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Lucky Leprechuan Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the
3rd Annual Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop

March 15th to 22nd

Co-Hosted By Books Complete Me & I am a Reader, Not a Writer

I'm giving away 3 awesome prizes! Three of my amazingly talented critique partners have books coming out very soon. So to celebrate their success, I'm offering you a chance to win their books, plus an extra. Read below for details. All prizes are open internationally. 

The prizes are:

• 1 book by Kristi Cook - HAVEN (book 1), MIRAGE (book 2) or a pre-order of ETERNAL (the final book in the series)
• 1 pre-order of THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED by Page Morgan
• 1 pre-order of WATERFELL by Amalie Howard OR a YA book of your choice. 
•  

Read below to find out more about the books and be sure to tell me which books you're entering for on the Rafflecopter form. 


Also, check below for the full list of blogs participating. Thanks so much for stopping by!  

***Books by Kristi Cook*** 

About HAVEN: Violet McKenna thought she was crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad’s murder—but when her premonition came true, her life fell apart. Then she found a new school: Winterhaven. There, Violet fits right in. All the students have special “gifts” like her own, and she quickly finds a close group of friends. But Violet’s attraction to an alluring boy becomes problematic when intense visions of his death start to haunt her. In her premonitions, the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself—and the unbelievable becomes reality. To Violet’s horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a crictical—and deadly—way.

About: MIRAGE: Seventeen-year-old Violet McKenna is back for her senior year at Winterhaven, and thrilled to be with Aidan after a long summer apart. But when a violent and disturbing vision begins to haunt her, Violet suddenly feels unsure of everything: who to trust, if she is in danger, and—worst of all—whether she and Aidan are really meant to be together.

About ETERNAL: In the final book of the Winterhaven trilogy, Violet McKenna and her friends find themselves right in the middle of a vampire war. The stakes have been raised, the danger unavoidable now. As the Warriors’ senior year draws to a close, not everyone makes it out alive. Who will be left standing at the end of it all? Will Aidan be a part of Violet’s future, or is he just a specter of the past?

 ***THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED by Page Morgan***

About THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE  CURSED: Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and Lauren Kate's FALLEN novels will devour The Beautiful and the Cursed, a wholly original interpretation of gargoyle lore. 

It was bizarre and inexplicable, but after it happened no one spoke of it and Ingrid Waverly was forced to leave her life in London behind. She had to trade a world full of fancy dresses and society events for Paris with her mother and younger sister, Gabby.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house her twin brother Grayson found for them isn't a house at all. It's an abbey. A creepy, old abbey with a roof lined in stone gargoyles that one could almost mistake for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson is missing.

Yet no one seems to be concerned about Grayson's whereabouts save for Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant who has some secrets of his own.

There's one secret about the city that he can't keep hidden, though. There's a murderer on the loose. And every day Grayson is missing means that there's less of a chance he's alive.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn't dead--she can feel it deep in her soul--but she knows he's in grave danger, and that it's up to her and Gabby to find him before all hope is lost.

Only the path to him is more than she could ever imagine. 

***WATERFELL by Amalie Howard***  

About WATERFELL: Sixteen-year-old Nerissa Marin is friendly, popular and smart. She gets good grades and is co-captain of the Dover Prep Girls’ Field Hockey team. But she isn’t like other girls. Sure she talks like them, dresses like them and even looks like them. But she’s nothing like any of the girls at Dover Prep, or in San Diego, or anywhere, period. That’s because Nerissa isn’t a girl at all.

Hiding in plain sight and living among humans, the Aquarathi species has been living in the depths of the Earth’s oceans for millennia, having escaped near extinction on their own planet. Earth has become a second home. When Nerissa’s 4-year human initiation cycle is interrupted by a heartbreaking message from her father, her entire world is turned upside down. Her father has been killed for his throne, and his murderer is on the hunt. For her. Nerissa is forced to stay in hiding in human form, with no one to trust but her Handlers and her tiny group of human friends. But enemies are everywhere, watching and waiting for her to make one false move, even within her own trusted circle.

Not only is her best friend Jenna impossible to hide things from, Nerissa also has to contend with the cute surfing champ transfer from Hawaii, Lo Seavon, who just won’t take no for an answer. He’s annoying and arrogant but awakens feelings in her that she can’t quite navigate, especially since she’s never fallen for a human boy before. While she knows that her entire future is on the line, Nerissa can’t help the demands of her heart—and the far too human part of her—where Lo is concerned. But being with Lo may just well get her killed.

******

  

As you can see, WATERFELL by Amalie Howard does not yet have a cover, and as it's slated for release later this year, there is no link to pre-order this one yet. As someone who has read this amazing book, I know it's going to be worth the wait, but if you'd rather not wait for this one to become available for pre-order, you may request any other YA book of your choice that is under $15 U.S. dollars. 

******

 

 

 

ALL prizes are open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Goals, Music, Books & More Updates

It's officially February. Where did January go? Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not at all. February brings all kinds of excitement for me, so I'm happy it's here, but it does seem like 2013 is already flying by.

It's been a while since I've given you any real updates, so I thought it would be best to start of the month with just that. It's Update Time!

Update #1: Books Complete Me Unlimited (BCMU) has officially launched. What is Books Complete Me Unlimited, you ask? Simply put, BCMU is the brand new sister site of Books Complete Me (BCM) and will feature reviews and all things book related for books that are not YA.You should check it out because it's going to be AWESOME. Find it HERE.

Update #2: All The Write Notes (ATWN) has officially launched. What is All The Write Notes, you ask? You can read THIS to get all the details, but essentially ATWN is a blog of writers who love music. We talk music. We talk writing. We talk about the two of them together. Oh, and there will be giveaways, too. You should definitely check it out, because it's going to be AWESOME (trust me, just go with it).

Update #3: I'm writing again. After I won NaNoWriMo, a few things happened personally (all good things, don't worry) and I fell behind in my writing schedule. I only had a few chapters remaining in my current WIP to finish the first draft, but the manuscript pretty much sat all lonely in my computer for over a month. I missed it, and now, finally, I'm back to giving it the attention it deserves. This is in no small part due to one of my incredible critique partners. Amalie Howard, here's looking at you!

Update #4: Speaking of Amalie Howard, have you heard all of her good news?? She's been super busy selling books, including WATERFELL to Harlequin Teen. Here's the Publisher's Marketplace announcement:

“Amalie Howard’s WATERFELL, in which an alien shape-shifting princess hides in plain sight among humans and trains to save her species, living in the depths of the Earth’s oceans for millennia, from the enemy who murdered her family and wants to rule in her place, to Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen, in a two-book deal, for publication in Winter 2014, by Liza Fleissig at Liza Royce Agency (World).”

As someone who has read WATERFELL, I cannot tell you enough how proud I am of Amalie. This book is amazing and so is she. *throws virtual confetti* Congrats Amalie!!

You can find out more about Amalie and her recent sales on her website HERE.

Update #5: The Tangled Up In Words blog is going to be super busy and FUN this month. Check out our month of #SmallPress411 to learn all about working for and with small presses. It's going to be a blast!

Update #6: I love my job! I just recently started a position as publicist for Spencer Hill Press's new imprint, Spencer Hill Contemporary and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I am loving getting to know my authors and understanding their visions for their books. I'm honored to work with them and am so happy to be in such a position. Things have been going really well, and I've been promoted to "Senior Publicist." Kind of cool, right?

Goals for February: I have two goals for this month. The first is the finish the first draft of this manuscript by February 15th. The second is to finish revisions for this same manuscript by the end of the month. I'm rolling my sleeves up, digging in and not coming back up for air until it's complete.

Exciting Things Happening In February: 2nd annual WRITING RETREAT! In 17 days I will be leaving for the writing retreat of awesome. I am so so so so so so excited I can hardly stand it. This year's retreat has grown by two. so it's sure to be even more fun. Stay tuned for updates from the group: Danielle Ellison, Amalie Howard, Kristi Cook, Kate Kaynak,  Page Morgan, Ariane Mandell, and myself!

Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop Sign-Ups!

Happy Monday everyone!

It's that time of year again where I'll be participating in the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop. If you'd like to participate as well, you can sign up below. Just add your blog name to the linky list and you should be good to go. 

 Hop Rules:
1. You must giveaway a book or something that a reader, author or blogger would enjoy.
2. The Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop Image needs to be part of your post.
3. Include the linky list with all the participating blogs at the end of your post OR link to the hop post on my site or on the co-host's site.
4. Keep It Simple!! There are only 6 entries allowed per person. 1 Mandatory entry and up to 5 optional extra entry. All entries must be able to be done on one visit to your blog - Entries such as tweet once a day are NOT allowed (tweeting once is fine).
5. If you are using rafflecopter the top right corner of the rafflecopter form can only say +6. Set the giveaway to start on March 14th and to end on March 23rd at 12:01 AM.
6. This must be a giveaway specifically for this hop and must run only the 8 days this hop is scheduled. Although it's fine to start your giveaway anytime after noon on Friday.
7. Both your site and your giveaway must be family friendly.

Blogs may choose to run their giveaway via comments, a google form or rafflecopter.
To sign up to host a giveaway add your blog to the linky below with your shipping info in parenthesis following your blog name.  If you forget I will assume you are shipping to US only and add (US) after your blog name.

DO NOT SIGN UP UNLESS YOU ARE COMMITTED TO POST AND HAVE WRITTEN IT ON YOUR CALENDAR!  1 in 5 bloggers who sign up never post.  Please do not be one of them. Thanks! 
If you have any questions email Kathy at toobusyreading-at-gmaildotcom 

#BIR2012: MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Bethany Griffin - Guest Post & Giveaway

Welcome to day five of Best I've Read 2012!

Be sure to check the Best I've Read blog to see our top author picks for today: RIFT and BLOODROSE by Andrea Cremer & OSIDIAN, ONYX and PURE by Jennifer L. Armentrout!

I've chosen MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Bethany Griffin as my last (but definitely NOT least!) BIR2012 pick. She was kind of enough to provide a guest post for this feature, but first, here's a little about the book: 

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Bethany Griffin
Released: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow

Find Bethany Online: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

From Goodreads: Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club--in the depths of her own despair--Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for--no matter what it costs her.

***Guest Post***

And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all. This is the last line of Poe’s Masque of the Red Death. And when I sign my books I usually write, Darkness, Decay, and the Red Death…enjoy!

Today I’m writing about one of my favorite subjects. Plagues. Wait…that didn’t sound quite sane…Let me start over. Today I’m writing about one of my favorite subjects fictional plagues. Although…my first experience reading about plague was actually the Black Death, which was very very real. But when you read about it in a history book, it doesn’t seem like it could’ve been real. That’s why it’s so incredibly fascinating.

In high school history class I really enjoyed reading about the middle ages—you had the pageantry of the aristocracy—chivalry and all that (never mind that they were all covered by fleas) and then you had the peasants whose lives were so bleak…they ate the same food every day, couldn’t read, never travelled… it was a time of torture and superstition. Cathedrals and castles. Like a world ravaged by plague, it’s fun to read about but I certainly wouldn’t want to live there!

One of my favorite books dealing with the Black Death is the Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It’s a story (in a nutshell) about a historian who is sent back to the middle ages, but to the wrong year, to the height of the plague. The result is haunting…an amazing story.

I’m sure some of that sensibility seeped its way into Masque, at least a little bit. My absolute favorite Plague related book is The Stand by Stephen King. But after thinking about the book (I need to re-read this one very soon!) The superflu is the impetus for everything, but once the story gets moving, it fades into the background.

In Masque of the Red Death, the illness pervades everything. It’s all about the fear of death, and the fear of illness. How people treat each other, their interactions, fashion, and just their mode of life, have all been drastically changed.

And of course, the plague had huge impact on my characters. One of the ways I think about the characters is how the contagion affected their outlooks on life. Elliott has to be extremely arrogant to think that he can change the world. Will is just trying to get by, but with dignity and decency. Araby is reacting to the world after the shock of her brother’s death by trying to numb herself, and April is taking advantage of the freedom afforded her by the new world.

While I didn’t do extensive research into a specific plague, and while I’m extremely squeamish about actual symptoms, the plague holds the story of Masque of the Red Death together. The theme of Poe’s story is that you can’t hide from death. My story begins with the corpse collectors scouring the city for dead bodies, and Dance of the Red Death will culminate in a version of Poe’s iconic masquerade ball. And the theme of no one being able to escape from death, from the plague, from the Red Death is definitely part of my stories.

***Giveaway***

Thanks to HarperTeen, we (the collective BIR gang) are giving away several Harper prize packs. Open to U.S. mailing addresses. Enter using the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#BIR2012: REVIVED by Cat Patrick - Interview & Giveaway

Welcome to day four of Best I've Read! 

Be sure to check the Best I've Read blog to check out today's top authors: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo & THE IMMORTAL RULES and THE LOST PRINCE by Julie Kagawa. 

I'm featuring the lovely Cat Patrick here today for her amazing book, REVIVED. There is just something about the way Cat weaves her stories that leave me breathless and always wanting more. I've never been disappointed by one of her books. She is definitely someone I look up to as an aspiring author and I'd pretty much read anything she writes. Here's a little about REVIVED: 

REVIVED by Cat Patrick

Released: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Find Cat Online: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook 

From Goodreads: It started with a bus crash.

Daisy Appleby was a little girl when it happened, and she barely remembers the accident or being brought back to life. At that moment, though, she became one of the first subjects in a covert government program that tests a drug called Revive.

Now fifteen, Daisy has died and been Revived five times. Each death means a new name, a new city, a new identity. The only constant in Daisy's life is constant change.

Then Daisy meets Matt and Audrey McKean, charismatic siblings who quickly become her first real friends. But if she's ever to have a normal life, Daisy must escape from an experiment that's much larger--and more sinister--than she ever imagined.

From its striking first chapter to its emotionally charged ending, Cat Patrick's Revived is a riveting story about what happens when life and death collide.

***Interview with Cat Patrick***

CT: If you ever needed to be revived, what do you predict the cause of your death would have been?

CP: You might be surprised to know that I’ve never been asked that question, and to be honest, I’m a little freaked out by it. I’ve just typed several options, only to delete them, fearful of life—or death—imitating interview.  Yes, I am superstitious borderline bonkers.

CT: In REVIVED, Daisy has been more than a little reckless with her life because she knows Revive can bring her back. Her attitude toward protecting life changes throughout the book, especially after she meets Matt. Was it challenging for you to show the readers how much Daisy had learned?

CP: Writing meaningful character arcs is always a challenge but once I had the right plot, Daisy’s fell into place. Originally, I struggled—Revived started out as almost a road trip book—but once I got Daisy settled in Omaha, it was easier for her to learn and grow and for me to explain her evolution to readers. When she was traveling around, she rarely had enough interaction with any of the other characters for them to influence such significant growth.

CT: I loved Mason's character and the way he was always so reliably there for Daisy. Did you always intend for him to be both the fill-in father but also someone who truly cared about Daisy?

CP: Thank you, and great question. In early drafts, Mason was a bit less fatherly and was downright gruff in some places. Those interactions seemed wrong, and I softened him up. And I think it paid off; readers seem to enjoy him. With my other book, Forgotten, the love interest, Luke, is the most mentioned supporting character. With Revived, it's all about Mason.

CT:  As a writer, I understand that the first draft of a book often looks completely different than the final draft. What is one major difference from the first draft to the final that you can share with us?

CP: In early drafts, Mason’s partner was a man, and there was just something off about that. Something missing. I changed his partner to a woman, Cassie, and immediately that something became apparent.  I don’t want to say what it was for fear of spoiling the book for readers, but it was a pretty significant plot point.

CT: Which came to you first, Daisy or the plot? Was there a moment when they both meshed together and you just knew you had a story worth writing?

CP: The drug came first, honestly. I read about a potential drug that could jolt stroke patients back to normal around the time we lost a family friend to cancer. I wondered what it would be like if there were a drug that could bring people back from the dead. And if you were a teenager with access to such a drug, who would you be? The plot developed from there.

***Giveaway***

Thanks to Little, Brown I am giving away 5 copies of REVIVED. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only. Subject to all Best I've Read giveaway rules. Enter using the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway