Lisa Roecker's Blog, page 35

The Bookanistas: A Touch Mortal

I read A Touch Mortal over the course of a few days. That's right. We're launching our debut novel, I'm baptizing my son this weekend, I *still* haven't watched this week's Glee and I finished this book in 48 hours.

Here's what the back cover has to say:


Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

LiLa's Take: A Touch Mortal is a dark, action packed, thriller definitely more suited to the older YA crowd. Leah Clifford's take on angels is completely unique and the world she built in her debut novel was nothing short of fascinating. It's not a light read in any sense of the word, but between a well paced plot and the heat between Az and Eden, I couldn't put this one down.

And as a bonus, we've had the opportunity to get to know Leah this past year through our Cleveland book club. It's absolutely fascinating to know an author and then read their work. We've heard Leah and others talking about the book and their favorite parts and couldn't wait to have our own turn. Now if we could just get our hands on that sequel...

Here's what the other Bookanistas are up to this week:


Elana Johnson is tickled pink for The Liar SocietyShannon Messenger can't lie about her love for The Liar SocietyShelli Johannes-Wells burns for AngelFireScott Tracey is more than a touch impressed with A Touch MortalMyra McEntire is A Touch Mortal this weekBeth Revis tells the truth about The Liar SocietyChristine Fonseca is leveled by LeverageCarolina Valdez Miller has tons to say about OneJenn Hayley adores The Liar SocietyShana Silver can't imagine you not reading Imaginary GirlsKatie Anderson wants to be Like MandarinMatt Blackstone loves The Hate ListStasia Ward Kehoe falls head over heals for Fall for AnythingSarah Frances Hardy sings her praises for MockingbirdVeronica Rossi thinks Unearthly is otherworldlyMichelle Hodkin champions A Dog's Way Home
Click here to join The Bookanista Book Club at The Reading Room where you can check out all the books we're buzzing about! AND as an added bonus, if you become a member of The Bookanista Book Club before March 15th you'll be entered to win a finished copy of The Liar Society!

On a sad note, our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of the amazing L.K. Madigan. She had a profound impact on so many lives and she will be missed. Click here to read more about Lisa.

Cover Lovin': Books We Can't Wait to Read

This might be kind of random for a Wednesday post, but there are some gorgeous covers that have been released over the past week or so and we just couldn't resist...

Possess by Gretchen McNeil
YOWSA. For a book about a girl banishing Biblical demons this is pretty much perfection. Dark and creepy and pretty much begging to be picked up.

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
The color, the hair, the movement. Love, love, LOVE this cover and can't wait to read this contemporary novel about a violin prodigy falling in love with her rival. Can't wait to read this book! 


Ok, full disclosure, we've been waiting for this book ever since we read the first 250 words in Ms. Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent Contest. It's a middle grade murder mystery centered around Reverend Everlasting Love's daughter, Ollie. This cover is a work of art.










So...what books are you dying to get your hot little hands on? Spill in the comments.

In Which Lisa Drops the Ball....

Yesterday was Laura's 30th birthday.

Want to see what Laura did for me for my birthday?

Yeah.

She and Stacey pulled an all nighter to get it done in time.

For the record, it's not like I pulled a 16 Candles and totally forgot. It's more like I was out of town all weekend, took the red eye home Sunday night and didn't plan ahead.

Big old Lisa FAIL.

Luckily, we've got some amazing friends who totally made Laura's day yesterday.

Friends like Elana Johnson, Shannon Messenger, Kimberly Derting, Suzanne Young and Beth Revis. Friends that are doing THIS for us.

Friends like Sarah, who sent Laura this slideshow presentation (she did it way better than I could have, anyways).


























On top of that a couple of amazing reviews for Liar Society popped up yesterday here and here. Best 30th birthday present EVER.

So...wish my poor, neglected, middle sister Happy Birthday in the comments. Sorry I suck.

Sincerely,
The worst sister EVER

Roadtrip!

We went on a roadtrip to Chicago (which was PERFECT timing because I brought along Divergent with me) this weekend and I learned a lot.

1. Veronica Roth is a genius. On May 3, 2011 you will find out why (have you preordered yet?!). The remainder of my list is the result of her genius. And buckle up. I predict a whole lot of Divergent-inspired posts in our future.

2. I have a lot of fears. Like a lot, a lot.
Transportation accidents (planes, cars, boats) really anything that I'm not driving. I am the WORST backseat driver on the planet and my husband wants to kill me.Germs. In a rest stop bathroom I witnessed a little girl crawling under a bathroom stall, bare hands on floor. Her mom didn't wash her hands. I am scarred for life.Heights. First time on top of the John Hancock building. I was short of breath. It might have had something to do with Veronica's imagination as well.SpidersBeesBridges (especially over water)Kidnappers (and adult-nappers)Burglars (particularly those after my laptop)SEE? And I really could continue. My fear landscape is not a good place to be.3. If Veronica Roth's world comes true, my husband and I would never be together. This was very obvious as I screamed at him to go no faster than 60 MPH on the highway, gripping the side of my seat, white-knuckled.

4. Despite the fact that I can barely turn around in a moving car or else I'll puke, I finished Veronica's almost 500 page book to and from Chicago. I guess a great book prevents motion sickness. It also reduces backseat driving. My husband thanks you, V.

5. I now have a severe case of end-of-book-depression. I might require some sort of intervention. Veronica, do you need a beta reader?

Kirkus Reviews The Liar Society

We're a tiny bit scared of Kirkus Reviews. Ok, fine, we're more than just a tiny bit scared. We're REALLY scared. They have a reputation for being tough and they don't review a ton of original paperbacks.

So you can imagine our surprise when this popped up in our inbox:

Secret societies dominate a posh co-educational private school in this suspenseful, possibly supernatural mystery. One or both of those societies may be responsible for the death of a girl, or so 15-year-old Kate believes. Kate's best friend, Grace, was killed in a fire under mysterious circumstances a year earlier. When she gets an e-mail from her dead friend, Kate believes Grace is asking for justice and begins to investigate what really happened. The Roeckers populate the school with the standard drop-dead handsome rich guys and a few supermodel-style girls, but Kate finds herself more attracted to dangerous, scruffy Liam. Then there's her annoying next-door neighbor, nerdy Seth, who has an obvious crush on her. Despite the difficulties they cause, the two help her so much that at last she enlists them in her quest. Tension mounts when the trio finds secret areas in the school and starts to track down who was really responsible on the night of the fire. A final confrontation solves the mystery, but can Kate really bring the culprit to justice? And is Grace's ghost really haunting her? The authors create lively and memorable characters and keep the action moving in their lengthy whodunit; Kate's interest in Latin adds an educational element. Clearly, the Roeckers had fun writing their story. Young mystery lovers may enjoy it just as much. (Mystery. 12-16)
Holy. Crap. 
Kirkus liked our book. We don't suck. At least not completely. And now we shall refresh Goodreads and wait for the other shoe to drop. Adieu.

Bookinistas: Author Jen K. Blom Takes Over the Blog!

Today, we are lucky enough to have the lovely Jen K. Blom joining us to share a bit about her upcoming book. Take it away, Jen!

Welcome to the POSSUMS ARE AWESOME blog tour for the middle-grade book, POSSUM SUMMER, coming out in March! (Have you preordered yet?)

My darling buddies Lisa and Laura (or LiLa, as they're known online -these two are ultra-popular!!) have been wonderful enough to have me on their blog today. Of course I brought a straggler.
First off, a little about the book:
a lonely kid.an orphaned baby possum.a dad that says no way.how do you keep that kind of secret?
and what happens when you're found out?




Here we go!LiLa: Have you ever held a possum before?
JKB: Yes! I had one when I was a kid, and it came about in exactly the way P found hers! LiLa: The question on everyone's mind: why possums? Have you always had a soft spot for those long tales?JKB: I always thought they were gross before I actually had one. And they always scared me because you could never figure out if they were just playing dead or really were. But they grew on me quickly after I adopted my little possum. And possums are ALWAYS better than rats. (Ha ha Ha!!)
LiLa: If you could choose one child star to be caught red handed reading Possum Summer who would it be???
JKB: Oh! :-D That's hard to say. I think the one person I'd love to see reading it would be Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. You know, in between reading papers on mind-bending and working on his String Theory, he could read about the correct way to massage a baby possum so he took a poo. (See kids? You learn SO MUCH in POSSUM SUMMER!)
Princess: And now the PINK HAIRED LADIES!
JKB: LiLa, P. P, LiL--
P: I know them! I see them on that Birdcall twooter thing you've got and Mart showed me their BOOK! The girl has PINK HAIR! (He said he preordered it because of the plot, but I know he thought that girl was cute!) What do you like to eat?
LiLa: Our mom's home made spaghetti and ice cream.
P: Hey, spaghetti's pretty good! And ice cream is always good. I approve!
JKB: Like you need to, squirt.
P: SHHHH. So what do you do for fun? I know you got kids, isn't that fun enough?
LiLa: Dicking around on the internet. (I wish we were kidding...) If that doesn't count as an activity, we both go to the gym a lot. And watch a lot of bad television. And read really great books. Wow, reading over this answer makes me sad.
P: OOOooOoH! *whispers to JKB* They said the D WORD. The D WORD! WOW! When I'm big I can say that too, right? Huh, right? I CAN'T WAIT TIL I'M GROWN UP. What's really interesting about you?
LiLa: Hmmm....this is tricky. Laura has a widow's peak and Lisa has a big nose.
P: Hm. But you're both so exciting, and energetic! And funny! And you have PINK HAIR! And you say words like di -- *quick look at JKB* -- THE D WORD! Hey ok, I drew you here!: P: So otters! I saw two once. Otters are so happy and pretty and I don't know what a widow's peek is but they have cute big noses, don't you think? And these two are PINK, right, and they are HIGH FIVING! Hey, you know when you write another book "P" is a real good name --

[Editorial Note from Lila: Otters with PINK hair! *dies*]
**scuffle**
JKB: Thanks so much for the drive-by, ladies! I apologize for the devil that tagged along!
Jen K. Blom writes about animals, the land, and kids, not necessarily in that order. Her debut, POSSUM SUMMER , is available March 2011.
Just the thing to give to a kid to start their summer of reading off right! (Available from your local indie , Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Borders , or Book Depository !)
Seen the book trailer yet?
Want more POSSUMS ARE AWESOME blog tour tidbits? Go here and knock yourself out!





Thanks so much for stopping by, Jen! So. Much. Fun.

Check out what the other Bookinistas are up to this week:
Christine Fonseca shares her Guestanista Post: The Lost HeroShannon Messenger spotlights the cover of SO SILVER BRIGHTScott Tracey is inspired by ANGELFIREMichelle Hodkin toasts DEMONGLASSBeth Revis finds amazing MAGIC UNDER GLASSCarolina Valdez Miller uncovers WORDS IN THE DUSTMegan Miranda leaps and shouts for THE LIAR SOCIETY           Bethany Wiggins glows for RUBY REDShana Silver gets psyched about WITHERJen Hayley raves about RAISED BY WOLVESGretchen McNeil gushes over BLOOD AND FLOWERSRosemary Clement-Moore revisits HOWL'S MOVING CASTLESarah Frances Hardy is nuts for THE NINTH WARD                     Matt Blackstone is loving THE HATE LISTCorrine Jackson delights in DIVERGENTStasia Ward Kehoe celebrates THE LIAR SOCIETY

Give It Forward Book Giveaway!

So...we were inspired by Casey McCormick who is a genius. Check it out.

We took hours, minutes, a few seconds racking our brains for a book we love as much as The Sky Is Everywhere and it's just not happening, people. This book is the best book we've ever read. So, we want to conduct Casey's experiment with the same book, mmmkay?

Before we begin, one of my favorite scenes:

We are staring at him again, still not certain what to make of the stranger in our midst. The stranger, however, appears quite comfortable with us.

"What's up with the plant?" He points to the desparing Lennie houseplant in the middle of the table. It looks like it has leprosy. We all go silent, because what do we say about my doppelganger houseplant?

"It's Lennie, it's dying, and frankly, we don't know what to do about it," Big booms with finality. It's as if the room itself takes a long awkward breath, and then at the same moment Gram, Big, and I lose it--Big slapping the table and barking laughter like a drunk seal, Gram leaning back against the counter wheezing and gasping for breath, and me doubled over trying to breathe in between my own uncontrolled gasping and snorting, all of us lost in a fit of hysterics the likes of which we haven't had in months.

I listened to this book when I was in the car and when I was supposed to be working out. As I read this scene, I cried. Right in the middle of the gym. And I wasn't embarrassed because it's that good. In fact, I hoped people would ask me what was wrong just so I could tell them about this amazing book. But the beauty of this particular scene is that, to me, it completely embodies the extreme emotions associated with grief. In fact, the whole book does. I found myself crying, but laughing at the same time. A phenomenon I had never experienced before in a book. She. Nailed. It.



So...because Casey's a lot smarter than we are, we're going to steal her verbage and hope she forgives us!

We're going to give away The Sky Is Everywhere--a brand new copy for someone.

BUT (and this is a big BUT) here's the catch, to enter our giveaway you have to be willing to do the SAME giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Meaning, you have to buy the book for someone else within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from us. Your ONLY out is this: if you don't love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE enough to keep it and buy it for someone, you can give away the one you've received from us. But the giveaway has to continue. Meaning, whoever wins your giveaway has to buy it for their winner or give away the one they've received from you, depending on their feelings on it. However, it is our hope that this will create a chain of PURCHASES in order to support the title. Not a big pass-the-book-around fest. In fact, you might even consider starting your giveaway right after you win, just to support the author, particularly if you already planned to buy the book at some point. Because you won't be out any more money than you would have been. Right? And because this book is SO, SO, SO good we think it's the perfect candidate. We think you WILL want to keep this book and buy it for someone else. It'll be beautiful. We'll all be buying it for each other and spreading the word about a fantastic book and author.

And we trust that none of our readers will stop the chain, right? The winner will continue to spread the love for Jandy and The Sky Is Everywhere will rise to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List WHERE IT BELONGS, right?

Phew.

So let's do this! RULES:

1. You MUST have a blog or Facebook or somewhere you can give the book away and be clear about the rules (Twitter can't support it, for example).

2. You MUST be willing to hold this exact giveaway on your blog or Facebook in which you purchase this book for someone else (or giveaway the one you receive from us, IF you don't love it) and require that YOUR winner do the same. Preferably within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from us.

3. If you win, we ask that you PLEASE enter your giveaway into the linky widget here and have YOUR winner do the same on Casey's post (not on your blog). So we can track how long the chain lasts and how many purchases we achieve.

4. U.S. entrants only.

5. Spreading the word will gain you extra entries. Stalking Jandy Nelson on the net (only on the net!) will also get you extra entries. See the form.

6. The contest will run February 16th to February 22nd until MIDNIGHT. We will announce the winner on February 22nd and the chain will commence.

Additionally, if you love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE as much as we do and you'd like to start your own giveaway chain, PLEASE DO and add yourself to the linky widget on Casey's blog. If enough people jump in, she'll do a giveaway just for YOU. Like, she'll order one winner whatever book they want (with a normal paperback or hardcover price). Sound good? YES, we love this book THAT MUCH.

To enter, please fill out this form:

<p>Loading...</p>

Tell the Truth Tuesday Opposite Edition*

It's no secret how supportive the writing community is. What's shocking is to watch that trickle down...er up...to Hollywood.

We take back everything we've ever said, Gwyneth. We like to think of our book as a baby too. And thanks for the shout out at the Grammy's Sunday. You wear pink well.


You too, Bieber. And pearls too? *dies*

And check out les Kardashians. I mean, they have their own book out, but they're pushing ours. Sister-power! Hollywood is surprising.

I mean, even Lindsay Lohan is getting into it. Liar Society, keeping Hollywood out of trouble. We couldn't be happier.

And we never expected this. Never. 

How's that for a truth this Tuesday? What? You don't believe us? Ok, fine. Here's our REAL truth.

We are completely blown away by all of your support as we get ready for The Liar Society to hit shelves. It's amazing, unexpected and you guys are constantly making us cry. THANK YOU.

P.S.
If you want to get pinkified for The Liar Society just send us an e-mail with a picture attached and we'll send it back....PINKER.
*The above photos have been shoddily re-touched by a Photoshop amature (aka Laura). They are lies. Every last one of them.

Just a bunch of weepy, love-sick fools...

Happy Valentine's Day! Traditionally, we're not huge Valentine's Day celebrators, but lately we've been feeling all sorts of love. We're not gonna lie. It makes us weepy.

When we received this package from Christina Lee last week, it about put us over the edge.



They're beautifully hand-stamped Liar Society key chains that feature a white pearl in honor of Kate and Grace. They dress up our keys. And they remind us of the friends we've made. And of the journey. And all that jazz.

We LOVE them. LOVE. And we thank you, Christina. You are so incredibly thoughtful. Check out all of Christina's beautiful pieces here. Trust us, they're even more amazing in real life.

Anyone have any special Valentine's Day plans?

PS: Do you like Glee? Do you like action-filled books? Do you like drama? Do you like books with incredible blurbs? Have you ordered RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer yet? ORDER NOW. Um, and if you've already ordered, sorry we yelled. We're just a little over excited.

This is really happening....

Our editor sent us this picture yesterday.



Yup. The finished copies of The Liar Society are ready to make their way to bookstore shelves across the country.

There are no words.

Well, no words except...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!