Blog Tour Stop for #TheLastThreeWords by @justbishop #YAPNR #EvernightTeen

Title: The Last Three Words
Genre: Young Adult
Release date: November 15, 2013
Publisher: Evernight Teen

Blurb

Seventeen-year-old Christian Marx never belonged anywhere but with his best friend Maye. Life with her beats the hell out of the dingy apartment he shares with his neglectful mother. Mom may be blood, but Maye and her little sister Rowe are family. Life would be perfect if only Maye loved him the way he loved her.

Last night, she did. Today, she's dead—a tragic accident no one could have predicted.

With Maye gone, it's up to those she left behind to figure out how to move on. Only one person can drag Christian away from the ledge. Only one person can save Maye's little sister from making a huge mistake.

Sometimes the only way to un-break yourself is to fix someone else.
 

Stalk Ashley here: Goodreads | Twitter | Webiste

Ashley's bio

Ashley is a thirty-something perpetual teenager. She (slowly) writes young adult fiction that pulls no punches and rarely conforms to the unspoken rules. Home is upstate South Carolina, where Ashley lives with her daughter, working for a living and striving to better herself and her craft.

Excerpt

“Yeah, 387 Greer Highway,” my voice was flat over the sound of sobbing, begging, in the background. “Overdose…barely…bourbon and something prescription, I’m not sure.”

The dispatcher pledged to stay on the line until the ambulance arrived, but I abandoned her first, setting the receiver on the kitchen counter and grabbing the car keys before walking out the front door, unnoticed. What was one more unforgivable act? Besides, I'd done my part. The rest would have to be on the two of them. I stood in the driveway looking back at for a few moments at this place that used to feel like home, and continued on my way to anywhere but here.

I don’t remember the three point turn, or creeping under the canopy of trees that shaded the long gravel drive from the house to the road. Time was lost and instinct took over steering, the gas pedal, and the brake, though I had no need for it. There was no traffic this time of night, when morning hung only a couple of hours over the horizon. I just drove, the lazy speed of the car moving through the dark echoing the numbness I’d succumbed to after struggling against it for so long. It felt almost nice.

I watched, lost in thought, as the darkened houses and pastures passed. I'd considered the existence of fate many times in my life, but only for the past few weeks with any real seriousness. The mistakes made tonight were no accident, no coincidence. Had any of it ever been?

Without realizing, I pulled the car off to the shoulder and into the grass, at that place on Greer Highway that had haunted me for what seemed like a lifetime. It felt like another life, when we’d been happy. I stared out the windshield, willing myself to see something real, something to anchor me in reality, but there was nothing.

I needed to feel it, this road I'd been avoiding in the weeks since. To touch it, know if there was anything left there. It felt like the natural place to make peace with all that had happened, apologize. There had been a purpose to all of it. Maybe she could forgive me. But would I ever forgive myself?

How to make a God-awful bad boy boss! #WorstWeekEver by @Liza0Connor #NA #Contemp

Liza O'Connor takes over my blog!!! Welcome, Liza, tell us about the Worst Week Ever and the giveaway!!

HOW TO MAKE A GOD-AWFUL BAD BOY BOSS

The way I make any character is to pull the ingredients from real life experiences.

So these are the experiences that helped create Trent.

Experience Number One:

Worst Boss Ever: I once worked for the meanest man on Wall Street. (Everyone who knew him claimed this--not just me). And yes, he was a billionaire. While he didn't technically own Paine Webber or even run the NYC division, he behaved like he did. If anyone dared get in his way, refused his demands, or complained because he had stolen their clients, they would be gone within a month.

Satan would have been more pleasant to work for.

He was the first 'real' boss I had. I was hired because I was southern, with a positive work ethic, and somehow HR hoped that meant I would be able to charm him, where as NYC girls just said 'Screw This" and left ten minutes into the job.

I did try harder. It took me two years to come to reason and say, Liza, you have skills now. You are battle scarred enough. Anyone will be a nicer boss. Jack the Ripper would be a nicer boss.

Due to the stress of the job and personal life, I'd been dropping weight until I looked like a poster child for Anorexia. So I called my former head hunter and got an after-work interview, met two partners of another firm who were very impressed that I had worked for the meanest man on Wall Street for two years. They hired me on the spot. The next Monday I went in and let Satan's Master know due to health reasons, I had to stop working for him. His reply: No. I'll be nicer. You can't quit.

During the next week, he screamed and bellowed at everyone else, then talk to me like a fireman trying to talk a frightened kitten from a tree. It was beyond creepy. On Friday, he called me in. "You're staying, right?"

"No, Gary. I'm still leaving. This job is killing me, literally."

His eyes narrowed in fury. "You have another job lined up, don't you."

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. My self-preservation was screaming 'Run Bambi, Run!"

"I have to work, I just can work here anymore."

"Get out!" he screamed. "Get the hell out, now."

I bolted to the door, got through it and had it partially closed when the first client record book hit the door. When another book slammed against the closed door, I looked at the my fellow assistant. "I won't be coming in next week. Sorry to leave you short-handed." Then I gathered my stuff and headed for the long journey home to NJ.

Experience Two: Worst Boyfriend Ever

The other toxic poison that I threw into my brew was the worst boyfriend I have ever had.

I didn't like him when we first met. In fact, my very first thought, before I even knew his name, was JERK.

He'd opened his beer can and spewed it all over me. He was a bitter rich kid with parents who didn't like him much. He was petulant, arrogant, and selfish and of all the guys flirting with me on the communal porch to my new apartment, he was my least favorite. Yes, he was good-looking, but so was the brother of the owner of the apartments, and he was so much nicer. So I had my eye on him.

Turned out that was like a red flag to a bull for JERK. He loved stealing girls from his friend. So when I was asked to go out barhopping with them, I called a girlfriend and we went. 3 guys, 2 girls. Could it get any better than that? I of course hoped to hook up with the nice cute guy. My friend would hook up with the other nice guy and JERK could wander off on his own. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. JERK became all charms and compliment and convinced me I had completely misread his character. He was delightful, fun, and sexy as hell.

So I fell in love with the good parts of him, and tried not to focus on the bad parts, which were still there. (So much like poor Carrie does with Trent.)

I was still with the JERK as I was dealing with the worst boss ever. According to my diaries at the time, I thought myself in love with the JERK. I don't see how that was possible. I think I just wanted to be in love with someone, and to have someone love me. I don't think I even understood what love really was. That comes from seeing it in your life. (My parents hated one another) or being lucky enough to discover it on your own.

Unfortunately, the ingredients from these two characters make a toxic mixture that would be great for a psychotic killer, but way too bad for a bad boy. So I pulled traits from my best boyfriend ever and funny stupid antics from my dumbest boss to create Trent.

I also blame a great deal of Trent's problems on his horrible parents (something a person can recover from) and having too much money, (which IMO is harder to overcome.) After meeting a great deal of the 1%ers, I am convinced having too much money is toxic to the soul. It takes a very strong character to survive excessive wealth. It's especially hard on the later generations.

By adding these funny and positive traits, in the end, I have bad boy that is capable of becoming a good man. However, realistically, it's going to take more than week, which means he's not quite there come the end of book one.) And honestly, success isn't guaranteed. If anything falls against him, he could so easily revert to his comfort zone of a God-awful Bad Boy.

Yes, it would have been easier to make him a nicer person, but hey, look on the bright side. Had I not added qualities from my best boyfriend, poor Carrie would have been falling in love with a psychotic killer. And don't tell me that never happens, because it does. Just google it.

Thankfully, that's not in my life experiences.

Cover art by Danielle Fine

Worst Week Ever

by Liza O'Connor

New Adult, Humor, Contemporary

Blurb:

What do you get when you put a hardworking, can-do middle-class young woman together with a egoistical, outrageous, billionaire boss, then throw in the worst week of disasters imaginable?

Book 1 of the 3 book series A Long Road to Love.

Worst Week Ever.

Trent Lancaster spends one month without his Executive Assistant, or as his drivers refers to Carrie: 'Trent's brain, left hand, and right hand'. He's had a miserable month without her at his side and to ensure it never happens again, he intends to marry his brilliant beauty. Only given all the times he's threatened to fire her, he's not sure she even likes him. However, the future of his company and his happiness depend upon him succeeding, so Trent begins a slow one week seduction that happens to coincide with Carrie's Worst Week Ever when everything that can go wrong does so in hilarious form.

(Hilarious to the reader--Carrie is not having much fun this week.)

Excerpt:

Closing his eyes, Trent enjoyed the pleasure of Carrie’s body pressed against his.

His eyes popped open in horror. Oh God, David’s right. I am besotted.

What the hell was he thinking?

Statistically, his relationships never lasted more than a month and they always ended badly. A billionaire who couldn’t make a relationship last more than a month. How horrible did he have to be to chase off women who had a billion reasons to stick it out?

If he became involved with his most valuable employee, in a month, she’d dump him and quit. Then his business would collapse into chaos and he’d finally prove his father right. The old man constantly claimed Trent was a worthless human being and the world’s worst businessman.

And then Carrie arrived and single handedly saved his company. She never gave up. If one solution failed, she’d find another way to resolve the problem.

He smiled at his sleeping EA. If anyone could make him into a better man, it would be her. Carrie could solve any problem, had the patience of a saint, and the determination of a pitbull. Best of all, she loved a challenge.

AMAZON

Author Bio:

Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

Author Links:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O'CONNOR

Liza's Blog and Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

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A STIFF KISS tour invasion!! @AveryOlive takes over my blog! #LandingAnAgent #YAPNR #giveaway

*Waves* Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my guest post! And a huge thanks to Karen for being gracious enough to host me during my blog tour!

For today's guest post Karen asked me to share with y'all how I got my agent. Seems easy enough, I never did get around to writing that post for my own blog, so no time like the present, right?

So, how did I get my agent, in one word? Perseverance.

I've written and queried several novels to date (and hopeful I won't find myself in the position to have to go through the process again) I'd read all the information, joined a few online writing communities like Absolute Write (which is fabulous) so I knew what the process was like and what to expect ie: a lot of rejection.

You write a novel, you polish to the best of your ability, maybe you find other readers to read it and help you polish it further (beta's are your best friends, use them) draft a million different versions of a query letter until you feel like you've got it perfect. And then... then you start searching through the mounds of agents and start compiling a list of who you think might like you, your novel and whom might make a good fit. This is where you want to do your research ladies and gents, not all agents are created equal! Use sites like Query Tracker, Predator's and Editors, Absolute Writes extensive list of information on agents (and publisher's) and then... start sending them out.

My first book did well. I had a healthy amount of partial and full requests and of course, a pile of rejects. I'd exhausted my list but in the end, I didn't have any takers. I didn't think that was a bad thing. Sure, I was bummed out, but I also knew if getting an agent and getting published was easy, well... then, I was probably doing something wrong based on all I'd learned about the industry.

I wrote more books and queried them.

It became apparent rather quickly that I was going to be able to hold the title of So Close But Not Quite. I was the queen at getting amazing rejections. I mean, seriously, they'd say things like... You're writing is fantastic but just not for us or you create a wonderful scene and tell an amazing story but it's just not for us. I had one agent tell me there was nothing wrong with my book. It was awesome. She just didn't think she could sell it based on her personal tastes. I'd also get feedback too. The few times the novel didn't quite hit the mark, they'd say it was because of this... Most of the times it was something I could fix, other times I was left scratching my head. My friend would curse me, he'd say, God, I wish I got rejections like that! Because they were never bad. I swear. Sure, I got the occasional form letter that you received mere moments after sending the query off (and left wondering if the agent or whomever even took the time to read it) and to be honest I still get the occasional reject that got lost in the slush pile for a novel I wrote years ago. But I tended to have a higher request rate than rejection rate...

But I still hadn't landed myself an agent. I was getting angry. I hated all these good rejections. I hated knowing that most of the time the reject was based on personal taste and not because I sucked. I almost would have preferred an you suck rejection. I also continued to collect agents willing to read my next work. Often times at the bottom of the very nice personalized rejection (I was actually beginning to hate personalized rejections) there'd be an extra note: please, if you find yourself still looking for an agent with your next project, consider me in the future. Which by the way is a huge compliment.

By the third (or was it fourth or fifth?) book I had a list of about 15 agents willing to read anything I sent them.

I'm not going to lie, it actually became a NEED. I NEEDED an agent. I NEEDED to prove to myself that I could get one. You know, you want what you can't seem to have even more... That's how I felt.

I wrote a new novel, I sent it out to the list of 15 or so agents still willing to see anything new I had written and added a few more to the list.

This novel also performed well... I was still keeping my title and being the queen of amazing rejections.

I'd gotten a letter from an agent asking for a full. I wrote her my reply, saying that I was thrilled to hear that she'd like to read more (she'd read the partial first) that she could find the full attached and as per common courtesy I let her know that other's were considering the manuscript. She sent a reply back saying that she preferred to read fulls on an exclusive basis (not all together uncommon) but I wanted her to read my novel. Really, really bad. I came up with a compromise. If she'd read my manuscript, I wouldn't send out any more queries and I wouldn't make any decisions about the novel until she had a chance to read it and get back to me. I may have been really, really nice and did a little butt kissing. She agreed.

It didn't take long to add a few more nice rejections to my pile and it didn't take long for the agent I really wanted to review the novel. She was polite, she was honest and she had a request. A revise and resubmit.

I wasn't a stranger to the revise and resubmit. To be honest, I hated those worse than I hated getting a rejection. Because here you go, the agent sees some serious potential, takes the time to write out extensive notes on how to make the novel better(and hopefully impress them further) but the catch is--you can do all that work and still get a rejection. Being given a second chance and the realization that you still couldn't do the novel justice and find yourself with a rejection is the worst feeling in the world!

I got a rejection.

I'd spent a few months working on the novel, the revisions and I couldn't seal the deal. But on the plus side, I got another one of those fabulous personalized rejections with a note... Please send me any further work you might have in the future. So, it wasn't a complete waste. She still liked me enough to ask to see further work, again.

I wrote another new novel. I sent that out to all the agents still willing to look at my work, and added a few more agents to the list.

The agent who'd asked for a revision, the one I'd blown, loved the premise of my new book and wished to read the manuscript. She'd said she was excited, remembered me and my previous book... I sent her the manuscript right away. I really, really wanted this agent. And I really, really didn't want a rejection.

What I got... Another revise and resubmit.

I was DYING. Literally DYING. The pressure was immeasurable. How could I possibly revise and resubmit another novel for this agent, I mean, most agents don't even bother with R&R's. Most agents just reject. This agent didn't request R&R's like.. ever. It was actually a big deal. And she'd given me two R&R's... probably almost unheard of... And I was seriously stepping out on a ledge, because what if I blew the second chance?

I worked really hard, spent a great deal of time with the edits. I wanted this agent. I NEEDED this agent.

From the moment I pressed send on those revisions, I literally felt like I was going to be sick. I pretty much felt sick for the couple weeks it took for her to get back to me. Then I felt sick because for once it wasn't a rejection.

I was left thinking... OH MY GOD, DO I SERIOUSLY HAVE AN AGENT???

I don't think it really sunk in until I got the contract in the mail, but then I didn't even bother getting excited about it, I still felt it was all this big dream... I only truly felt super duper excited, confident that I'd finally secured myself an agent, and did a happy dance when I got the signed by my agent contract back in the mail. That's when it truly felt real!

So, what can you take away from this? Perseverance. IF you really, really want an agent and you're sure that's the direction you want to go in, don't give up. Rejections hurt. They suck. But as they say, you only need one yes.

But honestly, don't give up. Pay attention to your feedback, keep a list of the agents who say they want to see more of your work (they don't just say that for fun, trust me) and keep at it. Just because one novel doesn't get you that agent, doesn't mean you never will. Just persevere.

Granted, now that I have an agent, the stress doesn't stop... now we actually have to sell the manuscript to a publisher! And hey, wouldn't you know it, me and my agent got our first publisher reject the other day. It was a super nice, personalized rejection raving about my writing, but that it wasn't right for them, but to send along my next manuscript. *Scream*

It appears I haven't yet relinquished my crown and title of So Close But Not Quite.

Blurb:

Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything? Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves. But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia's hands, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up? With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn't realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she's thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia's this time.

Released: February 12th 2012
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Purchase: Amazon
Goodreads

About Avery:

Avery Olive is Canadian. She is married and has one child. When she’s not helping raise her very energetic and inquisitive son, she can be found working on her latest novel--where she devilishly adds U’s into every word she can.

When she is looking for a break Avery enjoys cake decorating, losing herself in a good book, or heading out to the lake to go camping.

The release of Avery’s first novel proves to her it won’t be the last. As long as her family continues to be supportive, she can find the time, and people want to read, Avery vows to keep on writing.

Stalk Avery here!

Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Blog

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Author Spotlight with L.K. Below! 9 Days until the release of This Blackened Night, The Order: Book 3!

Today I'm soo excited to host L.K. Below on my blog! She is here today to share with us about This Blackened Night book #3!!!

Welcome, L.K.!!

Every author has a set of characters more dear to their hearts than any others. In most cases, this stems from these characters being among the first ever created. I won't claim Lori and Terrence were my very first, but they did come close. Their first book, Stalking Shade, which released in 2011, was originally written in 2007. And rewritten. And rewritten.

And now it feels like a dear friend is moving away. With the release of This Blackened Night on September 24th, 2012, the trilogy will come to an end. Lori might be a prickly character, not easy for anyone but Terrence to love, but I had a lot of fun with her. When I wrote this third book late last year, I dragged my feet to see it finished for the same reason. I didn't want to let the pair of them go. A not-so-secret part of me is hoping for an overwhelming response from readers asking me to continue so I have an excuse to revisit my favorite characters.

For now, I'm counting down the days until the third book releases. Maybe you'll fall in love with Lori and Terrence every bit as fiercely as I have. Lori might be stubborn in pushing people away, but Terrence is the most persistent character I've ever written. Good thing, too.

Join me in celebrating the release of the third book a bit early with this short, sweet teaser excerpt:

Enjoy!!

This Blackened Night by L.K. Below

With murders cropping up all around, who should she trust?

After months of searching, Lori finally scrounges up a clue as to the whereabouts of the missing leader of her secret organization. But her vision isn't encouraging--it points to her vampire companion Terrence as the culprit.

Terrence is adamant that he isn't at fault. Even though she knows she might be walking into a trap, she follows his lead to a shabby island port. When her informants start turning up dead with puncture wounds in their necks, Lori wonders just how well she knows Terrence. And why does he act different during the search than in their hotel room?

Lori doesn't know who to trust anymore. She only hopes that she won't be the next victim.

Seven Sweet Sentences from the book:
 
“Her sister was killed, you know.”

“I heard.” Lori’s voice sounded distant to her own ears. After clearing her throat, she added, “I heard she was killed by”--Lord, did she really have to say it?--“the devil.”

The waitress laughed, though the sound was strained. “A mainlander like you probably thinks that’s ridiculous.”

You can say that again.  
~ ~ ~ ~
Learn more about the series as a whole on the Lyrical Press, Inc. website.
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Read a longer excerpt from This Blackened Night by clicking here.
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Bio: If L.K. Below gets far too attached to her characters, well, that's because they're interesting people. Read two of her favorites in her urban fantasy series, The Order. Join her online here to learn more. Want to keep up to date with her tour stops? Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Fangs? I'm being Interviewed by Fang-tastic Books!! Witch Way to Turn - Blog Tour Day 4!

Witch Way to Turn


 

Blog Tour - Day 4!!

Hm... Quickly glances around the room. Did someone mention fangs? *old-school vampire voice* I vant to suck your blood! Bwahaha

Today I'm being interviewed by Fang-tastic Books!! Swoop--am picturing bats when I say that--on by for a visit :)

 

Click here for my interview!

Tell me... What's your favorite kind of vampire? Seductive, evil, sparkling?

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Reading my friends :)