Mom With A Kindle: May 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

BLOG TOUR [Interview + Giveaway] Spelled by Betsy Schow

Spelled
by Betsy Schow
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: June 2nd 2015

Synopsis:

Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks—like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the brooding prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Ben and Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheesecake. Mmmmmm. Thankfully it’s only available for about one month a year or I would have to retract my first book, Finished Being Fat. Or write a sequel… Not Quite Finished Being Fat

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Being good: Cottage cheese with blackberries. Being not so good: French toast with coconut syrup.

Night owl or early bird?

Both unfortunately.

One food you would never eat?

Liver. Blech

Skittles or M&Ms?

Neither. My husband is diabetic, so I try to support him by staying away from candy. Mostly. Usually. When he’s not looking.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

A classically trained composer. Sadly the 4 hours minimum a day of practicing the piano really cut into my reading time.

You have won one million dollars what is the first thing that you would buy?

My very own used bookstore. I’d put a bakery in it and call it “Half-Baked Books”.

Print or Ebook?

Ebook. I travel too much to take my whole library with me otherwise.

What movie are you looking forward to this year?

MockingJay pt. 2. I’m mean, really, who isn’t?

Finish the sentence- one book I wish I had written is....

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. By far the greatest and wisest book ever written.

What is next on your to read list?

I’m reading Shannon Hale’s Princess in Black to my preschooler.

Any other books in the works?

Always. I plan to keep telling more in the Storymaker’s series. I also just finished writing a new book in a different series that I hope to shop around soon.

Follow the Spelled by Betsy Schow Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

BETSY SCHOW is the TODAY Show featured author of the non-fiction book, Finished Being Fat; however she’s been mixing up real life and fantasy for as long as she can remember. If someone were to ask about her rundown truck, she’s 100% positive that mechanical gremlins muck up her engine. And the only reason her house is dirty is because the dust bunnies have gone on strike. She lives in Utah with her own knight in geeky armor and their two princesses (that can totally shapeshift into little beasts). When not writing, she acts as the Tournament Director for Odyssey of the Mind and helps teach kids creative thinking (or how to turn their toasters into robots).

Her debut novel, Spelled, comes out June 2015 from Sourcebooks. She is represented by Michelle Witte, Mansion Street Literary Agency.

INTERNATIONAL

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BLOG TOUR [Interview + Giveaway] The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst

The Edge of Forever
by Melissa E. Hurst
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: June 2nd 2015

Synopsis:

In 2013: Sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea of how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146: Seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.

What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen? A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I’ve always been attracted to England, so I think I’d want to live there. Not sure if I’d choose somewhere in the country or London.

How did you know you should become an author? After reading and falling in love with A Wrinkle in Time, I realize that writing books was something I wanted to do.

Favorite Food? Chocolate

Icecream or cake? Hard choice, but I’d have to go with cake. Or could I choose ice cream cake? :D

Nickname? Don’t have one now, but when I was a kid some people used to call me Mel and I hated it. 

You have won one million dollars what is the first thing that you would buy? A new car. Cliché, but my car is really old.

Who or what inspired you to become an author? After working as a teacher for eight years (and becoming disillusioned with the current educational system’s wanting to test students all the time and having to teach to those tests), I felt that I needed a career change. I’d always wanted to write, so I figured why not give it a try?

Print or Ebook? Print

M&M’s or Skittles? M&M’s…I love chocolate!

What book are reading now? End of Days by Susan Ee. I adore this series.

What was the hardest part about writing your book? Keeping track of what happens in the 2013 timeline and the 2146 timeline.

Can you share a little about the current title you are working on? I’m working on the sequel to THE EDGE OF FOREVER.

Follow the The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Melissa lives in the southern US with her husband and three kids. She writes YA science fiction and fantasy, which means she considers watching Star Trek and Firefly as research. She dreams of traveling around the world and maybe finding Atlantis one day. You can usually find her with a book in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other. Or consuming lots of chocolate.

THE EDGE OF FOREVER is her debut novel.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

WEEK BLITZ [Excerpt + Giveaway] Moore by T.M. Franklin

Young Adult Paranormal

Date Published: October 4, 2012

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Ava Michaels used to think she was special. As a child, she fantasized about having magical powers . . . making things happen. But Ava grew up and eventually accepted the fact that her childish dreams were just that, and maybe a normal life wasn't so bad after all.

Now a young college student, Ava meets Caleb Foster, a brilliant and mysterious man who’s supposed to help her pass physics, but in reality has another mission in mind. What he shows Ava challenges her view of the world, shaking it to its very core. Because Caleb isn't quite what he seems. In fact, he's not entirely human, and he's not the only one.

Together, the duo faces a threat from an ancient race bound to protect humans, but only after protecting their own secrets—secrets they fear Ava may expose. Fighting to survive, Ava soon learns she's not actually normal . . . she's not even just special.

She's a little bit more.

Excerpt

“Is everything okay?” Ava asked.

Caleb smiled, but didn’t look at her. “Sure.”

“You seem . . . I don’t know . . . nervous?”

He glanced at her briefly. “Just doing my job.”

Ava snorted. “Your job is tutoring physics.”

“Call this moonlighting.”

Ava tucked her hands more deeply into her coat pockets as Caleb returned to his steady surveillance. She started to say something more, but forgot it immediately when Caleb stopped suddenly.

“Caleb?”

“Shhh . . .” He stepped in front of her, his head tilted to the side.

“What is it?”

He touched a finger to his lips, his body impossibly still.

Ava froze, pressed slightly against his back as she tried to peer over his shoulder. He stretched his hand behind him, as if blocking her from something, and his fingers curled slightly around her hip, stilling her movement.

A prickle of awareness ran over her skin, stealing her breath. For a long moment, the world seemed to slow around her, growing silent and still, and Ava closed her eyes, unsure what she was searching for, but feeling her consciousness reach out, calling out into the darkness.

Ava gasped suddenly as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, sweeping her up in a blur of motion. Her eyes flew open, trying to make sense of the whirling world around her, and in the next instant, she found herself pressed against a wall, Caleb’s back to her. Her fingers gripped his shoulders as she tried to regain her balance and clear her head. A low voice chilled her blood.

“Get out of the way, Foster.”

No. Not him. Not again. Ava’s confusion gave way to outright fear. She shrank behind Caleb’s back, as if hoping to disappear.

“Leave her alone, Tiernan,” Caleb said, his voice deadly. “The Council gave me three days.”

A mocking laugh grated back at him. “Time’s up.”

“Not until tomorrow.”

“Technicalities aren’t going to change a thing,” Tiernan growled. “The Council’s fed up with your stalling. I’m taking her now.”

“No,” Caleb said, his voice a quiet but not subtle threat. “You’re not.” He grabbed her again, so fast she didn’t even see him move. Once more, she found herself fighting for breath, suddenly behind a tree and unsure of how she got there. A moment later, Tiernan’s hulking frame appeared a few feet away.

“You can’t outrun me, Caleb,” he said, shaking his head. “And you don’t dare risk a shift.”

Another blur of movement and Ava was face-to-face with a door.

“Go inside,” Caleb urged. “I’ll draw him away.”

“What?” Ava shook her head. “What’s happening? Where am I?”

“It’s your dorm,” he hissed. “Hurry, before he—”

“Really, Caleb?” Tiernan’s mocking voice interrupted him. “This is getting tiresome, don’t you think?”

Caleb turned, squaring his shoulders. “You’re not taking her.”

A flash of red and blue lights drew their attention, and Ava breathed shakily at the sight of a police car driving up the path.

Tiernan glared at Caleb. “This isn’t over,” he said.

And then he was gone.

Two city cops stepped out of the car, hands resting on their weapons, one shining a flashlight toward them. Caleb pulled Ava through the door into the dorm.

“What are you doing?” Ava asked. “We need to tell them he was back.”

“Not a good idea,” Caleb muttered. He grabbed her wrist, heading down the hallway, but she yanked out of his grasp.

“Caleb, what the hell’s going on?” she asked, stepping back warily from his angry gaze. “How did you do that . . . move so fast? What happened out there?”

“We don’t have time for this,” he snapped.

She reached for the door, Caleb’s eyes following the movement. Her challenging gaze focused on Caleb as she whipped the door open to run to the police and tell them what had happened.

At least that was her intent.

But before she even turned the knob, Caleb had her across the hall, all but carrying her around the corner.

She gasped. “What . . . what are you?”

Caleb frowned. “That’s not your concern.”

He placed a hand on her forehead, and the world went black.

About the Author

T.M. Franklin writes stories of adventure, romance, & a little magic. A former TV news producer, she decided making stuff up was more fun than reporting the facts. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well-received, being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader's Choice Awards. She's since written three additional novels and several best-selling short stories...and there's always more on the way.

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