Alienation by Jon S. Lewis

ALIENATION
A C.H.A.O.S Novel

by Jon S. Lewis


Young Adult

Thomas Nelson
www.ChaosNovels.com

5 Signed Copies will be given away on Friday, February 3, 2012!

About the Book:

Earth’s last line of defense against the coming alien invasion is 16-year-old surfer Colt McAlister.

But before he can save the world, he has to survive the day.

All Colt wants to do is return to his old life . . . where aliens don’t exist . . . where mankind hasn’t been targeted for destruction . . . and where his parents are still alive. Unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.

The United States government believes Colt holds the key to our survival, so they’re sending him to the CHAOS Military Academy along with his best friends Oz and Danielle. There they’ll be trained to defend Earth against a swarm of alien shapeshifters known as the Thule. But someone is trying to eliminate Colt before he can lead that charge. Shocked to learn about key events in his past and unsure who he can trust, Colt is alienated and on the run.

In a world of high-tech gear, shape-shifting aliens, simulated reality, and hoverboards, Colt must step into his true destiny before our world falls in chaos.

Check out our Exclusive Interview with the Author here:

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

The book was inspired by a story about King David from the Old Testament. After he killed the giant, Saul, the king of Israel, became jealous and that jealousy took an ugly turn. He ended up trying to murder David, even though David was the best friend of his son. And I used that as the backbone for this book.

2) What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?

Dystopian. I've always been fascinated by end of the world scenarios, and I'd love to tackle it in a book.

3) Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?”

My favorite part of the process is coming up with story ideas. I also love editing. The least favorite, and by far the most challenging, is writing the first draft.

4) If your main character, Colt McAlister, could give one piece of advice to teenage girls/boys, what would it be?

Everybody, no matter who you are, was born to do something special--so never, ever give up on yourself.

5) Since becoming a writer, what’s the most exciting thing to ever happen to you?

I'd say there are two things. I got to have dinner with Chewbacca, who is my all-time favorite character from fiction regardless of the medium. And I was part of an amazing event called Project Book Babe, where I teamed with some author friends (Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Mull, Laini Taylor) to raise over $100,000 for a friend who contracted breast cancer and was struggling to pay her medical bills.

About the Author:

Jon S. Lewis is the coauthor of the Grey Griffins trilogy and the Grey Griffins Clockwork Chronicles. He also writes for the DC COMICS family of publishers. He resides with his family in Arizona. Twitter @JonSLewis, facebook.com/jonslewis Hometown: Phoenix, AZ Books Sold to Date: 500,000. Visit the author online at: www.ChaosNovels.com.

**Please enter to win using the form on the left side bar of our website. Comments left on the post, while appreciated, are not used as entry. Thanks!

Life Eternal - Winners!

5 lucky winners will be receiving a free autographed copy of Life Eternal!

And here they are...

1) Crystal Martinez
2) Erica Remington
3) Kathy Daniels
4) Kristina King
5) Dixi Howery

If you didn't win, but still want to read Life Eternal, you can order your own copies on Amazon by clicking here!

Or find it in our official Free Book Friday Amazon Book Store!

Life Eternal (A Dead Beautiful Novel) by Yvonne Woon

LIFE ETERNAL
A Dead Beautiful Novel

by Yvonne Woon


Young Adult

Hyperion
www.YvonneWoon.com
www.un-requiredreading.com


5 Signed Copies will be given away on Friday, January 27, 2012!

About the Book:

Renée Winters has changed. When she looks in the mirror, a beautiful girl with an older, sadder face stares back. Her condition has doctors mystified, but Renée can never reveal the truth: she died last May, and was brought back to life by the kiss of her Undead soul mate, Dante Berlin.

Now, her separation from Dante becomes almost unbearable. His second life is close to an end, and each passing day means one less that she will spend with the boy who shares her soul.

Just when Renée has almost given up hope, she learns of the Nine Sisters—brilliant scholars who, according to legend, found a way to cheat death. She can’t shake the feeling that they are somehow connected to her dreams, strange visions that hint at a discovery so powerful, and so dangerous, that some will stop at nothing to protect it.

Renée thought she knew the truth about life and death. But there is a secret woven through history that holds the only hope for Dante and Renée. Unless they find answers soon, their time together is doomed to be cut short. The heartstopping follow-up to Dead Beautiful.

Check out our Exclusive Interview with the Author here:

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

I first had the idea when I visited my brother, who lives in Montreal. He took me to the huge cemetery at the foot of Mont Royal, and we biked around until we stumbled upon a section with incredibly small tombstones. Curious, we parked our bikes and started to read the inscriptions, only to discover that they all belonged to children. At that moment, the entire cemetery felt like it was part of Renée and Dante’s story, and scenes started grow from there.

2) When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Have you had other jobs along the way?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. When I was little, my parents used to take me to a bookstore with a restaurant attached to it for breakfast every weekend, so I spent a lot of time there, sitting among books, which must have helped plant the idea. I started my first “novel” in elementary school, which I wrote on my mom’s typewriter. It was one page long, and had something to do with a girl in a jungle.

Since then, I’ve pretty much stayed on the same course, writing in my free time, and working during the day to support myself. The best jobs I had were writing related: assisting editors and literary agents, reporting for a newspaper, teaching a freshman-level writing class at Columbia. The worst were a lot more boring: alphabetizing books in the stacks of the library, waitressing at a café, bagging groceries for Stop & Shop, shucking oysters at a flea market. I was also the world’s worst paralegal, and for one misguided year, I thought it would be a good decision to get a stable job and go to medical school. That ended after I took (and almost failed) chemistry.

3) How do you come up with your character names?

Some of the names, like Renée, Dante, Clementine, and Ophelia Hart, have meanings, and I chose them according to the needs of the plot and the kind of characteristics I wanted to convey. Most of the other names I actually borrowed from friends and past teachers.

4) Let's talk about your main character, Renée. How did you think her up and is there any of you in her?

There is definitely a lot of me in Renée, though I could say that about all of my character. Renée and I are much more different than we are the same. She is a lot more forthright and outspoken than I am, and has a lot of characteristics that I wish I had, which is, I think, how she came into being. I knew I wanted to write about someone who was brave and curious and a little impulsive, so I started with that and went with it. In a way, writing her allowed me to experiment being someone else, which was really nice.

5) If there was one thing about Renée’s life that you’d like to have in your own life, what would it be? What about the one thing about her life that you’d NEVER want to have?

Oh wow. Good question. I’ve always wanted more mystery in my life, and I really envy that about Renée and her world and the people that she knows. And while I do envy the unbearable passion of her relationship with Dante, I would never want to be in their situation, or to have to make the decisions she makes. It’s too tragic!

About the Author:

Yvonne Woon grew up in Massachusetts, where she attended Worcester Academy. She lives in New York and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from Columbia University. Dead Beautiful was her first novel. Visit the author online at: www.YvonneWoon.com.

**Please enter to win using the form on the left side bar of our website. Comments left on the post, while appreciated, are not used as entry. Thanks!

Ditched - Winners!

5 lucky winners will be receiving a free autographed copy of Ditched!

And here they are...

1) Ashley Carroll
2) Amandasue Hurray
3) Susan Schleicher
4) Krysten Hager
5) Tristen Calnan

If you didn't win, but still want to read Ditched, you can order your own copies on Amazon by clicking here!

Or find it in our official Free Book Friday Amazon Book Store!

Ditched by Robin Mellom

DITCHED
A Love Story

by Robin Mellom


Young Adult

Hyperion
www.RobinMellom.com
www.un-requiredreading.com


5 Signed Copies will be given away on Friday, January 20, 2012!

About the Book:

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together -- stain by stain on her thrift-store dress -- exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Check out our Exclusive Interview with the Author here:

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

My agent suggested I write a humorous teen novel. So I thought back on the crazy things that had happened to me and recalled one incident at a formal dance my freshmen year of college involving a semi-blind date. I say “semi” because we went to dinner one time before I would agree to go to this formal with him. At dinner, he was extremely shy and quiet, but also well-mannered and nice so I agreed to go with him. (You can already tell this won’t end well, right?) So on our second date—the night of the dance—his fraternity brothers convinced him to drink way too many shots of vodka and he turned into a MUCH different person—like Jekyl & Hyde different and I was shocked. The guy thought it would be “oh-so-hilarious!” to run around unzipping girls’ dresses (including mine) and I spent most of the night in the bathroom fixing my zipper and cursing his name. Needless to say, there wasn’t a third date with that boy.

But that zipper-malfunction-incident went on to become the nugget that led to me writing DITCHED which led to my first published book. Aaah, closure. Love it!

2) When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Have you had other jobs along the way?

I was the type of little girl who would write stories on folded up paper and make title pages and draw a cover and then NEVER let anyone read them. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but first I became a teacher. Middle schoolers are my favorite people on the planet (seriously!) and the subject I adored teaching them most was creative writing. I would give them an assignment and then write along with them. Over the years, I’ve also worked as a social worker for children with autism and a news assistant at a newspaper. It took over eight years of serious writing “on the side” before I got my first book deal.

3) Which came first, the title or the novel?

Actually, the first chapter. The book was called “Prom Story” when I first started (not super catchy), but when I got to the end of the first chapter, the word DITCHED immediately came to mind. It felt obvious yet perfect.

4) If your main character, Justina, could give one piece of advice to teenage girls/boys, what would it be?

Justina would say, “Never assume you know what someone else is thinking. And never dress for prom the way your mother did.”

5) If there was one thing about Justina’s life that you’d like to have in your own life, what would it be? What about the one thing about her life that you’d NEVER want to have?

I love that Justina has a willingness and openness to change. She wants to erase some things and make a fresh start and isn’t afraid to look at her own role in some of the messes she’s made. She’s not a blamer—that’s a quality I want to have.

There are a few things about her life I don’t want to have: her crankiness when she gets hungry, her slightly overbearing mother, and her excessive need to overcapitalize things. Gosh, That’s Silly.

You can read the first chapter of Ditched here: www.robinmellom.com/books/teen-books/ditched

About the Author:

Robin Mellom has taught grades five through eight and has a master’s degree in education. Ditched: A Love Story is her first novel. Her new middle grade series, The Classroom, launches in June 2012. She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California. Follow her on Twitter (@robinmellom) Visit the author online at: www.RobinMellom.com.

**Please enter to win using the form on the left side bar of our website. Comments left on the post, while appreciated, are not used as entry. Thanks!

The Future of Us - Winners!

3 lucky winners will be receiving a free autographed copy of The Future of Us!

And here they are...

1) Keri Smith
2) Bree Plach
3) Molna Greer

If you didn't win, but still want to read The Future of Us, you can order your own copies on Amazon by clicking here!

Or find it in our official Free Book Friday Amazon Book Store!

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

THE FUTURE OF US

by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler


Young Adult

Razorbill

3 Signed Copies will be given away on Friday, January 13, 2012!

www.facebook.com/TheFutureOfUs
www.JayAsher.blogspot.com
www.CarolynMackler.com


About the Book:

It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long—up until last November, when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh’s family gets an America Online CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring ti over so Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto Facebook…but Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at their profiles fifteen years in the future. Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates—it’s all there. But it’s not what they expected. And every time they refresh their pages, their future changes. As they grapple with the ups and downs of what their lives hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right—and wrong—in the present.

Check out our Exclusive Extended Interview with the Authors here:

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

CAROLYN: Jay and I were brainstorming about an interesting topic for a collaborative novel and I told him this story from when I was a teenager. My dad came up to me and said, “Do you realize that your future husband is out there in the world living his life right now?” At the time, the prospect of that just blew my mind. I asked Jay what he thought would happen if you could find out, as a teenager, who your future spouse will be. How would that change the course of your life? Within seconds, we were saying to each other, “What if you could see that spouse on Facebook?” An idea was born.

2) No matter how many books you write, I’m sure each one has its own challenges. How was this book more challenging to write than your others? How was it easier?

JAY: This book was a lot easier. With my previous book, if I got stuck on a story element, it could take a long time to find a solution. Here, if one of us was stuck, Carolyn and I would be on the phone within hours bouncing around ideas. Because we shared an identical vision for this story, everything moved much faster and smoother than if we’d written it alone. Now that it’s finished, it does feel like a book either of us could’ve written by ourselves, and it would’ve turned out very similar. But it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun to write!

3) Thinking back to the way beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

CAROLYN: Every time I start a book, it feels like the first time I’ve ever done it. I’m clueless, in way over my head, and I have no idea how I’m going to make it happen. I suppose that’s a good way to keep things fresh, but it’s hard to remember each time that I’ve been here before and I will eventually know what I’m doing again.

4) Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?

JAY: My favorite part is brainstorming, whether I’m with a notebook or computer or just driving and thinking. I love thinking about the characters and twists and all the possibilities. My least favorite part is the actual writing. But then, when I get through the story and go back to refine my word choices, I like it again.

5) This would make a great film. Any talks of turning your book into a movie?

CAROLYN: We’ve already sold the film option for THE FUTURE OF US t0 Warner Bros. It was this crazily paced week where Jay and I turned in the final draft of the book, he flew to New York City so we could film a video about it together, and then – while we were having lunch with our publisher to celebrate – we got a call from our film agent about the movie rights.

6) If you could have dinner with one of your characters who would it be?

JAY: I’d have dinner with Sydney. There are a lot of characters in the book that we originally thought would have small roles, but ended up becoming much richer characters as the story went along. Sydney is one of those characters, but most of her backstory is simply hinted at. I think there’s a lot to her that remains hidden. Plus, she comes from a wealthy family, so maybe she’d pay for the dinner!

CAROLYN: I’d have dinner with Jordan Jones, Jr., the first husband Emma has when she looks at Facebook. I’m curious who Emma got rid of so hastily, if he’s actually an amazing guy or if Emma made a good decision by making sure they’d never meet.

7) Who’s your favorite character in the book and why? Who was the most fun to write?

JAY: Tyson was another one of those characters who started off small, but became much more developed out of both necessity for the story and simply because he refused to stay in the background. His humor and sensitivity also made him the most fun character to work on.

8) Which came first, the title or the novel?

JAY: The novel came first, which we were calling IT’S ABOUT TIME. It took forever to come up with the final title because we wanted something that hinted at the premise and hopefully worked on a couple levels. With our editor, publisher, and agents all trying to figure this out, we discarded dozens of titles that sounded too sci-fi, too romantic, or too blah. We literally hit upon THE FUTURE OF US within hours of absolutely needing it.

About the Author:

Jay Asher’s first novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list, with foreign rights sold in over 30 countries and more than 1,000,000 copies in print in the US alone.

Carolyn Mackler is the Printz Honor winning author of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things; Tangled; Guyaholic; Vegan Virgin Valentine; and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Her novels have been published in over 15 countries.

Visit the authors online at:
www.facebook.com/TheFutureOfUs
www.JayAsher.blogspot.com
www.CarolynMackler.com

**Please enter to win using the form on the left side bar of our website. Comments left on the post, while appreciated, are not used as entry. Thanks!