Cyndi Tefft's Blog, page 13

YA Scramble Winners Announced!

The YA Scramble was 24 hours of insanity as a horde of folks jumped from one blog to another, collecting letters and then puzzling out the secret phrase. Readers came up with all sorts of permutations (some quite entertaining), but the majority of folks were able to work out the answer:

WE HEART YA BOOKS
One incredibly lucky participant is walking away with the Massive Grand Prize of Mega Awesomeness including:
ARC of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (with signed bookmark)Ebook of Solstice by PJ Hoover (with trading cards)Ebook of The Space Between by Alexandra SokoloffPaperback copy of Perception by Heather CashmanSigned paperback ARC of Anathema by Kathleen TuckerChronicles of Vladimir Tod Gift Set (Trade Paperback of Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad Journal, Minion Bling Buttons and Vlad Tote)Signed paperback copy of Between by Cyndi TefftSigned hardcover of Clarity by Kim HarringtonARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini TaylorSigned ARC of Fury by Elizabeth MilesSigned paperback of Linger by Maggie StiefvaterARC of Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie HarrisonCopy of The Iron Witch by Karen MahoneyWinner's choice of 5 ebooks from a list of indie authorsSigned paperback of Sleepers by Megg JensenEbooks of Soul Quest and The Guardians of Souls by Amy JonesKindle copy of Winnemucca by Laura Elliott (plus a guest post spot on her blog!)Paperback copy of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
And that winner is...



Mindy Herbert!!

Congratulations, Mindy! Prepare for the onslaught of awesomeness headed your way! 
And now for a list of the other lucky readers whose names were drawn for the individual prizes...
✯ SableLexi wins a signed copy of Clarity by Kim Harrington and a signed ARC of Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon from Irish/Gail.✯ Bookishly Malyza wins a signed paperback of Between by Cyndi Tefft (me!).✯ Mirrormera92 wins a pack of Solstice trading cards from PJ Hoover.✯ Sarah Nicolas wins an ebook of Anathema by Kathleen Tucker.✯ Lolawid wins a pre-order book of her choice from Kaitlin Simpson.✯ Janhvi wins an ARC of Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler from Jennifer Morris and a pack of Solstice trading cards from PJ Hoover. ✯ Britney Wyatt wins a book of her choice from Danielle Bunner's list and FIVE ebooks from a selection of indie authors from T.R. Graves.✯ Tamara Basic wins an ebook of Perception from Heather Cashman and a pack of Solstice trading cards from PJ Hoover. ✯ Roro wins a copy of Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke from Jennifer Morris.✯ Erin Baker wins an ebook of Sleepers from Megg Jensen.✯ Aeicha wins an ebook of The Glassheart Chronicles from Amy Jones and a pack of Solstice trading cards from PJ Hoover.✯ Aimee Brandon wins a signed paperback of Winnemucca from Laura Elliott along with a Winnemucca coffee mug and a guest post on Laurasmagicday. 
Winners will be contacted soon to arrange for the receipt of their prizes. Thanks to all the bloggers who gave so generously to the event and to everyone who participated. I hope you all had fun!

YA Scramble Wrap Up!

Okay, peeps, the YA Scramble yesterday was oodles of fun, but I am one wrung out sponge! Give us a day to draw the winners and I'll be posting the results here tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who participated! We had a great turnout and I hope you all had fun!

The YA Scramble is here!

The day you've been waiting for has arrived! *tosses confetti*

Instructions for the YA Scramble:
1) Visit the first blog (based on list below).
2) Read the guestpost.
3) Identify the PURPLE word.
4) Pick out the 3rd letter from the purple word.
5) Go to the next blog.
6) Repeat #3, #4,and #5 until you visited all 14 sites.
7) At the end, take all 14 of the 3rd letters from the PURPLE words and figure out the message near and dear to our hearts.
8) Enter the unscrambled message ONCE into this form as your official entry for a chance to win some great prizes from fantastic authors and bloggers.

Participating Blogs - all must be visited:
✯ Kaitlin Simpson
✯ PJ Hoover✯ Cary Cummings✯ Heather Cashman✯ Kathleen Tucker
✯ Jennifer Morris
✯ Cyndi Tefft (You're here!)
✯ Irish/ Gail✯ Danielle Bunner✯ Melissa Layton
✯ T.R. Graves✯ Megg Jensen
✯ Amy Jones✯ Laura Elliott

Jennifer Morris from Books Make Happy Reviews is guesting on the blog today!

Hello thereeveryone!! I'm so excited to be here on Cyndi's blog today! I'd like to say abig, BIG thank you to her for putting this event together, and for hosting me.

So… YA fiction.Today's Young Adult books are full of fantastic stories based around amazingcharacters.  There are hardships, andtriumphs, and romances, and heartache, and mythology and realism, and honestyand incredible imagination. YA authors create characters we love, stories welove, and give us places and times we can lose ourselves in.All of thissounds EXACTLY like what I would say about some of my favorite ADULT fiction.In fact, some of my favorite adult fiction authors write for the young adultaudience as well! How handy is THAT? Teens that read, and fall in love with aparticular author, have an ever increasing chance to find more from the sameauthor when they transition into reading adult fiction. I don't know if thishas always been as widespread as I find it to be now. I don't believe it has.But I can count on two hands, and be in need of additional fingers, the authorsI can think of just off the top of my head that write in both the YA and adultfiction genres. (Let's name a few, shall we? Richelle Mead, Deborah Cooke,Jackie [Morse] Kessler, Jennifer Estep, Wendy Delsol, John Grisham, JamesPatterson, Gena Showalter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Michelle ROWEN,Rachel Caine, Lilith Saintcrow, Rachel Vincent, Dina James, Ridley Pearson, StephenieMeyer, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr… and there are others, shallI go on??)

My question is…what prompts an adult fiction author to enter the YA lit world? What draws theminto writing for a younger audience? Is there a different procedure or mindsetfor writing for YA? Are there any drawbacks or limitations? These are a fewquestions I asked a couple of authors who were included in the list above:1 - Did youstart your writing career in YA, or did you come into this age group later? Ifyou came into it later, what prompted the change?

Dina James: I came into the age group later at theencouragement of a former editor. It was so much of a prompted change as a"please try this I want to see what you do." I tried it with a shortstory and the rest just followed. I never intended to write YA. I just sort offell into it.
Wendy Delsol: I started writing adult fiction. My first twonovels (attempts, perhaps the accurate term) were in this genre. THE MCCLOUDHOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS was the third novel I wrote. While it was making therounds with agents, I decided to give YA a go. I wrote STORK in five months,and it was the project with which I found my agent. The decision to try YA wasequal parts experimentation as a new writer and market driven.
2 - Do youapproach writing adult novels and YA novels differently? Is there a differentpreparation necessary? A different mindset during the writing process?
DJ: Yes I do. When writing YA I'm constantly aware of"adult situations" and actions, especially dialogue. Where I can havemy adult character do and say things I'm accustomed to, younger people thinkand respond differently, as they don't have the life experience to draw on anolder character might. For instance, I can't have a 14 year old playing a videogame that was around before they were born (unless of course it's that character'shobby/collection/obsession, whatever, but that can be justified in the story),or driving a car (legally) or drinking alcohol (again, legally). So you have tothink about those things. If your character needs to  get somewhere across town and they can'tdrive, you have to find a way to get them there. The bus, a friend, portablehole (yeah, I know, my geekdom is showing!)... so you do have to think a littledifferently, but nothing that varies too much.
WD: I write YA in the first person because I think thisperspective best mirrors the psychology of a teen. At the crossroads betweenchildhood and adulthood, experiences are up-close and personal. So far, I'vewritten my adult fiction in third person with close perspectives from multiplecharacters. I tend to use a multi-generational cast as well as flashback scenesto really get into the dynamics and history of the relationships. I'm not surethe preparation—i.e. the get-to-know-you period between the writer andcharacter—is any different. It's all about fleshing out your protagonist(s)until they feel unique and authentic.
3 - Arethere any benefits to writing for a YA audience? Any drawbacks?
DJ: When I was first asked to try a YA story, I balked at theidea. "But I don't write for kids," was my immediate response.Encouragement followed and, despite my reluctance and apprehension, I gave it ashot. I didn't like it. I felt it was restrictive. I couldn't do the things Iwas used to, etc. In my adult writing there's sex, kissing, blood, guts, and gore.Then I started looking around at what the genre really included. YA iseverything adult writing is, only it's through the eyes of a younger person.How young people see things. They are not sheltered from life's trials and tribulationsbecause they are younger. Things that seem small and insignificant to an adult("this person doesn't like me") can be world-shattering for a teen ortween. Young people react to stress and the world in general in ways different fromadults, and seeing things through their eyes is interesting. In YA, there isstill sex, kissing, blood, guts and gore. It's just the reactions by thecharacters that are different, and the graphic depictions are toned down.
The only drawback I can think of is the consciousness of the effectyour story will have on young people. Books meant so much to me growing up andI admit to having been influenced in my choices by a novel or two. The only solutionis to try not to think about it so much that you end up writing a"cotton" novel - one in which your character is wrapped in cotton soas not to be wounded by the story's events. Just be aware that what you writecan (and most likely will) affect someone in some way. You can't control that,so don't worry about it and just write.
WD: There is an excitement for, and interest in YA that is adefinite benefit. Readers and bloggers are passionate about the genre. They'realso more likely to follow a character through a series of books. From awriter's perspective, there's no drawback to that kind of enthusiasm.
4 - Do yourYA novels draw your adult fans, or do you have two distinct followings?
DJ: Honestly, I have no idea. I think they're combined,really. I know there are young people who enjoy my YA, and adults who enjoy ittoo, but I'm not sure about the young people enjoying my adult writing. Goodquestion. Clueless author.
WD: Given that it has been less than a year since my firstbook (STORK, a YA) was published and only weeks since my first adult novel (THEMCCLOUD HOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS) released, I'm still building a following. I dohope eventually for crossover between the two genres.
5 - Havethere been any surprises writing in the YA genre? Any myths you've busted, orunexpected issues you've had to deal with?
DJ: Myths I've busted: "You can't do that in YA." Ohyeah? Whatever the situation, someone has written it in YA and it's been fine.Swearing, sex, abuse, violence, whatever. You can have and do whatever you wantin YA that you'd do in adult writing, but it has to be "suitable for theaudience." Think of it like the movie ratings. G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, X. InYA, you're aiming for that G - PG-13 range. This means that you can have someviolence and language and so on. It just can't be horrific and graphic orextended. Unexpected issues? I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, andI didn't expect to develop a series out of it. (Or continue it, for thatmatter...)
WD: The biggest surprise in writing YA has been how manyreaders and reviewers are adults (which lends itself to my hope that there willbe crossover fans). I think it speaks to the universal, coming-to-age themes ofYA. Even years later, adults relate to and remember their own teen years.
6 - Is thereanything else you'd like to share about writing YA in addition to adult novels?
DJ: All YA really means is that your lead character is underthe age of 18. That's it. Just because the lead is about a young person doesn'tmean the book won't appeal to an audience outside your target. Just write thebook.
I'd like tothank (with big hugs, chocolate, tea and whatever else makes them smile) Dina James and Wendy Delsol  for their insight. Now… aquestion for you… What authors do YOU love that write in both the YA and theadult genres? What do you think are the major differences? Similarities? I'd loveto hear your thoughts. AND… 2 lucky commenters (randomly selected) will winbooks from authors who write in both genres!!! One person will win an ARC ofJackie Morse Kessler's LOSS (3rd book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series and one person will win a copy ofDeborah Cooke's FLYING BLIND (1st in the Dragon Diaries series. Both books will be donated bytheir authors and mailed directly to the winner. (Please include your email andfirst name in your comment so you can be reached if you win. If you don't, youwill NOT be eligible.)

**Did youfind the word in my post in purple caps?**  You need to collect the 3rd letterof that word, along with the 3rd letter of the purple words in theblog posts of the 13 other YA Scramble participants, unscramble the letters to discovertheir hidden message, and fill out THIS FORM to enter to win the Massive Grand Prize Of Mega Awesomeness!What's in the Massive Grand Prize Of Mega Awesomeness, you ask??List ofitems in the MASSIVE GRAND PRIZE OF MEGA AWESOMENESS:
ARC of The Near Witch by VictoriaSchwab (with signed bookmark)Ebook of Solstice by PJ Hoover (withtrading cards)Ebook of The Space Between byAlexandra SokoloffPaperback copy of Perception byHeather CashmanSigned paperback ARC of Anathema byKathleen TuckerChronicles of Vladimir Tod Gift Set(Trade Paperback of Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad Journal, Minion Bling Buttons andVlad Tote)Signed paperback copy of Between byCyndi TefftSigned hardcover of Clarity by KimHarringtonARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone byLaini TaylorSigned ARC of Fury by ElizabethMilesSigned paperback of Linger by MaggieStiefvaterARC of Tris & Izzie by MetteIvie HarrisonCopy of The Iron Witch by KarenMahoneyWinner's choice of 5 ebooks from alist of indie authorsSigned paperback of Sleepers by MeggJensenEbooks of Soul Quest and TheGuardians of Souls by Amy JonesKindle copy of Winnemucca by LauraElliott (plus a guest post spot on her blog!)Paperback copy of City of Bones byCassandra ClareDon't forgetto leave your comment on this blog to enter to win my individual prizes before you headout to the next site. Good luck, and have FUN!!

The YA Scramble is tomorrow!

The YA Scramble starts tomorrow (Wednesday, September 14) and runs for just 24 hours. A total of 14 awesome bloggers are participating in the craziness, and they are contributing a boatload of prizes just for you!! Can't you feel the love??

Here's all you have to do to win:

Visit each blog on the list, collect the third letter of the purple word from each, then unscramble the secret message! Type the message in the Google form along with your email to be entered to win a HUGE GRAND PRIZE pack!

Just look at this outrageous collection of awesomesauce:
ARC of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (with signedbookmark)Ebook of Soltice by PJ Hoover (with trading cards)Ebook of The Space Between by Alexandra SokoloffPaperback copy of Perception by Heather CashmanSigned paperback ARC of Anathema by Kathleen TuckerChronicles of Vladimir Tod Gift Set (Trade Paperback ofEighth Grade Bites, Vlad Journal, Minion Bling Buttons and Vlad Tote)Signed paperback copy of Between by Cyndi TefftSigned hardcover of Clarity by Kim HarringtonARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini TaylorSigned ARC of Fury by Elizabeth MilesSigned paperback of Linger by Maggie StiefvaterARC of Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie HarrisonCopy of The Iron Witch by Karen MahoneyWinner's choice of 5 ebooks from a list of indie authorsSigned paperback of Sleepers by Megg JensenEbooks of Soul Quest and Guardian of Souls by Amy JonesKindle copy of Winnemucca by Laura Elliott (plus a guestpost spot on her blog!)Paperback copy of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
And that's just the Grand Prize! There will also be prizes at individual blogs along the way, so be sure to leave a comment as you hop from one blog to another, collecting those purple letters.

Help spread the word on Twitter using the #YAScramble hashtag! See you back here tomorrow, when the chaos kicks off. Good luck!

Q&A with P.J. Hoover & Massive Giveaway!

Get ready! Today, I'm interviewing the fabulous P.J. Hoover (mwah!) and you get the chance to win a boatload of prizes. Woot! So let's get this party started, shall we?

P. J. Hoover first fell in love with Greek mythology in sixth grade thanks to the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. After a fifteen year bout as an electrical engineer designing computer chips for a living, P. J. decided to take her own stab at mythology and started writing books for kids and teens. P. J. is also a member of THE TEXAS SWEETHEARTS & SCOUNDRELS. When not writing, P. J. spends time with her husband and two kids and enjoys practicing Kung Fu, solving Rubik's cubes, and watching Star Trek. Her first novel for teens, Solstice, takes place in a Global Warming future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade fantasy novels, The Emerald Tablet, The Navel of the World, and The Necropolis, chronicle the adventures of a boy who discovers he's part of two feuding worlds hidden beneath the sea.

The indie publishingprocess can be a wild ride like a rollercoaster (hey, that's why we'recarnies)! What twists and turns (both good and bad) have you been through sofar?Ups are having people tell me they love the story. Downs arethe opposite JBut that's okay. At least people are reading which is why I chose indie in thefirst place.
How are you marketingyour book? Any specific tips or strategies you've found particularly helpful?Truly, I'm trying lots of different things and seeing whatworks. I participated in a blog tour, I use twitter and Facebook, and I alsorun a blog of my own. But I think the funnest thing I did was make tradingcards for SOLSTICE with hidden content tied to each page. You can read allabout them here: http://www.pjhoover.com/trading_cards...
If you had to givefive reasons why someone should read SOLSTICE, what would they be?You loved TWILIGHT, THE HUNGER GAMES, THE LIGHTNING THIEF, or MATCHED.SOLSTICE has red-hot romance to make your world sizzle.Mythology, anyone? It's like opening Pandora's box without the consequences.Ever wonder why summers are getting hotter?It's $2.99. That's less than a latte and lasts a whole lot longer.Just for fun: If youcould buy property anywhere in the world (price is no object- you can tell Ilove fantasy!), where would it be and why?I'd either pick a nice piece of property in Tahiti, or I'dgo with somewhere very close to DisneyWorld. I love the beach, but I also lovethe Haunted Mansion.
What's next on thehorizon for you?Just to keep writing and see what comes next. I have lots ofprojects and ideas I'm working on, but I'm not a kiss-and-tell kind of girl.That said, I do plan to write a sequel to SOLSTICE!
Good luck to you and thanks for stopping by! Thank you so much for letting me be on your wonderfulblog. I'm super honored!

***

All of the YA Indies are interviewing each other, so check out my interview over on T.R. Graves' blog.

And now for some giveaways! *rubs hands together*

It's easy peasy to win. Just leave a comment below along with your email address. Tweet using the #yaindiecarnival hashtag to get an extra entry! Visit all the blogs to increase your chances of winning! Open internationally, winners announced September 16.

Nineteen different books and some swag were included in the giveaway at last count! Check the list of goodies you can win here. And spread the word! #yaindiecarnival

Do Not Watch While Drinking Hot Coffee!

This is about the stinking funniest thing I've ever seen. Scotland FTW! Eleven!
Thanks to the fabulous Juli Helms for passing along the link!

By Special Request (drum roll please...)

Lindsay Rae from The Violet Hour is one my Twitter BFFs and she requested the recipe for taties 'n eggs (which is a meal oft mentioned in Between). My hubs wrote out the recipe and so I have it here to share with all of you!

Taties 'N Eggs
2 Lbs  (900 grams)  Yukon Gold Potatoes2 Tbs  (30ml)  Vegetable oil 8 oz.   (225g)  Breakfast or Country sausage2 oz.   (50g)  Shredded Cheddar Cheese8 Large eggs1 Tbs  (15ml)  ButterSalt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (230 C).  Cut the potatoes into even cubes approximately ¾ of an inch square (1.5 to 2 cm).  Potatoes can be peeled or the skin can be left on for a more "rustic" meal.  Rinse the cut potatoes under cool water, drain well, and dry on towels.  Place the potatoes in a large bowl, drizzle with the oil, and toss to coat thoroughly.  Place the potatoes on a cookie sheet and roast until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  
While the potatoes roast, brown the crumbled breakfast sausage in a skillet over medium high heat.  Drain the sausage on paper towels and reserve.  Wipe out the skillet and add the butter.  When the butter stops foaming, add the eggs, cooking for about 2 minutes.  When the whites begin to set, add 2 Tbs (30 ml) of water and cover the skillet.  Cook, covered, until the whites have set and the yolks are still soft, about 3-4 minutes more.  
Place the hot, roasted potatoes, the drained sausage and the shredded cheese into a large serving bowl.  Top with the eggs.  Using two large spoons cut the eggs into the potato mixture, mixing all the ingredients into a rough hash.  Season with salt and pepper and serve! 
Makes about 4 servings
Enjoy!

In Which I Dispense Advice (Yikes!)

If you're new here, welcome! *waves* Every Friday, I get together with a host of fabulous ladies who are YA Indie lovers and we blog on the same theme. This week's topic is 3 tips for YA authors.

So, uh... yeah. I'd like to tell you I have this thing down, that sales are through the roof, that Diana Gabaldon Herself has called me up to see if I'd like to get together. Well, that hasn't happened. Yet.

Which brings me to...

Lesson Number One: Dream big but don't forget your goals.
When I published Between, it wasn't because I knew it would be The Next Big Thing. In fact, I knew it probably wouldn't. My main goal was to get it out there, to share this story I love with others who might love it, too. So as fabulous as it would be to say that I'm a bestseller (and that day might come), I can honestly say that I've accomplished what I set out to do. And that's pretty damn awesome.

Lesson Number Two: Make friends.
No one is going to read your book unless they come across it and it's your job to help make that happen. Marketing in the indie world is about making friends, connecting, sharing, and encouraging. While no one likes spam, if you sprinkle in tweets or Facebook posts about your book, people will often help spread the word through comments, retweets and likes. Say thank you and return the favor when you can!

Lesson Number Three: Don't stop writing.
You got on this crazy carnival ride because you had a story to tell, right? Once you've told it, start telling another. And another. You can spend all of your free time doing Lesson Number Two (I will be the first to admit that Twitter is addictive!) but if your new friends love the first book you've written, they're going to want to read more. So be sure to carve out some quality time with your muse. And if your muse happens to wear a kilt, all the better!

Check out some words of wisdom from the rest of the crew!

Danny Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
Patti Larsen Author of The Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House, The Hunted Series and the Hayle Coven Novels.
Courtney Cole Author of Every Last Kiss, Fated, Princess, and Guardian. Also a contributing author in The Glassheart Chronicles.
Wren Emerson Author of I Wish and a contributing author in The Glassheart Chronicles.
Nichole A. Williams Author of Eternal Eden, and the upcoming Fallen Eden. She is also participating in the Glassheart Chronicles.
Fisher Amelie Author of The Understorey, as well as a contributing author in The Glassheart Chronicles.
Laura Elliott Author of Winnemucca and the upcoming 13 on Halloween
Amy Maurer Jones Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy as well as a contributing author in The Glassheart Chronicles.
Rachel Coles Author of Diary of a Duct Tape Zombie, Whistles, Beergarden, Plagues, Bees of St. John, and Mushrooms.
T. R. Graves Author of Warriors of the Cross.
P.J. Hoover Author of Solstice, The Emerald Tablet, The Navel of the World, The Necropolis.
Alicia McCalla Author of the upcoming science-fiction novel Breaking Free
Heather Cashman Author of Perception
Abbi Glines Author of Breathe, and the upcoming Existence and Vincent Boys
Cidney Swanson Author of Rippler
Cheri Schmidt Author of Fateful and Fractured

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder (5 out of 5 stars!)

Amber's life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.

Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he's also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets.

The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she's drawn to him. And the more she's troubled by his darkness. Because Cade's not just living in the now—he's living each moment like it's his last.

Every now and then a book comes along that is so vivid, so beautifully written that you wish you could rewind the clock and savor it again for the first time. This is such a book.

My Twitter friends were raving about The Day Before, so I grabbed it at Borders while I was trolling their shelves last weekend. I didn't even open it; I just hauled it to the counter and paid for it. It wasn't until I cracked it open last night that I even saw the book is written in verse.

It's a collection of short poems that tell a story, and I wasn't sure I'd like it at first. There was so much white space on the page. It felt too light and airy, seeing the words floating on the paper, rather than being lined up in nice, neat rows. It didn't take me long to realize that nothing about the book was comfortable or familiar. It was shockingly different, new, and absolutely breathtakingly, hauntingly beautiful.

What once was strange and unfamiliar soon became a visual representation of freedom, which is ironic since the two characters in the book are anything but free. The power and simplicity of the poems reminded me why I love telling stories, and why I love to read. It made me feel, it made me ache, it made me cry, it made me smile. But above all, it made me want to write. Schroeder's work of art is a touching example of how words are like brush strokes in a painting: some are bold, some are light, but each one is important in portraying the full picture.

I can only hope to someday wield a brush as majestically as she has done with The Day Before. Thank you, Lisa!

Another teaser from Hell Transporter!

It's Friday, so you know what that means! The YA Indie Carnival is in full swing yet again. This week has us all sharing a paragraph from a work in progress. For me, that means you get another teaser from Hell Transporter, the sequel to Between.

To catch you up (in case you're new here), Between is a love story between a modern American girl who dies in a car accident and the 18th century Scottish Highlander who comes to take her to heaven. It launched on June 1st, so if you haven't read it yet, be sure to check it out.

There are some whopping twists in Between, so I can only post snippets from the sequel that don't give anything away. Easier said than done! I've posted one teaser already and now (after some studious skimming through the sequel) here's another tiny taste for you!

Setting: Aiden is chopping wood outside the cabin when Lindsey comes out, bringing him coffee. After a brief exchange (which you don't get to read- remember what I said about spoilers???), this happens:

He took my coffee cup and set it on the chopping block with his own, then cupped my face with both hands and kissed me so thoroughly, I didn't know if my feet were even touching the ground. When we came up for air, he rested his forehead against mine. The woodsy, salty smell of his skin wrapped around me and I wanted to drown myself in his eyes.


Okay, okay, I know it's not much, but it'll have to do for now! If you're in the mood for some other tantalizing snippets, check out the rest of the carnival!

Danny Snell's Refracted Light Reviews
Patti Larsen
Laura Elliott
Courtney Cole
Wren Emerson
Nichole A. Williams
Fisher Amelie
Amy Maurer Jones
Rachel Coles. Geek Mom. Book Reviewer
T. R. Graves
P.J. Hoover
Heather Cashman