Happy News Abounds! Plus, a Giveaway!

I know I'm interrupting most of you in North America from looking a little something like this:

But bear with me, because I finally get to share some exciting news... *drumroll please*

		January 28, 2014
		Children's: Young Adult		J.R. Johansson's third book in the Night Walkers Series, an untitled companion book told from the perspective of Jack as he attempts to end the war between the factions of the Night Walker Society without knowing who to trust, while hiding a secret of his own, to Brian Farrey at Flux, by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (NA).

HOORAY! A third Night Walkers Book! And Jack...I love Jack. You might not know him yet, but you will. You will love him, too, eventually. I will make you! Muahaha.

And in the meantime, I get to spend my days a little like this:

But you know what's even more crazy, amazingly, mind-blowingly awesome? That means that (including INSOMNIA) in roughly 2.5 years I have FIVE books coming out. INSOMNIA, PARANOIA, CUT ME FREE, UNTITLED and UNTITLED.

Admittedly, those last two have extremely similar names, but I assure you they are very different books.

Five books, people...five.

Feel free to respond as you see fit.

So, to celebrate this wondrous occasion, I'm giving away a signed copy of INSOMNIA and a signed ARC of PARANOIA!

Because, as you can see, I have some!

*pets the creep-alicious prettiness*

If you want to pet it in person also (and who could blame you, the cover ROCKS) enter in the Rafflecopter below and good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal & Giveaway for Lisa Maxwell's SWEET UNREST!

Today I'm thrilled to be a part of the cover reveal for an agency sister and fellow Flux author, Lisa Maxwell!

First, let's have some juicy info about the book, SWEET UNREST:

Book Blurb:

Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they've known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something and her rational side doesn't want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish.

Ooh...you guys know how much I like dream books. :)

And now a word from Lisa about her cover,

Lisa: I’m so excited to show everyone the cover. When my editor at Flux talked about his concept for it, I thought it was perfect for the story. Then I saw it. I love everything about it, the eerie darkness, the romantic swirls on the gates, and the plantation house is exactly right with its deep alley of oaks. Hope you all love it as much as I do!

And here’s the cover!

It's so creepy and awesome. Love the gates!

And now...the giveaway will be for this gorgeous gunmetal locket, Fleur de Lis charm necklace and one signed copy of the book when it's available!

Just enter on the rafflecopter below and have a great day! Thanks for stopping by and best of luck to Lisa and SWEET UNREST!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Find out more about Lisa and SWEET UNREST at these sites:

Lisa's Site
Goodreads
Amazon Preorder

Football and Hot Guys

***Note*** If you don't like football but enjoy hot guys, you should still keep reading this post. You can thank me later.***

Some of you may have noted from past posts that I happen to be a rabid fan of a particular NFL team...

Yes, I'm a Green Bay Packers fan through and through. We go see at least one game every year in Green Bay and we were actually at the NFC Wildcard game a couple of weeks ago where it was one of the top 10 coldest games in history. We're talking ten to fifteen below zero wind chill here people.

I'm still thawing out.

But it's worth being cold when you get to watch and root for guys that look like this:

Or this:

Or this...

I mean...come on...

But--ahem--where was I going with this?

Oh! Right! So, my Packers are sadly out of the playoffs this season, but my parents are Broncos fans and invited my husband and I to go with them to the AFC Conference Championship playoff game this weekend.

Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady

It should be epic.

Anyway, that's what I'm up to this weekend. What about you?

Interview with Debut Author: Randy Lindsay

The very cool Randy Lindsay has been a long-time friend of the blog and so today I'm going to celebrate the release of his debut novel with a short interview.

Hold tight to your seats folks. We have two posts two days in a row...watch out. :-)

Now, on to the interview!

J: So, Randy, what made you want to write about a United States on the brink of societal collapse?

R: Stories about the end of the world have always been my favorite reading choice so it's no surprise that I decided to do something along this line. In the case of The Gathering I happened to be sitting in church when the speaker mentioned the last days and Boom. My mind wandered around with the subject and finally landed on the idea that I should put together a story, from an LDS perspective, that dealt with what an average family might expect to encounter during this great and terrible event.

J: What was the most challenging part of the plotting process for you?

 

R: The every day stuff. I'm used to writing stories that are set in exotic settings and incorporate fantastic beings. The Gathering was the toughest bit of writing I've ever done. It took a lot of pacing in my office to figure out a way to move the story from the normal routine to a world on the brink of global war. Writing about aliens invading Earth is sooooo much easier.

 

J: Do you have any quirky writing habits you'd like to share?

R: I talk to my characters, but I think (I hope) most authors do that. In the writing community I find that I'm a bit of a minority. I am a Plotter. For those who are not familiar with the term, that means I plot my stories out before I start writing. Most of the writers I know are Pantsers--they sit down and write by the seat of their pants. Otherwise, my most noteable writing trait is that I have way too many ideas for stories. If I could write a novel a week, I think I could keep up with the number of new story ideas I want to pursue.

Thanks for popping in for an interview during this very busy time, Randy! Huge congratulations and I wish you and your shiny new book, the very best!

Find more info on Randy's book, The Gathering, here.

Look At The Creepy!

Things have been a little crazy lately. I have two books coming out in the next year (PARANOIA in June and CUT ME FREE next January) and it turns out that this keeps you busy. Also, the holiday season and I had some not great allergy issues going on...

Oh! And one of my sinuses went missing.

So, yeah, all in all it's been madness, but I hope to be posting more regularly starting now.

To start, I wanted to share the happiness that showed up at my house last week:

Yay! It's SO AWESOME!

And now, the back:

I only got the one copy, but I have more on the way. So, you know what that means...

More giveaways coming soon!

Happy Monday!

Massive Night Walkers Giveaway!

I finally caved and created an Author Facebook Page and in celebration, I'm giving away the following:

~ A signed copy of INSOMNIA

~ An EARLY signed ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of PARANOIA

~ An INSOMNIA bookmark

~ An INSOMNIA backpack & swag!

Yay!

To enter, just go to the Author Page, share the giveaway post, and comment to let me know you did!

Happy Holidays everyone!

School Library Journal Review of INSOMNIA!

Life is busy.

I finally got home from all my traveling and things are crazy. I've got line edits and proposals coming out my ears at this point so it's been a bit hard to find time to post. It will probably stay this way through the holidays, but after that I'll be around more.

I did want to pop in today to share a new fantastic review for INSOMNIA from School Library Journal!

Without further ado, here it is:

JOHANSSON, J. R. Insomnia. Bk. 1. 360p. (The Night Walkers Series). Flux. 2013. pap. $9.99. ISBN 9780738735931.

Grades 8 Up–Parker Chipp is dying. Dr. Brown confirmed Parker’s suspicions that lack of sleep would drive him mad before killing him, but Parker cannot confide in anyone, because who would believe him? Johansson’s adult personas are limited by their inability to accept the supernatural and understand the teen experience, both in the form of a ridiculous principal and a concerned yet oblivious mother. Before Mia moved to town, Parker was counting down the days he had left because he’s a Watcher: a dream-walker. He is tortured by the dreams of the last person to make eye contact with him, but Mia’s dreams offer unexpected respite from his condition; Parker can rest and dream his own dreams while inhabiting Mia’s. Unfortunately, his triumph quickly turns sour when she feels violated by his attention, especially when she receives sinister emails, seemingly from Parker. This thriller embraces every conflict imaginable with horrifying results, whether Parker is battling his own good and evil halves, his friends and reputation, or an unseen foe. Insomnia is a suspenseful mystery not entirely resolved at the end, leaving readers biting their nails while waiting for the sequel.–Jamie-Lee Schombs, Loyola School, New York City

Dude! This review is so very happy-making. This line:

"This thriller embraces every conflict imaginable with horrifying results..."

and any review that ends with:

"leaving readers biting their nails while waiting for the sequel."

is made of awesome. :)

Hope your Monday is as happy as mine!