Ever Heard of Gabriel Stone?

 

Ever heard of Gabriel Stone? If not, you're about to! Gabriel Stone is the main character in a newly released Middle Grade fantasy adventure by the awesome Shannon Duffy. This book will take you on a journey you won't soon forget! It has enough mystery, intrigue, and wonder to keep you up, lamp lit, and reading into the night! If you're a fan of Percy Jackson, you'll LOVE Gabriel Stone!

I'm so excited to host my friend and all-around amazing author Shannon Duffy for her blog tour! And now on to Shannon's interview...

Q. Tell me about Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta.

Gabriel Stone and the Divinity of Valta is a middle grade fantasy adventure. Here's the Goodreads blurb: Gabriel Stone is a twelve-year-old boy still reeling from the unsolved disappearance of his mother. With a dad who's hard to relate to, and mounting pressures at school, Gabriel lets off steam by hiking in the place where his mother was last seen. There, Gabe and friends find a crystal that proves not only beautiful, but magical beyond their wildest dreams. Only, magic and beauty come at a price: in order to return home, they must save the dying world of Valta.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Well, once I decided I wanted to write a book for my son Gabriel, it's like the idea was just there. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it was. Of course, I changed some things after, thought on added plot ideas etc, but the basic story line was already in my mind waiting to be told.

Q. Do any of the characters symbolize something or someone in real life?

Yes, some of them actually, which is a part of what I love so much about this story. Obviously, Gabriel Stone is based on my son Gabriel. Brent is my nephew who is Gabe's best friend in real life. My parents names are really Eric and Dorothy, and yes, my dad calls her Flossie like in the book. (My mom's middle name is Florence, thus the nickname I guess. lol). Leejor, the wizard's name, is a combo of two other nephews, Lee and Jordan. And Beachy Cove Falls are a real-life small waterfalls that my cousin and I found while hiking in the woods when we were kids.

Q. Who are your favorite authors?

So many! I love Lauren Oliver, Lauren DeStefano, J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyers, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Jay Asher, to name only a few.

About the Author

Shannon Duffy grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada, and now lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and son, Gabriel. She’s mom to one boy, and several pets. Shannon loves writing, reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions: shopping. GABRIEL STONE AND THE WRATH OF THE SOLARIAN, Book 2 in the Gabriel Stone series, will be available from Month9Books in February 2014!

Isn't Shannon great? And doesn't her book sound amazing? You can find Shannon on twitter HERE, visit her website HERE, follow her on Goodreads HERE, and buy her book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

 Author Shannon Duffy

Cover Reveal for Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein

I'm thrilled to be a part of the Dear Cassie cover reveal for the awesome Lisa Burstein! Here's her cover:

Isn't it gorgeous! And here's the info about the awesome author and the amazing book. Enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Fiction from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University. She lives in Portland, OR, with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Dear Cassie is her second novel.

DEAR CASSIE official Blurb:

What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

DEAR CASSIE excerpt:

We kept walking on the lake trail, the bullfrogs croaking. There was also a humming in my ears from the nicotine.

It could only be from the nicotine. It had nothing to do with being outside, at night, alone with Ben. It had nothing to do with Ben coming to the cabin and taking me instead of Nez and it definitely had nothing to do with the stars above us shining like they were the sky’s tiara. 

I stopped on the trail and looked up, taking them in, when all of a sudden bright colored lights exploded in the sky—fireworks, one after another, on top of each other, huge kaleidoscopes of light, like sparkling rainbow spiders.

“How did you know?” I asked, my voice going softer, like if I talked too loudly they would stop. It was so beautiful, after weeks of so much ugly. 

Ben turned to look at me, the colored lights in the sky turning his skin pink, blue, green. “I’m magic.” He shrugged.

I geared up to tell him to fuck off, because that was some corny-ass shit, but then I realized that he really kind of was. In that moment he was able to actually make me forget being me.

“I would try to kiss you,” he said, “but I’m afraid you’d kick me in the balls.”

“I probably would.” I laughed, the sky filling with noisy color like paint launching from a giant popcorn popper. “But like I said, it wouldn’t be about you.”

“I guess I’ll have to figure out how to make it about me,” he said, taking off his boots and socks and standing. “Come on.”

“There is no way I am getting near that water again,” I said.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, holding his hand out to help me up.

I looked at his palm, open, waiting, just wanting to hold mine. For once, I didn’t think about anything except that there was a cute, sweet, smart-ass boy standing in front of me with his hand out.

I pulled off my boots and socks and took it.  

We stood at the lakeshore, our hands still clasped, the water licking our feet, fireworks decorating the sky.

I turned to him. He was looking up, his mouth open in wonder like he was trying to swallow the moment.

It was definitely one worth keeping.

DEAR CASSIE pre-buy links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13628374-dear-cassie

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/9781620612545

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Cassie-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620612542/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dear-cassie-lisa-burstein/1113610316

PRETTY AMY Links:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy

Powells: http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781620611197-0

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/9781620611197

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Amy-Lisa-Burstein/dp/1620611198/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pretty-amy-lisa-burstein/1108930786

Additional links to Lisa’s pages:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/LisaBurstein

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor

Website: http://www.lisaburstein.com

Cover Reveal for Interred by Marilyn Almodovar

I'm so happy to help the awesome Marilyn Almodovar with the cover reveal for her debut YA novel, Interred! Here is the cover, isn't it gorgeous!

And here is the blurb for the book:

Time has never been an issue for Baxter Jacobs, but then she never knew she had the ability to Bend it.

As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Baxter inherits a pendant that will change her life. Connected to the pendant is a dark and mysterious young man named Declan Ashdown. Trapped in a Time loop for the past 122 years, Declan needs Baxter’s help to escape. The only problem is, she has no idea how to do it.

To acquire the power she needs to free him, she’ll become one of the Interred, those whose Magical abilities emerge as they come of age. When she does, she’ll discover that Declan isn’t the only one interested in the fact that she’s a Time Bender.

As the Interment arrives, Baxter knows this will be no Sweet Sixteen. A vengeful relative and ruthless Council are determined to control her. Declan’s powerful and charming descendant, Jack Ashdown, claims he can save her. She’ll soon have to decide who she can trust, and how to master her new abilities before Time runs out.

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You can follow Marilyn at her FB page over HERE, her twitter page over HERE, her website/blog over HERE, and on Goodreads over HERE. She is definitely a writer to watch!

Meet YA Paranormal Writer Jesse Kimmel-Freeman

Welcome to my author Meet and Greet, featuring YA paranormal writer, Jesse Kimmel-Freeman. She's super awesome. Enjoy!

Q. Tell me about the book you're promoting.

Well, how about I tell you what I'm working to finish? I'm almost done with my NaNo project, Network Deserted. Which is a YA book that follows 4 teens that are trying to escape the Network and ultimately end up on the side they were supposed to be fighting. And I'm trying to get the third book in my Bella Vampire Series, Bella Tristezza, finished. The first book is Bella Notte, which was my debut book. Here's the blurb for that one: Vampires? Check. Werewolves? Check. Death prophecy to hang over your head? Double check. Seventeen-year-old Emma Hutchinson struggles to find her place in the world she has been born to as she tries to decide whether she should be with Michael, the boy she has been dreaming about since she was three or if she belongs with Dominic, her betrothed.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for this book?

The NaNo project sprung up from something my husband told me to try and get my kick started on my NaNo writing, but it has nothing to do with what he originally told me. LOL. Isn't that the way it always works out? The Bella Vampires Series started because Bella Notte was the book I wanted to read at the time and there weren't any on the market like it yet.

Q. Do any of the characters symbolize something or someone in real life?

I think that the characters in most of my books are bits and pieces of the people I've come into contact with in real life. Those that truly made an impression. You know, for the better and worse. My best friends says that my main female characters usually have a lot of me in them- even if I don't see it.

Q. Who are your favorite authors?

Um, that's a hard one. I have a lot of favorite books, but not necessarily authors. Like I love He, She, and It, but I've never read any of her other works. 

Q. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one book, what would it be and why?

The Awakening by Kate Chopin! I feel kind of like the guy in Conspiracy Theory about that book. But I can't explain it. I have to have a copy of it. It was one of those books that seemed to cause an awakening within me as well.

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Jesse now lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere. She moved from the chaos of Los Angeles. Yes, she misses it. It is not uncommon for her to be asked why she moved from such a busy place to the one horse town- the answer is simply to allow her kids to grow up with their grandparents.

Jesse has studied anthropology and used her “education” as an excuse to hang out with vampires- her masters' thesis was going to be modern vampire culture. They really do exist. Vampires have been her obsession since she was about five years old when she swears she was bitten by one.

She enjoys reading and writing. But most importantly being a crazy mom to her son, new daughter, and ever growing pet family. Singing silly songs at the top of her lungs and embarrassing her son is one of her favorite activities. She considers herself to be an odd duck.

Her books and her blog can be found at www.jessekimmelfreeman.com. You can follow her on Twitter HERE, and on Facebook HERE.

And here are her book covers:

Check Out This Awesome Dragon Anthology

Ever heard of Xchyler Publishing (XP)? If not, you're about to! They're a new independent publishing house focusing on Paranormal, Steampunk, Mystery, and Fantasy. I've been following them on twitter and this cool dragon anthology that they've just released caught my eye. 

Here's the gorgeous cover:

And here's the blurb:  

Forged in flame, wrought in blood, bone and steel, from the bowels of the earth and the inner most chambers of the heart, dragons arise. Fired by their passion, inspired by legend, six talented storytellers delve into realms of myth and fantasy as they explore what it means to be human.

First Flight by Samuel Mayo: Vanderson Egilhard yearns to fly, but when he discovers his father’s secret, the fate of his family and perhaps the world falls into his young hands.

A Dragon’s Honor by Brian Collier: When ancient alliances fail and friends stand alone to face certain doom, one dark secret and Calrym’s courage spell the utter destruction or dawning new age of two failing nations.

Birth Pains by Eric White: Bellalinde made a terrible sacrifice for love. Years later, her choice sends her and her granddaughter on a journey from which only one can return.

Golden Legacy by Jana Boskey: Hated, hunted, marked for extermination, when a young assassin hunts down Zachariah, he must decide which of them truly deserves to live.

Heart of Steel by Caitlin McColl: When murder steals his wife from Gideon Hendry, lust for revenge fires his passions. Only his fantastic creations know if he can escape his obsession before it seals his fate.

A Chink In The Armor by D. Robert Pease: Blessed by the gods, Job has never lost a battle. He has triumphed over every challenge from man and nature. Arrogant? Yes, but he's invincible. Or is he?

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Doesn't it sound great? You can get the anthology over HERE at Amazon. You can also follow XP over HERE at twitter, or just click on their WEBSITE for more info.