Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 90
October 19, 2011
Atwood printing her new book on paper made from straw and recycled paper
Margaret Atwood is printing a special edition of 300 copies of her newest sci-fi book In Other Worlds on Second Harvest paper–paper that is made from 36% straw and 64% recycled paper. The paper is new (and at this point not mass-manufactured), so the cost of each book will be $100. But it's such an interesting and smart move–to help save trees AND the costs that ebooks have on our environment.
What do you think? Does it interest you?
Free excerpt of HUNTED – dowload the excerpted ebook
You can now download the first six pages of HUNTED for your Kindle, Nook, Sony reader, etc on Smashwords! (For free, of course.)
It took me a many, many passes to get the copyright page exactly as Smashwords wanted it, but now…it's finally up! Yayyyyyy!
You can also read the excerpted ebook on GoodReads if you'd like to:
Your Browser Does Not Support IFrames. Click here to read the e-book on Goodreads 
October 18, 2011
Lauren Myracle on the NBF un-nominee–how she feels
Lauren Myracle talks about what happened with her being nominated, and then un-nominated, for the National Book Award, and how it made her feel–gutted, embarrassed, and ashamed. Which makes me want to hug her and let her know that we were all rooting for her. But an even better thing to do would be to go out and buy Lauren's book Shine! (Lauren, if you read this: We are all indignant and outraged for you!)
What a roller coaster ride–and how hard it must have been! And yet Lauren was classy throughout, even getting the NBF to donate $5,000 to the Matthew Shepard Foundation (fighting homophobia and hate crimes, which ties into her book).
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More children's and YA ebooks on sale or cheap (& 3 free) Week of Oct 18, 2011
My Lunatic Life by Sharon Sala is FREE on Amazon right now
She plays for Team Spirit.High school senior Tara Luna's got all the usual teen problems: a new school, her attraction to a hunky guy, feuds with the Mean Girls, being regarded as an oddball outsider-PLUS she has psychic powers, a duo of protective, meddlesome ghosts AND an angry, threatening teen girl ghost who wants Tara to solve her murder-or else.Now you know why she calls this "my lunatic life."Sharon Sala's books repeatedly make the big lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly lists, and she's been nominated for a RITA seven times, which is the romance writer's equivalent of having an Oscar or an Emmy nomination. MY LUNATIC LIFE is the first book in her Lunatic Life series for teen readers.
Kisses for Lula by Samantha Mackintosh is FREE right now on Amazon.
Lula Bird is gorgeous, funny and dreading her birthday because you can't turn 16 if you've never been kissed . . . so why does every boy in Hambledon run a mile the second she bats her eyelids? The fact is, they fear for their lives. Rumour has it Lula's been jinxed! And it's not as if that's her only problem: Lula thinks she has a stalker, her dad keeps sneaking out at night with a lady's handbag, and a mysterious theft is threatening to bring the town to its knees. . . . With only 5 days to go till her birthday, can Lula get the guy, solve the crime and jilt the jinx for good?
Jungle Kill (Black Ops) by Jim Eldridge is FREE Right now on Amazon
Thrown out of the SAS, Mitch thought his days as a Special Forces soldier were well and truly over. But when he is approached by an undercover unit embarking on a dangerous mission, he must make a choice. The Mission: rescue a West African freedom fighter, kidnapped by a gang of ruthless bandits who will stop at nothing to get what they want. The Squad: elite, Black-Ops soldiers – Gaz, Two Moons, Tug, Benny and Nelson – codename, Delta Unit.Can Mitch secure the trust of the five men, and step back into the battle zone?
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Catherine Ryan Hyde's Second Hand Heart is only $2.99 on Smashwords. It was traditionally published in the UK, and now is available in ebook form here. It is a YA crossover (pubbed as adult). Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of 18 children's and YA books–including Jumpstart the World, Pay It Forward, and more.
Vida is 19 and has never had much of a life. Struggling along with a life-threatening heart condition, her whole life has been one long preparation for death. But suddenly she is presented with a donor heart, and just in time. Now she gets to do something she never imagined she'd have to do: live.
Richard is a 36-year-old man who's just lost his beloved wife, Lorrie, in a car accident. Still in shock and not even having begun the process of grieving, he is invited to the hospital to meet the young woman who received his wife's donor heart.
Vida takes one look at Richard and feels she's loved him all her life. And tells him so. Richard assumes she's just a foolish young girl. And maybe she is. Or maybe there's truth behind the theory of cellular memory, and maybe it really is possible for a heart to remember, at least for a time, on its own.
Catherine Ryan Hyde's When I Found You is also only $2.99! It is a YA crossover (pubbed as adult).
When Nathan McCann finds an abandoned newborn in the woods, he wants to keep the child, but the boy's grandmother receives custody. Years later, she brings the boy, now a troubled teenager, to Nathan. And she doesn't just introduce them. She washes her hands of the boy and leaves him there. So Nathan gets his wish. But it's not the way he imagined.
The Frog Princess (Tales of the Frog Princess) by ED Baker is on sale for $4.79
Princess Emeralda isn't exactly an ideal princess. Her laugh is like a donkey's bray rather than tinkling bells, she trips over her own feet and she does NOT like Prince Jorge, whom her mother hopes she will marry. But if Emma ever thought to escape her life, she never expected it to happen by turning into a frog! When convinced to kiss a frog so he might return to being a Prince, somehow the spell is reversed and Emma turns into a frog herself! Thus begins the adventure – a quest to return to human form.
Fascinating and hilarious characters ranging from a self-conscious but friendly bat to a surprisingly loyal snake and a wise old green witch confirm that readers won't soon forget this madcap story! A fantastic debut from the talented E.D. Baker.
The Snow-Walker Sequence 3-In-1: "The Snow-walker's Son", "The Empty Hand", "The Soul Thieves" by Catherine Fisher is $9.99 for 3 books, which makes it $3.33/book.
From the swirling mists and icy depths beyond the edge of the world came the snow-walker Gudrun, to rule the Jarl's people with fear and sorcery. But a small band of outlaws are prepared to risk their lives to defeat Gudrun and restore the land to its rightful leader. This trilogy follows them in their quest, from the first terrifying journey to meet the mysterious snow-walker's son, to the final battle in the lands beyond the rainbow bridge. The Snow-walker's Son follows Jessa and Thorkil who, are sent to Thrasirshall in the empty wastelands to live with the mysterious Kari, Gudrun's son. Led to believe Kari is some kind of monster they are shocked to discover he is a snow-walker, just like Gudrun, except with the desire to do good rather than evil. Together they journey back to the Jarshold to defeat Gudrun. In The Empty Hand Gudrun seeks revenge on those who banished her and sends a terrifying, faceless creature to the Jarlshold, and in The Soul Thieves, Kari and his companions must travel to the land of the snow-walkers to claim back the precious souls Gudrun has stolen. Here, Kari and Gudrun, mother and son and ultimate opponents, must fight their final battle.
October 17, 2011
I just got a lovely blurb from Cinda Williams Chima for HUNTED!
I'm so excited! I just got a lovely blurb from Cinda Williams Chima (I LOVE her books!) for HUNTED!
"With its eerily contemporary themes, Hunted will set your pulse to pounding as Caitlyn, struggles to cling to a faith in the basic goodness of humankind in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary."
-Cinda Williams Chima, The Demon King, A VOYA Perfect Ten, VOYA's Best Science Fiction, 2011 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults list, and more!
Shine on and off the NBF list–but Lauren Myracle acts with classiness
Did you catch the rumphus that happened with the National Book Awards? First, Lauren Myracle's Shine (about hate crime against a gay teen) was announced to be on the teen list, and then it was announced that they'd made mistake and it was actually Franny Billingsly's Chime (the two titles sound a bit alike, but the authors' names don't!).
Then NBF announced that they'd leave Lauren's Shine on the finalist list because it's an excellent work of literature. And then they went back and forth about whether they were keeping it or not. Which must have been so hard on Lauren! I would have found it painful to have it publicly debated whether my book was good enough or not to keep on the list!
And THEN the head of the National Book Foundation called Lauren to ask her to withdraw her book to "preserve the integrity of the award"! How incredibly insensitive of them–and downright jerk-y when it's their own fault–and how painful for Lauren! Yet Lauren handled it with utter grace. She suggested that the NBF donate to the Matthew Sheppard Foundation, which encourages diversity and works to stop anti-gay hate crimes–which ties in completely with her book Shine. She didn't pitch a fit or freak out after all that humiliation and cruddy treatment of her and her book–she just made a suggestion that will help so many queer youth and is completely appropriate to her book.
Now that takes class!
For a stronger-worded, more detailed, and fabulous account of this check out Libba Bray's post.
You can also check out PW on this.
Happy Teen Read Week! (Oct 16-22)
This week is Teen Read Week (from Oct 16 to Oct 22), started by YALSA! I love it!
This year's theme is Picture It @ your library, encouraging people to pick up graphic novels, comics, and other illustrated books. I hope you'll pick up a graphic novel (I love them!) or really, ANY teen book. There's so many beautifully written, richly layered, and moving YA books out there!
Want to have a say in next year's theme? Vote here. You can also watch the videos announcing YALSA's Top 10 2011 Teen Picks, or if you're a teen, you can enter the Teen Read Week Photo Contest, judged by Jay Asher.
Check out ILoveLibraries' post on Teen Read Week for more info.
November is the 1st annual Picture Book Month!
I LOVE reading picture books. I always have. There is such incredible artwork and writing in picture books, creating satisfying stories. They make me feel good. And picture books can help children understand the world, while enriching their imagination. So I'm excited that five authors and illustrators have come together to start the first annual Picture Book Month–in November. Picture Book Month encourages adults to read picture books with children. I also think it's a great opportunity to encourage adults to read picture books, period.
Picture Book Month, which is international, was started by Founder Dianne de Las Casas, and Co-Founders Wendy Martin (illustrator & creator of the Picture Book Month logo and designs), Katie Davis (author/illustrator), Elizabeth O. Dulemba (author/illustrator), and Tara Lazar (author).
I hope this catches on!
October 16, 2011
Two more great reviews of HUNTED, and a chance to win the book
Two more great reviews of HUNTED are in, including one that calls it a must-read and gives HUNTED 5 stars!, and another where the reviewer hadn't read my books before, but will now be checking out all my others, which is a great compliment. 
And if you live in the US, you can also enter to win a copy of HUNTED on Goodreads. It looks like my publisher is doing this giveaway.
There will be more giveaways to come, as well as more HUNTED goodies, so watch this space.
Such a thrill!
I nipped into a bookstore right before a movie tonight with two writing friends. And when I got to the checkout and was paying for my books, the clerk asked me: "Are you by any chance Cheryl Rainfield, the author?" And when I said I was, she was excited and told me she was having a celebrity moment. And she knew that my new book (HUNTED) is coming out soon! Wow!
That was such a delight for me–to have a fellow book lover and reader recognize me! And recognize me NOT at a writing event! How cool is that??? (Beaming and beaming)
I got such a happy good feeling out of it!
