Spell Check: Book 1 (Teen Wytche Saga) by Ariella Moon
TODAY ONLY use code: WX64N
Friday, January 29, 2016
Krysten Lindsay Hager's new YA novel in the Landry True Colors Series
Today I welcome the fabulous Krysten Lindsay Hager, whose Landry's True Colors Series is a clean reads young adult humor series about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, crushes, and self-image. It’s suitable for ages 10 and up.
Landry in Like
(Landry's True Colors Series: Book 3) by Krysten Lindsay Hager
Blurb: Things
seem to be going well in Landry Albright’s world—she’s getting invited to be on
local talk shows to talk about her modeling career, her best friends have her
back, and her boyfriend Vladi has becoming someone she can truly count on…and
then everything changes. Suddenly it seems like most of the girls in school are
into hanging out at a new teen dance club, while Landry just wants to spend her
weekends playing video games and baking cupcakes at sleepovers. Then, Yasmin
McCarty, the most popular girl in school, starts to come between Landry’s
friendship with Ashanti. Things take a turn when Yasmin tells Vladi that Landry
is interested in another boy. Can Landry get her relationships with Ashanti and
Vladi back or will she be left out and left behind?
Excerpt:
I wanted to call my friends and tell them about being on the
talk show, but Mom said we had to be at the TV station super early — even
before school started. She said I could text them, but I had to turn off my
phone and go to bed.
“I’m waking you up at four a.m.,” she said. “You have to be
there at five-thirty.”
“Can I just call Peyton and Ashanti? Please?”
“Fine, but you have five minutes and then that phone is mine
and you’re in bed.”
I dialed Peyton, but her mom said she was in the shower. I
told her mom about the show tomorrow and said my mom wouldn’t let me stay up
any later to call Peyton back.
“How exciting! I will make sure Peyton knows, and I will be
watching you tomorrow. Good luck, honey,” Mrs. Urich said.
I called Ashanti next and told her.
“Get out. Get. Out. No way. This is so exciting!”
“I’m so nervous. My stomach is already doing cartwheels. I
can’t do one, but my stomach can. Seems unfair. What if I throw up before I go
on? I did that right before I went on at the statewide Ingénue modeling competition in Detroit, and my mom had to give me
a cough drop to cover up the smell.”
“I’m sure you’ll be
fine, but… just in case, take a cough drop with you,” Ashanti said. “Good luck.
You’ll be great and I’ll go set the DVR now.”
I hung up and sent a
text to Vladi, India, Devon, Thalia, Tori, and Ericka, so no one would be mad
and feel left out. Then I shut off my phone. Mom poked her head in the door to
make sure I was in bed.
“Night, hon. Try to get some rest,” she said.
Easier said than done. I stared at my ceiling while thinking
about all the things that could possibly go wrong tomorrow. Seeing as the show
was on in the morning, I never got to watch it, so I had no idea what the set
was like — did it have super high chairs and I’d struggle to get into them? And
what if it had those higher stools that were kind of tippy and my rear overshot
the seat and I fell off? Or what if the prep questions got lost and the
interviewer asked me random things like my feelings on nuclear war or asked me
about some foreign political leader who I had never heard of before, and I
appeared stupid? Why did I say I’d do this? I tried to get comfortable and it
felt like I had just dozed off when I felt my mom shaking my shoulder.
“Rise and shine, TV star,” she said.
Purchase:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Landry-Like-Landrys-True-Colors-ebook/dp/B01AL6AUA2/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/landry-in-like-krysten-lindsay-hager/1123253456?ean=2940157767242
Author bio:
Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean
reads young adult series and the new Star Series. Krysten writes about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle
school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in
True Colors, Best Friends…Forever?
And Landry in Like, as well as in, Next Door to a Star (Star Series). Her
sequel to Next Door to a Star will be
out March 22 2016.
Krysten is a book addict who has never met a bookstore she
didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes YA, MG, humor essays, and
adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South
Dakota, and currently resides in southwestern Ohio where you can find her
reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She
received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.
Follow:
Website: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/krystenlindsay
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay
Author talk show
interview: http://wdtn.com/2014/11/06/true-colors/
True Colors (Landry’s
True Colors Series Book 1):
What people are
saying about True Colors (Landry’s True Colors Series Book One):
From Teenage Book Recommendations in the UK: “This is a
fantastically relatable and real book which I feel captures all of the
insecurities and troubles which haunt the modern teenage girl. It is about a
young model who has to go through tough times when she is torn between a life
as a model and managing her friendships. You learn which friends she can most
trust and which will create the drama typical of teenage life. Follow the life
of Landry and try to see if you can find out which are her true friends before
their true colors are revealed. This book is all about relationships, hopes
and truth. I loved this book!”
A few questions for Krysten:
Who is your favorite
author?
F. Scott Fitzgerald is my favorite. I had to read The Great
Gatsby twice in school, but I didn’t connect to it until I was an adult and
then I fell in love with it.
How do you describe
your writing style?
I always write with humor and my main characters wear their
hearts on their sleeves. My two teen series both deal with self-esteem, growing
up/coming of age, and first love.
Use no more than two
sentences. Why should we read your book?
Landry in Like
will take you back to your school days and make you laugh and feel for her as
she grows up and navigates through school. There are funny moments, cringe
worthy moments, and life lessons on how to deal with everything from frenemies,
first loves, anxiety, and friendships.
If you could exchange
lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose
and why?
I would choose Hadley from Next Door to a Star (Star Series: Book One) because when she moves
to a beach town, she has the chance to reinvent herself and start over and that
idea is very intriguing to me. Plus, she lives in Grand Haven, Michigan—a
beautiful beach town.
What books have most
influenced your life?
I read a biography of a YA author, Paula Danziger, years ago
and it made me realize that writing young adult fiction was what I was meant to
do. It was always something I wanted to do, but I never realized that all those
awkward and difficult moments I went through in my teen years might have been
setting me up to help another teen in the same situation down the road. That
biography shaped my vision of what I wanted to do in life.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Cover Reveal: Kingdom of the Faeries: Edenhart's Rivalry
February is the month for Young Adult Fantasy books!
In addition to The Beltane Escape by Ariella Moon on February 2, J.N. Tomczak's upcoming
Kingdom of the Faeries: Edenhart's Rivalry will release on Feb. 11th, 2016.
Blurb:
A dark power is rising, and a kingdom is in dire need of a leader when the King of the Faeries
falls in battle. Or so, that’s what they’re led to believe, but his only heir and daughter, Aurora, suspects murder.
But when she and her loyal friend Percy, the Captain of the Elite Guard, discover an ancient prophecy foretold by the enigmatic Faerie Sorcerers, Aurora finds herself an unwilling pawn
in a dark plot that will threaten everything she holds dear.
Her courage and magic will be her greatest weapons if she hopes to succeed where all others
have failed. But will she? Aurora must ask herself this very question: just how far is she
willing to go to save her kingdom, and at what costs?
Author Bio:
Julianne grew up on a small farm in central Arkansas and now lives in Tucson,
Arizona with her husband.
When not writing, Julianne loves playing
video games, listening to music, hiking, and
Arizona with her husband.
When not writing, Julianne loves playing
video games, listening to music, hiking, and
binge-watching Falling Skies while eating
non-nutritional food.
non-nutritional food.
Author Links:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/J.N.
Website: http://jntomczak.
Instagram: https://www.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Cover Reveal: The Beltane Escape by Ariella Moon
Medieval Scotland. Fairy. A kidnapped Highland heiress.
Let the fantasy begin.
The Beltane Escape by Ariella Moon. Book One: The Two Realms Trilogy
Blurb
Lady Fenella,
ever surrounded by guards, knows only responsibility and duty. She believes
Merlin and the Lady of the Lake are myths, Gran’s warnings about Fairy are
superstition, and Fairy was invented to make children behave.
But
then Gran brands her, Lord Argonshire kidnaps her, and the Lady of
the Lake makes her a pawn. The Highland heiress must betray her newly betrothed
and fend for herself when she dives into a wormhole to save her cousin. She
lands in a part of Fairy even fairies avoid, and joins forces with a
half-Viking/half-Fairy.
Fenella must
use her wits to find her cousin, free the Lady of the Lake, and reach the
wormhole in Glastonbury by Beltane. Nine days to unshackle herself from a
sorceress, prevent a war between two clans, and decide in which realm—and with
which lad—she truly belongs. Oh, and The Most Powerful Wizard stands
in her way.
Kobo
Release date: February 2, 2016
Release date: February 2, 2016
Also by Ariella Moon
Monday, January 11, 2016
Glastonbury: Gateway to Fairy and Avalon
Glastonbury’s
Unexpected Dark Magic
Glastonbury has been described as
the ”Gateway to the Celtic Otherworld.” A sacred pagan, Christian, and Goddess site,
Glastonbury in Somerset, England, beckons modern-day pilgrims. Some seek Fairy,
hidden beneath the conical Glastonbury Tor. Others seek Avalon, the mist-shrouded
island realm where Morgan Le Fay brought the dying King Arthur after the Battle
of Camlann.
 |
| Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, England Source: Morguefile Photos |
Glastonbury, Avalon, and Arthurian legends play pivotal roles in
The Beltane Escape, Book One: The Two
Realms Trilogy, my upcoming Young Adult adventure fantasy novel. As an author and shaman, I journeyed
to Glastonbury to learn more about its mystical energy. I discovered
Glastonbury is rife with unexpected dark, and often hostile, magic.
 |
| The Vesica Pool at the Chalice Well & Gardens. Photo be Ariella Moon |
Appearances are Deceiving
Glastonbury Tor and the Chalice Well and Gardens at its base,
appear serene. The latter is considered a place of healing and peace, its
therapeutic pools fed by the Red Spring. Visitors hang prayer or tribute
ribbons on the trees in the gardens. By day, the grounds are a place
for reflection and meditation. By night, especially when the moon is full,
apparitions streak above the Chalice arbor. One night, a towering menacing energy
loomed at the top of the Little Saint Michael’s (one of two guesthouses in the
sanctuary) stairs. The next morning, an elderly female ghost woke me.
The White
Spring also flows near the Tor’s base, separated from the Chalice Well by a
fence and Well House Lane. In 1872, The Water Board built a reservoir over the beautiful
fairy valley. The spring remains, hidden, a gateway to the otherworld. By day,
chaotic energy appears like a flash mob near the spigot marking the White
Spring. I can only imagine what happens at night.
Past the White Spring, entrances to
Fairy can be seen low on the tree trunks. The Tor rises beyond them. Like most
pilgrims, I ascended the hill via the steep concrete path. Given to vertigo, I
was concerned about the lack of railing. Focused on safely reaching the top, I
barely noticed the narrow terraces half-hidden among the wild grasses. Inescapable,
however, was the strong energetic force that repeatedly tried to knock me off
the path.
 |
| Concrete Path and Stairs leading up Glastonbury Tor. Photo by: Adrian Pingstone |
The Magical Lesson
Shamanic training involves facing and
overcoming one’s fears. Shamans must “die the little death” so they can move
past their fears to help others. At the time, I perceived the force attempting
to knock me off the Tor as hostile. Only later did I realize it was trying to redirect
me onto the narrow terraces, which form a vertical spiral labyrinth—the correct
path for a shaman. The spirits of the place, like a GPS recalculating, must
have given me points for taking the path that forced me to face my fear. After
my first day on the Tor, my acrophobia disappeared.
The heroine in The Beltane Escape learns to be careful what she wishes for. My
quest to learn more about the mystical energies of Glastonbury provided a
similar lesson.
Copyright 2016 Ariella Moon
Ariella
Moon draws upon her experiences as a shaman to create magical Young Adult
fiction.
Coming soon: The Beltane Escape, Book One, The Two Realms Trilogy, a medieval fantasy adventure series.
Out now: The
Teen Wytche Saga, a series of sweet contemporary paranormal romances.
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