Category: Books (Page 45 of 81)

Trailer Reveal for THE DARKNESS WITHIN by Kelly Hashway

March 6, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Kelly Hashway (another one of those darned prolific author friends of mine 😉 ) joins us today with the trailer for her YA paranormal THE DARKNESS WITHIN. I loved the first book THE MONSTER WITHIN in this series (see my 5-star Goodreads review here) and am very much looking forward to Darkness. Welcome, Kelly!

The Darkness Within blurb:

After dying of cancer at seventeen and being brought back to life by an evil witch who turned her into a monster, Samantha Thompson thinks she’s finally gotten past all the tragedy in her life. Now she’s part of a coven of good witches who are helping her and her boyfriend, Ethan Anderson, learn to use the powers they received from other witches. Aside from the fact that Sam and Ethan are still in hiding from their old lives–the ones they had before Sam was brought back to life–things couldn’t be better. Sam and Ethan are inseparable. What could go wrong?

Magic.

Ethan’s magic came from a witch who’d turned as evil as possible, and though his coven thought he’d be fine, the more he uses his magic, the stranger he starts acting. The magic inside him is changing who he is. One minute he’s Sam’s sweet, perfect Ethan and the next, he’s a complete stranger. Even with all her witchy power, Sam is helpless against the magic corrupting Ethan. Can Sam find out what’s wrong with him before she loses him to dark magic forever?

Links: Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes and Noble

The Monster Within blurb:

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.

Links: Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Amazon

What people are saying about The Monster Within:

“An intense read and original plot. Kelly Hashway’s THE MONSTER WITHIN carries a noir vibe that will leave you in chills.” ~Jen Murgia, author of Forest of Whispers

“Hashway does a great job creating characters that stir your emotions and a mystery you want to unravel.” Cherie Colyer, author of the EMBRACE and HOLD TIGHT

“Witches, lies, black magic, murder…and the ultimate act of selfless love. Kelly Hashway has a spellbinding hit with “The Monster Within…” ~Michelle Pickett, Bestselling author of “PODs”

“Resurrection has a dark price. The Monster Within is a fast paced and twisted read that will keep you guessing to the end.” ~Heather Reid, author of Pretty Dark Nothing

About the Author:

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.

Hashway is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

LINKS: Website/Goodreads/Facebook/Twitter

Research – It’s Not Just for School Projects with Author Sarah Darer Littman

March 2, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Chapter 5 of The Great CT Caper is here! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a blast reading the Caper and seeing where all the authors have taken the story. Today we welcome Sarah Darer Littman, author of chapter 5 of the Caper, who had a week to learn and write about a place she had never visited. Welcome, Sarah!

Research – it’s not just for school projects!

by Sarah Darer Littman

As a young girl living in London, I could see Baker Street Station from my bedroom window, and passed 221B Baker Street, the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, every time we walked to Regent’s Park.

I was a voracious reader, and the wonderful children’s librarians at the library on Marylebone Road, where my parents took us regularly, put The Hound of the Baskervilles in my hands. I was hooked.

The Great Connecticut Caper audition required authors to write a short piece from a prompt, which set up a detective entering an empty house from which a strange noise was emanating, and pulling aside a curtain. I had him find a cat behind the curtain, and it seemed only logical that the feline should be named Watson.

At this point, despite having lived in Connecticut for many years, I knew nothing about William Gillette and his creation of the screen role of Sherlock Holmes. But it seems like I’ve been on the path to his doorstep at Gillette Castle since I spent all those hours in my bedroom down the street from 221B engrossed in the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.

When it came time to write my chapter, #5, I had an interesting challenge, because the story line diverged right at the end of the previous chapter, and I had very few words to account for what happened and move the parallel stories along for the next author. I’d visited Gillette Castle to learn more about William Gillette and hopefully get some fun tidbits I might be able to use in my chapter (“Ribbit, Ribbit!” Gillette really did have two pet frogs named Mike and Lena, I learned from my tour guide). But two of the characters in my chapter, Thomas and Norm, end up at Dinosaur State Park, which I’ve never visited. We were only given a week to write our chapter, and I was about to leave on a much needed vacation, so I didn’t have time to go up to Rocky Hill for a research trip. So I went online to learn whatever I could about Dinosaur State Park, and looked up images on Google Image search.

GilletteFrogs1 But here’s the problem with only using online research: it’s not always correct. My original draft of chapter five involved excitement when a dinosaur statue in the field at Dinosaur State Park came to life and started chasing Thomas and Norm. But I was unsure of two things: 1) it’s been a long time since my son, now 21, was obsessed with dinosaurs and I knew every single dinosaur ever, so I wanted to check I was using the correct name and 2) I was worried because there is also a Dinosaur State Park in Texas and some of the same pictures that were tagged as being in CT were also tagged as being in Texas.

Gillettearchway This is where being a journalist and understanding the importance of fact-checking helps me as a writer. I emailed Dinosaur State Park and explained my dilemma. I received an incredibly helpful email back from Meg Enkler, the Environmental Education Coordinator at Dinosaur State Park. Meg confirmed that the outside dinosaur statues must be at the Texas park, because the big statue of a Dilophosaurus, is indoors at Rocky Park. That nixed my existing plot line, but Meg helpfully suggested several alternatives, one of which I used. Thank you, Meg!

I often have to do a lot of research for my novels, and getting to ask interesting people questions about the work they do is one of the things that makes my own work so enjoyable – it’s lifelong learning.

About the Author:

Sarah Darer Littman is an award-winning author of books for young people. Littman’s first novel, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, won the 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers. Her novel Life, After was a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book. She is also the author of Purge and Want to Go Private? Her most recent novel Backlash, releases from Scholastic Press on March 31^st. In addition to writing for teens, Sarah is a political columnist for CTNewsJunkie.com, and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Western CT State College and for WritopiaLab. You can find her online at http://sarahdarerlittman.com/, @sarahdarerlitt, and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Darer-Littman/121109781249612.

Cover Reveal SUPER BAD by Kai Strand

February 26, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Kai Strand joins us today with a cover reveal for SUPER BAD, the third and final book of the Super Villain Academy series. Kai is one of those prolific writers that I love to hate. 😉 Congrats, Kai, on a super cool cover and another upcoming release! Make sure to check out the giveaway, too.

Watch out. Things are about to get really bad.

Excerpt from Super Bad:

The classroom door opened and Sandra glanced toward it, along with the thirty other kids in the room. She snickered and raised her eyebrows at Lexa when a young man wearing a Hermes costume, complete with wings fluttering on his heels, floated in.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Lexa leaned over to whisper. “I hope a draft lifts his skirt so we can see what’s underneath.”

Sandra giggled. “My guess is bun huggers. Gold lame to match his shiny winged cap.”

Lexa waggled her eyebrows. “Shiny gold buns. I like.”

The teacher frowned at the young man. “Can I help you?”

“I have a delivery for Sandra Tohler.”

Sandra gulped. This couldn’t be anything besides embarrassing. A tidal wave of heads turned toward her causing her cheeks to flush with heat.

Seeing where everyone’s attention settled, the Hermes guy floated between the rows of desks and came to rest near hers. “Sandra Tohler?”

Reluctantly, she nodded.

He cleared his throat before delivering a soliloquy in a clear, resonating voice that Sandra was sure the students in classrooms across campus would hear.

“Sandra, oh Sandra, my lovely, stormy vixen, hear my humble plea. Your essence has absorbed into my every thought and now I wonder how I will sit for my exams. Will I answer essay questions by describing the intense sable color of your hair, or the enticing moss of your eyes that makes me imagine us lying in each others arms in a fairy forest?”

Sandra’s forehead hit her desk with a loud thunk, her voice a mumble against the surface. “Please stop. Go away.”

But the Hermes guy continued in his orator’s voice. “I’ve relived our kiss uncountable times. Your lips were velvet soft, but demanding.”

A chorus of “Ooo,” erupted through the room.

SUPER BAD The unexpected conclusion to the Super Villain Academy series.

The world is in chaos. Violence and thievery reign. And with the supers still balanced, it’s only getting worse. Without good versus evil, the supers care less and less. In order to restore purpose, the world needs its super heroes and its super villains, but the one who balanced them in the first place is missing.

Sandra’s concern over finding her brother, Jeff, isn’t her only problem. Her pathetic excuse for super powers has left her needing a new ankle. And though she’s still very much committed to her boyfriend, Source, she’s growing unreasonably attracted to Set, the boy who double crossed Jeff by stealing his girlfriend.

When Sandra is taken and held as bait by kids who want to unbalance the super world, it becomes the inciting event that changes things for supers everywhere and forces them to answer the question, “Hero or villain?”

***

Super Bad is scheduled for release in June, but there have been whispers of it releasing sooner. Don’t miss out. Subscribe to Kai’s mailing list and be among the first to know.

King of Bad – Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; until he learns he has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. Is Jeff bad enough for SVA?

Polar Opposites – Heroes and villains are balanced. After Oceanus is kidnapped, Jeff learns the supers are so balanced, they no longer care to get involved. Ironically Jeff’s superpowers are spiraling out of control. Will they find Oci before he looses it completely, and will they find her alive?

***

Win a $10 Amazon gift card or an ecopy of either King of Bad or Polar Opposites. Plenty of chances to win. Open internationally. Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

When her children were young and the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died. The end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for the younger ones, Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Learn more about Kai and her books on her website, www.kaistrand.com.

Facts in Fiction with THE GREAT CT CAPER Author Laura A. Woollett

February 16, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Have you read chapter 4 of The Great CT Caper yet? If not, you’ll certainly want to after getting an inside look at how chapter 4 author Laura A. Woollett conducted her research for the Caper. Welcome, Laura!

Facts In Fiction

by Laura A. Woollett

I’ve been thinking a lot about how facts figure into the writing of fiction. If your fictional story is set in a real place or has real people in it, how much creative license do you have?

Research is a crucial element to creating historical fiction. The reader must feel as if he or she is IN that time and place. That means getting details such as clothing, cuisine, and architecture correct for the time period. But what about realistic fiction that takes place in the current time period? What about in a story like The Great CT Caper, which is a fictional mystery set in a real location that young readers can visit for themselves?

My first book, Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth (Chicago Review Press, June 2015) is nonfiction. Every detail was meticulously researched through primary source documents. I’m accustomed to gathering facts and presenting them in an engaging story format. As I wrote my chapter for The Great CT Caper, I wondered how close I had to stick to the facts of the real-life setting.

I began thinking about this project by taking a trip Gillette’s castle. It was a beautiful, sunny September day, and flowers were still blooming. The Connecticut River rushed by far below the castle’s teeth-like walls. Inside, I passed through a secret passage and leaned over the balcony to look down on the great hall. I touched the walls covered in a woven hemp-like material and counted the Gillette_Castle many carved wooden doors, each one unique. Fiction feels its most real when the sensory details are just right. Since our story would take place at this real location, it felt important for me to experience what Li-Ming and Thomas would first hand.

Including details from the castle was important, but I did not want my chapter to sound like a report, so stuffed with facts it would appear I were teaching kids about the castle rather than telling a story that happened to take place there. I had to pretend the castle wasn’t a real place at all, but an imagined one, and like in any well-written fiction, I would only include details that gave the essence of the setting and furthered Gillettes_Bedroom the plot. If the detail was not important to the scene, I cut it, even if it were true. Somewhere in Chapter 4, I took a bit of artistic license. Can you tell where?

Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, writers want their scenes, their characters, and their stories to ring true. Here are my goals for any writing project:

Do your due diligence.

Go online and research reputable sites that have information on the time and place where your story is set. Better still, go to a library and ask a librarian. Best case, if you’re using a real setting you don’t know much about, visit. Take notes and pictures. Talk to the experts or people living there.

Be true to the time and place.

This means no anachronisms. If trolley cars had stopped running through Hartford during the time of your story, you cannot have your characters riding on them. Get the clothing right, the types of food, the music people listened to, and the world events that shaped their lives.

Do your best.

In the past, I’ve wrung my stomach into knots worrying that I’ve messed up some factual detail. And in my experience, if I’m feeling this way, it means I’ve definitely done #1 and 2, so it’s time to let that worry go.

About the Author:

Laura A. Woollett has a Master’s degree in Children’s Literature from Simmons College and is a full-time writer and editor of literacy curriculum for children in kindergarten through grade 12. Her first book for middle-grade readers, Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth, a nonfiction account of the 1944 Hartford circus fire, will be published by Chicago Review Press in June 2015. Laura is the author of Chapter 4 of The Great Connecticut Caper, a middle-grade serialized whodunit published online through the CT Center for the Book, January–June 2015.

“Serial Killers Are People, Too” From Author Stuart R. West

February 13, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Writer friend and return guest poster Stuart R. West has a seriously deranged and hilarious post that is perfect for Friday the 13th. Stuart is celebrating the release of his latest thriller THE SECRET SOCIETY OF LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS. Welcome, Stuart!

Serial killers are people, too.

First of all, I’d like to thank Katie for allowing me to step up on my soap-box. Look, I know I have an up-hill battle, campaigning for serial killers’ rights. But, here’s the deal. The serial killers I’ve written about in my newest book, The Secret Society of Like-Minded Individuals, are an interesting lot, people you may like to get to know. Um, just be very careful around them; hide the sharp utensils during dinner gatherings.

My protagonist, Leon, is just about the most well-adjusted, highly moral, nice-guy serial killer you’re ever gonna’ run across. (And you probably don’t wanna’ run across many of them, just saying.) He only kills those who need it, he has his reasons. Okay, okay, so he has a few issues. Still, all in all, not a bad guy.

On the other hand, we have Cody, aka “the Denver Decapitator,” Leon’s nemesis. Sure, he’s young, immature, cocky, and yanking the world by the tail. But there’s something about the guy. Something unspoken, some sort of humanity lurking beneath his rough, soul-patched veneer. He’s just got an odd way of showing it.

Let’s talk about the “Good Samaritan Killer.” Well…I really can’t without giving away spoilers. A big surprise. But they’re human, only too much so. (Wait, did I say “they?” Heh. Read the book and find out.)

“The Mad Doctor?” Such an ugly nom de plume, one he’s not fond of. After all, he kills in the name of love. Why can’t everyone just get along? It’s complicated.

Wait, look over there, it’s “Donny and Marie,” the two most charmingly psychopathic hit-men you’re ever gonna’ run across. It’s not just a job to them, we’re talking fun and games.

And fun and games is what you’re gonna’ get with The Secret Society of Like-Minded Individuals. A lot of people who’ve read it had their doubts at first, believing it might be a bit too much for their tender psyches to take. I understand. But they all agreed…they were in for a big surprise. Suspense, thrills, action, surprises–heck, even romance–and a light dusting of dark humor.

Here, author Heather Brainerd (of the exceptional Jose Picada mystery series) sums it up best: “I really, truly, and almost surprisingly loved SSLMI. I was a little scared of the whole serial-killer-as-protagonist concept, but it was awesome. Looking forward to the next one.”

See? SO, the next time you meet a serial killer (assuming you survive the encounter), just remember that they’re people, too. Shake their hand (don’t linger! And don’t look ‘em in the eye!), pat ‘em on the back, and give ‘em an “attaboy.”

Okay, maybe not, but you know what I mean.

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS blurb:

Leon Garber has his reasons for ridding the world of abusive people, call it justifiable homicide.

Opportunity comes knocking from Like-Minded Individuals, Inc., a global company fulfilling the needs of people like Leon. LMI’s clientele are provided with new identities, security, and even lists of potential “projects.” But let’s not call it “serial killing.” Such a nasty business. For Leon, it’s a dream come true.

However, LMI’s put a target on Leon’s back. He has no idea why.

LMI, the police, sanctioned hitmen, and a vicious psychopath are after him. He collides with other Like-Minded Individuals: The Good Samaritan Killer, The Mad Doctor, Donnie and Marie (don’t ask). Heads are chopped, dropped and swapped as Leon fights for his life. But nothing will keep Leon from finishing his current project. Nothing. Not even the chance to fall in love with the woman of his dreams.

Sometimes a killer business idea is just that. Killer.

Amazon link: The Secret Society of Like-Minded Individuals

About the Author: