Guest Post: Jessica Shirvington + Giveaway

About the Author:

Jessica Shirvington is the author of THE VIOLET EDEN CHAPTERS also known as THE EMBRACE SERIES. An entrepreneur, author, and mother living in Sydney, Australia, Jessica is also a 2011 finalist for Cosmopolitan’s annual Fun, Fearless Female Award. She’s also one of the lucky few who met the love of her life at age seventeen: Matt Shirvington, a former Olympian and current sports broadcaster for FOXTEL and Sky News. (Read More)

I just finished Embrace yesterday and it was a lot of fun to read! Lincoln 4 life, bby! I'm glad to have Jessica Shirvington stopping by the blog today as part of the Are You Ready to Embrace? blog tour. Please give her a warm smile and a nice little wave! Be excited, because Jessica is here today to discuss her reasons for creating the setting of Embrace.

Where Are You From?
By Jessica Shirvington

In my first draft of EMBRACE (there were eight!), I didn’t set the city. I was in two minds the entire time. I suppose I was drawing on all the places I have been around the world. Although I now live in Sydney, when I started to write EMBRACE, my family and I had just moved back from six years living in London. And prior to that, I’d spent quite a lot of time travelling to many cities around the world – so much so, that when I was writing scenes in EMBRACE, I found myself thinking of different cities around the world and never being able to truly decided which one most suited Violet’s world.

In my second and third and fourth drafts, I chose different cities (I’ll never tell) from around the world and set Violet’s story there. But each time, it felt forced.

I wanted her to live in a city, as opposed to some small town where all these major apocalyptic events just miraculously found her. To be believable she had to be in a metropolitan environment, but which one?

In the end, the answer was … any of them, and none of them. It wasn’t that the cities I chose didn’t work; it was that in my mind I’d amalgamated them into what I needed for her story to work for me. So I made the decision to give that option to all of my readers and simply called her city, the City.

It isn’t the ‘done thing’ usually, but I believe for this story, it works. I want readers to be able to put this story where they know. If they live in a city, it can be there, if they live in a rural area, then it isn’t a stretch for them to imagine a city nearby. It is an element of control that I wanted to give to the reader.

That said, I like a little control myself … and I discovered that by giving this open setting for Violet’s hometown, it also opened up the possibility to use other locations around the world that would really pop off the page.

In ENTICED (the sequel, out in September!), Violet and her friends find themselves travelling to Jordan – on a quest to the place of Moses’ death – Mount Nebo. In EMBLAZE (book 3, out March 2013) they travel to the island of Santorini in Greece, which is small and stunning, and holds terrors that none of them are prepared for.

Each book I take the characters somewhere new and as I write the series, I have discovered how very important this is to me. I want my characters to go to the world, to find the problems and be part of the solution, rather than the fight always, and too conveniently, finding them.

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Thanks so much, Jessica, for stopping by the blog and giving us some awesome deets about your story! Be sure to read my review of the book.

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Purchase Embrace today!

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Bloggers' Choice: Under the Never Sky + Giveaway

About the Author:
Veronica Rossi's debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, will be published in over twenty international markets, starting on January 3rd 2012 in the United States. Film rights to the trilogy have been optioned by Warner Bros. When not writing, she chases after her boys, who make her laugh every day, and who teach her about love that's "a million gazillion times bigger than the ocean."

Under the Never Sky has been the talk of the blogosphere for quite a while. I may not have read the book, but I feel like I already know and love Perry and Aria and ROAR. Last month, I asked which February release you were craving and you answered Under the Never Sky.

Congratulations to Veronica Rossi for winning this month's Bloggers' Choice Award! Veronica was happy enough to answer a few of my questions and throw in a VERY AWESOME surprise! Please welcome Veronica Rossi!

Out of more than ten novels up for the voting, Under the Never Sky won out among all of them. How does it feel to know that tons of bloggers are so excited to get their hands on a copy?

A. INCREDIBLE. Flattering. Amazing.Thank you guys!

Under the Never Sky is about a girl named Aria, who has been banished and thrust into an unknown world where the chance of survival is slim, a wasteland that is sure to kill her one way (cannibal attacks) or the other (intense energy storms). Her future is pretty bleak until hope materializes in the form of stranger named Perry. Was this story a surprise thought that took root? Or was it one you’ve always wanted to tell? How did it all start?

A. It started with the desire to pit characters from totally different backgrounds together. I knew I wanted a girl from a very advanced, technologically sophisticated society, and a boy from a primitive society. It started from there, and grew from research and just lots of staring at the walls and imagining.

A wild, savage man like Perry spells delectable to me. Does hate spark immediately upon his and Aria’s meeting due to their differences? What are some things they have in common?

A. Their first meeting is pretty confrontational for many reasons, not just because they come from different societies. They do have some similarities, though. Both Aria and Perry are tenacious and loyal. Those are qualities that start to shine through as they come to know each other.

Is there anything special about Aria that doesn’t make it into the books and you would care to share?

A. She loves sushi, and as a young girl,she sang herself to sleep!

What are some of the downsidesto being a debut author for the young adult market? Some of the positives? Whatkind of future projects can we expect from you?

A. Downsides? I can’t think of any!Positives are the fans, the amazing bloggers—like you!—and other authors I’ve gotten to know. I’m sooo lucky to do what I do. I have a few projects I'm developing for after this trilogy that I'm REALLY excited about, but I've been sworn to secrecy by my agent, unfortunately. Sorry! I'll tell you more as soon as I can.

Finally, looking over the candidates for next month’s Bloggers’ Choice Award what are some of your picks for March’s winner?

A. I have to go with SLIDE by Jill Hathaway…. She’s a friend, and SLIDE is aterrific book!

Thanks so much for having me!

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Thank you so much, Veronica! And Veronica is such a fantastic person, as she's offering up TWO hardcovers of Under the Never Sky and some bookmarks in the giveaway below!

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Purchase Under the Never Sky today!

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Guest Post: Cath Crowley + Giveaway

About the Author:

Author of A Little Wanting Song (Chasing Charlie Duskin), Graffiti Moon and the Gracie series. Cath lives in Melbourne, Australia and is writing her next book. You can also find her at cathcrowley.com.au.

I'm currently reading Graffiti Moon and it is beautiful so far; oh gosh, THE WRITING. I'm so happy to have Cath Crowley here today for Valentine's Day. Please give her a spectacularly warm welcome!

CC: I get up early in the morning to make new characters. I like to write in dream-slicked skin, before I’m fully awake. My computer faces the window and I can’t see anything but shapes of plants in darkness.

What do you love? I ask them over and over but they don’t tell me.

The click of words, loud sun, shade, figs, trees with branchy armpits, mystery novels, romances, birds, shadows, flight, sun? What, what, what?

It takes all day before I get an answer that I think might be true.

‘Corners,’ a boy says. ‘I love the corners.’

I write it down and wait for something else. I eat quite a bit of chocolate while I’m waiting. They won’t even tell me if they like chocolate.

Who doesn’t like chocolate? I write for something to write.

‘Me,’ one of them says. It’s a girl. Both of them are seventeen, I’m sure of it. I think she has a bit of an attitude. I’m not sure she likes me.

Do you know each other?

‘Yes.’

Have you kissed?

‘No.’

Do you want to?

No answer.

I give up and go to bed.

I get up in the dream-slick and try again.

Today, before the sun, I pull one memory out of the girl.

She’s lying on the grass shining a torch tunnel at the sky. Looking for words in the stars, I think, but I’m not sure. She has a light blue dress with a white bird sewn onto the corner and a dog with three legs lying next to her. He’s called Fat Harvey. She loves Harvey but he’s dying. He’s got the wise look of a dog that’s close to the other side. She swings the light around and makes the stars look like they’re something she can control but she knows she can’t.

I’m writing a lot of Valentine’s Day posts this week so I ask her about love because it’s on my mind. Because I think it might be on her mind too.

She moves the torch around and tells me about a boy she kissed at a party last night. She snuck out her window and cut through the trees and arrived at the same time as her friend. ‘It was a coincidence,’ she tells me.

They went inside.

She skips the house that the party is in. She doesn’t tell me who is holding it.

She takes me out to the back yard where there’s a clothesline and a boy underneath. I can see the stars and the shape of shirts and trousers hanging.

She tells me he is the best-looking boy in the class and I can see that. He plays sport but I don’t know what. His hair is black and his eyes are green, I think. The moon isn’t bright enough to see.

She kissed him that night and thought of another boy, an ugly boy. He’s crooked and strange and no one at school talks to him except her. She talks to him in secret, though. His voice is honeyed gravel.

‘I imagined,’ she tells me, ‘that while we kissed that I could taste honey.’ She imagined that she was in a corner, kissing someone else. The crooked boy. She calls him Crow.

Somewhere, Crow is hiding in the corners. I have the start of him though.

I have the start of them both.

And in the quiet of the mornings I know that if I am patient, I will find them.

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This post was absolutely beautiful, Cath! Thank you so much! And Cath continues to be amazing by offering up a copy of her book!

Be sure to to catch my review for Graffiti Moon later.

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

Purchase Graffitti Moon today!

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Character Interview: Vine + Giveaway

Vine from Halflings has graciously accepted my invitation to join me on the blog for an interview. I'm so thrilled to have him here! Vine is one of the only characters we DON'T get a POV from in Halflings, and so I thought it would be fun to pick his brain for some need-to-know answers!

I'd like to say that although Mitch Hewer isn't Vine exactly, he certainly comes close! Although, Vine has much more beautiful hair ;)

About Vine

What can you say about Vine? He's adorable. Fifteen earth years, white blond hair, and electric blue eyes. And oh yeah, he loves candy! But right now, Vine's working hard to keep Nikki safe and Mace and Raven out of fist fights! --taken from Heather Burch's Website

Q. What is your most vivid memory before your time spent protecting Nikki? A time that you look back to the most fondly?
V: Definitely the rock concert we were sent to. Well, I wasn’t supposed to go, but Mace and Raven begged Will and he finally caved. Probably didn’t want me moping around the house for the whole night. You can read about the story in 11:15, The Making of a Halfing. It’s my favorite ‘cause, it’s mostly about me.

Q. What is your favorite aspect of being a Halfling? Your least favorite?
V: Flying. Snapping your wings open and catching a breeze. Man, there’s nothing like it. You can drop off a cliff edge and free fall until you think your skin will come off, then, snap! Wings spread, air slows. You feel invincible. My least favorite? I guess I’d have to say not having a home. Not just a physical home, but we don’t belong anywhere. Humans don’t know how good they have it.

Q. If you could be human for a day, how would you spend that particular day?
V: Wow, this is getting heavy. I’d be someone’s son. Hey, you can make sure the other Halflings don’t read this, right? I already get powned enough about eating candy all the time and how I’m younger than the others. Uh, btw, how old is your audience? Do I need to explain what powned means? ‘Cause if you don’t play HALO, you might not know.

Q. It seems we don’t get much of your perspective in Halflings, sadly. What are some of your biggest worries on this journey?
Right? I guess you have to fall for Nikki to get much face time. I’m just kidding, I know there will be a book with me as the main character. Heather’s already promised it.
My worries? Running out of candy. Jaj. Omega Corporation has way too much power. They’re in everything and down deep I know we’re just beginning to scratch the surface. I have this reoccurring dream where I’m standing on a hillside watching earth literally melt below my feet. The only thing I can distinguish is a sign that says Omega. We really have to stop them.

Q. How do you feel about Nikki? Have you noticed any… changes in your brothers, in their attitudes and so forth as a result of her presence in your lives?
Nikki’s cool. Changes in Mace and Raven? Where do I start? It’s pathetic. Don’t get me wrong, earth girls are totally hot. But they’re like sprinkles on ice cream. You want to order them because they look so good, but honestly, they kind of ruin the ice cream. You know? Will has to do something. I know he’s going to. I just don’t know what it is. We don’t feel like a team anymore. But hey, fighting for your life has a way of focusing your perspective. Maybe we just need a battle. Yeah, a ‘to the death fight’ with some hell-hounds and demons to set things right again.

Q. Name one thing about yourself that readers won’t find out about in Halflings.
I don’t heal well. Halflings usually heal really quickly. I heal, but my body takes more time. Sometimes I think that’s why Raven and Mace baby me so much. As long as we’re confessing, here’s a little more. Will found me in a children’s hospital when I was small. No info about how I got there. I seemed pretty normal other than anomalies in my blood.
Will rescued me and that’s when I learned I was a Halfling and would one day tap in and have wings.

Q. You seem to like candy. A LOT. If you could mix two candy flavors, what would the final product taste like?
Oh man, this is like the ultimate fantasy. Okay, so it’d have to have the texture of Skittles but be more sour. Ultra sour. Ultra sour Skittles with gummy worm dust. That’d rock.

Q. Many females seem to be flocking to you and your brothers. Humans and Halflings alike. Do you have a dream a girl? An ideal girlfriend? Is there a specific girl out there who’s caught your eye?
Girls are nothing but trouble. I'm pretty sure. But, yeah. There's one I like. She's the one that doesn't seem to see me. I don't really want to say a name, 'cause, seriously, if anyone reads this, I'm dead. But, when she's around, I get that feeling like when you drop off a roller coaster edge? Even with all the flying I do, coasters still turn my stomach upside down. I'm talking about really good roller coasters, not the cheezy ones. So, to answer your question, yeah. There's one girl who turns my stomach.

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Ah, Vine, I'm such a fan! EEEEP, can't wait for the sequel! Thanks so much for stopping by!
You guys, isn't he the coolest cool kid on the block? I love Vine. Hey, don't forget to read my review!

After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with.

A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world.

Purchase Halflings today!

Visit the Official Website | Follow Heather on Twitter | Become her fan on Goodreads | Visit her website

About the Author:

Heather writes full time and loves being involved with groups that promote books! Writing about the Halflings has been the funnest and most exciting writing journey of her life! Before novels, she wrote teen curriculum published in both the U.S. and Asia Pacific.
She spent eight years in the "spa world" as a licensed esthetician and won a trip to Europe for her commitment to the spa industry. With that knowledge, she developed the Writer's Ten Step Excercise: Save Your Neck, Shoulders, Back, and Wrists!