmingham. I have a lot of signings under my belt now, too. I still have a lot of anxiety about being late, so I will probably arrive at least 30 minutes early and then not want to go in and look like a dork lurker, so if you are dying to meet me you can probably catch me looking at sandals at DSW next door. At the signing itself, if I have known you less than 10 years I will probably still forget your name (this is just something that happens to me at my own book signings--I am only pretending to be an extrovert and this saps most of my brain power apparently) but I am happy to report that after years of practice, I probably will not misspell my own name when I sign your book. If you approach my Grand Fancy Author Table, faking me out and making me think you are interested in my book, but then asking if your child can have a Hershey's Kiss without you buying anything (psych!), of course I will say yes. If you ask me where the bathroom is, I will say it is behind us to the left under the poster of Gone with the Wind. If there is a lull in foot traffic, I will give thanks that it is not like the lull three other authors and I experienced at a signing during the Alabama-Florida game.



Thanks to Carla Swafford for the video and the narration, and to Christy Reece for telling me I had chocolate teeth.

But mostly I will enjoy your company. A lot of you have told me you will be traveling to the signing to pick up signed books for yourselves or your friends. My local writing group, Southern Magic , is always so supportive of my work. Your friendship is evident daily, but never more so than at a signing. I am continually astounded at the kindness of readers, and I feel so lucky that this is my job and that I am on deadline.

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Jessica Brody!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!

52 Reasons to Hate My Father

Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious "comedy of heiress" about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

Jenn: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?

Jessica: I guess I have to say my book trailer. I make all my trailers myself (I direct, produce and edit them) and I love doing them! They’re a lot of work but I think the end result is worth it. Plus I get to work with so many talented people who help bring it all together!



Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others? Is it part of a series, unrelated but the same sort of book, or a real departure?

Jessica: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father is another standalone contemporary comedy…like my two previous novels, My Life Undecided and The Karma Club. I love writing the contemporary standalones but I recently decided to try something a bit different. In March, the first book in my new sci-fi trilogy for teens releases. It’s called Unremembered and I’m totally excited about it! It’s a whole new genre for me!

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Jessica: Well I came up with the idea for the story when I was sitting in my car, waiting for my husband to meet me, and I was watching a meter maid write a parking ticket. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to be a meter maid? But only for like a week. Just to see what it was like.” Then I start to brainstorm all these other jobs I’d like to do for one week. And I decided, “Well, I’m too busy writing novels to actually do all these jobs, so I guess I’ll just have to write a book about someone else who does them.” And then I tried to think of the funniest character to put in that kind of situation and the answer was instant: a spoiled heiress who has never had to work a day in her life. And alas, Lexington Larrabee was born. But really the joke’s on me, because in researching the story, I actually did take on some of the jobs that are in the book! My favorite was working the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. Those head-sets you have to wear are like something out of Star Trek!

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Jessica: Right now I’m reading this awesome historical fiction novel called The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. It’s about the woman who was hired to chaperone Louise Brooks (the most famous silent movie star of her generation) on her first trip to NY. It’s so fascinating and brilliantly written. I have a soft spot for historical fiction!

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Jessica: Well, I mentioned my YA trilogy that’s coming up. It’s a sci-fi/thriller called UNREMEMBERED. The first book is about a sixteen-year-old girl who wakes up among the wreckage of a devastating plane crash. She’s the only survivor but she has no memories and identity. The only clue to her past is a mysterious boy who claims they were in love and that she was part of a top secret science experiment. It’s kind of like a Bourne Identity for teens. It releases in March 2013!

Visit Jessica's site tonight for a chance to win an Heiress Prize Pack !

What's missing

I think e-books are terrific. Because they're cheap to create, they're enabling a revolution of authors who can now take control of their own writing careers without jumping through hoops at a publishing house. And e-books have made readers out of a few people who weren't big readers before--my husband, for instance. He would never have bothered to lug a book around the airport on his business trips, but he loves to take his e-reader and download whatever he wants on the fly.

Now personally, I have my own e-reader. I have purchased lots of e-books for it. But I only do that if I need the book instantly or it isn't available in print. See, I hate that page-turny thing. HATE. I don't notice turning pages in a print book, but pressing a button to turn a page in an e-book yanks me out of the story once a minute. HATE DESPISE. Hey, at least I know I'm weird. I'm also afraid of mushrooms, and I thought Colin Firth made a terrible Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen ftw!).

I don't want to talk you out of buying e-books. I actually make more money from an e-book sale than a print book sale because the royalty percentage is higher. But I just received my author copies of the finished version of Such a Rush last week, and y'all, they are so pretty.



I feel bad for anybody who gets the electronic version, even on a color e-reader with the color front cover, and misses the rest of it. Let me take you on a tour.



Here's the front. You've seen this all over the internet already. What you haven't seen is that the title and my byline have EMBOSSING! The words are shiny and raised. This is expensive for the publisher to do. I've never had embossing before. It's hard to photograph but look, when I hold it a certain way in the light you can kind of see it shining on the e.



STOP MAKING FUN OF ME.



Here is the back. It has an airplane. It is even the right kind of airplane. Actually, my son says it is a Piper Cub rather than a Piper SuperCub, but originally the planes in the book were Cubs and I only changed them to SuperCubs later. I think. When I say it is the right kind of airplane I mean it is not a 747. Further, the landscape looks exactly like the one in my head. EXACTLY.

Also my name has more embossing. Stop laughing at me. I CAN HEAR YOU THROUGH THE INTERNET.



Here is spine. My name is in cute swirly font in white. EMBOSSING. The title is in cute swirly font in pink. EMBOSSING. There is also some of the chick's wild hair.



Here is the spine of the actual book. Two words: SWIRLY FONT. The swirly font continues on every page inside the book. I would take pictures of that too but I realize I have already lost you.

Here's my point. Remember this?



No. My 11-year-old doesn't either. "Mom! Where did you GET that? I didn't know we had any 45s!" This, son, is a 33. And if you bought it when it came out, you knew that there was going to be an EVENT when you took off the cellophane.



The back. As a former newspaper designer, I would say it has some readability issues, but if you were 14 when it came out, believe me, you would squint at purple and yellow print on a Prince album.



The sleeve. I never understood what this lady had to do with anything but there she was.



And look. Right down to the label on the record, we have a different font for every song title, and we have flowers.

You know what else? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I think this album came with one of these.



Oooh, a poster for your room, folded up next to the record!!! What has happened to my Prince & The Revolution poster? I can hear the epsiode of Antiques Roadshow now: "Your Prince album is worth $5, but with the poster, it would have been worth, in a well-advertised auction, to the right bidder, $5 million."

Okay, so nobody's buying records anymore. The CD retained some of that idea of beautiful packaging by transforming it into endless booklets with the song lyrics and lots of weird illustrations and photos. But really, I think the hardcover book is the last holdout in the idea that the packaging advertises and even enhances what's inside. I don't know if print books will be around forever--maybe I'll learn to love the page-turning button eventually--but some authors have been lucky enough to get a beautiful book design in support of what they have written, and I am glad to be one of them.

If you're in the market for a signed copy of SUCH A RUSH, I'll be at Barnes & Noble Patton Creek (behind the Galleria) in Birmingham on release day, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. Hope to see you there!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Myra McEntire!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!

Myra McEntire knows the words to every R&B hit of the last decade, but since she lives in Nashville, the country music capital of America, her lyrical talents go sadly unappreciated. She's chosen, instead, to channel her "mad word skills" into creating stories. She's an avid Doctor Who fan and will argue passionately about which incarnation is the best.

Myra has a contest on her site - http://myramcentire.com - that will run from June 18th to June 25th. She’ll be giving away signed copies of HOURGLASS and TIMEPIECE, signed posters of the covers, a goodie basket inspired by her characters, and signed books from other authors!

Timepiece

Kaleb Ballard was never supposed to be able to see ripples—cracks in time. Are Kaleb’s powers expanding, or is something very wrong? Before Kaleb can find out, Jonathan Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, reappears. Why is he back, and what, or whom, does he want?

In the wake of Landers’s return, the Hourglass organization is offered an ultimatum by a mysterious man. Either they find Landers and the research he has stolen on people who might carry the time gene, or time will be altered—with devastating results for the people Kaleb loves most.

Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their extraordinary powers to find Landers. But where do they even start? And when? Even if they succeed, just finding him may not be enough. . . .

The follow-up to HOURGLASS, TIMEPIECE blends the paranormal, science-fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts.

Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others?

Myra: It’s the second book in the series, and the overall story arc is the same, but it’s from a different point of view. That was both an exciting and terrifying choice!

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Myra: The shower. But I come up with all the good ideas in the shower.

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Myra: I’m reading HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER, and I love the voice SO MUCH.

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Myra: The third Hourglass book, INFINITYGLASS.

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Amanda Ashby!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and after spending the last sixteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand, she’s finally moved back and now lives on the Sunshine Coast. When she’s not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let’s just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)

She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010. Her latest release, Fairy Bad Day, has been selected by Voya as one of their Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012 and is a SCBWI Crystal Kite Award finalist for the Australia/NZ region. To find out more, please go to www.amandaashby.com .

Sophie’s Mixed-Up Magic
A middle grade series
Book One: Wishful Thinking (May 31st Puffin)

Be careful what you wish for…

After eleven year old Sophie accidentally gets herself turned into a djinn, she starts to think that it might not be so bad after all. (Of course, that’s after she gets the whole orange skin problem sorted out.) Who wouldn’t enjoy having the power to grant wishes! But when Sophie develops RWD (Random Wish Disorder) and can’t STOP granting wishes, things get more than a little mixed-up!

Book Two: Under a Spell (May 31st Puffin)

And that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E…

As Sophie gets used to her magic, her relationship with the adorable Jonathan Tait is blossoming. There’s only one problem: Jonathan’s twin sister, Melissa. She’s a total mean girl who seems intent on making Sophie’s life miserable. On top of that, Melissa somehow seems to sense that Sophie has powers–and manages to bind Sophie to her in a totally self-serving way. Can Sophie figure out a way out of this–without ruining her chances with Jonathan?

Books one and two are a simultaneous release and watch out for book three in October…


Jenn: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?

Amanda: I love gizmos but my natural laziness always stops me from doing any. I think I need to start bribing my kids to start helping me out!

Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others?

Amanda: This is my first series and my first attempt at writing middle grade fiction as well, so it has been a bit of a departure. I think that the tone is similar to my other stories though the plot is probably a bit more restrained (middle grade books were a lot more difficult than I first imagined!)

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Amanda: I’ve had a minor obsession about writing a book where a character turns blue, however I had forgotten about it until I was in a doctor’s surgery and saw an article in a magazine about a guy who really did turn blue. It totally reminded me of my obsession and so I went home and made sure that Sophie turned a different color when she became a djinn (though I made her orange!!!)

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Amanda: I sobbed through most of The Fault in Ours Stars by John Green and I was full of envy as I read The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Amanda: The third Sophie book comes out in October and next summer I have a new young adult book called Demonosity coming out. It’s got alchemy and two beautiful medieval demon knights in it. One is good and one is bad and I’m kinda in love with them both!!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Elana Johnson!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!

Elana Johnson's work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on her website. She runs a personal blog on publishing and is a founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at The League of Extraordinary Writers, co-organizes WriteOnCon, and can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

She wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

SURRENDER is in stores now!

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque...

Jenn: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?

Elana: The book trailer:

Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others? Is it part of a series, unrelated but the same sort of book, or a real departure?

Elana: SURRENDER is the second full-length novel in the POSSESSION series. There are two short stories as well. SURRENDER is a companion to POSSESSION, with new narrating characters in a new city in the world.

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Elana: The shower. I get a lot of ideas while showering! TMI? Maybe…

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Elana: So many! CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS (Miriam Forster, coming in 2013) is fabulous. I really enjoyed it. GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson is also one of my favorites. BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS by Terra Elan McVoy tops the list of amazing contemporary.

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Elana: I’m working on a sci fi thriller as well as dipping my pen into the contemporary waters—both of which are challenging me in ways I didn’t anticipate.

GIVEAWAY: Elana is hosting a Spectacular Seconds giveaway this week! You can enter to win one of five signed sophomore books by Beth Revis, Ally Condie, Veronica Roth, Kristi Cook, and Kim Harrington. CLICK HERE for all the details and to enter.

Up next on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit: Amanda Ashby!

What's your version of conversion?

My publisher is giving away 10 copies of Such a Rush on Goodreads. Enter here!

My literary agent, Laura Bradford, is on Twitter @BradfordLit . You should follow her. She tries to be helpful, and she is hilarious without trying.

In the last few days she’s been gathering entries in a drawing to win a Romance Conversion Kit while simultaneously soliciting suggestions for the kit. You may have seen Romance Conversion Kits circulating on the web before. I certainly have. Here’s a whole list of them from readers of the popular romance review site All About Romance. The idea behind a Romance Conversion Kit is that you are a rabid romance fan, but you have friends who absolutely refuse to read romance because they say it’s bad/stupid/anti-feminist/icky. Maybe they have gotten this idea from reading a few bad books. More likely they have never read a romance, so they have gotten this idea from other people who have never read a romance. Regardless, the Romance Conversion Kit is supposed to be a box of superb romances you give them to show them how wrong they were. After they read the contents of the box, they’re bigger romance fans than you are, and when Nora comes to town they knock you out of the way.

In this regard, I think some of the lists on All About Romance are dead wrong. They seem to be lists of personal favorites rather than Romance Conversion Kits. I haven’t read nearly all the books on those lists, but the marker for me is The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss. My reintroduction to romance as an adult came through a popular culture study I read in grad school, the now-classic (and outdated) Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature by Janice Radway. When Radway polled romance readers in the 1980s, The Flame and the Flower was their favorite book. She proceeds to eviscerate the book. But a lot of the elements of that book that made it so popular then (the rape scene, for one) are largely gone from romance novels now. Though the All About Romance readers may remember it fondly, I don’t think it would convert many people today. Laura’s list seems more likely (from her series of tweets):

1) The Secret-J. Garwood 2) Dreaming of You-L. Kleypas 3) Naked in Death-JD Robb

4) All the Queen's Men-L.Howard 5) Bet Me-J.Crusie 6) Match Me If You Can- S.E. Phillips 7) The Iron Duke- M.Brooks

8) Carnal Innocence- N. Roberts and 9) Slave to Sensation- N. Singh

I ALSO wanted to add Lord of Scoundrels by L. Chase, Daniel's Bride by L.L. Miller, Sugar Daddy - L. Kleypas, Simply Irresistible- R. Gibson

My own experience with the Romance Conversion Kit goes like this. When I was growing up, my mother told me not to read romance novels because they were trash. She was simultaneously handing me her dog-eared Mary Stewart novels, which got me hooked on romance novels forever. Because she was telling me one thing and showing me another, I didn’t realize Mary Stewart novels were a terrific example of the romance genre. I had no idea what to call them, and I guess my mom didn’t either.

Flash forward to one year ago. I sent my mom Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie, just to see what she’d say.

One month later, I checked to see whether she’d read it and whether she’d liked it. In the interim month, she had read ALL of the Jennifer Crusie--the twenty some-odd novels, the novellas, EVERYTHING--and now she asked me for more recommendations.

I suggested Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer, and Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now she is well on her way through the vast canons of Roberts, Howard, Heyer, and SEP, while I am still not quite through the Crusie. I haven’t read Wild Ride, I haven't read the novellas, and I’m reading Faking It right now. When I admitted this to my mom, she said, “Jennifer! You haven’t read Faking It?! That’s the one with Davy from Welcome to Temptation!!!” Which was kind of annoying. But that’s what you wanted from a Romance Conversion Kit, right? To convert someone so thoroughly into a romance reader that she annoys you with her superior knowledge of the genre? Right.

Now, remember, the point of a Romance Conversion Kit is not to list your personal favorites. It’s to convert non-romance readers. For that reason, it should probably contain the more vanilla books everyone tends to love rather than polarizing books. Rather than Tell Me Lies, my favorite Crusie, I should have given my mom Bet Me, which is in Laura’s list. Some people don’t like Tell Me Lies--they tend to love it or hate it--but most people seem to love Bet Me. It’s not my favorite by a long shot, but it’s the first Crusie I read, and obviously I am a fan. Anyway, all’s well that ends well.

My question for you: what books would you put in your Romance Conversion Kit? or, a conversion kit for any other genre? Not the classics of the genre but the ones that would excite readers right now. I would love to be converted to fantasy after The Hobbit turned me completely off.

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Melissa Walker!

The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!

Melissa Walker has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. She is the author of Small Town Sinners, the Violet on the Runway series, and Lovestruck Summer. Melissa manages the daily e-newsletter iheartdaily.com and handles blogging for readergirlz.com .

UNBREAK MY HEART is in stores now!

Summer will be the season for Melissa Walker fans to fall in love all over again. Unbreak My Heart is told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clementine Williams’s heart and the summer that healed it. Inspired by Melissa’s own experience sailing with her family as a teen, this is the perfect beach read for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti.

Usually Clem would dread the idea of spending an entire summer sailing with her family—two parents, one annoying little sister, and no internet, all on one tiny boat; however, right now escaping her life on land sounds pretty good. Clem did something bad during her sophomore year, even though she didn’t mean to. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and thought that he was falling for her too. Now the school year is over, the truth is out and he’s been excused while she’s been exiled, leaving her with no friends and zero social life.

When she and her family set sail the last thing Clem is looking for is another romance, but perhaps it found her anyway. His name is James. He’s cute, funny, and best of all, doesn’t know anything about her past. He and his dad are sailing the same route as Clem and her family for the summer and he's just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem's walls and unbreak her broken heart?

I snagged an advance copy of this book, and here’s what I say on the back cover! “A raw, real, and ultimately heartwarming discovery of what it means to be a true friend. Walker gets it exactly right.” It’s true! And now a few words from Melissa:

Jenn: What’s your favorite gizmo advertising your book?

Melissa: I made a soundtrack for the book, and it inspired this giveaway from Bloomsbury (yay!)

Jenn: How does this book fit in with your others? Is it part of a series, unrelated but the same sort of book, or a real departure?

Melissa: Unbreak My Heart is a standalone book, but I like to think that all of my main characters are at a contemplative turning point, and that's certainly true for Clem.

Jenn: What’s the weirdest thing you were doing or the weirdest place you were when you came up with part of this book?

Melissa: I was listening to an old mix tape from a very inappropriate boy for a lot of the writing process. It helped.

Jenn: What good books have you read lately?

Melissa: I loved Boy21 by Matthew Quick and 10 Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have) by Sarah Mlynowski. Both great in different ways!

Jenn: What’s next for you?

Melissa: I have a letter in Dear Teen Me, an anthology of YA authors writing letters to their teen selves, which is out in late October. And I've got another book in the works for 2013, but I'm keeping mum for now.

Jenn: Thanks so much for stopping by, Melissa. I hope everyone loves this book as much as I did!

Visit Melissa's web site at melissacwalker.com for the latest on her books, friend her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

Up next week, Elana Johnson will be touring on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit!

Facebook freeze

Fan of Jennifer Crusie?

Why, yes. Yes I am!

"Fans of Jennifer Crusie have found a new author to watch." Discover Catherine McKenzie!

This is what a Facebook ad tells me at least two days out of three when I log on to my account over there. I notice it--I'm always going to notice when someone gets compared to Jennifer Crusie! I have clicked on it. I have followed the link to the book purchase page on Amazon. I haven't bought the book, though. And maybe that's the point.

In all the news of Facebook becoming a publicly owned company this week, I was more interested in the revelation that General Motors pulled their huge advertising account because it wasn't effective. See, I have advertised on Facebook too. I bought an ad for The One That I Want when it debuted last Christmas, and my publisher has advertised Forget You. The reason I thought this was a good idea was that when I'm on Facebook, I sometimes click on ads for books like the Catherine McKenzie example. But now I'm inclined to side with GM: Facebook advertising isn't effective for my books.

How do I know?

I have been conducting a survey of my readers. You can still take it here. Anybody can stumble upon it and answer the questions...but because the links to it are posted on my web site and social media accounts, I figure most people taking it are readers who have bought one of my books--maybe more than one--and liked my work enough to follow or friend me. This is the best kind of reader, the kind I want more of. In the survey, I was trying to figure out how I attracted the attention of those people in the first place so I could do it again for the debut of Such a Rush in *gasp* 45 days.

Question 2 asks, "How did you hear about me in the first place?" As possible answers, I list everything I can think of. 308 people have taken the survey so far, and though there are some clear winners, every possible answer has gotten at least a few votes, except two. Receiving zero votes: "Facebook" and "online ad"--despite all that advertising I did! This was the most surprising thing I found in the survey.

Another question asks how you receive news about my books, and Facebook is a very popular answer to that question. But that's a separate issue. According to my results, social media sites are a great way for me to keep in touch with current readers, but they are an abysmal way to interest new people. And I think this is reflected in my own behavior regarding Catherine McKenzie. I looked, I clicked, but I didn't buy. There just wasn't enough information and context to motivate me to make a purchase.

What do you make of all this? Do you click on Facebook ads or ignore them, and why do you suppose that is?

I am learning a lot from the survey. But the most important thing I've learned so far is how informative a survey is! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to give me this feedback.