Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Author: Katie L. Carroll (Page 76 of 142)

The Monster Within by Kelly Hashway Book Blitz and Giveaway

Once again I welcome back another great writing buddy of mine. Kelly Hashway is here sharing her awesome YA paranormal The Monster Within (see my 5-star Goodreads review here). Be sure to enter the giveaway!

 

The moment seventeen-year-old Samantha Thompson crawls out of her grave, her second chance at life begins. She died of cancer with her long-time boyfriend, Ethan, by her side—a completely unfair shot at life. But Ethan found a way to bring her back, like he promised he would. Only Sam came back wrong.
She’s now a monster that drains others’ lives to survive. And after she kills, she’s tortured by visions—glimpses into her victims would-have-been futures had she not killed them. Barely able to live with herself and trying to make things right, Sam ends up a pawn in a vicious game of payback within the local coven of witches.
But when the game reveals what Ethan had to do to save Sam, she must make a choice that will change all their lives forever.



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Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets. 

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The car stopped, and Ethan’s hand slipped from mine. I turned to him, blinking against the fluorescent lights of the gas station. 
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I just needed to get some gas and a few things from the convenience store. There’s no food at the cottage. I thought I’d grab some crackers and soda. Stuff like that. I’ll even see if they have black licorice for you. I know you love it.” 
I nodded and started for my seat belt. 
“No. You stay.” Ethan opened his door and stepped outside. I let my hair fall across my shoulders, trying to warm myself against the night air. “I’ll be right back.” 
The trunk opened, and a moment later, Ethan opened my door, handing me one of his sweatshirts. “Here, you look cold.” 
I smiled. “Thanks.” He knew me so well. I watched him walk inside the store and heard the soft click of the car locking again. He wasn’t taking any chances with me. I knew he’d protect me from anything. He’d already protected me from death. He was my every- thing now. I would never see my family or friends again. I had to start over. The thought terrified me, but at least I had Ethan by my side. 
I hugged the sweatshirt to my body. I was too tired to actually put it on, and, this way I could breathe in Ethan’s scent while I kept warm. I inhaled deeply at first, and then my breaths became shallow, which was weird considering how tired I felt. I yawned. Exhaustion overwhelmed me. Apparently it took a lot of energy to return from the dead. 
I leaned my head on the window, hoping the cool glass would keep me awake, but my head spun, making me dizzy. My arms and legs tingled with the sensation of pins and needles. I felt like I had a million spiders crawling all over me. I threw the sweatshirt off me and onto the floor. My arms were bare. No spiders. But the feeling didn’t go away. I panicked. The walls of the car were caving in on me. The air around me was tight, strangling me. 
I searched the convenience store windows for Ethan, but all I saw was a guy in a cowboy hat, and a woman taking her little boy to the bathroom. Where was Ethan? The lightheadedness was getting worse—more intense. My breathing was labored. In a panic, I reached for the door handle. It took me a moment to remember it was locked, but when I finally got it open, I stumbled out of the car into the fresh air. I gulped oxygen into my lungs, hoping it would make me feel better, but it didn’t. 
I was suffocating. Life was draining out of me. I collapsed to my knees, skinning them against the pavement. Wheezing, I crawled forward, trying to reach the convenience store door. Trying to reach Ethan. I needed help. I didn’t know what was happening to me, but it felt like I was dying…again. 

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Cover Reveal YA Romance UNSPEAKABLE by Michelle K. Pickett

I’m excited to bring you this amazing cover for Michelle K. Pickett’s upcoming YA romance UNSPEAKABLE. I’m a big fan of Michelle’s (check out my 5-star review of her YA paranormal PODs). Everyone give her a big welcome and don’t forget to enter the Goodreads giveaway!
COVER REVEAL:
UNSPEAKABLE by Michelle K. Pickett


Genre: Mature Young Adult Contemporary Romance (Realistic Fiction)
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Release Date: February 10, 2015

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Unspeakable by Michelle K. Pickett

Unspeakable

by Michelle K. Pickett

Giveaway ends September 30, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
We are excited to share with you the official cover reveal of UNSPEAKABLE by Michelle K. Pickett. UNSPEAKABLE is a young adult contemporary romance that is scheduled to release in February of 2015. Check out more information below and make sure to add it to your TBR List! 

Summary from Good Reads:
“Breathe. No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”

On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of. 

She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just… but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choices. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.

When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.

Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?

ABOUT MICHELLE K. PICKETT:

Michelle is the bestselling author of the young adult novel “PODs.” She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in a sleepy suburb outside Houston with her extremely supportive husband, three school-aged children, a 125 pound “lap dog,” and a very snooty cat.

Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.

Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014. 

Keep up-to-date on her current and future projects at www.michelle-pickett.com.
 

 

 

 


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The Sassy Summer Book Party

You’re invited to the Sassy Summer Book Party and it starts now! Join 61 authors (including yours truly) and enter for a chance to win one of ten awesome prize packs. You can win an ecopy of my book ELIXIR BOUND in Prize Pack #2 Young Adult. Each prize pack includes a $10 Amazon gift card, books, and swag! Enter them all on Melissa A. Petreshock’s Dragon Blog.

The Cosmic Cloud Called Orion Nebula

 

Watch the Dragon Blog over the next two weeks as we highlight the participating authors.

Check out each prize pack to see which authors are included.

The Sassy Summer Book Party (#SSBP) is brought to you by the Sassy Sisters. 
Follow us on Twitter for for all the latest fun!
(@macpetreshock & @jlstreck)

Join the fun by using #SSBP

I’ll be featured on the Dragon Blog on Friday with the 14 other YA authors. So grab a drink and some partay snacks and enjoy!

Remembering When I Used to Attend Conferences

The kidlit writing world is abuzz with the goings on at the annual SCBWI conference in L.A. this weekend, and alas I’m once again not there. Instead of having sour grapes about it, I’m remembering the last time I went to the L.A. conference and all the great wisdom I gained while there. So I went into my archives and found a post from way back in 2010, which I’m reposting now.

Enjoy these great nuggets from some great writers!

M.T. Anderson:

  • Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home.
  • Literature restores a sense of unknown to what we already know.
  • Understanding the past is just as much about forging ahead to the future.

Gordon Korman:

  • What do you use more as an adult? Your sense of humor or your ability to recognize foreshadowing.
  • Kids are more subtle than you think they are. It’s not that stuff is going over their heads; it’s just the stuff we think is important, they don’t care about.
  • Kids are not an exotic subspecies. When we are writing for kids, we are writing for ourselves.

E.B. Lewis:

  • We spend so much time scratching to get some wealth that we miss out true wealth: our children.
  • Sometimes we don’t scratch deep enough to find the true value of our kids. It’s more valuable than gold. We scratch them too deep sometimes and destroy our children.
  • As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back.

Rachel Vail:

  • Trick to being a good listener is to actually listen.
  • Spying is key to being a writer. Put on your headphones in a public place, but don’t really listen to music.
  • How can two people in same conversation have such different experiences of what happens?
  • When I get stuck, I make some tea and force myself to remember.

Gail Carson Levine:

  • When you make a list, no idea is stupid.
  • The magic and joy of being a writer is learning about yourself in your writing.

Carolyn Mackler:

  • By standing out, you put yourself out there for a fall.
  • Be proud of what you wish for and stand by it, even if it’s harder than you expected.

Gennifer Choldenko:

  • Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will.
  • Harness the energy of your dreams.
  • Give yourself the right to take risks; you’re not making real risks if you haven’t risked and failed.

Paul Fleischman:

  • Research should be like slip; it should be there but never show.
  • Laughter gives you a sense of control.
  • There’s now way around but through–that’s the writing life.

Adventures and Writing Prompts in the Backyard

When people ask where my ideas come from, I always tell them from any and everywhere. As I’ve mentioned in my Confessions of an Author series, coming up with ideas is not a problem; it’s whittling down those ideas to find the gems and then following through on them that’s the hard part.

Out in the backyard the other day, just playing with the boys, there was no shortage of visual prompts that could easily turn into book ideas (and it was a different black butterfly on the butterfly bush that inspired my current WIP–see first pic!). So I thought I’d go ahead and share those visuals with all of you (and of course some cuteness with pics of said boys).

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Whenever I find mushrooms in the yard, I wonder what kind of magical creatures might live there. Though I knew The Boy had created the little rock formation, I thought about someone who didn’t know its origin coming across it and wondering how it came to be. And bubbles are always magical and fun!

Where do your ideas come from? What gets your creative juices going?

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