Fantasy is alive and well in the South. The awesome @quailridgebooks will host a panel of regional fantasy authors, writing for children and YA audiences. Join us on Saturday, July 15, at 6:30 pm for a look at recent or upcoming releases and to talk about what makes great fantasy. Ya’ll know Southern Gothic is my favorite!
Aspiring writers, bring us your questions!
North Hills 4209-100 Lassiter Mill Road Raleigh, NC27609
Featuring speakers:
You can find more info about the authors on the Quail Ridge Books website here:
Welcome in! I’m so excited to be a part of this blog tour for the amazing E.M. Fitch and her new book! I’ve got more tour stop dates, an excerpt and special giveaway here, so don’t forget to scroll down and enter the contest near the bottom of the post!
Now to get on with it. Have you seen this cool and freaky cover yet?
Cassie and Laney fancy themselves amateur ghost hunters. When a carnival comes to town, Cassie embraces the chance to try something new.
Carnival workers watch the girls with a collective gaze that ignites in Laney a dark and dangerous fascination, leaving Cassie unnerved.
It’s not just their age or the unsettling way they stare. There is something in the shifting of their skin and the way their features seem to change in the shadows.
Cassie can’s shake this sickening feeling that there’s more to the carnival than meets the eye.
When townspeople suddenly start dying and bloody warnings appear around town, Cassie is lured into a nightmare where trees whisper and strange, shape-shifting men haunt the backwoods she once hunted for ghosts with her best friend.
Then Laney goes missing, and only Cassie can get her back. But the creatures of the trees aren’t simply going to hand Laney over to Cassie without getting something in return.
Here’s more about the author …
E.M. Fitch is an author who loves scary stories, chocolate, and tall trees. When not dreaming up new ways to torture characters, she is usually corralling her four children or thinking of ways to tire them out so she can get an hour of peace at night. She lives in Connecticut, surrounded by chaos, which she manages (somewhat successfully) with her husband, Marc.
Cassie’s boots crunched on the gravel, the grating noise cutting through the faint undertone of laughter and squeals that were just up ahead. Her imagination always went into overdrive during these isolated, dark moments. She knew it, and sometimes the little movements everyone saw out of the corner of their eyes took on a life of their own. So she ignored it, not wanting to give life to the fear.
Laney was different. She’d run into the shadows and flush out the monsters, which would, of course, invariably turn out to be a rabbit, or bird, or the errant flash of light cast from someone’s wristwatch. It was always explainable. Even knowing that, Cassie wasn’t one to tempt fate. She preferred to let sleeping monsters lie.
“Have a light?”
Cassie jumped, not really expecting a voice from the dark. From between two cars, a shadow solidified. A boy stepped forward, his jeans smeared with grease and his dark hood up over his head and hanging down past his brow. She could just make out the sandy hair that hovered over the piercing, blue eyes. He stared at her as he stepped closer, his gaze sharp in the darkness.
Or was it a man? Now that he drew nearer, the lines of boyhood seemed to melt. His face was older, drawn. There were creases in the folds of his skin that she hadn’t noticed at first. Somehow, it seemed like he was wearing a cheap Halloween mask, something rubber made to emulate human skin, and suddenly she was terrified, a feeling of danger rising up from her core.
“No, sorry,” she stammered, stepping back.
He stepped with her.
She jumped again when a car horn blared and turned to see her father still parked there, his outline peering at her through the dark. A chuckle echoed from the shadows, and Cassie shivered, even in the unseasonable warmth.
“Got to go, sorry,” she said. The man stared, his head tilting slightly as he regarded her. He didn’t speak, and yet Cassie got the strange impression he was trying to communicate with her anyway.
Creepy right? The sort of creepy that’s right up my YA thriller/horror alley. I can’t wait to start reading this one, ya’ll.
Hope you enjoy and thanks so much for stopping by!
By the way … if you want to follow more of the tour, all the dates are listed below!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Happy Book Birthday, Jennie!
What if your teacher could read your mind just because she was born on a Thursday? Or the kid next to you in class could turn back the clock just because he was a ‘Wednesday”? In the quirky town of Nova, all of this is normal, but one thing is not—Poppy Mayberry. As an almost-eleven-year-old Monday, she should be able to pass notes in class or brush her dog, Pickle, without lifting a finger. But her Monday telekinesis still has some kinks, and that plate of spaghetti she’s passing may just end up on someone’s head. And if that’s not hard enough, practically perfect Ellie Preston is out to get her, and Principal Wible wants to send her to remedial summer school to work on her powers! It’s enough to make a girl want to disappear…if only she were a Friday.
Poppy Mayberry, The Monday
by Jennie K. Brown
Publication Date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Tantrum Books
That’s when it got weird. What I imagined actually happened.
In like a millisecond after my thought, the sparkly headband literally flew off her head, without a push, shake, or anything. It smashed on the SMART Board directly behind Mrs. Flannagan. The pieces scattered across the floor. A few of them even hit grossy Mark. His dirty finger immediately pulled out of his nose.
“Who did that?” Ellie’s head whipped around and her hair smacked Veronica in the face. Ellie’s eyes searched down the rows, one by one. She was using her powers on us yet again. But at that point, who was I to comment on using powers? I put her in this position in the first place by using mine. I thought so, at least.
Before she got into my head, I quickly changed to thoughts of my dog Pickle. If Ellie looked in, she would see dog poop and dirty fur. Nothing that could incriminate me for what just happened.
But someone knew it was me. Veronica smirked. I winked back.
“Poppy Mayberry!” Mrs. Flannagan’s nostrils flared as she stomped toward me like a big red bull charging. “How dare you use your powers in this classroom!” Her pudgy hand pointed about a foot above the door to a plaque stating the number-one rule of Nova Elementary: NO POWER USAGE!
Although I should have been ashamed of the awful trick I had just played, I couldn’t stop the giant smile from spreading across my face. Finally! My telekinesis was here. That’s when I knew that I, Poppy Rose Mayberry, was officially a Monday.
Jennie K. Brown is a high school English teacher by day, freelance magazine writer by night, and middlegrade/young adult author by late-night and weekend. When she isn’t teaching or writing, Jennie can be found reading a good book, traveling, or spending time with her awesome husband, amazing son and super-spoiled yorkie.In 2010, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) named Jennie the Pennsylvania English teacher of excellence, and she currently serves as President of the Pennsylvania Council for Teachers of English and Language Arts (PCTELA). She is also an active member of SCBWI, NCTE and ALAN.
Fourteen YA authors, including myself, are sponsoring this giveaway for your chance to win a $220 Amazon e-gift card to restock your bookshelves this fall.
Pick up some of these great titles! Perfect for fall reading …
Fine Print:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Time Period: Begins on 09/08/2016 at 12:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) and ends on 09/22/2016 at 12:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)). Eligibility: Open to legal residents of USA and Canada who are Must be 13 years old to enter or older. Winner Selection: The winner of the giveaway will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible Entries received throughout the Promotion Period. The random drawing will be conducted by 48 hours by Sponsor or its designated representatives, whose decisions are final. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible Entries received. Winner will be notified by email at the email address provided in the Entry Information on or about 48 hours after the random drawing.
So excited to welcome Caroline Patti to the blog today! Have you seen the awesome cover of the next book in her Into the Dark series?
Well, here you go …
Into the Light (Into the Dark #2)
by Caroline T. Patti
Publication Date: August 23, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
Blurb:
Mercy’s family is back together and the threat of danger appears to have passed. But any relief she feels is short lived as she is ripped from her body and thrown in jail. Gage and Nathaniel’s plans to break Mercy out won’t exactly be easy. Stuffed full of a chemical binding agent, Mercy is trapped inside the body of a convict without the ability to breach and set herself free. Unfortunately for Mercy, being trapped in jail becomes the least of her problems when she meets her evil twin, Justice.
Now we’ll open it up to Caroline and find out more about what makes this author so great!
Our Question:
Can you talk about the influences that have inspired your writing throughout your life? We’re curious to know what books/authors were favorites as a child, what you read in middle and high school that may have changed the way you think, and your main inspirations as an adult.
Caroline’s answer:
Books were one of the things my parents always said yes to, so I gobbled them up as much as I could. I also grew up around the block from one of the biggest libraries in the Bay Area, the Santa Clara Public Library, and I went there all the time. As a kid I wasn’t really discerning between good and bad books. I just liked books. Period. When we went on camping trips we would stop at a general store and I would get strawberry soda and a paperback. That was my treat.
Lois Duncan quickly stood out as one of my favorite authors, and I didn’t even realize until I started doing these blog posts that Into the Light and Stranger With My Face are actually kind of similar. It wasn’t intentional at all, but influences seep in when we’re not paying attention. Of that I’m sure.
My tween years, though we never would’ve called them that in 1986, were full of Sweet Valley High. I don’t know many readers from my generation who didn’t love Jessica and Elizabeth. I think I was in sixth grade when an older cousin of mine caught me reading at the dinner table and later she mailed me a letter, writing to me that books were a lot like food, some are more enriching than others, and that I shouldn’t spoil my appetite with nothing but dessert. She must not have thought very much of SVH, but she had a point also. It was right about that time that I read Little Women for the first time, meeting my soul mate, Josephine March. I can’t think of any of literary character who spoke to me as much as Jo. So I said farewell to Jessica and Elizabeth.
After Jo, I met Anne Shirley and wow, did we have a lot in common. Spunky, mouthy, fearless, I loved everything about Anne Shirley. I even envied her red hair. I wanted a Gilbert Blythe to call me carrot top. I did a stint as a redhead in college, but it never took. Now, my hair is pink. It’s all about compromise, I guess.
In high school I didn’t read novels as much as I wrote poetry, so I transferred my love to Emily Dickenson. I didn’t understand her need to be a recluse, which is maybe why she fascinated me. I can recite my favorite poem of hers to this day. Words really stick. Poetry ended up being my first foray into publication. Published at nineteen? I’ll take it!
In my twenties I lost my teenage angst, got married and had kids, so poetry fell to the waste side. Books became my escape from everything and everyone and mysteries were my book of choice. Sandra Brown is my absolute favorite and when she tweeted to me I fangirled like an idiot. What I love about Sandra Brown is that there’s always a steamy scene, and there’s always an audible gasp because I did not see something coming. I think I’ve definitely adapted that technique in my own writing. That is not to say I am as good as Sandra because I am not. The Witness is my favorite book of hers.
When I finally decided that writing was all I wanted to do, I started reading everything in sight. Amazon Prime might be the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. I live thirty minutes from the nearest bookstore and traffic stinks, so books right to my door in two days? Yes, please.
The only other job I ever wanted besides writer was teacher, and I can still remember the moment the light bulb went off that writing for young people is what I’m best suited for. Since then, I’ve never looked back.
Thanks so much, Caroline! Love Lois Duncan and let’s just say Amazon Prime is a friend, ha ha.
Readers, don’t forget to enter the contest below for a chance to win her fabulous books!
Giveaway Information: Contest ends August 12, 2016
One (1) winner will receive a scrabble tile book cover charm (US ONLY)
Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Into the Dark and Into the Light by Caroline T. Patti (INT)
A girl’s sweet sixteen party is supposed to be among the most memorable events of her life. But on the night of hers, Mercy Clare wakes in the waiting room of a hospital with no memory of how she got there. To make matters worse, she’s wearing something she’d never be caught dead in: her best friend Lyla’s clothes.
Mercy’s nightmare is just beginning. The doctor arrives to tell her that it’s she who lies in the hospital bed waiting to die. A trip to the bathroom confirms Mercy’s fears, as Lyla’s face stares back at her and Lyla’s curvy figure pokes through her tight clothes.
But finding out what’s really going on won’t be easy. Because if Mercy wants her body back, it might just cost her Lyla’s life.
