Suzanne Schultz Pick's Blog: bookblogarama, page 16
December 30, 2017
Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Laurie Devore
What is your writing routine? Do you aim for a word count, to tackle a certain number of pages at a time, or do you go scene by scene? (Something else?) My writing routine is absolute chaos. I work a day job so I have to take my writing when I can get it – this means a lot of long weekends spent in coffee shops and very late weeknights. I find my writing goes best when I have a vague outline……… View On WordPress
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Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Laurie Devore
What is your writing routine? Do you aim for a word count, to tackle a certain number of pages at a time, or do you go scene by scene? (Something else?) My writing routine is absolute chaos. I work a day job so I have to take my writing when I can get it – this means a lot of long weekends spent in coffee shops and very late weeknights. I find my writing goes best when I have a vague outline…… View On WordPress
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Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Laurie Devore
What is your writing routine? Do you aim for a word count, to tackle a certain number of pages at a time, or do you go scene by scene? (Something else?) My writing routine is absolute chaos. I work a day job so I have to take my writing when I can get it – this means a lot of long weekends spent in coffee shops and very late weeknights. I find my writing goes best when I have a vague outline… View On WordPress
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Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Laurie Devore
What is your writing routine? Do you aim for a word count, to tackle a certain number of pages at a time, or do you go scene by scene? (Something else?) My writing routine is absolute chaos. I work a day job so I have to take my writing when I can get it – this means a lot of long weekends spent in coffee shops and very late weeknights. I find my writing goes best when I have a vague outline and…… View On WordPress
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via IFTTT
Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Laurie Devore
My writing routine is absolute chaos. I work a day job so I have to take my writing when I can get it – this means a lot of long weekends spent in coffee shops and very late weeknights. I find my writing goes best when I have a vague outline and write in order but still have some freedom in character development.
[image error] What was your inspiration for your book? What was the most fun and the most difficult part of getting the story just right?
I’ve long been fascinated with messy, complex female characters. I noticed that pop culture seemed overrun with one dimensional mean girl characters. How to Break a Boy was built out of my desire to dig under the surface of those girls and find out what makes them tick.
The most fun part of the writing was probably the relationship between Olivia and Whit as they break each down other’s barriers and begin to find ways to complement each other. I found the most challenging part of writing this book was figuring out Olivia’s background – specifically her relationships with her ex-best friend and mom that had been the main building blocks of her character.
What are your favorite books? What authors inspire you the most?
Courtney Summers has always been one of my favorite young adult authors as she has written a number of incredible, “unlikable” female characters. Some of my favorite books I’ve read in the past few years include Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, The Royal We by Jessica Cocks and Heather Morgan, and Song of the Current by Sarah Tolscer.
Odd question – what TV shows do you like?
I LOVE TV and find it the perfect inspiration point for writing. I just finished Parks and Recreation and found it so deeply touching, sincere, and hilarious. Some of my other favorites include Game of Thrones, Veronica Mars, The Wire, and the Mindy Project. I’m also really looking forward to watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Marvel’s Runaways over the holidays.
[image error]Lastly, is there anything else we should know about you? Do you like to listen to music when writing? What book projects are on the horizon for you?
My next book, Winner Take All, is out on January 30th. It has a hate to love relationship, competitive girls, and a dash of angry feminism. It’s not only about a volatile romance, but also about the difference in the way boys and girls are treated in society. As I mentioned before, I love complicated girls so it was really exciting to dig into from a different perspective.
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December 10, 2017
Where I Found You (Sea #1) by Heidi R. Kling
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[image error]Where I Found You (Sea #1) by Heidi R. KlingGenre: YA Contemporary
Published by Entangled Teen
Published on December 4th, 2017
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36430174-where-i-found-you
https://entangledpublishing.com/where-i-found-you.html
After her mother’s plane went missing over the Indian Ocean, seventeen-year-old Sienna Jones gave up everything she loved about living in California. No more surfing. No more swimming. No more ocean, period. Playing it safe, hiding from the world, is the best call.
Until her dad throws down the challenge of a lifetime: spend the summer with his humanitarian team in Indonesia, working with orphans who lost everything in a massive tsunami.
The day they arrive, Sienna meets a mysterious boy named Deni, whose dark, intense eyes make her heart race. Their stolen nights force her to open up and live in a way she thought she couldn’t anymore. When she’s with Deni, she remembers the girl she used to be…and starts to feel like the woman he sees in her.
A woman he wants for his own.
Gulp.
But when Deni’s past comes looking for him, Sienna’s faced with losing another person she loves. She can’t do it. Not again.
Fortunately, this time, she has a plan.
About the Author:
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Heidi R. Kling writes about normal girls in fantastic situations. PAINT MY BODY RED, a romantic thriller about a girl fleeing secrets from home launches November 2 with EntangledTeen, followed by several more novels on various Entangled imprints. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the New School, but has been writing books, plays and screenplays since she could practically hold a pencil.
Her first novel, SEA (Putnam), was a Gateway Readers Award Finalist & Northern California Book of the Year nominee, was a Summer 2010 Indie Next Pick and a Goodreads “Mover and Shaker”.
Website: http://heidirkling.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2936539.Heidi_R_Kling
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiRKling
December 2, 2017
Debut Authors Bash – Interview with author Jodi Kendall about THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A PIG IN THE CITY
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What is your writing routine? Do you aim for a word count, to tackle a certain number of pages at a time, or do you go scene by scene? (Something else?)
I work best in the morning, so that’s generally when I schedule my writing time. When I’m first-drafting, I do like word sprints and setting word count goals to help me keep moving forward, but mostly I just time myself to stay focused. I do “pomodoros” which is a time management technique. I use the website Grooveotter.com (it’s free!) and set 25-minute sessions on the clock. I aim to do a few Pomodoros a day on my writing days (which is not every day).
What was your inspiration for your book? What was the most fun and the most difficult part of getting the story just right?
THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A PIG IN THE CITY was inspired by a real life childhood experience of mine, when my brother saved a runt farm piglet from certain death. The pig’s name was Ellie and she lived in our home for an adventurous six months! (You can read more in this recent Columbus Dispatch article: http://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20171024/joe-blundo-familys-novelty-pig-inspires-novel-by-upper-arlington-native). I had a lot of fun developing Josie’s character and creating bonding moments between her and Hamlet, the mischievous pig, and the sibling relationships. I’m from a big family, and I love big family stories. The most difficult part of working on this book was going through the multiple stages of revisions. It felt a bit like narrative surgery with deleting scenes, moving events around, smoothing the narrative, eliminating unnecessary characters, figuring out how to stitch it all back together. But I actually love revision, so even though it can be a bit scary (and messy!) dissecting a manuscript in a detailed manner, there’s a point when the chaos becomes.
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What are your favorite books? What authors inspire you the most?
Oh, so many! I’m passionate about nature, conservation, animal advocacy, and human-animal connections, so those stories tend to really speak to me as a reader and an author, but I’m an eclectic reader. WISHTREE by Katherine Applegate was such a beautiful story; Katherine’s very much one of my inspirations. In the middle grade space, I also loved A DOG’S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron, THE WILD ROBOT by Peter Brown, and PAX by Sara Pennypacker. Growing up, some of my favorite books were CHARLOTTE’S WEB and all of E.B. White’s stories, HATCHET by Gary Paulsen, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN by Jean Craighead George, and anything by Roald Dahl and Judy Blume. I love to read YA and recent favorites are DEAR MARTIN by Nic Stone, THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas, and CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber.
Odd question – what TV shows do you like?
I don’t watch a lot of television, but when I do I usually prefer something that’ll make me laugh like SILICON VALLEY, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and SNL. I’m also a huge GAME OF THRONES fan.
Lastly, is there anything else we should know about you? Do you like to listen to music when writing? What book projects are on the horizon for you?
Let’s see – I’m a mom to two wonderful little kids, and I live with my family in Manhattan. As much as I love being in the Great Outdoors and around animals, I love the energy, excitement and convenience of city life too. New York City is my favorite city in the world. We spend a lot of time in the parks here (which are so wonderful!). I’m a vegan, Christian, and into weightlifting. We’re fostering our first rescue dog right now (check out Waggy Tail Rescue if you’re in NYC or LA!) and go to small venue concerts when we can (CAAMP at Mercury Lounge was amazing recently!). I do listen to music when I write, but I prefer peaceful guitar, jazz, classical, anything without lyrics. I am finishing up copyedits for book two, the sequel to THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A PIG IN THE CITY, which publishes in Fall 2018. I’m also working on a new, unrelated middle grade book proposal, which is a lot of fun! For aspiring children’s book authors, I’m a debut author featured in the 2018 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market Edition (Writer’s Digest Books) and interviewed in the January 2018 Writer’s Digest Magazine (on newsstands now).
More info on www.jodikendall.com
THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A PIG IN THE CITY is available now wherever books are sold!
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October 13, 2017
From the Sky (Beyond Moondust Trilogy #1)
by J.E. Nicca...
From the Sky (Beyond Moondust Trilogy #1)
by J.E. Niccasio
Genre: YA Sci-fi/Romance
Summary:
From the Sky from best-selling author J.E. Nicassio writes the kind of close encounter that will leave readers spellbound.
When high school junior, Samantha Hunter, and her father move to New Mexico, it’s a chance to leave tragedy behind and start over. However, the arrival of a dark-haired stranger changes everything. Lucien introduces Sam to the prospect of enjoying life again, and to the hidden world of aliens. But crazier than that, Lucien doesn’t feel entirely like a stranger. Redemption and romance follow Sam in her new life as she works to understand the alien-human romance she’s developing—a romance that feels beyond her control. There’s something bigger happening around her, and to her, too, and this is just the beginning….
—J. E. Nicassio packs in the action like a superhero movie— From the Sky has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster—ready to light up the sky like a fleet of UFOs. “A must read! It had me from the very beginning to the last word. Every page had a plot twist and turn to make my imagination run wild.” —Online Book Club.org Nicassio is a freelance writer and MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Field Investigator in Pittsburgh, PA, where she resides with her mother, two sons, and German Shepherd, Ava. She loves writing and is passionate about creating stories that entertain and comes straight from the heart. Her Children’s book, Rocky (About Rockefeller Center and a tiny Christmas tree named Rocky) made the Amazon Top Ten Christmas Book List in 2016.
Equinox (Beyond Moondust Trilogy # 2)
Summary:
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Author C. Clarke.
From the Sky Saga Continues! The day after the winter solstice, Samantha Hunter is found naked and bleeding in a remote cabin in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. As Sam works to understand what’s happened to her, she is whisked into the Underground—a secret community of scientists, civilians, and aliens that are connected to her story and to the alien boy she’s in love with—Lucien. This is where the fight begins, and Sam must decide what price she’s willing to pay for life and love.
“Equinox gives the reader a totally different way of thinking about extraterrestrials. Anyone with interest in the possibility of life outside this planet—and for those who love a great romance—this book for you. It is exceptionally written and will leave you wanting more!” —Kelly Fait Goodreads “American teenagers have to grow up fast because dark forces are out to get them—J.E. Nicassio gives us a fast-paced and exciting tale full of car chases, close calls, and the angst of star-crossed love. Teens and even older readers will love From the Sky.” —Ray Simmons for Readers’ Favorite
Books available on Amazon!
Smashwords free promo.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/746548
About the Author
E. is the bestselling author of the From The Sky series and was listed as one of the top 1000 authors on Amazon in 2015, and was Amazon all-star top ten-holiday children books for Rocky: The Rockefeller Christmas in 2016. She is a freelance writer and MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Field Investigator in Pittsburgh, PA where she resides with her mother, two sons, and German Shepherd Ava. She loves writing and is passionate about creating stories that entertain and comes straight from the heart.
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook
GIVEAWAY:
Win a copy of From the Sky!
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/7c21f59fb0a30326
Blog Tour Organized by:
October 12, 2017
Book Tour and Author Interview for Premonition by Leigh Walker
Premonition
Author: Leigh Walker
Genre: YA Sci-fi / Romance
Release Date: July 19th, 2017
Book Description:
For fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent…this exciting new science-fiction romance series, filled with twists and turns, will take you for a wild ride!
When Riley heads off to boarding school for a summer work-study program, she knows it’ll be demanding. What she doesn’t expect? To be thrust into an intense physical training program described as special, exclusive and worst of all–top-secret. She signed up for tuition assistance, not to be held in a secret government facility for boot camp…
Welcome to The Division, the government agency that’s so classified, most United States senators have never heard of it.
The Division wants Riley bad, but she can’t figure out why. Skeptical of what she’s being told, Riley’s determined to uncover the truth. Boot camp is intense, physically and mentally draining. The upside? One of her new teammates is the cutest boy ever. Watching Finn hit the gym wearing a tank top doesn’t suck–although sometimes his brooding attitude does. But when training forces Riley to confront her tragic past, even Finn’s big biceps aren’t enough to make her want to stay…
Beware: The Division isn’t something you just walk away from. You better run.
Riley realizes her capabilities and strengths are greater than she’d ever imagined. But she also learns she wasn’t just chosen for this special program…
She was made for it.
About the Author
Leigh Walker lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Journalism and a law degree.
She’s never been to the Naval Shipyard prison in Kittery, ME, but she’s driven by it…and boy, is it creepy!
Leigh has lots of books planned for The Division Series. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to email her at leigh@leighwalkerbooks.com.
INTERVIEW WITH LEIGH WALKER, AUTHOR OF “THE DIVISION” SERIES
Q: Wow, you’re interviewing yourself…how pompous!
Right? It’s to tell people more about the series, lol. Although I should admit that I normally talk to myself a lot, so this isn’t much of a departure.
Q: Tell us about “The Division” – it’s a bunch of teenagers with psychic powers, right? How did you get inspired?
Everyone on the team has psychic powers, yes. I was watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix and I WAS SO PSYCHED they were testing poor Eleven for psychic powers. But I was also like, YEEHAW! Because I LOVE psychic powers, and I can’t remember the last time I saw or read something that included them. I’ve always been obsessed by the concept, and there’s so many variations of powers, so many incarnations it can take… Anyway, after watching that show and having that reaction, I thought, other people must love this stuff, too, I can’t be the only one. So I wanted to give us all more!
Q: Tell us about the main character, Riley Payne.
Riley is a ‘normal’ girl dealing with a lot. Her father and sister died in a car accident and her mother started drinking heavily after it happened. She just wants to get out of her house and go to boarding school, but she gets more than she bargained for when she abruptly gets recruited into a secret agency…
Q: The ‘secret agency’ is The Division, correct?
Yes. It’s a secret cell of teenagers who were genetically engineered with psychic gifts. They work for the American government to combat domestic terrorism.
Riley thinks they’re nuts, of course. Until she unlocks her powers, then she’s blown away by what she can do.
Q: As the series goes on, you get into genetic engineering, fated love, eco-terrorism, loyalty, isolation, human nature, climate change…some pretty heavy themes. But would you describe the series as a difficult read?
I don’t think so, but certainly some parts were hard to write – like about Riley missing her dad and her sister. I still cry when I read those parts. And in the second book, an eco-terrorist is introduced, and some terrible things happen in the book. So yeah, there’s definitely a heaviness to some of what the characters are dealing with. But they’re teenagers, and their youth is sort of a tonic against everything they’re dealing with. They still care about their friends. They still want to hang out, tell stories, joke around. They are still very interested in falling in love. I think my writing style is naturally light and breezy, so it’s sort of a counterpoint to the storyline. If that makes sense, lol.
Q: What’s your favorite part of this series?
Riley and Finn’s relationship. They have so much on their plates, and they’re so young, but they genuinely care for each other in a way that makes me ache.
Q: What do you do when you’re not writing?
I have three large, unruly boys who like to play every sport and eat as much food as possible. When I’m not at my computer, I’m busy carting them around and grocery shopping. But I also love to relax with a great book or television show – I am currently completely obsessed with Riverdale, OMG!!!
Thanks for having me! Happy reading!!!
Author Links:
Website ¦ Goodreads ¦ Facebook
GIVEAWAY: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour Organized by:
August 30, 2017
Soundtrack Reveal for A French Girl in New York by Anna Adams
A French Girl in New York
Genre: YA (Musical series)
Download
the book for FREE at one of the following locations:
Pre-Order a copy HERE!
About the Author
Born in France, raised partly in the United States and in France, I grew up loving stories in French and English. I currently live in Paris.
I’m the author of the French Girl series, an Amazon bestseller and Wattpad phenomenon.
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