Category: Young Adult (Page 10 of 27)

My YA Fantasy ELIXIR BOUND Is Now Available

July 11, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

The pretty, new version of my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND (with the gorgeous cover by Susan Tait Porcaro) is finally hitting all the online vendors. It’s been a bit of a thing to make the switch from the old version to the new one with reverting the rights back to me and getting the new cover, blurb, and actual book up on the sites, but you don’t need to know all the nitty gritty details of that.

(Or maybe your do want to know about that stuff. If you’re interested in learning more about indie publishing…I could blog about it…let me know in the comments if that sounds like something you’d like to read about. Mostly I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing 😉 but I’m doing it, so that’s something.)

So hopefully all this trouble wasn’t for nothing and it actually sells a few copies. So here are some places where you can find it (the new version isn’t up on IndieBound yet, but I’ll update my homepage and the books page once that link is ready):

Amazon paperback & ebook – https://www.amazon.com/Elixir-Bound-Katie-L-Carroll/dp/099892542X

Amazon ebook – https://www.amazon.com/Elixir-Bound-Katie-L-Carroll-ebook/dp/B07DHB5WRM

Barnes & Noble paperback & ebook – https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/elixir-bound-katie-l-carroll/1117532812

Kobo ebook – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/elixir-bound-1

If you do read it, I’d be ever so grateful if you left a review on any (and all) of these vedors and also over on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40489385-elixir-bound) if you’re there. And also just spread the word if you liked it. Buy it as a gift for the pre-teen or teen in your life (or the YA loving grown-up you know). Request it at your local library. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get a book noticed. I’d love to keep making more books, and the more copies I sell, the more I can focus on creating more books. That goes for giving my MG adventure PIRATE ISLAND (Goodreads link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34818093-pirate-island) a little love as well!

ELIXIR BOUND blurb:

Katora Kase isn’t the firstborn son nor does she possess the type of magic that can conjure spells or bewitch others.

In the land of the Great Peninsula—an epic fantasy world ruled by the Great Mother Nature and her offspring—those things aren’t a measure of one’s worth. And what Katora does possess is the subtle magic running through her blood that marks her as the next guardian of a secret healing Elixir that is her family’s legacy. It is such a highly guarded secret that Katora doesn’t know of its existence until a rare snowstorm blows through with a message for her father, the current guardian.

Katora sets off on a quest into the wilds of Faway Forest to find the flowers that give the Elixir its potency. Even though she is accompanied by her sister, her brother, an old family friend, and the handsome son of a mapmaker, she feels alone. For it is her decision alone whether or not to bind herself to the Elixir’s magic to serve and protect it until a new guardian is chosen. The forest hosts many dangers, including wicked beings that will stop at nothing to gain power, but the biggest danger Katora may face is whether or not to open up her heart to love.

Summer Writing Update: Elixirs, Witches, and Pirates!

June 21, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

The kids have been out of school for a week and summer break is in full swing here! We’ve made out lists of activities we’d like to do and places we’d like to go this summer. Some we’ve already done or have planned (like going to the zoo and strawberry picking), while others are probably not going to happen this year (like visit NASCAR’s Hall of Fame).

As for my writing, I’ve got a couple of things going on. I’m working on getting my YA fantasy Elixir Bound with the new cover back up for sale. Right now you can get the ebook of Elixir Bound from Amazon and that’s it. I’ll post when I get it up in paperback and on ebook for the other vendors. Plus, I finally created a book trailer for it, which was a lot of fun. It was nice to work a different set of creative muscles for it. (The map it features is part of the map of the Great Peninsula, which can be seen in full in the new version of Elixir Bound.)

I’ve been on something of a roll with drafting the companion novel Elixir Saved. I’ve been drafting this novel for years…yes, I said years! So long, in fact, that I’ve been calling it my perpetual WIP (work-in-progress). But I think I’m finally crested the murky middle section and can see the far side of the hill. I’m hoping to keep that momentum going over the summer and get it ready for beta readers before the end of the year. I’d like to publish this one some time next year (fingers crossed!).

Research for my next middle grade book has been going well. I’ve been doing a bunch of reading about the witch trials that took place in Connecticut (mostly before the more famous Salem Witch Trials) and what colonial Connecticut was like. I checked out a local history book from the library and mentioned it to my dad because he’s a history nerd. He was like, “Is that the book where I helped write and edit the updated history in the 1980s?” Turns out it was! And my grandfather, who was there when I mentioned it to my dad, was like, “My father, your great-grandfather, helped with the version that was written in the 1930s.” So that was an interesting serendipitous moment.

The witchy middle grade book–which in my mind is pitched as Mean Girls meets The Crucible–doesn’t take place in history, but it will be a contemporary middle grade that delves into history and ties it to the present, much like Pirate Island does with Captain Kidd’s history being woven into Billy’s story in the present day. I hope to start drafting this story soon, but I need to focus on Elixir for now.

Speaking of Pirate Island, the ebook is on sale for $1.99 for a limited time, so scoop that up if you haven’t already (links for Pirate Island on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo). I’ve also got an exciting announcement coming up for Pirate Island once my local library makes it public…just to give you a little teaser there. 😉

And I always have stuff I’m waiting to hear back about, so there’s always the potential for good news (or devastating rejections!). Thus is the nature of the publishing biz.

Anyway, I’m excited for the summer weather and hanging out with the boys and family day trips. And a certain writer/mama’s birthday is coming a few days before a certain gentleman’s first birthday. Oh, and I’ll be going to the big SCBWI conference in L.A. this summer. I’m so excited (I won the trip, so the airfare, hotel, and conference fee were paid for!), but super nervous about leaving the baby. I keep telling myself it’ll be fine. Busy times, busy times.

What are your summer plans?

ELIXIR BOUND Is Getting a Makeover

May 28, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s finally time to reveal the big ELIXIR BOUND news that I’ve been teasing about for the past few weeks: it’s getting a makeover! Susan Tait Porcaro, the super talented illustrator behind the PIRATE ISLAND cover, created a brand-new cover for my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND! (Check out her website http://susantaitporcaro.com/ to fall in love with all her work.)

I truly loved the old cover, but this one with the bottle and vines and the forest is exactly what I wanted for the new cover (scroll down to see the full paperback cover below). It conveys the magic and atmosphere of ELIXIR BOUND perfectly. And when ELIXIR SAVED, a companion novel, comes out (I think I’m going to actually pull off having it ready for a 2019 release!), it will have a cover with a similar feel.

So what does it mean when a book gets a new cover? Well, for those of you who already have the old version, it’s still the same book inside, so that’s not gonna change. For anyone who decides to get the new version, it will include a map of the Great Peninsula and an expanded blurb.

Katora Kase isn’t the firstborn son nor does she possess the type of magic that can conjure spells or bewitch others.

In the land of the Great Peninsula—an epic fantasy world ruled by the Great Mother Nature and her offspring—those things aren’t a measure of one’s worth. And what Katora does possess is the subtle magic running through her blood that marks her as the next guardian of a secret healing Elixir that is her family’s legacy. It is such a highly guarded secret that Katora doesn’t know of its existence until a rare snowstorm blows through with a message for her father, the current guardian.

Katora sets off on a quest into the wilds of Faway Forest to find the flowers that give the Elixir its potency. Even though she is accompanied by her sister, her brother, an old family friend, and the handsome son of a mapmaker, she feels alone. For it is her decision alone whether or not to bind herself to the Elixir’s magic to serve and protect it until a new guardian is chosen. The forest hosts many dangers, including wicked beings that will stop at nothing to gain power, but the biggest danger Katora may face is whether or not to open up her heart to love.

The new cover also means that ELIXIR BOUND isn’t currently available for purchase, but I’ll update you all once it’s back up for sale. (FYI, I still have a few paperbacks of the old cover kicking around, so it you really wanted that version, email me at katielcarroll(at)yahoo(dot)com (replace the “(at)” with “@” and the “(dot)” with “.”) and we’ll work something out.

The best places to get the latest information about me and my books is to subscribe to the blog over on the sidebar there (mobile users, scroll all the way down and click on Desktop to view the sidebar) or follow me on Facebook and Twitter (@KatieLCarroll). Here’s the full paperback version of the cover!

ECOSYSTEM by Joshua David Bellin Blog Tour

April 20, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

Today’s guest is Joshua David Bellin, who is here to celebrate the upcoming release of his YA fantasy ECOSYSTEM. The full blog tour schedule can be found here. Check out the excerpt below and don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

ECOSYSTEM blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Sarah is a Sensor, gifted with the ability to survive within the sentient Ecosystem that swept away human civilization centuries ago. While the remnants of humankind huddle in small villages of stone, Sarah uses her psychic connection to the Ecosystem to travel freely in the wild in search of food, water, and fuel. Sarah doesn’t fear the Ecosystem—but she hates it for killing her mother when Sarah was a child. When she hunts, she hunts not only for her people’s sustenance but for revenge.

Then Miriam, an apprentice Sensor, is lost in the Ecosystem, and Sarah sets out to rescue her. Joining Sarah is Miriam’s beloved, Isaac, a boy who claims to possess knowledge of the Ecosystem that will help their people survive. The harrowing journey to find the missing apprentice takes Sarah and Isaac into the Ecosystem’s deadliest places. And it takes Sarah into the unexplored territory of her own heart, where she discovers feelings that threaten to tear her—and her society—apart.

A thrilling fantasy adventure from the author of Freefall and the Survival Colony series, Ecosystem is the first book in a YA trilogy that includes The Devouring Land (2019) and House of Earth, House of Stone (2020).

Ecosystem on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39663460-ecosystem

Ecosystem on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ecosystem-Trilogy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07C2HDF9G

ECOSYSTEM excerpt:

The Ecosystem breathes.

I crouch at the edge of the forest, waiting. Waiting for its attention to shift so I can make my dash across the greensward. Waiting until I can Sense its thought in my bones.

There are no guarantees, Sarah, Aaron told me before I set out this morning. There is only the Sense of things: eyes and ears and nerves and muscle. And, he added, smiling, a little bit of luck.

The Ecosystem rustles, settling. I edge forward, my eyes focused on the patch of bright green turf just beyond the dense tangle of bushes and creepers. I breathe shallowly, lowering my heart rate to a relaxed, steady rhythm. The suffocating smell of vegetation surrounds me, but I detect no threat from the sultry air. The Ecosystem has lost sight of me in the tall grasses, failed to track me from the kill site. Its final assault will come at the edge of the village, where its anger runs deepest. Where there’s nothing to attract its thirst for blood but me.

I rise to a sprinter’s crouch, fingers braced against moist earth. My heart pulses in my fingertips, and I hope that isn’t enough to rouse the Ecosystem’s ire.

The Ecosystem doesn’t sleep, Aaron reminded me. But it dozes. It sends signals from place to place, heightening some zones while dulling others. Always conscious, but not always mindful. Not always. Not everywhere.

Not here, I think. I Sense. Not now.

Now.

My body uncoils, hurdling the fringe of underbrush that separates forest from lawn. My foot strikes the turf, but only long enough to propel me into my next stride. Stumble on the grabgrass and I’m dead. I cross the green in a random, zigzag pattern, hoping the individual blades can’t anticipate my next move. I Sense snares exploding in my wake: a sinkhole, a clinging tendril, a venomous thorn. But the Ecosystem is sluggish, emerging from dormancy, too slow to catch me. I leap from living grass to the charred circle surrounding the village stone, and the vines the Ecosystem hurls at my back clutch nothing but air.

I trot across the boundary circle, bare soles crunching on blackened turf, heart hammering in my throat. When cool village stone lies beneath my feet once more, I turn to the forest. The Ecosystem’s many tongues erupt at the sight of me: winged cicatrix chatter, prowler monkeys hoot, bloodbirds screech. I smile, pull my first kill from the pouch at my belt, and dangle the dead thing before the forest’s face.

“I am Sarah,” I say to it, enunciating each word despite the raggedness of my breath, the heaviness of my heart. “You have taken what was mine, and now I take what is yours.”

With an exaggerated motion, I twist the spine of the thing I killed until I hear a sharp crack. Then, while the Ecosystem howls in thwarted rage, I cross the stone terrace and enter the village.

About the Author:

Joshua David Bellin has been writing novels since he was eight years old (though the first few were admittedly very short). A college teacher by day, he is the author of three science fiction novels for teens and adults: the two-part Survival Colony series (Survival Colony 9 and Scavenger of Souls) and the deep-space adventure Freefall. His new book, the YA fantasy Ecosystem, releases on April 22, 2018 (Earth Day). Josh loves to read, watch movies, and spend time in Nature with his kids. Oh, yeah, and he likes monsters. Really scary monsters.

Website: http://www.joshuadavidbellin.com

Blog: http://theyaguy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheYAGuy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuadavidbellin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7393959.Joshua_David_Bellin

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Book Excerpt of the YA Contemporary I AM ME by Kai Strand

March 23, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

Let’s give a big Observation Desk welcome to my good writing buddy Kai Strand. She is here to share an excerpt from her latest novel, a YA contemporary called I AM ME. Welcome, Kai!

I AM ME blurb:

Despite—or perhaps because of—her fancy car, private school education, and life of privilege, Lola Renaldi has become a volunteer junkie. Feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, visiting the elderly—if it’s a good cause, she’s done it.

Lola’s favorite stint, building affordable houses, puts her directly in the path of Rodney. He refuses to discuss why he’s doing community service, but it’s clear he’s hiding something dark about his past. As their friendship grows, Lola begins to question the true reasons for her obsessive volunteerism and her view of those she has pledged to help.

She is only beginning to understand how lucky she truly is when her life falls apart. After losing friends, her boyfriend, even Rodney, Lola finally recognizes which parts of her life she wants to hang on to and what specifically she wants to go after. But with all she’s been through, will she be able to hang onto who she wants to be? Or will she lose all that defines her?

Excerpt:

Hank is now around the north side of the house talking to a man and a boy who looks to be about my age. The man seems very official somehow. Maybe it’s the way he’s standing, with his feet shoulder width apart, his back ramrod straight, thick arms crossed over his chest. He’s sporting a crew cut that emphasizes his strong jaw. He looks a bit like a Stretch Armstrong doll, like if Hank and I each grabbed an arm we could taffy-pull all those thick muscles until his arms were long and thin and able to wrap around Talia’s house. The grim line his lips form when he isn’t talking, the flex of muscle in his jaw, his shifting eyes that take in everything around the job site, all warn me not to eavesdrop, so I slow my approach.

The boy has caramel brown hair that hangs into his eyes. He’s in a t-shirt even though the air is still crisp, especially on the shady north side of the house. His arms are pretty thin. I’m cold just looking at him even though he appears unaffected. He’s tall. Taller than Hank, but his hunched posture almost camouflages it. It’s like he’s a turtle hiding in a shell. He isn’t slouching, just inward somehow. He nods at something Stretch Armstrong says without turning to look at the man. Maybe he’s being scolded or lectured. I reconsider eavesdropping.

Hank sees me and smiles. He raises his voice, so I can hear him. “Perfect. I can pair you with Lola. She’s a longtime volunteer and knows the ropes.”

Oh splat. Now I have to meet them. I want to glare at Hank for saddling me with Stretch Armstrong for the day, but instead I just nod and smile pleasantly as I join their group.

“Lola, this is Dave and Rodney.”

I turn to Dave—Stretch Armstrong—to shake his hand and I have to school my reaction when I see the embroidery on his polo shirt. LINDSEY COUNTY JUVENILE DEPARTMENT. Dave squints at me and then glares at Rodney.

I turn to the kid next and offer my hand. He all but sighs when he digs his out of his front pocket. “Good to meet you, Rodney.”

He reluctantly raises his gaze to meet mine and my smile is suddenly genuine. What yummy eyes he has. They’re the same color as his hair, which strikes me as unusual. The caramel color is light as far as eye shade is concerned. Warm. Glowing. Ringed with black. A toffee colored starburst adds the most compelling depth. Wow. I could spend hours staring at this boy’s eyes…if they didn’t look so hostile.

I look away to discover Dave studying me. “I’m not sure—”

“I’ll be here if there are any questions.” Hank interrupts, which I consider extremely brave. “But Lola knows her stuff. How many homes have you helped us build, Lola?”

“Six now.” I can’t help the pride that swells inside me. It must show on my face because a corner of Rodney’s mouth twists and an eyebrow raises and lowers so quickly I think I might have imagined it. As heat flares in my chest, my shoes become intriguing. I notice that Rodney’s have small holes on either side where the toes bend.

“I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you up,” Dave tells Rodney. “Don’t leave this site.”

“He’ll be fine, Dave.” Hank’s familiarity with Stretch Armstrong almost makes me more comfortable around the guy. Almost. “Lola, why don’t you get Rodney suited up. You two will have the entire north wall.”

Rodney looks at me with a panicked expression.

I laugh. “Don’t worry. It’s not Hazmat or anything. Today you’ll just need gloves and an apron.”

His expression goes blank again as he follows reluctantly.

In the supply shed I throw an apron at him, then I hold a pair of gloves out. “See if these fit.”

He takes them from me, his movements careful like he’s afraid to spook me by moving too fast.

I grab an extra caulking gun, shove another container of caulk under my arm, and skirt around Rodney. “Okay, let’s get started.”

The guy couldn’t look less enthused if he tried. With the work gloves on, he’s forced to keep his hands out of his pockets, but the way his arms hang listlessly at his sides as he trudges behind me makes me think of Droopy Dog.

This is going to be a long day.

Get your copy:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

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 Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Learn more about Kai and her books on her website, www.kaistrand.com.