Books for Sale & Giveaway

I'm clearing out some books at home and thought I'd give you guys and gals a shot at them before I donate them or toss them out entirely. There are recent ARCs and  a few hardcovers and paperbacks. My hope is that they'll find a good home!

There's no charge for most of the books since they are ARCs, but I am asking the recipients pay shipping. The cost will be $3 per book or $5 for every two books. Remaining funds over and above shipping costs will be used for shipping in future contests.

Take a look at the LIST and see if there's anything you're interested in!

Giveaway: Swoon & Swear

Thanks to the awesome folks at Simon & Schuster I have signed copies of Nina Malkin's novels Swoon and Swear to give away to a lucky reader! Just fill out the form below for your chance to win.

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him -- but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent -- and irresistible -- adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.

What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?

It’s been six months since ghost-turned golem Sinclair Youngblood Powers confessed his love, stole Dice's heart, and disappeared from Swoon, perhaps from existence. Despite the hurt, Dice has been moving steadily toward ordinary. Dreams of Sin still plague and pleasure her sleep, and the mark of Sin's love remains on her skin, still sore. But Dice has been throwing herself into music, finding solace in song and sometimes even in the arms of her band mate, Tosh. Life seems almost…normal. The last thing Dice wants is to mess with anything remotely supernatural. But when her best friend’s boyfriend goes missing, Dice has no choice but to become very much involved. She knows that his disappearance was no accident, and it somehow has everything to do with Sin. Because Dice can feel it: Sin is back. And the promises and deceptions he left in his wake have returned to haunt him.

What do you do when an oath of devotion threatens to destroy the one you love?

More Author Insight: Research (Yes, I Googled it.)

What is the weirdest thing you've researched for a novel, and did it spark any sketchy Google searches?

"Oh God, if my Google history is ever laid bare for the world to see, I am screweeeeed. Probably the rotting. I do a lot of research into body rot. Alternately, the weapons research - which may or may not be connected to the body rot." - Lia Habel, author of Dearly Departed.

"It isn't weird, except I'm a forty-year-old dude... I was going to have one of my female characters be a cheerleader, so I researched cheerleader outfits and... uh, apparently there's some kind of serious naked cheering cheerleader fetish out there.  Yeah, very, very uncomfortable (my kids were hanging out in the living room).  I decided not to make Abby a cheerleader after that." - Geoff Herbach, author of Stupid Fast.

"Thank goodness for Google. If I had to ask someone all the things that I've looked up online... for example, 'What does it feel like to be stabbed?' And "How many pints of blood can you drain from someone before they pass out?"

My new book, Drink, Slay, Love, is about vampires and were-unicorns. So my Google searches tended to turn up a fair amount of blood and gore, as well as lots of unicorn/virgin jokes of dubious taste. But I did discover a set of unicorn-head-shaped corn-on-the-cob holders that I totally want..." - Sarah Beth Durst, author of Drink, Slay, Love.

"Oh, I haven’t researched anything very strange…yet. I did spend a lot of time examining Victorian ladies’ undergarments." - Jessica Spotswood, author of Born Wicked.

The Guardian Book Trailer

Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest Dark Hunter novel, The Guardian,  was just released yesterday! Read the description and take a look at the trailer below...

As a Dream-Hunter, Lydia has been charged with the most sacred and dangerous of missions. She’s to descend into the Nether Realm and find the missing god of dreams before he betrays the secrets that could kill all of them. What she never expects is to be taken prisoner by the Realm’s most vicious guardian.

Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the entrance to Olympus, his own life and those of his people will be forfeit. No matter the torture, Seth hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. Then there’s the beautiful Dream-Hunter Lydia: She isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus—she’s holding back one of the world’s darkest powers. If she fails, an ancient curse will haunt the earth once more and no one will be safe. But evil is always seductive...

Find out more about Sherrilyn Kenyon and her novels at http://www.officialsanctuary.com/ or http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/.

Ignorance doesn't kill, NaNoWriMo does

Glutton for punishment, table for one?

Yep, that's me. I know what you're thinking. "Haven't we been through this before? Don't you despise NaNo with the fire of 1,000 suns?" The short answer would be yes. Sadly, it has the same sort of appeal as reality TV, pizza-flavored chips, and a multitude of other things we as a society can't shake know matter how many times we recognize that these ideas and concepts are just a bad plan. (I really want pizza-flavored chips to work. Truly.)

And thus, NaNo's strange gravity has sucked me in again.

Oh sure, I work 12 hours a day during the week, have a dog who just had two tumors removed, a mountain of housework, a blog to maintain, a TBR stack to tame, and a social life to fake. I can write about 2,000 coherent words a day, building a solid story with well developed characters and an air-tight plot. I can do that, right?  As long as I cut out, eating and sleeping I should be fine.

Don't mistake my light-hearted and somewhat cynical attitude as a set-up for failure. That's not what it is at all. I'm just not turning my back on NaNo this year for she is a fickle mistress, and I've been burned before. No, no. This time I am not buying your pretty lies.

It's on like Donkey Kong, baby. Your move, NaNo. Your move.

Words: 1,301

Mood:  In the mood to kick a little ass.

Music: All Time Low - I Feel Like Dancing

Author Insight: Research (Yes, I Googled it.)

What is the weirdest thing you've researched for a novel, and did it spark any sketchy Google searches?

 

"I do enjoy reading up about poisons, electrocution, decompression illness, and other horrible things that can happen to the human body. Then I enjoy writing about them in grim, gory detail." - Amy Kathleen Ryan, author of Glow.

"When I was working on the description for a Spanish male protagonist in one of my books, I was trying to go off of a picture, so I Googled 'Hot Teenage Latino Boys'. It was not my proudest moment." - Brodi Ashton, author of Everneath.

"You know, I’ve looked up strange sexual practices at one point for a story, and unfortunately some of the links that were presented to me for weeks afterward were pretty sketchy. Fortunately, I seem to have lived it down, since I never clicked on them." - Anna Sheehan, author of A Long, Long Sleep.

"Not sure how weird it is but I did have to do a lot of research on precisely what crops and animals a community like the one in the book would need to be viable, as well how much land and people it would take to maintain it. Luckily my Dad grew up on a farm in Colorado so he had all the answers. No questionable google searches needed." - Jeff Hirsch, author of The Eleventh Plague.