ARC Tour Sign-up: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

ARC tours aren't a normal thing around here, but my excitement for this book runs so deeply that I had to share it with as many people as I could. As much as I want to, this dark and twisty ride is something I can't keep to myself. I'm partnering with Page Turners Blog to host a tour and kick-start the buzz for Dawn Metcalf's Indelible.

We're looking for 12 bloggers who'd like to get an early shot at reading this book and would be willing to share their thoughts in reviews on their sites. If you're interested just fill out the FORM below before 11:59 p.m. EST on May 16. The bloggers selected to participate will be notified on May 15 and books will begin to circulate shortly after that. 

If you aren't familiar with Indelible yet, read the description below and a special note from Dawn enticing you to add Indelible to your TBR.  Hurry and sign up! We can't wait for you to read this one.

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A note from Dawn...

Dawn Metcalf

Hi! I'm Dawn Metcalf. Don't mind the hat, it's all part of the show. Come over here, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Several someones, in fact, but you can't see them yet. Hang on...stay still...okay? There. Better? Great! Now just smile and look pretty and try not to make any sudden moves.

Those two in front? They're the Scribes. What? Oh, yes, those really are their eyes. The guy over there with the scowl? That's Kurt. But he's not the one you have to watch out for. That would be Graus Claude, the Bailiwick of the Twixt. That's him in the back. Yes, it's real and yes, it's alive. Really. So's Kestrel over there... Well, of course you can't see her, she's wearing a camouflaged hood! And don't cross Brairhook, either. Or Hasp, for that matter. Or, um, any of them actually. They can be wonderful once you get to know them, but you have to understand the Folk aren't too keen on humans...especially those who can See them. Yes, well, okay so that is my fault. But *you* wanted to know!
Here. Take this. No, it's not a spell book. It's an arc of Indelible! You have a chance to be one of the first to read about Joy, Ink and the Twixt by following this tour as well as chances to receive Indelible swag.

Release Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pre-Order: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

THE TWIXT

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks

Today, we are happy to welcome Prudence Shen, author of the graphic novel Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong (a collaboration with comic artist Faith Erin Hicks). It’s a thrilling, thoughtful, downright hilarious tale of a high school basketball star and his nerdy neighbor/best friend, one of whom gets unceremoniously dumped by the head cheerleader while the other is desperate to take his team to the robotic competition (I’ll let you figure out which is which).  There are twists, turns, fights, chases, escapes, dirty dealings, new crushes, and possibly some robots beating the screws out of other robots.  I asked Prudence to talk about the ramifications of the social hierarchy of so-called cliques within the educational institutions of early to mid adolescents.

Just kidding. She’s going to talk about robots.

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Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: First Second

You wouldn’t expect Nate and Charlie to be friends. Charlie’s the laid-back captain of the basketball team, and Nate is the neurotic, scheming president of the robotics club. But they are friends, however unlikely—until Nate declares war on the cheerleaders. At stake is funding that will either cover a robotics competition or new cheerleading uniforms—but not both.

It's only going to get worse: after both parties are stripped of their funding on grounds of abominable misbehavior, Nate enrolls the club's robot in a battlebot competition in a desperate bid for prize money. Bad sportsmanship? Sure. Chainsaws? Why not. Running away from home on Thanksgiving to illicitly enter a televised robot death match? Of course!

In Faith Erin Hicks' and Prudence Shen's world of high school class warfare and robot death matches, Nothing can possibly go wrong.

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Research is the blessing and curse of every writer. 

Prudence Shen

Most stories require some amount of research. In the case of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, my academic background in the liberal arts was wholly useless, and I spent a lot of time looking up whether or not high school students actually built the types of robots I was imagining. The closest I've ever been an engine of any kind was when I took a black and white photography class that was across the hall from the auto shop room. How do you build a battle bot? Is it horrifically expensive? Weirdly, I spent a solid week in 2008 trolling the internet for the biggest SUV manufactured in the U.S. It doesn't come up in the graphic novel, but the original prose had an entire tangent about how Charlie's "borrowed" car is big enough to have a table built into the back. 

No matter how thorough, research isn't going to be able to guarantee you get everything exactly right. There's always going to be one smart-ass expert who delights in pointing out the big and little things you get wrong — usually long after you can do anything about it. But a thorough vetting can keep you from embarrassing yourself too badly, and even if you're not overly concerned with accuracy, I think it's always in the interest of the story for the plot to pass a basic smell test. 

So with that in mind, I called up a browser window and started looking at information about battlebots.

Here's where the double-edged blade of research comes in:

While it can be enormously helpful, it can also be a distraction. Did I need to watch every video on YouTube that comes up when searching "greatest battlebot fights?" No. Did I do that anyway and then justify it at 4 a.m. because it was research? You bet your ass I did. And then I went onto the Home Depot website and priced a bunch of chainsaws. I have no doubt the CIA has flagged me under some suspected serial murderer file, where I'm guessing a lot of writers who have to Google stuff like "homemade poison??" and "how do you liquefy a body?" reside as well. 

(Has anybody else ever typed "I swear I'm not a murderer I am just writing a story about murderers" into Google just so that whoever's logging this data has it on the record? No? Okay. Me neither.)

Moving on.

Author Insight: Literary Lifestyles

How has your life changed since you sold your first book and joined the publishing industry? Did you maintain life as you knew it or ditch the day job and become a full-time author?

"I ditched my day job prematurely. I had just sold my second book (which, as it turns out, was later cancelled when my editor left the publishing house), I was going on tour, and I figured I couldn’t do it and a day job. Perhaps that was true, but a couple years later I was without work and without a book deal and had to go back to work. I am once again 'just a writer,' but I think this time it will likely stick as I have many more irons in the fire." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight. 

"I am a full-time author, but since I was a full-time mom before that, I haven't exactly quit my job.:) Honestly, my life hasn't changed much since I started writing. Before, I ran my household and took care of kids and plunked away at the keyboard whenever I got a chance. These days I still run my household and plunk away at the keyboard whenever I get a chance. I just get paid for it now." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.

"We’ve gotten busier. So far, between deadlines and the fact that Quarantine is a trilogy, there hasn’t been much time for a typical day job. Making the ends meet can be a challenge (and stressful), but somehow things work out." - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners. 

"I left my job before becoming a published author b/c the paper I was working for was folding. Life has definitely changed since becoming published. It’s different. It’s amazing." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

Release Date: June 18, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-galley
Source: Edelweiss
Series: The Cahill Witch Chronicles #2
Pages: 462
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
Description: Goodreads
With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.

In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.

Last year’s Born Wicked (see review) was one of my favorite surprises.  I knew I wanted to like it based on the fact that it’s written by one of the most genuinely nice people in the business, Jessica Spotswood.  However, historical fiction isn’t usually my bag, baby.  As you saw from my review, though, Born Wicked is anything but traditional, and I reveled in the feminist themes, the world of witchcraft, and the adorable Finn Belastra.  I’ve been dying for its sequel, Star Cursed, since the moment I closed the first book.  It should come as no surprise that Star Cursed is a worthy follow-up with an even stronger story, more sisterly drama, and even more romantic delights.

The thing I love best about Star Cursed is that it has its own separate arc within the greater story.  Trilogies are so prevalent in YA, and I read a ton of YA, so I’ve found that the dreaded Second Book Syndrome crops up so often.  It’s one of my pet peeves, and it can turn me off to a series completely.  There is nothing to worry about here.  This is not a sluggish drag between a snappy beginning and a climactic finish.  Honestly, by the end of the fourth chapter, I’d run through an entire book’s worth of emotions.  Thankfully, you get some recovery time after that, but this doesn’t mean the story stops moving. 

The alternate world in which Cate lives continues to spin on, and while she has a bit more freedom in the Sisterhood, she’s still just as feisty and stubborn as ever.  We get an even closer look at Cate’s relationship with both of her sisters, and it isn’t always pretty.  Cate still acts as a maternal figure for youngest Tess, though that becomes tougher and tougher the older Tess gets.  Cate and Maura still butt heads like sisters do, but there is a decided shift in the reasoning behind the fights from the first book to this one.  There were so many times I wanted to grab Maura’s shoulders and shake her and shout MAURA WHAT IS YOUR DAMAGE.  She has so much anger and angst and honey, keep calm and have a cup of tea.  Geezy peez.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jess speak at a couple of signings (yay DC writer friends!), and she always finds a way to mention how much she loves writing the kissing scenes.  Even if I didn’t already know that, it would be clearly evident after this.  If you thought the feather scene from Born Wicked was something?  Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  If possible, Finn becomes even more adorable.  Of course, a happy, adorable couple means you should have your guard up.  Le sigh.

If you loved Born Wicked, then you will adore Star Cursed.  It’s a fabulous follow-up that carries on the greater story without sacrificing its own plot in the process.  I anxiously await the chance to return to Cate’s world, though I am already not looking forward to saying good-bye.

Between These Lines by Jennifer Murgia (Blog Tour and giveaway)

Release Date: April 1, 2013
Publisher: Playlist Fiction
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Source: Blog Tour
Pages: 183
Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Description: Goodreads
I never told anyone how I felt about her. Not even Evie—not in so many words. And now, I’ll never get the chance to.

When a class assignment brings quiet Chase Mitman and the stunning Evie Cunningham together, a mutual attraction ignites. There’s only one problem—Evie already has a boyfriend—one who practically OWNS Whitley Prep, and her.Knowing their relationship comes at a price, Chase’s life collides with Evie’s, and after entrusting her with a tragic secret, the last thing he’d ever expect is to learn she keeps a few of her own.An innocent prank turns ugly. An anonymous note changes everything. And lives at Whitley Prep will never be the same.

Talk about short, fast-paced, intense reads! In Between These Lines, Jennifer Murgia has built an engaging contemporary world and web of secrets that will suck readers in.

Between These Lines is the story of how Chase Mitman and Evie Cunningham finally wind up in close quarters and face their feelings for each other, but it's so much more complicated than two people with a crush. Both of them are haunted -- Chase by the past and Evie by her own fear of the present.

Evie's parents relationship is disintegrating before her eyes. She has a privileged, controlling boyfriend with a violent streak named Shane who'll do anything to keep her. Chase and Shane have their own past that resurfaces after being buried for years. And then there are the secrets... Whitley Prep is full of secrets and everyone in the story is connected, intertwined, and Murgia does a fabulous job on holding back details on exactly how everything seams up.

I think what I loved most about this novel is that you don't have to work for it while reading. It's beautifully plotted and unfurls like a carpet before you. All you have to do is follow along. It was a nice change from twisting fiction that you have to follow closely and sometimes wind up wondering what happened after 500 pages.

My only complaint is that I didn't ever truly relate to Evie. There were moments in which I felt connected to her, but she just felt a little too soft and distant. Chase, Shane, Tara (Evie's best friend) and even some of the secondary characters were very crisp and I could watch their actions play out in my mind.

Despite not relating to Evie very well, her encounters with Chase rang very true. Many of them were subtle and didn't coerce me as a reader to read something specific into their exchanges. The emotion or sentiment was just there. 

I can't tell you much more because you'll want to read the end on your own. Oh my, the end! Tension mounts, relationships come to a head and you'll be rushing to the end. Good thing it's an e-book, otherwise it could have easily ended up tear-stained and torn from the speed at which I was turning pages.

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More Author Insight: Creating Characters

When you conceptualize a character does personality or physicality come first or does a complete person instantly form?

"Personality never really surfaces in my characters until after I start writing them, which is why I do a lot of pre-writing. I know what a character's going to do long before I know how or even why." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 

"For me, I usually get a character with 'a problem.' I learn about personality and appearance from there. So with Fiona from Transparent, I knew she was invisible and that her father made her steal. Everything else came after that." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent. 

"Personality, definitely. I build their physical side based on that." - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed. 

"My characters are often modeled on people I’ve met in real life or seen somewhere, so personality and physicality are shaped by what I’ve observed and noticed and carried with me and distorted in my memory. Then fiction takes over and builds the disguise even thicker. You may never know I’m writing about you, but haha, I am!" - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.