The Page Unbound

Stricken
By C.K. Kelly Martin
Publisher: CBD
Release Date: January 27, 2018
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult Dystopian Adventure/SciFi

About the Book

Naomi doesn’t expect anything unusual from her annual family trip to visit her grandparents in Ireland. What she expects is to celebrate her thirteenth birthday, hang out with her friends Ciara and Shehan, and deal with her gran’s Alzheimer’s. What she finds is a country hit by an unexpected virus that rapidly infects the majority of the Irish population over the age of twenty-one.

Amnestic-Delirium Syndrome (ADS) starts off with memory loss, but the virus soon turns its victims aggravated, blank, or violent. Naomi and her friends must survive on their own, without lucid adults, cut off from the rest of the world, until a cure is found.

But there are whispers that ADS is not terrestrial, and soon Naomi and her friends learn the frightening truth: we are not alone.

Guest Post

If I Knew Then What I Know Now About Writing.

If I knew then what know I now about writing, whoa boy, I would have had a much better understanding of just how long it takes to achieve a passable level of proficiency in writing a novel. And longer still to really be any good. Kicking around my apartment somewhere there’s an old floppy disk with a 51,000 word version of my first young adult book on it. I haven’t looked at that particular copy of the manuscript in over ten years (because who has a disc drive anymore?), but the last time I peeked at it I remember wincing.

Objectively it wasn’t the worst thing ever—it didn’t reek of egg salad left baking in the sun—but it was limp and skeletal. The most painful thing about the book was that it lacked voice, something that a character-driven novel (which it was) sorely needs. I wrote two sequels to that novel. I even eventually landed an agent for it, who gave me extensive notes on the book and who then sent the revised copy out to several editors. By then it was a competent enough entity, but still lacked presence and depth. I didn’t know my main character the way I thought I did so her characterization felt flimsy and weak, generic. I’d let her down.

At the time I didn’t truly know what I wanted to accomplish with the book and as a result there were too many elements that didn’t work together. I’d thrown everything in like a stew with fridge leftovers. This is the revised version, I’m talking about remember. So it was an improvement on the novel I’d started out with but not by much, not by enough. Okay, I’m being harsh because once you see the problems with your work you can’t unsee them (they kick dirt in your face and stab at your eyes!), but in effect, that whole trilogy was like a bicycle with training wheels for me.

Unsurprisingly, that first book didn’t sell, but the mistakes I made in it helped me grow as a writer. Over time, as I read more, wrote more, and received more feedback, I grew as a writer. The fourth book I wrote was called I Know It’s Over and it became my first published novel when Random House released it in 2008. Ten years later, after having worked with two editors and authored numerous other books, I believe in some ways I’m a better writer than when my first book came out. I don’t know that I could write a better version of I Know It’s Over today but I believe I’m more capable of writing different sorts of  books (in various genres and for various age groups). Probably in another ten years times I’ll look back on 2018 in wonderment at all I’ve learned since then. I hope so. I hope the learning and growing never ends.

About the Author

Long before I was an author I was a fan of books about Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Madeline, Anne Shirley and anything by Judy Blume. Throughout high school my favourite class was English. No surprise, then, that most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major—not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. (Hons) in film studies but a fine way to get a general arts education.

After getting my film studies degree I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz. I always believed I’d get around to writing in earnest eventually, and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By then I’d discovered that fiction about young people felt the freshest and most exciting to me. You have most of your life to be an adult but you only grow up once.

Currently residing near Toronto with my Dub husband, I’m an aunt to twenty-one nieces and nephews, and a great-aunt to two great-nephews. I became an Irish citizen in 2001 and continue to visit Dublin as often as I can while working on novels about young people.

My first young adult book, I Know It’s Over, came out with Random House in September 2008, and was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death, My Beating Teenage Heart and sci-fi thriller Yesterday. I released Yesterday’s sequel, Tomorrow, in 2013 and put out my first adult novel, Come See About Me, as an ebook in June 2012. My most recent contemporary YA books, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing and Delicate, were published by Cormorant Books’ Dancing Cat Books imprint in 2014 and 2015.

Author Links

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Blog Tour Organized By

Burning Bright (Going Down in Flames #5)
by Chris Cannon
Publication Date: June 4, 2018
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Book Summary:

Bryn is back for her senior year at the Institute for Excellence, also known as shape-shifting dragon school. She isn’t sure which is scarier, the life-force sucking dragons stalking campus or the fact that she’s officially betrothed to Jaxon, a guy who will never love her. Not that she could ever love him, either… That’s just ridiculous.

Senior year should be fun. Her parents are alive, she’s finally fitting in, and she’s learning how to be a Medic. But what’s with Jaxon giving her strange looks? He runs hot and cold, and he doesn’t even have the excuse of being a hybrid fire-and-ice-breathing dragon like her. One minute they’re having a great time and the next, she wants to blast a fireball at his head. The marriage contract of doom looms over them–unless this match not made in heaven kindles a flame…

Link to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40019526-burning-bright?

Purchase Links:
Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

Link to Tour Schedule:
http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-burning-bright-by-chris-cannon/    

Excerpt:

He stood. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Okay.” She set her mug on the bench and let him pull her to her feet. Should she tell her grandparents where they were going? That would kind of ruin the moment she and Jaxon might be having, so she shelved the idea.

Hand in hand, they walked down one of the slate paths back into the trees with the fairy lights. “This place is amazing.”

“This has always been my favorite part of the house. I used to spend a lot of time out here.”

“Doing what?”

They walked down a path and into a stand of trees. Several single swings and a double swing where two people could sit, like a porch swing, were suspended from the trees. There was also a staircase that spiraled around a tree and led up to a walkway suspended between the trees, high up in the branches.

“Can we go up?” Bryn asked.
“Sure.”
The spiral steps were easy to climb, but the walkway was higher up in the trees than it appeared from below. “What do you think?” Jaxon asked.
“I think it’s the perfect place to hide from the world.”

Wait a minute. “You made fun of me last year when I said I wanted a treehouse.”

“This isn’t a treehouse, it’s a far superior tree bridge.”

“Right,” Bryn mocked. “That makes sense.”

Jaxon tugged her back toward the platform of the first tree. “There’s more.” Around the back side of the tree there was a bench. “If you don’t feel like walking, you can sit.”

“As one does when one is tired from adventures on their tree bridge.” She sat and relaxed back against the trunk of the tree, very aware of Jaxon’s proximity and the heat coming off his body.

“Exactly,” he said.

She laughed. From inside the tree the fairy lights seemed even more magical. “You know this is basically a tree house without walls.”

“No. That doesn’t work for me,” he said.
Bryn rolled her eyes but didn’t comment.
“I saw that,” Jaxon said.
“You were meant to.” Joking around with him felt comfortable. “This is nice.”
“The tree?” he asked.
“No.” She pointed back and forth between them. “This. Us. No pretenses or small talk…just us.”
“Speaking of us.” He leaned in, slowly, like he was giving her a chance to move away. She met him halfway and pressed her mouth against his. Time seemed to slow down as his hand touched her cheek and then cradled the back of her head. Heat thrummed between them, burning bright as the kiss grew, which was strange yet somehow right.

About the Author:

Chris Cannon is the award-winning author of the Going Down In Flames series and the Boyfriend Chronicles. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and several furry beasts. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures or romantic comedies. You can find her online at http://www.chriscannonauthor.com.

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Book Summary:

Chantelle Rose is back. She has lived a fairytale. But will she ever get her Happy Ever After?

To find true happiness, she must discover who Robbie and Lionel really are. Their past holds the key to her future…

Her quest follows a trail that takes her to the depths of the Pampas lands of Argentina.

There, the beautiful Valentina awaits – and holds the key.

But who is Valentina? What is the mystery surrounding her?

And why is she so important to both Robbie and Lionel?

Will Chantelle discover the truth? And, more importantly, will she discover her destiny and the fidelity in her own heart?

Purchase Link:

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Write a novel in 356 days…

The first time I wrote those magical words “THE END” I couldn’t quite believe that I had been capable of writing a full length novel, but amazingly for some and especially for me I was. There is something divine about those two simple words. They’re only six letters long but they are the sealing of a mystical world which you have created. Words that have breathed out through your fingers, or should I say bled and sweated out. You step into a scene in your mind and you let it drip from your fingertips. I imagine that every writer has their own way of getting their story down on paper, but believe me, there is no glamour in the process, just hard work.

My debut novel “A little of Chantelle Rose” was written in three months. It was over a summer and at the time I wasn’t working so I was able to dedicate all my time to the novel’s development. It seemed easy and in a way it was. It was just a bit of a game, there was no pressure and the words, thankfully, just flowed. I didn’t tell anyone I was writing a novel, it was my own little secret. I didn’t even imagine that one day I wouldn’t just tell people about it, I would pretty much beg them to buy it and that I’d actually get the chance to share it with the world.

But as soon as the book was officially published one of the most frequent question I’ve been asked is “So when’s book II coming out?” And so the pressure is on, a bit like when you’re newly-wed and everyone keeps asking, so when’s the baby due? (What baby? Can’t I just practise first?!) Or when your first born is just days old, you’re asked, or rather told, it needs a brother or sister you know. Really?! I tore during child birth and you’re asking me if I want to do it again?

And funnily enough, at least in my case, I’ve been masochistic enough to go through childbirth twice and through the pushing out of a second novel too.

This time however there has been no leisurely sitting down at the computer with perhaps just a bit of Mozart in the background as soothing, inspirational composition. I usually have the house filled with kids (only two are actually mine but the neighbours kids have adopted my house) so there is always background noise when I write now and believe me, it’s a far cry from Mozart’s symphony nº 40.

Then of course I have the day job, the dreaded house work, homework (not mine, but when a toddle gets asked to make a spaceship out of toilet roll and tin foil it suddenly becomes a NASA project for all concerned, especially for me however much I try to suppress my competitive side) and the list goes on…so really where do you find the time to write? I mean come on, everyone sends voice texts nowadays because they’re too tired to key a few phrases together in written text, never mind writing a 90 thousand word novel.

But if you really want to write that novel, I’ll give the same advice I’ve given for those who want to start running or want to get fit. Little steps is all you need. Set aside just half an hour per day and write. It doesn’t matter what you write. Don’t even worry if it makes sense or not, you can always edit it, but you can’t edit a blank page. As the days pass, if you’re consistent with your half an hour, you’ll see that your writing will improve (just like your running and fitness will improve over time if you keep to your exercise regimen).

The key to achieving things is to be consistent with what you’re doing. Don’t give up. Create a routine and it becomes so much easier. But don’t pressure yourself in that you have to write thousands of words a day because you’ll burn out.

This is how I wrote my second novel. I had a basic idea and just started writing. 400 words every day from Monday to Friday for a year. I would take Saturdays and Sundays off to enjoy my family. I enjoy writing, but my family comes first. And voilá 400 words x 260 (days in the year excluding weekends) = 104,000 words. My second novel is actually just under 90,000 words long, which calculates at even less than 400 words a day, five days a week. Easy!

You may think I’d never be able to write a novel. I haven’t got anything interesting to tell. Have you tried? Seriously tried? Believe me you may well find that you surprise yourself. If anyone told me a few years ago that I would have been capable of writing humour I would have laughed in their face. Me humour?? I can’t tell a joke and make it sound funny if my life depended on it!!

But I’ve learnt that I can write it.

And now I can even prove it, my debut novel “A little of Chantelle Rose” got to nº 2 in Amazon.com paid charts under “British humour.” How about that for someone who’s crap at telling jokes?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, dream it, wish it, do it……

About the Author:

Cristina Hodgson, mother of two, born in Wimbledon, London, currently lives in southern Spain. Cristina had a long career in sport, reaching national and international level and still actively participates in Triathlon races and enjoys outdoor activities. In her spare time she also enjoys reading and writing. She won a sports scholarship to Boston College. After a period in Boston, she returned to the UK and graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Sports Science.
A Little of Chantelle Rose is her debut novel. Amazingly, it has nothing to do with running!

You can find out more about Cristina Hodgson at http://cristinahodgson.com/ or follow her on twitter @HodgsonCristina

Giveaway:

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Signed copy of Simply Anna by Cristina Hodgson

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