Jennifer Walkup's Blog, page 3

ALAN Picks Review of Second Verse!

So excited to find out SECOND VERSE got a really nice ALAN Picks review. Here's an excerpt of what they had to say:

Second Verse has ghosts, murder, a tantalizing romance, past lives and a shocking conclusion. Walkup has an enticing writing style that will keep all who enter her haunted world glued to the page. Some readers may find the ending unsettling but others will relish the unexpected twist.

The rest of the review can be found here.

Happy weekend, friends!


Buy Second Verse:

AmazonBarnes and NobleIndie Bound

Nuvo Newsweekly Review of SECOND VERSE!

This Nuvo Newsweekly review of SECOND VERSE made this snowy day a little warmer!

Twisting through past and present is a chilling experience for two teens on a quest for truth. Walkup's Second Verse edges between Agatha Christie and Tony Hillerman, with themes touching on alienation, rebirth, the occult and destiny, setting the scene with intensifying turns of strangeness and familiarity while leading us deeper into the evil that lurks among us. … Hang onto your seat as pages turn."

Buy Second Verse:
AmazonBarnes and NobleIndie Bound

School Library Journal Review!

Hey friends!

Here's a peek at the School Library Journal review of Second Verse from their January print issue.:)


Gr 9  Up–Lange  Crawford, new to Preston Academy of Arts, reluctantly gets involved with  the annual Hunt, an elaborate murder-mystery festival put on by the town of  Shady Springs  for students to solve. For her part, Lange offers to hold a séance in the spooky  barn next to her house. During the ritual, she and her crush, Vaughn, hear a  voice asking for help while strange things happen. This leads to the two of them  spending time together investigating the notorious murders that took place in  Lange’s old farmhouse years earlier. When she finds the letters and diary of Ginny, a teen who was killed, Lange discovers that the dead girl’s romance with  her beau seems to correspond with the developing one between her and Vaughn.  There are some fairly violent, gory scenes in this novel, which combines  mystery, romance, and suspense. Walkup ratchets up the tension effectively  through contrasting the past and present, building empathy for both couples and  making the denouement all the more shocking. Some teens may grow impatient with  the slow buildup, but those who hang in there will be rewarded with a chilling,  accessible read.–B. Allison Gray, Goleta Public Library,  CA


Buy Second Verse:

AmazonBarnes and NobleIndie Bound

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends and readers!:)

For supernatural detectives Thulu and La Fi, “normal” is...

For supernatural detectives Thulu and La Fi, “normal” is a relative term. La Fi is a medium, Thulu is a finder, and their usual clients are already dead.But when their friend Reo is shot, and a group of stranded angels show up at their house for help to find a missing child, things are striking too close to home.And now the portals that let the magical races return to Earth have started opening on their own.With trips off-world, a kidnapped psychic and changes to their own abilities, Thulu and La Fi are hit with a lot more than they usually handle. Of course, their magical friends are there to help, but even they may not be enough to save an increasingly unstable Earth. Portals is the sequel to Relics and is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles. Portals  Kindle at AmazonPortals Paperback on Amazon     After a successful career being other people, and later teaching others the many tricks of that trade, Maer Wilson has decided to be herself for a while. Turns out she's a writer. She's always loved stories, especially fantasy, mystery and sci fi. Maer was born in the Year of the Dragon and has a dragon-themed room in her home, but sadly no dragons in the back yard. When she's not writing, Maer plays online video games, teaches college and reads. She also co-hosts the literary podcast, MythBehaving and writes for two gaming fansites. Maer lives in the high desert of Southern Nevada with her two dogs, a chihuahua and a poodle. Portals is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles. You can find all books and novelettes in The Thulukan Chronicles at Amazon. You can visit Maer’s website at http://maerwilson.com/.


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Where to Find Maer Online:

Maer’s Website: http://maerwilson.com/
Maer on Amazon
Maer on Facebook
Maer on Twitter
Maer at Goodreads
Maer at Pinterest
Relics atGoodreads
Relics Paperback at Amazon
Relics Kindle atAmazon
Portals
“Ghost Memory” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #1)
“Unwanted Ghost” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #2)   Excerpt from Portals That night Parker had popped in to wake us at two in the morning to tell us our best friend, Reo, had been shot. The young ghost was distraught and panicked. “They're on the back porch! You have to go help.” “Where is he?” I asked groggily, as I jumped out of bed. Thulu was instantly awake beside me, although he didn’t seem any more alert than I did. “Back porch.” Parker enunciated each word in slight exasperation. “Go, please!” Thulu looked at me, and I told him what Parker had said. Thulu can read lips, but even with a night light the room was too dark. Thulu threw off the sheet and we both ran from the room. I was briefly glad we’d been wearing PJs. Heart pounding, I took a few precious seconds to check on our three year old son, Carter. His night light showed him blissfully unaware of anything. Whatever happy dreams he was having made him smile slightly in his sleep. I sighed in relief that he wasn’t having another of his nightmares. Downstairs, Thulu had turned on the kitchen and porch lights. In spite of the panic moments before, none of the three people on the porch seemed frantic when I joined them.  Thulu looked relieved, Reo was on the floor, but seemed stoic, and Sloane knelt beside him, brow furrowed only slightly in concentration as he dealt with the wound. My heart rate slowed down and my own fear started to slowly dissipate. My heart gradually dropped from my throat back to its accustomed place in my chest. Still my hands were shaking, and I felt the slight chill from outside. The porch was screened in, and the late August day had been hot, but the night brought a cool breeze that made its way along my arms. The scent of flowers from the backyard didn’t quite mask the smell of the blood that pooled on the porch floor around Reo. Sloane, his partner and an elf, had already removed Reo’s jacket and shirt. A bullet lay on the floor, and I could see the shoulder wound was already healing and closing up. In a few moments, only the blood would remain as evidence that he’d been shot. Reo's face was white. The strain showed around his brown eyes and his handsome face had the sheen of sweat on it.  His short brown hair that was usually spiked, lay damp and flat against his head, but he gave me a shaky smile. “Bastard ruined my favorite jacket.”   
 

What's An Even Better Holiday Gift Than a New Book ?

The Best Holiday Gift?  Books, of Course! What is a better holiday gift than a new book? How about one signed by the author? If anyone purchases Second Verse as a holiday gift, let me know between now and Dec 18. I’ll send you a customized, signed book plate to place inside the front cover, made out to the gift recipient and signed by me.  What’s better than a personalized and signed book? And if not my book, make sure you buy books for all the readers in your life. Trust me, to an avid reader, there is no better gift than a new book! Happy holidays, friends!

Cover Reveal! Shattered Veil by Tracy E. Banghart (The Diatous Wars #1)

Today I have the pleasure of helping reveal the cover of Tracy E. Banghart's SHATTERED VEIL, a New Adult Science Fiction novel that will seriously knock your socks off. I loved this book! You will too so make sure to add it on Goodreads!
Without further ado...



When everything that defines you is stripped away, who do you become?
Selection War has come to Atalanta, infecting its quiet villages and lush woodlands, igniting whispered worries in its glittering capitol.All across the dominion, young men are being Selected for Military and sent to the front lines…and eighteen-year-old Aris Haan’s childhood sweetheart is one of them.
Secrets Pyralis Nekkos, Atalanta’s leader, has kept the truth from his people, that their dominion will fall…and much sooner than anyone could guess.Galena Vadim, his reluctant ally, wishes she could forget their shared past...until her future seems to depend on it.
Sacrifice And for the boy she loves, Aris, a talented wingjet pilot, will give up everything - her home, her name, even her face......only to become the key to her dominion's survival.
Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.
LINKS:Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

YALSA Five Star Review for SECOND VERSE!

YALSA Five Star Review for SECOND VERSEA Young Adult Library Services Assn (YALSA) reviewer loves SECOND VERSE!“If you’re into reading suspenseful, breathtaking, horrific, and romantic books, this is the book for you. I couldn’t put the book down. I am fully in love with this book.” ~ Kayla, YALSA Top Ten Reviewer
Buy SECOND VERSE!AmazonBarnes and NobleIndie Bound

Kara Taylor's Deadly Little Sins Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

Today I'm helping reveal the cover of DEADLY LITTLE SINS, the third book in Kara Taylor's PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL series.

People. Read. This. Book. You won't be sorry. This series is so incredibly mysterious and fun. Prep School Confidential was one of my favorite reads of 2013 and I can't wait for this latest installment in the series!

Check it out and enter the giveaway to win an ARC of book 2, WICKED LITTLE SECRETS!



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Epilepsy Awareness Month! (A Cause Near and Dear to Me)

Hey all! November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, a cause that is near and dear to me. Epilepsy is one of the most common major chronic medical conditions, but also one of the ones that is least understood in the medical community, though the epilepsy community is working hard to change that.

As many of you know, my oldest son was diagnosed a few years ago with epilepsy. Though it hasn’t been the easiest time for him, I am happy to report, thanks to his wonderful doctors and a combination of medications, he has been seizure free for two years now, a blessing we are completely grateful for each day we get it and one that we certainly don’t take for granted as we know it can change at any time. Like many dealing with epilepsy, we continue to battle and fight against this silent disease and its stigmas, side effects and the hindrances epilepsy creates for those who suffer with it. But, as many in the epilepsy community say, we continue to live by the mantra: “I have epilepsy, but epilepsy doesn’t have me!”
 
To raise awareness and money for this very important-to-me cause, I am pledging to donate a portion of my proceeds for every copy of SECOND VERSE sold during the month of November. That includes hardcover, paperback and ebook.

A portion of every single book sale will go to The National Epilepsy Foundationand the KARE Foundation. Donations will directly fund epilepsy research, and will also provide various aid for children in the epilepsy community including: granting wishes and providing scholarships for kids with epilepsy to attend safe camps.
Thanks all for reading a tiny bit about our journey with epilepsy. Just you reading this post provides awareness and for that I am so very grateful for your time.
If you haven’t read SECOND VERSE yet, and want to, or if you’re already holiday shopping, and want to buy during November to have a portion of it donated to this cause, feel free to order from your retailer of choice.
Any purchase, from anywhere, counts! Here are just a few places where it is available:
Amazon (hardcover, paperback, Kindle)
Barnes andNoble (hardcover, paperback, Nook)
IndieBound
If you want a signed copy, you can contact the folks at WORDS BOOKSTORE. They have some signed copies on hand, but being that it is my local bookstore, I can stop by and personalize or sign copies for anyone who orders through them! If you want a signed copy, or something specific in the personalization, just include instructions in the notes section of your order. Thanks for reading friends, and learning a little more about this disorder that affects so many people every day.