Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 73

Don't forget to download HUNTED freebies

Don't forget that there are a ton of freebies for HUNTED that you can pick up.

There's the free PinPoint: A HUNTED Bonus short story. You can get it on Amazon for your Kindle, on B&N for your Nook, or on Smashwords for most ebook readers.

Are you a teacher, or do you have a book club? Then you might want to download my free Teacher's Guide. It's rich and thoughtfully written by Deb Vanasse.

There's also a Para Survival Handbook (from the point of view of Paras and their supporters who are trying to survive in a world that oppresses them).

a ParaWatch Guide (from the point of view of the Normals who are trying to oppress and hunt down Paras)

a "newspaper article" on Paras by a reporter who's read Caitlyn's anonymous Teen Para blog (from the book).

and much more.

You can also read the first six pages of HUNTED, watch the book trailer, choose which paranormal power you'd want in the questionnaire, see the playlist for HUNTED.

My giving away SCARS at Pay It Forward reached people!

I just got a comment on FaceBook from one of the two women (who were both a stranger to me) who I gave SCARS to during Pay It Forward in Toronto at Union Station. She said that SCARS had a profound effect on her! What a lovely, lovely thing to read! (beaming) I am so glad she let the Pay It Forward people know–and then YA writer Linda Granfield let me know when she saw it.

I hadn't known what would happen with SCARS once I gave it out at PIF–hadn't known if the women I gave it to would read it, or like it. I was a tiny bit nervous giving it out, since they weren't choosing to read about self-harm and sexual abuse, but both women accepted my book so graciously. (I didn't tell them I was the author.) Scars has meant so much to me for many reasons, so it felt good to give it away during PIF, but I still didn't know how it would be received. And now I heard this! Such a good feeling! I love my books reaching people.

If you're curious, the Toronto Pay It Forward page is here, and I posted about my initial experience with some photos here.

Guest Post: 5 Reasons To Read To Your Child

5 Reasons to Read with Your Child


by Jenny Ellis

It is something most parents already do, read with their children. But there are bigger reasons of why you should read with your child other than it being something enjoyable to do with your child. Here are 5 ways that reading with your child can benefit you and them:

Promotes Reading: If you start reading with your child at an early age, it sets a foundation for them to want to learn and to read. Making it a daily ritual to read with your child will help them form that habit to read as they get older. Believe it or not your kids do follow your lead, so lead by example.

Imagination: A child's imagination is precious and in a world where technology rules; imagination is quickly fading. And with your help, reading books to your children helps them to think outside of the box. Something as simple as using different voices, changing your tone and pausing helps cradle your child's imaginative thoughts.

Life learning tool: Children books are filled with many different scenarios that your child can learn from. Depending on the book, your child can have difficult questions on life answered; they can learn life basics like manners or something educational like math and geography. The amount of lessons your child can learn from a book is limitless and you can guide them to finding their answers.

Bonding experience: Many fond memories we have as adults are bedtime stories with our mom or dad. Continue that tradition and make the time to read with your child. It is a great way for you two to create lasting memories of your own. Children grow up fast and one day they will not want to sit in your lap and read with you. Enjoy it while you can and start reading with them now before it's too late!

Basic Reading Skills: Children obviously don't have the knowledge of how and where to start reading. Reading with your child will teach them the basics of reading like, recognizing words, sounding them out, spelling or something as simple as reading a sentence from left to right.

Remember that reading is more than learning but a bonding experience that your child will keep with them forever. So go grab some books, make reading fun and let them curl up in your lap!

Jenny Ellis is a freelance writer, and a regular contributor for aupair care. She welcomes your comments at: ellisjenny728 @ gmail.com.

Toronto HUNTED Launch was a success!

My Toronto HUNTED launch (for the Canadian version by Fitzhenry & Whiteside) was a success! So many people that I care about were there–great writing friends, friend-friends, new friends, old friends, and some people I didn't know who came to hear about Hunted. Thank you everyone who came! It meant so much to me, having people there to help me celebrate. I don't celebrate my successes enough–I think I just dive into the next bit of work there is to do–so it was lovely to take the day, surrounded by good people, to celebrate HUNTED being published and out in the world.

As soon as I arrived at Bakka Phoenix Bookstore, I saw HUNTED set out on the front table facing the street–they had such a lovely display!–and signs in the window telling people to come join us.

I set out my free short story postcards (which you can still pick up at Bakka Phoenix Bookstore) and bookmarks, and set out he prizes.

Chris and everyone at Bakka Phoenix was wonderful, setting out tablecloths, providing scrumptious cookies, water, pop, and making me and everyone else feel incredibly welcome.

My lovely F&W editor, Christie Harkin, made a delicious cake complete with red Ps for Para (or anti-Para), and there were veggie trays and dips, drinks, and more goodies laid out.

I think everyone had fun sitting down with psychic Michael, who gave uplifting and sensitive readings.

A lot of people went home with prizes that they got to pick from the table, including a gorgeous gift basket of F&W books which my friend Hilary got, some Bakka Phoenix gift cards, and more.

The daughter of two people who came to my launch helped me pick out the raffle tickets for each draw. She not only had fun and suspense–every ticket that she drew out of the jar, she compared it to her own first to see if it had won!–but she also provided more good feeling and laughter to the event. I was so happy when her mother was one of the winners, so the girl got to pick a prize for herself.

I was excited and nervous to give my talk on HUNTED.

First we had to call people upstairs–away from the food and the psychic!

And then I gave my talk.

You can hear some of my talk in the video below. I love how my editor Christie panned part of the crowd so you could see some of the faces of some of the people who were there.

I read the first two pages from HUNTED. (You can see YA author Lena Coakley listening in the background.)

Jean, who's become like a mom to me, surprised me by coming up to tell everyone how good HUNTED is, how it made her heart race, made her cry, and gripped her as she read. She is such a sweetheart!

Then I signed books for some of the guests.

Here I am signing HUNTED for YA author Erin Thomas, with YA author Maureen McGowan behind her.

It was very cool to meet a teen who'd read HUNTED and loved it, and to have her talk about loving books, loving writing poetry, and to see her being so confident. I was never that confident as a teen! I enjoyed meeting her, and was so glad she and her mother came.

I loved having so many friends, new and old, at the launch to help me celebrate. What a good feeling!

Here's me and Jean.

Me and YA writer Pat Bourke.

Me and children's and YA author Carolyn Beck.

At the end of the day, when everyone had had their turn, I decided to have a reading with Michael, too. It was such a lovely experience!

The launch was so much fun. I'm so glad for everyone who came, including a few people who dropped by just to buy the book and say a quick hi, then dashed out again! It was a real celebration.

Like YA Fantasy? Then I recommend checking out Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I just finished Raised by Wolves AND Trial by Fire (the 2nd in the series) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and I LOVED them so much! I love strong girl characters in books–strong emotionally, strong in so many ways, and Bryn in Jenn's books is *strong*, good-hearted, ethical, fighting against oppression, and tries to protect others, even though she's "only" human (with an added something) among a bunch of much physically stronger werewolves.

I love fantasy, most especially when it's well written, but I never thought I'd like werewolves. I've never been into reading "monsters", perhaps because I grew up being tortured by human monsters. But a great author can humanize and make us identify with characters who aren't totally human, and make us care about them, and I quickly came to care about Bryn AND her world.

I'm so glad I finally read this series, and I highly recommend them! I'm looking forward to the next book Taken by Storm so much that I already pre-ordered it on my Kindle. The last book I did that with was Beth Revis' A Million Suns.

The second book was the perfect book to get me through the exhaustion after my own book launch. I love finding books that pull me into their story world and don't push me out, books that I look forward to reading and re-reading. It's such a great feeling.

video from my Toronto HUNTED book launch

My Toronto HUNTED book launch held at Bakka Phoenix Bookstore was a success! People had a lot of fun. I've just put a video from the launch up! And I'll be putting it and photos and more up on my blog once I get some photos coming in.

There were a lot more people than you can see here in the video, and my talk was longer than this, but this is a lovely bit from my launch!

Reading People – Books That Can Help You As A Writer

I've just ordered a book by face reader (or Face Pattern Recognition Expert) Naomi Tickle that I think will help me professionally as a writer, to make my characters even more believable, full, and complete, and also help me as a person navigating through the world. I think her books are great tools for writers to add more richness, depth, and credibility to our novels (or screenplays or plays for the stage).

Naomi does what the characters on the TV show Lie To Me do–read faces to know when people are lying or telling the truth, to predict their personality, behavior, and innate abilities just from their facial features. And she was actually interviewed for that show as an expert! She can tell from how fine your hair is whether you're sensitive to noises and emotions, and from the curve of your forehead how creative you are. Her face readings are based on soft science first developed by Edward Jones, a judge, in the 1930s, and have a 92% accuracy level for personality assessment. I find it utterly fascinating!!

Naomi has several books, and I have a feeling I'll be ordering many of them over time. For now, I chose What Makes People Tick and Why.

If you order a book directly from Naomi's website, you get a free mini-reading.I did, and I loved what she said; she got so many things about me so accurately that I wouldn't have thought people could see just from my face. It really impressed me! And it was also validating. (And no, I don't get anything out of telling you that–I'm just passing along info that I think could help you.)

I'm excited to read her book, and am so looking forward to it! I think Naomi's book will be an incredible tool as a writer and person.

You can also listen to an interview with Naomi, interviewed by Angela Treat Lyon.

11 YA ebooks for $0.99 each on Amazon (US) Deal of the Day Today!

Today Amazon (US) has 11 YA novel ebooks for $0.99 each for their Deal of the Day! Including novels by Vivian Vande Velde, William Sleator, and Scott O'Dell (all of whose books I usually love)!

Cloaked In Red by Vivian Vande Velde is $0.99

So you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species? Well, then, try your hand at answering these questions: Which character (not including Little Red herself) is the most fashion challenged? Who (not including the wolf) is the scariest? Who (not including Granny) is the most easily scared? Who is the strangest (notice we're not "not including" anyone, because they're all a little off.)? Who (no fair saying "the author") has stuffing for brains? Master storyteller Vivian Vande Velde crafts eight new stories involving one of the world's most beloved (and mixed-up) characters in literature. You may never look at fairy tales in quite the same way again.

Blackbriar by William Sleator is $0.99

Danny can feel something sinister about his new home, Blackbriar, an old, abandoned cottage in the English countryside. The residents of a nearby town refuse to speak of the house and can barely look Danny in the eyes. Then Danny begins to have strange dreams of fire and witches, and awakes to shrieks of laughter that seem to come from another time and place. With help from his friend, Lark, Danny begins to unravel the mysteries of Blackbriar and its frightening past, through the discovery of an ancient doll and a chilling list of names and dates carved on the cellar door. But what might be most terrifying of all is the mystery that does not lie in the past but in the here and now …

Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

In the future, it doesn't pay to remember.

In Nora's world you don't have to put up with nightmares. Nora goes with her mother to TFC–a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic. There, she can describe her horrible memory and take the pill that will erase it. But at TFC, a chance encounter with a mysterious guy changes Nora's life. She doesn't take the pill. And when Nora learns the memory her mother has chosen to forget, she realizes that someone needs to remember. With newfound friends Micah and Winter, Nora makes a comic book of their memories called Memento. It's an instant hit, but it sets off a dangerous chain of events. Will Nora, Micah, and Winter be forced to take the Big Pill that will erase their memories forever?

Angie Smibert's remarkable debut novel takes readers on a thrilling ride through shadowy world where corporations secretly rule–and wish you'd just keep shopping.

Spotting for Nellie by Pamela Lowell

Claire Perry knows a split second can change everything. It can be the difference between sticking a perfect landing or falling off the beam. It can be the difference between a really fun party or a totally messed up one. Or sometimes, as Claire finds out, it can even be the difference between life . . . or death. For Claire's younger sister, Nellie, an elite gymnast who is "destined for gold," things have always come easy. A split second is usually all it takes to capture the attention of a boy at a party, and the judges at a meet, or their critical father—everyone. Then one night, one decision, one split second—changes their world forever. The two sisters get into a car accident that leaves one of them with a traumatic brain injury. Now, the sisters will have to figure out what's worth fighting for and what are the limits of guilt, forgiveness, and sisterhood. Memories will come crashing back and secrets will come to light—whether they're ready for them . . . or not.





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Mindblind by Jennifer Roy

Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Clark lives in two worlds—the outside world of his family and friends and his own, special, inside Aspie world, where he's not forced to interact with people or worry about wearing his clothes right-side out. The world where he can solve mathematical problems that elude even the brightest graduate students. The world where he feels he can find his own inner truth. People say he's a genius, but Nathaniel thinks differently. According to a book he once read, a true genius uses his talent to make a contribution to the world. Nathaniel takes the definition literally, and begins his quest for genius status. "I will start, right after I wash the chocolate off my face. If I want to be seen as a genius, I should not look like an idiot." Nathaniel has a sky-high IQ and perfect SAT scores, but Jennifer Roy and her husband, Greg, have a remarkable 8-year-old son, Adam, who not only inspired the character of Nathaniel Clark, but also created the "Amazing Race" charts and the narrative at the back of MindBlind.

Kathleen, Please Come Home by Scott O'Dell

Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Winters has always been a good girl, trying to please her mother. But now, things are changing. First, there's the new girl, Sybil Langley. Sybil is confident, rebellious, and worldly–everything Kathleen wishes she could be. As Kathleen is drawn under Sybil's spell, she moves closer and closer toward crossing a dangerous line. Then there's Ramón. Kathleen knows it's risky to date an illegal immigrant, but she's never met anyone like Ramón. They fall helplessly in love–but the most beautiful experience of Kathleen's life soon becomes the most catastrophic. Kathleen takes off for Mexico and slowly spirals into drug addiction and chaos. In the end, only Kathleen can bring herself back home. Set against the backdrop of 1970s Baja California, Mexico, Scott O'Dell's powerful novel takes readers on one girl's unforgettable journey of self-destruction and discovery.

Rebound by Rob Krech

It looked like every black kid in the school was going out for the team. And then me. Pale skin, long nose, sandy brown hair, and a cowlick that won't stay down. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't being the only white guy.Black kids play basketball. White kids wrestle. That's the way it is at Franklin High School and especially in Ray Wisniewski's neighborhood, the tight knit Polish-American town of Greenville, New Jersey. But Ray's got a passion for basketball, even after the varsity coach cuts him two years in a row. When a new coach comes on the scene, Ray's luck rebounds, but now he has to deal with Robert, the team's high scorer, a kid who hates Ray simply because he's white.As Ray fights to make his way onto the Franklin High Varsity, he finds that things are not as simple as he once thought—that a kind friend can be full of hate. A beautiful girl can be ugly inside. A well-intentioned coach can cause more harm than good. And prejudice can be defined in many ways in a world that isn't black-and-white.

Shelter From The Wind by Marion Dane Bauer

It used to be just Stacy and her dad, ever since Stacy's mother left them five years ago. But Stacy's stepmother, Barbara, seems to have taken over their world—and now she's pregnant, too. One hot June morning Stacy runs away, not sure where she's going or what she's looking for—her mother, maybe? She heads across the Oklahoma panhandle where she has always lived, without supplies, without a plan.

After a scary night alone on the prairie, a pair of white German shepherd dogs finds her. They lead her to their mistress, Old Ella, a woman who lives alone in a small secluded cabin. It is here that Stacy confronts the true source of her anger and learns what it really means to be a woman, a daughter, a friend. First published in 1976, Shelter from the Wind is a heart-rending story of a girl's coming of age set against the backdrop of the harsh Oklahoma panhandle.

Sizzle by Lee McCain

Sizzle . . . or burn? Linda Delgado has the best nose in all of Arizona—for cooking, that is. She may be only fourteen, but Linda loves making fresh Mexican food with her aunt Elba and blogging about food with her best friend, Julia. But after Aunt Elba suffers a ministroke, Linda is catapulted across the country and into a whole new life. In Pittsburgh, living with bossy Aunt Pat and her seven kids, Linda feels completely out of place. Worst of all, Aunt Pat is a local celebrity with her own TV show, Cooking from Cans—and she won't let Linda in the kitchen. Linda might go loco if she doesn't get some fresh food—like now. Then Linda finally gets her chance to sizzle—alongside cute-guy-with-a-secret Dino Moretti (who even smells delicious) and her jealous cousin Chloe. Linda's new life is about to heat up fast.

My Name Is Not Easy by Debbie Dahl Edwardson

My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore . . . Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can't say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there's some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he's not the only one. There's smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader— if he doesn't self-destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.

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Soccerland by Beth Choat

"One day I'm going to play for the U.S. Women's National Team." That's what Flora Dupre promised her mom, before her mom died of cancer. Flora and her mom had created a place called Soccerland, an escape world where they went and just talked soccer. And now Flora's dream of playing for the U.S.A. might be coming true. Flora's received the invitation of a lifetime: the chance to try out for the Under-15 U.S. Girls' Soccer Team, an opportunity that could put Flora on the road to making her dream a reality and reaching the real "Soccerland." But when Flora arrives at the International Sports Academy, the level of talent there is like nothing she's ever seen before. Flora struggles to hold her own, grappling with new positions on the pitch, injuries, a frustrating coach, and contempt from other players. But Flora is a big, strong Dupre girl—and she's not going to go down easy.

Had a great time at Pay It Forward: Sharing the Books, Toronto, March 28, 2012

Today I took part in the Pay It Forward: Sharing the Books in Toronto at Union Station, with a bunch of other Toronto writers and book lovers. The Pay It Forward: Sharing The Books was actually a worldwide event, with people around the world all taking part in a flash mob and then giving away a book that has meant a lot to them at 4pm wherever they were.

I brought two signed copies of SCARS, since writing SCARS and having it published dramatically changed my life and meant so much to me. It meant that I was being heard about self-harm, sexual abuse, and being queer, it meant people who hadn't "got" it about self-harm, about why someone would use it, got it after reading Scars, it meant people who had felt alone and in pain felt understood and seen and less alone. And it meant that I was finally, after more than 10 years of rejections, published.

(Photo to the left is of Toronto organizer Nancy Runstedler holding up the Pay It Forward sign. Photo by YA author Karen Krossing.)

I arrived early–but there are two Union Stations in Toronto–the public transit Union Station, and then a larger Union Station that's connected to it. I might have stayed in the wrong station or area, but saw fellow YA writer Karen Krossing enter, and together we walked into the larger station. It was such a delight to see other writers and book lovers who I love, including Karen Krossing, Debbie Ohi, Christie Harkin (my Canadian Fitzhenry & Whiteside editor) and her lovely daughter, Mahtab Narsimhan, Rebecca Upjohn, Linda Granfield, Marthe Jocelyn, Paul Kropp, and more! to chat with them a bit about writing and books before we got our instructions from organizer Nancy Runstedler (who I had the pleasure of meeting). I think there were about 40-50 of us who gathered. After we got our instructions, we went off to try to look inconspicuous before the big event. It was hard waiting for it, especially the last few minutes; I was so excited!

At 4 pm, Nancy and two others donned black hats and sat down to "read" their books–the signal to the rest of us to join in. We all joined them, sitting down on the floor with our books to read. I didn't look up at the people who passed us by as we read–I wanted to stay in "reading" mode and show them how much books can grab us, entertain us, how much they can matter–but I felt people around us, looking at us as they stood or passed by, and there were at least two people taking photos (I saw the flashes on us).

After about five minutes of sitting and reading, we got up and held our books silently in the air, and to me it felt celebratory–books touched us, moved us, helped us. And then we dispersed to give away our books. Books that we cared about and that we loved. Karen Krossing turned around and handed me THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak, which I've been wanting to read and have heard from a few friends is amazing, so that was a real treat! (Thank you so much, Karen!) And then I walked off to give away my books (each with a Pay It Forward leaflet tucked inside).

I was a bit nervous about giving away my books–my copies of SCARS–because 1) the cover has a (my) scarred arm, and I worried that that would put off some people who weren't choosing to read about self-harm, and 2) often when people approach you on the street, it's about asking for money (or sometimes directions) and people in the city seem to get leery of that. But I had the good fortune that both the women who I approached were open to what I said ("We're giving away books that mean a lot to us, and this book personally has touched me, and I'm hoping you might accept it"), and who seemed kind, open, and even happy to receive a free book. I didn't tell them that I was the author or that I'd signed the books–I hope they'll discover the signing on their own. It felt good to put more copies of SCARS out into the world. And since I know that so many people have been affected by self-harm and sexual abuse or know someone who has, I hope SCARS will speak to them.

I was also delighted to see that my editor's daughter loved my book HUNTED so much that she was giving away a copy of it! What an incredible compliment and thrill!

And just as I was getting ready to leave, Christie (my editor) and her daughter came up to me and said that they overheard one of the women I'd just given SCARS to excitedly talking on her phone to someone, telling them that a woman had just given her a copy of a book! That was such a delight to hear!

What an incredible event and day! I felt SO good taking part, and I felt connected, too, to people around the world doing the same thing at the same moment.

Photo by YA author Karen Krossing


Some of us at the event, from left to right: Karen Krossing (2nd in), Mahtab Narsimhan (3rd in), Debbie Ohi (5th in), Nancy Runstedler (6th in), Cheryl Rainfield (7th in).

Love that I was quoted in an article about The Hunger Games

Wow! I was quoted in an article "The Hunger Games: Empowering or Too Dark for Teens?" by librarian Audrey Barbakoff around YASaves! (beaming) She used quotes from my response to the whole Darkness Too Visible article and the YASaves movement because some parents are saying there is too much violence in The Hunger Games, and the Gurden op-ed is being brought back up. I love what Barbakoff quoted from me–they're things I believe strongly and that to me show the power of YA novels to help teens–and I think it's so appropriate that she quoted me in an article about The Hunger Games.

I think The Hunger Games is beautifully and powerfully written, and works to make readers aware of the impact of violence and oppression, the horror of it. I loved how strong Katniss was, how she sacrificed herself to save her sister, tried to help others, and fought the oppressive system AND actually won. There was a lot of violence in the book, but to me none of it was gratuitous, the way many TV shows and movies are. It was written with emotion, at times with pain, and always in context, showing us the need for survival, and also distaste at the oppressors who put Katniss there and at the oppressive system who created it. It's a powerful novel that can stir up fantastic discussion and greater awareness of oppression that exists now in our society.

I identified with The Hunger Games a lot as I read it (being a ritual abuse survivor), and if I'd read it as a teen, it would have been one of those books that helped me feel less alone, and that helped me believe in my own inner strength and my strength as a girl, in the importance of resisting oppression, and in the possibility of positive change coming out of brave actions and resistance. And isn't that something that we want to encourage? Resistance to oppression, greater sensitivity to violence, greater compassion and awareness of our fellow human beings? Girls knowing they can be strong?

I loved The Hunger Games so much that I mention in it HUNTED (and I also tried to show many of the things that I believe The Hunger Games shows–the horror of oppression, violence, and hatred, and the power we each have to resist and overcome oppression), so I love that I was quoted in the article.