It's Time For A Holiday...

Hey Everyone,

Well, 2013 has been an epic year for me. I've managed to publish The Elements Trilogy, Before and Beyond - the two Betwixt Series novellas, two Indie Inked samplers and put together three omnibus books. I've also written the 1st draft of two books I'm publishing next year - True Colors and I Know Lucy. I've been invited to be a panelist at UtopYA Con next year and I've signed a publishing contract with Evatopia Press.

I'm really proud of what I've achieved and I can't wait for 2014. I have another 6 books planned and I can't WAIT to share them with you!

My brain is now ready for a little break. My family and I are going away for a week to a sunny resort in Thailand then returning for a snuggly two weeks in the Suzhou cold. It'll be my boys first winter Christmas so it'll be a good experience for them.

I'm planning on getting a bunch of reading done. My kindle is packed with goodies that I'm super excited about getting into.

What's on your reading list?

If you want to add a few more - here are some of my favorite reads from 2013 (in no particular order).

Anna Cruise:
Maverick - If I Fall - It Was You - It Was Me - It Was Us - Down by the Water

Ella James: Selling Scarlett - Taming Cross

Taylor Longford:
Defiance - Chaos - (I read the 1st three in this series last year. I have LOVED them all so far!)

JA Huss: Losing Francesca

Alexia Purdy: Ever Wrath

Cambria Hebert: Text

Shelly Crane: Wide Awake - Wide Spaces

Komal Kant: Impossible

Ruben Gretchen: The Happiness Project

Simone Elkeles: Wild Cards

What have you read and enjoyed this year?

Thank you so much for everyone who has read and followed this blog throughout 2013. I have had so much fun highlighting authors and introducing you all to some top quality reading.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a very Merry Christmas :)
I will be back on January 6th with more author highlights, cover reveals, interviews, discussion posts, giveaways and a ton more fun.

Fun Friday - An Interview with Stacey Rourke

It's always so much fun interviewing authors, so this week the YA Storytellers are interviewing each other so that you guys can get to know a little more about us.

I was lucky enough to get Stacey Rourke as my pick and it's so cool to have her on YAlicious today.
Welcome, Stacey!

What would you find in your refrigerator right now?

Leftover birthday cake, beer and three kinds of coffee creamer. Huh. I really need to go shopping...

If you could wave a magic wand and have any career (besides writing) what would it be?

Heiress to a fortune that has unlimited financial resources to shop, vacation, and do whatever suits me. That would be swell. 

What inspires you out of writer's block?

Two things: music and people watching. Music inspires emotional heavy scenes for me, while people watching can help me create situations I couldn't have dreamed up otherwise--all while being a slight creeper and staring at strangers.

Any works in process that you are passionate about?

I have a new adult speculative fiction series I am working on now that I am insanely excited about. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. 

Which of your characters would you like to be friends with?

Rowan from the Gryphon Series, he's such a cocky ass but he's always good for a laugh. Plus, that drunken pirate thing really works for me, hence my love for Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Which of your characters do you like writing about most?

Grams, a crazy old lady that speaks her mind and has a love for anything animal print. She is always a hoot to write! 

What is your favorite 80s movie? band? song? TV show?

Beetleguise, he's not a band but Billy Idol, "Hey Mickey" and 21 Jump Street

Do you have a favorite charity?

Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids or basically any that help better the lives of children. 

Tell us about your favorite Christmas tradition.

On Christmas Eve my kids and I make sugar cookies for Santa and lay out carrots for his reindeer. Then we snuggle in with some hot chocolate and watch The Polar Express. Right before bed we read T'was the Night Before Christmas and I tuck them in. One of my favorite times of year, by far!  

Do you see any current trends in YA literature?

The trends change constantly. But whatever we can do to keep our young adults reading I am all for! 

Thanks so much, Stacey. I read T'was the Night Before Christmas to my kids on Christmas Eve too. It's such a special treat :)

If you'd like to find out more about Stacey, you can check out her links and books below.

And if you'd like to read some more YA Storyteller interviews, check out YA STORYTELLERS FUN FRIDAY.

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012.

Stacey Rourke is the author of the YA Fantasy Gryphon Series and the nonfiction autobiographical I'm Not Crazy, I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, drooly dogs. Stacey loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of the Gryphon Series as well as other literary projects.

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com, diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacey-Rourke/ or on Twitter @Rourkewrites.

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

COVER REVEAL: Tipsy by Cambria Hebert

   

 

 

Synopsis

Julie Preston is an artist. But her canvas isn’t paper or clay. It’s hair. She spends her days coloring, blow drying and styling her clients hair at the Razor’s Edge salon. Julie is also annoyed. She went out on a date and had a great time, gave the guy her number and the jerk never called.

So when he waltzes into the salon and sits down in her chair she briefly considers strangling him with the pink cape she fastens around his neck.

Too bad she can’t.

Blue Markson, the guy who never called, is a police officer so causing him bodily harm would be a first class ticket into the slammer. Just looking at him again makes Julie forget why she was mad in the first place, but she’s already learned that Blue is nothing but heartache. So when he starts coming around, acting like he hadn’t made her stare at the phone for days, she tries to brush him off.

Only…

Her life is about to blow up in her face, she’s about to get caught up in a sticky web of crime and the one guy who can help her is the one guy she vowed never to trust again.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Buy Now

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

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Excerpt

I leaned back against my padded headboard and tried to calm my rolling stomach. As I sat there, trying not to barf, a light sound caught my attention. It was the closing of the front door. I perked up, forgetting all about the fact I was suffering from an attack of an unsuspecting hangover. Had I forgotten to lock the door? I never forgot to lock the door. But I was usually not running from my best friend. Great. The one time I don’t lock the damn door is the one time a burglar decides to come a calling. Too bad for mister criminal I had a plan for something like this. I was the kind of girl that always had a plan.

I crept into the bathroom, being as quiet as I could and reached into the cabinet. I pulled out my weapons (hey, all the crap that women have to do to themselves to look good definitely qualify as weapons.) and gripped them closely to my chest with both hands. My heart was beating so hard against my ribs that it actually hurt and I had to work to not gasp for breath. Catching my intruder by surprise was key to my plan.

Moving quickly through the dark I moved to the bedroom door, leaning against the wall and peering out into the darkened hallway. I could see the top of the stairs from where I stood, as well as the railing that ran alongside the hallway to keep someone from falling into the stairwell from upstairs. Courtesy of the nightlight down in the entry way (it came in handy when I wanted a drink in the middle of the night) I saw a shadow move against the wall, the figure was large and distorted against the tall bare wall of the stairwell. Up until that point I hadn’t been certain someone was in the house. But now I couldn’t deny it. There was a robber in my house. He for sure had nefarious plans. Too bad for him I had a really shitty night and wasn’t in the mood. As his foot stepped on the bottom stairs I slinked out of the door and along the wall, keeping my eyes trained on the top of the stairs. He began climbing the stairs (I was very unimpressed with his quietness, or rather lack thereof.) and as he climbed I slipped along the wall, moving through the darkness until I was standing in the corner directly across from the top of the stairs. I saw his shoulders appear as he continued upwards. He was wearing a dark coat and a dark hat… he was nothing but a large ominous shape in the night. I swallowed, the sound of my saliva scraping down my dry throat made me wince and my palms were sweaty, causing me to tighten my grip on my weapons. 

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Meet the Author

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

Social Media Links

Cambria’s website: http://www.cambriahebert.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambria-Hebert/128278117253138

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cambriahebert

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/cambriahebert/pins/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5298677.Cambria_Hebert

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Buy Take It Off Series Now

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Hosted By:

Cover Reveal - Burned by Liz Long

A note from Liz:
Thank you to the amazing authors and bloggers who volunteered to help with today's cover reveal. I am so excited to show off the cover for my new book - I've been dying to show it off! Made by the talented Caroline McKean, I hope you love it as much as I do (plus gets you a little worried about what's to come). Gifted, A Donovan Circus Novel is the first title in the series. Available at Amazon on Kindle and paperback, the ebook is currently on sale for only 99 cents to celebrate the upcoming release!

(Where's Sheffield's ringmaster voice when I need it?) 

Now here it is, the cover reveal for Burned, A Donovan Circus Novel!

Burned, A Donovan Circus Novel Synopsis:
“Tell Sheffield that Medved is hunting him…the Bear is coming.”
Nearly a month after Lucy Sullivan saved the Donovan Circus from certain death, she discovers that Dr. Felix Hardy wasn’t the only bad guy around. When Lucy is attacked on home ground, Sheffield Donovan reveals that there are bigger foes in their world, gifted that use their powers to kill others – including her own family, as she learns from her ringmaster mentor. Medved, a Russian thug and powerful Shapeshifter, is intent on outing the gifted world and will stop at nothing to succeed. In order to survive, Lucy and her friends must travel to another show, the Grayson Circus, for help. The uneasy alliance with owner Albert Grayson comes with potential new friends and dark secrets about their competition, including a troublemaker named Mel and an old flame of Lucy’s father. Lucy must also contend with her feelings about Keegan and Gabriel, as well as learn how to contain her rampant emotions or risk setting the entire place ablaze. Will Lucy be able to save the Donovan Circus again? Or will Medved and his men slaughter everyone in their path on the way to gifted domination?

About the Author:

 

Liz Long is a ridiculously proud graduate of Longwood University with a BA in English. Her inspiration comes from action and thriller genres and she spends entirely too much time watching superhero movies. Her fabulous day job as a social media editor includes writing for a publishing company in Roanoke, VA. Her first book, Gifted, is the first book in the Donovan Circus series. Her second book Witch Hearts, a story about a serial killer hunting witches for their powers, is available at Amazon on Kindle and paperback. To learn more about Liz, visit her website: http://lizclong.com.  

This Week's A Little Different...

I know I normally post every Monday and Thursday, but this week's going to be a little different.
Due to fitting in with people's cover reveals, etc. I am shuffling things around.

Look out for a Liz C. Long cover reveal on Thursday!
A Cambria Hebert cover reveal on Friday morning AND a Stacey Rourke interview on Friday afternoon!

FUN!

After that I will have one post left for 2013, then YAlicious is going to be taking a holiday break until the new year, where I have a bunch of fun stuff planned, including a little visit from one of my favorite authors of all time... Simone Elkeles!!

The Unfinished Song (Book 1): Initiate by Tara Maya

The Unfinished Song (Book 1): Initiate by Tara Maya

BLURB

DEADLY INITIATION

A DETERMINED GIRL...

Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.

AN EXILED WARRIOR...

Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

EXCERPT

Blue-skinned rusalki grappled Dindi under the churning surface of the river. She could feel their claws dig into her arms. Their riverweed-like hair entangled her legs when she tried to kick back to the surface. She only managed to gulp a few breaths of air before they pulled her under again.

She hadn't appreciated how fast and deep the river was. On her second gasp for air, she saw that the current was already dragging her out of sight of the screaming girls on the bank. A whirlpool of froth and fae roiled between two large rocks in the middle of the river. The rusalka and her sisters tugged Dindi toward it. Other water fae joined the rusalki. Long snouted pookas, turtle-like kappas and hairy-armed gwyllions all swam around her, leading her to the whirlpool, where even more fae swirled in the whitewater.

"Join our circle, Dindi!" the fae voices gurgled under the water. "Dance with us forever!"

"No!" She kicked and swam and stole another gasp for air before they snagged her again. There were so many of them now, all pulling her down, all singing to the tune of the rushing river. She tried to shout, "Dispel!" but swallowed water instead. Her head hit a rock, disorienting her. She sank, this time sure she wouldn't be coming up again.

"Dispel!" It was a man's voice.

Strong arms encircled her and lifted her until her arms and head broke the surface. Her rescuer swam with her toward the shore. He overpowered the current, he shrugged aside the hands of the water faeries stroking his hair and arms. When he reached the shallows, he scooped Dindi into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the grassy bank. He set her down gently.

She coughed out some water while he supported her back.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded. He was young--only a few years older than she. The aura of confidence and competence he radiated made him seem older. Without knowing quite why, she was certain he was a Tavaedi.

"Good." He had a gorgeous smile. A wisp of his dark bangs dangled over one eye. He brushed his dripping hair back over his head.

Dindi's hand touched skin--he was not wearing any shirt. Both of them were sopping wet. On him, that meant trickles of water coursed over a bedrock of muscle. As for her, the thin white wrap clung transparently to her body like a wet leaf. She blushed.

"It might have been easier to swim if you had let go of that," he teased. He touched her hand, which was closed around something. "What were you holding onto so tightly that it mattered more than drowning?"

LINKS

Tara’s blog http://bit.ly/12dFdNy

Tara’s Twitter http://bit.ly/162sCtE

The Unfinished Song on Facebook http://on.fb.me/1400mMq

Amazon http://amzn.to/15ciwYc

Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/13yM5Dr

Kobo http://bit.ly/1aFhg1P

iTunes http://bit.ly/1baddhN

Smashwords http://bit.ly/17zK8Xn

Initiate is free everywhere except on Barnes and Noble (where it’s $0.99). You can download a free epub version via Smashwords.

Laura A. H. Elliott's Holiday Book Pick, great for every woman on your list!

It's my pleasure to welcome Laura A. H. Elliot to YAlicious today. She has two of her books to share with us, the first one is supporting a very worthy cause.

Welcome to YAlicious, Laura :)

 

Releases Dec. 3! 

All proceeds donated to NCADV

Hey Melissa, thanks for having me on your wonderful blog for my holiday book pick. 

Yes, friends, it is a time of giving, loving, and sharing. Within these pages is a way you can help many people desperately in need of love, support, and goodness: the victims of domestic violence. By purchasing this anthology, you are sending every last dime made off this book to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The NCADV is an amazing charity that saves these people and lets them know there is still hope, still goodness, and still a reason to carry on. 

Christmas Lites III releases December 3! 

Twenty-one authors have joined in this year, giving their time and their stories to these people – and to you. I hope you enjoy these holiday tales captured in bite-size pieces. Whether you read this on the bus, before bed, or snuggled by the fire, please, do read – and share with all the women on your list.

  

  Authors in this anthology: 

 Addison Moore 

A.F. Stewart 

Amy Eye 

Angela Yuriko Smith 

Ben Warden 

Cassie McCown 

Elizabeth Evans 

J.A. Clement 

JG Faherty 

Jonathan Tidball 

M.L. Sherwood 

Monica La Porta 

Ottilie Weber 

Patrick Freivald 

Phil Cantrill 

Robert Gray 

Ron C. Neito 

S. Patrick Pothier 

Tricia Kristufek 

Vered Ehsani 

*Brandon Eye bonus story 

 Editor/compiler: Amy Eye of The Eyes for Editing 

Cover Design Kyra Smith 

And here's a little about Laura...

 Laura A. H. Elliott (@Laurawriting) loves writing about enchanted road trips, cursed storytellers, shadow worlds, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. After twenty-plus years as a freelance graphic designer/animator with clients including E! Entertainment Television and The Los Angeles Times, she followed her heart into the world of fiction. Little known fun facts––next on her dream list is a trip to Indonesia and she daydreams of doing stand-up comedy when she's not completely terrified of it. Check out her latest release, The Storytellers--an adult paranormal romance where Raiders of The Lost Arc meets Thelma & Louise. 

To read about Laura's other YA and MG titles follow her blog Laurasmagicday.

You can also fine Laura online here:

LAURASMAGICDAY

@Laurawriting

authorlaura.com

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