The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton Release Week Teaser Tour & Giveaway

Upper middle grade fantasy THE SUMMER SACRIFICE will be available to buy from major online retailers as of June 21st 2014. Available in ebook and paperback form. (Audiobook to follow.)

Click here to read Chapter One of The Summer Sacrifice.Click here to listen to the first chapter of The Summer Sacrifice's audiobook. Click here to watch Holly visiting Dancing Ledge: the birthplace of The Summer Sacrifice.

Praise for The Summer Sacrifice

"The present world is often terrifying to a sensible adult. Hinton reflects its effect on youngsters in a powerfully imagined world that hums with poetry. In its pages, in the words of Yeats, a terrible beauty is born. Herein lies empathy, barreling adventure and an iconic heroine, Jamie Tuff."

Charles Bane Jr., award winning author of The Chapbook, and Love Poems; creator of The Meaning Of Poetry series for The Gutenberg Project, and nominee as Poet Laureate of Florida. 

Welcome to the Island

​Map designed by Joel Sams.

​
No Place Only the Island survived the Great Storm. It's quite small and just a quarter of it is inhabited. That quarter is called No Place.   The Establishment The Establishment rule No Place. Here is what they have to say: “We in the Establishment save lives through the boundaries we create. Our boundaries are your protectors. And trespassers will be punished.”   Pity Me Pity Me is No Place's largest settlement and its capital.   The Perfects The Pity Me Perfects are students selected by the Establishment to help them rule, both in school and out. Officially, they are selected for their objectivity and fairness. Really, they are selected from the ranks of the wealthy. The Perfects do not live up to their name. The Tombland Gang The Tombland Gang are Pity Me School's resident thugs. As the Gang’s ranks have swollen, the number of orphans plummeting to their deaths has also grown. The Gang do live up to their name. Funnella Fitzgerald “I am the Headmistress of Pity Me School and the Head of the Establishment. But you probably all know that. At least, you ought to. . . ” Phosphor-Jones, Head of History “Dreaming is of little use, and not to be cultivated.”   Miss Humfreeze, Head of English The English teacher's eyes look like they could tell a thousand tales, and her wide mouth often tells them. The manshu and juvenites love her for this, lapping up her words like they are delicious drops of non- fermented Honeydew. No Place's Chief Doctor “What a wonderful specimen you are! You’ll look perfect sweating out your life in my Laboratory!”    

About the Author:

Holly grew up in a small, sleepy village in Suffolk. The acting bug hit her at age nine, when she was asked to play Baboushka in the school nativity. That same year she played the lead role of a naughty black poodle in a pet parlour themed ballet, and she thought she had made it. Years passed, but the acting bug didn’t. She went to Goldsmiths, University of London to study Drama, after which she completed her actor training at Arts Ed.

Writing a book was never part of the plan. But life’s full of swerves and surprises and ideas dropping into people’s heads. Holly had an idea drop into hers, and that idea became The Summer Sacrifice, and The Summer Sacrifice became the first book of the Master Game Series.

For more information please visit: http://www.hollyhinton.com/

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GIVEAWAY!!!

Holly Hinton is giving away one signed copy of The Summer Sacrifice (Paperback), and a bookmark illustrated by David Revoy. Open Worldwide!

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{Huge Announcement | Guest Post | Giveaway} Temptation Series By: Karen Ann Hopkins

One of the many fun things I get to do is partner with other amazing book blogs for BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS and that makes me super excited!!

Along with  A Leisure Moment, Once Upon a Twilight, Owl Always Be Reading we are excited to be a part of the grand announcement that The Temptation series by Karen Ann Hopkins has been optioned for Television!! How cool is that? Keep your fingers crossed with us that this dream becomes a reality!!

Official announcement made in Publisher's Marketplace Newsletter: TV Karen Ann Hopkins's 

TEMPTATION series of Young Adult romances, a trilogy about the dramatic and forbidden love between two teens, one who's Amish and one who's not, and the sacrifices they must make in order to be together, to Pilgrim Studios, producing in conjunction with Danielle Von Zerneck, by Christina Hogrebe at Jane Rotrosen Agency. Along with this exciting announcement we have an extra special guest post from Karen and a great giveaway you will not want to miss! Enjoy!
A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amis
h community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah in her Temptation Series. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.
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Persistence Pays By: Karen Ann Hopkins Persistence. This one word is the main reason I got published. Most of the time a good product just isn’t enough and neither is experience for that matter. When I finally did get the magical phone call from Christina Hogrebe, my amazing agent from the Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency, telling me that she would be thrilled to represent me for my Amish themed YA novel, I didn’t have any experience or knowledge of the publishing industry. I was about as green as writer could get. Truth be told, I wasn’t a writer at all. I was a horse-back riding instructor and 4H coach. My only writing experience was the monthly articles that I’d submit to the local newspaper about the farm’s events and activities. My entire life had been dedicated to learning about horses, not writing. I’d attended just about every equestrian discipline and husbandry clinic available in a tri-state region, but I’d never taken a single creative writing class. But once upon a time, before the five children came along and the homeschooling began and the horse farm grew, I’d been an avid reader myself and that's what helped me to get started. At this point, you might be wondering how I ended up writing Temptation, a three hundred and eighty page novel that would eventually become the first of a published trilogy with Harlequin Teen. Persistence and strange circumstance are the answers. There’s that P word again, but I’ll get to that later. My strange circumstance was moving from the mountains of Tennessee to the middle of an Amish community in northern Kentucky in 2008. It was one of those reluctant moving experiences. My husband had found a better job offering in Kentucky and we made the move, leaving behind a successful horse-back riding stable, dozens of much loved students and close family to start over fresh in another state. My general advice to anyone who is considering a major life changing choice, think very carefully before you do it and take your parents thoughts into account before you make your final decision. Of course, I didn’t do those things and a few years later I was a divorced woman caring for five children and a slew of horses and other pets on my own in unfamiliar territory. My ex returned to Tennessee and immediately remarried another woman. I learned the hard way about not listening to my momma. Getting back to the beginning of my writing career and moving away from unpleasant thoughts, I found myself living in the middle of a community of people who lived their lives as if they were trapped in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. As crazy as it all was, it was still completely fascinating! And immersing myself into learning about my new community was a good way to keep me distracted from the troubles I was enduring on a personal level. I was in a unique position. Early on there was a group of about fifteen Amish teens visiting my farm on a weekly basis to watch my non-Amish (called English by the Amish) students take their lessons in the arena. Soon enough, the Amish youth were riding with the English ones and some of the older Amish girls even assisted me with my lesson program. Through those experiences, a seed of a thought grew in my mind. What if an English teen and an Amish one fell in love? I soon realized that it wasn’t farfetched at all as I witnessed the daily interactions between the two groups of young people. Friendships were forged and there was definitely some serious flirting going on. “How could this ever work out?” I asked myself. That question plagued me day and night and Temptation’s story took on a life of its own. I took almost two years of experiential research, observations and having discussions with the Amish before I felt confident enough to tell Rose and Noah’s story properly. I was lucky. I interacted with the Amish on a daily basis. The youth spent time at my farm, the boys hung out with my teenage sons and the girls babysat my small children. I drove Amish families to town to shop and I even took an Amish family along on a Gatlinburg vacation. I had a lot of opportunities to observe and ask questions, and that’s just what I did. I had to write Temptation for two reasons. First, I knew that it was a unique and interesting story, especially for young adults. Second, I was a single mom with five kids and a farm, and I needed the extra income. That’s where the persistence part came in. I knew I had a great idea, but I had to learn to write, which I did through trial and error and many rejections. I took professional advice when given and continued over the course of a year to revise and improve my work until it was finally at the level where an agent embraced it. That’s when the real work began. My agent helped me with some more edits before she began submitting to publishing houses. I was lucky, having both Harlequin Teen and another large publishing company make offers on Temptation. Ultimately, I chose Harlequin Teen and began a writing career in earnest. Through the process of working with editors like Adam Wilson and TS Ferguson, my writing continued to improve and what was once an unattainable dream became a career. If I’d given up early, when the rejections were coming in, Rose and Noah’s story would never have been told and so many fans who loved the Temptation series would never have had the opportunity to read it. Temptation’s fan base continues to grow and I’m reminded almost every day about how much my books have affected readers. I was even contacted by an Amish girl who was shunned by her family for leaving her community to marry her ‘outsider’ boyfriend. She tearfully told me how therapeutic my books were for her and how they'd helped her get through her own ordeal. Writing Lamb to the Slaughter was an even more enlightening experience. It’s an Amish murder mystery that I began writing over a year ago after my agent asked me if I could create such a thing on demand. I became intrigued with the idea, especially since I had personally witnessed some strange and almost creepy goings-on in the Amish community where I lived. I really wanted to delve deeper into the darker side of being Amish, especially in relation to my personal passion, the lives of the teenagers and some of the harsh realities they’re faced with. I pushed myself once again, and amazingly, through much persistence, I wrote another popular book in a whole new genre. The Temptation series and Lamb to the Slaughter has opened up a mysterious culture to mainstream young people and adults everywhere and I’m ever-so-glad that I was ever persistent enough to stick with a crazy dream. If you’re an inspiring writer, please remember that P word and hold tight to your dreams. If I could do it, then so can you! Thank you so much for stopping buy! I hope you’ll give my Amish fiction a try. If you do, please contact me on my website atwww.karenannhopkins.com, my FB pages or on Goodreads. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Happy reading :)

   

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Review & Giveaway: Populazzi by Elise Allen

Populazzi by Elise Allen

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

# of Pages: Hardcover, 400

Publisher: Harcourt

Cara has never been one of those girls: confident, self-possessed, and always ready with the perfect thing to say. A girl at the very top of the popularity tower. One of the Populazzi.

Now, junior year could change everything. Cara’s moving to a new school, and her best friend urges her to seize the moment—with the help of the Ladder. Its rungs are relationships, and if Cara transforms into the perfect girlfriend for guys ever-higher on the tower, she’ll reach the ultimate goal: Supreme Populazzi.

The Ladder seems like a lighthearted social experiment, a straight climb up, but it quickly becomes gnarled and twisted. And when everything goes wrong, only the most audacious act Cara can think of has a chance of setting things even a little bit right.

Looking back now, there are so many things that I would change if I could go back and do high school over again. I would not care what the “Populazzi” thought about me and be confident (much like I am now). Cara has that opportunity. She is starting over at a new school and, along with her best friend Claudia’s help, she has a new leash on life and a way to become the top of the ladder…. The Populazzi. The most popular. The group everyone else only wishes they could be a part of. To Cara, the project of climbing the social ladder seems like an easy thing, but not something that she isn’t going to invest much time and effort in. She lacks that confidence. Things quickly change.

I have to say that I thought that this was going to be another one of those cutsie books where the main character is striving to be popular and faces the challenges… blah, blah, blah. How wrong I was! I laughed, was heartbroken at times and fell completely in love with the characters in this novel. Cara and Claudia remind me a lot of my best friend and I (one is the more reserved of the two…. Not me!!) but yet they balance each other out perfectly. Simply stated, I loved Archer. He is my kind of guy and was very well written throughout the novel. While the plot was a typical plot for this story line, it was completely enjoyable and I know that my students will love it as much as I did. Oh… and the tension at the end- DANG!! J Elise Alan is definitely an author to watch out for!

Visit Elise HERE to find out more about her books, writing and lots of other cool stuff!

Now it is time for you to WIN a copy! If you are a US resident, fill out the form below to enter. The contest will end on September 2, 2011!

Happy 10th Anniversary to Patricia McCormick's Cut & Giveaway

One of the very first books that I read when diving into the "tough topics" pile was Cut by Patricia McCormick. It hit me like a ton of bricks because I had no clue about the concept of cutting at that point. This was not too long ago (10 years to be exact), but at that point it wasn't something that ANYONE talked about. I loved and appreciated that McCormick brought to light this topic in a way that was both meaningful and educational.

If you haven't read this amazing novel yet, here is a little about it:

A tingle arced across my scalp. The floor tipped up at me and my body spiraled away. Then I was on the ceiling looking down, waiting to see what would happen next.

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside. Now she’s at Sea Pines, a “residential treatment facility” filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with anyone. She won’t even speak. But Callie can only stay silent for so long…

Patricia McCormick is an amazing author who spent three years researching and writing her first novel, Cut. She is also the author of the National Book Award finalist Sold, as well as Purple Heart and My Brother’s Keeper. She lives in Manhattan. Learn more about her at HERE.

You can also visit This Is Teen HERE for more information and meet fellow lovers of this amazing novel.

It's GIVEAWAY time!!! The 10^th Anniversary edition of Cut includes a brand-new afterword from author Patricia McCormick, an author Q&A, and added resources. I am so excited to be able to put this amazing novel in your hands and on your shelves. Fill out the form below before midnight June 20th for a chance to win this. Two lucky winners will be notified via email on June 21st! Good luck everyone!!

Summer Reads Giveaway

A few weeks ago I reviewed Jessi Kirby's debut novel Moonglass and gave away a copy of the book. Well, now I am pleased to announce another giveaway featuring MOONGLASS & WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE SUMMER by Jenny Han!!

One lucky winner will receive a Beach Bound prize pack including a tote back and copies of Moonglass and We'll Always Have Summer!!

About Moonglass:

When Anna was little, she and her mother used to search for sea glass, but since they looked at night, they called it moonglass.

Now, ten years after her mother's mysterious death, her father is working as head lifeguard on the same beach where her mother grew up and her parents first met and fell in love. Reluctant to get close to anyone (including her father) and not pleased about having to start at a new school, Anna begins to spend more time alone, running the length of the beach and wondering about who her mother really was. After meeting a lifeguard named Tyler, she slowly lets her guard down and together they start exploring the abandoned houses that dot the beach.

But when learning more about her mother's past leads to a painful discovery, Anna must reconcile her desire for solitude with ultimately accepting the love of her family and friends. Moonglass is a dazzling debut from an undeniable talent.

"I couldn't put this book down. Kirby's voice is fresh and wise, all at once. An incredible first novel." -- Sarah Dessen, New York Times bestselling author of Lock and Key

Find out more about the book HERE and read my review HERE.

About We'll Always Have Summer:

Jenny Han's bestselling trilogy, which includes The Summer I Turned Pretty and It's Not Summer Without You, concludes with an impossible choice in We'll Always Have Summer.

Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she's almost positive he is her soul mate. Almost. Conrad has not gotten over the mistake he made when he let Belly go even as Jeremiah has always known that Belly is the girl for him. So when Belly and Jeremiah decide to make things forever, Conrad realizes that it's now or never--tell Belly he loves her, or lose her for good. Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face a truth she has possibly always known: she will have to break one of their hearts.

Find out more HERE.

Conrad or Jeremiah? Take the quiz here....

Check out the trailer for We'll Always Have Summer too!



Fill out the form below for your chance to win the Beach Bound prize pack before June 13th! Good luck everyone!

Amazing Giveaway...

Check this out...



Find out how to enter here and go do it!!!

And the winner is...

Thanks to all who entered my Clockwork Angel giveaway. I had a great number of entries for this one and using random.org our winner is the lovely

Susan is the author of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit which is her debut YA novel and you can visit her great site Ink Spells here!!

Susan... check your email!! Keep your eyes and ears ready for some great things to come ladies and gents! Have a great week!

It's Giveaway Time!!

Halloween is quickly approaching and I see no better time to giveaway a copy of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare! In case you have been living under a rock, here is the amazing trailer for Cassandra Clare's newest creation.



Makes you want it even more, huh? Well fill out the form below before October 31, 2010 and you just may win it! The winner will be notified on Monday November 1 and will have 24 hours to get back to me. Good luck everyone!

Skip a Starbucks and Bring a little girl home!!

I am a HUGE supporter of adoption so this, to me, is an amazing thing that we bloggers can have a major impact with. I read on Bree Despain's site about her friend CJ Redwine and her family's desire to adopt a little girl named Johanna Faith. They have been trying to bring her home for the past 5 years and are now running into more troubles... $8,000 worth of them! Read CJ's blog HERE to read more about their journey through adoption.

So how can you help? Check it out...

C.J. is hosting SKIP A STARBUCKS DAY in which a bunch of us bloggers and authors are asking our readers to skip they're daily (or weekly) indulgence (such as a trip to Starbucks or nightly Diet Cokes in my case) and donate the money you would have spent to helping the Redwine's bring their little girl home.

And in return, you get entered into contests to win many fabulous donated prizes!

C.J. is hosting the GRAND PRIZE giveaway!! (Holy junk... amazing stuff there too) Enter her contest by making a donation, and then you can go around to all the other bloggers who are also hosting giveaways (including me) and enter.

Bree Despain is also giving away some amazing things... check them out HERE.

ANDDDDDDDDDDDDD... since I believe in this so wholeheartedly I am adding my own prize pack to it all. So that makes at least 3 contests you could win!! Here is what I have up for grabs...




Book cover from OwlSay on etsy (check out her stuff HERE)
Prophecy of the Sisters/Guardian of the Gate bookmark
Shadowed Summer bookmark
Tell Me A Secret bookmark, button, and magnet
City of Bones postcard
Carrie Ryan swag (bookmark and sticker)
Twenty Boy Summer bookmark
Coffeehouse Angel postcard
Claire de Lune signed bookplate
White Cat patch (Wallingford)


And here's how to enter:

Visit C.J.'s blog and donate money to help bring baby Johanna home.

For every $5 you donate, you are eligible for 1 entry in my contest.***

You can earn 1 additional entry by promoting Skip A Starbucks Day fundraiser. (Only 1 extra entry total though. NOT 1 per time you promote.)

Come back here and tell me how many entries you qualify for. (Example: If you donate $10 to the cause and then promote the fundraiser you get 3 entries.)

You can either leave your entry number in the comments here on this blog, or if you're more comfortable (since this involves money) you can EMAIL your number of entries to me at: randomchalktalk@gmail.com.

Please title your email: Skip a Starbuck's Day

The contest runs until 12:00 EST on Wednesday, August 25th.
I will randomly draw a winner and announce it on August 28th


***Entries will be verified with C.J. Redwine's donation receipts, so please be honest!

Amazing Giveaway!

I love seeing what Fire and Ice have for us and they are definitely not disappointing with this giveaway! Check out this beautiful ring insipired by Rebecca Maizel's Infinite Days...

Check out Fire and Ice's entry information here for your chance to win!

Happy Realease Day Anastasia Hopcus... GIVEAWAY!!

Today is a special day for Anastasia... her debut novel Shadow Hills is being released today!!


I am so excited for her and I can't wait for all of you to read this amazing book. I started it last night and stayed up WAY too late reading (and will be doing some more reading momentarily!!). In honor of her release, I have a super quick giveaway!

This giveaway will end at midnight tonight (EST) and your super swag will be mailed tomorrow! Here's what I have for you...
An autographed bookmark from Anastasia herself! To enter, fill out this form. I will use random.org to choose my winner! Good luck everyone!!

Trailer Tuesday (16) & Giveaway

* I know it isn't Tuesday... but I couldn't resist!!

Here is a very special edition of Trailer Tuesday to celebrate the trailer for Bree Despain's The Dark Divine's release!!

Here is just some of what she is giving away...

It's Bree's Book-Bag Blowout!

I have a book-bag.

I have MANY books. Lots are signed. Some are highly coveted advanced copies. All are fabulous. One may even be a signed advanced copy of THE LOST SAINT (the sequel to THE DARK DIVINE.)

Head over to Bree's site here to check out everything she has going on! The contest ends on July 14th so hurry over!

Without further ado...