Uncovered: Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

Scott Tracey revealed the cover of his debut novel Witch Eyes today! Looks pretty fabulous doesn't it? I think it's a great mix of creepy and cool. If I saw it on a shelf I would definitely want to know what this book was about.  See Scott's thoughts on his cover HERE.

Tell me what you all think!

Braden Michaels wears his sunglasses at night. And at the movies. And in the shower. Raised by his warlock uncle and taught to use magic, he suffers from a deadly curse: the witch eyes. He sees everything that normal eyes filter out: history and memory; love and pain; magic and darkness. The mind, however, was not meant to process so much, and the power is killing him slowly. The only thing saving his sanity are the sunglasses he always wears. And then the visions reveal a dark threat on the horizon. Braden runs away to Belle Dam, the city where the threat originated, and is immediately swept up into the town’s mysterious feud. Two rival magical families have divided the town into a personal chessboard of scheming and machinations, and Braden is their latest pawn. As he tries to avoid their manipulations, and see the truth behind his return to Belle Dam, he has a choice to make. One side, or the other. Ignite the feud, or end it. Sacrifice himself, or someone else. Live, or die.

 

Coming from Flux in Fall 2011!

Uncovered: City of Fallen Angels

Cassandra Clare shared the cover of City of Fallen Angels, book four of the Mortal Instruments series, today. Isn't it lovely?

This morning the cover went live on Entertainment Weekly's Shelf Life, where you can also read an excerpt from the book. Make sure you go check it out, but before you rush off, leave a comment to tell me what you think of the cover.

Love, blood, betrayal and revenge — the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels. Simon Lewis is having some trouble adjusting to his new life as a vampire, especially now that he hardly sees his best friend Clary, who is caught up in training to be a Shadowhunter—and spending time with her new boyfriend Jace. Not to mention that Simon doesn’t quite know how to handle the pressure of not-quite-dating two girls at once. What’s a daylight-loving vampire to do? Simon decides he needs a break and heads out of the city—only to discover that sinister events are following him. Realizing that the war they thought they’d won might not yet be over, Simon has to call on his Shadowhunter friends to save the day — if they can put their own splintering relationships on hold long enough to rise to the challenge.

Coming from Margaret K. McElderry on April 5, 2011.

Lost Saint Giveaway

Book Two of Bree Despain's Dark Divine Trilogy, The Lost Saint, hits shelves on December 28, but one lucky reader will win their own advance copy courtesy of Egmont. They were nice enough to provide me with one ARC and a bottle of Lost Saint nail polish, which is a beautiful blue that corresponds to the book cover, to give away.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace’s relationship with Daniel is put in danger — in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her — not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

Uncovered: The Near Witch

This ain't your grandma's cover reveal. Oh no!

Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch (August 2011), saw the cover art for her debut novel months ago and has been anxiously waiting to unveil it, but when she finally had the okay to share it with the world she ran into a snag. So there won't be a cover image on this post.

I know you're disappointed that there won't be a static image here for you to fawn over and debate, but Disney-Hyperion's policy of watermarking covers with a rather large "Cover Not Final" banner takes the shine off the cover reveal a bit. That's why there's not an extra large The Near Witch cover right below this paragraph.

But Victoria, genius that she is, decided to hold off. Instead of posting the watermarked image she waited for her ARCs and revealed the cover (and several other cool things) in true Victoria style.

That's right. She vlogged it!

Now that you've seen the beautiful cover, do you want to know more about the book? Of course you do. So here's the jacket blurb:

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

 There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
 As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

 Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

And, as if that wasn't enough, here's Victoria (or Victoria's mother) reading from the first chapter of The Near Witch.

Doesn't it sound awesome!? You're desperately searching for a way to order it right now you say? Well, luckily Amazon put it up for pre-order this week.

Click on Victoria to pre-order your copy!

The Collected Works of Maggie Stiefvater Contest

How many bloggers does it take to give away books? Well normally one, but Pam from Bookalicious was in town and we are giving away Maggie Stiefvater titles, including Linger, so you guys get twice the vlogging power! Be afraid.

The whole ordeal started with a trip to Fountain Bookstore. We went to pick up some books Pam had ordered and learned that Maggie had recently been in to sign the stock of paperback Shivers they had just put out. I already had a hardback of it to giveaway in  honor of the release of Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2), which hits shelves on July 20, but when I saw the paperback copies I knew I needed to grab one and add another winner to the contest. Pam saw me pick it up and decided to have a contest of her own.

It spiraled out of control from there because, you see, Fountain Bookstore has an "Autographed Copies" shelf. You can see where this is going, but Pam and I decided to tell you anyway...

CONTEST

I'll be giving away series packs to two winners - A Wolves of Mercy Falls prize pack and a Books of Faerie prize pack. The signed, doodled Shiver will go solo. Just fill out the form below and you're entered for all three. I'll pick three random winners, but you can only win once. If there is a book or prize pack you don't want, note it in the "Opt Out" section on the form and I'll pass you over for that item.

Uncovered: Beautiful Darkness (The Reprise)

You heard that right! Kami Garcia & Margie Stohl announced today that there is a new cover for Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2). I have to be completely honest. I wasn't a huge fan of the gate on the old cover. I loved the tree on Beautiful Creatures, but the gate just didn't do it for me. Now the stairs I like! To me, the new cover has more of the same look that the first book did. I think it's a good change.

What's your opinion?

Some secrets are life-altering... Others are life-ENDING.

In stores October 26, 2010.

Tension of Opposites swag winners!

I have been remiss! This should have been posted days ago! Sorry folks. The winners of some awesome Tension of Opposites swag are...

Dawn

Alex

Lisa R.

Jessy

Allison (who apparently rocks :) )

Julie

Vampires and Tofu

Dani

Melina

Caitlin

Congrats ladies and gents! E-mail me with your address within 48 hours, and I will get that swag out to you. Thanks for entering.

Maggie Stiefvater's Linger Trailer

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love--the light and the dark, the warm and the cold--in a way you will never forget.

Summary from Good Reads.

Now for the awesome stop motion book trailer for Linger, book two of The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. It really is beautiful and I can't imagie the time and persistance it took to create it. Find out more about the making of the trailer on Maggie's livejournal - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Jekel Loves Hyde Winner!

First off, I am not really here. I am secret blogging from my office to get you this information. Shhh...

But I do have a winner to announce! I made a quick trip - a secret trip - to Random.org and it spit out the number 35. A good number in my opinion, but what does it really mean? Who is number 35?

Congratulations, Taylor from The Library Lurker!

You are number 35 and the proud winner of a signed, finished copy of Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey. I have e-mailed you and passed your information along to the ladies at Page Turners Blog

so they can mail your prize out to you.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Tension of Opposites Trailer

Kristina McBride's debut novel, The Tension of Opposites, releases in just four short weeks!

I'm sure you've already been enticed to read it by the book description and the haunting book cover, but now you can experience a beautiful book trailer for Kristina's novel that is sure to hook you. You'll also have to opportunity to win Tension of Opposites swag if you spread the word about this novel and it's amazing trailer.

Release Date: May 25, 2010

Publisher: Egmont USA

Pages: 288

Description:

When Tessa's best friend Noelle disappears right before the start of eighth grade, Tessa's life changes completely--she shies away from her other friends and stops eating in the cafeteria. Now, two years later, Noelle has escaped her captivity and is coming home, in one piece but not exactly intact, and definitely different. Tessa's life is about to change again as she tries to revive the best-friendship the two girls had shared before Noelle--now Elle--was kidnapped; puts up a futile resistance to the charming new guy at school; pursues her passion for photography while trying to build the bravado to show her photos to the public; and tries to balance her desire to protect and shelter Elle with the necessity to live her own life and put herself first.

*Description taken from Amazon.

Now for the book trailer...

CONTEST

US/Canada Only. Ends 5/5 at midnight EST.

Ten lucky readers will win Tension of Opposites post cards and bookmarks. They have the book cover image on them and are extremely cool. Trust me on that. You want them.

There are tons of ways you can enter this contest, but almost all of them involve spreading the word about The Tension of Opposites book trailer. Leave a comment below (with links please) tallying your entries.
Here's how you can rack up the entries.

+1 Blog follower

+1 Tweet aboutor link to the trailer (Up to +3)

+2 Follow Kristina on Twitter @McBrideKristina

+5 Post the trailer on your blog

(If you don't know how to do this, just click on the trailer above and, once you're on YouTube, steal them embed code for the Tension of Opposites trailer. Stick that code into your blog post and Voila!)

Thanks to everyone for spreading the word about this fantastic book!

Beyond the Page with Chelsea Campbell

Chelsea Campbell, author of The Rise of Renegade X, stopped by to by to talk about the thought that spurred her to write Damien's story, the world she created in Golden City, and whether she'd rather be a hero or a villain. Her debut novel releases next month and was optioned for a movie earlier this year. One lucky reader will win a signed copy of her book and three others will win RRX Swag.

Release Date: May 11, 2010

Publisher: Egmont USA

Pages: 352

Description:

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

About the author:
Chelsea Campbell grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then she’s written many more novels, earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes. Chelsea is a pop culture fangirl at heart and can often be found rewatching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leveling up in World of Warcraft, or spending way too much time on Livejournal and Facebook.

By the Numbers

Time it took to write The Rise of Renegade X: 28 days. Though it took me a year and a half to find a publisher, and another year and a half for it to hit the shelves.

Number of revisions: Two. I added about 20k for an editor during the submission process, and then I added another 5k when I did edits with Egmont.

Final word count: 85K

Interview

Did Damien or the story of The Rise of Renegade X pop into your head first? How did it evolve from there?

 The idea that originally spawned the book was that I wanted to have a bad guy who had to save people, and as I played around with that and the idea evolved, I knew I had this supervillain kid, who I wanted to be scheming and funny, and this story where his life gets turned upside down after finding out his dad's a superhero. So I guess you could say they came together at the same time.

Jekel Loves Hyde Blog Tour & Contest

From the moment I heard someone mention the title Jekel Loves Hyde, I was intrigued. I was excited to get my hands on a copy of this book and even more so when I was asked to participate in a blog tour featuring it. I will be posting a review soon, but for now you can visit author Beth Fantaskey's website, read the prologue, and learn more about the novel by keeping up with the blog tour. The schedule is listed below.

    About the book

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules—especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she’s tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything—even Tristen’s love—just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

Pre-order your copy of Jekel Loves Hyde HERE.

Character Bio - Jason Messerschmidt

High school chemistry teacher Jason Messerschmidt can barely control his students when they aren’t literally monsters. When he becomes mixed up with a formula that creates real fiends, he’s totally in over his head. So what motivates him to keep meddling?

Interview with Beth Fantaskey

In both Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side and Jekel Loves Hyde, the love grows between the two protagonists, it’s almost earned. What are your thoughts on love at first sight vs. earned love or a love that grows from friendship?

I like the idea of love that grows. To me, that’s the core element of romance. I think attraction can be immediate – but to genuinely love someone, it seems to me that you have to get to know their good points and their flaws. You have to learn how to take care of each other. I never thought of using the word “earned,” but I guess that’s how I do tend to feel about it. To me, a love that grows can be incredibly romantic.

Uncovered: CRESCENDO

The cover art for CRESCENDO, the sequel to Becca Fitzpatrick's HUSH, HUSH, is finally here! I think the cover art for the book has probably gotten as much hype as the book itself and deservedly so if you want my opinion.

There are very few occasions where a sequel surpasses the original, and, for me, this cover falls into that category. HUSH, HUSH was a great cover, no bones about it. But this.... With the rain and the lightening andher looking off into the distance. I'm sold on it.

What's your opinion? Leave a comment and let me know!

Coming November 16, 2010 from Simon & Schuster .

LINGER goes across the pond

Maggie Stiefvater unveiled the UK cover art for LINGER (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) today, and it is but a vague semblance of its American self. That's not a bad thing, but, as someone who though the UK cover of SHIVER was a nice twist on the original, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed.

It doesn't mirror the US version, like SHIVER did, nor is it really a good compliment to its UK sibling in my opinion. The family resemblence is faint at best once you look past the leaves and the ominious color scheme, which I don't think works for LINGER. I like the green of the US version much better.

To refresh your memory, and for sake of comparision, I'll post SHIVER first...

And now LINGER...

The bloody paw print is a nice touch, and the cover on the whole is not unattractive by any means. As I said before, I loved the UK cover for SHIVER because I felt it captured the cold while creating a darker feel than the US cover. However, there's no contest for me when it comes to series aesthetics. The subtle differences in the US covers -- the silhouettes and the color-scheme changes -- seem to signify an evolution of the story. The covers alone make me wonder what comes next...

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Uncovered: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Tenner Kiersten White has a cover for her debut young adult novel PARANORMALCY. I saw it and immediately thought, "Even if I knew nothing about this book, I would buy this book on its cover art alone!"

It is beautiful and has a haunting quality that is sure to make it leap off the shelves. It's definitely striking, in my opinion. Read all about Kiersten's excitement on her blog, Kiersten Writes.

What does everyone think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Coming from HarperTeen on September 21, 2010.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sixteen-year-old Evie’s job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone–or something–starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she’s worked hard to help become productive members of society, she’s got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal.

Uncovered: Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2)

Authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl promised that once the name was released that a cover would follow shortly, and they delivered! The cover for Beautiful Darkness, the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, was released today, and, I must say, it is quite fetching. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Some secrets are life-altering... Others are life-ENDING.

In stores October 26, 2010.

Brightly Woven Contest

Brightly Woven comes out in just about one week and author Alexandra Bracken is giving away a few copies on her website and livejournal as part of the Big Damn Contest. Go enter for your chance to win this fabulous book!

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Wayland North brings rain to a region that's been dry for over ten years, he's promised anything he'd like as a reward. He chooses the village elder's daughter, sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, who is a skilled weaver and has an unusual knack for repairing his magical cloaks. Though Sydelle has dreamt of escaping her home, she's hurt that her parents relinquish her so freely and finds herself awed and afraid of the slightly ragtag wizard who is unlike any of the men of magic in the tales she's heard. Still, she is drawn to this mysterious man who is fiercely protective of her and so reluctant to share his own past.

The pair rushes toward the capital, intent to stop an imminent war, pursued by Reuel Dorwan (a dark wizard who has taken a keen interest in Sydelle) and plagued by unusually wild weather. But the sudden earthquakes and freak snowstorms may not be a coincidence. As Sydelle discovers North's dark secret and the reason for his interest in her and learns to master her own mysterious power, it becomes increasingly clear that the fate of the kingdom rests in her fingertips. She will either be a savior, weaving together the frayed bonds between Saldorra and Auster, or the disastrous force that destroys both kingdoms forever.

Releases: March 23, 2010

Publisher: Egmont USA

Length: 368 pages

Maggie Stiefvater's Giant LINGER Giveaway

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

Hunger Games Book 3 title & cover revealed!

Coming August 24, 2010 from Scholastic.

Read more at Scholastic's blog.