My Selection for Waiting on Wednesday...

I haven't done a WoW post in a while. Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it's a great way to learn about new books. This week, I'm interested in The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray. Check out what it's about...

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when seventeen-year-old Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.

  

 At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.

  

   The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.

   

   If they play it right, then they'll be safe.

   

   But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

The cover caught my attention right away. It's so creepy. The premise is pretty creepy too: some old guy playing with people's lives like they're pieces on his personal chess board. It sounds like a story right out of the Twilight Zone! And on top of it, he's hooking up with one of them! Sounds pretty crazy. I don't have to wait to get it because The Dollhouse Asylum released October 22, 2012 by Spencer Hill Press!

Toodles, ya'll!

Interview with NYT bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz

The second installment in Melissa de la Cruz's original e-book series, Wolf Pact released October 23, 2012. I was curious as to why she decided to write a story totally in e-book form, so I asked her. This is what she had to say...

Why I Love Serialized Fiction by Melissa de la Cruz

I'm a huge fan of serialized fiction, to me they're like little TV episodes for a book -- tune in next week for the next installment! I actually started my fiction career by writing serial fiction. I wrote "Cat's Meow" which became my first novel as a weekly column for a fashion website called www.hintmag.com my friends and I started. I collected them into a proposal and then Simon and Schuster bought it as my first novel. After the book was published, Gotham magazine asked if I wanted to write a weekly serial for them, so I wrote "The Fortune Hunters" for a year. I sold it as a novel to Random House but I actually got too busy and wasn't able to publish it. (Maybe I still will one day, who knows!) 

So to me, going back to serial fiction is like coming home. WOLF PACT was not originally intended to be a serial or an ebook, but as I began to write it, I knew how IMPORTANT it was to publish it before the final Blue Bloods book came out, and how much of a richer reading experience Gates of Paradise would be with the wolves' back story and we decided to go e-book in order to bring WOLF PACT to the fans first. I wrote the novel as a novel, and when we made this decision, I had to figure out how to restructure it so it would fit the serial format. It worked out pretty well, because I'd laid out the book in four parts anyway, and from two POVs—Lawson and Bliss.

WOLF PACT was years in the making, but writing isn't a machine-like process, it took a long time for the story to gel and to discover how the wolves' story related to the vampires. Once you unearth it though, it always amazes me how well it fits, as if it was there all along. I always forget a writer's job is to hunt for the gem of the story in the idea. You have to keep chiseling away to find it. When you do, your work is done, and you turn it in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Released 10/23/12

And don't forget, the series only cost $1.99 at Amazon and $2.54 for the Barnes &Noble Nook!

Toodles!

Cover Love: A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourne

I ran across this book on another site and fell in love with the cover. It's in my favorite shades of color: aqua, sage green...I actually thought it was an old, vintage book, but it just looks old--on purpose! Look closely. You'll see what looks like creases in the cover!

I couldn't find much about what the novel is about. Only that it's set in the twenties and the protagonist on the cover goes to Africa in search of adventure or something. The author said the cover model allowed her hair to be cut just for the shoot of the book cover. Accommodating girl, she. No? Ha ha ha...

A Spear of Summer Grass releases April 23, 2013 by Harlequin Mira.

I hope you enjoy the pure joy of looking at it that I do.

Toodles!

In My Mailbox...

I may be drowning in books, but I can't resist a few more. I received a few really good ones in the mail and made a trip to the bookstore to continue my reading addiction.

Book two

I was tickled to get Dark Triumph--My Fair Assassin, book 2 by Robin LeFevers. If you read the first book, Grave Mercy, you know it's an awesome, gothic, YA that is most unusual and unique in its premise. When I finished it, I couldn't wait to learn how the saga continues and I give my thanks to Houghton Mifflin for giving me the opportunity. Dark Triumph releases April 2, 2013.

I was surprised to find Mila 2.0 in my box. It was my Waiting on Wednesday Selection not so long ago. The cover is so eye-catching. It's about a girl who was built in a secret science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do. Mila was never supposed to learn her true identity. She makes a run for it. It sounds like an action-filled romp full of intrigue. I can't wait to dig into it. My thanks to Katherine Tegen Books of HarperCollins for their swift generosity. Mila 2.0 releases March 12, 2013.
                                                                 

I ran across Summer of the Wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles and the premise sounded so good, I had to buy it. I'm a huge animal lover and I loved the idea of a young girl finding a wolf pup abandoned and nursing him through rough times. Nika, the girl, has lost her mother as well and I'm looking forward to learning how she and the pup bond and grow together...*sigh*...Doesn't the wolf pup on the back cover look adorable? The author works with troubled kids and has experience with wolves! Summer of the Wolves released March 8, 2012.

Lastly, I love home decorating books and I haven't bought any in a long while. I ran across this one, Romantic Style,  on my last trek to Barnes and Noble. The beautiful pictures are such an inspiration...

Did you get or buy anything interesting?

Toodles!

NYT bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz releases her first e-book original series!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz has earned critical acclaim, literary awards, and legions of fans around the world for her highly addictive Blue Bloods YA series about a group of elite Manhattan vampires.  This fall, Hyperion will release WOLF PACT, a companion to the Blue Bloods, and the first original e-book series for both de la Cruz and her publisher.  

One of the great things about this series is the price: $1.99 on Amazon and $2.54 on B&N Nook!

Here's what Melissa has to say...

“When my publisher approached me to publish Wolf Pact in this format,” says de la Cruz, “I jumped at the chance.  Each part of the story is dependent on the next, and the wolves’ story had to be told first in order for the finale of the Blue Bloods series, Gates of Paradise (out January 2013), to make sense. The speed and convenience of this format allowed me to give my fans a richer backstory to finish off the series.“

Brimming with mesmerizing supernatural creatures, WOLF PACT Part I went on-sale October 2^nd, Part II on-sale October 23^rd, Part III goes on sale November 13, and Part IV on-sale December 4.  Each cliff-hanger ending will tantalize fans as they anxiously wait for the next installment to release.

Once enslaved in the darkest pits of the underworld, Lawson and his pack were destined to become Hounds of Hell. Escaping to Earth bought them a little time, but their old masters soon catch up with them and take away the one thing Lawson is desperate to keep hold of – the girl he loves. Now, Lawson needs to hunt the beasts he was running from if there's any chance of seeing her again. When Bliss, a mysterious ex-vampire, turns up to search for the Hounds, it seems she might hold information that will help. But will she be able to trust this insolent, dangerously good-looking boy when she knows that he has a wolf's soul?

WOLF PACT, a timeless and romantic story of love and loss, will delight both readers who are encountering Melissa’s storytelling for the first time and devoted and long-time fans who are eagerly awaiting Blue Blood’s dramatic climax in Gates of Paradise.  

Toodles, ya'll!

 

 

Waiting On Wednesday Selection: FIREBLOOD by Trisha Wolfe

 

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's a wonderful way to learn about new books coming out. Check out Fireblood. Doesn't it have an amazing, crystal-clear cover?

 

Fireblood

To save a kingdom, Zara must choose between a prince who could be the answer and a rising rebellion that threatens to take control.

When Zara Dane is chosen to marry Prince Sebastian Hart, son of the man who ordered her father's capture, Zara knows she must fight to save everything she loves from ruin.

Being betrothed to the prince means a life trapped behind the towering stone walls of the Camelot-forged realm. Under the watchful eye of the prince's first knight, Sir Devlan Capra, changing her future becomes difficult.

When an unlikely rebel reveals the truth about the deadly secrets that fuel King Hart's twisted world, Zara's path to rescue her father becomes clouded by deception. The Rebels clear her path by forcing Zara's hand with an ultimatum: sway Prince Sebastian to join the Rebels, convincing him of his father's evil nature, or they will take him out.

But Zara is uncertain about a future under the Rebels' command and where the prince's heart truly lies. She must decide who to trust, what to believe, and what she's truly fighting for before the king destroys all of Karm, including her heart .

 

Release date is October 8, 2013 by Spencer Hill Press, so I have quite a wait ahead of me *sigh*.

Toodles!

And the Winners of BLOGFEST are....

Thanks, guys for stopping in and making the BLOGFEST the success it always is. I wish I had a book to give to everyone. Let me announce the three lucky winners that did win. They are...


The winner of Wayne of Gotham is...

Adam!! 


The winner of Pure is...

Tanya!!


The winner of When it Happens to You is...

JHolden!!

Congratulations, winners! Please email me with your contact information so I can pass it along to the publicists. If I don't hear from you in 72 hours, I'll select someone else in your place.

Thanks again, all...until the next time...

Toodles!