The Morganville Vampire Series: Tour Info + Giveaway

12 DAYS OF MORGANVILLE MADNESS!

Have you read the Moranville Vampire series yet? If not, or if you're like me and have some catching up to do (I LOVE YOU SHANE, I'M COMING BACK TO YOU I SWEAR!), here's your chance! A 12-day tour kicked off last Friday and will be running through May 1st with each stop featuring one of the books in the series in order, starting with Glass Houses and ending with the newest installment, Black Dawn (releases May 1st, the last day of the tour).

Below is the list of all the participating blogs, so be sure to check out all their fun reviews and giveaways!

April 20th: GLASS HOUSES (Book 1)
 http://www.pageturnersblog.com/

April 21: THE DEAD GIRLS DANCE (Book 2)
http://melaniemccullough.blogspot.com

April 22: MIDNIGHT ALLEY (Book 3)
http://book-splot.blogspot.com/

April 23: FEAST OF FOOLS (Book 4)
http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/

April 24: LORD OF MISRULE (Book 5)
http://bookmonsterreviews.blogspot.com/

April 25: CARPE CORPUS (Book 6)
http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com

April 26: FADE OUT (Book 7)
http://MissVainsParanormalFantasy.com

April 27: KISS OF DEATH (Book 8)
http://www.thestorysiren.com/

April 28: GHOST TOWN (Book 9)
http://www.awesomesaucebookclub.com/

April 29: BITE CLUB (Book 10)
http://www.totalbookaholic.com/

April 30: LAST BREATH (Book 11)
http://www.literaladdiction.com/

MAY 1: BLACK DAWN (Book 12, NEW!)
http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/

GIVEAWAY

Though this blog is not a part of the tour, the people at Penguin have still generously provided me with a copy of book 1, Glass Houses, as well as a Black Dawn bookmark to give away on the blog today! I'm going to go ahead and add to that, providing a hardcover copy of Black Dawn to the prize package as well. To enter, please just leave a comment on this post with a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run through midnight EST on Friday, April 27th after which time a winner will be chosen and announced on the blog. Good luck everyone!

Insurgent: Cover Redesign

Hey Everyone!

I'm sure most of you have either seen or participated in the rather epic marketing campaign unleashed by HarperTeen to promote Insurgent, the sequel to last year's fantastic dystopian novel Divergent. I recently stumbled across a fun contest and giveaway on All Things Urban Fantasy asking entrants to recreate the cover for Insurgent as part of this campaign and thought I would give it a go! Below are my three submissions, and if any of you are interested in participating, the contest runs through April 28th and all the details can be found HERE.

COVER #1

(click to enlarge)

You can't really tell at this size, but the trees have a brushed metal effect I added to try and give the cover a bit more of a futuristic feel.

(I also need to give a shout out to my mom who is a phenomenal illustrator and helped me create the trees)

COVER #2

(click to enlarge)

COVER #3

(click to enlarge)

Dark Days Tour: Dayton Event Wrap Up

Happy Friday Everyone!

This past Wednesday I had the pleasure of being the live blogger for the Dayton, Ohio stop of HarperTeen's Dark Days tour featuring Kimberly Derting, Dan Wells, and Jill Hathaway, and it was an absolute blast! I took a ridiculous number of pictures at the event, but before I post those, I thought I would share with you all a bit of my experience because I tend to be rather special in social situations, and Wednesday was really no exception.

To help cover the event, I thought I would try and tweet fun tidbits as they were taking place and brought my Kindle Fire along to aid me in my tweeting endeavor. Confession: I'm extraordinarily technologically challenged. I know my computer design programs like the back of my hand, but anything else is completely lost on me, so I was a little nervous about getting the bookstore's WiFi working with my Kindle and figuring the whole mobile Twitter thing out. While I'm sitting in the audience waiting for the event to start and trying desperately to make my Kindle magically take me to Twitter, Kimberly Derting looks out at everyone gathered and says "Is Jenny here?"

Cue mild panic attack and deer-in-headlights look.

At her question, I'm pretty sure my hand shot straight up in the air with scary enthusiasm (a la Hermione Granger in the first Harry Potter movie when she knows every single answer to Snape's questions). Like I was the teacher's pet being called on in class. My hand remained in the air as though I had no control over it until the silence became a tad prolonged and Kimberly ever-so-politely said hello and asked what I was doing (probably because one of my hands was swaying in the air while the other was holding a black leather-covered device 3 inches from my face trying to see my teeny tiny tweets).

Me: Um. Trying to tweet?

Brilliant conversationalist, thy name is Jenny.

When it was clear that those four words were all that were going escape my lips, she tried to draw a few more out by asking me about the "trying" part of my stunningly articulate statement, then sweetly sympathized with me about my general failure at all things technological when I explained the situation to her.

I am quite possibly the most amazing social butterfly who has ever lived.

After my unforgettable introduction, Kimberly, Jill, and an injured Dan took turns discussing their books and spent a great deal of time answering questions. A huge thank you to all three of them for being so gracious, and to HarperTeen for allowing me to be a part of their Dark Days tour! Below are the pictures I snapped at the event:

 Books & Co in Dayton

Me & Kimberly

Kimberly had very special Last Echo nail polish to give away.

My nails are now a lovely shade of lavender.

Dan was incredibly personable and very funny, but how awkward am I in this picture? I got all flustered because I didn't know what to do with my hands. I was all "would touching him be weird? Probably. Try not to be weird Jenny." I put my arm around both Kimberly and Jill, but I didn't want to make Dan uncomfortable so I just sort of edged close to him and stood there like a champ. Well done me.

I asked Dan to please sign my mother-in-law's book with a flourish for the camera. That wonky line at the bottom there is his flourish. It's really more of a squiggle than a flourish, but he was a good sport about my photo direction ;-)

Me and Jill. I had to check with my mother-in-law after she took this picture to make sure I wasn't inappropriately close to Jill. When taking pictures with authors, I have a tendency to all but crawl in their laps, something I don't realize I've done until after I see the picture and notice my stalker-like nearness.

Signing books.

So there you have my Dark Days tour experience! If you haven't had a chance yet, don't forget to enter to win copies of The Last Echo, Partials, and Slide HERE, and stay up to date on all things Dark Days by visiting their Facebook page!

Also, if you're not aware of some the fabulous things HarperTeen has going on in April, I thought I'd share some info with all of you:

1. Epic Reads Grab bags - Throughout the Month of April enter to win 5 mystery titles. Winners are picked and announced every Friday!

2. Browse inside titles made of win:

Thumped

The Selection

Social Suicide

Sweet Evil

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Immortal Rules Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

THE IMMORTAL RULES

(Blood of Eden #1)

Julie Kagawa
Paranormal Young Adult
485 pages
Harlequin Teen
Available April 24th
Received from Media Masters Publicity for review

THE STORY

You will kill. The only question is when.

In the dark days since the insidious Red Lung virus decimated the human population, vampires have risen to rule the crumbling cities and suburbs. Uncontested Princes hold sway over diminished ranks of humans: their "pets." In exchange for their labor, loyalty and of course, their blood, these pets are registered, given food and shelter, permitted to survive.

Unregistered humans cling to the fringe, scavenging for survival. Allison Sekemoto and her fellow Unregistereds are hunted, not only by vampires, but by rabids, the unholy result of Red Lung-infected vampires feeding on unwary humans. One night, Allie is attacked by a pack of rabids, saved by an unlikely hero...and turned vampire.

Uncomfortable in her undead skin, Allie falls in with a ragtag crew of humans seeking a cure, or cures: for Rabidism and for Vampirism. She's passing for human...for now. But the hunger is growing and will not be denied. Not for friendship—not even for love.

MY THOUGHTS

Those of us who read huge quantities of paranormal young adult literature might read the synopsis for The Immortal Rules and, despite a preexisting love for Julie Kagawa and the Iron Fey series, have a somewhat lukewarm reaction to the idea of yet another vampire tale. Any hesitancy should be immediately discarded however, as Ms. Kagawa thrusts the stunning darkness of her vampires into the paranormal young adult fiction mix, allowing them to carve a violent and gritty swath through their contemporaries and leaving our hearts scattered at our feet in jagged ribbons after we turn the last page. While we had some humor in the Iron Fey books in the form of Puck and Grimalkin, this first installment in the Blood Eden series provides us no such comfort, pairing us with an amazingly resilient heroine who faces a world that's slowly devolving into darker and darker shades of gray until barely any light remains, yanking us along beside her as she adamantly refuses to let us fall behind.

Allie is positively extraordinary; a young woman who is undeniably cold and hard as a result of a life where weakness proves unerringly to be a precursor to death, and where only those of strong will and mind have any chance of surviving. Despite her no-nonsense attitude and her at times seemingly unsympathetic responses to those around her, she never feels closed off or unreachable, instead we see a woman with drive and determination who accepts the constant upheaval of her life with grace and a renewed dedication to survive with as much of her humanity intact as possible. Vampires in this world are synonymous with monsters, and it’s both painful and awe-inspiring to watch as Allie plays with the words that make up the definition of monster–moving them around and molding them to fit her new self as she journeys with her band of humans to end up on the last page with a drastically different definition from where she started.

Though the romance between Zeke and Allie takes a back seat to the epic search for Eden, it’s so beautifully done that a review cannot possibly be complete with out mentioning it. Gloriously absent are feelings of love wedged into geometric shapes, the triangles and squares replaced with a relationship that feels unbelievably intimate despite the subtle nature of it. Neither character is forced to close the distance between them at a rapid pace to keep the plot moving, instead the physical and emotional space that exists keeps us glued to the pages more than sizzling instant attraction ever could as we revel in the infinite possibilities lingering in that slowly closing gap. Where some relationships feel loud and the love seems to scream from the black and white ink as though every letter possesses a tiny mouth that opens up to overwhelm us with a cacophony of romantic sounds, Ms. Kagawa takes a different approach, replacing the noise with quiet murmurings that haunt us with promises whispered across highly sensitive skin.

Despite the fact that Allie is a vampire herself, vampires actually play a fairly small role in this first installment, Allie’s struggle focused more on her clinging to her humanity with every ounce of strength she has than on her actual vampiric cravings and needs, thus making it a story that will most certainly appeal to even those who pronounce themselves tired of bloodsucking stories. The lack of vampire presence in no way means Ms. Kagawa’s mythology feels incomplete or unbelievable, she in fact grants us just enough knowledge to make us feel as though we understand the parameters of the world while keeping everything else behind a dark curtain we can’t wait to pull back in by inch as the story progresses. A truly gripping and mesmerizing start to the series, The Immortal Rules is not to be missed.

Rating: 5/5

MEET ALLISON

Today as part of the promotional tour for The Immortal Rules, I have some very exciting behind-the-scenes information for you on Allison, the brilliant heroine of this new series. The finished cover for The Immortal Rules features a vampire version of our protagonist, and I have the pleasure of sharing with you an exclusive, never-before-seen image of Allison before her vampire makeover! What do we think of human Allison?

Additionally, Allison has a list of rules to live by (or die by as it were) to share with all of us today:

ALLISON'S RULES

Look out for yourself and your immediate family -- no one else

If you are eaten by vampires because you were dumb enough to venture out at night and get caught, it’s your own fault.

Nothing good comes from a bloodsucker.

If you steal my stuff, I will break your nose.

Knowledge is power.

Like my favorite book of all time, I wish, in my most secret moments, that I could find a hidden door that would take us all out of this place.

My books are my most prized possession.

When you're starving, you can't be picky. That means eating anything--bugs, rats, moldy bread--to stay alive.

This tour promises to be an amazing one, so you don't want to miss any of the tour stops and giveaway opportunities. Please visit Mundie Moms for the next stop, and you can find the full list of participating blogs HERE!

In addition to the blog tour, Julie will also be doing signings at three bookstores near her hometown. Below is the information on those events, I hope some of you can make it!

Tuesday, April 24th at 4pm - Barnes & Noble The Summit in Louisville, KY
Saturday, April 28th at 2pm - The Bookstore in Radcliff, KY
Monday, May 7th at 5:30pm - Lincoln's Loft in Hodgenville, KY

Buy The Immortal Rules here:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fantastic people at Media Masters Publicity and Harlequin Teen I have one signed hardcover copy of The Immortal Rules to give away on the blog today! To enter, please fill out the form below. Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only and will run through midnight EST on Friday, April 27th after which time a winner will be chosen and announced on the blog.

In addition to individual giveaways at each tour stop, there is also a grand prize giveaway for the tour itself of a KINDLE TOUCH. Be sure and visit Paranormal Romance for entry details!

Dark Days Tour: Interviews with Kimberly Derting and Jill Hathaway + Giveaway

Today I'm beyond excited to have authors Kimberly Derting and Jill Hathaway stopping by the blog as part of HarperTeen's Dark Days tour to answer a few questions for me! The Dark Days tour has been going on for several months and we're now in leg 4 of this epic event, but there are still some very exciting signings and things coming up so be sure to stay connected to all things Dark Days on the Pitch Dark Facebook page which includes exclusive content features every Wednesday!

For those in the Dayton, Ohio area, Kimberly, Jill, and Dan Wells will be at Books & Co tonight (April 18th) at 7pm so I hope some of you can make it! I can't wait to attend, though usually when I come face to face with authors I'm rendered mute and stand in front of them with a ridiculous smile on my face as my brain tries desperately to send my mouth intelligent, coherent thoughts to help start a conversation. Often to no avail. So if you do attend, I'll be the silent one staring blankly at Jill, Kimberly, and Dan and most likely slightly frightening them. If they look panicked, you'll know it's because I have my author game face on.

In addition to the Dayton event, all three authors will also be at the below locations. A blogger has been assigned to each event to report live and keep you up to date on all the happenings, so be sure to check out their sites as well!

April 18th at 7pm - Books & Co in Dayton, OH (Supernatural Snark)
April 19th at 7pm - Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL (Live to Read)
April 20th at 7pm - Barnes & Noble in Burlington, MA (Books Complete Me)

INTERVIEW WITH KIMBERLY DERTING

If we could ask Jay about his friendship–and now relationship–with Violet, when would he say his feelings for her began to shift into romantic territory? Is there a specific event that made him see her in a new light, or any characteristics of hers that became appealing in a whole new way?

They kissed once when they were in the fifth grade, and I think for Jay, that was the moment he knew. He just had to wait for Violet to figure it out too!

Jay and Violet, and now Rafe, have all become characters about whom readers have very strong feelings. Has reader reaction to any of The Body Finder series characters surprised you at all?

Not surprised, really, but maybe a little amused by some comments I’ve read about Rafe (and a love triangle that could possibly...maybe (I’ll never tell!)...be brewing).  Let’s just say that there are a lot of Team Jay fans out there!  I can’t even begin to imagine what they might say if I ever killed him off...which is never entirely out of the question, you know? I’m just saying… ;)

*Jenny dies here. Jay NOOOOOOOOOO*

Are any of Violet’s “cases” based on real events? Is there any piece of trivia or tidbit of information you’ve discovered while researching that’s been particularly memorable?

The Girlfriend Collector in The Last Echo is very loosely based on Ted Bundy, but only in the sense that he’s charming and can appeal to the girls he wants to abduct. Mostly, though, I prefer to research serial killers in a broader sense. I like to find out what they have in common, what kinds of childhoods they had, what factors may have made them different from everyone else...to really get inside their heads, so to speak.

If Violet could wake up tomorrow without her gift with the dead, what do you think her reaction would be to its absence?

As much as Violet claims to want to be “normal,” I think her ability is part of her identity now.  She would probably be a little lost without it. Without realizing it, it’s become a very important part of who she is, and it makes her special. Secretly, I think she likes the fact that she can do something that others can’t...especially now that she’s found a way for it to be useful!

Name one of your favorite things about being on a book tour.

Meeting readers, hands down! It’s by far my favorite thing about tour!  Of course, that little cardboard sign that said “Derting” on it (which was held by the airport driver guy) was pretty cool too! :)  I may or may not have asked him if I could keep the sign. Okay, I totally did!

INTERVIEW WITH JILL HATHAWAY

 

If you could slide into the mind of anyone else right this minute, whose mind might you most like to briefly visit? 

Haha, I always say Jared Leto’s girlfriend when I’m asked this. Better not go into details. Also, sorry, Shane! I love you!

Let’s say you and Vee are walking down a dark street at night and suddenly her ability kicks in and she sees that someone with less-than innocent intentions is following you, waiting for the right moment to take advantage of the element of surprise. What’s the first thing you both do? 

Well, if Vee had slid into the bad guy, her body would be left helpless, so I’d probably have to drag her into a restaurant or something until she came to. And then she’d wake up and tell me what was going on, and we’d make a run for it. Or maybe turn around and use our Buffy-like skills on him. It’s whatever!

If you could transport yourself into one particular genre of fiction (mystery, romance, steampunk, etc.), which would you choose and why? 

I definitely wouldn’t want to be in my own mystery. I think I’d like to transport into the world of Candace Bushnell’s THE CARRIE DIARIES, especially after Carrie goes to New York and meets her besties. It would be so fun to wear all the newest fashions and hit up the trendiest parties.

Is there a single point in the overall process were the book begins to feel real to you? Either handing over the first draft, seeing the cover art, or finally seeing on the shelf surrounded by other titles? 

Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real and I have a box of hardcovers sitting upstairs in my bedroom. I think it might hit me when I see the book on the shelf at the bookstore.

Name one of your favorite things about being on a book tour. 

I’m super excited to meet Kimberly Derting and Dan Wells! Plus, I’ve never been to Boston. It will be so much fun! If anyone lives in the Chicago, Dayton, or Boston areas, I hope you come out to chat!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Kimberly and Jill! For more information on the Dark Days tour be sure and check out the Pitch Dark Facebook Page.

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the awesome people at HarperTeen I have copies of The Last Echo, Slide, and Partials to give away on the blog today! To enter please just leave a comment with a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run through midnight EST on Friday, April 27th after which time one winner will be chosen and announced on the blog. Good luck everyone and I hope some of you can make it to the signings!

Review: Thumped

THUMPED (Bumped #2)

Megan McCafferty
Young adult/dystopian
304 pages
Balzer + Bray
Available April 24th
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day!

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous:

Tell the truth.

MY THOUGHTS

Thumped returns us to a world that dropped our jaws when we initially encountered it in Bumped, and though we’re more prepared for it with this sequel, we find we’re no more comfortable with this future the second time around. Perhaps part of the reason Ms. McCafferty’s distorted reality is so unnerving is not because we can’t possibly imagine a time in which we’d view the sexual exploitation of our young men and women as necessary no matter how desperate our future selves might be, but rather because in many ways Harmony and Melody’s world is simply an exaggerated version of what has been historically accepted as the norm. In a not-so incredibly distant past women were forced into sexual relationships at shockingly young ages, passed from father to husband in business transactions meant to consolidate wealth and power through the begetting of heirs; their bodies used for procreation alone while the same cool indifference was given to their emotional state as this society gives to Melody and Harmony’s.

Recognizing that Ms. McCafferty’s sex-centric world with its Reproductive Professionals and its bumping contracts has a direct link to our reality if we follow the line of thinking from this future all the way back to our pasts is part of what makes both Bumped and Thumped so uncomfortably fascinating. However much we’d like to deny the potential for this society to exist, the connecting thread our minds can't help but draw between future and past simply refuses to be disregarded as pure fiction. Though Bumped and Thumped may be too over the top and too outrageous for some, it can be said that anyone reading will certainly not walk away from these books without an opinion on them–either positive or negative–thus making them worth reading for no other reason than they inspire a great deal of thought, introspection, and conversation.

While Melody, Harmony and Jondoe were extreme examples of their disparate upbringings in Bumped–completely foreign to us in the beginning with their different approaches to sex and intimacy–Thumped finds them all remarkably more tangible, each of them having moved slowly but inexorably to the center of the spectrum where independent thought thrives. Instead of simply living their lives in accordance with the tenets of their respective factions, they draw us deeper into their lives by questioning what they’ve been told is “right” and refusing to be a carbon copy of what their society considers ideal. While we don’t necessarily feel a visceral attachment to them, we can’t help but respect the changes we see in them from book one and throw our support behind them as they fight what seems like a losing battle.

Those who had trouble settling into Bumped due to the strange terminology and teenage slang so prevalent throughout will welcome the toned-down nature of Thumped, the use of sex-related witticisms and general sexual propaganda few and far between as the focus shifts to the characters themselves rather than the world. The one complaint to be had with this sequel is the seeming ease with which the main conflict gets resolved and the open-ended nature of the conclusion. We can appreciate the connection between the final pages of Thumped and the beginning pages of Bumped, the ending of Thumped presenting nothing but possibilities for each of the characters–a stark contrast to the rigid structure imprisoning them hundreds of pages prior–but at the same time we can’t help but want to know a bit more about the fallout resulting from actions taken in the last chapters as well as a few specifics as to what’s in store for their futures given no third book is on its way.

Rating: 3.5/5