K.R. Conway's Blog, page 6

Cover Reveal! Any Way You Slice It

I am BEYOND excited to announce our newest author in the Wicked Whale line-up: Kristine Carlson Asselin. Her book, Any Way You Slice It comes out November 15, 2017!  

Check out the details below!

Add her to your GOODREADS List by clicking HERE.

Penelope Spaulding just can’t catch a break. Between long hours at the family restaurant, homework, and her parents’ plans for her future, it’s hard to find a spare moment to breathe. But when she laces up her skates and steps on the ice, everything slips away…

Racing around the rink allows her to blow off steam after yet another fight with her dad about going to culinary school. So when Jake Gomes, the bad boy who lives down the street, dares her to join the Rink Rats, the local misfit hockey team, she surprises herself and joins in silent defiance of her father and his expectations.

The more she plays, the easier it is to keep lying, and soon Pen finds it impossible to come clean. She’s sneaking out to practice—and loving every minute of it. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with hockey…and Jake’s not half bad either. But she knows it can’t last. As soon as her dad finds out, she’ll be benched. For good.

She’s absolutely not going to tell her parents until she’s sure it will be worth the inevitable fight. Not only is she skipping shifts at Slice Pizza while a foodie reality show is on the horizon, but her lies are starting to take their toll on her game. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls apart.

With the team counting on her and with her relationship with Jake on the line, will she have to sacrifice the thing she wants most for the people she loves? Or can she step up and take her best shot?

 

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[image error]ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kristine Carlson Asselin’s debut YA novel ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT (Wicked Whale Publishing) will debut November 15, 2017.

THE ART OF THE SWAP (Simon and Schuster), co-authored with Jen Malone, is scheduled to come out in spring 2018.

She has also published sixteen nonfiction books with both Capstone Press and Abdo Publishing for the school library market. She tweets at @KristineAsselin as well as her alter ego @QueryGodmother, where she tweets query tips and suggestions.

She is represented by Kathleen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Find out more about Kristine at www.kristineasselin.com or www.krisasselin.blogspot.com.

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ELEVEN DAYS!

ELEVEN DAYS until Eila and the crew are back in action! Have you missed them? Wanna sneak peek? The prologue is HERE! Are you a reviewer? You can request an ARC HERE.

New characters! New twists! New love affairs! A heart-stopping bad-dude and a fanged kidnapper with a donut truck! Blood bombs, flying desks, dangerous booze, smokable tea, and a chick dressed like a hooker in a dumpster. This is the UNDERTOW series – did you expect anything less?!?!?

Pre-orders for the Kindle version are up on Amazon, but if you want a SIGNED print copy the day it drops (September 30th) your options are limited:

A: come to the launch party (JUST DO IT!).

B: Go to Titcombs Bookshop in East Sandwich (they are the ONLY bookstore that will have them ON THE SHELVES that day and I HIGHLY suggest calling them to pre-order the book).

KINDLE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075PL82FM/ref=sr_1_1…

PRINT (Titcombs WHO WILL SHIP): http://www.titcombsbookshop.com

PARTY (win lots of stuff!)!!! https://www.facebook.com/events/505273669810158

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Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: #AmWriting, #authorsofinstagram, #BNBuzz, #booksonthemove, #undertowroadtrip, Amazon Bestsellers, authors, book reviews, cape cod, Cape Cod Times, Eila Walker, fiction, K.R. Conway, KR Conway, Last Light, literary agent, massachusetts, netgalley, sandwich, star crossed lovers, StormFront, supernatural, teens, titcombs bookshop, Undertow, YA, ya lit

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

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Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove

At recess, in the ring;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;

The dews grew quivering and chill,

For only gossamer my gown,

My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then ’tis centuries, and yet each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses’ heads

Were toward eternity.

— Emily Dickinson

 

Black Bird of the Gallows was exactly what I longed for: a new twist on death, or more precisely, that which feeds on death . . . and chaos. Drawn with a rich, Hitchcockian flair, readers are quickly hauled into Meg Kassel’s debut story.

Set in a small town which feels every minute of winter’s dying days, readers are treated to musically-inclined teen, Angie Dovage, who is satisfied enough with her daily life, all of which is tucked into the shadows of coal-mined mountains.

But when new neighbors arrive, finally laying claim to a house with a murderous past, Angie is immediately intrigued by all of them, especially handsome Reece. But for all of Reece’s tempting allure, the constant flicker of blackness in the trees from the sudden arrival of so many crows, sets Angie’s nerves on edge. Soon Angie understands the haunting birds far more than she ever wanted to and the truth about the handsome boy next door is far darker than any of their feathers.

A page turner that blends bits of King with Hitchcock, Meg Kassel tempts and terrifies the reader in equal measures with Black Bird of the Gallows.

** I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

 

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

Published by Entangled Publishing on September 5th 2017

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Pages: 300

Format: eBook, Hardcover



ISBN: 1633758141

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

 

about meg kassel

Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A graduate of Parson’s School of Design, she’s always been creating stories, whether with visuals or words. She worked as a graphic designer before realizing the thing she did

for pleasure (writing) was something she should do for real. Meg is a New Jersey native who lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her husband and daughter. A fan of ’80s cartoons,

Netflix series, and ancient mythology, Meg has always been

fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the creepy, and the futuristic. When she’s not writing, Meg is reading, hanging out with her family, hoarding peanut butter cups, or playing video games. She is a two-time finalist and the 2016 winner of the RWA Golden Heart© contest in YA.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Black Bird of the Gallows, Meg Kassel, netgalley

LAST LIGHT launch party

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Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: #AmWriting, authors, Barnstable High, Book events, book launch, cape cod, Cape Cod Times, Eila Walker, fiction, goodreads, K.R. Conway, KR Conway, Last Light, literary agent, literature, stories, Undertow, writing

Cape Cod Teen Conference Wrap-Up!

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I had the time of my life working alongside some of the finest teen writers I’ve ever seen! And I loved every minute of Author Night!

Until Next year, my friends!

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Cape Cod Teen Writers Conference, cape cod writers conference

How to Go to an Author Panel like a BOSS

Today I have a TEEN guest blogger! I’m so excited! Give a cheer for Cheyann and her tips for attending author panels! ROCK IT, GIRL! She is also our point person for the Cape Cod Teen Writers Conference INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT.

Go check it out!

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Surviving a Writer’s Panel 101

With the teen writers panel fast approaching I figured it would be a good idea to jot down some tips and tricks for surviving said panel and others. Now there’s no need to worry, you can and will survive without the tips and tricks but you’ll be sorry you didn’t heed my advice. 

I will say most of these can be chalked up to “come prepared” but I’m going to list them all out separately. because reasons!

Now onto the list!

Pack Snacks!

It’s always a good idea to bring a quiet snack to munch on while you’re listening. Not only will this quiet any anxiety by tricking your brain into thinking it’s perfectly safe since you’re eating (caveman logic at its finest) but it will also prevent annoying hunger pains and Hangry outbursts as these things can run a little long. Now sometimes this is entirely unnecessary as they provide snacks but bring some just in case! You might not like what’s offered or they might not have anything!

Question Prep!

If you’re attending a panel of any sort it’s most likely because you enjoy the work of someone on the panel, whether it be a writer producer YouTuber voice actor podcaster or even just an actor (unless you’re smart and took Misha’s advice and are going to pick up chicks at a Supernatural panel). That being said, getting star struck and entirely forgetting all those REALLY important questions you had not five minuets ago, is a very real, very stressful thing. An easy way to remedy this is to write it down! And I don’t mean log it into the notes on your phone. 

Sometimes phones and other recording devices aren’t allowed into the panel to prevent anyone streaming it live and getting others watching without paying (not cool by the way) so instead of banking on the fact that you’ll have your phone, write them down on index cards or in a notebook. Do it several times in several places and make absolutely sure you have at least one if not all copies on your person at all times. Even if it’s not answered during the panel you could run into them elsewhere and not having those question is something you’ll kick yourself for later!

Write it Down!

Going back to the fact that this is supposed to be more for writing panels, I’d suggest bringing a notebook and a pencil. Or anything to write with really.

Having something to jot down notes will be helpful in so many ways. One, you can always look back at the answers they gave to any of your questions. Two, if you’re looking for more ideas on how to be organized or go about making a thing this is an easy way to pick up those ideas and save them. Three, signatures are a thing. They are a very fancy very exciting thing. 

Bring a bloody notebook.

Money is a Thing and You Should Bring It!

With writing panels comes writers and with writers comes SWAG (merch) and books so it should be no surprise that money is on this list. Keep in mind that while SWAG is usually free, books are not and can be pretty pricy (especially if you’re buying the whole series at once) so bring money. Lots of it. You will regret it if you don’t. (Also if you’re going to a different type of panel it’s probably at a convention where they have pricy swag)

Lights, Camera, Action!

BRING A FRIGGIN’ CAMERA!

I can’t stress this enough! If you want a selfie with your favorite author you need a camera! It won’t matter if it’s a dinky little disposable one, it’ll work! Bring it!

Have Fun!

By far the most important rule in this entire list is this one right here. Going to a panel and meeting people who made these stories can be an anxiety inducing thing, especially if their story saved your life, but that shouldn’t stop you from having fun. That shouldn’t stop you from smiling and laughing and cracking jokes and making friends with fellow readers and writers. If you feel the nerves starting to get to you, take a deep breath, eat something, and laugh. You made it through the rollercoaster of emotions that the book brought you. You can survive the panel too.

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Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: : #capecodteenwritersconference, Amazon Bestsellers, Amy Ewing, author panels, Barnes and Noble BFest, beach reads, book panels, cape cod, cape cod traffic, cape cod writers conference, Emily Ross, Eva Darrows, going to author panels, Hillary monahan, Hot to attend an author panel like a pro, Huntley Fitzpatrick, kathryn knight, Katie Bayerl, Kim Savage, KR Conway, Kristy Acevedo, Meg Kassel, Michael Bailey, Teen reads, The Jaded Wanderer, what to do on cape cod

Book Club Visit!

 

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I’m so excited to be visiting Meyerland Texas!

Well, via Skype at least . . .

Mad thanks to cool mom, Julie, who nominated Eila and her crazy crew of supernatural weirdos to be the Meyerland Moms Book Club book of the month. For me, this is a super fun visit because MMBC consists of a bunch of MOMS, which means they are probably as frazzled and warped as I am!

See ya soon, ladies!

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: book clubs, Meyerland Moms Book Club, Meyerland Texas, Moms book club, Texas

MUST HAVE YA BOOKS 2017

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So, every summer I list the YA books I’m dying to read here on my blog. And let’s face it: I’m a book-buying addict. I have to buy more and more bookshelves to feed my need.  To that extent, I’ll tell you that Home Depot has some awesome, cheap bookcases, just FYI.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s MY must-have 2017 list:

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Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.

But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.

This intense, richly drawn high-fantasy by the author of Scarletwill hold readers spellbound.

 

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A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

 

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An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

 

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Quinn Littleton was a mean girl—a skinny blonde social terrorist in stilettos. She was everything Emma MacLaren hated. Until she died.

A proud geek girl, Emma loves her quiet life on the outskirts, playing video games and staying off the radar. When her nightmare of a new stepsister moves into the bedroom next door, her world is turned upside down. Quinn is a queen bee with a nasty streak who destroys anyone who gets in her way. Teachers, football players, her fellow cheerleaders—no one is safe.

Emma wants nothing more than to get this girl out of her life, but when Quinn dies suddenly, Emma realizes there was more to her stepsister than anyone ever realized.

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At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

 

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Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.

At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.

Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.

The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .

 

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Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

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No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

 

[image error]In the wickedly twisted finale to the acclaimed Undertow series, Eila Walker is forced to confront a shocking truth about Lawson Waite, whispered during a death-bed confession in Maia Moriarty’s decadent night club.

Desperate to kill the billionaire and destroy his notorious Gate, Eila and her crew soon find themselves tangled up with a young supernatural teen who knows the location of the Gate, and who has an appetite for revenge.

With the help of some outrageous new allies, Eila and her crew push the limits of all their abilities in an attempt to finish what Elizabeth started so long ago.

Told from the perspectives of three characters, MJ, the shifter, Eila, the Lunaterra, and Raef, the soul thief, Last Light is one wild ride into the heart of what makes us human . . . and what lies history has told.

 

[image error]It’s been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, a strange man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later, she wakes up in a clearing just outside her tiny Idaho hometown—alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the horrifying crime erased.

Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him, though he does his best to hide the signs. But when the world around him begins to spiral toward panic and destruction, Noah discovers that people have been lying to him his whole life. Everything changes in an eye blink.

For the planet has a bigger problem. The Anvil, an enormous asteroid threatening all life on Earth, leaves little room for two troubled teens. Yet on her sixteenth birthday, as she cowers in her bedroom, hoping not to die for the fifth time, Min has had enough. She vows to discover what is happening in Fire Lake and uncovers a lifetime of lies: a vast conspiracy involving the sixty-four students of her sophomore class, one that may be even more sinister than the murders.

 

[image error]In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.

She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

 

[image error]Orion is a Subpar, expected to mine the tunnels of Outpost Five, near the deadly flash curtain. For generations, her people have chased cirium—the only element that can shield humanity from the curtain’s radioactive particles. She and her caving partner Dram work the most treacherous tunnel, fighting past flash bats and tunnel gulls, in hopes of mining enough cirium to earn their way into the protected city.

But when newcomers arrive at Outpost Five, Orion uncovers disturbing revelations that make her question everything she thought she knew about life on both sides of the cirium shield. As conditions at the outpost grow increasingly dangerous, it’s up to Orion to forge a way past the flashfall, beyond all boundaries, beyond the world as she knows it.

 

[image error]A fresh, humorous, and timely YA novel about two teens conceived via in vitro fertilization who go in search for answers about their donor.

Milo has two great moms, but he’s never known what it’s like to have a dad. When Milo’s doctor suggests asking his biological father to undergo genetic testing to shed some light on Milo’s extreme allergies, he realizes this is a golden opportunity to find the man he’s always wondered about.

Hollis’s mom Leigh hasn’t been the same since her other mom, Pam, passed away seven years ago. But suddenly, Leigh seems happy—giddy, even—by the thought of reconnecting with Hollis’s half-brother Milo. Hollis and Milo were conceived using the same sperm donor. They met once, years ago, before Pam died.

Now Milo has reached out to Hollis to help him find their donor. Along the way, they locate three other donor siblings, and they discover the true meaning of the other F-word: family.

 

[image error]From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu—when a game called Warcross takes the world by storm, one girl hacks her way into its dangerous depths.

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

In this sci-fi thriller, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu conjures an immersive, exhilarating world where choosing who to trust may be the biggest gamble of all.

 

[image error]Here is a thing everyone wants:

A miracle.

Here is a thing everyone fears:

What it takes to get one.

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.

Maggie Stiefvater has been called “a master storyteller” by USA Today and “wildly imaginative” by Entertainment Weekly. Now, with All the Crooked Saints, she gives us the extraordinary story of an extraordinary family, a masterful tale of love, fear, darkness, and redemption.

 

[image error]Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.

 

[image error]Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized among them. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes – a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love, violating the fair folks’ ruthless Good Law. There’s only one way to save both their lives, Isobel must drink from the Green Well, whose water will transform her into a fair one—at the cost of her Craft, for immortality is as stagnant as it is timeless.

Isobel has a choice: she can sacrifice her art for a future, or arm herself with paint and canvas against the ancient power of the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

 

[image error]Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.

Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.

 

[image error]Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent’s mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

 

[image error]Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

 

[image error]Kat Preston doesn’t believe in ghosts. Not because she’s never seen one, but because she saw one too many. Refusing to believe is the only way to protect herself from the ghost that tried to steal her life. Kat’s disbelief keeps her safe until her junior year at McTernan Academy, when a research project for an eccentric teacher takes her to a tiny, private island off the coast of Connecticut.

The site of a grisly mystery, the Isle of Acacia is no place for a girl who ignores ghosts, but the ghosts leave Kat little choice. Accompanied by her research partner, Evan Kingsley, she investigates the disappearance of Cassie Mallory and Sebastian Radcliffe on their wedding night in 1886. Evan’s scientific approach to everything leaves Kat on her own to confront a host of unbelievables: ancestral curses, powerful spells, and her strange connection to the ghosts that haunt Castle Creighton.

But that’s all before Kat’s yanked through a magic portal and Evan follows her. When the two of them awaken 129 years in the past with their souls trapped inside the bodies of two wedding guests, everything changes. Together, Kat and Evan race to stop the wedding-night murders and find a way back to their own time—and their own bodies—before their souls slip away forever.

 

[image error]In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

 

[image error]Two young boys must escape a life of slavery in modern-day Ivory Coast

Fifteen-year-old Amadou counts the things that matter. For two years what has mattered are the number of cacao pods he and his younger brother, Seydou, can chop down in a day. This number is very important. The higher the number the safer they are because the bosses won’t beat them. The higher the number the closer they are to paying off their debt and returning home to Baba and Auntie. Maybe. The problem is Amadou doesn’t know how much he and Seydou owe, and the bosses won’t tell him. The boys only wanted to make some money during the dry season to help their impoverished family. Instead they were tricked into forced labor on a plantation in the Ivory Coast; they spend day after day living on little food and harvesting beans in the hot sun—dangerous, backbreaking work. With no hope of escape, all they can do is try their best to stay alive—until Khadija comes into their lives.

She’s the first girl who’s ever come to camp, and she’s a wild thing. She fights bravely every day, attempting escape again and again, reminding Amadou what it means to be free. But finally, the bosses break her, and what happens next to the brother he has always tried to protect almost breaks Amadou. The old impulse to run is suddenly awakened. The three band together as family and try just once more to escape.

 

[image error]A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

 

[image error]Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized

Writing to Distraction

“I set a goal for myself everyday when I write – 10 pages a day – and it’s much harder because I’m too dumb to turn off my Twitter and everything so it’s always on and it’s a real distraction. It’s a major distraction.” – R.L. Stine

 

 

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100,000 words in manuscript form with a pair of Beats headphones on K.R. Conway’s desk on Cape Cod.

I’ll be honest: even at my age, even after nearly 20 years of writing, I can have a tough time focusing on my craft. As a journalist, I found my job a little easier — public interest stories were short (2000 words) and I could pretty much plot them out in under an hour. I interviewed the people, did the research, and simply sat down and pounded out the story, shipping it off to my editor with a happy “Adios!”

As a novelist, however, the task to stay focused is FAR more daunting – deadlines feel like walking the plank, fiction worlds and rules are my own so I can’t call someone for help, and the characters live solely in my mind. I rule their lives, their fate, and the road is always an unknown. It is easy to get discouraged; easy to want to give in. Distraction happens to every writer I know – it’s a mountain formed in our own hearts and minds and forged in passion laced with doubt. Distraction runs hand-in-hand with writer’s block, so avoiding the former helps curb the latter.

Without doubt, my most recent manuscript has proven to be the most difficult for me to write. I’ve found distractions [image error]have been plentiful. Finding a way to work as a writer that limits those distractions (and thus writer’s block) has been critical for me . . . and for a while, I did fail miserably at staying focused. A full week would go by and I’d only write 500 words (when I needed to be pushing 2000 a day at minimum). But then I refocused and used all the tricks I had learned over the years to get back on track.

The following tips have helped me (and other author friends) block distractions so I could focus on the task at hand and skirt the dreaded writer’s block. These tips help ANY writer, whether a student working on an essay or a novelist writing for the first time or the tenth.

 

MUSIC AS MUSE

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K.R. Conway, S.G. Silva, Nate Davis, and Dean MacIsaac at Dunkin Donuts near the Bourne Bridge.

Without fail, music has always been a powerful tool that helps me focus when I write. Even as a journalist, I would blast music – everything from the Fugees and Metallica to the Doors and Madonna.

I learned, however, that I needed to always expand my musical “run-list” or the music would fail me – bore me – and I’d get distracted. My sixteen year old daughter solved my musical boredom issue by sharing her playlist with me across iTunes and Spotify. The result is an ever-changing list for me to listen to and select from. I do have Playlists on Spotify, but I’m adding to them almost daily thanks to my daughter, fans, and other authors.

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The author and her daughter, who now share playlists.

Music also hones your focus, drowning out the world. Music makes you passionate about the words you write, whether for a novel or for an essay at school. Words and music are powerful and merging the two allows many writers to bring forward a richer story and a more intricate composition.

A friend of mine (and fellow writer), S.G. Silva, also advises that it’s equally important to have a playlist that includes classical or instrumental music for those times when dialog or research must be perfect. By not hearing lyrics in the music, S.G. is able to focus fully on more active, difficult scenes. Movie soundtracks are excellent for this type of “advanced” focus – Transformers, Avatar, Harry Potter, and The Avengers are all excellent choices.

As a writer, you must find your musical muse and share it with friends across music platforms so that you may always find new songs to drive your writing and your focus.

 

PEER PRESSURE

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Writers (all of us) tend to make excuses when it comes to writing. The dog needs to be fed, the house needs to be cleaned, work is callings, etc. For me, the distractions at HOME were absolutely ruining my ability to write. I found that the same issue was happening to other writer friends of mine, thus we formed Writers Around The Block (WAT-B).

The idea was pretty simple: pick set times and places (mainly coffee houses) throughout the week where a writer could go and write alongside other writers.

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Author Huntley Fitzpatrick raves about Jen Malone’s Wanderlost at Barnes and Noble.

Honestly, we didn’t talk much, but the physical act of opening a laptop and typing alongside someone else was a POWERFUL motivator. Those that came to our WAT-B meet-ups went from barely writing to pushing out a thousand words an hour.

We came with our headphones, our notes, and our raw determination. And when we did get stuck on a scene or an idea, we could signal the group for their input and it was immediately given. This instant feedback allowed us to stay away from the mother of all distractions: The Internet.

If you are a student, I suggest seeking out a space at your school where you could go at lunch and meet up with other writers and form your very own Writers Around the Block (or Quad). It works. WAT-B is proof it works, but participants must be committed to the act of writing.

 

DITCH THE NET

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Teen writers with K.R. Conway

If you are trying to write, then Social Media is the devil, I swear.

Every author on every writer panel I’ve ever been on says the same thing – the Internet is a vicious, time-sucking monster. One of the reasons the Writers Around the Block group worked so well was because everyone turned off  their wifi connections when they sat down to write – that was part of the deal. No Net. Period.

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S.G. Silva pounds out another scene at Starbucks.

Now, the Internet is also like caffeine and candy – it’s a bad, BAD addiction, even for those of us who are authors. In fact, we may be the most addicted of all because we use the Internet to help us story-build and craft worlds and characters. If you are a student, the Internet is a wealth of information at your fingertips – loads and loads of research and history, only a click away. And yes – it’s a necessary evil for anyone who is writing, BUT I have found that when I’m writing, I FORBID myself from going on the Internet. If you are researching something, set a time aside to do the research / Internet surfing that is SEPARATE from your writing time. Then print what you need and bring it with you when you write, but DON’T GO BACK ONLINE.

I know several authors who use software that actually locks them out of the Internet (gasp!) – it’s called Cold Turkey. Highly customizable, Cold Turkey can lock you out of ALL distractions by time limit or word count. I find that programs like Cold Turkey work best for me when I have it on my desktop in my office and have my Spotify playlist playing through my cell phone (NOT desktop). Why, you ask? Because Spotify on my phone is basic, whereas the desktop version is quite fancy and distractible.

For those who want an even more detailed writing experience and want to create folders for information , photos, notes, etc., I suggest checking out Scrivener. Almost EVERY author I know uses it (myself included).

 

KEEP MOVING

So, as crazy at it sounds, sitting still can wreck your focus. There is a rhythm to writing, which is why music is so critical to me. But I also have a tendency to move while I write and I notice that when I fidget, my word count soars. It can be super simple, like bouncing my foot to the beat of the music as I write, or as nuts as semi-dancing in my seat.

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Authors Jen Brooks, Lori Goldstein, and Trisha Leaver signing stock at Barnes and Noble.

Science has proven that when the mind goes into Default Mode Network (basically auto-pilot), our daydreaming / creative side comes forward like a runaway train. Humans slip into DMN mode when we do something “boring” like walking to a friend’s house, folding clothes, and yes, even driving.

So basically that need to fidget DOES in fact free your mind to make connections in abstract ways – it allows you to see more possibilities in your essay and story than you ever saw before. I even tend to “write” most of my books in my head while daydreaming (often while driving or running), then I go to my computer and write down what I saw in my head.

You CAN buy some fancy items for your home writing area – desk bikes, treadmills, etc. – but I find that simply grabbing a $20 yoga ball and sitting on that at your desk works wonders. Blast your music, sway and bounce, and write until your fingers ache.

 

 

DEFEND YOUR CREATIVE SPACE

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Mary Newton Lima and Kimberley Moran discuss the writer life at NECBWI.

When I was in college, I could NOT write at a desk. Instead, I wrote on my bed, cross-legged with all my pillows jammed up against the corner for my backrest. I knew other girls who could only work at a certain corner of the library and still others that liked to work in the common rooms.

Defending your creative space means finding the place in your world where YOU work best – not where others tell you to work. For my daughter, this is a combination of her bed for some classes, or her wide desk for other tasks. She says she works best at home, in her own room, and it’s true – she can get so much more done in her own creative space than at school. We even have a Privacy Pop tent, which my son loves (if you are college bound, it’s a must).

So find your spot and make it your own – shuffle your room (if you can) until you find a space that works for you and allows you to focus better. I even knew a kid that worked best UNDER her desk – pillows, blanket, and lamp all set up like a fort. DO what works FOR YOU. For me, when I’m home, I work at my U-shaped desk, but I am most productive when I’m actually at a coffee shop (Dunks and Starbucks are favorites, as well as Panera).

 

DON’T GET DISCOURAGED

Stuck? Just can’t think of the next line or how to connect the dots in an essay? Find inspiration elsewhere – move, take a walk, go for a run. When I was a journalist and found myself stuck on how to open an article, I’d use a quote that related to the story. You’ll find that the ability to write is in all of us – it just takes equal amounts of bravery, determination, and a fighting spirit to put pen to paper and bleed onto the page.

Never forget that words are powerful.

Words have raised armies and soothed agonies.

Words have toppled kingdoms and rallied the oppressed.

Each and every one of us have something to say and I dare you to find your own unique way to say it.

Make it loud, proud, and unforgettable, for all of us have a story to tell.

 

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Filed under: Uncategorized, Writing Tagged: #AmWriting, #authorsofinstagram, #IGAuthorLifeJan, #NaNoWriMo, #WritersLife, authors, avoiding distractions, blog, book reviews, cape cod, Cape Cod Teen Writers Conference, goodreads, Hall High School, how to write, KR Conway, literary agent, music as muse, netgalley, opinion, self-publishing, soul thieves, stories, teen writers, Undertow, writing, ya blog, ya books, ya lit

Cape Cod Authors by the Harbor!

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Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: author signings, books, cape cod, getting to the island, Hy-Line ferry, Hyannis harbor, kathryn knight, Katie O'Sullivan, KR Conway, local artists, marthas vineyard, teens, what to do on cape cod