Kirkus Review for INSOMNIA + Giveaway

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty reviewness, I wanted to let you know that there is a signed Insomnia ARC giveaway going on over at the Nawanda Files starting today! Becca is even giving a sneak peek at her review that won't be posted in full until June. Stop by, check it out and enter to win--

after you read the rest of the post, of course...

So last week, I got my very first trade review and it was from Kirkus. On their site, they call themselves "The World’s Toughest Book Critics" -- so yeah, I was shaking in my proverbial boots. And I was driving somewhere in my car when it dinged across the screen of my phone and I proceeded to try very hard not to hyperventilate. To be honest, just like most debut authors, I was completely terrified to even open the email. And since I was driving, I couldn't safely open it anyway--but I knew that whatever it said, I'd have to face it sooner or later. So I had my son open it and read it to me...

And I'm SO glad I did. 

~~~

INSOMNIA
Author: J.R. Johansson

Review Issue Date: May 1, 2013
Online Publish Date: April 10, 2013
Publisher:Flux
Pages: 360
Price ( Paperback ): $9.99
Publication Date: June 8, 2013
ISBN ( Paperback ): 978-0-7387-3593-1
Category: Fiction
Series: Night Walkers
Volume: 1

Parker has been unable to sleep for three years, ever since he began to inhabit the dreams of other people.

At age 16, Parker believes that his lack of sleep will kill him soon, after it drives him into psychosis. Parker calls himself a “Watcher.” Every night he believes that he sees the dreams of the last person with whom he had eye contact that day. While trapped in these dreams, he cannot sleep. One night, he meets new-student Mia and finds that her dreams are so simple that he can lie down within them and get some real sleep while she’s dreaming. Desperate for more sleep, he begins stalking her. Meanwhile, Mia receives threatening emails that appear to come from Parker and grows terrified of him. Parker convinces his friends that his paranormal ability is real, and they agree to help him with Mia—but Parker begins to suspect that he may have entered the psychosis he has feared. Is the stalker real, or is he really Parker? Johansson, writing from Parker’s point of view, scatters clues and red herrings about. Parker’s plight will convince readers, although they will not know if he’s innocent or psychotic until the final pages. The ending sets up the sequel in what promises to be an interesting new series.

The premise combines with the tension resulting from Parker’s psychological quandary to keep pulses pounding. (Suspense. 12 & up)

~~~

WOW! I just want to read that last sentence over and over and over and over and...

you get the idea. Anyway, if you have a Kirkus subscription you can see the review on their site here. If not, then...just read the one above with me again. :) I mean, I wrote the book and it even makes ME want to read it! 

Happy Wednesday! How is your week going? Mine is pretty freaking splendiferous. And don't forget to go enter the new giveaway!

Winning and Happy Things!

There is much excitement and craziness happening...and new developments will be revealed soon (like tomorrow or Wednesday)! I can't wait! I'm sitting around looking like this:

But enough about me...let's talk about the WINNER!

*insert drumroll here*

We had SO many entries to my YA Scavenger Hunt Bonus Giveaway. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and participated! You guys rock! :) The winners of the entire hunt will be announced this week also, so stay tuned.

The winner of my bonus giveaway is:

Kim V.

Congratulations, Kim! :) In case you're wondering, your response should look something like this:

Thanks to everyone who participated. And those that didn't win, stick around. I have many giveaways coming up. Some as soon as this week and there will be a big pre-order giveaway in May! :)

Huzzah for Winning and Happy Monday!

YA Scavenger Hunt - Kendare Blake!

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! We'll be giving away OVER 50 BOOKS! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the RED TEAM--but there is also a blue team for a chance to win a whole different set of twenty-five signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number somewhere below in RED. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!). 

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, April 7th at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting the uber-amazing Kendare Blake for the YA Scavenger Hunt! 

Kendare lives and writes in Lynnwood, Washington, usually with the Food Network on in the background. Comedy Central proves far too distracting.

I'm a huge fan of Kendare's work. I plan to read her books a minimum of 247 times in the near future. In case you haven't heard of the awesomeness that is Anna Dressed in Blood or Girl of Nightmares, you can read more about it on Kendare's site or you can buy Girl of Nightmares and witness it yourself!

KENDARE'S EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Cas Lowood kills the dead. On a hunt in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Kendare's intro for her exclusive content:

Here's one more story Cas had to tell. It's how he, Thomas and Carmel spent their spring break, before Girl of Nightmares happened and made them all stop speaking to me. This is the story of The Water Bride. Native American spirit? Or just some crazy dead girl drowning people in Florida? Cas had to find out, and Carmel had to rent a swanky lakefront cabin with a jacuzzi, because hell if she's going to spend her whole break roughing it in the bunk of an abandoned summer camp.

I know what you're thinking - sounds incredible, right?! It is!

And without further ado...The Water Bride!

The Water Bride



Thank you so much for this one last creeptastic peek into Cas's life, Kendare!

Now on with the hunt! Don't forget to enter the contest for the chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Kendare Blake and so many more! Now hunt around and add up all the favorite numbers on the Red Team and you'll have the secret code to enter for the Grand Prize!

WHY NOT WIN MORE?

You're here anyway and obviously in a winning mood. Let's do AN ADDITIONAL GIVEAWAY! :) Enter using the Rafflecopter below to win a signed ARC of my debut novel, INSOMNIA!


Here is a bit more about it:

Parker spends every night trapped in the dreams of the last person he made eye contact with, and it's killing him...until he meets Mia. In her dreams, Parker can finally get real sleep, but finding ways to make eye contact every night isn't easy. When Mia starts receiving threatening emails, her dreams transform into scenes of a horror movie--with Parker cast as the villain. 

He must discover who is truly tormenting her, and clear his name, before the real stalker makes good on his threats to end her dreams forever.

~~~

So...yeah, enter here to win! I'll announce the winner in a post by noon PST on Monday. And look down below the rafflecopter to continue the hunt!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONTINUE THE HUNT

Next stop: Brenna Yovanoff!

And tell us how the hunt is going by tweeting using hashtag #YASH

Tweet #YASH

Happy Hunting!

Awesome Stuffs!

Hi Peoples!

So in a couple hours, my YA Scavenger Hunt post will go live and the fun will begin. :) I've got Kendare Blake's exclusive content geared up and ready to go. You NEED to come back for that. I'll be giving away a signed ARC of Insomnia as part of the hunt, plus a bonus signed ARC here on the blog.

Sweeeeet... 

With all this awesomeness, I won't be posting my regular Forging Fridays post this week. Instead of being critiqued...you can win stuff. 

I feel like you win in this situation...

Have a happy day!

Scenes From A Life: Guest Post by Liz Coley

Today I'm happy to be hosting my fellow Lucky 13 and author of Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. She's sharing with us about some real life wisdom. And you know how much I love me some wisdom. So, without further ado...

~~~~~

Scenes From a Life by Liz Coley

Felix the Cat

When we’re little, sometimes we embarrass our parents with public whining, grocery story tantrums, primitive restaurant manners, and obnoxious airplane behavior. But they get the ultimate revenge by embarrassing us in front of our friends when we’re teenagers, and sometimes they need not even be present to win.

One day in sixth grade I discovered that my Dad was a total dork. It rebounded very painfully upon me, and ever after, I carefully weighed my reaction to anything he said.

We used to watch morning cartoons before school on a 13-inch black and white TV on the end of the breakfast table. We sat at a standard rectangular redwood picnic table with a vinyl tablecloth because of the way it fit both the kitchen niche and a family of six. Breakfast cereal was eaten in a daze while “Underdog” or “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” or something else early seventies-era entertained us. Those were the pre-cable days when your set got four channels plus public broadcasting if you had a UHF antenna.

One ill-fated morning, the truly ancient cartoon “Felix the Cat” began a syndicated run. It was full-on nostalgia time for my Dad, who forgot all about his wilting rice krispies and was instantly transfixed by this character from his own childhood. “Wow. Felix the Cat’s back on!” he exclaimed. Clearly this was something wonderful, a miracle in our time. We were privileged
to be alive at such a juncture.

Caught up in the glorious moment, as soon as I arrived at school, I announced to one of the cool blond girls in my class, “Guess what? Felix the Cat’s back on!”

She stared me down for a moment, like I’d announced I’d had worms for breakfast. Then she spun on one tanned leg, advanced on the rest of the class working their locker combinations, and passed on my news in a mocking tone that left no room for interpretation.

Do I blame her? Not really. If I’d thought for one second about how likely it was that anyone else found a thirties cartoon a cause for celebration, I would have filtered. I usually wasn’t so careless with words, and I vowed never to be so again. Exit innocent childhood stage left, enter painful adolescent self-consciousness stage right.

Do you remember the first time your parent fell from grace?

~~~~~

Ah the mocking 6th grade girls. I remember them not-so-fondly. I feel your pain, Liz, I feel your pain. Thanks so much for stopping by. I love this post and loved your book. Pretty Girl-13 is incredible! Here is the great cover and a bit about it.

Reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart case, Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological mystery about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity.

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home…only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen-or at least that's what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn't know.

But there are people who do — people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

Liz Coley's alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing - and ultimately empowering page-turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.


Doesn't that sound awesome? That's because it is. :) 

And a little more about Liz:

As a preteen, Liz Coley was hooked on science fiction thanks to alien Tripods, space-time warping tesseracts, and a Martian maid named Thuvia. Her science fiction short stories appear in Cosmos Magazine and several print anthologies. While self-publishing the time travel/alternate history/Mayan end of the world novel OUT OF XIBALBA, Liz received “The Call” that all aspiring novelists dream of.

PRETTY GIRL-13, her debut novel with HarperCollins, will be published in the US and in nine translations on five continents in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.

Liz lives in Cincinnati, OH with her husband, her teenaged daughter, and an elderly orange tabby by the fire. The older two boys have moved on to college and graduate school. When she isn't writing, Liz enjoys singing, photography, tennis, and cooking.

More places you can find Liz

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

More places you can find PRETTY GIRL-13

Goodreads ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Amazon ~ IndieBound

Forging Fridays - Another Double Feature

Today is our tenth & eleventh Forging Fridays Query! Yay! We love volunteers! As stated before, I won't be revealing the identities of the volunteers for Forging Fridays unless otherwise requested. If you feel like unmasking yourselves in the comments, be my guest. But, I won't mention anyone by name.

Here are our next volunteers! *applause* *cheers* *confetti*

~~~~

Cadence awakes in a hospital to find her husband and daughter dead, killed in an earthquake. So when her guardian angel appears and offers her a chance to go back in time with all the knowledge she has, she accepts, desperate to prevent their deaths. I can see why you weren't sure where this fell in category, but I'd lean away from YA, so that's a good bet...although if she spends most of the book in high school, I'm not sure of NA either. This is a hard one, but a good start.

She shoots back eleven years to her fourteen-year-old To help with the genre issue, could she be 18? That would put it firmly in NA and she could still be in high school...Just a thought self, and faces high school all over again. She is determined to do everything better, including preventing the loss of her best friend and not dating any of her original, drama-inducing boyfriends. Her main focus is on her future husband, who she won’t meet for several years. This is all very well done, could use more voice, but other than that, you've got all your relevant points covered. Plus, it raises a lot of questions...if she does things differently, how can she expect to even end up with the same guy--which you dive right into in the next paragraph. 

But James Gordon crosses her path. While she wishes to remain single, the bad boy pursues her. He threatens to disrupt everything that is to come as she begins to develop unwanted feelings for him, and distract her from her original goal: to save her future family. Interesting! Yeah, I think this is very cool, at this point, your biggest obstacle would be finding where it fits. Might recommend paranormal because of the Angel element + time travel...but paranormal is a hard sell at the moment. And I'd still recommend adding a bit more voice. It will lend that extra punch to make it stand out. Well done and best of luck!

DECEPTIVE CADENCE is a NA Contemporary with Time Travel elements running at 85,000.

~~~~

Allison King barely escapes her brother’s wedding reception alive. When the invaders VERY vague here, what kind of invaders? Why are they the target? Give us a bit more of a feel for where we're starting so we don't spend the query scrambling to catch up. You can do this with two words, really. For example, without reading the rest of the query yet, if you put 'royal' before wedding reception and 'Roman' in front of invaders, we feel much more grounded in the scenario, make sense?  raid the party, she and her siblings flee into the bush, avoiding the massacre, but they watch as their parents are killed by a firing squad.

Three weeks later, Ali is captured by the heartless General, who led the invasion, as she and her siblings search for other survivors. When she refuses to submit to his whims, he brands her for death with a crucifix. In a wild act of defiance, she snatches the branding rod up and sears the mark onto his face. Furious at the humiliation she forced upon him, she is taken out to join the rest of the captives in front of the firing squad. But she escapes, barely, and flees back into the bush. There is a LOT of info about one particular scene here, not sure you need this at all, definitely don't need this much detail about it. 

She finds a small group a small group of...her family? villagers? dwarves? in hiding who nurse her back to health physically and emotionally. While among them, she falls in love with the young man who found her – Damien Rogers.

But the General is hunting her. When he discovers their location, and finds her with another man, his wrath is kindled and his obsession is inflamed. Allison discovers that his hunt for her may not kill her, but his mind games may break her and Damien apart is this supposed to be worse than death? If not, you just effectively lowered the stakes. If so, then we definitely need a better feel for why that matters so much to her. She must put herself on the line again, this is vague, what does this mean? Put herself on the line in what way? or he could kill her family, those who help her flee, and most significantly, the man she loves. 

BRANDED  is a NA Romantic Suspense Fantasy? Is this in our world? More specifics about the world here is necessary running at 95,000.

Some interesting situations today, the first is a solid query with a problematic genre issue. The second seems a more solid plot with a query that needs some tweaking. Both are very fixable. Hope my notes help! Good luck!

~~~~

Okay, that's it for today and these queries. Thank you so much for volunteering, oh mystery writers! :) I really hope this helped you. It takes guts to send in a query, to me or an agent. Go you! You have awesome guts! :)

So, what do you guys think? Agree or disagree with my assessments? Discuss! Also, happy Forging Fridays! May we all be tougher and stronger thanks to our days in the fire. 

When Life Seems Surreal

First, let me say that there were so many entries into my giveaway! You guys are the best. Thank you so much for sharing in my excitement.

Love the writing/blogging/reading community. It's the best. :)

And the winner of the awesome Macmillan books: CINDER, STRUCK, and SHADOW & BONE is *insert drumroll here*

_Sandra_!

Congratulations Sandra! Hope you love these books as much as I did! :)

I'm in the middle of drafting INSOMNIA #2, temporarily titled -- REVENGE OF THE INSOMNIACS -- yeah, we're still working that out...

Anyway, this week everything is feeling very surreal. I look at the books I'm offering in this giveaway and realize my book will be with theirs. I have people tweeting me that they love INSOMNIA and I'm getting ready for the YA Scavenger Hunt where I'll be hosting exclusive content from Kendare Blake on this blog...

It all makes me very...

So yeah, how are you guys this week?