How to use this Page

Enter to win a copy of STAINED and 7 other great YA books! You have 25 days more to enter.

You can win:

STAINED by Cheryl Rainfield

The Caged Graves by Dianne K Salerni

Grunge Gods and Graveyards by Kimberly G Giarratano

Thin Space by Jody Casella

The Headhunters Race by Kimberly Afe

Touching The Surface by Kimberly Sabatini

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Catherine by April Lindner







Good luck!

and other new YA books at a contest over at Adventures In YA Publishing. You have 27 more days to enter.

The books you can win are:
These Gentle Wounds by Helene Dunbar
Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae
The Eighth Guardian by Meredith McCardel
Killing Ruby Rose by Jessie Humphries
The Eighth Guardian by Meredith McCardel
and
Stained by Cheryl Rainfield (me).

I’m excited that my new YA fantasy Parallel Visions is now out in the world! To celebrate, I’m having a contest. Help me get the word out about Parallel Visions, and you’ll be entered to win bookstore giftcards and an ebook reader. It’s $2.99 ebook, and $7.99 print. It’s up on Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords (where you can get it in every ebook format, including for Nook), and will be up on B&N in a few weeks.

Parallel Visions deals with being different, domestic violence, attempted suicide, rape, and asthma, all in a fantasy setting. Like all my books, it’s also written with suspense and hope, and some of my own trauma and abuse experience.

Evelyn Fazio, the same editor who edited my books Scars and Hunted, edited Parallel Visions. I care a lot about Parallel Visions, just like I do all my books. I hope you’ll help me get the word out.



Check out the book trailer!

Help me get the word out about Parallel Visions, and you can win:

• 1 of 2 bookstore giftcards for $10 (at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, or any other online bookstore)
  
• 1 of 2 bookstore giftcards for $5 (at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, or any other online bookstore)
  
• A Kindle, Kobo, or Nook! (Your choice.)
  

You can get multiple entries to the contest:

• 1 entry for watching the book trailer
  
• 1 entry per tweet about Parallel Visions or my book trailer http://youtu.be/gcq1veOfnbI (up to 5 entries)
  
• 1 entry per post on your blog, FaceBook, Google+, or other social network about Parallel Visions or my book trailer (up to 5 entries, 1 per social network)
  
• 20 entries per ebook or print book bought of Parallel Visions (email me the receipt)
  

So you could have a total of 31 entries to the contest.

Contest is open worldwide, though the ebook reader is US and Canada only. (UK if the stores ship there.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Learn To Play The What-If Game
(Guest post by Barbara Conelli)

From Margo: I am so honored to have Barbara Conelli guest post with this wonderfully inspiring essay on turning around those annoying, negative WHAT IF questions and making them positive. Anyone can benefit from this post! She is using the book she wrote, Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore, to its fullest potential and living the best life she can!

To celebrate her latest book about loving life in Italy, she is offering great prizes. Here’s what you need to know before you read her post about those WHAT-IF questions.

1. A downloadable gift bag for every person who comments on this blog! (I love this idea!) So, what is a downloadable gift bag? You will receive this just for commenting (please leave your email address, so we can send these to you): Chique Virtual Tour: The Secret Gems of Italy Every Woman Must Know, First five chapters of Chique Secrets of Dolce Vita (her first book), First five chapters of Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore (her current book), Chique Blog Tour Special Gift (Only for the tour!): E-Book: The Most Romantic Chique Places to Fall in Love in (and with) Milan. (If you are a lover of Italy, leave a comment!)

2. Every person who leaves a comment will also be entered into a larger drawing for 1 Chique Journal (contest open internationally). Please leave your comment before 8:00 pm CST on Sunday, 7/1 for your chance to win. Comments can be questions, something about the what-if game, thoughts on Italy, pick me, etc.

3. Barbara is doing a bunch of fun stuff with her blog tour this summer, plus she has a book trailer video and more. Check out all the contests, book trailer, her website, etc, by going to WOW!’s blog and reading these two posts: Summer in Italy Contests and blog tour launch.

Don’t skip this article below. It’s wise!

From Barbara on the What-If game!

There are a few words I left out of my vocabulary many years ago, when I realized my verbal habits were my biggest creative roadblocks: I can’t. I should – I shouldn’t. I have to. And the most toxic verbal turn-off: WHAT IF.

For some reason, our ego, traditionally threatened by dreams, visions, aspirations, and creative endeavors of all kinds, seems to thrive on what-if scenarios. They are the fastest tool your inner gremlin uses when it wants you to fall off the wagon, hide under the duvet and cry, delete the new chapter, burn the submission package, cut your hair and swear off high heels.

“What if I’m no good? What if it doesn’t work out? What if my book doesn’t sell? What if I never make it? What if I can’t write? What if everyone hates my story? What if I get the worst reviews in history? What if my family gets upset?”

When your mind decides to play this dirty trick, it hurts. It stings.

THE CONTEST So, now it’s your turn. Tell me about a book you received as a gift that meant a lot to you or one you gave away that meant a lot to you. Put your answer in the comments section then Google Friend my website (if you haven’t already done so), follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads then complete the form below. The comment, GFC and form are required for entry into the contest. You will receive an extra point each for Twitter, Goodreads and FB follows. THE PRIZE One commenter will win a signed and personalized copy of my book Odessa, as well as bookmarks, coverart postcards for each of my other books and whatever else I feel like sticking in. THE GIFT And since this is the Holiday Season, I will be giving one signed copy of Odessa to our local high school library. THE HOP If you enjoyed this posting and wish the chance to win more books, follow this button along its route through the blogs of other Young Adult and Middle Grades authors during our Holiday Hop. Continue reading →

Today, I have something special to share with all you teachers, parents, and librarians who are also children’s writers (or aspiring children’s writers). Wandy Yeap Hoh, the founder and Co-CEO of MeeGenius!, is a mother of three girls, and they love a good story and MeeGenius! Wandy believes that no great story should be left in the dark and hopes to bring every great story to all the children in the world.

She’s a woman I can get behind! If you haven’t heard of MeeGenius!, and I’ll admit I hadn’t until recently, here’s some information about this cool company:

MeeGenius is an e-bookstore just for kids! MeeGenius books feature read-along technology, engaging narration, and a growing catalog of award-winning titles. You can learn more about MeeGenius by downloading the free app from the Apple app store, Android app store, Google TV, Google Chrome, or by visiting www.meegenius.com. Happy Reading!

Margo: Welcome to Read These Books and Use Them, Wandy! Tell me a little about MeeGenius! What type of products do you offer for children and their parents?

Wandy: Thank you for the opportunity, Margo! I am excited to share more about MeeGenius. MeeGenius offers enhanced children’s e-books through our website, Google TV, Google Chrome, Android app store, and Apple app store. All of our e-books are for children ages 0-8 and feature word highlighting, engaging narration, and vivid illustrations to draw a child in. Our bookstore is growing weekly, and we currently offer more then 150 titles for kids and their parents to pick from.

Margo: I was very impressed when I tried some of the free classics! I am hosting you today, so you can share a very special contest with my readers. What is the contest you are offering and when does it start/end?

Wandy: We are very excited about our new author contest! The contest gives aspiring authors an opportunity to have their manuscript read, reviewed, and voted on by the online community. The contest is for unpublished authors only, and our goal is to provide an avenue for these authors to get discovered. The contest begins on September 15th and will end November 1. All manuscripts will be voted on from November 28th – December 18th. The finalist will be announced and then illustrated for the finalist round of voting. The contest will officially end with the winner announced on March 7, 2012.

Margo: What are the prizes for the contest?

Wandy: We are very excited about the prizes! The grand prize winner will receive a digital publishing contract with MeeGenius, including royalties for each book sold. A cash prize of $1,500 dollars and a donation of a MeeGenius library to the school of the winner’s choice! We will also have three runner-up prizes, which include a $500 cash prize and publishing contract.

Margo: I love that prize of a donation to a school. Schools are always in need of new technology and books! Who are the judges?

Wandy: This is the cool part of the contest; the judges are your peers, family, friends, fans, and MeeGenius users! All manuscripts will be posted on the MeeGenius site; the manuscripts with the most “like” (Facebook like button) will advance to the finalist round. The second way to advance will be through a staff favorite pick.

In celebration of SCARS coming out in paperback May 25, I’m having another contest.

You can win 1 of 5 signed paperback copies of SCARS by entering the contest at GoodReads. It’s simple and fast to enter. Contest runs from May 15 til June 15, 2011.

You can also enter to win 5 more *signed* copies of SCARS right here (your choice of paperback or hardcover) AND 1 of 3 $10 Amazon giftcards (or to an online bookstore of your choice). Contest runs from May 15 til June 15, 2011. Open worldwide. I will personalize each book for each winner.

How to enter:

Leave a comment on this blog post = 1 entry.

Post about this contest on FaceBook, your blog, your site, etc = 2 entries PER post.

Tweet about Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself http://ht.ly/4UFJR = 1 entry PER tweet

Post a link & short comment about Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself on your blog, site, or anywhere you can post it where it’s not spam = 5 entries per post

If you did one of each of those, you’d have 9 entries to the contest. You can get more entries by tweeting or posting more.

If you tweet or blog about this contest or Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself, please leave a comment here.

You’ll see by the way I rated the entries that I’m trying to get Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself out there. Why? I think it can help make a difference. It’s something I needed, and that I’ll still turn to as a reminder when I’m having a hard time–and I think it’s something other people may need, too. All those things are also true of my book Scars, but Reasons Not To Hurt Yourself is fast and easy to read and free for everyone.

Good luck!

Yesterday, Ruta Rimas, who has been seeing The Heart is Not a Size through its pre-publishing days at HarperTeen, wrote to say that an early copy of the hardback has arrived at her office.

Contest, I thought.

And so here is a question for any of you who might like to win a copy: Where in the world do you hope to go next, and why? Leave your answer in the comments section here, and I'll choose a name at random by March 10th.

Heart, for its part, takes place partly in Juarez, a place I visited in 2005. Here's a scene from the novel:

Despite the sun and the uptilting slope of the hill, these kids didn’t walk. Even the brother who was carrying his baby sister never slowed for a second, his body bent forward at the waist. There were brothers who came with brothers and clusters of girls and those who came from what must have been east by themselves, all of them dressed in parakeet colors, and I remember a pair of shining patent leathers, throwing the sun back up to the sun. I remember taking that photograph. Sun like bleach, like stain.

Riley’s sapphire eyes were platters; for one bright instant they turned and took the me behind my camera in—took me in, and I snapped that portrait. The loose hair at the back of Sophie’s neck corked, anticipated, seemed ready to flee, but it was Drake who went to tell Mack, and Mack who brought Roberto, and Roberto who called out to the children by name, waving them up the hill faster. The first to reach the top of the hill was a pair of brothers with bright blue eyes and red paisley bandanas that tied back their thick, black hair. Some buttons on their shirts were missing. Their pants were light and loose. When they got to where we were they hung their heads a little bit, but that didn’t disguise their smiles.

The others were right on their heels. A boy in a strawberry-colored sleeveless shirt who had lost his front teeth. The girl with the black patent shoes. Several children—both boys and girls—wearing the same red paisley as the bandana boys. There were streaming colors in the hair of the girls—crimson bows and silver strings, wide navy blue bands striped with mango—and I kept thinking how much those kids must have been loved, how beautiful they

Lara M. Zeises (author of Bringing up the Bones, Contents Under Pressure, and more) has a new book out! Yes, yes she does! It’s called The Sweet Life of Stella Madison, and you can buy a copy at IndieBound.org, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and many friendly neighborhood bookstores.

I’m excited! I’m definitely putting Lara’s book on my to-read list.

Lara has also redesigned and updated her website, and, starting Monday, she’ll be blogging about her new book for a week. The contest is US-only, though I’m hoping that if you have a US friend with a US address, it can be mailed to them. I’ll find out.

There are 10 chances to win Lara’s new book. To enter, you need to submit your favorite family recipe to Lara at her blog no later than midnight, August 8th, 2009. Her ten favorites will win one of the galleys, plus a copy of any of her backlist (Lara) books (you can choose which one they want - good while supplies last), both of which can be inscribed to whomever you want. Winning recipes will also appear on her blog as recipes of the week.

Here’s a description of Lara’s new book, The Sweet Life of Stella Madison. It’s already got me interested :

It’s not easy being the daughter of a famous chef and a restaurant owner when your idea of a great meal is the kind that’s served via a drive-through window.

Seventeen-year-old Stella Madison’s food-loving parents have been separated for years, but they’re still as sweet to each other as can be, which is just the way Stella likes it. When their connections help her land a summer job at the local newspaper, the salary is hard to resist. There’s only one catch: she’s expected to write about food.

Now Stella will need all the advice she can get to complete her assignments. Luckily, she has Jeremy, the hot new intern at her mom’s restaurant, who’s more than happy to help. Soon, Stella can’t stop thinking about Jeremy–but where does that leave Stella’s boyfriend, Max, who recently dropped the L-word? If that’s not confusing enough, her dad’s interest in the pretentious programming director of the Food Network seems to go beyond the culinary, and it looks like her mother might be cooking up a romance of her own.

I have a real treat for you. Three people will win a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, just by leaving a comment below. If you link to this contest on your blog or site, you’ll get an extra entry. (Tell me you did so in the comments.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is such a powerful, gripping YA book, it’s one you won’t want to miss.

Scholastic generously donated three copies for this contest–thank you!

Read my review to find out why I love it so much.

The Rules:

1) Once a month, or when I get to it, I’ll pick a book (or two) to give away to one (or two, or three) lucky reader(s) (you don’t have to have a blog to enter). It may be a book that I’ve purchased new or used, or it may be an ARC or a review copy of a book I’ve recently reviewed, or a book that a publisher sends me. (If you receive an ARC from me, please don’t sell it online after you’ve read it.)

2) How to enter:
Leave a comment on this post with your name (and/or anything else you want to say). In September, the winners will be randomly selected by using the Random Integer Generator. lf you’re the winner, I’ll contact you, and you can email me the address you want the book shipped to. Open to anyone in any country. Giveaway closes September 18 at midnight EST, so please enter before then.

3) If you link to this contest on your blog or site, you’ll get an extra entry. (Tell me you did so in the comments.)

4) If you’re the lucky winner of the book giveaway, I ask that you consider donating a book of your choice (new or used) to your local library or shelter after you’re done with it, or to host your own book giveaway on your site or blog. Or, if you love the book, please talk it up with your friends.

That’s it! Have fun. I’ll be holding the drawing on September 19 or a day or two after.

Are you a fan of James Patterson’s books? (I personally love his The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1).) Then you might want to enter his sweepstakes to have your name written into an upcoming James Patterson book.

I think that sounds fun–and what a smart way for James Patterson to help promote his books even more. It doesn’t cost him anything, it helps him get publicity, and there’ll be one excited fan who gets into his book.

I have another book giveaway for you all (and another starting early September). Yes, this is a great month to win a free book!

This giveaway is for author and education expert Hal W. Lanse’s latest book Read Well, Think Well: Build Your Child’s Reading, Comprehension, and Critical Thinking Skills–a book to help you learn how to get your child to read. It will be of special interest to parents, teachers, librarians, and anyone who cares about getting kids to read.

In order to win, here are the rules:

* You must comment below with your working email address so that I can contact you.
* If you blog about this contest, leave a comment, telling me where you are blogging about it and that gives you 2 entries!
* Contest starts today and ends on September 29. The winner will be announced on this blog on Sept. 30.

Other blogs are also hosting a contest for this book. Visit their blogs and leave a comment, and you’ll be entered to win a copy there, too!

I love receiving free books, and I’ll bet you do, too. You can enter to win one here.

At the end of August, I will be giving away a new ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of teen fiction book The Debs by Susan McBride.

(Please note: The book is an ARC, so there may be spelling errors or changes to the book that are not found in the published version.)

1) Once a month, or when I get to it, I’ll pick a book (or two) to give away to one (or two) lucky reader(s) (you don’t have to have a blog to enter). It may be a book that I’ve purchased new or used, or it may be an ARC or a review copy of a book I’ve recently reviewed. (If you receive an ARC from me, please don’t sell it online after you’ve read it.)

2) How to enter:
Leave a comment on this post with your name (and/or anything else you want to say). In August, the winner will be randomly selected by using the Random Integer Generator. lf you’re the winner, I’ll contact you, and you can email me the address you want the book shipped to. Open to anyone in any country. Giveaway closes August 31 at noon EST, so please enter before then.

3) If you’re the lucky winner of the book giveaway, I ask that you consider donating a book of your choice (new or used) to your local library or shelter after you’re done with it, or to host your own Book Pay-It-Forward on your site or blog.

4) If you’re really motivated and want to host your own “Pay It Forward” giveaway at any time, feel free to grab the button above to use on your own blog. Just let her know so she can publish a post plugging your giveaway and directing readers your way!

That’s it! Have fun. I’ll be holding the drawing on August 31 or a day or two after.