The Museum of Heartbreak Blog Tour: Top 10 With Meg Leder + Giveaway

Title: The Museum of Heartbreak

Author: Meg Leder
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: June 7, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary
Source: Blog Tour

Pages: 256

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In this ode to all the things we gain and lose and gain again, seventeen-year-old Penelope Marx curates her own mini-museum to deal with all the heartbreaks of love, friendship, and growing up.
Welcome to the Museum of Heartbreak.
Well, actually, to Penelope Marx’s personal museum. The one she creates after coming face to face with the devastating, lonely-making butt-kicking phenomenon known as heartbreak.
Heartbreak comes in all forms: There’s Keats, the charmingly handsome new guy who couldn’t be more perfect for her. There’s possibly the worst person in the world, Cherisse, whose mission in life is to make Penelope miserable. There’s Penelope’s increasingly distant best friend Audrey. And then there’s Penelope’s other best friend, the equal-parts-infuriating-and-yet-somehow-amazing Eph, who has been all kinds of confusing lately.
But sometimes the biggest heartbreak of all is learning to let go of that wondrous time before you ever knew things could be broken. 

10 fictional characters you would invite to a dinner party:

1. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. My favorite character from my favorite book. I would want to sit right next to Anne because she would be full of stories.

2. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I didn’t read this book until I was in graduate school, and I was stunned by how incredible it was. I feel like Elizabeth Bennett and would be good friends.

3. Eleanor from Eleanor and Park. I want to know what she said on the postcard!

4. Park from Eleanor and Park. I want Park and Eleanor to be together again!

5. Owen Meany from A Prayer for Owen Meany. I read this book in high school and it slayed me—it’s so hilarious and heartbreaking, and Owen is one of a kind. I’m sure he’d be shouty at dinner, but so be it.

6. Yuri from Learning to Swear in America. I got a chance to read an early copy of this gem, and fell head over heels for Yuri. He’s delightful and can charm the dinner guests with lots of cool physics trivia.

7. Walt Whitman. Sure, this is kind of cheating, as he was real, but I adore Walt Whitman and think he’d be great at keeping the conversation going if anyone was feeling awkward.

8. Emily Dickinson. Also a cheat, but I feel like Emily would be the perfect companion for anyone who was feeling a little more introverted. She’d be a good listener.

9. Clark from The Unexpected Everything. A dreamy nerd writer? Yes please.

10. Parker, the main character from my work in progress. I’m still getting to know her and I need her to talk to me more about her fears and dreams so I can finish this manuscript!

About Meg Leder:

Website | Twitter

A former bookseller and teacher, Meg Leder currently works as a book editor in New York City. Her role models are Harriet the Spy and Anne Shirley. She is the coauthor of The Happy Book, and spends her free time reading, looking for street art, and people watching. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit her on Twitter at @MegLeder.

3 Finished Copies of THE MUSEUM OF HEARTBREAK (US Only)

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Spark Blog Tour: Top Ten with Holly Schindler + Giveaway

Title: Spark

Author: Holly Schindler
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication date: May 17, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary, Magical Realism
Source: Publisher

Pages: 304

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The local Avery Theater was just a run-down building to Quin—until her mother told her the tragic love story of Nick and Emma that played out on the theater’s stage all those years ago. Quin is convinced it’s the perfect story to rewrite for her drama class, but when she goes searching for more information, she makes a startling discovery—the Avery is rapidly regaining its former splendor and setting the stage for her classmates Dylan and Cass to relive Nick and Emma’s romance. Quin can see the spark between them, but i
t’s up to her to make sure her friends—and the Avery—can both be saved this time around.

Top Ten Reasons You Decided to Become an Author:

In many ways, I don’t feel like I decided to become an author—I feel like I always was an author. But here are my top 10 reasons why I think that is: 

1. Love of literature / reading – I was always an avid reader, starting with the new Little Golden Book I had to have every time I went grocery shopping with my mom. I think writing and reading just have to go hand-in- hand…and it often seems like natural progression for a reader to pick up their own pen. 

2. Love of creativity – I’ve just always gravitated toward the arts. Love visual art—I’m in the midst of wrapping my brain around digital art so that I can move toward doing my own illustrations. And I’m a giant music junkie—I play piano and guitar, and taught music lessons while drafting my earliest manuscripts. 

3. Love of words – This goes along with my love of literature and reading, but I love the power of words. I love the music they create when strung together a certain way. There’s definitely a rhythm to the written word. 

4. Love of having a voice – I was a really shy kid, and in some ways, I feel as though writing was kind of an early attempt to get my voice out there, but really, there’s something about storytelling that just FITS. 

5. Love of storytelling – This echoes #4, I know, but it’s true. There’s something about the craft of storytelling that feels like an integral part of me. 

6. Love of being able to be in someone else’s head – Fiction allows you to explore another person’s thoughts. You don’t often get that in other forms of entertainment—in a movie or on TV, you’re primarily watching characters navigate through a series of problems, but you rarely ever get inside them, hear their thoughts, experience their emotions. I love that fiction allows us all to literally walk in someone else’s shoes. 

7. Love of being able to connect with people – There’s a definite connection you feel as a reader to certain fictional characters. At times, we’ve all slowed down as we neared the end of a book we’ve been enjoying, because we don’t want to let that character go. I love being able to create characters that speak to readers in that way—that become friends of sorts. 

8. Love of being able to create a world – Even in realistic contemporary work, you have to do a bit of worldbuilding…but why stop there? As a fiction writer, you get to go to worlds that are completely of your own making…or travel back in time… 

9. Love of exploring scenarios I’ve never lived through – In realistic fiction, you get to daydream a bit, imagine what it’s like to be an athlete, to be a musician on the stage… 

10. Love the feeling of completion—There’s something almost euphoric about finishing an enormous job—like wrapping up a novel. It feels a little like it must crossing the finish line of a marathon. 

About Holly Schindler:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Author Newsletter

I’m a hybrid author of critically acclaimed traditionally published and Amazon bestselling independently published works for readers of all ages. My previous YAs (A BLUE SO DARK, PLAYING HURT, and FERAL) have received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, won silver and gold medals from ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year and the IPPY Awards, respectively, been featured on Booklist’s First Novels for Youth, School Library Journal’s “What’s Hot in YA,” and been selected as a PW Pick. 

Going hybrid means that I’ve been able to explore all sorts of new avenues—short fiction, sequels, I’m even going to be branching out into doing some illustrative work. Throughout 2016, I’m releasing one short story a month in the Forever Finley Short Story Cycle. The cycle begins with “Come December”: http://amzn.to/1oPioN5 

Also, in honor of SPARK’s release, I’m holding a sale on PLAY IT AGAIN, the sequel to my YA romance, PLAYING HURT. For a limited time, PLAY IT AGAIN is $.99: http://amzn.to/1qCNVCe 

3 Finished Copies of SPARK (US Only)

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Review: The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin

Title: The Nethergrim

Author: Matthew Jobin
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publication date: April 08, 2014
Genre(s): Fantasy
Source: Publicist

Pages: 361

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The people of Moorvale put their faith in the legend: The knight Tristan and the wizard Vithric, in an epic battle, had defeated the evil Nethergrim.
That faith is shaken when livestock go missing, only to turn up as piles of bones. But it’s when a group of children disappear that they know for sure: The Nethergrim has returned.
Edmund’s brother is one of the missing, and Edmund knows he must do something to save his life. But what? Though a student of magic, he struggles to cast even the simplest spell.
Still, he and his friends swallow their fear and set out to battle an ancient evil whose powers none of them can imagine.

I'm not sure why there aren't more people discussing this book. If you're looking for a middle grade novel reminiscent of Harry Potter, loaded with action, friendship, and fantastic life lessons, The Nethergrim is the one you want to pick up next. I listened to parts of the audiobook along with reading my copy and even the narrator reminded me of the amazing narrator for the Harry Potter books. The accents were on point, each character was easily distinguished and the story flowed perfectly. 


Every single character was a delight to read about, even the villains. The three main characters, Katherine, Edmund, and Tom all bring their own unique touch to the story. Katherine is a boss. She takes the lead when necessary, isn't afraid to tell people when they're being silly, and she always stands up for the people she loves. As for Edmund, he had a lot of growing up to do in a short amount of time and I'm happy to say that you can definitely see the character growth by the end of the novel. All that aside, I think Tom was my favorite. He is just such a sensitive soul and an absolute sweetheart, but he fights for his friends like he was made for it.

The story itself is an interesting one. Basically the past and the present intertwine to provide two pieces of a puzzle. I think I loved the story from the past more than the current one and I am very eager to see if the author delves more into the characters from the legend in the second book. Although there was magic within this world I felt like there could have been more done with it, which from the way it ended, I also think will happen in the sequel. There were some twists that I didn't expect and some that I totally saw coming. I would say even though it's middle grade, adults will enjoy is just as much even if they guess the huge twist like I did. All I have to say now is thank God I won't have to wait at all since the sequel came out May 10th! 

Here is the trailer for the second book:

Don't forget to enter the giveaway I'm hosting over on Twitter!

Blog Tour: Heir to the Sky Interview With Amanda Sun + Giveaway

Hello! Today I am delighted to welcome Amanda Sun to the blog for an interview!

About Heir to the Sky:

As heir to a kingdom of floating continents, Kali has spent her life bound by limits—by her duties as a member of the royal family; by a forced betrothal to the son of a nobleman; and by the edge of the only world she’s ever known—a small island hovering above a monster-ridden earth, long since uninhabited by humans. She is the Eternal Flame of Hope for what’s left of mankind, the wick and the wax burning in service for her people, and for their revered Phoenix, whose magic keeps them aloft.

When Kali falls off the edge of her kingdom and miraculously survives, she is shocked to discover there are still humans on the earth. Determined to get home, Kali entrusts a rugged monster-hunter named Griffin to guide her across a world overrun by chimera, storm dragons, basilisks, and other terrifying beasts. But the more time she spends on earth, the more dark truths she begins to uncover about her home in the sky, and the more resolute she is to start burning for herself.

LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iBooks | The Book Depository

Interview

1. If you had to describe your book in 5 words how would you describe it? 

Video game in a book. Or, Final Fantasy meets YA novels. Or, floating lands and monster hunters. ^_^ 

2. The world in Heir to the Sky is a very interesting one. How did you come up with the idea of a continent floating in the sky? 

Thank you! I’ve always loved floating continents. I think the first time I saw one was in Chrono Trigger, back when I was a young gamer (and the only girl gamer I knew). Then in Final Fantasy VI, and in Studio Ghibli’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky. I started even dreaming about seeing them in the sky, with the roots and dirt crumbling off the bottoms of them as they hovered there like mysteries. I started to develop my own islands, with waterfalls and cities, and then I imagined what might keep them afloat, and what could survive up there. I imagined they were a last refuge of a monster-torn world. And then I wondered what would happen if someone fell off the edge down to that world. 

3. Out of all of your characters which one was the most fun to write, which one was the most difficult, and which one do you relate to the most? 

I have the most fun writing Griffin. He’s a monster hunter. He’s learned all kinds of cool survival skills like weaponry, cooking, trapping, and sewing. But despite everything he’s been through, he hasn’t lost his humanity. He’s powerless to change his past, and so he invests his whole heart in protecting others to try and make up the loss he never can. 

The most difficult character to write was probably Sayra. Unlike the other survivors who bravely fight on, she’s terrified and almost without hope. She doesn’t have a big role in HEIR TO THE SKY, but she has an important one—that not everyone is equipped to fight life’s battles. I find her difficult to write because she reflects my own weaknesses and despair that are easily to slip into. 

The character I relate the most to is probably Kali. They both reflect part of me, but they also have their own struggles and strengths that I don’t have. I’d probably have a hard time getting my wits about me to survive and face monsters like Kali does, but I can relate a lot to her thoughts of how to be on her own, how to be happy, and how to best protect those she cares about. Plus she loves to read and is always in the library, so I can relate to that too. And her best friend Elisha was modeled on a couple of my best friends as well. 

4. When you write, do you listen to music or are there any must have snacks? 

Yes, definitely! There is a lot of food in the Paper Gods books, because food and its smells evokes a lot of strong memories for me. Likewise, I write a lot about food in HEIR TO THE SKY, and writing about food makes me hungry! I usually have snacks on hand like Pocky and Puccho, green tea candies, and of course chips or iced coffee. And for music, I listened to a lot of video game soundtracks while writing this book—Final Fantasy soundtracks, Skyrim and other Elder Scrolls games, Journey, Chrono Trigger, and Skyward Sword. 

5. I know you have a short story coming out in, Strangers Among Us: Tales of the Underdogs and Outcasts, can you tell us a little about it and the process writing a short story? How is it different or similar to writing a full length novel? 

Yes, and I’m so glad you mentioned it because I’m really excited about this story! It’s called “What Harm” and it’s about a boy who doesn’t speak and struggles with reality, but has a special gift with horses. He’s sold to a warlord, where he meets a schizophrenic girl and things take a dark and vengeful turn. It’s a story about revenge, and what we’re capable of, and who we really are, even if that turns out to be meek and harmless. Writing a short story is so different, because you have such a limited amount of time to get across the feelings you want to convey. Every word counts, and the changes in the characters are so fine and minute that you can’t quite put your finger on what’s happened. At least, that’s what I like to aim for. STRANGERS AMONG US is out this August and I hope you read and enjoy it! 

6. Are you currently working on any future projects? We're dying to know! 

Thanks! I’m currently writing two more short stories for anthologies, and I have two novels in the works, though mostly in the planning stages. At the moment I have my hands full with my baby daughter, Alice. ^_^ Both projects have lots of either Fantasy or Asian threads woven through them, though, so I’m sure they’ll feel familiar when I’m ready to announce more. I hope you look forward to them! ^_^

Thank you for being on the blog today!

ABOUT AMANDA SUN

I’m a YA author and proud Nerdfighter. I was born in Deep River, Canada, a very small town without traffic lights or buses, and where stranger safety is comprised of what to do if you see a bear—or skunk. I started reading fantasy novels at 4 and writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. Hopefully my work’s improved since then.

​In university I took English, Linguistics, and Asian History, before settling into Archaeology, because I loved learning about the cultures and stories of ancient people. Of course, I didn’t actually become an archaeologist—I have an intense fear of spiders. I prefer unearthing fascinating stories in the safety of my living room.

​The Paper Gods is inspired by my time living in Osaka and travelling throughout Japan. That and watching far too many J-Dramas. I currently live in Toronto with my husband and daughter. When I’m not writing, I’m devouring YA books, knitting nerdy things like Companion Cubes and Triforce mitts, and making elaborate cosplays for anime cons.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Blog Tour: Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend by Alan Cumyn Playlist + Giveaway

Title: Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend

Author: Alan Cumyn
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Publication date: March 22, 2016
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: From publisher

Pages: 304

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Prepare to be blown away—or rather, carried away on huge muscular wings—by this blissfully outlandish, bracingly-smart, tour de force about a teen who has to come to terms with relinquishing control for the first time as she falls for the hot new…pterodactyl…at school. After all, everybody wants him! Sheils is very pleased with her perfectly controlled life (controlling others while she’s at it). She’s smart, powerful, the Student Body Chair, and she even has a loving boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for? But everything changes when the first-ever interspecies transfer student, a pterodactyl named Pyke, enrolls at her school. There’s something about him—something primal—that causes the students to lose control whenever he’s around. Even Sheils, the seemingly perfect self-confident girl that she is, can’t keep her mind off of him, despite her doting boyfriend and despite the fact that Pyke immediately starts dating Jocelyn, the school’s fastest runner who Sheils has always discounted as a nobody. Pyke, hugely popular in a school whose motto is to embrace differences, is asked to join a band, and when his band plays at the Autumn Whirl dance, his preternatural shrieking music sends everyone into a literal frenzy. No one can remember what happened the next day, but Shiels learns that she danced far too long with Pyke, her nose has turned purple, and she may have done something with her boyfriend that she shouldn’t have. Who’s in control now? Hilarious and relatable (despite the dinosaur), Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend is about a teen who must come to terms with not being in control of all things at all times, break free of her mundane life, discover who her true self is, and, oh, finding out that going primal isn’t always a bad thing

How insane does this book sound? I need a playlist to go with that story and today we have Alan Cumyn, the author of Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend here to help set the musical mood. These are the five songs Alan chose to represent Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend!

1. "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie – Pyke, the pterodactyl, gets everybody in a whirl

2. "Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple – what's playing in the subconscious of Vista View High's Student Body Chair Shiels Krane

3. "Wild Thing" as performed by Animal, of the Muppets – the drumbeat to the whole book 

4. "Love Hurts", the Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris version – for the breakup of Shiels and her near-perfect boyfriend, Sheldon Myers 

5. "I'm Alive" by the Screaming Iguanas of Love -- gotta love the band name

Thank you, Alan! It was so much fun to have you on the blog today.

ABOUT ALAN CUMYN:

Alan Cumyn is the author of twelve wide-ranging and often wildly different novels. A two-time winner of the Ottawa Book Award, he has also had work shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, the Giller Prize, and the Trillium Award. He teaches through the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a past Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada. He lives in Ontario, Canada.

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Character Tour + Giveaway: Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake

Welcome to Brenda Drake’s THIEF OF LIES Character Tour! Each stop will feature a character profile from book one of the Library Jumpers Series (you can find my review here). There is a tour wide giveaway so be sure to check out all the characters for chances to win. You can find a list of the tour dates here. Today, we’re getting to know Lei!

Age: Young Adult
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Release Date: 01/05/2016
Number of Pages: 400
ASIN: B00YM6RD6M
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
ABOUT THIEF OF LIES (LIBRARY JUMPERS #1): 

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound. Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed. Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble      

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Thief of Lies Character Tour — Lei

Lei Chen
Age: 16
Sentinel Battle Globe: Yellow (Lightning)
Description: Blunt, cunning, and graceful.
Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers Series Book 1) quote: “No worries, ducky. We keep the Mystiks from entering your world, and we take care of the naughty ones.”

Lei was born in Shanghai, China. She was trained to use her katana sword by Master Máo, her parent faery. Not many have beaten her during the Sentinel Games, only Arik. Winning many academic and sport awards in the Asile Academy, she’s rated thirteenth in the Sentinel history ranking. Arik is number eleven and Carrig is in the fifth position. She’s fierce in battles and has a quirky fun side to her. She has a secret relationship with another Sentinel, but is very careful not to take it physical due to a prophecy. At first, she likes Gia but is concerned that Gia is dangerous because she hasn’t been trained. Lei doesn’t trust Gia after she makes a grave mistake during a battle and thinks Gia should stay on the sidelines. In book two, Lei will grow closer to Gia while they’re in hiding. There will be great heartaches for Lei in the upcoming books. 

Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers Series Book 2) teaser with Lei and Gia: 

“Hullo, ducky, ready for class?” I jumped. “Lei! Stop sneaking up like that. You gave me a heart attack.” She leaned against the locker beside me. “Sorry, it’s in the DNA. It can’t be suppressed.” “You know,” I said, slamming my locker closed. “You don’t have to wear those glasses when you’re not in class.” “I like them. It’s a fashion statement.” She pushed them up her nose. The red frames were the right pop of color for her skin tone. Lei and I had many classes together, but Marine Biology was Lei’s favorite. She had never seen an ocean before. “You’ll forgive me later.” She hooked her arm through mine, and we headed down the now emptying hall to our class. “You can ditch whatever disagreeable lunch Faith packed. I brought an extra lunch for you. Sinead made oatmeal and raisin cookies, and your favorite Fluffernutter sandwiches, which by the way still makes my stomach roll. Who would eat peanut butter and marshmallow on a sandwich?”   

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I hope you enjoyed meeting Lei. She was one of my favorite characters. Her strength and personality were just two of the many things I loved about her. Can't wait to read more in book two, especially after reading that she has some heartaches coming her way! I'm at the edge of my seat!

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to enter the giveaways for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card with an eBook copy of THIEF OF LIES or a signed hardcover copy of FORGET TOMORROW by Pintip Dunn below. 

About the author...

Brenda Drake, the youngest of three children, grew up an Air Force brat and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When Brenda’s not writing or doing the social media thing, she’s haunting libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops or reading someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Announcement Time: Sister Blogs + Giveaway

Hello! As you may have noticed, there have been some changes on the blog, mainly in the way it looks. We have an all new design and I’m so in love with it! Over the next few days you’ll also notice some changes in content, and that’s because…we are now a Sister Blog to Maji Bookshelf!

What?

You may be asking yourself what all of this means. Well, the girls over at Maji Bookshelf and us over here at YA Bookmark are going to be working together in many ways. Our blogs are going to be linked in every sense of the word. We will have bi-weekly wrap ups to showcase the posts that have been featured on both blogs and you’ll be seeing more faces on the blog. There will be monthly guests posts (including reviews, lists, discussion posts, etc.) from them over here and the same will go for us on Maji Bookshelf. It's going to be pretty great and hopefully will serve as motivation to blog more.

Who?

As I mentioned above, we have teamed up with Maji Bookshelf and that means new blogger faces on YA Bookmark! Juhina and Arshia will be blogging on here and you can check out all of their social media links right over there on the left hand side of the blog!

How?

Sometime on Thanksgiving day Juhina tweeted that she was looking for a new co-blogger. I’ve always loved Juhina’s blog so Jacquelyn and I retweeted her tweet and told her how we wished we could all blog together. The problem was that we both already had blogs that we had been growing since 2011. That night we brainstormed a lot because we realized this union was something we really wanted to make work. From there it was a fast road of ideas, some great and some that we ended up throwing out. Then, Juhina got herself a fabulous co-blogger, Arshia. AND HERE WE ARE.

I’m honored to be working with these awesome girls and I can’t wait for you guys to see the things we have in store. I’ve been ready for a change on the blog and I’m very pleased with this outcome.

To celebrate we are giving away one of our favorite books we read in 2015. It’s open to anywhere the Book Depository ships. Don’t forget to go over to Maji Bookshelf for more chances at winning!

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Four Years of Blogging + Giveaway

Wow, when I started this blog I never imagined I would still be writing posts four years later. I definitely could never imagine the kinds of amazing people I would meet because of it. I've had the pleasure of meeting authors, bloggers, booktubers, and book loving people in general, and it's all been because of a choice I made four years ago. It hasn't been an easy four years, and in those years there have been time where I didn't post for a month or two, but here we are. Four years later. I now have an awesome co-blogger, Jacquelyn, who is always an inspiration to read more (especially with her dedication to #0by16). And I'm just in an overall good place with this blog.

Favorite Memories:

The Jenny Sanchez book signing was one of the first signings I ever went to. It was so surreal to be meeting actual authors.

At Jennifer L. Armentrout's signing. Meeting Pepe and Sztella (the cover models for the Lux series) was like meeting the actual characters. Daemon is just as swoon worthy as you'd imagine, in case you were wondering.

I got to meet Neal Shusterman...NEAL. FREAKING. SHUSTERMAN.

I had to drive two hours for this signing but this panel was a blast. These fabulous authors were so nice and took the time to talk to each one of us there.

Marissa Meyer signing.

The most recent signing I went to where I got to meet Zoë from Read by Zoe, one of my favorite authors, Cynthia Hand, and some new favorites.

And finally something that had been a long time coming. On my trip to California earlier this month I got to FINALLY one of my very first and best blogging friends in person! She's been with me for four years and I can say that even if in the future none of us are doing anything book related we will still keep in touch. Love you Anna!

The Giveaway!

Now, I think that's enough of a trip down memory lane. To celebrate these four years I want to give away some books! On here you can win your choice of any Jennifer L. Armentrout/J. Lynn book and I will go get it SIGNED and PERSONALIZED for the winner at her signing June 29th. That means the giveaway will end June 28th at 12am. All you have to do to win is fill out the rafflecopter below. There are other giveaways going on right now on my Twitter and Instagram so be sure to stop by and enter those as well.

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Creeptastic Reads: Interview with Susan McBride + Giveaway

So happy to have author Susan McBride here with an interview! I recently read and reviewed her new young adult novel, Very Bad Things. It was a refreshing mystery with very realistic, flawed characters. Check out my review if you're looking for a new mystery to add to your pile. Now on to the interview!

The Interview:

First of all, let me say that Very Bad Things is made up of two of my favorite things. Boarding schools and murder mysteries! If you had to choose a favorite boarding school book, what would it be?

Hmm, I really enjoyed Private by Kate Brian (the first of the Private books). It definitely kept me turning the pages.

If you were in a horror movie, what's the one thing you would definitely avoid doing?

I would not want to do anything alone, particularly going down into a dark basement, out to a dark barn, or into a creepy attic. All three are recipes for disaster. Oh, wait, and I would never try to run through the woods. Those movies always have the screaming girl tripping over a log. 

What's the number one book you always go to when you need a book to snuggle with during the chilly fall days?

I love Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. I could read that one over and over.

This is your first young adult mystery novel. Would you say the transition was easy, or was it tougher than it seemed?

I think Very Bad Things would have been a hard book to write even if I’d written for the adult mystery market (and, actually, the original idea for the book started as an idea for a mainstream thriller). It took three drafts to get it right. I had to eliminate one point of view entirely and shift to another. It was just really tricky showing how three different people who are so connected—Katie, Tessa, and Mark—viewed the disappearance of Rose and what happened after. I had to be careful what I revealed without cheating readers because everyone’s hiding something in VBT. It was so gratifying to do the final revision and feel like I did the story and the characters justice. I am so proud of this book!

What are the top fall releases you're most excited for?

Oh, man, I just turned in a mystery to HarperCollins this week so I’m feeling very brain dead. I don’t even know what’s coming out this fall. You’ll have to tell me what you recommend, Audris! 

Were you always a fan of mystery novels? What were some of the things that inspired you to write mystery?

Yes, I always LOVED mystery novels. As a kid, I started out with the Nancy Drew books (which I still have and plan to give to my daughter someday), and I read Encyclopedia Brown and those Three-Minute Mysteries. I just like puzzles and trying to solve them. My first published novel was a mystery called And Then She Was Gone, which came out in 1999, and I’ve written several mystery series for HarperCollins (the Debutante Dropout Mysteries and the River Road Mysteries). So I’m definitely hooked. It’s fun to come up with the story and then try to lead the reader down an uncertain path strewn with both truths and red herrings. It’s a blast for me as a writer, and I hope it’s as entertaining for readers!

Thank you so much for participating in Creeptastic Reads!

Thank you, Audris! If anyone wants to learn more about my books, they can visit me at my website or at Facebook.

Happy Halloween!

The Giveaway:

Thank you Susan for providing a signed copy of Very Bad Things! I will email the winner on November 4th.

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