Foto Friday~ Dealer of Words

Writers on Wednesday~ Christine Fonseca

Welcome Christine Fonseca today! She's written quite a few books, both fiction and non-fiction. Christine helps many people with her books and website.

Enjoy the post today!


Is there one book or author who changed your life/viewpoint/writing? - I am continually inspired by writers. In terms of ONE who maybe changed things for me, it would have to be Christina Katz, way back at the very beginning of my career. She wrote a book called Get Known Before the Book Deal. This book changed my opinion and understanding of the industry completely. I have not yet had a chance to take one of her classes, but I would really LOVE to!

Give us your elevator pitch. - Yea, I will be honest...I haven't written it yet. I am currently finishing two books under contract - one a nonfiction parenting book, and one the final in a trilogy. After that, I have a very special book I am working on. It is a YA psychological thriller that would be best described as the Black Swan meets Gossip Girl meets The Liar Society. Yea, something like that!

What’s your favorite snack? - Salty sweet anything. And Dark chocolate!

What is your most memorable high school experience? - I was a very awkward teenager, so most of the memorable times were not positive ones. But, as I aged and started to find myself a bit more, I do remember being very proud when I entered a beauty pageant and won Miss Congeniality - me, an awkward and shy girl managed to be considering outgoing. It was pretty amazing, really!

What was the first book that turned you into a reader? - I have been reading for as long as I can remember. That said, one of the earliest books I have read and enjoyed was Where the Red Fern Grows, as well as Island of the Blue Dolphins, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and Macbeth.

Are you a night owl or early bird? I used to be a total night owl. But now as I am getting much older, I would have to say I am an early bird all the way! That is when I get a lot of writing in, as well as my morning meditations.

What do you never leave home without? My phone. Yes, I am addicted!

Do you have any pets? I used to have several. But, they have died over the years and now we are pet-free. My husband and I like to travel and hope to do more of that as soon as the kids go off to college - thus the reason for no pets.

What is one piece of advice you would give aspiring writers? Never Give Up. Period!

What are you goals for 2013? - I have many, the largest being to finish my super sekrit project and try to sell it, and refocus on my goal to improve my health and lifestyle.

Beehive Book 2013-2014 Nominations ~ local authors

A few local authors made the nominations! (I linked the books I reviewed to the reviews, if you're interested)(which, apparently, isn't as many as I thought. I just added more to my TBR pile!)

The Beehive Book Award 2013-2014 Nominations:

Children's Fiction

·         Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser

·         Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

·         The Humming Room by Ellen Potter

·         Icefall by Matthew Kirby

·         Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

·         Malcolm at Midnight by W. H. Beck

·         Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

·         Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

·         Wonder by R. J. Palacio

·         Zita the Spacegirl, Book 1, Far From Home by Ben Hatke

Picture Books

·         Bink & Gollie: Two For One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile

·         Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

·         Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

·         How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish

·         It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Jeremy Tankard

·         Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durand, illustrated by Tony Fucile

·         My Garden by Kevin Henkes

·         Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean

·         Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

·         The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene

·         Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee

·         Z is for Moose by Paul O. Zelinsky

Informational Books

·         America is Under Attack:  September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown

·         Balloons Over Broadway:  The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

·         Barnum’s Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracy Fern

·         Billy the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman

·         Bomb:  The Race to Build—and Steal—The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

·         Harry Houdini:  The Legend of the World’s Greatest Escape Artist by Janice Weaver

·         Invincible Microbe:  Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

·         It’s a Dog’s Life: How Man’s Best Friend Sees, Hears and Smells the World by Susan E. Goodman

·         Just a Second by Steve Jenkins

·         North:  The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration by Nick Dowson

Poetry Books

·         BookSpeak! Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas

·         Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen

·         Out of This World by Amy Sklansky

·         Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking by Alan Katz

·         The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub by Susan Katz

·         Shiver Me Timbers by Douglas Florian

·         Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman

           Twosomes by Marilyn Singer

Young Adult Books

·         Cinder by Marissa Meyer

·         Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein*

·         The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

·         The Fault in Our Stars by John Green*

·         Legend by Marie Lu

·         Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

·         Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry*

·         The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater*

·         Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

·         Ungifted by Gordon Korman

·         Welcome Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

·         Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

*mature readers

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Spotlight! INEVITABLE by Tamara Hart Heiner (Giveaway!)

Announcing the release of Inevitable, the newest young adult suspense novel by Tamara Hart Heiner!

Visions of death plague Jayne, who thinks watching her boyfriend die is the worst that could happen to her. But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne finds herself caught up in a dangerous world of intrigue and suspense.

As it turns out, she is not the only one doing the stalking. The killer is on to her, and all of her visions of the dying don't reveal how her life will end. Somehow, she must stop the murderer before he arranges Jayne's own inevitable death.

First page
Available on Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Kobo.com!


After an awesome ebook launch on Facebook, Tamara's trying hard to top that with the paperback. So here's the plan:

1) For the entire month of March, every comment on Tamara's blog gets entered into a drawing to win a HARD COPY of one of her books. (You get to choose which one!)

2) Leave a comment on THIS BLOG for a chance to win ALL of her young adult ebooks!

3) Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for another chance to win Inevitable.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Inevitable

by Tamara Hart Heiner

Giveaway ends April 02, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

4) If you SPREAD THE NEWS, whether it's on your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, or just plain word of mouth, you'll be entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble gift card. Email Tamara at tamarahartheiner dot com and tell her how many times you did it, and you'll be entered into the drawing that many times!

Are we ready??? Get set! Go!

About the author: I live in Arkansas with my husband and three children, two crazy boys and one pretty little princess. I used to spend a lot of time writing until I had a baby and discovered Facebook. Now you'll often find me on there pretending to have a social life.

I am the author of three young adult suspense novels, PERILOUS, ALTERCATION, and INEVITABLE. You can find out more about what I'm writing and catch deleted scenes from my books on my blog at http://tamarahartheiner.blogspot.com.

Whitney Finalist Giveaway! EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

Congrats to Brodi Ashton. EVERNEATH is Brodi's first book, first whitney finalist and she is up for Best Novel by New Author. Good luck in May.

Have you read this book yet? No? Then you'll want to try and win it here. Just leave a comment on your favorite retelling/adaptation.

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

Foto Friday~ A hope, a dream

Writers on Wednesday~ Michael Young

Welcome to Michael Young today! I first met Michael when he was selling his Christmas book, SING WE NOW AT CHRISTMAS which he gave all the proceeds to National Down Syndrome Society. Other awesome people wrote a story for the book, edited and designed the cover...for free.
Awesome, right?

Enjoy today's post!

Is there one book or author who changed your life/viewpoint/writing?

I loved C.S. Lewis growing up. He showed me that you could write fantasy stories that had a deeper, even spiritual meaning.

Give us your elevator pitch.

This is for a book for which I am trying to find a publisher called “Starspire”.

When a stone tower to rival the Empire State Building appears on the fairgrounds overnight, no one suspects that a 13-year old boy is responsible. When Tyson Phelps was two, he swallowed a gem that fell from the heavens and now some of his dreams become reality while others fade.

After many disastrous incidents in Tyson’s childhood, Tyson’s parents keep him home-schooled and away from the world.  Tyson, however, pleads to be taken to the carnival for his birthday to see Markus Zauber, the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Magician in the World’, and they finally give in. When Markus can’t even pull a rabbit out of a hat, Tyson falls asleep in the dark tent and dreams about the wizard he wishes Markus were. Suddenly, a new, improved version of Markus appears on stage and casts a powerful sleeping spell on Tyson to keep him dreaming forever.

As a result of the wizard’s dark magic, Tyson’s dreams are contained in one place and form an ever-growing tower in which a separate dream forms each floor. His parents enter the tower, bent on awakening and rescuing their son. As soon as they set foot in the tower, however, they revert to teenage versions of themselves and soon discover that the dreams of a 13-year-old are a dangerous place to be. The wizard knows he will lose his power the moment Tyson wakes and does everything he can to make sure that each of Tyson’s dreams will be darker than the last.

What’s your favorite snack?

Popcorn, especially the movie theater kind. That’s probably why I like to go to movies so much.

What is your most memorable high school experience?

That would be traveling to Hawaii with my high school choir. We stayed in a five-star hotel on the beach, went to a Luau, and visited Pearl Harbor, and our choir took first place in the competition and I won a trophy for a solo I sang.

What was the first book that turned you into a reader? 

The Hobbit. It was pretty exciting to see it finally adapted into a movie.

Are you a night owl or early bird? 

I am very much a night owl, as is my two-year old son. Sometimes I write while he crawls around.

What is your favorite meal? 

I’m a sucker for homemade Italian. My wife made me a white lasagna with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and chicken that blew my mind.

What do you never leave home without? 

My laptop and something to write with. You never know when inspiration will strike, and you also never know when your laptop might give out on you.

Do you have any pets? 

Nope, just a couple of cute little sons.

What is one piece of advice you would give aspiring writers? 

Don’t spend so much time worrying about what people think about your writing and get on to writing your next piece.

What are you goals for 2013?

I had my best writing year ever in 2012: over 600,000 words written. This year: revision! That’s a lot of words to get through, but I think it will pay off.

Whitney Finalst Giveaway! FEEDBACK by Robison Wells

Conrats to Robison for being a Whitney finalist! FEEDBACK is the second book in the Variant series. Good luck in May!

It's your turn to read this book and you can win it here! Just leave a comment what superpower you'd love to be have. I would like to have the ability to wiggle my nose and have my house magically cleaned!

Benson Fisher escaped from Maxfield Academy’s deadly rules and brutal gangs.

Or so he thought.

But now Benson is trapped in a different kind of prison: a town filled with hauntingly familiar faces. People from Maxfield he saw die. Friends he was afraid he had killed.

They are all pawns in the school’s twisted experiment, held captive and controlled by an unseen force. As he searches for answers, Benson discovers that Maxfield Academy’s plans are more sinister than anything he imagined—and they may be impossible to stop

Foto Friday ~ Courage

VODNIK by Bryce Moore

Tomas returns to Slovakia where he must first avoid a vodnik, straight out of a fairy tale, who wants to drown him and put his soul in a teacup, and then beat Death to save his cousin's life.

Last line:
"Like I was home."

Fun, educational story full of mythical stories and magic and adventure. Tomas life isn't really normal. He has burn scar that he hates, he almost drown once and now his parents have moved him to Slovakia. But the first day in this new country, Tomas sees creatures he's not suppose to see, like Death. He has no idea the adventure he's come into or the mystery he will have to unravel to save his cousin, Katka.
Katka is sick and Tomas can help her if he can figure out how to work up a potion or spell to help her.
Tomas has a lot of flaws or weaknesses. He's scared of water after he almost drown, he screams any time he's surprised and he's a bit of a wimp. 
But he doesn't quit when he learns he can help his cousin and uncle. He doesn't quit after being beat up by bullies and he doesn't quit when strange creatures scare him, like the Vodnik.
LOVED Vodnik. What a funny, strange little man.
One aspect that confused me was where Tomas lived. Did he live with his parents? Because they weren't around when he got beat up or disappeared or snuck out of the house multiple times. Tomas spent a lot of time with Katka or at her house with her dad.


Rated: PG
V: Some fighting 
L: Some
S: No

Liked:
Slovakia folklore
Beginning of chapters 
Vodnik
Tomas

Disliked:
The beginning 1/3 of the book confused me
 

 4 STARS

Whitney Finalist Giveaway! BANANA SPLIT by Josi Kilpack

Congrats to Josi who has TWO books as Whitney finalists. Good luck in May.

If you haven't read this book, or any of the others in this um, series(?) here's your chance to win one. And this one is autographed. Luck you!
Just leave a comment telling us you're favoritest dessert. Mine? Great Wall of Chocolate from PF Chang's. Yumola!

Sadie Hoffmiller has survived eighteen months of nonstop adventures filled with murder, deceit, and danger. She could really use some rest—and maybe even some time to heal—relaxing in the tropical paradise of Kaua'i. However, palm trees and sunshine are not as effective a medication as Sadie had hoped. And when she finds herself entangled—literally—with a dead body, she is forced to face the compounding fears and anxieties that are making her life so difficult to live.

Her determination to stay out of danger and to focus on overcoming her anxieties soon takes a backseat when she meets eleven-year-old Charlie, the son of the woman whose body she discovered near Anahola Beach. Charlies has some questions of his own about what happened to his mother, and he is convinced that only Sadie can help him. If only Sadie were as confident in her abilities as Charlie is.

With the help of her best friend and a local social worker, Sadie dives into another mystery with the hope that, at the end, she'll be able to find the peace and closure that has eluded her.

First Impressions of NOT ME

I'm at two different blogs today:

In High Spirits


 Mainewords



Stop over and read a few lines of my MS (I'm querying soon) and see what others First Impressions are of my baby, er, story. Leave your own comments while there!