Thursday, August 30, 2012

Join THE ARMY OF TEN!

The Army of TEN

What is THE ARMY OF TEN you ask? Well, it's a street team promotional network for TEN by Gretchen McNeil (Balzer + Bray, September 18, 2012), and YOU can be a part of it by helping spread the word about TEN.

All you have to do is complete different tasks to earn differnet ranks within the "ARMY". Each ranking entails a different set of assignments, and comes with its own set of medals to earn, including entries into the grand prize gift pack giveaway. THat's right! GIVEAWAY!!!

And the best medal of all?  If you earn the rank of GENERAL, you might just get your name in the Acknowledgements for Gretchen's next book!
IFT PACKS
There will be (5) gift bags given away on Halloween - Tuesday, October 30, 2012.  Items in the gift bags will include:

- a signed hardcover of TEN
- a signed paperback of POSSESS
- a signed copy of DEAR TEEN ME
- a signed copy of the anthology TWO AND TWENTY DARK TALES
- a Barnes & Noble gift card
- items from the personal collection of two characters from the book (i.e. a sample size of Minnie's favorite perfume and a key chain bottle opener like Ben's)

In addition, a SIGNED ARC OF TEN will also be given away - the last one either the author or her publisher has - just for signing up for the Army of Ten.  To enter, fill out the form HERE.  Winner will be chosen via random.org on Monday, September 10, 2012.

So what are you waiting for?! Go join THE ARMY OF TEN now!






Thursday, August 16, 2012

COVER REVEAL: FOREVER HERS (Fitizgerald Family #5) by Ednah Walters

You all know how much I love Ednah Walter's FITZGERALD FAMILY series! Well, here's the cover and blurb for the next book! I'm so excited to find out more about Eddie!


Squee!!!!! I love it! And I love the color. That green really POPS! Now, for the book blurb!

She wants her past hidden… Amy Kincaid is running from her controlling ex-husband, who will stop at nothing to find her. With a new identity and a new job as a housekeeper, she just wants to be left alone to raise her daughter. Then Eddie Fitzgerald rolls into town and turns her world upside down.

He’s in the business of exposing the truth…
Eddie Fitzgerald, L.A.P.D.'s finest, lives for his job and nothing else, until he decides to take a break at the family summer home and is held at gunpoint by the most annoying, sassiest woman to ever cross his path. But something is off about Amy, and the more he learns about her, the more he’s convinced she’s a fugitive.

When her past catches up to her, Amy has no choice but to trust Eddie. Unfortunately, Eddie has demons of his own, and struggles with the decision to protect her or uphold the law.
The truth takes them down a deadly path, and only love can save them.

Doesn't that sound completely fantastic!!! Forever Hers is set to release on October 15th, so mark your calendars!

Check out more Ednah's website!
Check out Ednah's blog!

Friday, August 10, 2012

BEAUTIFUL LIES BLOG TOUR + INTERVIEW with Jessica Warman

I am so excited to have Jessica Warman, author of the new release Beautiful Lies, here on the blog today! I absolutely loved her novel Breathless! She was gracious enough to answer a few questions for us.
JESSICA WARMAN is the author of Breathless, Where the Truth Lies, and Between, which have received six starred reviews among them. Between was published in a total of twelve countries around the world. Jessica has an MA in creative writing and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Please join me in welcoming Jessica to Living Fictitiously!
So Jessica, we'd like to know what is your favorite writing place/setting?
I prefer to write at home.  I’m very fortunate to have a home office – it was one of our “must haves” when we were looking for our current house.  But my office has recently become home to a litter of kittens (looong story), which has made it difficult to work there for a number of reasons.  Right now I’m typing this at my kitchen table, which works just as well.  I’m not one of those people who can plop down at a coffee shop and work in public; it’s too much of a cliché, and I can’t wear my pajamas to a coffee shop.  Yes, I’m in my PJ’s right now.
It's always nice to know how down to earth authors are. I'm sitting in my PJ's right now too!
Who and/or what in your life has most influenced your writing? (Whether it is your desire to write, your writing style, etc.)
It’s tough to say, because I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything besides a writer.  When I was a little girl, I did pretty much nothing besides eat, sleep, read, and write.  My parents used to confiscate my books in the summertime in an effort to force me outside.  They’d put them in suitcases and hide them at the top of their closets; after I’d been outside for a decent enough chunk of time, they’d let me “visit” my books for the rest of the day.  I have a tattoo of a reading rainbow.  I’m quite single-minded about it; if I’m not reading or writing I’m probably acting very anxious and annoyed with whatever else is going on.  My house is strewn with random pieces of paper on which I’ve scribbled notes about whatever I’m writing at the moment.  If I could be more organized about the whole thing, I’d probably be a lot more productive.  But when it comes to what has most influenced my writing, I guess I’d have to say that it means simply everything to me.  Being a writer is my identity.  Take it away, and everything else feels sort of meaningless.  
Wow Jessica! That's awesome! I think it's rather funny that your parents let you "visit" your books too. (I'm cracking up right now by the way!)
So moving on... What are your top 3 favorite books? Top 3 favorite authors?
This is an ever-changing list.  Right now, my favorite book is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a YA novel by Benjamin Alire Saenz.  I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Saenz at TLA in Houston last year; his warmth and kindness are definitely reflected in this gorgeous flower of a novel.  I read it in one sitting, and it’s one of the only books I’ve read that has moved me to tears of joy.  I slept with it under my pillow for a few nights.
Aside from that one, A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace will always be in my top 3.  It’s a collection of nonfiction essays that simply blew me away from the first sentence.  I first read it over ten years ago, and it still hasn’t let go of me; I have something like seven copies of it in my house, because I’m constantly lending it to friends, then freaking out at the possibility that I won’t have one on hand if (when) I decide to read it again – so I’m overstocked, just in case.    
Finally, I think Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is pure magic.  I love all of his books, but this one is my favorite.  Mr. Vonnegut was a wizard, and they should name a planet after him.  Or a galaxy. 
My favorites are always changing too, and I will definitely have to add these to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing those!
If there was only one subject you were ever able to write about again, what would you choose?
This might be kind of nebulous, but I’ve always been fascinated by unexplained disappearances.  For example, if I’m at the movies with friends and one of us gets up to use the bathroom, I’ll always think to myself, “What would happen if they just never came back?”  The idea of someone just dropping off the face of the earth, leaving almost no clues, is probably the most interesting and horrifying thing I can think of.  So I’d probably write about that.  It would be great fun. 
Oh, I'd love to read a book like that! Now, the next time I'm at a movie and my husband gets up, I'm going to think... "Hmmm... I wonder what Jessica would write about this?"
And finally, just for fun…. If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world and money and/or time was no object, where would you go and what would do?
A few years ago, my husband and I went to Bruges, Belgium for a week.  We arrived in the afternoon and went right to sleep, and we didn’t wake up until around 10 at night.  We went on a walk to find a restaurant, but everything was closed, and the streets were mostly dark.  All of a sudden we turned a corner, and there was a huge field in front of us with a carnival set up – it seemed to come out of nowhere.  There was an enormous Ferris wheel in the middle of the field, so we bought tickets and hopped on.  Once we were all the way at the top, we could see the whole city on the ground beneath us – everything was quiet and still except for this small, lit-up patch of the universe, and we were at the center, together.  I’d do that again, no question. 
Wow, that sounds amazing! I bet it was spectacular.
Thank you so much for sharing with us Jessica, and taking time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions.

If you enjoyed our interview with Jessica Warman, you should check out her website and her new release Beautiful Lies. 

Buy Beautiful Lies HERE
Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins—so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress.  So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong—especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?