News

Lumière Book Tour + Giveaway!

Aug 17, 2015 | | 2 Comments

 I’m super excited for Jacqueline Garlick’s launch of LUMIERE! Check out all the fun details about her book releasing below!

 

25697595Lumière
One determined girl. One resourceful boy. One miracle machine that could destroy everything. 

After an unexplained flash shatters her world, seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth sets out to find the Illuminator, her father’s prized invention. With it, she hopes to cure herself of her debilitating seizures before Professor Smrt—her father’s arch nemesis—discovers her secret and locks her away in an asylum. 

Pursued by Smrt, Eyelet locates the Illuminator only to see it whisked away. She follows the thief into the world of the unknown, compelled not only by her quest but by the allure of the stranger—Urlick Babbit—who harbors secrets of his own. 

Together, they endure deadly Vapours and criminal-infested woods in pursuit of the same prize, only to discover the miracle machine they hoped would solve their problems may in fact be their biggest problem of all.
Teasers

 

Pre-Order Noir Now
 
Available August 18th
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About Jacqueline
I write YA, New Adult, and Women’s Fiction. I love strong heroines, despise whiny sidekicks, and adore a good story about a triumphant underdog. I love to read, write, paint (walls and paper) and plan cool writing events for cool writers (check out niagarawritersretreatandconference (dot) com.) I have a love/hate relationship with chocolate, grammar, and technology. I prefer creating things to cleaning things, and baking to cooking and believe laughter is a one-stop-shop solution to all that ails you. I also firmly believe ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky can improve even the worst day. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always Ellen Degeneres. You will always find a purple wall (or two) in my house (perhaps even a door) and a hidden passageway that leads to a mystery room. (Okay, so you won’t find a hidden passageway but a girl can dream, can’t she?) Oh, and tea. There will always be tea. I love specialty teas…and collecting special teacups from which to drink them. (See collection below.)
In my former life, I was a teacher (both grade school and college – long story, don’t ask) and more recently, I’ve been a graduate of Ellen Hopkin’s Nevada Mentor Program and a student of James Scott Bell, Christopher Vogler and Don Maass. An excerpt from Lumière earned me the 2012 Don Maass Break Out Novel Intensive Scholarship.
Known for my edgy, rule-breaking, Tim Burton-esque style of writing, I’m often affectionately referred to as the Quentin Tarantino of YA among friends in writing circles.
Facebook * Twitter * Website 
Giveaway

 *US and Canada Only

BRAZEN Blog Tour Sign Ups!

Jul 13, 2015 | | 0 Comments

jumong-o

UPDATE: Blog Tour Sign-ups are Closed. THANK YOU everyone for all of your support and awesomeness in signing up. There was such a huge response!

 Bloggers and Reviewers!

I’m super excited about the release of BRAZEN on Sept. 29, 2015! If you would like to be a part of the BRAZEN blog tour, here are the details:

For those who wish to review BRAZEN:

1. Fill out the form below.

2. If chosen, you will be given a PDF copy of BRAZEN.

3. Post your review on your blog at the date you are assigned. I also ask you post your review on Goodreads and Amazon.

4. Include the massive giveaway link or embedded rafflecopter along with your review.

5. Mid-September, you will be sent an autographed paperback of BRAZEN + a swag pack as a thank you. (you may keep these or give them away)

For those who wish to do a guest post or interview:

1. Fill out the form below.

2. If chosen, I will email you the post or interview.

3. Post the interview or guest post on your blog.

4. Include the massive giveaway link or embedded rafflecopter along with your review.

Read the book

The Author’s Voice

Jun 23, 2015 | | 0 Comments

Pitch-Perfect-Stills-and-Gifs-pitch-perfect-32534781-320-180

I have a new video for all of you writers out there! This one features the author’s voice. I could literally talk all day about voice. This video features thoughts on voice and some quick tips to hone your author voice to create a story that is uniquely you!

I also wrote a blog post here on the author’s voice over at MiG Writers.

I hope you will find this helpful and inspire you as you write!

 

The Night I Said Yes

Jun 9, 2015 | , , , | 2 Comments

night

To celebrate the release of Lauren Gibaldi’s debut YA book, THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, I’m sharing about a night where I said YES. So here’s my story that began as a nightmare, but turned into a fairytale.

boat love

It was Valentine’s Day weekend and I had flown up to Georgia to visit Doug, my boyfriend. He had a full day of hiking in the mountains planned so we packed up a picnic lunch and headed out for a day of fun.

looking glass

When we arrived at Looking Glass Mountain in Pisgah National Forest and started up the trail, we discovered a cute, but very lost dog.

dog

We decided to take the dog back to the parking lot and see if anyone wanted to claim him. But when we got to the parking lot, we realized we had locked ourselves out of the car!

And to make matters worse, the parking lot was deserted. A snow storm was blowing in and everyone was high-tailing it out of the park.

gasp

There were only two options:

1. Sit out in the cold and wait for someone to find us.

2. Start heading for town.

cold

We chose option #2. Luckily after a few hours of trekking back toward town in the freezing cold and snow, an elderly couple driving by kindly picked us up (we still call them our angels!). They took us and the dog to their house where we were able to call my boyfriend’s parents.

luke

Thankfully, Doug’s parents braved the snowstorm and picked us up, bringing the spare car key. It was after two a.m., exhausted, hungry, and cold that we arrived safely back at my boyfriend’s house.

snow falling

After drinking a cup of hot chocolate, Doug and I snuggled under a warm blanket to watch the snow falling outside. My eyes were closing shut when he turned to me and said, “I was supposed to ask this at the top of the mountain, but I can’t wait any longer.”

Then he pulled out a small box from his pocket. He knelt down, opening the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond inside and said, “Will you marry me?”

And I said, “YES.”

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I’m happy to say we kissed, married, and are living our happily-ever-after.

happily

Do you have a night where you said YES? Share your memories in the comments!

Buy a copy of Lauren’s book here and stalk her on Twitter at @laurengibaldi!

BRAZEN Synopsis and Giveaway Winner!

Jun 4, 2015 | , , , | 3 Comments

adventure

I’m so excited! Today is the first day of summer vacation for my boys and we are going to have a blast reading and writing and swimming. Heading to the beach is definitely in the plans! What are your plans this summer? Check out our book stack to start off our summer.

 reading summer

If you haven’t heard yet on my social media accounts, BRAZEN now has a synopsis! This gives you a sneak peek of what is in store for you in BRAZEN. This book is by far my favorite of the series. There is more romance, more fighting scenes, a new country, more mythological creatures. Yep, it’s freaking awesome and I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO READ IT!!!!!!

sunglasses

Are you ready for the synopsis?

Jae Hwa Lee spent her sixteenth year in Seoul, trying to destroy the evil immortals who had been torturing her family for centuries. The last thing she expected was to be forced to become their assassin. Trapped in the darkest part of the Spirit World as a servant to the Korean god Kud, fighting to keep her humanity, and unable to contact her loved ones, Jae Hwa is slowly losing hope. Kud, god of darkness, will do anything to keep her as a pawn in his quest for power over all of Korea, her entire family thinks she’s dead, and Jae’s true love, Marc, believes she is lost to him forever.

When Kud sends Jae to find and steal the powerful Black Turtle orb, Jae sees an opportunity to break free and defeat Kud once and for all…but first she needs to regain Marc’s trust and work with him to vanquish the darkness that threatens to overwhelm Korea. There’s much to lose as Jae struggles to save the land she’s come to call home.

superhero

So what do you think????

You can preorder the book from Amazon, B&N, your local indie, BAM, Book Depository, and well pretty much anywhere! Or you can also preorder an autographed copy from my indie bookstore, Bookmark It.

And now for the WINNER of the #ReadOrWriteAnywhere giveaway.  The winner is:

Paola Benavides

I know many of you have been asking about the cover for BRAZEN and I promise the cover will be revealed soon. So excited for that too!

Where Am I? #ReadOrWriteAnywhere

May 22, 2015 | , , | 3 Comments

read or write black
Summer is about to begin! 

But just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we should stop reading and writing. I’ve teamed up with the YA Chicks and many participating authors on a global campaign to encourage readers, writers, students, and teachers to share pictures all of the places—both ordinary and extraordinary—where they are reading and writing. This is open to all readers/writers of both middle grade and young adult books!

You can also take part in…
A MONSTER GIVEAWAY! 
I’ll be giving away a copy of GILDED + Gilded series swag over at the YA Chicks + below you can enter to win your choice of either GILDED, SILVERN, or BRAZEN here on my blog!!!!

And there’s more! Every author participating in this campaign is giving away books, critiques, swag and/or Skype visits.

 So are you ready?

Drum roll….

Can you guess where I am?
1. It’s in a country known for their chocolate croissants.
2. In a land filled with knights and fairy tales.
3. It’s called castle in English.
4. It was built on the foundations of a medieval fortress in Touraine.
5. This setting was one of the inspirations for a book project.

I’m just looking for the first word and if you still don’t know, go here!

Once you’ve figured out where I’m writing, head over to the YA Chicks site and:

  1. Officially enter the giveaway by inputting each author’s name and your guesses about our locations. Every author location you guess correctly increases your chances to win.
  2. For even more chances, post a picture of yourself reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).

For writer prize packs:

  1. Post pictures of yourself writing in a fun location on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere. Then follow the directions on the Rafflecopter giveaway to let us know you did it.
  2. For even more chances, gather your writer friends together and post a group shot with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag). And hey, since you’re already together, why not host a write-a-thon?

For teacher prize packs:

  1. Post pictures of your class reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
  2. Then let us know you did it when you enter the Rafflecopter. If you don’t have a Twitter or Instagram, you can email your picture directly with the picture pasted directly into the email (no attachments–we won’t open them) AND the subject, “Read or Write Anywhere.”
  3. You can also check out the YA Chicks Read or Write Anywhere lesson plan, available on their site.

Now, what are you waiting for? Get out there and READ OR WRITE ANYWHERE!

 #ReadOrWriteAnywhere

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read Or Write Anywhere!

May 4, 2015 | , , , | 0 Comments

Summer is about to begin!

But just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we should stop reading and writing. The YA Chicks— ViviBarnes, Christina Farley, and Amy Christine Parker—along with guest co-creators Lucienne Diver, Peggy Jackson, and Tara Gallina , are excited to share with you a global campaign that we are launching on May 22, 2015, to encourage readers, writers, students, and teachers to share pictures all of the places—both ordinary and extraordinary—where they are reading and writing. This is open to all readers/writers of both middle grade and young adult books!

 

as well as take part in…

A MONSTER GIVEAWAY! 

 

We have THREE separate prize packs in the works:
·       The Reader’s Pack: Includes one book from every participating author (just wait until you hear who we’ve got lined up!): US and Canada only
·       The Writer’s Pack: Includes query critiques, writing swag from authors, and more! International
The Classroom Pack: Includes free Skype visits w/YA Chicks and other participating authors, a signed YA Chicks poster, and other swag! International
***A more detailed listing of prizes will be posted closer to the event date, so check back often!
So, how can you participate? 
It’s easy! Simply choose which prize pack you’d like to win and find the directions for it below under the headings: READERS, WRITERS, or STUDENTS & TEACHERS (you can participate in multiple giveaways). Then visit the YA Chicks site on May 22, 2015, beginning at 9 a.m. EST, and enter your chosen giveaway(s).
We can’t wait to see where you’re reading and writing! 
READERS:
At 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we will be posting pictures of middle grade and young adult authors writing or reading in mysterious locations. It will be your job to figure out exactly where they are. We will link each picture to that author’s website where you will find 5 clues to help you figure it out. Once you’ve got all the authors locations, come back to the YA Chicks site and:
·       Officially enter the giveaway by telling us the authors’ names and your guesses about their locations. Every author location you guess correctly increases your chances to win.  

 

·       For even more chances, post a picture of yourself reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag). 
WRITERS:
Starting at 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we’d like you to:
·       Post pictures of yourself writing in a fun location on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere. Then let us know you did it when you enter the giveaway.
·       For even more chances, gather your writer friends together and post a group shot with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag). And hey, since you’re already together, why not host a write-a-thon?

 TEACHERS & STUDENTS:
Starting at 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we’d like you to:
·       Post pictures of your class reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
·       Then let us know you did it when you enter the giveaway. If you don’t have a Twitter or Instagram, you can email your picture directly to us with the picture pasted directly into the email (no attachments–we won’t open them) AND the subject, “Read or Write Anywhere.”
·       You can also check out our YA Chicks Read or Write Anywhere lesson plan, available on our site. 
  
***ATTENTION AUTHORS******
If you are reading this and we haven’t contacted you directly, but you’d like to take part in this event, please visit our Read or Write Author Page and fill out the application here.
  
That’s it! We hope you’re as excited as we are about this campaign and trio of giveaways. Now, what are you waiting for? Get out there and READ OR WRITE ANYWHERE!
#ReadOrWriteAnywhere

Announcing Winner and Cool Stuff!

Apr 7, 2015 | , , , , | 0 Comments

magicsky

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and participated in the YA Scavenger Hunt! What a fun event and it was great ‘meeting’ you all on my blog. Perhaps someday we will meet in person!

So the winner of SILVERN + a signed poster of both books is: (drum roll)

come on down

Kirstian Semprevivo!!!! Big congrats!

But if you didn’t win the big YA Scavenger Hunt giveaway or my personal giveaway, don’t fret.

There’s a giveaway on Goodreads for GILDED and one for SILVERN going on right now!

Goodreads

Plus, I’m always doing fun stuff and as we get closer to BRAZEN’s release, I’ve got some epic giveaways planned!

buckeye

In other news, if you hadn’t seen me ‘screaming’ on social media, GILDED was nominated for Ohio’s Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award for grades 6-8. What an honor!

It was also chosen for the Tome It List! I know. I’m absolutely thrilled.

It List 15-16 HS poster

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