Category: Young Adult (Page 27 of 27)

Mary Waibel Author of The Mystery Prince on Twisting Fairy Tales

June 9, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

My good writing buddy Mary Waibel is celebrating her newest release The Mystery Prince. Mary is a master at taking fairy tales and giving them unique twists and she’s sharing her inspiration behind some of these tales. Let’s all give her a big welcome on her release day!

Elena Ringo http://www.elena-ringo.com

Fairy tales are so much fun to read, and I’ve found they make great stories to twist into something new. My first book, Quest of the Hart, is a reverse Sleeping Beauty tale where the princess goes on the quest to save the prince. It all started when a friend suggested I write a story about the girly-girl saving the guy, and I fell in love with taking these well known tales and changing them into something else.

Cover by CK Volnek

THE MYSTERY PRINCE is a twist on Cinderella, without the wicked step-sisters and step-mother. And, instead of the prince searching for his true love, the princess is the one roaming the countryside for the mysterious stranger who captured her heart at the masquerade.

Add in class differences that could result in imprisonment, flogging, or exile, and the hope for a happily-ever-after seems dim. But, as Nor (my version of a Fairy Godfather) continually tells Tristan, “You have to have faith.”

Cover by CK Volnek

The Mystery Prince, a novella

Book Blurb:

Tristan enjoys being in the shadows as Prince Rand’s bodyguard. Similar in looks, the two often exchanged places in their youth, but he never expected the king to order him to impersonate the heir to the throne in order to win the hand of a princess.

Princess Zoe needs to find a husband. After a year of searching with no success, her father insists on hosting a masquerade ball for the eligible princes of the nine kingdoms. Not one prince piques her interest, until she meets the mysterious stranger who won’t tell her his name.

When Tristan meets Zoe he finds the girl of his dreams. The only problem? She’s a princess and he’s impersonating a prince―a crime punishable by imprisonment and floggings. Unable to tell Zoe his real name, he gives her a special navigation device. One that leads to the owner’s true love. Will this magic device lead Zoe to Tristan, or will her true love forever remain a mystery prince?

Buy The Mystery Prince on Amazon.

Author Bio:

Mary lives with her husband, son and two cats. When she isn’t twisting fairytales, she enjoys reading, playing games, watching hockey, and camping. Her Princess of Valendria series (Quest of the Hart, Charmed Memories, Different Kind of Knight) are available from MuseItUp Publishing and other major retailers. Her novella, The Mystery Prince, is available at Amazon. Her Faery Marked (book 1 in the Faery Series) will be available from BookFishBooks this summer.

You can find Mary Waibel at:

http://marywaibel.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/authormarywaibel

https://twitter.com/mewtweety14

Cover Reveal Times Four with S.J. Pajonas Author of the Nogiku Series

June 3, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

Today is the cover reveal for the Nogiku series by SJ Pajonas. This cover reveal will be for the following books: Revealed: Part One (Nogiku series #0.1), Removed (Nogiku series #1), Released (Nogiku series #2) and Reunited (Nogiku series #3). This cover reveal is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours.

Here’s a picture with all four covers:

Revealed: Part One: New Year’s Eve with Jiro and Mark (Nogiku series #0.1)
by SJ Pajonas
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Post-apocalyptic
Age category: Young Adult, Adult
Release Date: June 1, 2014

Blurb:
Get immersed in the Nogiku world with Jiro Itō as he gets ready for a boring and annoying New Year’s Eve out in Nishikyō. At least, that’s what he expects his night to be like. Jiro would rather drink with the geisha all evening, and avoid taking anyone home, but he has family business to attend to instead. When the family business leads to an unfamiliar restaurant, Jiro spies Sanaa Griffin smiling at him from across the room, and his night turns around.

But Mark Sakai, his uncle, is not pleased with Jiro’s flirtations. Mark has worked hard for over a decade to get Sanaa into position for her new life, and he can’t have Jiro interfering. Will a stern warning be enough to keep them apart?

PART ONE of REVEALED is a companion short story to REMOVED, Book ONE of the Nogiku Series. The first chapter of REMOVED is included at the end of PART ONE. Read REVEALED first or read it later, but don’t miss this look into the other side of Sanaa’s story.

Approximately 10,000 words.

You can find Revealed: Part One: New Year’s Eve with Jiro and Mark on Goodreads

You can buy Revealed here:
– Amazon
– Barnes & Noble
– Kobo
– iBooks

Removed (Nogiku series #1)
by SJ Pajonas
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Post-apocalyptic
Age category: Young Adult, Adult
Release Date: September 11, 2013

Blurb:
Duty knows no family. Love has no price. Secrets can cost you everything.

Twenty-year-old Sanaa Griffin is about to get more than she bargained for when she wishes for love, happiness, and excitement on New Year’s Eve. Ripped from the job she always loved, she is reassigned to work for mysterious Mark Sakai and spy on the corrupt leaders of her city. War looms on the horizon, and Sanaa must help Sakai determine the key players and their weak spots before it’s too late.

Mark Sakai has many plans for Sanaa that will take her into a web of lies and danger, and her only protection is to learn to defend herself. But defense training under the watchful eye of Jiro, a strong and enigmatic young man she has a crush on, was not what she expected. Between falling in love with Jiro and the information she is gathering, Sanaa realizes Sakai is holding back secrets about her family and her deceased parents, secrets as to why she was chosen for this job, and learning the truth puts all of humanity in jeopardy.

REMOVED is the first book in a captivating post-apocalyptic series that harnesses the cultures and traditions of Japan and sweeps them into the future between Earth and a faraway land.

You can find Removed on Goodreads
Want to view some inspirational images for Removed, visit the Removed inspirational Pinterest board

You can buy Removed here:
– Amazon
– Barnes & Noble
– iBooks
– Kobo

You can watch the trailer for Removed here:

Released (Nogiku series #2)
by SJ Pajonas
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Post-apocalyptic
Age category: Young Adult, Adult
Release Date: December 17, 2013

Blurb:
Left in the desert to recuperate from her injuries, Sanaa Itami paces the floors and contemplates her mistakes. She trusted too easily, and now people she loved are dead, killed at the hands of men coming to assassinate her. Sanaa feels beaten, but life awaits her at home. While her city recovers from the devastating earthquake, negotiations for Sanaa’s future continue. New allies must be made, new friendships brokered, new skills acquired — at all costs.

Life at the top of the chain is complicated and lonely, though. With all her friendships rocky and uncertain, Sanaa must learn to trust others again more than she’s willing. Who is left holding a grudge? And will the new family Sanaa has found with Jiro support or betray her?

RELEASED, Book TWO of the Nogiku Series, is the second book in a captivating post-apocalyptic romance series that harnesses the cultures and traditions of Japan and sweeps them into the future between Earth and a faraway land.

You can find Released on Goodreads

You can buy Released here:
– Amazon
– Barnes & Noble
– Kobo
– iBooks

Reunited (Nogiku series #3)
by SJ Pajonas
Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Post-apocalyptic
Age category: Young Adult, Adult
Release Date: August 14, 2014

Blurb:
Yūsei has surprises for Sanaa Itami. The long trip across the stars ends with Mark Sakai delivering bad news from orbit over their new home, and there’s no turning back or moving on. Despite all their misgivings, this is where they will have to stay.

Sanaa, Jiro, and the rest of Earth’s settlers move into a coastal town and stick to their plans to live the colonization life they dreamed of. But Sanaa’s existence won’t be kept secret from her enemies for long. Kazuo promised he would see her in another life, on another world, and he aims to keep his word. Now she will face those who want their revenge and make new enemies while dispensing with old ones on her journey across the fascinating and unfamiliar landscape of Yūsei.

REUNITED, Book THREE of the Nogiku Series, is the third book in a captivating post-apocalyptic romance series that harnesses the cultures and traditions of Japan and sweeps them into the future between Earth and a faraway land.

You can find Reunited on Goodreads

You can read Revealed: Part One for free! And the price for Removed has been permanently dropped to 0.99$. Haven’t started this series yet? Pick up your copy today!

About the Author:
S. J. Pajonas loves all things Asian and has been in love with Japan and the East for as long as she can remember. Writing about Asia and Japan came naturally after studying the culture and language for over fifteen years. She studied film and screenwriting first and eventually segued into fiction once she was no longer working a full-time job.

Face Time is the first novel in the Love in the Digital Age series, and Pajonas’s first foray into Korean culture and families. Along with Removed and Released in the Nogiku Series, she continues to take the cultures of Asia and weave them into stories that appeal to people from around the world. Her writing is described as unique and unpredictable. Expect the unexpected.

Stephanie lives with her husband and two children just outside of New York City. She loves reading, writing, film, J- and K-dramas, knitting, and astrology. Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami and favorite book is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.

You can find and contact her here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Pinterest
– Flickr
– Instagram
– Tumblr

And there’s a cover reveal wide giveaway! You can win a 10$ gift card for Itunes of Starbucks or one of the 3 e-copies of Released!
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Don’t Judge Your Characters with Linda Budzinski Author of The Funeral Singer

May 23, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

Today’s guest and I go all the way back to my very first SCBWI Poconos writing retreat in 2009, so I am super happy to have Linda Budzinski, author of THE FUNERAL SINGER, on the blog today. Her words about not judging characters apply not only to writing but also to life. Welcome, Linda!

You Can’t Judge a Character by Her Role

It’s a lesson I keep learning over and over again: Don’t be too quick to judge people. Or maybe I should say, it’s a lesson the universe keeps trying to teach me, since I continue to fall into the same trap.

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Maybe it’s the guy in the next cubicle at work. Maybe it’s the grouchy neighbor. Maybe it’s your kids’ lacrosse coach. They act like a jerk, so you proclaim them a Jerk.

Until one day you find out this Jerk has a child with a severe disability, or he spends every weekend traveling hundreds of miles to visit an elderly parent who can’t even remember his name, or she’s in the middle of a nasty divorce. That’s when you realize that maybe he or she wasn’t always a Jerk. Maybe he or she deserves some patience, some grace, some understanding right now.

The same is true with our characters. When I set out to write THE FUNERAL SINGER, I wanted to write a novel about the difference between pop culture heroes and real-life heroes. My rock star characters would be shallow, selfish Jerks, while my real-life hero (a funeral director) would be a loving, caring, charitable gentleman.

Only they’re not. At least, not entirely. Most of the rock stars turned out to be pretty decent people, and the funeral director is far from flawless.

Even my main character, who throughout the course of the book goes from being a normal teen-ager to a pop culture hero to an everyday hero, isn’t all good or all bad along the way. She’s sweet and sensitive and infuriatingly self-centered, all at once. Because in real life, that’s how people are. People are both good and bad. And no matter what their station in life, everyone has problems. They may keep their problems well hidden, but they have them.

When we set out to create characters, we need to know their roles in our books. That is, we need to know whether they are protagonists (the main characters, who want something) or antagonists (the characters who stand in their way), but we do not need to proclaim them good or evil, angels or devils, sweethearts or jerks. Because chances are, they will be all of the above. And they will have problems that may never make it onto the page, but they will have them, and those problems will affect the way they behave.

And that will be what makes them interesting.

The Funeral Singer blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Melanie Martin has witnessed her share of lame eulogies and uninspired epitaphs while singing part-time at her dad’s funeral home. She’s determined to be more than a funeral singer, and more than just someone’s “beloved wife” or “loving mother.”

When Mel’s impromptu rendition of “Amazing Grace” at a local rock star’s graveside service goes viral on YouTube, she becomes an Internet sensation, attracting thousands of fans and followers, and even a hot rock star boyfriend–Zed Logan, bass player for The Grime.
But instant fame isn’t easy–and neither is love. Especially when Mel realizes she’s falling for another guy–one who may just want her heart more than her voice.

About the Author:

Linda Budzinski lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Joe, and their feisty chihuahua, Demitria (also known as Dee Dee, The Puppy, and Killer). She grew up in a tiny town called West Grove, in southeastern Pennsylvania. In the second grade, she announced to her parents that she wanted to be a “Paperback Writer,” just like in the Beatles song. She majored in journalism in college and now works in nonprofit marketing and communications.

She’s a sucker for romance and reality TV and has been known to turn off her phone’s ringer when watching “The Bachelor.” Her favorite flower is the daisy, her favorite food is chocolate, and her favorite song is “Amazing Grace.”

LINKS:

Website: www.lindabudzinski.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaBudz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Budzinski-Author/188747034633426

YouTube Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gs0PX1fEdg

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Funeral-Singer-ebook/dp/B00FDWYBRS/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-funeral-singer-linda-budzinski/1116970019?ean=2940148424031

Overcoming Fears with Kai Strand Author of Worth the Effort: Ella’s Story

May 9, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m very pleased to welcome back Kai Strand, who is celebrating the release of her YA contemporary novella Worth the Effort: Ella’s Story (see my 5-star Goodreads review here). She is discussing a topic near and dear to every writer: overcoming fears! Kai is also offering up a nice giveaway, so make sure to enter at the end of the post.

Overcoming Your Fears

By Kai Strand

In my newly released novella, Worth the Effort: Ella’s Story, Ella has to face a fear she wasn’t even aware of prior to meeting Ayden.

Ella is a senior in high school. She has a part-time job as a barista at a café downtown. She prefers to work the opening shift – you know, to get work over with for the day. For the two years she has worked at Read Between the Beans, she’s never once felt vulnerable until the morning she bops up to the backdoor of the restaurant and finds someone sleeping in the shadows next to the dumpster.

But realizing how vulnerable she is, all alone at four in the morning, isn’t even what scares her the most. It’s the fact that the homeless person sleeping in her alley is a seventeen-year-old boy. Ella hadn’t realized there were homeless kids, nor did she realize how terrified she was of them.

Just like Ella has to face her fear in her story, I had to face mine to make it available for your reading pleasure.

I was always terrified of self-publishing. Over the past few years the role of indie author has exploded until it seems like everyone is doing it. But still I resisted. Because I was scared to death. Afraid I’d look like a hack. Terrified I’d make a mistake. Worried I wouldn’t sell any copies and waste all that time, effort, and money.

But the more I watched the industry evolve (not that it is finished evolving, by any means) the more I realized that I wanted my career to stretch across all publishing opportunities and that meant self-publishing. So not only did I write the story, but I studied how to self publish, asked questions of more experienced authors, learned a formatting software (well, still learning it, actually), and forced myself to keep moving forward.

There were a couple times during the process that I almost quit. I almost decided to submit the novella to a small press for consideration. If it was accepted, they could do the hard work. Even now that the book is out there, my stomach still squirms. But I remind myself that I love public speaking even though I get all squirmy-bellied before each gig, and maybe self-publishing will be like that too.

So writing and publishing Ella’s Story was an exercise in both Ella and I facing our fears. Have you faced a fear? Did you succeed? Did you have to try again? Or do you have a fear you want to face?

About Worth the Effort: Ella’s Story:

Ella Jones is a coward. There is a teen boy living in the alley behind her work and she is terrified of him.

Desperate to leave behind the stereotypical and judgmental world she was raised in, Ella forces herself to make a true connection with seventeen-year-old Ayden Worth. As their friendship grows Ayden’s quiet, gentle ways teach her true courage.

But there’s more to Ayden’s story than Ella knows. When their worlds collide in the most unexpected place, Ella feels betrayed. Will she find the courage to learn who Ayden really is, or will she determine he’s not worth the effort?

Amazon, Goodreads

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.

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