Friday, February 6, 2015

The Big Love Letter Event 2015: Kristen Simmons


Welcome to day one of The Big Love Letter Event! For those of you who missed the introductory post a couple weeks ago, this event will run every Friday through March 13th and will consist of love letters written by some truly amazing authors. Danny from Bewitched Bookworms and I will each be hosting different letters every week (hop over there today for a little something special from Heather Demetrios!), so be sure and check out both blogs for a bigger and better celebration of all things swoon-worthy. We'll also be hosting a fantastic giveaway, so don't forget to check the bottom of the post for all the details!

I have the pleasure of kicking this event off today with Kristen Simmons, author of the Article 5 series and, more recently, The Glass Arrow which is set to release next week. I read the Article 5 series a while back and fell madly in love with it, and then last year was able to meet Kristen at a group signing in Cincinnati. She is, and I say this with absolutely no exaggeration, one of the sweetest and funniest people I've been lucky enough to cross paths with, and I feel privileged to call her friend.

If you haven't added The Glass Arrow to your must-have lists yet, I hope this letter has you remedying that immediately :-)

(Found in the barn behind The Garden)

Aya,

It’s night in the city, though it hardly looks or sounds it. The sky’s gray as muddy water, and the trash machine behind the barn is grinding something fierce. It’s one of two things that’s kept me awake since I came here.

The other is this lumpy bedroll. (That’s a joke, Aya.)

I can see you from the slatted window in the loft, curled up on the hard ground with your wolf as a pillow. You look like all the things I want to feel. Calm and steady. Still and unburdened. The daylight will change you – but this heavy air doesn’t drag you down. It makes you taller. It makes me taller, watching you.

There are things about me you don’t know. Things I can’t tell you. If you ever found them out, you’d probably beat on me for a good while for lying to you. At least, you’d try. (That’s not an invitation to try.)

There are things I want to tell you, though. More things than there are stars in the sky outside this dirty city. Things like, you’re not as good at throwing a ball as you’d like to think. And that I’m safe, and you and me, we aren’t so different.

There are other things, too. Crazy things I’m only writing now because I know you can’t read them. I know what you sing for. Your voice stays in my head, even in the daytime. You are stronger than iron. I like your ankles, and your wild black hair, and the way you say Kiran.

And if I could talk, Aya, I’d talk to you.

Don’t give up. I won’t give up either.
Kiran

*Jenny dies a little inside*

I love you, Kiran :-)

• • • • • • • • • • • 

THE GLASS ARROW
(releases February 10th from Tor Teen)


Once there was a time when men and women lived as equals, when girl babies were valued, and women could belong only to themselves. But that was ten generations ago. Now women are property, to be sold and owned and bred, while a strict census keeps their numbers manageable and under control. The best any girl can hope for is to end up as some man’s forever wife, but most are simply sold and resold until they’re all used up.

Only in the wilderness, away from the city, can true freedom be found. Aya has spent her whole life in the mountains, looking out for her family and hiding from the world, until the day the Trackers finally catch her.

Stolen from her home, and being groomed for auction, Aya is desperate to escape her fate and return to her family, but her only allies are a loyal wolf she’s raised from a pup and a strange mute boy who may be her best hope for freedom . . . if she can truly trust him.


• • • • • • • • • • • • 

KRISTEN SIMMONS



Kristen Simmons writes young adult fiction - the kind that's dark and scary but generally involves some kissing. She's the author of ARTICLE 5 (2012), BREAKING POINT (2013), and THREE (2014), as well as THE GLASS ARROW (2015), and METALTOWN (2016). Words cannot describe how happy all this makes her.


• • • • • • • • • • •

GIVEAWAY

Danny and I have (what we think) is a pretty fabulous giveaway that will run for the entirety of this event with 5 winners in total when all is said and done:

  • Winners 1-4: Each will get a book of your choice from one of the participating authors. (Open internationally as long as Book Depository ships to you! )
  • Winner 5  : Hardcover copy of LAILAH by Nikki Kelley plus some awesomely cute swag (international ). Prize is provided by author - thank you so much!

    Don't forget to check back both here and at Bewitched Bookworms every Friday in February for more letters and a whole lot more love from these fantastic authors:

    47 comments:

    1. Ohh!!!I'm Soo SO sold in this now! I definitely want to meet Kiran and want ti know his secrets!!

      I'm so excited for this event - it's been fantastic last year and it will be as awesome this year!!! woot!

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    2. Oh cool! Even I can enter :)

      And nice cover too!

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    3. Oh my, Jenny THANK YOU for introducing me to this absolutely wonderful sounding book! GAAAH I can barely contain myself- Kiran and Aya sound like such interesting characters and the I love the idea of a mute romance... it adds an edge to it and makes it stand out from the rest of the up and coming novels in the Dystopian genre! Fabulous post as usual, Jenny. <3 x

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    4. I haven't read The Glass Arrow yet, but this sweet letter has certainly convinced me to give it a go! I think I need to meet Kiran like now! ;)

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    5. Oh wow! I still haven't read The Glass Arrow but oh what an amazing letter! Makes me want to read the book and find out more about both characters!

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    6. Can I marry him? Please? I don't have a wolf but I do have black hair! ;)

      Gosh, this was gorgeous. I love the mood of it and this line: "You look like all the things I want to feel." All. The. Swoons.

      Thanks for sharing, Jenny! This has put a dopey smile on my face. ;)

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    7. Okay I haven't read this but that sweet letter makes me want to!

      Yay! Thanks for posting this Jenny! Have a fabulous weekend. :)

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    8. OMG!!! I loved this so much, Jenny! Kiran is just so swoony and I absolutely love the boy!
      Can't wait for more of these posts! :)

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    9. I'm very curious about The Glass Arrow, it sounds fantastic! Love the letter!

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    10. This is such a fun event and starting with Kristen is perfect!

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    11. Wolves make the bestest pillows! Kristen Simmons' letter is going to be a tough act to follow, but if anyone can do it, it'll be some of the fabulous authors in that line-up. Thanks for the kickass giveaway & event. Happy Friday!

      Carmel @ Rabid Reads

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    12. I love Kiran so much. I won an arc and the book was really good, Kiran was swoony and the wolf was so adorable.

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    13. I'm dying to read this now! Can't wait to read the other stops. ~Danielle D.

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    14. I've just now been aware of this one on another blog and now I know I want to read it. What an interesting premise. Oh I need to read it. :)

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    15. First I love Simmons novels and cannot wait to read Glass Arrow. Second, Love these letters and the note to Aya has me excited!

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    16. this looks and sounds fantastic! thanks for sharing :)

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    17. I LOVE the letter! He truly cares for her and knows all the little things about her that she herself doesn't necessarily realize! I'd love to know if they get back together, if they fall in love.

      Lovely letter!

      thank you so very much :)

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    18. I still have yet to read this but that letter! IT MADE ME SQUEEEEEE

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    19. Love letters from book characters is such an awesome idea- and here it's actually happening!:) It's such a sincere letter because it's unique to Kiran, especially because of the small quirky, adorable details like how he likes her ankles and the way she says his name! Why can't real guys write letters like this?;) I'm definitely going to give this book a go:)

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    20. I'm dying. Dying to read this book! I can't wait to meet these two. Honestly. <3

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    21. This is such an awesome idea. I love the letter!

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    22. THIS IS THE BEST THING EVERRRRRR! I totally forgot about this feature and I LOVEEE that you two are doing it again. It is the most wonderful idea. But I just finished THE GLASS ARROW and I love love love Kiran and this letter is AMAZINGGGG. I actually love that the book is a standalone, but this brought just the extra amount of swoon and Kiran's perspective that I needed. THANK YOU.

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    23. Awww, warm fuzzies!! That was so sweet. Looking forward to reading more from The Glass Arrow!

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    24. I love these posts so much. Even when I haven't read the book, it just make me want to.

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    25. Love how the boy is mute - it will make reading his POV scenes even more interesting as he'll be bursting with things to say.

      Lovely letter :)

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    26. Another book added to my tbr. This book sounds amazing! The letter is so sweet!

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    27. Ok, I'm adding this book to my watch list. The letter is lovely!

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    28. I hadn't heard too much about The Glass Arrow but when I saw it at ALA, I knew that I had to read it this year. I think I'll wait until closer to te end of the year though.

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    29. High, dear. You’ll loooove our exploded plethora of produce, girl, which’ll plant the seed for YOU to grow to great heights!! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN WISK:

      Greetings, earthling. Not sure if we're on the same page if you saw what I saw. Because I was an actual NDE on the outskirts of the Great Beyond at 15 yet wasn’t allowed in, lemme share with you what I actually know Seventh-Heaven’s Big-Bang’s gonna be like for us if ya believe/accept: meet this ultra-bombastic, ex-mortal-Upstairs for the most extra-blatant, catch-22-excitotoxxins, guhroovaliciousnessly delicious, pleasure-beyond-measure, UltraIdyllic, FirepowerAddiction in the Great Beyond for a BIG-ol, kick-ass, party-hardy, robust-N-risqué, eternal-real-McCoy-warp-drive you DO NOT wanna miss the sink-your-teeth-in-the-rrrock’nNsmmmokin’-hot-deal: PLEASE KEEP HANDS/FEET INSIDE THE WIDE UNTIL WE MADE A CIRCUMFERENCE OF the OUTSTANDING, NEVER-ENDING, THRILLIONTH-RED-MARKER-POSSIBILITIES!!! Puh-leeeze meet me Upstairs. Do that for us. Cya soon, girl…

      PS “It is impossible that anyone should NOT receive all that they have believed and hoped to obtain; it gives Me great pleasure when they hope great things from Me and I will always give them more than they expect”
      -Our Lord to Saint Gertrude

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    30. What a cool event! So many great authors! Thanks for the giveaway!

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    31. What a cool event! So many great authors! Thanks for the giveaway!

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    32. I already wanted to read this book, but I love the letter so much, I don't think I am going to be able to wait! Luckily, I have a copy of this beautiful book sitting on my shelf, so I can jump into it right now. I think I might!

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    33. Such a sweet letter! I can't wait to read the book too! :)

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    34. I've really enjoyed following along with this event and reading the different love letters:)

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    35. Wow!! I am so glad to know about The Big Love Letter event. That was an amazing event. I wish I could have attended it but was busy in my own events in New York. Can you please share some more details about this event?

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