Debate It!

Today I'm on Debate It! discussing "romance" in MG--crushes and first kisses!

Check it out here.

Wherein BREAKING THE ICE gets a cover and a pre-order link!

BREAKING THE ICE made its cover reveal debut on Kidliterati last week. Click here to see it, and to read my thoughts on the cover.

And then on Friday, I discovered that BTI is now available for pre-order on Amazon! It's not yet up on Barnes & Noble, so stay tuned...

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL by Vicki Leigh -- Cover reveal & Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I'm helping to host Vicki Leigh's cover reveal and giveaway today. I got to meet Vicki during my NY/BEA trip recently. Her book sounds super intriguing, and I hope you all love the cover as much as I do! (It's seriously creepy, in a good way.)

So now....

It’s cover reveal day for Vicki Leigh’s CATCH ME WHEN I FALL! Lots of awesome stuff going on, including a giveaway! But first, here's a special message from Vicki:

And here's what CATCH ME WHEN I FALL is all about:

Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL will be available on October 23, 2014 in both paperback and e-book formats from Curiosity Quills Press. For more information, visit the book’s Goodreads page.

Now, there can’t be a cover reveal without a giveaway, right? Lots of authors stopped by and donated some fantastic books to help Vicki celebrate. You don’t want to miss out on these! Here’s what you can win:

• An e-copy of CATCH ME WHEN I FALL by Vicki Leigh
• A submission package critique (query+synopsis+first chap) from Vicki Leigh
• An e-copy of HEIRS OF WAR by Mara Valderran
• Two query+first chapter critiques from YA author Emily Stanford
• A full manuscript critique from YA author Emily Stanford
• An e-copy of WITHOUT BLOODSHED by Matthew Graybosch
• A paperback of DESTRUCTION by Sharon Bayliss
• An e-copy of KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH by Katie Teller
• One query+first chapter critique from YA author Katie Teller
• An e-copy of DARKNESS WATCHING by Emma Adams
• A copy of DESCENDANT by Nichole Giles
• An e-copy package of EVER and EVADE by Jessa Russo
• A signed copy of DIVIDE by Jessa Russo
• A copy of UNHINGED by A.G. Howard

Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win! All prizes will be accompanied by a Dreamcatcher swag package from Vicki Leigh.

Thanks for stopping by!

About Vicki:

Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.

Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press, a co-founder of The Writer Diaries, and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

You can find Vicki at her website and blog and on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Goodreads.

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I went to BEA and survived (AKA My Top Seven BEA Moments)

I spent most of last week in New York at BEA (Book Expo America). BEA is this huge trade show for the book industry that draws publishers, agents, marketing people, bloggers and book reviewers, authors, and librarians.

Here are my top moments from the event and New York, in no particular order:

The Books!

1) The ARCs. Holy wow. I brought home 51 books, and there were still some I wish I'd gotten my hands on! A group of us made the smart decision to bring a rolling suitcase to the Javits Center. For $3, we checked it downstairs, and then we all filled it with books during the day.

2) I learned how to hail a cab! (Thanks to Jen Malone!) I feel all officially New York-ish now.

Me, outside the
Simon & Schuster offices.

3) Meetings. I had a coffee date with my editor and a lunch date with my former editor. I loved finally talking to them in person, and seeing their offices.

Friday night dinner.

4) All the people! Okay, not actually all the people at BEA, because that was overwhelming sometimes, but meeting people I'd only talked to only on the internet was so much fun. I learned that no one looks like their Twitter avatar. No one.

5) The pizza. YUM. So yummy, in fact, that I ate pizza twice on Friday.

6) Dinner with the Fearless Fifteeners! We had a great turnout for dinner, and it was great to meet these people I've been chatting with online for months. What a great group of talented people!

7) Aladdin/Simon Pulse cocktail party. I was super nervous about this, but everyone was so friendly! The party was at this nautical-themed dive bar, and was full of editors, publicists, marketing people, and authors. Everyone from the imprints was so much fun to talk to. I also met Rachel Renee Russell (of Dork Diaries fame) and almost spilled water on Scott Westerfeld. I so totally belong. ;)

Writers share their favorite book research stories

Today on Kidliterati, I talked about my favorite research story for BREAKING THE ICE, and asked other writers to share their best research moments. We've got everything from odd nineteenth-century medical treatments to Filipino paper lanterns. Check it out!