Sunday, January 19, 2014

And the Weekly Winners of the Patti Larsen Giveaway Are...

Angel Lawson,

Alexandru Rusu

and

Book Chatter Cath!!


Congratulations to the three winners!! Patti Larsen will be getting in touch with you directly to organize the receiving of your gifts.

Next week we have another good line up with a showcase and giveaway for one of my favorite YA authors - Simone Elkeles!!

We also have the first Top 5 for the year.

I hope you're all having a brilliant weekend and I look forward to seeing you again on Monday :)

xx

Friday, January 17, 2014

NEW RELEASE: Keeping Breathing by Alexia Purdy



Title: Keep Breathing
Author: Alexia Purdy
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Adult
Publisher: Lyrical Lit. Press
Release Date: January 15 2014

Blurb/Synopsis:
Seth Kingston is back in town with years of regrets. Regrets for the way he left things with Penny, the hurt he caused her, and the future they could have had together. He had his reasons and now all he wants is to make amends and have a second chance at love.
But Penny wants no part of what he’s offering. She’s accepted that life is hard, love is an illusion, and you can’t trust men. Especially men named Seth Kingston. And yet… he’s so tender with her. He’s patient, and caring.
Is it possible that he’s changed? Can they really try again?
The past has a tendency to embed its vicious talons deep into a heart, never to let go again. Penny has enough tragedy to last lifetimes and isn’t willing to let anyone scale her walls.
Can real love survive anything, even an unforgiving past?

Amazon Purchase Link - only 99c for the next three days!!

Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada–Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She loves writing paranormal fantasy and poetry and devours books daily. Alexia also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and Italian food.

Places to find Alexia

Thursday, January 16, 2014

COVER LOVE - True Colors Cover Reveal

And here it is...the moment we've all been waiting for :)

The True Colors cover reveal!!

It is with great pleasure that I reveal this stunning cover by Kate Strawbridge of Dwell Design and Press. Her tireless work on this project was amazing and the cover is simply stunning. Thank you for your talent and patience, lovely lady. You have done a fantastic job.



TRUE COLORS BLURB:
Caitlyn Davis always cruised through life, not being the type to ruffle feathers or involve herself in high school drama…until a chance encounter with a strange, homeless man changes everything.

Suddenly, Caitlyn has the ability to see behind people’s masks. She discovers that her life isn’t as simple as she imagined and her high school is filled with secrets…some very sinister ones.

Unable to ignore her new gift, Caitlyn embarks on a mission to learn why one of her friends now appears terrified, but masks her fear behind a bright, smiling veneer. Will Caitlyn’s new ability lead her into hot water? Or is her new found vision a blessing that will expose her friends’ true colors?

Her quest will lead Caitlyn to lose friends, stand up for those in need, and even find love.

At Palisades High School every face tells a story…


Add True Colors to your reading list on Goodreads.





And please don't forget to join in the True Colors release celebration at the 

Masquerade Ball (A Facebook Event) 

February 16th. 


This is going to be huge - with visiting authors unveiling their own secrets as well as competitions and giveaways. A Best Mask Competition has already begun.
But the best part?
Every party-goer will be entitled to purchase a copy of True Colors for only 99c!! 
I look forward to seeing you there :)

Monday, January 13, 2014

Author Highlight - PATTI LARSEN

It is my total pleasure to have Patti Larsen visit YAlicious today. When I was first starting out in the indie publishing world, I read a post by her that totally inspired me and I've been watching her progress ever since.

Author of a myriad of books, Patti Larsen is Purely Paranormal and an author who has done all us indie's proud.


Today she is visiting with two Top 5's and thanks to her amazing generosity has also provided the Weekly Winner prize pack for not just one, but THREE people.

Thank you so much for joining us on YAlicious today, Patti. It's awesome to have you :)

About Patti Larsen:

You’re not looking for my polished bio, huh? You sure you want more? The real dirty, down deep, nitty gritty? Fair enough. Here goes: I’m a card-carrying nerd. It’s taken years to admit it. I’m also a hermit in a writing basement who prefers solitude to people (cats always welcome). I’m a writing fiend who hears the voices of teenagers and blushes at the S-E-X parts. I don’t sleep very well. Ever. My mind is too busy. I am a feline loving married woman who could easily end up a crazy cat lady if my husband would let me. I am a paradigm shifter, a believer in self and my own personal power. I see everything in black and white until the gray is explained to me. I am a fiercely loyal friend, a confidant and a Tarot card reader and intuitive. I am a proud geek fangirl, a total dweeb and can’t dance to save my soul. I am terrified of heights and challenge that fear every chance I get. Oh, and I’m the Creator. The Queen of my own Destiny. I love that.

You can find me all over the Internet

Five of My Favorite Characters

This was actually very hard and I had to force myself to choose only characters who had their own series.

1. Sydlynn Hayle, hands down. Though she resists her power at first, who wouldn’t want to be a teen witch with tons of power and two hot guys vying for you?

2. Reid from the Hunted series. No matter the circumstances, he never quits, never gives up and looks out for those who need him.

3. Trio (Clone Three), partly because she’s so determined despite how broken she is. Memory lost, she perseveres, even learns to love in a post-apocalyptic world dying around her. Tragic but heroic.

4. Auburdeen Hayle, great-great-great grandmother of Sydlynn Hayle. She’s funny, brave and adventurous. I love how she throws herself into danger without thinking about the consequences.

5. Fresco Conte’s journey always breaks my heart, from a football hero to a drug addict dying on the street, his strength and determination still surprise me.

*****
You can find all of my top five characters in Purely Paranormal, a collection of first books in five series:



Five things I Love about my Job


1. Working from home, so on icy cold days I can stay inside and be toasty warm (can you tell it’s winter in my part of the world?)

2. Being a creator, exploring worlds and lives I would never have the chance to experience.

3. Meeting amazing readers and other fabulous writers (thanks for having me, Melissa!) and especially finding out authors you admire like your work, too :)

4. Being in control of my own destiny, being my own boss. It’s amazing.

5. Making a living doing what I always wanted. What’s not to love?

I couldn't agree more. I feel lucky every day to be writing :)

Thank you so much for sharing a piece of yourself with us and thank you for your generosity, Patti.

If you'd like to win an e-copy of Purely Paranormal, plus one of Patti's pendant key chains, please enter the giveaway below. Winner will be announced on Sunday.

If you'd like to connect with Patti online, you can find her on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pattilarsenauthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/PattiLarsen

Website: www.bit.ly/pattilarsen

And you can sign up for new release updates: www.bit.ly/pattilarsenemail


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, January 11, 2014

And the 1st Weekly Winner of 2014 is....

BOOK CHATTER CATH!!


Yay - I know this lovely lady and she's a peach.
Congratulations, Cath. I will look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. The next one starts tomorrow, with the prizeS (squee!!) being supplied by our fantastic guest author - Patti Larsen!!

And later this week we have the True Colors Cover Reveal which I'm also uber excited about.

I hope everyone is having a brilliant weekend. I look forward to seeing you all next week :D

xx

Thursday, January 9, 2014

The True Colors Masquerade Ball & Best Mask Competition

My next novel is coming out on February 16th. To celebrate, we are holding a Masquerade Ball. This is a Facebook event with so many fun things planned - you won't want to miss it :)



YOU CAN JOIN HERE


I would love to have you join the event. I am updating the event weekly with excerpts from the novel, plus the cover will be revealed there on January 16th. I am also running the odd flash giveaway leading up to the big day.

There are a few awesome things happening at this ball, such as...

- All party-goers will be entitled to buy a copy of True Colors for only 99c!
- This event will also involve many other authors who will be sharing secrets on their own Facebook pages throughout the event.
- There will also be a Guess The Author Competition, plus we are running two Best Mask Competitions...one for the authors...

AND ONE FOR YOU!!

Here's how it works....


Send your pictures to 

hello@melissapearlauthor.com


Evatopia Press (who is publishing True Colors) and I are very excited about this upcoming event. This is going to be an awesome party and I can't wait to see you there!!

If you are an author and would like to be involved in this event, please sign up HERE.

Monday, January 6, 2014

What Do You Want To Achieve In 2014?

I've always been a goal setter. I like to have something to aim for and I love that sense of achievement when I can cross something off my list. I also love the sense of directions goals give me.

So - in regards to YAlicious this year...here are some of my goals:

- Although this blog is called YAlicious, I have started to include some New Adult novels as well. I have read some fantastic NA novels lately and I want to be able to include them on this blog, so my goal is to include a wider variety of books and authors this year. I will still continue to talk movies occasionally as well - I just can't help myself ;)

- I want to continue inviting amazing authors to visit. It's been so cool featuring all these great books and highlighting new writers for you to discover. This will continue to be the main focus of this blog.
If you have any authors you absolutely love, let me know, I'd love to have them visit YAlicious.

- I want to continue with some of the special features - Cover Love, Discussion Time, Book Reviewer Interviews. I'm also going to introduce two new features this year - Top 5 & The Monthly Awesomeness Award.
If you are a book reviewer and would like to tell us a little about yourself in the interview feature, please let me know. I'd love to have you.

- Another initiative I want to start this year is Weekly Winner. Most Mondays I will be featuring an author and one or two of their books. These features will always be accompanied with a giveaway and each Sunday, a Weekly Winner will be chosen.

- And because this is my blog, I will still continue to highlight what's going on in my writing world ;)

Have you set any goals for yourself this year?
If so, I wish you the best of luck in achieving them.

And because it's Monday, let's start our first giveaway of the year.

a Rafflecopter giveaway