Cover Reveal and Title Contest Presented by Month9Books

Month9Books Presents a Cover Reveal and Title Contest for
Book 2 in Heather L. Reid's Pretty Dark Nothing Series.

Help Month9Books choose a title for the next book in the Pretty Dark Nothing series!

Book 2, a follow up to Pretty Dark Nothing, will be released this fall, and we need your help picking a title. Below are two covers, each with a proposed title for Book 2 on it. We can't call it "Book 2" forever, so please take a look and comment HERE to vote on which you like best.

The winning title will be revealed at BEA 2014 and if you commented to vote and will attend BEA, Month9Books will give you a signed copy of the galley (limited to the first 20 commenters attending). Voting opens today and ends on Friday, March 14, 2014. Thanks to artist Christel Michiels for the amazing cover!

So, which do you like best?

Title choice 1:
Perfect Dark Sacrifice

Title choice 2:
Pretty Dark Sacrifice

Series: Pretty Dark Nothing
Author: Heather L. Reid
Publisher: Month9Books
Publication Date: September 2014

It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since he disappeared without a trace. No body, no sign of him at all. Everyone wants her to move on, but Quinn can’t. She’s convinced Aaron’s trying to contact her, but Azrael, her angel Sentinel, insists these visions are nothing more than the demons preying on her guilt, bent on distracting her from her true destiny as the reincarnation of Eve.

With Aaron’s fate forever entwined with Quinn’s true Sentinel, Kaemon, they both find themselves prisoner of the underworld. For Aaron, death in the river would have been easier than ending up in Lilith’s dungeons.

Heather L. Reid has always had a sense of wanderlust and a belief in the paranormal. She eats mayonnaise on her fries, loves video games, and getting lost in a good story. This native Texan now lives with her Scottish hubby in South Ayrshire, Scotland, where she spends her weekends wandering the moors in search of the ghost of William Wallace and exploring haunted castles.

Her debut young adult Paranormal, PRETTY DARK NOTHING, will be released on April 23, 2013 by Month 9 Books.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Never Judge a Book by its Format

My son is almost eight and he’s never been what I’d call an “avid” reader. I guess he falls into “reluctant” reader, but I think that’s only because he enjoys being read to, rather than doing the reading himself. He loves being read to. Unfortunately, he’s easily distracted by video and games, but recently he’s found a book series at the school library that’s really drawn him in. It’s not the traditional picture book or chapter book. I’m not sure what you call it – graphic novel? Of course, it’s not novel length. It looks like a comic with a hard cover. Whatever it’s called, I think it’s brilliant.

Each book in the series is about a different scary, fictional creature with titles like: Vampires! Sasquatch! Witches! Chupacabra! Aliens! The boys in his grade seem to be passing them around, taking turns checking out one or two each week. (I know this because another boy let my son read Chupacabra! one day in class.) Each book presents the creatures as something mythological that people once believed in and relates actual stories about events surrounding the creatures. In Aliens!, we learn about the original abduction story from the 1950’s. In Witches!, we learn about the Salem Witch Trials. None of it is particularly related to Common Core (gasp!), but it’s all rather intriguing and fascinating to boys in second grade.

 

It’s so important that early reading be fun for kids, whatever “fun” means to them. So what if it looks like a comic book? So what if it’s a novella instead of a novel? I think sometimes we get caught up in the format of a book more than we should. I’d rather have my kid read the phone book instead of nothing at all if he found that fun, which of course he wouldn’t, but you get my point. And that goes for ebooks as well. No matter what the format, fiction is good for you.

We all love a good book. Read on to see which ones the Uncommon YA authors love!

One of my favorite books is Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles. I love the way she hits real topics head on with characters that are strong and tenacious. As a bonus: this author can write a seriously hot hook up scene *fans face* ;)　Julie Anne Lindsey

 

I love The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons and have my fingers crossed the movie producers accept the script she is working on to turn it into a movie. I also love Where is the green sheep by Mem Fox because my kids and I have read it a billion times together and we know it off by heart.

Melissa Wray

 

One of my favorite stories is Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter. First published in

1939, the short novel portrays a　young couple falling in love during the end of World War I and the onset of the Spanish Influenza. The main character falls ill with the deadly flu, and her new boyfriend,　a recently enlisted soldier, finds her medical help　right before he must leave for training. It's a beautifully written snapshot of life during those uncertain times.

Yvonne Ventresca

 

 

My favorite, most life-impacting book with respect to becoming an author is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher. I was in the early days of recovery from childhood sexual abuse, and I was looking for something to read while working out on the treadmill. I went into my daughter's room and found Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes on her bookshelf. I had no idea what it was about or who Chris Crutcher was-- but as I walked on the treadmill, it was as if walls inside of me fell away and I realized that I had stories inside of me that might touch others as this book was impacting me. I was thrilled last year to get to meet Chris and talk with him. Beth Fehlbaum 

I book I really love right now is Jeff Vandermeer's Wonderbook. It's given me some really great insights on revision--and it's pretty to look at too :) Natalie Zaman

Here's a book I love: Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson for it's themes of friendship and dreaming big. It's a lovely, simple little book that says powerful things. Lisa Cresswell


Divergent by Veronica Roth: Beautiful writing made for a fast-paced read in a fascinating dystopian setting with a strong female lead. It’s one of those rare books for me where I loved the story as much as the writing and it stayed with me long after I read the last word.

Erin Richards

 

  

 For a short time Uncommon YA is offering YOU the chance to choose your prize. Click on the titles below to learn more about each one.

You can add it to your Goodreads shelf while you're there!

WARNING. It will be a tough choice choosing just one to win!

     

  

  

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5 people will win their choice of selected titles. Book to be determined on win.
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#5Things on #valentinesday

Happy Valentines's Day peeps :)

I wrote the whiniest blog post the other day. Thank goodness I didn’t save it. It was terrible! Suffice to say, I must have been feeling sorry for myself, which is never pleasant to read. I am decidedly not a winter person. Instead, I want to tell you about a new twitter friend I’ve met who almost exclusively tweets with the #5Things hashtag. Don’t roll your eyes! Hashtags can be fun. J

Paulette Waltz (also known as @5THINGSaDAY on Twitter) encourages followers to tweet five things each day they’re grateful for. I think it’s a perfectly lovely idea. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of focusing on what’s not working in your life instead of all the wonderful things you experience every day.

I haven’t posted #5Things every day yet, but I’ve posted a few times.  I challenge you to give it a try too. Today, I’m going to post #5Things I’m grateful for this month – February.

5) a roof over my head and food in the kitchen.

4) my children, especially my son who was born in February. He’s driving me crazy counting down the days until his party!

3) a writing project that’s creeping steadily along. Forward is always better than backward.

2) the love of friends and family. You all mean so much to me.

1) Hmm…this is a hard choice. I think I’ll say ‘coffee’. I’m grateful for coffee. J

How ‘bout you?

Go away, January!

 

I must confess, I've always considered January as something to be endured. More and more I find myself imagining it’s almost over, always thinking ten days ahead of myself. I have to admit, this winter we’ve been very lucky that it hasn’t been very cold or snowy. All the weather went east again and Idaho has been blessed with some very fine days, which has made January all the more bearable. It’s just that some mornings when the frost is thick and the fog is thicker, I think “Uhg! Will this month ever be over??” The cold and the dark sap my energy and it takes all that I have to keep going. Thankfully, we’re almost there. February can be a hard month to get through too, but at least it’s short.

 

I’ve been reading a lot, which is good since I rarely get time to do that. I’ve read The Asylum, a gothic novel without any paranormal elements, and I’m finishing Clockwork Angel, which is WAY far on the other end of the paranormal scale (maybe too much?). It’s entertaining, but I was a little disappointed to see vampires appear in the story. I had started City of Bones by the same author, but I’ve enjoyed Clockwork Angel better, probably due to the historical, steam punkish setting more than anything. The two plots don’t seem all that different to me. I’ve been tinkering around with a steampunk idea of my own, but I need to read some more of it before I tackle that project.

 

 

 

I’ve also been editing a manuscript here and there, my own paranormal ghost tale. It’s been fun and I’m finally getting it fleshed out. It’s always been too short to satisfy a reader and I’ve stumbled a few times over how to improve it. Honestly, it takes me forever to finish a manuscript! This one was started in 2010 or 2011? Geesh. However, I do feel like I’ve worked out some kinks and devised a better way to finish novels. The next one will be quicker, promise!  This novel, when it’s ready, will be presented to Month9Books, who has an option on my next work of speculative fiction. I hope they like it. J

 

Starting in March, I should have edits back from Month9Books on Vessel, my dystopian/scifi manuscript. I’m excited to jump back into that world and get that manuscript ready for publication. I’ve been kicking around potential ideas for a fun sequel, but it’s all contingent on Vessel doing well in the marketplace. I’ve got my fingers crossed and will be working hard on making that happen in 2015.

 

For now, I'm trying to find things to keep myself busy until January goes away. How do you cope with winter??

Letting Go

It’s been quiet on the blog here, mainly because I needed a break, but also because my family has moved to a new house. There’s been no time for blogging.  It’s a lovely home and will be good for us, but the whole process of moving has been very stressful for me. I guess when you’ve been in a place for sixteen years, you tend to put down roots that resist coming up easy. You also accumulate a lot of dust.  You save stuff you think you might use one day, only to realize five years have passed and you’ve never even looked at it. You never really needed it and it’s time to let it go. Some things are easy to give up. Letting go is much harder when it comes to artwork your child made when they were two and just discovering paint. (Don’t worry; I didn’t put it all in the trash.)

 

I’ll admit I’m a bit of a clutter bug, but it’s nothing compared to the rest of my family, all of whom have serious pack rat issues. I think we’re getting there though. Just so long as they look the other way while I’m tossing out their old school papers and expired Easter candy.

 

On a positive note, I think this cleansing process is probably long overdue. Sitting too long in our own comfy marinade probably doesn’t push us to do new things enough, to shake off the old, and get on with the new. At the very least, I’ve learned that moving the furniture around now and then is probably a good idea. You never know what might fall under there!

 

As good as all this change is, I find myself eager to get back to old routines, like reading and writing. I’m making slow progress on editing a rough draft for submission this year and I’ve just started reading “The Asylum” with the Gothic Book Club on Goodreads. It’s a good stretch for me. I’ve even been thinking maybe I could write a gothic-style novel some day. Hmm J

 

How about you? Is there any aspect of your life that needs decluttered? Maybe it’s time for a good spring cleaning!

 

 

At Year's End~

 

 

I think it’s always good to take a moment, now and then, to look around yourself, see where you’ve been and where you’re going, to appreciate what you’ve achieved, and to consider new goals you’d like to reach for. 2013 was a good year for me in many ways.

 

Hush Puppy was published by a small press and I self-published The Last Page, the final Storyteller book. I marketed all my books online with a lot of support from fellow writers and bloggers. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate their help. I attended several book signings, which gave me the opportunity to talk with readers. And then my manuscript Vessel was offered a contract with Month9Books. That was probably the best feeling of all.

 

I also met my weight loss goal in 2013. I had no idea I could do it, but I’m telling you, exercise is the key. And I mean the kind that makes you sweat, the kind that makes you feel tired when you’re done. If you aren’t sweating, it isn’t going to help you lose weight. For 2014, I intend to stay at my goal weight, which means remaining vigilant over what I eat and how much I exercise. It’s so easy for it to sneak back up on you. Curse you, Starbucks!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2014, my writing goals include working on Vessel edits and getting my manuscript The Color of Water into shape for submission. After that, I’d like to start a new book. I have a few tiny seeds of ideas knocking about in my pocket, but I need to plant one and water it a bit more to see where it goes. Vessel is due out in early 2015, so I’m sure I’ll be gearing up to market it this time next year. I’ll be blogging here and there, but right now I feel like hibernating! I’m so ready for a long winter’s rest.

 

 

 

 

 

I also want to read more books in 2014. I tend to read books like a writer now, looking for tips and tricks and voice. I’m always searching to see what I can glean from each author. I did pretty well reading more books in 2013, but I’m sure I could do better. And I want to continue to write on a regular basis, most every day if I can.

 

 

 

 

 

How about you? How was your 2013? How will you make 2014 even better?