Cover Reveal: COLLIDE by Christine Fonseca

I love this cover, LOVE IT!!! Beautiful and mysterious, just perfect :) And the book sounds amazing! Here are the deets:

BOOK & AUTHOR INFO:

Collide by Christine Fonseca
Publication date: April 29th 2014
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

Synopsis:
The most dangerous secrets are the ones that kill.

When a surprising mental breakdown draws too much attention from a secret government group call the Order, 17-year-old Dakota discovers that her so-called boring life isn’t so boring after all. Between the lies, secrets and assassins out to kill her family, Dakota discovers there’s more to paranormal activity than ghosts and cheap mind tricks. Now she must uncover the truth before a new breed of terrorism takes everything away – including her life.


Goodreads


----

AUTHOR BIO

Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website –  or her blog .

Author links:
Website
Twitter
Goodreads

Quiet Kids and Christine Fonseca

I am thrilled to be hosting the fabulous Christine Fonseca, both here and on Operation Awesome today. I love all of Christine's books, but this one is especially of interest to me because my sweet son is an introvert (as is my husband....and as am I lol). This book not only gave me some great insights into my son but into myself and my hubs as well.

If you know (or are) an introvert, you definitely need to get this book! And now, I'll let Christine have the floor :)

~~~~~

I am so happy to announce the official release of my book, Quiet Kids. This book, in addition to being the book I wish I had read as a child, speaks to introversion in children, pulling on the latest research in the area and providing parents and educators strategies to help support introverted children. As most of you know, my writing career started with my books related to gifted children, and while not all gifted children are introverted, a quiet temperament does dominate that particular subgroup of children.

Quiet Kids looks at what it means to be introverted in today's noisy world. 


Here is the description of the book:


Being an introverted child is difficult, especially in an ever-increasingly noisy world. Often viewed as aloof, unmotivated or conceited, introverted children are deeply misunderstood by parents, educators and even their peers. That's where Quiet Kids: Helping Your Introverted Child Succeed in an Extroverted World comes in. Designed to provide parents with a blueprint for not only understanding the nature of introversion, Quiet Kids provides specific strategies to teach their children how to thrive in a world that may not understand them. Presented in an easy-to-read, conversational style, the book uses real-world examples and stories from introverts and parents to show parents and educators how to help children develop resiliency and enhance the positive qualities of being an introvert. With specific strategies to address academic performance, bullying, and resiliency, Quiet Kids is a must read for anyone wishing to enhance the lives of introverted children.


Publisher's Weekly was kind enough to call the book "Extremely useful for educators and parents, this thoughtful text emphasizes the many gifts of quiet kids.”


Quiet Kids can be found in Barnes and Noble stores across the United States, as well as online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart and other retailers world wide. 


As part of the launch of Quiet Kids, I developed a little quiz to help you know if you may have an introvert in the house:

1. My child prefers to spend time alone or reading after school? T/F
2. My child is generally quiet? T/F
3. Teachers often characterize my child as shy? T/F
4. I often worry that my child has very few friends? T/F
5. My children struggles when things are not part of a routine or predictable? T/F

A yes answer to most of these questions may indicate that your child has an introverted temperament.

I also have a special giveaway to celebrate the launch:


a Rafflecopter giveaway




THANK YOU for the support of this important book. Be sure to check out the events page on my website to see what other fun things I have planned.

Happy Launch Day Elana!!

The long awaited final installment in Elana Johnson's Possession series is HERE!!! Abandon releases today and to celebrate, Christine Fonseca and I will be giving away THE ENTIRE POSSESSION SERIES! Elana is also doing an awesome celebration of her own with a fun scavenger hunt so be sure not to miss that!

Seduced by power,broken by control,and consumed by love...

Vi has made her choice between Jag and Zenn, and the Resistance may have suffered for it. But with the Thinkers as strong as ever, the rebels still have a job to do. Vi knows better than anyone that there's more at stake than a few broken hearts.

But there is a traitor among them...and the choices he makes could lead to the total destruction of everything Vi has fought for.

Vi, Jag, and Zenn must set their problems aside for the Resistance to have any hope of ending the Thinkers' reign. 
Their success means everything...and their failure means death.



Would you like to win this ENTIRE series in paperback? Just fill out the rafflecopter below (international entries ARE allowed!). You can enter through Sunday. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Free Story Alert!!

My dear friend Christine Fonseca is releasing a FREE short story in celebration of the upcoming release of the final book in her Requiem series, Dominus.

If you've read any of the Requiem series, you don't want to miss this. And if you haven't read any of the series yet, well you still don't want to miss this. It's a free story!! :D

Here are the deets:

Lorelei sees things other girls can't see. She knows about the demons and monsters. She's met them. Up close. And it's cost her everything. Torn between protecting her siblings and avenging her mother's death, Lorelei must decide which path she will take. And no matter what she chooses, her decision will influence more than just her future in this companion short story to the Requiem Series.

**This edition includes a special excerpt from the anticipated book Dominus, the final installment in the Requiem Series

AUTHOR INFO:

Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website – or her blog.

SMASHWORDS
GOODREADS 

Annnnd a giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal! DOMINUS by Christine Fonseca

I am thrilled to help reveal the cover for Christine's newest book in the Requiem series!!!

Short Blurb for DOMINUS

“It’s been six months since my memories returned. Six months since Aydan was again ripped away from me. Six months since I broke a piece of my best friend’s soul.

Six months...”

Nesy has found her memories, her life. Now all she wants is to forget and be human. Only human. But fate holds a different destiny. Forced into a war she wants no part of, Nesy is put to the test in ways she never thought possible as she seeks to fix the mistakes she has made. And the mistakes of her former master, Mikayel. Will she be the Sentinal she was destined to be and put an end to the fighting once and for all? Or will she fail and send humanity into slavery?

The future of three worlds depends on the choices, and sacrifices, she must make in this final installment of the Requiem Series.


Availability:
Publisher: COMPASS PRESS
Goodreads
Buy information will not be available until October, but it will be available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine retailers.

Additional Titles in the series include:
• DIES IRAE (a Requiem Novella),
• LACRIMOSA (Requiem Series #1)
• MEA CULPA (a Requiem Novella)
• LIBERA ME (Requiem Series #2)

About Christine Fonseca
Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website 

Happy Book Birthday to TRANSCEND and Christine Fonseca!!

I am thrilled to celebrate the release of Transcend by my dear friend Christine Fonseca. This book is different than any other I've read for a while. It's dark and poetic and just masterfully done. Here's the blurb and the gorgeous cover:

All seventeen-year-old composer Ien Montgomery desires is an escape from his family's rigid expectations for his life; someone to inspire his music. When he meets a beautiful violin-prodigy, Kiera McDougal, his life music takes on new life. With her, he imagines a future outside of his parents’ control. That is, until a horrible accident tears them apart. 

Sent to die in a sanatorium, Ien’s obsession for Kiera grows unbearable. Tortured by thoughts he can’t escape and the truth of his monstrous disfigurement, he flees, desperate to exact revenge on the people that ruined his life – his parents. But, vengeance is empty. Betrayed by those closest to him, Ien discovers that the price for his happiness may be his sanity. 

Set amidst the landscape of New York's Gilded Age, and inspired by Phantom of the Opera, TRANSCEND exposes the fine line between love and madness.

The early reviews on this book are AMAZING (and I whole-heartedly agree with them!) Christine's tour kicks off next week, but you can get Transcend on Amazon and B&N (the print versions aren't showing up yet but should be there any minute now) :)

Congrats Christine!!!!

Reveals and Giveaways and First Chapters, Oh My!

Christine Fonseca is having a bit of fun today and you'll definitely want to join in!

First off, you can get a sneak peek at her wonderful new novel TRANSCEND. Christine is sharing the first chapter with everyone! Just head RIGHT HERE and enjoy! Or you can check out Christine's Blog and read it there.

And because she's just an awesome person, she's also doing a giveaway! Just enter below for some fabulous prizes!   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal! Christine Fonseca's TRANSCEND

WOO HOO!!!! The day is here! The day celebrating the reveal of Christine Fonseca's Transcend, a YA psychological thriller hitting shelves on September 18, 2012. Here's a little blurb about the story:

All seventeen-year-old composer Ien Montgomery desires is an escape from his family's rigid expectations for his life; someone to inspire his music. When he meets a beautiful violin-prodigy, Kiera McDougal, his life music takes on new life. With her, he imagines a future outside of his parents’ control. That is, until a horrible accident tears them apart. Sent to die in a sanatorium, Ien’s obsession for Kiera grows unbearable. Tortured by thoughts he can’t escape and the truth of his monstrous disfigurement, he flees, desperate to exact revenge on the people that ruined his life – his parents. But, vengeance is empty. Betrayed by those closest to him, Ien discovers that the price for his happiness may be his sanity.

And now...what we've all been waiting for. The cover for Transcend:

How gorgeous is that!!? I LOVE this cover :D


As part of the celebration, Christine is asking everyone to tweet, participate in the blogfest and share your own secrets, or otherwise spread the word. Here are a couple of tweets linking to her post that you can use to help spread the word:

• Celebrate @chrstinef 's cover reveal for TRANSCEND with a special giveaway #YALitChat #Books #YAbookchat #Teen http://tinyurl.com/7c48jeu
• Love, Vengeance, Madness - what will you reveal? @chrstinef 's cover reveal and giveaway for TRANSCEND. #YALit #Bookshttp://tinyurl.com/7c48jeu

Oh! And be sure to enter the giveaway below while you can. Christine is giving away some epic things, including an annotated unbound galley of Transcend, filled with her notes! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other Masquerade Blogfest peeps and see what secrets they are revealing!


Now it's your turn...what secrets will you share?

And the winner....

of an e-copy of Christine Fonseca's LACRIMOSA and DIES IRAE is......

Donna K. Weaver!!!!

Congrats Donna! Shoot me an email (on the sidebar) and let me know which format you'd like and I'll get them sent over!

A Giveaway in Celebration of LACRIMOSA by Christine Fonseca

Well, I know we hosted Christine over at OA last week, but I just couldn't let the release of her awesome book LACRIMOSA go by without a little celebration of my own. So - who would like a free copy of LACRIMOSA and it's prequel novella DIES IRAE? :D I know you all do :D

Just leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of both these amazing books. :)

Congratulations Christine!!!

Christine Fonseca's Dies Irae Release Day!!

Today I want to wish a HUGE Happy Book Birthday to my dear friend Christine Fonseca - Congrats Christine!!!

Today kicks off the launch of her blog tour for her novella, DIES IRAE, a prequel to her Requiem series (the first novel, LACRIMOSA, will be out in March).

If you haven't yet heard of this book, here's a little teaser along with its gorgeous cover:

Some sacrifices should never be made—even for love.

Mikayel lives by one rule—obey the orders of the angelic Council at all costs. That is, until he and his friends, Azza and Demi, are sent to Earth. Assigned as Watchers while they await their decision of which angelic order to serve, the three assume the bodies of teenagers and experience life as human.

The sensations are overwhelming as the angels experience a host of human emotions—rage, terror, love—and come ever closer to breaking one of the unbreakable rules—never fall in love.

But being human isn’t the only problem facing the three angels. Unbeknownst to the Council, demonic activity is on the rise, threatening to break a tenuous peace that has existed for a millennia; a peace Azza seems bent on destroying.

Caught in a struggle for power with unseen demonic forces and Azza, and fighting against his rising emotional attachment to Demi, Mikayel must now decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for his new found love—a decision that could reignite an ancient war and will threaten the only thing that matters to the angels, the survival of humanity.

You can check out the awesome book trailer HERE.

We've got a fun guest post today with a little Q&A with the characters from DIES IRAE.

Take it away guys!

Getting to Know the Angels of DIES IRAE 

I’m so excited to start my blog tour for DIES IRAE with my NF buddy, my CP, and my BFF, Michelle. Michelle asked me to introduce you to the main characters of DIES IRAE. So, the best way to do that I think… An interview. 

So, I asked Mikayel, Azzaziel, and Demetra to join me today and talk with all of you. Without further adieu, I bring you the angels of DIES IRAE:

Mikayel: Oh please, you make us sound so…
Azzaziel: Ridiculous; the word you’re looking for is ridiculous.
Demetra: I was thinking old.
Christine: Whatever guys. You know what I meant. I’m just happy you’re all here for our readers. Now, to get started, let’s have each of you tell everyone a little bit about yourselves. Mikayel?
Azzaziel (whispering to Demetra): Told ya he’d go first.
Demetra (whispering to Azzaziel): Shh. Don’t be so rude.
Mikayel (Clearing his throat): Thanks Christine. I’m Mikayel and I’m sort of the leader of the group.
(Azzaziel coughs loudly)
Mikayel: What? I am. Anyway, I’m the reason we were assigned as Watchers. And we won’t leave until I’m ready. (smiles smugly at the others)
Christine: Thanks Mikayel. Azzaziel, you’re up.
Azzaziel: First off, call me Azza. You know I hate it when people address me by my full name. Let’s see. I guess I would say that I’m Mikayel’s best and most loyal friend. Where he goes, I go. Which isn’t always a good thing.
Christine (laughs): Thanks Azza. Demetra, tell us a little about you.
Demetra: Well, I’m Demetra, Demi for short. Like Azza, I am loyal to Mikayel. I’m sort of like the voice of reason with these two.
Christine: Isn’t that the truth!
Demi: Yep. And trust me, it’s a constant battle to keep them in line.
(Mikayel and Azza laugh)
Christine: Tell me more about that.
Demi: The boys are both tricksters, constantly trying to pull one over on me. It’s kind of a nightmare assignment really.
Christine: Ha! I bet. Okay, we’re almost out of time. Last question. Describe the other angels in one word. Let’s start with you, Azza.
Azza: Easy. Mikayel is confused. And Demi is a hard-nose.
Mikayel: Confused? I don’t think so!
Christine: What are your words Mikayel?
Mikayel: For Azza, stubborn. And for Demi…beautiful.
Azza: I think I’m going to be ill.
Christine: Demi?
Demi: Mikayel is strong and Azza, he’s reckless.
Azza: I think we can see where everyone’s loyalties are now. Just remember that I met Mikayel first. We’ve been friends a lot longer than the two of you.
Demi: Touchy, touchy.
Mikayel: Guys, knock it off.
Christine: Is it always like this with you three?
Mikayel, Azza and Demi (together): Yes. Always.
Christine: Well, I think that is it for now, then. Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourselves.

And there you have it—my brief, but, um…interesting (I hope) interview with the angels of DIES IRAE. To find out more about them, and their adventures on earth, be sure to check out DIES IRAE.

Thanks for stopping by Christine!! Here's a little info on the fabulously talented Christine along with info on where to get this amazing book. And keep scrolling for a little teaser on the first novel in the Requiem series. AND head over to the Operation Awesome blog tomorrow for a chance to win TWO COPIES of this awesome novella! CONGRATS AGAIN CHRISTINE!!!

To buy DIES IRAE, head to - Amazon, Barnes & Noble

About Christine Fonseca 
School psychologist by day, critically acclaimed YA and nonfiction author by night, Christine Fonseca believes that writing is a great way to explore humanity. Her debut YA Gothic series, The Requiem Series, including DIES IRAE and LACRIMOSA, examines the role of redemption, sacrifice and love. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can be sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. Catch her daily thoughts about writing and life on her blog.

For more information about Christine Fonseca or the series, visit her website – http://christinefonseca.com or her blog http://christinefonseca.blogspot.com.

LACRIMOSA

As if casting out demons isn’t hard enough, five-hundred-year-old Nesy has to masquerade as a teenage girl to do it. Nesy is the best of the warrior angels called Sentinals. She never makes mistakes, never hesitates, never gets emotionally involved. Until she meets Aydan.

He is evil incarnate; a fallen angel that feeds off the souls of others. Everything Nesy is supposed to hate. But she can’t, because he’s also the love of her former life as a human girl—a life that ended too soon, tying her to emotions she was never supposed to feel.

Now Nesy must choose between doing her duty—damning Aydan to the fiery depths of hell—or saving him, and condemning herself.

Author Endorsement(s): 

“LACRIMOSA reaches out, grabs readers by the heart, and takes them on an emotional journey from the first page to the last. The last novel you’ll need to read to understand true sacrifice.”
~Elana Johnson, Author of POSSESSION

Friday Funnies - Happy Birthday to Christine!!

Today's Friday Funnies are in honor of my dear friend Christine Fonseca's birthday :D Happy Birthday Christine!!! I hope you have a fabulous day and that all your wishes come true this year :)

"Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese." 

Billie Burke

"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest." 

Father Larry Lorenzoni

Blog Tour Stop for the Fabulous Christine Fonseca and 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids

The absolutely amazing Christine Fonseca is celebrating the release of her second book, 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids, and I am honored to be one of the first stops on her Blog Tour :D

Any parent or teacher of a gifted child needs to purchase this book! It's geared directly to the children themselves, and offers tips and advice both from Christine and from other gifted students. This book covers everything from how to deal with parents' and teachers' expectations, and the expectations the kids place on themselves, to how to deal with stress, struggles in school and with friends, and learning what being gifted really means. It really is just a wonderful book :)

Now, for a special treat, we get to hear from the awesome Christine herself :D Take it away, Christine! :D

Some of my Fav Tips from 101 Success Secrets 

YAY! Today is the first day of the official Blog Book Tour for 101 Success Secrets in Gifted Kids. It seemed only appropriate to start things off on Michelle’s blog. When I asked her what we should do, she immediately thought of a vlog…

Yea, um….

They turned out horrible. No really – HORRIBLE!!! I am far to vain to let the horrible embarrassment of that vlogging attempt out… So, instead, I enlisted the help of my daughter and decided to present two of my favorite success tips. These are the exact tips I do with kids on my parent-kid workshops. So, I guess this is sort-of a mini workshop! Enjoy…


So, did you enjoy it? Trust me, both techniques really help kids and adults focus on that which they can change and keep some of their emotions at bay. For more information on this and other aspects of giftedness, check out 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS. Written for kids, this books covers perfectionism, performance, friends and more using tip sheets, quizzes and fun activities.

Thanks so much for stopping by Christine, and CONGRATS!!!!

And even more awesomeness :D GIVEAWAY TIME!!! I will choose one lucky commenter to win a copy of Christine's fabulous book! Simply enter a comment on this post by midnight Friday and you are entered! I will randomly select a name and announce the winner on Monday. Good luck everyone and congrats again Christine!!

To Find Christine Online:

Her Website
Her Blog
On Facebook or Twitter
Order the Book
Read an Excerpt Here

(p.s. The Mystery Agent Contest is going on over at Operation Awesome this morning! Hurry over with your 25 word pitch!!)

A Little Advice and 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids

In honor of the amazing Christine Fonseca's early release of her second book, 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids, a few fellow authors and I have been offering up bits of advice.

Don’t compare yourself to others. Most of the misery in my life has come from comparing myself to someone else. It took a very long time to learn that I was a pretty cool person, all on my own. 

Everyone’s journey through life is different and no good ever comes from comparing yourself to someone else. Everyone has their own trials, their own talents, their own limitations, their own hopes and dreams. You are your own wonderful, unique YOU and no one else can do the things that you do or be the person you will be, quite like you will.

Christine has been featuring awesome advice from several different authors and also has some fun giveaways going on, so head to her blog to check it out!

What would your advice be? Grab the graphic and join in the fun! :)

In Celebration of Christine Fonseca and 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Students

So, I know we usually do Friday Funnies today. But today we are going to do something a little bit different.

See, I have this amazing friend. The lovely Christine Fonseca. She's incredible - she's a crazy talented writer, an absolute marketing guru, she's determined, stronger than anyone I know, rips my manuscripts up better than the best editor and helps me piece them back together again over and over. She is always there for me through thick and thin.

One of the things that draws us together is the fact that we both write fiction and non-fiction. Christine's novels are awesome - wonderfully emotional, gripping, unique, and I have no doubt they will soon be appearing on shelves around the world.

In non-fiction, Christine is just a rock star. No other word for it. Her first book Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students is making huge waves in the gifted world. Her second book, 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Students is due out May 1st.

But...

It is in so much demand, they are actually shipping it NOW!

Well, we just couldn't let that amazing news go by without a massive shout out :) This book is amazing. It really is. I've had the pleasure of reading it and all I can say is if you have a gifted child in your house, or if you know someone who does, go get this book for them. It is chock full of tips and ideas, many of them from other gifted children, to help these special kids navigate through their often intense worlds.

It's an amazing book from an amazing lady :) Congrats Christine!!!! And happy early release! :D

What's Up Wednesday

Lot's of fun things going on!

Today is the last day to enter to win a signed copy of Leah Clifford's A Touch Mortal over at OA so hurry and enter if you haven't yet!

My awesome amazing friend Christine Fonseca has a sneak peek of her new book 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids posted! Here is the link if you'd like to read a chapter from this awesome book, and here is the post from her blog announcing it :D

We have another Mystery Agent contest coming up at Operation Awesome!!! We will start taking entries on March 1st. Here are the rules:

1) Entry limit: 75 entrants.

2) Pitch length: 140 characters. Think Tweet. Since we're talking 140 characters, Title and Genre don't have to be part of the pitch -- add them on to the comment somewhere.

3) Genres: YA (especially thriller, cyberpunk, horror, historical romance); MG; women's fiction; romance (especially with a strong, female heroine).

So get those Tweet Pitches ready to go!!

Hope everyone's Wednesday is going well. Does anyone know of any other cool happenings around the blogosphere? Post them in the comments!!

It's Launch Day!!! Let the Blog Tour Begin!

Welcome to Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers Blog Tour!!

We've got an awesome first day! I am thrilled to be hosted today by the absolutely amazing

Christine Fonseca
Elana Johnson
Bethany Wiggins and Suzette Wiggins
and Lisa Amowitz

Starting today, every commenter along the blog tour will get an automatic entry for the huge Grand Prize Swag Basket! For every stop you comment on, you get another entry (one entry per stop). So if you visit each of the lovely ladies listed above, and LEAVE A COMMENT ON THEIR POST, you'll receive four entries for today.

At the end of the tour, I'll draw a name to select the winner :)

There will be several other opportunities to win copies of my book and swag bags along the way as many of my blog tour hosts will be featuring their own giveaways. I'll post each stop every morning and will also keep a running tab of them in the Blog Tour Giveaway tab above. Links for the giveaways and the Blog Tour stops will go live once the actual posts are up.

I hope you all join me for the tour! I'm being hosted by some really amazing people. It's going to be a blast!

Product Placement

--Blog Tour kicks off tomorrow! Getting a jump start over at the fabulous Christine Fonseca's blog with an interview. Go check it out! :) And the awesome Amparo over at the OA is having a contest to win a copy of my book and some fun swag....winner announced tomorrow! Go enter!

I've been answering a lot of questions lately about promotion...what I'm doing to help promote my book specifically. Now, my book is a non-fiction book about writing, so when it comes to promotional items I did writing type stuff: bookmarks, pens, that kind of thing. But it got me thinking about the fun promo stuff fiction authors get to do.

- Jessica Verday has perfumes that go along with the characters in her Hollow books (her MC makes perfumes)
- Beth Revis has some awesome Godspeed swag for Across the Universe
- You can get jewelry with the Mockingjay design from the Hunger Games series
- You can get jewelry depicting the different years for the House of Night series
- You can get everything under the sun Twilight and Harry Potter

So I'm curious....when writing your books, do you ever do "product placement"? Do you have your MC wear a favorite necklace that you know would be a cool promo item if your book ever hits the shelves? Do you design a special logo for your MCs rebel alliance that you know would look on awesome on everything from T-shirts to coffee mugs?

It's not something I used to think about when writing, but with the growing necessity for authors to promote their own books, and especially over the past year or so as I've been focused on promoting my own book, it has become more present in my mind as I write.


Does it ever cross your minds?

Exciting Events This Week!

Coming up on Thursday, the release of my book Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers!! (unless you want to order from Amazon...they are already shipping :D (clink link on sidebar if you'd like to check it out))

It's going to be a fun couple of weeks coming up. On Thursday, to coincide with the release of my book, my blog tour will be launching with a little help from some awesome friends. The first stops on the tour will be at the amazing Elana Johnson's, the fabulous Christine Fonseca's, the wonderful Lisa Amowitz's, and a little something will be going on over at the Operation Awesome blog.

If yo look up above, there is a tab set up for the Blog Tour. For a complete list of all the stops along the tour, check out that page. As the posts for each stop go live, I'll set up the links so you can follow the tour. There will be several giveaways (books and fun swag) and I'll have a list of those with links under the Blog Tour Giveaways tab.

Also! We'll be doing a Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of the tour. One commenter from the whole tour will be chosen to win a huge basket of books and swag! To enter, all you have to do is comment....the more stops along the tour you comment on, the more entries you get :) More details to follow!

So stay tuned!! The fun starts Thursday!

Having a Good Day :)

Why, you ask? Well, despite the fact that my heater is once again not functioning (the pipes are probably frozen again so hopefully by this afternoon they'll thaw enough for it to kick on) and the fact that my kids are home due to flooded roads all over town (they were back to school for a whopping 1 day after a very long Thanksgiving vacation) I am STILL having a good day because....

MY BOOK IS BEING PRINTED AS WE SPEAK!!! Or...as I type LOL AND I also got to look over my full cover (front, back, and spine) for final approval yesterday. Just TOO cool :)

Ooooo, AND there are two incredible blurbs on the back cover of my book - one by the lovely and wonderful Suzanne Palmieri, and the other by my very dear friend/crit partner/agent sista Christine Fonseca. How cool is that!!!?

So, despite the minor set backs of the day, still:

How is everyone else doing on this fine Thursday?