Hi Everyone! I hope you’re all having a great holiday season. Best wishes to you and yours, and may AWESOME STUFF happen to you this coming year in 2017!!

My year in review:
1. My second YA novel, BOTTLED, released on July 7. I’ve officially earned enough $ to have paperbacks made by my Clean Reads publisher, and here’s a shot of them all decked out in Christmas array. I just love seeing my books in multiples!! By the way, I noticed the ebook is still only 99 cents on Amazon HERE--ya can't beat that price.

2. My third YA novel, THE LYING PLANET, released on September 19. I’ve also gotten copies of this for myself to sell at writer conferences like the annual spring SCBWI gathering I go to in the Portland, Oregon, area.

3. I’m featured today on the ADVENTURES TO YA PUBLISHING blog as a guest post author, talking about The Zen of Accepting Bad Reviews. Come visit, read, and comment HERE!

4. At the beginning of the year, I started a fairy tale retelling of a more obscure French story, and I’m pleased to say that I’m just a couple of chapters away from finishing the rough draft of the book, at about 81,000 words. I’m really surprised I did so much on it, since I was swamped with editorial notes and release promo for my two other books this year. Talk about busy!! Whew. Remind me never to do that again. lol  Anyway, I hope to shape up this book and be querying an agent by about March or so. Query trenches, here I come! Email me if you write YA and you might like to beta or critique partner swap in January! (carolriggsauthor at gmail)

5. I’m officially announcing today that I’m taking time off from blogging to concentrate on my writing for 2017. Blogging has been a great adventure for me since I began it in 2010, but now I feel my focus is better spent elsewhere. While I love visiting blogs and seeing what my bloggy buddies are doing, it’s also very time-consuming. I’d love to stay connected with you and swap news, though; my main areas will be Facebook and Twitter from now on. Please find me there if you aren’t following me already! Here are the links:

Carol on FACEBOOK: Carol Riggs, Author
Carol on TWITTER: @Artzicarol

YOUR TURN
What are your goals (writing or otherwise) for 2017?
How do you feel about blogging? Are you still loving it, or are you growing weary?
What are your plans for the holidays—anything unusual, exciting, or heartwarming to share?

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Hi everyone! I've been doing more "real life" than writing these days, but I hope to get back to My Writing Job soon. Meanwhile, through the end of October and a few days into November, my BOTTLED novel is only 99 cents if you haven't snagged yourself a copy! Check it out HERE.

Today I’m featuring a new release by author Jordan Elizabeth (Mierek), a YA novel called KITISHI ISLAND. Here are the details and a short excerpt:

KISTISHI ISLAND
A young adult novel about what happens when your imaginary friends aren’t so imaginary after all.

Serena Cole can kick serious butt thanks to young women only she can see. School bullies aren’t her only problem. To shield Serena from a dark secret, her family tries to convince her that her friends are imaginary.

Fleeing her distrustful aunt, Serena joins her mother on an archeological dig at Kistishi Island. There, Serena discovers an ancient scroll and realizes her invisible friends are goddesses native to the island, and they are in danger of enslavement for their abilities. Only Serena can save her friends if she can discover the past her family has hidden her entire life – the reason why only she can see the goddesses.

KISTISHI ISLAND is now available on Amazon from Clean Reads.
Add to your to-read list on GoodReads!

Check out Chapter 1:
“How are your imaginary friends?” Serena read aloud from the black marker scrawled on her locker. Her dry lips stuck together with each word as the sarcasm stung her mind. The janitor might scrub the permanent marker, but it would always remain a faint reminder of how much people ridiculed her. The washed out marks from last week, “Schizo,” “Fake,” and “Your imaginary friends hate you,” still showed up against the brown metal.

“Aw, someone cares about my day.” Krieg hovered behind, picking fuzz off her dress. “You should answer them. Write ‘Krieg says hi’ underneath.”

The last thing she needed was people knowing how much she still communicated with Krieg. Serena glanced down the hallway, but the students strolling by didn’t look her way. Who could have written the graffiti? Roxanne? Her hand trembling, Serena spun the combination on her lock and jerked open the dented locker door. The hinges rattled.

Did it hurt them if she had an invisible friend? As she exchanged a textbook for her social studies notes, someone bumped her butt. She lost her balance, flinging out her hand to grab the locker.

“Whoops,” a boy said and snickered.

Serena’s cheeks burned as she stuffed her supplies into her messenger bag. One more hour of high school and she could go home. Tomorrow she would bring another marker to scribble out the words that branded her.

Krieg leaned in close enough for Serena to smell her peppermint bubble gum, and said, “Bludgeon them. It’s the only way to get them to shut up.”

“No one’s talking about me right now.” Serena’s sneakers squeaked against the tile floor as she ducked into the classroom. Afternoon sunlight reflected off faded Holocaust posters on the off-white walls.

“It’s annoying when you allow the little rodents to torment you.” Krieg stuck her tongue out at the few students settling into their seats. “Where are the beheadings and crocodile pits? How about some maiming? I want to hear screaming and bones crunching.”

“This is the suburbs in the twenty-first century. People don’t do that stuff here.” Serena took her favorite seat in the back near the globe and opened her messenger bag to remove her notebook. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jordan Elizabeth is known for her odd sense of humor and her outrageous outfits.  Surrounded by bookshelves, she can often be found pounding away at her keyboard – she’s known for breaking keyboards, too.  Jordan’s young adult novels include ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, COGLING, TREASURE DARKLY, BORN OF TREASURE, GOAT CHILDREN, VICTORIAN, and RUNNERS AND RIDERS.  KISTISHI ISLAND is her first novel with Clean Reads.  Check out her website for bonus scenes and contests. 

Win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Giveaway runs from October 27 through November 10.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

YOUR TURN
What do you think of the cover of KISTISHI ISLAND?
Growing up, did you ever have an imaginary friend?
How are your writing projects going—are you trying NaNo this year?
Have you read any of Jordan's other books?

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The release day of my third book baby has arrived! I’m excited. This was a novel I wrote in 2010 and shelved for years. In 2012, I rewrote it in first person, present tense. Then I dusted it off in 2015, revamping it from a post-apocalyptic dystopian into a science fiction novel, and sold it to Entangled Teen.

And now, an interview with my main character on the planet Liberty (i.e., The Lying Planet. This is not an excerpt, but you can read an excerpt from Chapter 1 on my WEBSITE):

Earth girl, the year 2147: Hello? This is Kasie McCormick from Earth, messaging the planet Liberty. Is anyone connected to the interplanetary hub right now? I have to do a project for my Social Awareness class, and I need a willing victim.

[ping!] Liberty dweller: Yes. Hi, Kasie, I’m on the hub. Ask me anything.

Earth girl Kasie: Awesome! What’s your name, Liberty dweller? Tell me about yourself.

Liberty dweller: Okay, I’m Jay Lawton. I’m 17, almost 18. Turning 18 is a big deal in my colony. We have this silvery Machine that’s shaped like an octopus, and it scans our brains and Tests us on graduation day. If we score high, we get cool rewards like a wristcomm. The really high scorers get a cloudskimmer or a hover vehicle. That’s what I’m aiming for. I’ve logged in a lot of extra hours working in my parents’ garden and collecting eggs at the chicken compound.

Earth girl Kasie: Uh, that’s…weird. I mean, cool. So what’s the deal with Liberty? I mean, you’re basically from Earth, since humans colonized your planet 90 years ago, right?

Liberty dweller Jay: Yep. Then 25 years ago we had a war, and now most of the planet is bombed out and destroyed. My colony  is called Sanctuary, and it’s a safe zone we’ve rebuilt. Refuge and Fort Hope are the other 2 safe zones. We stay away from the outer zones where there’s still a lot of genomide dust.

Earth girl Kasie: What in the twelve galaxies is “genomide dust”?

Liberty dweller Jay: It’s this deadly powder that gets on your skin and in your lungs. Causes genocide, or mass killings. It’s a chemical that burns you—so it’s nothing you want to be around. If the Machine scores us low at our Testings, we’re branded with a “B” on our foreheads and banished to the outer zones where the dust is. Trust me, that’s great motivation to work hard and obey all the strict rules around here.

Earth girl Kasie: Ugh, I bet. Let’s talk about something less creepy. What kind of music do you listen to—any favorite groups?

Liberty dweller Jay: We don’t have recorded music or CDs. At the Nebula, where secondary session kids over 13 hang out and eat, we have live music with technoguitars and singing. I’ve never heard anything besides that. We don’t have movies, either.

Earth girl Kasie: Seriously? Sounds pretty boring. What do you do for fun around the zones?

Liberty dweller Jay: We play helioball, which is this floating, color-changing blob that each team tries to catch when it turns the highest-scoring color. And in the fall we have a Harvest Equinox party. Dancing, sack races, and bobbing for greshfruit, which is sweet like an apple but soft like a nectarine.

Earth girl Kasie: Nice. How else is Liberty different from Earth?

Liberty dweller Jay: Well, we have two moons. Their magnetic pull causes the water from the underground tables to rise every night for an hour starting at 1:00 am. That’s a good thing, because it irrigates our yards and gardens. It never, ever rains here. We also have 13 hours in a day and 8 days in a week, Monday through Restday.

Earth girl Kasie: No rain at all? Wow, interesting. I sure could use an extra day of the week and an extra hour in the day. Especially with this project that’s due tomorrow… So who are your friends?

Liberty dweller Jay: My best friend is Harrel, and my girlfriend’s name is Aubrie…there’s also Peyton, who’s distractingly adorable and clever, and Leonard, who has this annoying scratchy voice and quirky sense of humor. I used to hang with the last two friends back in primary sessions, but they’re rebels now.

Earth girl Kasie: Uh…why are you whispering all of a sudden? Did your parents tell you not to be on the hub right now?

Liberty dweller Jay: It’s night time and I’m not supposed to be awake. And I’m hearing this really freaky noise. Oh, man, I gotta go— 

Earth girl Kasie: Wait! I have one more question… Hello? [dead silence]

Earth girl Kasie: Are you okay, Liberty dweller? Jay—Jay?

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Connect with me:  Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |
Purchase links:  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |

YOUR TURN
Do you like to read (or write) dystopian novels? How about post-apocalyptic?
Have you ever written up an interview with your book character before? (it's fun!)

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(Parentheses: MY WRITING UPDATE)
My YA sci-fi has been re-titled THE LYING PLANET (formerly Safe Zone), and the release date is now September 19 instead of October via Entangled Teen. I had to do some fast revising here recently to accommodate the new schedule! Now I’m finally back to writing my WIP, a YA fantasy that’s coming along nicely at 56,500 words, about 2/3 done.

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TODAY’S FEATURE:
Today I’m pleased to be a part of my longtime writer buddy and critique partner’s book release! Lynda Young is celebrating the upcoming publication of her devotional, CLING TO GOD. It’s an encouraging daily read for Christians to use and grow in their faith.  This releases October 18, 2016 from Freedom Fox Press.

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional
Cling to God in the chaos of life…

Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.





AUTHOR BIO: Lynda R. Young, a Christian first, writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative. She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband. You can find her here: Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads


YOUR TURN
Do you know Lynda, or follow her blog?
Do you enjoy playing computer games? I’ve never gotten into it, but my MOM does!
If you write, what’s YOUR current project these days? Or are you taking a vacation?

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Today I’m delighted to feature an interview with my Oregon author friend, Sue Ford, who has just released an inspirational romantic suspense novel from Clean Reads (June 2016). The title of her book is called ALONE.


ALONE
Ready for adventure in the snowy Colorado mountains, Cecelia Gage is thrilled to be employed as the live-in housekeeper for her favorite bestselling author. The twenty-five-year old doesn’t count on Mark Andrews being so prickly, nor becoming part of the small town gossip centering on the celebrity. Neither does she expect to become involved in Andrews family drama and a relationship with Simon Lindley, Mark’s oh-so-good-looking best friend. And certainly, Cecelia has no idea she’ll be mixed up in a murder investigation because of this job.

Will Cecelia’s faith in God get her through all the trouble that lies ahead?

INTERVIEW WITH SUE
1. What do you like about romantic suspense and inspirational novels?
When I was a teen, I fell in love with romantic suspense books. I liked smart female heroines in dangerous situations, imperfect heroes, and tension and suspense. Since that time the inspirational fiction market has become really strong, and I wanted to share my faith as those books do.

2. What makes your book different from other romance novels?
My main character is a live-in housekeeper and cook, so an unusual profession. Also, in many romantic suspense books heroine and hero meet and fall in love in a few days. That doesn’t feel very realistic to me, so I gave my characters time to become friends first.

3. What was the path to publication for this book—long, short, easy, difficult?
This book took a long path to publication. I wrote it very long ago--in the 1980s! It went through some critiques and rewriting and I was unsuccessful at selling it. I set it aside for a long time. Last fall I pulled it out and realized how much I had learned since I'd written it. In my updating and rewriting, I cut 11,000 words. I sent it out to Clean Reads not really expecting anything. Was a nice surprise to get asked if it was still available.

4. Do you use a pen name?
Yes, I actually have two! SM Ford is my initials with my married last name. But I also write for children under my maiden name Susan Uhlig. I like the idea of keeping them separate and have separate websites.

5. What other writing projects are you working on now—what do you hope to accomplish in your writing future?
I also write for children and teens under my maiden name Susan Uhlig, and am working on a "near future" novel in verse. When that is done and out on submission, I have revising to do on a number of other novels. I'd like to see more books in print to reach more readers.

SUE FORD writes inspirational fiction for adults, although teens may find the stories of interest, too. When she was thirteen, she got hooked on Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense books, although she has been a reader as long as she can remember, and is an eclectic reader. Inspirational authors she enjoys include: Francine Rivers, Bodie Thoene, Dee Henderson, Jan Karon, and many more. Sue is a Pacific Northwest gal. She and her husband have two daughters and two sons-in-law and three grandsons. She can’t figure out how she got to be old enough for all that, however. She also loves assisting other writers on their journeys.

Connect with Sue:  Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook

Purchase links:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo  |  Smashwords  |

YOUR TURN
Have you read many inspirational romance books? How about romantic suspense?
What do you hope to accomplish in YOUR writing future?

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This is an awesome day! BOTTLED is a novel I wrote in 2011-12 that sadly got shelved for years and years. Then, this last winter (2016), I took a chance and submitted it to Clean Reads for publication. It was accepted! It will see the light of day after all, and that bright day has arrived.

BOTTLED
At seventeen, Adeelah Naji is transformed into a genie and imprisoned in a bottle. For a thousand years, she fulfills the wishes of greedy masters, only sustained by the hope of finding Karim, the boy she fell in love with as a human. When at last she finds a note from her beloved, she confirms he has access to the elixir of life and he still searches for her. 

But someone else also hunts her—Faruq, a man who plots to use her powers for evil. With the help of a kind master named Nathan, Adeelah searches for Karim while trying to evade Faruq. To complicate matters, she begins to experience growing fatigue and pain after conjuring, and finds herself struggling against an undeniable attraction to Nathan.

As Faruq closes in, Adeelah must decide how she can protect Nathan and be with Karim forever. How much power over her future does she really have, and what is she willing to sacrifice for an eternity of love? If she makes the wrong choice, the deaths of many will be on her hands.

Connect with me here!  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy links for BOTTLED:   Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble

Add to Goodreads to-read list: HERE

EXCERPT from BOTTLED, mid-Chapter 1:
My attention snags on a doorway to a small bathing area, and a booklet on the wall that shows it’s April. April 1977.

I gape. It hasn’t been a mere century I’ve been locked away from the human realm in that vault. It’s been more like three.

Bello scoops up my slender but sturdy glass bottle from the bed, greed churning behind his eyes. “So you can give me whatever else I want? Gold, whiskey? Foxy women?”

“I’ll grant you any wish within my ability, Master,” I say.

He frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you all-powerful or not? It doesn’t matter if I have endless wishes if all I can get is chutney, cold beer, and pita.”

I hold back a sigh. I prefer to tell him I’m unable to fulfill any of his wishes, limitless or not, but the bottle won’t let me lie. “My powers are restricted only when the wishes involve people. I can’t materialize people who don’t exist or bring them to you against their will. I can’t make them alive if they’ve died, or directly kill them. I also can’t change their bodies, minds, or personalities. But I’m able to take you places, modify objects, and grant you many tangible things.”

“Tangible. What’s that?”

I must say, this guy isn’t the swiftest camel in the caravan. “Things you can touch. No wishing for things like happiness, true love, and infinite world peace.”


[end of excerpt; I hope you enjoyed it!]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YOUR TURN
Do you have novels you’ve shelved as a writer, that you hope to revive some day?
As a reader, are you noticing a lot of genie novels being released lately?
What’s your favorite paranormal subject matter (vampires, angels, genies, werewolves, faeries, aliens, mermaids, etc.)?
 

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Michelle Merrill, author of CHANGING FATE, a YA novel about battling cystic fibrosis, is releasing her second book today! This new one is about genies, which is amusing because Michelle and I are critique partners and a few years ago we both wrote genie novels without knowing the other was doing it. And now we’re releasing them just one week apart (my YA, BOTTLED, releases next week on July 7!). Let's help Michelle celebrate the book birthday of GRANTED!!

GRANTED
The existence of genies may be the best kept secret in the history of the world.

After being trapped in the Sahara Desert her whole life, sixteen-year-old genie Brielle finally gets her first assignment in Tri-Cities, Washington. She eagerly heads out into the human world to grant her first wish so she can gain her magic. Unfortunately, her assigned human, Addie, gave up believing in wishes years ago and would much rather everyone just leave her alone.

Complicating everything is Rock, Brielle’s childhood friend turned enemy. Brielle doesn’t need him ruining her first trip out into the human world. Too bad she can’t keep her mind--or her eyes--off him and his annoyingly cute dimples.

To make matters worse, genies in the Tri-Cities area are suspiciously dying. One broken lamp could be an accident, but after three, Brielle suspects someone has uncovered the genies’ secret and is slowly killing them off one by one. With the Genie Council ignoring the threat, Brielle desperately needs to gain her magic so she can stop the murderer before she—or Rock—is the next genie to die.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names. To learn more about her, visit her website HERE.

Granted will be available for only $2.99 from June 30th – July 7th! That's discounted from $4.99! So nab your copy on Amazon: HERE.    

Also, you can enter to win a signed copy on the Future House Publishing blog HERE, and they’re giving away physical copies on Goodreads starting July 1: HERE.

To add to your to-read list: Goodreads.

YOUR TURN
What do you think of Michelle’s cover for GRANTED?
I think I’ve read about 4 or 5 genie novels; how many have you read? Here’s a list one blogger created: 11 YA Books about Jinn/Djinn/Genies   

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Today I’m thrilled to reveal the cover of my YA fantasy, BOTTLED! My book finally has a “face.” CHECK THIS OUT!!

View the book summary or add this to your Goodreads reading list: BOTTLED  

Only 6 weeks until the July 7 release!!

YOUR TURN

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A MASTER OF INVENTED LANGUAGE
J.R.R. Tolkein did it. He loved making up languages, creating (among other ones in less depth) two different Elvish tongues, Qenya and Sindarin, for his books set in Middle Earth.

Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. My daughters used to run around chanting this when they were young, especially after I found the actual One Ring online with those very words inscribed on them in Elvish writing. It made for a great Christmas present(s)! Translated, the words mean: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

USING REAL LANGUAGES
In the 1990s, I included some Hindi phrases in a YA book I was writing set in alternate-India. It was great fun researching. One of the fascinating things I learned was that for Hindi, the tongue is placed differently for sounds like “t” and “d.” It’s more of a “dental” tongue placement; where English-spreaking people usually say these consonants with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth (alveolar ridge), Hindi speakers say them with the tongue touching just behind their teeth. Cool!

MY NEW NOVEL
My new YA novel, my WIP (work-in-progress) is a fairy tale retelling. The main character does not speak the language of humans; she calls it “human-speak.” Of course, from her viewpoint, she speaks the English words that I’m writing in the narrative and usual dialogue, so when I had her attempt to communicate with a human, I decided to invent a language that would be “human-speak.” Such fun! For the base of my ideas for these words, I blended bits of French, Spanish, and Latin together to come up with a unique language all its own.

CAUTION
The caution with using real languages as well as made-up ones is not to overdo it. Readers may not be as entranced at your authentic or invented words as you are. Use them sparingly, like salt—for flavor, rather than heavily saturated. This is similar to using dialect or presenting people from other cultures or geographic areas or educations (dropping the g’s at the end of words, for instance): it’s very easy to overwhelm the page and the reader. I realized this when I got a little weary inventing more and more words. I decided my reader would be tired of it as I was getting; I had to go back and pare some usages down. Flavor, not saturation.

YOUR TURN
Have you ever made up a language in a short story or novel you’ve written?
Have you ever included a foreign language in your manuscripts? Spanish, French, etc?
Have you memorized the Elvish inscription/chant for The One Ring?
JK Rowling carefully based her magical chants in Harry Potter on Latin. Do you know some wand commands from the books—what is the forbidden spell that kills others?

 

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Today I'm happy to help announce the release of GOAT CHILDREN by Jordan Elizabeth. I've read and enjoyed her novel, COGLING, and this one sounds interesting too.

GOAT CHILDREN
A young adult novel with a touch of fantasy, love, and imagination versus reality.

When Keziah’s grandmother, Oma, is diagnosed with dementia, Keziah faces two choices: leave her family and move to New Winchester to care for Oma, or stay in New York City and allow her grandmother to live in a nursing home miles away.

The dementia causes Oma to be rude and paranoid, nothing like the woman Keziah remembers. Each day becomes a greater weight and love a harsher burden. Keziah must keep Oma from wandering off or falling, and try to convince her grandmother to see a doctor as her eyesight and hearing fail, but Oma refuses to believe anything is wrong. Resentful of her hardships in New Winchester, Keziah finds herself drawn to Oma’s ramblings about the Goat Children, a mythical warrior class. These fighters ride winged horses, locating people in need, while attempting to destroy evil in the world. Oma sees the Goat Children everywhere, and as Keziah reads the stories Oma wrote about them, she begins to question if they really exist.

GOAT CHILDREN is now available on Amazon from CHBB.

 Check out early reviews on GoodReads!

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, is known for her odd sense of humor and her outrageous outfits.  Surrounded by bookshelves, she can often be found pounding away at her keyboard – she’s known for breaking keyboards, too.  Jordan’s young adult novels include ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, COGLING, TREASURE DARKLY, and BORN OF TREASURE.  GOAT CHILDREN is her first novel with CHBB.  Her short stories are featured in over twenty anthologies.

Check out her website for bonus scenes and contests.


YOUR TURN
Have you read any of Jordan Elizabeth's books?
Have you read any other books dealing with a character who has dementia?
What did you do over Easter weekend?

Add a Comment

I’m thrilled to announce I’ve signed with Clean Reads for my third YA novel!! This one is actually a fantasy, called BOTTLED. The ebook will release in July 2016, making it come out before my sci-fi from Entangled Teen, SAFE ZONE, which releases in October 2016.

I used to watch “I Dream of Jeannie” all the time as a young girl (yes, I am that old), along with “Bewitched.” I loved those shows! Except I have to admit sometimes Jeannie drove me NUTS with all the torturous scrapes and tangles she got her master into. This novel is a more serious tribute to the show, with my genie having more limited powers; she can’t use her abilities to reach her own goals. 

Here’s the book summary:

BOTTLED
At seventeen, Adeelah Naji is transformed into a genie and imprisoned in a bottle. For a thousand years, she fulfills the wishes of greedy masters—building their palaces, lining their pockets with gold, and granting them every earthly pleasure. All that sustains her is the hope of finding Karim, the boy she fell in love with as a human. When at last she finds a note from her beloved, she confirms he has access to the elixir of life and that he still searches for her. 

But someone else also hunts her. Faruq—the man who plots to use her powers to murder and seize the life forces of others—is just one step behind her. With the help of a kind master named Nathan, Adeelah continues to search for Karim while trying to evade Faruq. To complicate matters, she begins to experience growing fatigue and pain after conjuring, and finds herself struggling against an undeniable attraction to Nathan.

As Faruq closes in, Adeelah must decide just how much she’ll risk to protect Nathan and be with Karim forever. How much power does she really have to change her future, and what is she willing to sacrifice for an eternity of love? If she makes the wrong choice, the deaths of many will be on her hands.

YOUR TURN
Have you ever seen the “I Dream of Jeannie” show? How about “Bewitched”?
Have you ever written a genie novel or thought about writing one?
Do you enjoy reading genie stories?

Add a Comment

Today I’m pleased to help showcase the beautiful cover of a YA fantasy novel by my blogger-author friend, Rebekah Purdy. This is the third and final book in her series that began with THE WINTER PEOPLE and continued with THE SUMMER MARKED.

THE WINTER’S SPITE
On the eve of the winter solstice, Salome receives word of a family tragedy in the human world, and an urgent request to return home. But after a failed attack on Winter, and the whereabouts of the Winter Court unknown, Nevin forbids her to go, declaring it too dangerous. However, Salome knows she needs to be with her family and can’t sit by to wait for the inevitable.

Gwenn has been a royal guard most of her life, and although she’s not a fan of humans, she has to admit Salome’s growing on her. So when Salome begs her to cover for her for a few days so she can be with her family, Gwenn can’t refuse. Gwenn soon finds herself creating diversions to keep Nevin from discovering Salome’s disappearance. Problem is the Council is growing suspicious of Salome’s absence, and has started making threats about Nevin’s removal as king. With her lie on the brink of discovery, Gwenn needs to find out what’s taking her brother and Salome so long to return. When she discovers the portals are closed, and someone within the Council has betrayed Summer, Gwenn knows the kingdom’s in jeopardy. But before she can confide in Nevin about helping Salome leave Faerie, Gwenn finds herself at the enemy’s mercy, fighting for her life.

When Salome arrives in the human world, she finds everything in chaos. Grisselle, the Winter Queen, has done the impossible and brought war to Salome’s world. And Kadie is acting as her right hand. Monsters born of man’s worst nightmares roam the streets—dark faeries and ghosts bring terror and destruction. And to her horror she discovers an old enemy is back from the dead, while a new one lurks in the shadows—watching her, hunting her—preparing to make its move. And this time they mean to finish what they started.

ADD The Winter’s Spite to your Goodreads page: HERE.

Without further ado, here is the cover for this book. Isn’t it lovely??!

Get ready! THE WINTER’S SPITE will release this summer, June 27, 2016.

Author Bio:
Rebekah was born and raised in Michigan where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. She’s lived in Michigan most of her life other than the few years she spent in the U.S. Army. At which time she got a chance to experience Missouri, Kansas, South Carolina, and California. Rebekah has a business degree from University of Phoenix and currently works full time for the court system. In her free time she writes YA stories, anything from YA Fantasy to YA Contemporary Romance. Rebekah also has a big family (6 kids) she likes to consider her family as the modern day Brady Bunch complete with crazy road trips and game nights. When not hiding at her computer, Rebekah enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games, traveling, and hanging out with her family and gazillion pets.

Follow Rebekah on: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Pinterest

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YOUR TURN
Do you like to read books in a series vs standalone books? Why or why not?
What do you think of Rebekah’s new cover?
Did you race out and add this book or the whole series to your reading list?!

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Sometimes it’s refreshing to change things up from the normal things you write as a writer. Especially if you usually write novels, it’s fun to fiddle on a flashfiction piece, craft a short story, jot down some stream of consciousness thoughts, or pen a Haiku or poem. Yesterday I wrote some one-sentence lines that were really fun (even though I should’ve been writing on my new fairy tale retelling novel).

THE WORST EVER CONTEST
What I did was enter a contest I saw mentioned in the Publisher’s Weekly newsletter. Here are the details:

WHERE: Publisher’s Weekly ShelfTalker article HERE. Just comment to enter!
WHAT: Write not necessarily the world’s worst sentence, but according to the Bulwer-Lytton award description, “…compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.” Examples are listed in the article, and there is a link to the Bulwer-Lytton site to peruse past winners’ lines.
WHEN: Deadline is Sunday, January 17. Winners announced January 18, 2016.
DETAILS: You can enter in different categories, from picture book to horror to science fiction. I entered more than once, although it did NOT say you could in this article…it said you could on the 2015 Bulwer-Lytton site, though.
PRIZES: ARC books and “rare prizes.” And the thrill of having won, of course.

MY ENTRIES
(Misc./Romance): The minute Kacy’s eyes landed on him like a pair of bottleflies to a cow pie, she pegged him for the kind of bad boy her mother had always warned her about—she saw it in his bedroom-lidded eyes, his dangerous Walmart jeans, and the disdainful haircut that simply screamed “Edward Scissorhands.”

Fantasy: Little known amongst the troubled villagers of Wunce-Upon-a-Thyme, a certain glass-half-empty nerd on the edge of town named Clod the Hopper was at that very moment watering the plants in his master’s recreational herb shop, destined to be The One.

Young Adult: Heart pounding, I stare at the mess that used to be my locker—the lipsticked magnetic mirror, the spilled Skittles, and the books tossed face-down with no regard to their spines—right as Lacey Wunderbar, head cheerleader, struts by with her trio of minions in a sweep of smug, popular-scented air.

(Misc.): The cat knew by the slam of the car door in the driveway that her carnage would soon be discovered, so, scattering litter gravel from between her toes, she leaped to the window seat in order to lounge far from the incriminating (now empty) package of silently thawing lamb chops that had met their untimely demise just a few minutes prior.

YOUR TURN
Have you ever entered a writing contest before?
Do you think you might give this contest a whirl, if you have time before Sunday?
Have you ever switched up your writing routine, and thrown in some Haiku, a short story, some journaling, or a flashfiction?

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Ta-dah! Here is the official announcement from Publisher’s Marketplace about my latest book deal from Entangled Teen. What a great Christmas present!

In case you can’t see it, read the paragraph below the image or click to enlarge:


 
Author of THE BODY INSTITUTE Carol Riggs’s SAFE ZONE, set in a future where one teen boy discovers all the parents have been replaced with aliens, to Stacy Cantor Abrams at Entangled Teen, for publication in Fall 2016 (World). 

I’m excited about working with my excellent editor, Stacy, again. The announcement mentions one of my plot reveals, about the aliens—but luckily that discovery happens close to the beginning of the book. The novel is also on Goodreads already, although without a “real” cover yet. Add it HERE or wait for a more complete summary before deciding if you want to read it.

How did I end up writing another sci-fi novel when I usually write light or contemporary fantasy? Well, Entangled wanted to follow up THE BODY INSTITUTE with another sci-fi, which is wise for second-book marketing purposes. I blew the dust off an old manuscript, sci-fi-ized it, and submitted that; it was accepted. Still, SAFE ZONE is light sci-fi rather than hard, even though it’s set on another planet.

2016: I will be busy this next year, revising SAFE ZONE. Plus, I’ve started writing a fairy tale retelling for a light fantasy novel. I’m still exploring, feeling my way into the voice and characters—it’s awesome to start a totally new project after doing revisions for so long!

YOUR TURN
What’s on your 2016 agenda? What are your writing or life goals for the new year?
How long has it been since YOU started a brand new project, rather than revising old ones?

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Photo art courtesy of the SCBWI

Today is the launch of something brand new and exciting! The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is presenting a book launch for its authors’ books—picture books through young adult novels. Now that’s reason to celebrate!

Come browse the books! There are contests featured, book trailers to watch, guest books to sign, pages to Like, and books to buy for holiday presents. Can’t lose with all that! Check the titles out HERE.

My young adult sci-fi debut book, THE BODY INSTITUTE, released September 1 and is also featured in this launch party. Have you read it yet? This is an easy opportunity to sign up to be entered to win a paperback copy in a free giveaway that ends January 15. Come visit me HERE, sign the guest book to say “Hi,” and enter!

YOUR TURN
Have you visited the SCBWI launch party page yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!
Happy holidays! See ya in 2016! Do you have special plans for December?




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I’m a writer, so I totally get the months and even years of absolute WORK that goes into making a novel. All the plotting, revising, shaping, and polishing. Not to mention the arduous process of becoming published. Therefore, I try to give books a chance…to read through the sometimes slower parts, to forgive inconsistencies and shrug off odd plot tangents.

I read for pleasure as well as for research in my genre. Yet my time is finite. As benevolent and lenient as I try to be, there are still some books that I find myself giving up on. I relegate them to the “DNF” (did not finish) realms. Why do people give up on books?

SOME REASONS FOR “DNF”
1. Slow-paced, uninteresting. This is certainly in the eye of the beholder, as what is fascinating to one person may be highly entertaining to another. But some novels are more inherently gripping than others, with more tension, conflict, and quicker pacing.
2. Violence. I recently read half of an adult novel before giving up on it for its constant and graphic violence. It’s just not my thing. I’m (old and) impressionable, and images stick with me forever. I don’t really want to get desensitized, either.
3. Sex or extreme sensuality. Not my thing, either. I prefer fade to black, where the action and details occur off-scene. That’s partly why I read mostly YA rather than adult novels.
4. Character actions/motivations. If the main character is constantly doing stupid things, it gets old fast. Sure, he or she can make mistakes, but I want the character to learn from those mistakes and not do them over and over. I also don’t want the whole plot to be able to be cleared up by one conversation or act, but the MC won’t do it for flimsy reasons.
5. Love triangles. Some people hate these to the point of loathing. I don’t mind so much if the characters aren’t shallow, and if they are attracted to each other more than by appearance (the “oh-he’s-so-HOT” syndrome).
6. Cliché plots, no surprises. I don’t want to feel I’ve read something before. Like it’s the same plot as another book or movie, except with interchangeable characters. And who doesn’t like a good twist, where you think, “Whoa! I never saw that coming.”
7. Too much description. Some people adore description, particularly lovers of high fantasy. For me, I want a quick snapshot, a pertinent paragraph at most of something to set a scene or mood. My mind wanders otherwise, or else I start skimming.

YOUR TURN
Have you ever NOT finished a book? 
Which of these things above made you not finish a book? Were there other reasons?

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BEE organized--use a style sheet!

I like to be organized, but to be honest, I don’t always have a full-blown style sheet for my novels. However, with my latest sci-fi I’m writing, I found it helpful to make one for consistency’s sake.

WHAT IS A STYLE SHEET?
A style sheet is basically a glossary of terms used for a piece of writing, usually a novel. Open up a document, type in the words (in categories if you like), and save them. It’s that simple. Or use an Excel spreadsheet to have columns to keep track of things pertinent to each character or geographic location.


WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A STYLE SHEET?
1. It often makes a copyeditor’s job easier; he or she will love you if you have everything organized into one document.
2. It helps you keep track of your worldbuilding—especially if you write speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, etc). Majorly helpful if your world is complex or extensive.
3. It helps you be CONSISTENT. After you nail down the spelling and words/expressions you want, you can do a search in the manuscript to check for consistency. Did you hyphenate a certain word—or use it as a compound word?
4. To make sure all your characters don’t sound alike, so they speak uniquely. Some characters may not use contractions. Others may say “gonna” instead of “going to.”

WHAT THINGS DOES A STYLE SHEET KEEP TRACK OF?
1. Coined words unique to your setting
2. Slang particular to the book, setting, or each character
3. Unique spellings appearing in the manuscript, or ones not familiar to the reader.
4. Expressions one character says repeatedly that no other character says
5. Nicknames for certain characters and who uses those nicknames
6. Names or titles of geographic locations
7. Distinct vocabulary for each character, depending on their education or background
8. Historical backgrounds and settings if you’re writing historical fiction
9. Magical incantations, spells, and rules
10. Your manuscript's particular symbolism and what each instance means. 

YOUR TURN
Do you use style sheets, and if so, do you find them helpful?
Do you think a style sheet would be good to use even for non-speculative fiction?

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What words do your characters use to express themselves? Their choices say something about their personalities, age, culture, education, outlook on life, etc. Every character should say things that reflect his or her individuality. Your characters should not all sound the same.

CASUAL TALK or NOT: Do they say Yeah, Yes, or Yep? Gonna or Going to? Don’tcha or Don’t you?

EDUCATION and PROPER GRAMMAR: Do they never split their infinitives? (to really sound educated vs. to sound really educated). Do they say "I’ve got to get some breakfast" rather than "I have to get some breakfast"?

EMOTIONS: When they’re impressed, do they say "Awesome!" or "Fan-freaking-tastic!" or do they use a made up word from their culture, genre, and times—like Firefly’s “SHINY!”

SWEARING: Do they curse like a sailor and throw out F-bombs, or do they erupt with a mild "Oh, for Pete’s sake!" when they’re peeved? In my near-future sci-fi novel, The Body Institute, Morgan’s exclamation of irritation is: “What the haze?” Some characters might not even wait until an annoying moment to pepper their speech; like people in real life, their swearing is a part of their everyday sentences.

EXPRESSIONS, etc: Do they throw out silly words like Zoinks and Yikes and Yoo-hoo? Do they make up words like yummers, nerdify, germ-ful—or brillig and slithy toves (thanks, Lewis Carroll)?

VOCABULARY:  When speaking, do these people choose complex words or simpler ones? Such as compulsory vs. required, insubordinate vs. naughty, docile vs. quiet, hullabaloo vs. commotion—or even simpler, fuss?

CULTURE or ETHNIC INFLUENCES: What your characters have grown up with, such as You guys or Ya’ll. Or Crikey. Whether the third meal of the day is labeled Supper or Dinner. Whether you’re referring to a British Biscuit as opposed to a U.S. Cookie.  

AGE and SLANG: Words come and go, so be careful if you’re older and writing for tweens or tweens. Especially when it comes to slang. "What a drag" and "bummer" and "lame" are apparently not used much anymore, but if you have an older character—perfect! Use those phrases for them. Expressions like "Are you pulling my leg?" and "That’s SICK!" may fast become obsolete and change meaning by the time your book is published. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve heard it said—and I’m not sure how successful I am about this in my own writing—but you should be able to read a scene in your writing without using the dialogue tags (those things that indicate who’s saying each line, e.g. he said), and be able to tell who each character is. They should sound THAT different.

YOUR TURN
How do YOUR characters express themselves? Casually, oh-so-proper grammar, or what?
What do you use for slang in teen novels—do you try to stay updated, or do you steer clear?
Have you ever tried reading your scenes with dialogue ONLY, to see if your characters have distinct voices or ways of talking?

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At eighteen it’s tough to decide a life path when the threat of pandemic hangs over the world, your brother is the genius who engineered the plague, and you’re repeatedly drawn into the fight against the terrorists spreading it. Plenty of people would kill an Abernathy on sight so it would be wise for Mar to visit the dojo, otherwise play invisible, but her brother is manipulating her into another adventure.

Purchase: Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

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Sometimes when you’re writing a scene, you need to avoid the “talking heads” syndrome where 2 people are chatting on the pages but doing absolutely nothing to further the plot. They need to have this conversation—but what do you have them do while they’re discussing?

IDEAS FOR THE STUFF BETWEEN
1. Absolutely nothing. Don’t be afraid to have a simple back-and-forth with no action, or even (gasp!) no dialogue tags like “he said” and “she said.” Just be careful not to go on too long or your reader may lose track of who is saying what. It depends on the interchange, but 6-12 non-tagged lines are usually long enough before you have to tag or identify:

A looming presence appears beside my desk, like a specter of doom. “Curtis.”
“Yes, Mrs. Taylor?”
“Your assignment was due last week, and I don’t see it in my homework box.”
“Um…this may sound hard to believe, but my dog ate it.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe that for one microsecond.”
“No, really! I know it’s a freakin’ cliché, but Rambo was locked inside my room while my mom was doing some girlie hair dye thing with my sister—”
“I’m going to need a note from your mother about that, then.”
I slouch in my desk. Oops, definite snag. Used the wrong alibi for that one.

2. Have the character think or do a simple action. Especially useful when writing in first person, this Shows the reader the character’s personality rather than Telling what someone is like. For instance, the last 2 lines of thought in the previous example. Actions also work, such as Curtis slouching in his desk—just be careful not to overdo it and have an actions for nearly EVERY single line. That gets old and tedious, fast.

3. Actions that actually propel the scene forward. Integrate the actions into the dialogue so that something is happening to get the characters from point A to point B. Be careful of doing a lot of overused actions such as sighing, glancing, blinking, lip pursing, and hair smoothing. Use these sparingly and make sure they fit the character you are describing.

Also, don’t have EVERYONE have a habit of twirling strands of hair or biting his/her lower lip whilst thinking under pressure. That’s unrealistic. Keep it to one character as his/her specific trait.

YOUR TURN
How long have you gone on with a dialogue, with no tags in a scene?
Do you find writing dialogue difficult, or fairly easy?
Do you have trouble figuring out what actions your characters should be doing while they are in a conversation, so they don’t sound like “talking heads”?

 

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The day has finally arrived, at loooong last! It’s been a 5-year journey, people. My YA sci-fi novel, THE BODY INSTITUTE, is now available for anyone to read. It’s both thrilling and scary to think about.

Thanks to all of you, my loyal blogging friends, for riding along with me on my trip into publication. As a group, you are mentioned in the acknowledgments at the end of my book! I appreciate your encouragement, support, and word-hugs throughout the past years.  

The Body Institute
When 17-year-old Morgan Dey joins up as a Reducer at The Body Institute, her job is to take over another girl’s body, get her in shape, and then return to her own body. It’s innovative weight loss at its finest. Only there are a few catches…it’s not long before Morgan must decide if being a Reducer is worth the cost of her body and soul.
 
Are we our minds...or our bodies? 

Preorder links:   Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  Indiebound |  Powell's Books  

Fun Facts While Writing The Body Institute
1. BUGS. I was writing the rough draft and my grown daughter was visiting. She sat out on the back porch, sunning like a cat, and soon came whipping back in—squawking that some sort of insect had flown into her ear. So, since I happened to be writing a scene where my main character was outside, I incorporated that bug-in-the-ear experience right into my scene. Fun!
2. BEFORE and AFTER photos. I adore them! Even when I was around 9-10 years old, I was fascinated by articles about people who had lost weight, carefully studying the Before and After photos. As I got older, I was also intrigued by before and after photos of women who applied makeup…photos of house renovations and improvements…photos of pictures drawn by people before they read the book Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain (by Betty Edwards) and then after they did the book’s drawing exercises—and so on.

YOUR TURN
Have you read other YA books that deal with weight and body image?
What do you think of Before and After photos—are you as entranced as I am?
Have you ever incorporated something that happened in real life into your scenes, from either your memories or from something that happened while you were writing?

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I’m happy to be helping celebrate the book release for my online writer friend, Medeia Sharif. Her new contemporary YA novel, HOT PINK IN THE CITY, releases today, August 19th. CONGRATS, Medeia!!

HOT PINK IN THE CITY
Asma Bashir wants two things: a summer fling and her favorite '80s songs. During a trip to New York City to stay with relatives, she messes up in her pursuit of both. She loses track of the hunk she met on her airplane ride, and she does the most terrible thing she could possibly do to her strict uncle…ruin his most prized possession, a rare cassette tape.

A wild goose chase around Manhattan and Brooklyn to find a replacement tape yields many adventures—blackmail, theft, a chance to be a TV star, and so much more. Amid all this turmoil, Asma just might be able to find her crush in the busiest, most exciting city in the world.

Available from Prizm Books: LINK
Available on Amazon: LINK
More purchase links on Medeia’s site: LINK

ABOUT MEDEIA
I was born in New York City and I presently call Miami my home. I received my master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. After becoming a voracious reader in high school and a relentless writer dabbling in many genres in college, I found my niche writing for young people. Today I'm a MG and YA writer published through various presses. In addition to being a writer, I'm a public school teacher. My memberships include Mensa, ALAN, and SCBWI.

  

Connect with Medeia – YA and MG Author:
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Blog   |   Twitter   |   Goodreads   |   Instagram   |   Amazon

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YOUR TURN
Have you ever been to New York City, specifically Manhattan or Brooklyn?
Did you know about this YA book before you read this post?
Do you remember using and listening to cassette tapes?

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Okay, this is just for kicks and giggles. I’ve seen people who write short-short reviews (or summaries) for movies, so I thought I’d give it a whirl with BOOKS. I mean, really short. As in, five words long…er, short.

Can we summarize the essence of a book in 5 words? Let’s try.

Here are my attempts:
Charlotte’s Web: Pig lives, thanks to spider.
Scorpio Races: Night mares rise from the sea.
Lord of the Flies: Island of boys, primal instincts.
1984: Big Brother is watching you.
What’s Left of Me: Double souls, one doesn’t fade.
13 Reasons Why: Tapes reveal reasons for suicide.
The Body Institute: Losing weight FOR other people.

Can you describe these (or other) popular books in only FIVE WORDS? 
Gone With the Wind
Pride and Prejudice
Hunger Games
Divergent
Maze Runner
The Book Thief
Twilight
The Giver
Looking For Alaska
Shiver
City of Bones
If I Stay
Uglies
Hush, Hush
Imaginary Girls
Treasure Island
Legend
Neverwhere
Howl’s Moving CastleSavvy
Shatter Me
A Wrinkle in Time
The Lightning Thief
Doll Bones
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Golden Compass
Harriet the Spy
Bridge to Terabitha
The Hobbit
Hatchet
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

YOUR TURN
Go ahead! Give it a whirl in the comments. Do a completely different book if you want.
Have you heard of these books—did you recognize them even without the authors listed?
Can you summarize your OWN books you’ve written in just five words?

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Today I’m part of the CROW’S REST blog blitz and giveaway, celebrating Angelica R. Jackson’s YA novel!

CROW’S REST
Avery Flynn arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam's, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel.

But Daniel’s not the sweet, neurotic guy she remembers—and she wonders if this is her Daniel at all. Or if someone—some thing—has taken his place.

Her quest to find the real Daniel and get him back plunges Avery into a world of Fae and changelings, where creatures swap bodies like humans change their socks, and magic lives much closer to home than she ever imagined.

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Buy Links: Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo Books 

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ARJ’s Top Ten Urban Fantasy Influences
1. The Borderland series, which starts with an anthology of the same name edited by Terri Windling, and moves on to some novel-length works like Elsewhere by Will Shetterly. It may have actually established the "collision of the strange and the everyday" definition in my mind.
2. Ariel by Steven R. Boyett is a cult favorite from 1983, which takes place in a post-Apocalyptic landscape--where the Apocalypse was caused by technology failing and magic returning to our world.
3. Books by Charles de Lint, who made Urban Fantasy popular with his Newford stories. I recommend starting with Little (Grrl) Lost for the younger YA set, or Svaha for older readers.
4. Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Fiest is a great example of UF that straddles the line into horror.
5. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, which starts with Three Parts Dead, is a great example of what makes UF so hard to compartmentalize--this fantasy novel takes place in an urban environment where the natural laws on the existence of magic are completely different from our world, and yet aspects of the city and its denizens still seem so universal and relatable.
6. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black can stand in for the vampire books that are sometimes labeled "paranormal" (with or without "romance" added to it), sometimes fantasy, but in my mind are UF.
7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is another that fits the above description (but not with vampires).
8. Gail Carriger's YA Finishing School series, which begins with Etiquette and Espionage, is another world that could equally be described as steampunk or UF. 
9. Cassandra Clare's books, especially her Infernal Devices series, also straddles that steampunk/UF/paranormal line.
10. Christopher Moore’s books, which are shelved in general fiction in most bookstores, although they have elements of magical realism, urban fantasy, fantasy, mythology, and horror to various degrees. My favorite is his A Dirty Job, and there’s a sequel to it coming out in August. 

About the Author:
In keeping with her scattered Gemini nature, Angelica R. Jackson has far too many interests to list here. She has an obsession with creating more writing nooks in the home she shares with her husband and two corpulent cats in California's Gold Country. Fortunately, the writing nooks serve for reading and cat cuddling too.

Other pastimes include cooking for food allergies (not necessarily by choice, but she’s come to terms with it), photography, and volunteering at a local no-kill sanctuary.

She blogs at Angelic Muse, and is a contributing member of Operation Awesome and the Fearless Fifteeners.

Author Links: Website  |  Goodreads  |  Twitter  |  Facebook   

YOUR TURN
I whipped on over and got my 99-cent copy of CROW'S REST...how about you? 
How many of Angelica'sTop 10 urban fantasy novels have you read? I've just read TWO, #6 and #7.

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