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

Tag: Katie L. Carroll (Page 6 of 8)

ELIXIR BOUND Book Signing and Teen Writing Workshop at Barnes & Noble #BFESTBUZZ

Barnes & Noble is hosting a nationwide Teen Book Festival June 10-12 that will feature all kinds of fun activities and book signings. I’ll be at the B&N in North Haven, CT, signing and discussing my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 12. Then I’ll be sticking around for the B-Fest Teen Book Festival: B-Creative, a writing workshop for teens, at 2:00 p.m. I hope to see some local peeps there and I’m excited to meet some new readers!

For non-local peeps, there are events happening at B&N stores all over, so definitely check out your local store to see all the happenings. Also, a quick reminder that if you purchase a copy of ELIXIR BOUND and would like a signed bookplate, I’m happy to send you one. You can use the contact form on my website to let me know you want one (those go straight to my personal email). Happy reading!

(Oh, and if you’re an author and are participating in the #BFESTBUZZ, feel free to share the details of your event in the comments!)

Guest Posts and Elixir Bound Sale

Despite falling back with the clocks this weekend, I’m running low on sleep this Monday morning, so a cop-out informational post. 🙂

First off, the ebook of Elixir Bound is on sale for only $.99 through Thursday. For all ebook platforms, you can get it at the MuseItUp bookstore, and it’s also on sale over at Amazon. If you do get a chance to read it and don’t mind posting a short review over at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or anywhere else you feel so inclined, I’d really appreciate it. Reviews from readers really do help get the word out there about books!

No word on the date for when the paperback version of Elixir Bound will be shipping, but it is available for pre-order. Any day now I hope, and certainly in time for any holiday shopping you might be doing for a teen (or YA loving adult)!

I’ve also had a few guest posts up lately. Writing buddy Meradeth Houston featured me on her Sary in the Real World series with a fun post about my problem ridden trip to Alaska to run a marathon. My sister and I did this trip awhile back and keep saying we’re going to write a memoir about it one day, tentatively titled Loose Bowels and Butt Chap.

Also, Anne Nesbet interviewed me over at the Enchanted Inkpot. I answer questions about creating Elixir Bound, my current WIPs (though I’m still in the bubble, so not too much about those), and what magical portals I would like to be transported through. It was a really great interview!

How was everyone else’s weekend? Any good plans for the week?

 

Elixir Bound Blog Tour Schedule

It’s here: the Elixir Bound in paperback blog tour! I still don’t have an exact date for when the paperback version will be available, but I’ve been assured by my publisher that it will be this month or possibly October. The blog tour goes all month long, so I’ll be sure to update you all when I know.

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I have a fabulous line-up of guest posts scheduled and am being hosted by a group of awesome authors, book bloggers, and bookish people! There will be inside looks into my writing life, never before revealed info about the book, a giveaway, and the usual shenanigans you’ve come to expect from me! Here’s a list of stops:

August 31st – Krystal’s Enchanting Reads – A pre-blog tour post with a beautiful review of Elixir Bound and a post about world building from me

2nd – Where Writers and Authors Meet – Author spotlight and a chance to ask me questions (c’mon, you know you’ve been dying to ask me something!)

3rd – Observation Desk – (Yup, that’s my blog) Your chance to see the official map of the Great Peninsula

4th – Books for Company – My favorite spots to write with pictures

Author Eric Price’s blog – Find out how Katora, Kylene, and Bhar celebrate the Winter Solstice with an Elixir original short story

5th – Erin Albert Books – Twelve random things about yours truly (including one of my biggest fears!)

9th – Stuart R. West’s blog – The dos and don’ts of novel openings, plus my favorite openers

Where Writers and Authors Meet – The A’s to your Q’s from last week

Ladybug Lin’s Exceptional Reviews – A surprise post with a review of Elixir Bound from fellow Muser Lin Holmes

10th – Meradeth Houston’s blog Write Stuff – My favorite books in my top fantasy series

11th – Kai Strand’s blog Strands of Thought – Three Times a Charm feature in which I reveal my three favorite writing snacks, top three pieces of advice for kids, and three professions I wanted to be while growing up

You Gotta Read Reviews – An author interview where you find out who my favorite author is

12th – Girls Succeed! – My personal story on how I became a writer (fair warning, it’s a bit sad)

13th – Kelly Hashway’s blog – A deleted (and never before publicized) scene between Katora and Hirsten

14th – Literary Meanderings – Learn more about Zelenka and the demicks in this character interview

16th – Waibel’s World – A character interview of Kylene (really more of a scene…I got a bit creative–i.e. totally disregarded–with the traditional Q&A of an interview)

17th – Philip Coleman’s blog – Talking my favorite tipples in this author interview

18th – Susan A. Royal’s blog – An author interview where I reveal the movie I always watch when it’s on and I spill on my next book Elixir Saved

20th – Observation Desk – (My blog again…you didn’t think I was going to let everyone else have all the fun, did you?) A sneak peek look at the next Elixir book Elixir Saved

21st – Tina’s Book Reviews – Saturday spotlight on the making of the cover of Elixir Bound

23rd – The Story of a Writer – Find out what readers of Elixir Bound have to say with this book spotlight  and snippets of reviews

25th – Behind a Million and One Pages – Katora may be a traditional “strong” female protagonist, but find out what other kind of strong female I admire

Observation Desk – (Yup, back to my blog again) Pics of the swag being offered in the giveaway

26th – These Words Tell a Story – A list of musical inspiration I turned to while writing Elixir Bound 

27th – Nicole Zoltack’s blog Where Fantasy & Love Take Flight – A character interview of Katora, in which she reveals the one thing she would change about herself

30th – Suzanne’s Thoughts for the Day – I go crazy on other people’s books and suggest alternate endings

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Haunted at 17

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Nova Ren Suma’s new novel 17 & Gone released yesterday and she’s been running a blog special featuring what other YA authors were haunted by at age 17. I loved, loved, loved her novel Imaginary Girls and am super excited to be attending one of her workshops at the upcoming New England SCBWI writing conference in May. So without further ado, here’s what haunted me at 17:

The Best Years Of My Life?

I’d always heard people say the high-school years were the best of their lives. I never believed it. Not until I was 17 and heading into my senior of high school…and my life was, well, pretty perfect.

If I’d learned anything from books and TV, the teenage years were supposed to be filled with angst and rebellion. Sure, I’d had my moments of getting in trouble for staying out late at parties and the drama of ex-boyfriends hooking up with (soon-to-be-ex) friends. Moments that were all-consuming when they were happening, but in my bliss of seniordom, they were dark blips on the otherwise bright radar of my future.

kt_class_pic_sept.99On the precipice of senior year, I was a standout athlete, poised to graduate with a perfect 12 varsity letters (one each year in soccer, basketball, and track). An honor student, and on track to graduate in the top 5% of my class. A member of the student council, a volunteer at the hospital (right down to the horrible candy-striped outfit and white Keds), and a senior editor on the school newspaper. My resume would make any stereotypical world-hating teenager throw up stolen vodka all over her Doc Martens.

Oh, and I had just starting dating a guy I’d had been crushing on for the last several months. We worked together at the local hardware store. He was a long-lashed, quiet, super-smart college guy. Not my usual jock fare. We engaged in long, intellectual conversations about movies, science documentaries on the Discovery Channel, music, and life. And the only anxiety I had when kissing him was worrying about whether my lips felt too rough on his delectably soft ones. (Seriously, why don’t all guys use Chapstick? Soft lips are in no way reserved for women.) We were still at the tingly new relationship phase, where every touch zinged with energy and excitement.

Yeah. Life was pretty perfect…maybe a little too perfect.

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My senior night during basketball season. On the left is my sister Kylene during her freshman year of high school. Lucky #13 is me at 17.

As winter and basketball season approached, I struggled to keep my mini panic attacks from becoming noticeable. What if my one poor grade in pre-calculus junior year tarnished my transcripts? What if I didn’t get into my top college? Or any college? What if my relationship was too good to be true and he dumped me out of the blue?

Looming bigger than all that trepidation, though, the worst fear of all haunted me: What if high school truly was the peak of my life? What if 17 & Perfect turned into 18 & Past My Prime? What if when I was 40 and married (divorced?), I’d spend all my time reminiscing with the other sad, middle-aged women over “the good old days” and vicariously living through my own high-school aged kids? What if the next 60+ years merely consisted of a slow, steady decline into bitterness? Were these really the best years of my life?

Seems even then, when things were going well, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The biggest shoe of all didn’t drop until I was 19 and my sister died, but it’s been a steady uphill (with a few bumps along the way) since then. At least at the ripe age of 30 (what an old lady my 17-year old self is saying), I can say each year brings in new highs and lows, as does each decade. I don’t think I’ll ever be over the fear of the good times running out, but I can definitely say while the high-school years brought me some wonderful memories, they certainly weren’t the best of my life.

What haunted you at 17?

Elixir Bound in Paperback!

Elixer_Bound_300dpiAfter all the teasers, the day has finally arrived for my Elixir Bound announcement. And the big new is…*Drum roll*…Elixir Bound will be coming out in paperback later this year (not a definite date set, but it’s looking like June or July)!

You all know I’m a big fan of ebooks (I read on my Nook and my phone all the time), but I’m jumping for joy at the prospect of Elixir Bound in print. I hope it means my story will reach new readers. And I mean, what author doesn’t want to hold their book and fan through the pages?

In honor of this joyous occasion, I’m doing my first ever Rafflecopter giveaway. What can you win? Either a 3 chapter critique by yours truly (because I know lots of writers read my blog) or a signed copy of the paperback version of Elixir Bound (and probably some other surprise swag, which I’ll promptly send off to you once it’s released).

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