Guest Post: Inara Scott (Delcroix Academy) & Giveaway

Inara Scott

Books:

• Delcroix Academy

Inara grew up in winter wonderland of Buffalo, NY. Consequently, she spent much of her childhood complaining about being cold. To spare the world her whining, she fled the cold climate and eventually wound up in the Pacific NW, where she practiced law for ten years before getting up the courage to quit her day job and write full time. A proud author of children's and young adult fiction, Inara firmly believes that great literature doesn't have to be depressing or written for adults. You can find her online at Twitter (@inarascott), on Facebook, and at her website: www.inarascott.com.

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Hi everyone,

I’m excited to be here and tell you a little bit about Delcroix Academy: The Candidates and some of the people you’ll meet there. To start off, here’s a little about Dancia, the heroine of the story:

Fourteen (almost fifteen) year-old Dancia Lewis is is girl everyone sees but no one knows. She likes it that way. In fact, she does everything in her power to make it that way. Because Dancia is dangerous. From crashed cars to guys in comas, Dancia can Make Things Happen just by thinking about them. Horrible things. Things that hurt people. Even when – or perhaps especially when – she’s trying to help.

Dancia lives in a small town in Washington state, in the shadow of Mt. Rainier. She’s pretty sure one day Rainier is going to explode and dump lava all over the city and everyone she knows. Her luck is just like that.

Where did Dancia come from and how did I capture her voice? All I can say is that Dancia flows onto the page right out of my head. She isn’t me – for one, I’ve got no dangerous telekentic powers – but she is someone with whom I’d love to have a conversation. If we went to school together, think we’d be best friends.

The two other most important people you’ll meet at Delcroix: Jack and Cam. First off, Jack:

I didn’t see the kid running toward me until we were about to collide. He was looking over his shoulder and scowling at the road behind him, eyebrows knit together like a dark smear across his forehead. He had long legs and arms, black hair and pale skin. I thought I saw the scrawl of a tattoo across one bicep.
“Hey!” I yelled, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid being flattened.
He stopped and spun around. His gaze darted wildly from my face to the road and back. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He brushed it off with an impatient, trembling hand.
I saw panic in his eyes, and fear in the rigid, jerky way he kept moving, as if he couldn’t afford to stand still.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He looked over his shoulder again, and then took a step closer to me. Grabbing my shoulders, he peered right into my face. “If a man asks if you’ve seen me, say no, okay?”
Beautiful silvery-grey eyes stared out from spiky black eyelashes. I froze, unable to tear my gaze from his.
“Okay?” he repeated, shaking my shoulders. His voice cracked.
I gulped, my heart pounding in my chest. Suddenly, I had a taste of the fear that seemed to consume him. “Should I call the police?”
“No!” His voice cracked again. “No,” he repeated. “Just say you haven’t seen me.”
He let me go and started running down the block.

Who is Jack? He’s the boy you know at school who insanely hot but always in trouble. You look in his eyes and see the soul of a poet, but know that poet is buried under a life full of heartache. Is Jack redeemable? I guess you’ll have to read the books to find out!

Finally, there’s Cameron Sanders, Student Recruiter for Delcroix Academy…

“Call me Cam.” The boy stuck out his hand for me to shake. He was tall, way taller than me and I’m a good five foot nine. In middle school, I really had to slouch to hide the fact that I was the tallest girl in my class. Naturally, Grandma is always on me to stand up straight.
“Hi, Cam.” I tried to wipe my hand surreptitiously on my shorts, because it had suddenly become damp and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was one of those people who always have sweaty palms. I couldn’t avoid meeting his eyes, so I did, and instantly, I got this fluttery feeling in my chest. Even though I knew it was impossible for a guy that attractive to ever notice a girl like me, his gaze felt warm and inviting. He had an air of athletic outdoorsy-ness, like he could run a marathon or climb a mountain and look gorgeous doing it.
Reluctantly, I extended my hand.
“Great to finally meet you, Dancia.” He closed his palm over mine and I could barely keep from jumping when an electric shock rippled through my arm.

I think we all know a Cam Sanders – hottest guy in the school and everyone’s best friend, you’d hope he would be a jerk so you could hate him and be done with it, but he’s too darn nice. But why is he so interested in Dancia? He’s a junior, and could have any girl he wants – why is he paying so much attention to the girl no one knows?

I hope you will want to get to know Dancia, Jack and Cam a little better – Delcroix Academy: The Candidates is in stores AUGUST 24th!

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Trailer

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Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that’s not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia’s mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just … happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to people, believing this way she can suppress her powers and keep them hidden.

When recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy offer her a full scholarship, Dancia fears her days of living under the radar may be over. But Delcroix is a school for diplomats’ kids and child geniuses — why are they treating Dancia like she’s special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make her feel welcome. And then there’s her mysterious new friend Jack, who can’t stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at Delcroix, and he wants Dancia to help him figure out what…But neither Jack or
Dancia could have imagined what’s really going on behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

Up for grabs: Two copies of Delcroix Academy for two lucky winners

Contest Information:

• fill out the form below
• September 14 is the deadline
• open to US only
• check my contest policy
• contest closed *

Guest Post: Tricia Rayburn (Siren)

Tricia Rayburn

Books:

• The Melting of Maggie Bean
• Maggie Bean Stays Afloat
• Maggie Bean in Love
• Ruby's Slippers
• Siren (Egmont)

Tricia Rayburn used to save her weekly allowance for two things: the Scholastic Book Club and her family's bi-annual trip to the Smithaven Mall, where she loaded up on the latest Baby-Sitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins books. Years later, Tricia discovered her love of writing for tweens and teens while taking a children's literature course in graduate school. Her first novel, The Melting of Maggie Bean, started as an assignment in that course, turned into her thesis, and was eventually published by Simon & Schuster as one of six launch titles for M!X, a line for tweens. Maggie Bean Stays Afloat and Maggie Bean in Love followed, and were joined by Ruby's Slippers and Siren in July 2010. Tricia lives on eastern Long Island.

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"I'd love to know more about the research she had to do for Siren! I would love to have her discuss the different types of research that was required to write Siren due to its many mystical surroundings."

Before I began writing Siren, all I knew about the sirens of mythology was that they were lovely ladies who did some not-so-nice things to the poor sailors they lured in from the sea. I also knew they weren’t mermaids, even though the two have become quite interchangeable over time. What I didn’t realize was that they weren’t even close to being mermaids! Despite their waterfront location they had wings instead of fins, and were considered dangerous “bird-women”—not “fish-women.”

This discovery was about as far as my research went. I didn’t want my sirens to be birds! I wanted them to be as drawn to the sea as men were drawn to them. I wanted them to be able to swim underwater without ever having to come up for air. I wanted them to be physically dependent on saltwater so that the longer they went without it, the worse they’d feel and the weaker they’d become. And I wanted their relationship with the ocean to be the only relationship they couldn’t control.

So in some ways, my sirens are a mythological siren-mermaid mix. They lack tails and scales but can swim to the bottom of the ocean and back—and still have enough air left to sing seductive songs to poor, unsuspecting boys. Not quite the way things went down in The Odyssey…which actually makes Winter Harbor’s happenings that much harder for Vanessa and her friends to believe!

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Thanks so much to Tricia for stopping by!

Blog Tour: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala (& Author Spilling Secrets Video!)

Today is my stop for the official Tell Me a Secret blog tour!

Title: Tell Me a Secret
Author: Holly Cupala
Pages: 304
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: June 22, 2010
Source: Publicist

Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one...

In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own.

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own.

In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her future.

Holly Cupala's debut novel, Tell Me A Secret is a refreshing and eye-opening take on teen pregnancy and its consequences. Built on lies and secrets, Cupala crafts an intense story about a girl and her baby with nobody to trust. Tell Me A Secret is not for the lighthearted. It's all-consuming and Rand's story demands any reader's attention. I was immediately pulled into Rand's mindset and was completely amazed at Cupala's gritty, honest prose.

Rand is a person who goes through so much personal growth. At the beginning, I found her infantile and rather naive, but as she comes to terms with her situation, I found her to be an inspiring character. I thought that Xanda was a well-developed character through different flashbacks and memories. She played a large part in Rand's life and held many secrets. In Rand's life, I felt suffocated and trapped by all of the secrets and lies that surrounded her. In Tell Me A Secret, you don't empathize with the character, you ARE the character.

Tell Me A Secret is the most devouring debut novel that I've read. Cupala provides us with real, genuine characters, many brutal truths, and a harsh, but nonetheless beautiful story of a girl, trying to make the best of her situation.

Cover:

Ending:

Writing:

Characters:

Overall:

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Holly Cupala wrote teen romance novels before she ever actually experienced teen romance. When she did, it became all about tragic poetry and slightly less tragic novels. When she isn't writing and contributing to readergirlz, she spends time with her husband and daughter in Seattle, Washington. These days, her writing is less about tragedy and more about hope. TELL ME A SECRET is her first novel. Ten percent of the author's proceeds go toward World Vision's Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls.

How long did it take for you to write Tell Me a Secret?
From idea to sale, it took about four years – which seems like a really long time! But I wasn’t writing full time. At first, I only wrote a few pages at a time while trying to find the story, then we had a baby daughter and I pretty much didn’t work on it for about ten months. Then I hired a sitter for one day a week and went to the library to work! When I received a Work-In-Progress Grant from SCBWI and Judy Blume, I added a second day. Then I signed with my wonderful agent and worked on a final revision for a few months, and he sold it in just a couple of weeks to our top choice, my dream editor!

How did the cover of Tell Me a Secret come to be? Did you have any input on it?
I’ll tell you a secret: we didn’t have a title or a cover until the last possible minute! My working title was Brimstone Soup (which made sense if you read it but sounded paranormal), then sold it as A Light That Never Goes Out (a reference to a Smiths song), but it wasn’t quite right. We went through literally hundreds of ideas, and the design department at Harper was patiently waiting for us to decide before they could get to work on the cover.

The night before we had to have a title to put in the official catalogue, I was falling asleep and remembered the conversation that takes place between Miranda and her sister in the very first chapter. “Wanna know a secret?” “Tell me, and I’ll tell you one.” Tell Me a Secret! I sat up in bed at 2 a.m. and shook my husband. “Honey! Tell Me a Secret!” They loved it, and within a couple of days the design department sent back the first version of this cover, and we all fell in love! All I had to do with it was coming up with the right title. :-)

Any secrets your willing to share with us?
There are lots of little personal secrets that found their way into TMAS. Like funny phrases my husband uses: watch, and learn. (Xanda says this.) Or my daughter’s favorite stuffed animal, ‘Raffe, who makes an appearance. Or music from our friends’ bands (we used lyrics from a Splashdown song with permission, and Milo wears a Freezepop t-shirt in one scene). Café Shiraz is named after my husband! The funny thing is when my 15 year old niece came to visit last year, I gave her the almost-finished manuscript to read. She glued herself to the couch and read it in one sitting, and as she was reading, she thought, “Oh, that’s exactly what Aunt Holly calls my cousin,” and other things like that. As she was reading, she forgot it was me who wrote the book! Which, I thought, was pretty cool!

Thank you so much, Mavie, for inviting me to The Bookologist and for being a part of the TMAS tour!

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Author Spilling Secrets Video

(Suzanne Young, Caridad Ferrer, Kimberly Derting, Beth Kephart, etc..)

ISN'T THIS VIDEO, LIKE, THE COOLEST VIDEO EVER? It's awesome, it's funny, it's just.. so.. EPIC. I love it! I can just watch this video over and over again. And, plus, some author secrets are now revealed!

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I'm the last stop for the TMAS tour, so, sadly, there won't be a stop tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after the day after tomorrow (did that make any sense?).. well.. you get the point.

BUT, Holly is the featured author at readergirlz for the entire month of August, so there's still plenty of time to learn more about her and TELL ME A SECRET. Be sure to stop by!

Blog Tour: The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

Kay Cassidy

Books

• The Cinderella Society

Links:
Facebook / Goodreads / Mypsace / Twitter / Shelfari

Bio:
Kay Cassidy is the author of teen fiction she wishes was based on her real life. She is the founder of the national Great Scavenger Hunt ContestTM reading program for kids and teens and the host of the inspirational Living Your FiveTM web project. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, movies, music, and reading. Lots and lots of reading. She hopes her debut YA novel, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY (April 13, 2010 - Egmont), will help girls embrace their inner Cindy.
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Guest Post:

The Secret of The Cinderella Society

When Mavie asked if I would talk about what I would like readers to take away from The Cinderella Society, I immediately said yes because it's such an important theme for me. The Cinderella Society is about girl empowerment at its most fundamental. It's about being comfortable in your own skin and being true to who you are. I think the Cindy creed sums it up best:

Celebrate your strength – Embrace your future – Be extraordinary

Celebrating your strength is all about recognizing and being proud of what makes you YOU. So often we focus on what we perceive to be our shortcomings. And it's easy to overanalyze our mistakes. Did she think what I said was dumb? or Everyone else looks so at ease while I feel like a big goober… phrases like these clog our minds and sap our energy. What would it feel like if you banished the Wicked chatter from your mind for a day and focused on appreciating and making use of your strengths instead? Freeing, right? What if you banished it for a week? A year? That's life changing stuff right there.

Embracing your future is about acknowledging that we each have a unique path to travel. Sometimes it can be scary to be facing that path. Starting at a new school (like our heroine, Jess, does so often), moving away from home to go to college… there are a lot of unknowns on the path ahead. But we can't fear that because following our own path is how we discover what we're really made of. It's where we step up to the plate and say, "Okay, World, show me what you've got because I'm ready to take my destiny for a spin!"

Being extraordinary means never settling for mediocre. It means using your strengths and following your own path in a way that's unique and amazing and bigger than you imagined you could be. I know it's easy to assume that big amazing life accomplishments are something that only happen to other people. But you are your own brand of extraordinary – you just need to get comfortable sharing it with the world.

Now, before you go thinking this is all touchy-feely dramarama stuff, I want to stress that Jess never loses her sense of humor. I think that's key. Living up to your greatest potential is a pretty amazing thing, but it doesn't have to be dramatic and haaaaard. Keep your sense of humor and you'll enjoy your journey a whole lot more. :-)
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Official Book Blurb:

What a girl to do when the glass slipper fits, but she doesn't want to wear it anymore?

Sixteen year old Jess Parker has always been an outsider. So when she receives an invitation to join The Cinderella Society, a secret society of the most popular girls in school, it's like something out of a fairy tale. Swept up by the Cindys' magical world of makeovers, and catching the eye of her Prince Charming, Jess feels like she's finally found her chance to fit in.

Then the Wickeds--led by Jess's arch-enemy--begin targeting innocent girls in their war against the Cindys, and Jess discovers there's more to being a Cindy than reinventing yourself on the outside. She has unknowingly become part of a centuries-old battle of good vs. evil, and now the Cindys in charge need Jess for a mission that could change everything.

Overwhelmed, Jess wonders if The Cinderella Society made a mistake in choosing her. Is it a coincidence her new boyfriend doesn't want to be seen with her in public? And is this glamorous, secret life even what she wants, or will she risk her own happy ending to live up to the expectations of her new sisters?

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Book Teaser:

I opened the card, my hands trembling in dread and the faint remnants of what I used to call hope, as a tiny silver high-heel pin bounced into my hand.

I juggled the pin for a second, barely managing to keep it from falling, and flipped open the note with my other hand. The words inside were not a message but an invitation that sent shivers down my spine:

Your presence is requested at The Grind.
Tonight, 7 p.m.
Wear the pin.
Discretion MANDATORY.

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Thank you to Kay for her wonderful guest post. Make sure to check out The Cinderella Society!

Blog Tour: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (& Giveaway!)

Today is my stop for the blog tour of Bree Despain's fabulous, and amazing novel, The Dark Divine. The Dark Divine was released Dec. 22, 09 and has gotten a load full of 5 star reviews on the blogs. I'm going to be interviewing Bree for the second time! I might have asked a couple of similar questions. I think I've bugged Bree too much already! My first interview with her was quite a while ago, but you can check it out here.

Describe yourself in 3-5 words.
3rd most crazy since 2009

How did the cover come to be for The Dark Divine?
Hah! That’s a very long story but I’ll try to make it short. My editor asked me if I had any “thoughts” about what I’d like on the cover of my book. What he got back from me was a 2 page letter about all the things I did/did not want for the cover. I didn’t have a specific image in mind, but I did have a specific feel that I wanted: striking, beautiful, and yet still eerie.

In the meantime, my publisher went through several possible covers for my book, but they still hadn’t found the “right” one. We were only a week or two from having to go to print for the galleys of the book, and I was concerned that the book was going to end up with a cover I didn’t like. When my editor heard that I was unhappy, he actually stayed at the office all night long going through thousands of images until he found the one that fit what I had envisioned for the cover. When he sent me the new cover design (only a couple of days before we went to press), I was so completely blown away by it. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am that my editor cared enough about me and my book to go through that kind of effort to get just the right cover for TDD.

What are some of your strengths and weaknesses in writing?
I love writing dialogue, and I’ve been told that I have a knack for capturing the teenage voice. But that’s probably just because that’s the way I talk.

I hate writing transitions between scenes. Once I’m into a scene, I can write and write with pleasure until it’s done. However, if I have to start the day with writing a transition, it can take me all morning to psyche myself up enough to actually start writing.

How are you and Grace and/or Daniel alike? How are you different?
Grace and I have a similar family dynamic and upbringing, but I like to think of Grace as the stronger version of myself as a teenager. She says and does the things that I only thought about doing. Whenever I need to decide what Grace should do a in a certain situation, I think “what would I have done?” and then make Grace do the opposite. It’s kind of cathartic!

If you were to pick a theme song for The Dark Divine, what would it be and why?
Oh, this is so hard to answer because I have so many great songs on my TDD playlist, but I guess I’d have to say “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service because that was actually the song that was stuck in my head when I got the idea for TDD. There’s actually a chapter in the book that is a bit of an homage to the song. It’s kind of easy to spot since the chapter title is “Such Great Heights.”

I liked the idea of there being two people who, against all odds, are in love. And from far away when they look down at their lives, everything seems perfect—but everyone else around them is shouting at them to “Come down now” because their fantasy isn’t really true.

What's next for you?
I’m finishing up the sequel to TDD called THE LOST SAINT. It addresses some of the questions left unanswered in TDD, and also explores some of the new possibilities that popped up at the end of Book One. I’m also mulling over ideas for a possible 3rd book in THE DARK DIVINE series, and I also have the beginnings of a new paranormal romance novel that is begging to be written.

I can't, can't, can't wait for TLS! Thanks so much Bree! =)

--- Giveaway---

Thanks to Nisa @ Egmont USA/ Goodman Media, she has provided me with (4) bottles of The Dark Divine Nail Polish. I'm keeping one for myself so technically, I'll be giving away (3) beautiful, violet/purple, divine nail polish to (3) luck readers!

Official Info:

• fill out the form below
• you must answer one of the following questions in the form to be eligible
  
• open to everyone
• must be 13 years or age to enter
• March 29 is the deadline
• check my contest policy

Please go to In Bed With Books tomorrow to see the next stop on The Dark Divine Blog Tour.

Winners:
Lisa
Katie
Sherry

~Contest Closed~