Showing posts with label Michele. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michele. Show all posts

Friday, September 20, 2013

Stuck in a Good Book Blog Hop



Thanks to I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Stuck in Books for hosting this amazing Blog Tour!!

I don't know about you, but I love blog hops...what a great way to find new blogs to visit, and meet new friends..and giveaways...BONUS!!

I have read SO many good books that I can stay stuck in, so for this giveaway, I am offering $20 to the Book Depository for the book you are just dying to get STUCK in!!  I want everyone to have a chance, so of course it's international!  Please enter by the rafflecopter!  Thanks for visiting, and hope you come back!



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Now  Please show some love, and continue hopping to some more great blogs!!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Sylo Blog Tour and Giveaway


Check out the Tour HERE






Synopsis
Does Tucker Pierce have what it takes to be a hero when the U.S. military quarantines his island?

Fourteen-year-old Tucker Pierce prefers to fly under the radar. He’s used to navigating around summer tourists in his hometown on idyllic Pemberwick Island, Maine. He’s content to sit on the sidelines as a backup player on the high school football team. And though his best friend Quinn tells him to “go for it,” he’s too chicken to ask Tori Sleeper on a date. There’s always tomorrow, he figures. Then Pemberwick Island is invaded by a mysterious branch of the U.S. military called SYLO. And sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for Tucker, because tomorrow may never come. 

It’s up to Tucker, Quinn, and Tori to uncover the truth about the singing aircraft that appears only at night—and the stranger named Feit who’s pushing a red crystal he calls the Ruby that brings unique powers to all who take it. Tucker and his friends must rescue not just Pemberwick Island, but the fate of the world—and all before tomorrow is too late.  

#1 New York Times bestselling author D.J. MacHale brings his brilliant plotting and breathless pacing to SYLO, the first in this ultimate end-of-the-world adventure trilogy.



My Review

Sylo intrigues your imagination with creative plots and courageous characters.

Tucker is a layed back fourteen year old who doesn't like to rock the boat. He doesn't need to, when he has best friend Quinn who is smart and outspoken for the both of them.  Tucker is happy living in Pemberwick, Maine.  He moved there with his parents from Connecticut.  Quinn has big dreams of making a name for himself, when Tucker would be satisfied working with his dad in his lawn care service.

However, the town of Pemberwick finds itself in chaos when it becomes under quarantine.  The US military branch called Sylo takes control, telling the citizens and stranded tourists to go about their everyday lives, until the situation is under control.  However, Tucker and Quinn witness an explosion at night.  There are questionable deaths with some locals, and surfer dude Feit keeps popping up.  Could this have anything to do with Sylo?  Is Sylo the good guys or the bad guys?  The community begins to wonder when they are shut off from the outside world.

I knew, without a doubt, that I would love reading Sylo.  D.J. MacHale has an incredible imagination with his creative writing skills.  He captures traits of his characters personalities with ease, making those characters lovable, and others you just completely despise.  The hilarious conversations between Tucker and Quinn will make you chuckle out loud.  Their fourteen year old personalities are captured just perfect.  The complete story is written in a way that I can easily envision in my mind.  Just when you think you know which direction the plot will take...BOOM!  It takes a complete different direction...BOOM...another complete different direction.  I never knew what to expect which was a complete thrill. There were also moments that I said to myself, "Oh no you didn't MacHale!!" The mystery of Sylo hangs throughout the whole book.  Actually, I still have my doubts on what it actually is. I have a feeling we will learn more about Sylo as the series progresses.  Of course the ending is a cliff hanger, which leaves you thinking, "I have to wait HOW long now?"  But isn't that the sign of a great read?  In my world it is.  I would say that D.J. MacHale is an expert in this with all the anticipation he left in each Pendragon novel.

Yeah, I know, when it comes right down to it, my review is vague.  But really, do you want to know too much when you begin reading it?  That's like shouting out, "The butler did it!"  I want you to have the incredible reading experience I did while reading this story.

I really, really recommend this book.  Young readers will devourer it, older readers (such as myself) will adore it, giving an escape to real life.  Don't just put it on your TO BE READ list, get it now and read it.


And how cool is it that I got to meet D.J. MacHale at Chicago ALA...yes, I just had to share my fan girl moment!

Check out the tour, and sign up for the awesome giveaways!




A Big Thank you to D.J. MacHale for handling my silly fan girl moment complete with me saying OMG OMG and flapping my arms like a bird.  Because of his Pendragon series, I have great memories of reading  with my oldest son who is now 22.  It gave us a bond that can never be broken.  My son is now reading the Pendragon series AGAIN after my exciting experience. ( oh and yeah, I went thru the signing line twice because that's the book geek that I am.)



D.J. MacHale is a writer, director, executive producer and creator of several popular television series and movies. As an author, his ten-volume book series: PENDRAGON – JOURNAL OF AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE became a New York Times #1 bestseller.
He was raised in Greenwich, CT and graduated from Greenwich High School. While in school, he had several jobs including collecting eggs at a poultry farm, engraving trophies and washing dishes in a steakhouse…in between playing football and running track. D.J. attended New York University where he received a BFA in film production.

His filmmaking career began in New York where he worked as a freelance writer/director making corporate videos and television commercials. He also taught photography and film production.

D.J. broke into the entertainment business by writing several ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIALS. As co-creator of the popular Nickelodeon series: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, he produced all 91 episodes over 8 years. D.J. also wrote and directed the movieTOWER OF TERROR for ABC’s WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which starred Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. The Showtime series CHRIS CROSS was co-created, written and produced by D.J. It received the CableAce award for Best Youth Series.
D.J. co-created and produced the Discovery Kids/NBC television series FLIGHT 29 DOWN. He wrote every episode and directed several. His work on FLIGHT 29 DOWN earned him the Writers Guild of America award for “Outstanding Children’s Script” and a Directors Guild of America award nomination.

Other notable writing credits include the ABC AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL titled SEASONAL DIFFERENCES; the pilot for the long-running PBS/CBS series GHOSTWRITER; and the HBO series ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, BOY DETECTIVE for which he received a CableAce nomination for writing.

In print, D.J. has co-written the book THE TALE OF THE NIGHTLY NEIGHBORS, based on his own teleplay and penned the poetic adaptation of the classic Norwegian folk tale EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON. His most current work is the spooky MORPHEUS ROAD trilogy; and a whimsical picture book THE MONSTER PRINCESS.
D.J. lives in Southern California with his wife Evangeline and daughter Keaton. They are avid backpackers, scuba divers and skiers. Rounding out the household are two elderly goldfish and a Kitten, Kaboodle.
Links:

Website
  

Launch Party Schedule:
·       July 22nd Monday
-        Vlog & Review Jean BookNerd
-        Excerpt & Spotlight Wintry Words
-        Spotlight Books Beside My Bed
·       July 23rd  Tuesday
-        Favorite Things & Spotlight Sassy Book Lovers
-        Dream Cast & Spotlight Book Hounds YA
-        Spotlight Tam’s Two Cents
-        Review & Spotlight Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews
·       July 24th Wednesday
-        Review & Spotlight Beneath the Moon and Stars
-        Spotlight Bookaru-Ju
-        Interview & Spotlight Read, Rinse, Repeat
-        Interview & Spotlight Nick’s Book Blog
·       July 25th Thursday
-        Music Playlist & Spotlight Lust for Stories
-        Review & Spotlight Scott Reads it
-        Spotlight Snuggling in the Sofa
-        Excerpt & Spotlight Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace
·       July 26th Friday     
-        Review & Spotlight Alluring Reads
-        Excerpt & Spotlight Ramblings of a Diva Book Nerd
-        Review & Spotlight Book Haven Extraordinaire
-        Spotlight The Reader Lines
·       July 27th Saturday
-        Review & Spotlight Bookish Things and More
-        Interview & Spotlight I am a Reader, Not a Writer
-        Tens List & Spotlight Best Books
-        Spotlight Silver Wings Reviews
·       July 28th Sunday   
-        Spotlight Rose’s Book Corner
-        This or That & Spotlight Little Library Muse
-        Review & Spotlight Emilie’s Book World
·       July 29th Monday  
-        Tens List & Spotlight Me, My Shelf and I
-        Art work & Spotlight with James Vallesteros
-        Spotlight Cici’s Theories
-        Review & Spotlight Fictitious Musings
  
Tour Stops:
·       Jean BookNerd       http://www.jeanbooknerd.com/
·       Amber                              http://www.memyshelfandi.com/
·       Alice                       http://bestbooks1.blogspot.co.nz/
·       Abby                       http://wintrywords.blogspot.com/
·       Colleen                   http://cicistheories.com/
·       Debbie                    http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/
·       Emilie                     http://www.emiliebookworld.com/
·       Grace                     http://lustforstories.blogspot.ca/
·       Hannah                   http://bookhavenextraordinaire.blogspot.com/
·       James                              http://jamesvallesteros.blogspot.com/
·       Jennifer                  http://www.fictitiousmusings.com/
·       Jenni                      http://www.alluringreads.com/
·       Jon                         http://scottreadsit.blogspot.com/
·       Julie                       http://bookarooju.wordpress.com/
·       Kathy                      http://www.iamareader.com/
·       Karen                     http://www.booksbesidemybed.com/
·       Katrina                    http://www.bookishthingsandmore.com/
·       Kelly                       http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/
·       Lis                          http://www.thereaderlines.blogspot.com/
·       Leigh Ann               http://flyingonsilverwings.blogspot.com/
·       Lisa                        http://pnrurbanfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/
·       Latoya                    http://littlelibrarymuse.blogspot.com/
·       Mary                       http://foreveryoungadult.blogspot.com/
·       Marissa                  http://beneaththemoonandstars.blogspot.com/
·       Nick                        http://nicksbookblog93.blogspot.com/
·       Rose                      http://rosesbookcorner.blogspot.ca/
·       Sabrina                   http://sabrinasparanormalpalace.blogspot.com/
·       Stephanie               http://readrinserepeat.blogspot.com/
·       Stacey                    http://sassybooklovers.blogspot.com/
·       Tammy                   http://tamssbookblog.blogspot.com/




2 Winners will receive a Copy of SYLO by D.J. MacHale.
1 Winner will receive a Surprise ART Poster and Bookmark by James Vallesteros.
5 Winners will receive a Surprise ART Bookmark by James Vallesteros.
Must be 13+ to Enter
International Giveaway
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Over the Rainbow Book Blast






Synopsis 
Zippy Green never meant to fall in love with a girl, but when she does, her ultra-conservative father tries to send her to anti-gay camp. At the Kansas City airport, however, she hides inside a giant suitcase and sneaks onto an airplane headed not to the camp, but to Seattle, where her online love Mira lives. Halfway through the flight, the plane barrels out of control and crashes into the ground, knocking her unconscious.

When Zippy awakens, she finds that most of the passengers have vanished. She doesn’t know what’s happened, but she’s determined to find out. She begins a quest on foot toward Seattle, and along the way, she meets a teenager with a concussion  a homeless man with a heart condition, a child without a shred of bravery, and a terrier named Judy. Together the group discovers that more than two-thirds of the world’s population has mysteriously disappeared. But that’s only the beginning…

All Zippy wants is to find her Mira, but before she can she has to contend with two outside forces. The first is her homophobic father, who does everything in his power to keep her from the girl she loves. And the second is extinct creatures of all shapes and sizes, including living, breathing dinosaurs, which have replaced the missing population.





Brian Rowe is a writing fiend, book devotee, film fanatic, and constant dreamer. He’s written nine novels, dozens of short stories, five feature-length screenplays, and hundreds of film articles and essays. He is one half of the blog Story Carnivores, where he reviews the latest in books and film. He is currently pursuing his MA in English at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is hard at work on his next novel.

GIVEAWAY is International


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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Desolation Book Blast





ABOUT THE BOOK:

Asher St Paul thought it was just a typical zombie apocalypse like in the movies, until the necromancers crawled out of the woodwork. Since the undead have chased the living into hiding, the necromancers are able to roam freely in a new America of their making. Asher is seeking safe harbor. The need for safety is what drove him from his home in Philadelphia Pennsylvania before it was shelled. He has searched from quarantine to quarantine, always finding them overrun with zombies until he hears of The Refuge, a military compound in Binghamton New York.
With his family and lover lain to rest by his own hand, he has nothing left to lose and gives everything he has to reach the safe haven. But questions arise when he reaches The Refuge, mainly, how has he been able to sustain multiple zombie bites and not change? He thinks he has found safety in the military compound turned quarantine, but he was wrong. Even now there is a necromancer trying to make The Refuge their kingdom of the dead



ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY:


Must Be 13  To Enter | Open Internationally | Prize to be delivered via e-mail
One winner will get a $15 Amazon Gift Card
One winner will get a $10 Amazon Gift Card

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342608.Travis_Simmons
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TravisSimmons5
Website: http://www.travissimmons.net/

I have always been a do-it-yourselfer. I haven’t had any formal education on writing, and I haven’t been raised around writer types. For that matter, I wasn’t even encouraged to read when I was a kid, even though plenty of people in my family read. When I was a teenager, I discovered Cliff’s Notes on Mythology, and it sparked something in me. It was like a floodgate had been opened, and all of these stories started rushing in. I would get ideas at random times, and I would jot them down. I have a pretty big file system of everything I have ever written. Someday I will get to them and put them all into electronic files. There is some good material in there, but there are a lot of bad stories too.
I started writing when I was thirteen or fourteen. At an early age I was already writing books of Saracin (the world The Bonds of Blood takes place in). The first book I wrote of that place was “The Calling of the Two” (not yet released). While I was writing that, I kept thinking of these characters Jovian and Angelica. I knew they had a part to play in the storyline, but they weren’t going to be in the same series. For that matter, they weren’t even going to be in the same age. As I finished the first draft of “The Calling of the Two” I went on to write the first book of Angelica and Jovian’s story. At that time it was The Mirror of the Moon. Later an editor told me it was so massive that I should make the one volume into two, and so The Bonds of Blood was born, and The Revenant Wyrd Saga went from a planned three to six.
That story has taken many forms until now, and I am sure if I didn’t declare that it was “done” it could continue to transform.
Along the way, I discovered my passion for research. I absolutely love researching. It would be nothing for me to sit for days on end, barely eating, just getting up to take care of necessities, and research really odd theories and stories. I get my ideas from them to be honest. Of course, my idea’s are never the main theme of the research I am doing, but it always seems to come from some obscure topic mentioned while I am researching. For instance one book I am outlining now is based on something I heard while watching Ancient Aliens.
Unlike most authors, I have not always loved reading and writing. I hated it until I was in 7th grade. My teacher wanted us to read the entire semester. We would read a book and write in a journal about it. Back then the teachers were allowed to spend more time on what their passions were, and actually foster something in their students, and she did just that. She made me love reading and writing. She told me to go to her book shelf and pick out a book that I was interested in. I found one of my first loves: David Eddings’ Pawn of Prophecy.
Back then I was in remedial reading, and my teacher (Mrs. Peters) would sit with me for the time I was in her classroom, taking turns reading the story out loud with me. We would read where the adventure was taking Garion, and then we would flip to the beginning and look at the map so we could follow them as well.
I think it was at that point, getting lost in a book I love to this day, that I knew I had to do this. I had to create the same magic for others that Mr. Eddings created for me.
At times it is boggling. I have three series of books started, and 2 more forming in my mind (and outlined on the computer). At this point I have to step back and finish the ones I have started before I can let myself move forward.
I feel that I am blessed in being able to write, and forging a life of my passion. It is tough at times, but that is what makes the payoff all the sweeter. The writing business is a huge adventure, trying to figure out what to do and what not to do; when to do things and when not to do anything. Currently I am planning the release of the second book to “The Bonds of Blood”. This is the first time I am armed with the knowledge of what I must do for a book release, and I finally understand why it nerves so many authors up, but it is that excitement that makes me love writing. Every time I hear a reader I don’t know praise my work, it makes my heart race and brightens my day.
Travis is the author of The Bonds of Blood, the first book in his epic fantasy series The Revenant Wyrd Saga. He has also written a young adult novel called A Lament of Moonlight which is book one of his pre-apocalypse series The Harbingers of Light. He is currently seeking publication for the first book of a third series, a zombie novel called Desolation. When he isn’t writing he is helping his family and trying to live a normal, under the radar life. His interests lie in cooking, gardening, green living, and human rights advocacy. He is a huge supporter of the Trevor Project and all agencies that seek to preserve natural resources and protect pets from abuse.”

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Disneylanders Book Blast




Synopsis

In DISNEYLANDERS, 14-year-old Casey Allison, on the brink of starting high school, struggles to find a new identity on her family’s annual summer vacation, but with the help of an outgoing boy she meets while waiting in line, she discovers that Disneyland is the one place where her overprotective parents let her have the freedom to grow up.
Kate Abbott_small
Disneylanders is Kate Abbott’s first novel. She received an MFA in creative writing from UC Riverside, Palm Desert. Kate lives in Northern California with her husband, son, terrier, and tiny parrots.
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One lucky winner will get this awesome Disney themed gift pack from Kate Abbott, including:
Note card set
Mickey Bookmark
A copy of Disneylanders
Must be 13+ to Enter
US Shipping Only
No PO Boxes


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