GCC presents Jennifer Echols

Do I look smug? If so that's because I've just finished Spirit Bound last night and it was full of awesomeness - well unless you're Rose and then it's just full of getting herself into a majorly big pickle. Unfortunately now I'm going to have to wait until December for the whole series to be tied up. Still, it's worth it!!!!!

Anyway, now that I've stopped my gloating it's time for another GCC tour, this time it's with Jennifer Echols and her new book Endless Summer. Jennifer has taken over the reigns of running the GCC tour group and who is therefore one of my fav people since I love our tour group and I'm immensely proud to be part of it!!!!!

Jennifer has written numerous YA books (which you can check out at her website) and her 2009 release, Going Too Far, is a finalist in the 2010 RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the Book Buyer's Best (which sort of makes her the Taylor Swift of writing, doncha think!) Her latest book is actually two books in one - it's a re-release of The Boys Next Door and its sequel Endless Summer all in one handy volume!

Two irresistible boys. One unforgettable summer.

Lori can't wait for her summer at the lake. She loves wakeboarding and hanging with her friends--including the two hotties next door. With the Vader brothers, she's always been just one of the guys. Now that she's turning sixteen, she wants to be seen as one of the girls, especially in the eyes of Sean, the older brother. But that's not going to happen--not if the younger brother, Adam, can help it.

Lori plans to make Sean jealous by spending time with Adam. Adam has plans of his own for Lori. As the air heats up, so does this love triangle. Will Lori's romantic summer melt into one hot mess?

What was the inspiration behind this book?

I grew up on a beautiful lake in Alabama, and this is a love story that never happened to me but should have imho.
Are you a panster or a plotter and do you find your writing process changes from book to book?

I am somewhere in between, which drives me crazy. On the one hand, I like to plot things out so I know where I’m going. Otherwise I would feel lost. On the other hand, my first pass at a plot always sucks. I don’t REALLY know where I’m going until I get there. That makes it hard for me to sell on proposal. But that also makes the writing process a puzzle and a discovery, which is lots of fun.

I'm a quote queen and there's nothing I like more than reading other people's words of wisdom. Do you have a favorite quote that motivates you or sums up the way the you write?

I don’t know the original source of this quote, but I’ve heard it over and over, and I live by it: “Write the book you want to read.” Oh, I love this quote - I'm adding it to the collection!

What's your favorite television series right now? Okay, I know this isn't a writerly question but I'm a very nosy person who has a very large television habit to feed!!!!

As a YA writer I think I am supposed to be watching Gossip Girl (is that still on?) or Glee. Instead, I watch Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and How It’s Made. I grew up watching whatever my older brother wanted to watch (B. J. and the Bear, anyone?), and now that I have an 8-year-old son, I’m still content to watch shows about stuff exploding. If you read Endless Summer, you will see that the main character, Lori, did not fall far from the tree.
Everyone has a talent. Mine is being able to discover chocolate no matter where it is hidden in the house. What about you? What is your secret talent (apart of course from being a fabulous writer!!!!!)

I am the resident critter-catcher in my house. The menfolk get upset about lizards and spiders that find their way indoors, so I have to be the one who calmly catches them and puts them back outside. You develop this talent growing up near a lake! I do spiders but i draw the line at grasshoppers, mice and birds! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Update and let's hang with Judith Graves

Yes, I'm back! Yesterday was a lovely day, mainly because I finally delivered my second Djinn book and I also heard that my agent really likes my new idea. This fills me with warm happies because I love this new story idea and I really want to write it. Even though a lot of it will still be in my normal voice, the story line itself is quite a stretch for me and eeek, it might even require some research, but I'm up for it. Oh, and it would be my first love triangle as well!! Of course in the meantime I still have the third book to write, but thanks to my lovely new BFF, Mr Storyboard, I'm under control!!!!!!

Reading-wise,I'm halfway through reading Carrie Ryan's Dead Tossed Waves, and yup, I dreamed of zombies last night (and no, not the vague zombies of my book, the Carrie Ryan kind that actually eat lots of people!!!!). Anyway, the book is fab and I definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoyed The Forest of Hands and Teeth - or, if you haven't read either of them and are a Suzanne Collins fan, then I think you'd love Carrie's books! I plan to finish it in the next day or so because I need to clear my schedule for a certain Vampire Academy book, where I'm very nervous about what's going to happen to Dimitri!!!

Okay and now that my update is over it's time to talk about Judith Graves for a bit! I first met Judith when I did an interview over at Wolfy Chick - a very cool blog that she runs with fellow ya author Kitty Keswick.



Anyway, Judith's new book is called Under My Skin and as well as having a gorgeous cover, it sounds amazing as well. Here is the skinny:

All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life...

Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children.

The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn - in fact, she's lethal.

But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding - human Alec. And then it all goes bad.

A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.

What was the inspiration behind this book?

1. I’ve always been keen on folklore. Even as a kid, I’d gravitate to the fairytales and mythology sections of our public library. I could spend many moons flipping through those volumes – still can. Gradually I realized that our collective cultural folklore from across the globe and across the ages has similar creatures, but with different names. Okay, and some minor variations in the fine print (like their origin stories, how exactly to kill them, etc). My writerly brain (as math-challenged as it is) wondered what would go down if these similar, but not so similar, beasties were forced into a confrontation over the last remaining unclaimed territory. What then, eh? And so UMS began.

Are you a panster or a plotter and do you find your writing process changes from book to book?

2. I’m a bit of both. I know the general “big moments” in each book and the changes I want the characters to undergo, but I’m constantly surprised by my characters as they reveal some unknown plot twist through dialogue or blindside me with a WTH action. I ask you, who writes this stuff? Me…or them?

I'm a quote queen and there's nothing I like more than reading other people's words of wisdom. Do you have a favorite quote that motivates you or sums up the way the you write?


3. I have two favourite quotes, the first reminds me to go with my gut: “When in doubt, do without.” And the second encourages me to continue when writing the next page or even finding the perfect verb seems impossible: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

What's your favorite television series right now? Okay, I know this isn't a writerly question but I'm a very nosy person who has a very large television habit to feed!!!!

4. Fav TV? Supernatural, Heroes, Buffy, True Blood and, showing my Canadian side, I love This Hour Has 22 Minutes I can already tell that you're Canadian because spell Favourite the way that we do in Australia/NZ/England instead of the US way where they seem to hate Us, Ls and Ss!!!!!! And btw, I approve of your TV habits!!!!

Everyone has a talent. Mine is being able to discover chocolate no matter where it is hidden in the house. What about you? What is your secret talent (apart of course from being a fabulous writer!!!!!)

5. Ohhh…..being able to find hidden chocolate should be an official super power! ;) I am completely open about my choco addiction. As for HIDDEN talents, hmmm…..I’m a singer / songwriter, but that’s not something I hide….um….how about this: My toes seem to spontaneously create holes in the thickest of wool socks. How is this possible? Why do said holes usually appear when it’s minus 30 Celsius outside? Just my luck, I guess. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Florence + The Machine

Lately I've been listening non-stop to Florence + The Machine's album, Lungs and telling my husband a zillion times a day that he has to hear it (and no, he still hasn't because he's very disobedient). Anyway, just yesterday I was thinking how perfect it would be for the next Twilight soundtrack (which, if you haven't listened to, are actually pretty cool!). Then, what do I did discover today? Yup, they're on the third Twilight soundtrack. So I figure that since me and the Universe are obviously as one right now, that I'd better put in my request for a big chocolate fountain, a large naked David Boreanaz statue and an endless supply of books. Oh, and world peace. Obviously... Retweet this button on every post blogger

Teen Fiction Cafe

Just popping in to let everyone (okay my mum and the cat since they're the only ones who read this blog anymore and between you and me, I think my mum is lying!!!!!) know that all this week at Teen Fiction Cafe you'll be able to meet our four new members!!!! I'm super excited about this since they are all majorly talented YA authors. Two of them are my GCC sisters, Elizabeth Scott and Jessica Brody as well as Greg Logsted and Josh Berk. So don't forget to keep heading over there all week and find out what makes them tick!

I'm just doing the final tweaks on my second Djinn book and then I'm sending it off to my CPs because I'm a firm believer that CPs must suffer!!!!! But I do have another cool book tour coming up and then I thought I might even, you know, do something crazy like blog again!!!!!!! Retweet this button on every post blogger

GCC presents Jeri Smith-Ready

Yup, it's official, I'm definitely the worst blogger ever, but please don't hate me. Life has totally taken over but now the book is almost finished, I'm hoping that regular broadcasting will be resumed soon. Plus, look, I come bearing gifts. Yup, today I'm touring the too cool for school Jeri Smith-Ready. Jeri is already an award winning urban fantasy author, but Shade is her first young adult novel (and wait until you read her Q&A with me about how she got the idea - I'm still snickering!!!!!).

And in case you're in any doubt of whether she's written an amazing book, Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and said, 'Smith-Ready changes the world simply by changing our ability to see.'

So what's the book about? Here is the skinny?



Love ties them together.
Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Yup, that's me sold. I'm dying to read this book and now here is Jeri to answer a few easy, peasy questions! Prepare to giggle!!!




What was the inspiration behind this book?

It originally started as an idea for a world where the existence of ghosts had been proven, and a law firm that specialized in wrongful death suits. As tickled as I was by my cheesy tagline, “I sue dead people,” the idea went nowhere without a main character or a compelling story to give it life. (Besides, I know zilch about law, so it wouldn’t have gotten far.) It wasn’t until the main character of 16-year-old Aura Salvatore came into the picture that the story took off. I thought hey, what if all people her age and younger could see ghosts? And then the biggest part of the story of all: what if her boyfriend died and become a ghost?


Are you a panster or a plotter and do you find your writing process changes from book to book?

I like to have a rough synopsis as I’m starting the book, just whatever thoughts have been brewing in my head during the writing of the previous book. Then I put that blueprint away and start writing. At some point I usually veer away from the outline, so I guess I’m a mix of plotter and pantser. Would that make me a plantser? .

I'm a quote queen and there's nothing I like more than reading other people's words of wisdom. Do you have a favorite quote that motivates you or sums up the way the you write?

“I can edit garbage. I can’t edit a blank page.” – Jodi Picoult

What's your favorite television series right now? Okay, I know this isn't a writerly question but I'm a very nosy person who has a very large television habit to feed!!!!

I love COMMUNITY. It’s so over-the-top silly, with such oddball characters. I crack up like a maniac whenever I watch it.

Everyone has a talent. Mine is being able to discover chocolate no matter where it is hidden in the house. What about you? What is your secret talent (apart of course from being a fabulous writer!!!!!)

Ooh, nine times out of ten I can tell how heavy a bag of produce is before I even put it on the scale in the grocery store. Like if I need a half a pound of onions, I can guess how many that is. So if I were a superhero, I’d be called The Weigher. Retweet this button on every post blogger