Name Before the Masses tour and Giveaway - Cameo by Tanille

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tanille will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why do you write juvenile fiction? What draws you to it?

I love YA as a genre because of the drama, the discoveries and the lessons lean red about life and friendship. This is a period in our lives where we changes our ideas so often. We self-reflect and really learn what friendship means to us. We also start to form our early relationship patterns and we cover up things we don't like leading to hidden insecurities. These aspects dealt with during teen years make it such a ripe playing field. There is so much room for creativity and character expression. I also think my love for teen movies is a huge part of what draws me to this genre. I feel like my books are teen movies that play out on the page.

Pretend your protagonist is at school and opens his/her locker – what will we see inside?

You will see lipgloss in a light peach or lip colored pink. You would see school books and a personal diary. You would see an iPod full of dance music. You would find a yoga mat and light sweater for just in case. She would have half a picture of her and her ex Craig. Nia might even have her college acceptance letter taped to the inside door as a motivator.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

I have a love for brownies. I am slightly allergic due to the egg content. I try to get vegan brownies. I only buy them a couple of times a year and make it last for a few days. But the joy in eating a brownie is like a slice of vacation. If I ate a brownie everyday I'd probably give up coffee and mellow out a bit. If only!

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

I wanted to be an actress because I loved movies. As I grew up I realized how fun it is to dress up as characters. How cool is it is live out a story and try on new perspectives of people very different from you. I still thinking acting and movie making has a special place in my heart. It led me to discover my love of writing.

What superpower would you love to have? Why?

I would like to fly. The reason is I think there is so much to see. And I imagine it would be freeing. I can just feel the refreshing air against my face while in the sky. I also ilk the idea of having your own place in the sky you can go to to gather your thoughts and escape the influences of our world. Messages to buy this and pay attention to that are so pervasive. It is tough to find space to collect your own thoughts and dream up your own possibilities. I would love to be one with the birds if only for just a day.

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.

Fall in love again with this sassy romantic YA thriller @Cameothenovel1 complete with free music downloads

Favorite hot beverage. Why?

Café Latte is my favorite warm drink. I have it with Almond Milk. It is the perfect mix of taste and delight. I love the taste of espresso. i also love the extra kick especially when I am working through writer's block.

Ideal summer vacation.

I have been converted to a Disney lover. I think my favorite summer vacation is Disney World. I love the inspirations. The imagination options are endless. There are so many parks. Plus the resorts have fun activities. While I enjoy other places I feel like the parks make this an extra special option.

You’re stranded on a desert island—which character from your book do you want with you? Why?

I would want to be with Jason. He is full of surprises. He is resourceful. He can kayak. He can probably swim and he has a protector type of energy. So if any wild animals comes about I don't have to worry about who will be willing to fight for our lives.

Favorite pizza toppings

I love veggies on my pizza like peppers, garlic and olives. Pizza is such a treat. I can only have dairy free pizza but I make the most of it. Sometimes I even sneak a real slice of veggie pizza and well...pay the consequence of congestions for the net 24hrs. I have to admit it is worth it.

New Pop R & B Song "Baby Comeback to Me" by Tanille free with purchase of Cameo. Email us Music@Tanille.com. Cameo by Tanille is your next sinful beach read. Be 17 again! This page turning who done it is packed with mystery, drama, and steam. Nia is a high school beauty who discovers she's being stalked by someone in a secret underground society. Everyone is suspect. The pressure is mounting and problems are stacking up. Who is behind all of this? Which one of her friends is connected with this secret society? And why?

It was pitch black outside as the full moon glistened through the vinyl blinds that adorned Gary’s half window in his bedroom. His room was nestled in the far corner of his parents’ craftsman- style house in Hempstead, Long Island. The scrawny seventeen-year-old sat at his desk in an oversize, droopy wifebeater and Snoopy boxer shorts. His hair was jet black and gelled down into a curly fade. His bedroom was dull, full of computer science books and a series of coveted Stephen King thrillers—a lonely boy’s surrogate girlfriend.

“Uh! Got to keep these passwords straight,” Gary exclaimed out of frustration.

Gary slid open his desk drawer full of colorful Post-it notes with various codes and passwords written all over them. It seemed like nowadays you needed a password for everything. There was even a code to get into his front door. He took out a new pad and wrote down a username and password for his Tracebook account. A lamp slammed to the ground behind him near his bedroom door. The bedroom went dark. Gary turned around to see what had happened. He heard footsteps in the hallway. He slapped his hand over his open mouth as if a fly might make its way inside while he trotted to the door.

Senior quarterback Craig stood outside Gary’s bedroom with his back against the wall like an operative from Mission Impossible. Dressed in a tight, black mock-turtleneck muscle shirt, his muscles bulged like those of a beefy club bouncer. Michelle crept up the hallway to stand next to Craig, dangling a large roll of duct tape in her hand. Craig ducked his head into the room to see what was going on. Michelle pressed her nude lips together and batted her overdone smoky eyes. She ran across the bedroom door to the opposite side. With her back to the wall, she took a look inside the room. Gary had picked up the lamp and was reaching to turn it on. There will only be light when I say there will be light, she thought to herself.

Michelle tugged on her black Kangol hat to signal. Craig charged into the room, grabbed a hold of Gary, and forced a pair of socks into his mouth. He pulled Gary’s hands behind his back like a crooked cop from a gangster movie. Gary struggled like an insect caught in a spider web. He wiggled every which way to no avail. Michelle stood at the open bedroom door with a wicked half-smile playing across her photo-perfect, dark-chocolate face. She batted her false eyelashes for a dramatic finish.

Gary jammed his heel into Craig’s toes. Craig threw Gary down onto the floor, and Michelle slammed the roll of tape against Craig’s chest.

“Tape his hands up,” Michelle commanded.

Craig grabbed the tape. She walked in to examine the room. “Lucy! Get in here, now!” Michelle called out.

The petite, mousy-brown-haired Lucy walked into the room, looking as pale as a ghost. She had missed her last two tanning sessions to complete photo excursions for Michelle. It didn’t bother her, though. Lucy was just glad to have been the one asked to be in Michelle’s exclusive presence. Lucy had a digital camera hanging from her wrist. The camera hung down lower than the hemline on her denim miniskirt. Lucy snapped several pictures of Gary as he squirmed on the floor. Michelle worked her way over to Gary’s computer.

Craig came from behind and put his hand in Michelle’s.

“This is sooo great. The yearbook committee will love it,” Lucy whispered in a little girl’s voice. She always thought it made her seem nicer and less threatening, the complete opposite of Michelle.

“This better get me prom votes. I don’t have time to waste,” Michelle said.

About the Author:

Tanille is the co-author and creator of the children's green book series "Jordan & Justine's Weekend Adventures." She is also the author of the new media young adult novels with music "Cameo by Tanille," and "Broken by Tanille."

The Undercover Starlet Journal is a title Tanille created to inspire young women and has extended Undercover Starlet into brand extensions that appear throughout her novels.

Tanille has been writing music and books since age 16. She earned an MBA at 21 and graduated magna cum laude.

Readers of her latest young adult romance novel "Broken by Tanille" get free music downloads of her new Pop R&B hits "All of Me," "Feel It," "Baby Comeback to Me," "It's Not Okay," and "What's a Girl to Do" all written, performed and co-produced by Tanille.

The Undercover Starlet Reading Project is a new project we've launched, tasked with inspiring young teens in urban communities to reads and express themselves. We are committed to going above and beyond to reach youth with inspiring messages.

Buy Cameo by Tanille on Amazon Now: http://www.amazon.com/Cameo-Tanille-Edwards/dp/
Buy Broken on Amazon Now: http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Tanille-3-Part-ebook/dp/
www.Tanille.com @MilanParkAve
www.facebook.com/BrokenbyTanille

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The Overending by Rick Johnson - Review and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Rick will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
You can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Overending is nonstop, fast-paced, mind-bending fantasy. Fantastic and quirky, exhilarating and addicting, this entertaining adventure takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Ridiculous, but deadly serious. Hits you hard in the funnies, while turning your mind inside out.

The Overending continues the unfolding epic saga of the Wood Cow Chronicles—a fantastical, magical, completely unexpected world that swallows both kids and adults whole!

MY Review:
This is the second book in the series about Helga and her friends as they fight against the tyranny that has taken over their land. While it can be read as a standalone, I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first book in the series. I'm planning on getting it before reading the NEXT book in the Wood Cow Chronicles.

The book is very character driven-- it was easy for me to forget that they were animals. I was caught up in their struggles and rejoiced in their successes. I definitely want to read the next episode in their adventure.

Good job, Mr. Johnson. 4 stars.
Enjoy an Excerpt:

Seeing that she had won the first round in this contest of wills, Bem leaned back, pulling away from the face-to-face staring match. “To catch Yii Strikers, you’ve got to sleep in the open in their territory. Lie very still and let them slither up across your body. Don’t move, or you’ll spook them—and that’s the end of you. They like the warmth of a body and they especially like the warmest part of your body, the head. Wait long enough, and be still enough, and they will coil up right on your face and go to sleep. This is the most important part. You’ve got to leave your mouth open wide and breath through your mouth. The Yii Striker likes that warm, moist air. The ol’ snake will just curl up around your open mouth and let its head hang down right into your mouth. You wait until you’re sure as sure can be that the snake’s asleep, and then you slam your jaws shut on the snake’s head. He can’t bite you. You just let him flail his body around until he wears himself out, then you take a knife and cut the body away from the head. Then, you can spit out the head. And that’s how you capture a Yii Striker.”

About the Author

I am a native of the Great Plains, having grown up on a farm in the Platte River Valley of western Nebraska. I love the wild beauty of the Plains and nearby Rocky Mountains--the too hot, too cold, too empty, too full of life extremes. Typically, the awesomely diverse and the awesomely stark are much the same, even as they are different. Although I have lived in Michigan, North Carolina, and British Columbia, the western plains, mountains, and desert are in my heart.

As my day job, for over thirty years I have been a faculty member and administrator in higher education. Teaching broadly in the liberal arts, including creative writing, in addition to my novels, my professional publications include educational materials, poems, and 28 stories for young readers. I am a member of SCBWI.

As an author, I'm drawn to eccentric, unexpected characters: those who surprise because they hear a distant galaxy, see a different music, create their own fragrance rather than get hooked on a soundtrack; the child who has her own ideas about how the emperor is dressed; the lunatics and rebels who tell stories on the boundaries. I tell unusual stories that take readers to worlds they never imagined—definitely a whole new ride.

Links:

http://www.woodcowbooks.com/
http://www.rick-johnson.com/
https://twitter.com/WoodCowBooks
https://www.facebook.com/WoodCowBooks
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1497328683

Two Degrees from Zero by M.J. Stewart - Blurb Blitz Tour and Giveaway

M.J. Stewart is visiting with us today as part of her Blurb Blitz Tour for her new book, Two Degrees from Zero.

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Click the tour banner above for the tour dates.

Thirteen-year-old Derek’s cool snowboard adventure does a dangerous rewind, because his Burton Hero board holds the key to an unsolved crime.

Two Degrees From Zero is a story that opens up the world of snowboarding and surviving hazardous winter conditions in Keystone, Colorado.

Derek, his mom, and teen friend Janae (The Clan) are invited on a snowboarding vacation by his mom’s new romance Thomas. A blizzard hits during a sleigh ride and dinner at an isolated yurt miles from Keystone. The Clan accepts an offer from two arrogant snowmobilers for a way home. But to The Clan's dismay instead of going home, they are abandoned in a creepy backwoods cabin.

Derek and Janae sneak out of the old cabin and make a dangerous trek across a white wilderness to find help while the snowmobilers are on the loose. Just as the teens find temporary shelter in an old car, another blizzard rages all night, leaving them hopelessly stranded. And their adventure has only begun.

Derek and Janae must escape the frozen ravages of the blizzard. Derek’s determination to save The Clan while outwitting the thieves is unstoppable. And the thieves are just as determined to find Derek’s snowboard because of the valuable information hidden on the board.

Enjoy an Excerpt:
 

Derek whispered, “And how are we gonna leave? Maybe Mom and Thomas will know what to do. Let’s be real quiet until they get here.”

“Hope they get here quick.” Janae said in a shaky voice. “Does he have a gun?”

“Don’t see one.” Derek hugged Janae; her body trembled with emotion. “Bummer how this trip is going downhill.”

“Seriously downhill,” Janae said. “Is he dead?”

“Duh…dead people don’t snore. But maybe we should see if he’s okay.”

“You go,” Janae said.

Derek flinched as the man inhaled. “Wait, his chest moved.”

“Are you sure?” Janae asked, but kept her distance.

“Is blood running down his forehead?” Derek asked.

“I see red.”

“Let’s get a better look. Maybe he’s just sleeping.” Derek took one step in the man’s direction and stopped.

“Why are you stopping? You’re supposed to be the strong, brave one.” Janae jumped behind Derek and tried to shove him closer to the man. But Derek stood firm. “You’re scared as I am,” Janae said.

“Not either,” Derek said and turned his face to her. “See my face, I’m not scared.”

“Why are you chewing your lip?”

About the Author

 

M.J. Stewart is a Colorado author and lives in Colorado Springs. Her love for the outdoors has provided many exciting adventures and include downhill skiing, biking, hiking, camping, and nature photography.

I'm on facebook at: martha.lancaster@facebook.com

I'm on twitter at: @hike4ski

Amazon.com buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Two-Degrees-Zero-Snowboarding-Adventure

The Purple Girl by Audrey Kane - Book Blast and Giveaway

Audrey Kane is visiting with us today as part of her Book Blast for her new book Purple Girl.

Audrey will be awarding a $20 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $15 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn host.

Click the tour banner above for the tour dates.

CAUTION! Violet lives within the pages of this book. And her purple spreads to everything she touches…

Violet lives behind garden walls. Is she magical? Is she the devil’s child—or simply cursed? When the lonely thirteen-year-old embarks on a dangerous journey to find the one boy that dared to befriend her, she travels at night...in the dark...to keep people from seeing her purple skin. But no one is more surprised than Violet when she unlocks her mysterious gift.



 

Enjoy a small excerpt:

This is how the story was told to me.

When the midwife brought me into the world, she let out a scream. Hands trembling, she swaddled me in a white blanket, leaving only a small opening so I could breathe. She refused to let my mother see me until my father appeared and stood by her side. Purple mist seeped through the white blanket, staining the midwife’s fingers.

“God help us all. This baby is cursed!” the midwife cried, thrusting me into my father’s arms. She grabbed a rag and tried to scrub the stains off her hands.

As my father unwrapped me, the color drained from his face. My mother, weak from the delivery, reached toward him...or perhaps to me.

“What’s wrong?” After a moment, he held me up.

My mother wailed when she saw her purple baby.

My father turned away from her and laid me in the cradle, far from my mother, his fingers shaking as he bundled me in the plum-colored blanket. He remained silent, wiping his purple stained palms on his pants. The stains wouldn’t stay on him forever... only a few moments...but he didn’t know that then.

“Oh, Samuel,” my mother sobbed. “How did this happen?”

My father gazed into my eyes, and when he finally spoke, his voice broke.

“We’ll call her Violet.” He stroked a tuft of my lavender hair and sank to his knees.

About the Author:

As a writer, and also a designer of tapestries with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Georgia, it is only natural for Audrey to weave visual stories. When she is not designing tapestries, she is busy conjuring up characters that find themselves in extraordinary situations. Between carpools and design work, she is plotting, scheming, writing, and revising. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, their three children, and her unruly dog, Rascals. Audrey's favorite time to write is in the early morning while her family sleeps. With Rascals sprawled out snoring beside her, it only takes one oversized cup of coffee to get her mind moving.

Audrey is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. She loves traveling, museums, and blackberry-apple pie. Actually, she loves all kinds of pie. And she especially loves her family. They have put up with Violet and Waxy for a long time. You can visit her at: www.audreykane.com.

Website: www.audreykane.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/audreykaneauthor
Buy link: amzn.com/0991028317

Launching Sisters to Witchcamp by LRS - Bewitching Book Tours

LRS is visiting with us today as part of her virtual book tour for her new book Launching Sisters to WitchCamp.

The author will be awarding two $10 gift cards to MuseItUp Publishing Bookstore and five ebook copies of Launching Sisters to WitchCamp by LRS. Enter below using the rafflecoter at the end of this post.

Why do you write juvenile fiction? What draws you to it?

“You never forget your first love.” The books I read in my childhood are what kindled my reading passion, and my loyalties remains with this genre.

I love reading and writing about children and young adults for the way they live in the moment and invest their all into the story’s conflict. Adults have lost that type of focus; there’s too much other stuff going on in their lives. Neither can adults compete with the authenticity of youths, whose emotions are so raw, and who view the world through glasses clear of the shades of film that accumulate over adults’ throughout the years.

Pretend your protagonist is at school and opens his/her locker – what will we see inside?

Stand back as J.J. opens his locker; a basketball tumbles out, sending open packages of stale chips, stiff licorice, and a can of coke flying. The coke splatters the NBA posters plastered on the locker door. You grab what looks like a beaten rag from the locker to clean up the mess, but J.J. yells at you for ruining his basketball jersey.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

When I was in middle grade school, my friends and I were into The Baby-sitter’s Club. Claudia inspired me to become the junk food aficionada I still am today. My addiction to candies prevents me from choosing just one. I have designated treats to different activities. For example, I refuse to do carpool without a stash of Jolly Ranchers in my purse. But in case of an apocalypse, I’d pick Jelly Belly’s for the wide variety of authentic flavors.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

It’s a cliché, but I truly did want to become an author, and create more of the magic that enchanted me so. However, in high school, I was a confidant to many a tormented teen, and that’s how I became infatuated with psychology. As it turned out, I did indeed study the field in college and graduate school.

What book is on your nightstand currently?

My books aren’t left lying around. If I haven’t read a book in one sitting, it probably isn’t worth mentioning. I just read Golden Urchin by Madeleine Brent from 2 to 5 a.m. These days my TBR list is almost all YA or MG, so this was a deviation from my usual genre. Though the MC is a teen, I wouldn’t categorize it as YA. Don’t regret I read it though.

Hunger Games or Twilight? Why?

I was late in the game, as I waited for all three books to be out before I took up Suzanne Collin’s riveting trilogy.

And then I read them all in one night.

The premise gripped me; it was like I was foreseeing the (formidable) future through a crystal globe. And her storytelling drew me in and didn’t let go; I don’t believe there was an unnecessary word there.

Favorite hot beverage. Why?

There was a coffee shop in SoCal that had the best hot chocolate, and when we moved to Canada, I went on a quest to find their match.

My efforts were futile.

Last years, for my b-day, my husband surprised me with a huge tub of the hot chocolate mix that coffee shop uses! He managed to procure it from the store’s supplier and imported it. It ranks as one of the top birthday gifts ever in my book. Now, snow or shine, my day can’t end without a hot chocolate. It’s warm, relaxing, sweet, and never fails to hit the spot.

What four literary characters would you most like to have over for dinner?

First of all, I host a lot, and my experience is that I’m running back and forth from the kitchen, and miss out on all the juicy conversation. So the first character I’d invite is Mrs. Weasley; her magic wand will help me whip up a spread.

Okay, now that I can dine like a queen, I’ll take advantage of living in Canada, and extend invitations to my childhood favorites who live on Prince Edward Island — Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe.

I’d also enjoy having the subtly gusty Ella from Ella Enchanted, but I might forego the pleasure in favor Mr. Willy Wonka. (I trust him to bring along some great dessert).

You’re stranded on a desert island—which character from your book do you want with you? Why?

Definitely J.J. I’d be rolling my eyes and have to swallow his attitude, but he’s proven how brave and resourceful he is.

You’ve just won a million dollars and you’re not allowed to save any of it. What do you spend it on?

Years ago I fell in love with ASIMO, Honda’s household robot.

My best friend (from high school) deserves a home.

If anything is left over, I’d treat myself to a self-parking car (you don’t want to run into my car in the lot), and lifetime passes for my family to Disney’s parks all over the world.

Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing

Number of pages: 118
Word Count: 31474
Cover Artist: Charlotte Volnek

MuseItUp Publishing

Book Description:

Sixth-grader J.J. learns there are no easy breaks in life.

When J.J. discovers the opportunity to send his maddening sisters off to WitchCamp, he has fantasies of a delightful summer. However, J.J. and his friend are soon off on a ride they didn't anticipate -- one that lands them in a chilling mess of witch hunts and creature feasts.

With his creative ideas, J.J. utilizes their risky escapades to escape. But making deals with superhuman creatures just lands them in hotter water.

Now it’s up to J.J. to save them all from certain death by being more imaginative and daring than ever before.

The video trailer http://youtu.be/rKedRSdpmrQ

An excerpt:

“Crack open your piggy bank and we’re out of here.” I propel DaveyBoy to Main Street, and hit the costume store. Diving in to a pile of wigs, I pull out two that will do the job. My wig is shiny black and the hair hangs down to my elbows. DaveyBoy’s is a brown mop of frizz, which extends halfway down his back.

The manicurist looks like she’s ready to call the crazy house when we saunter in to her salon and ask for fake long nails. Money does the trick, though, and soon enough we exit with long nails polished in black.

DaveyBoy clears his throat. “Um, J.J., what exactly are we doing? Are we going to a costume party?”

“Don’t you get it, dude? Our long hair and nails are tickets to the WitchCamp!”

He walks straight into an electric pole.

“Ouch.” I wince.

He rubs his temple and looks at me with puppy dog eyes. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. But, cheer up, buddy. Think of it as an amazing adventure we can add to our list of summer escapades.”

About the Author:  LRS has a master’s degree in psychology. For more than ten years she pretended to be working while she was on the floor enjoying playtime with kids.

She has lived on the eastern and western coasts of the U.S.A, as well as abroad, and currently resides in Canada with her family. Wherever she is, she can’t pass by a toy store without going inside.

When she's not writing, she can usually be found in her kitchen, where she’s either baking (and sampling) cookies or stirring a pot. (Unfortunately, she has yet to find a magical spoon.)

http://www.launchingsisters.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Launching-Sisters-to-Witchcamp/206550682866388
https://twitter.com/LaunchingSister

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