YA and NA Holiday Giveaway Day Three, Kimberly Sabatini


Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so I'm kicking off the holiday season with a little YA, NA Giveaway! I will feature a different author, everyday for the rest of the week. There will be one entry form but you can choose which book you'd like to win. To see them all check back daily for the other prizes! There will be a secret word hidden in the author interview so you might want to read it! All interviews will give us a secret look at our favorite author's holiday traditions and wish lists.

Favorite holiday tradition if any.
 Mmmmm does eating myself silly count? On Christmas Eve my mother-in-law makes these awesome fried artichoke hearts and then I married into authentic Italian antipasto. Yum!  Plus I make a MEAN batch of chocolate chip cookies to top it all off. Yeah, it'a all about the food.
It's Christmas, who's with you? 
 Always my husband and three boys plus extended family on both sides. A fabulous crowd.
Favorite holiday/christmas dessert or drink. 
 Hmmmm…Prosecco,cranberry juice, a squirt of lime and a frozen raspberry. 

Santa's coming, what's on your christmas wish list? 

This shows exactly what a geek I am, but LLBean has these great fleece vests that I love to wear everywhere, all winter long. But for the last couple of years they've taken the zippers out of the pockets. Why??? My cell phone falls out. So I wrote a review and guess what??? Zippers are back! There are new colors in my future. Woot! Maybe I should be a writer, no?
Favorite christmas song and why. 
 Need a Little Christmas--it always pumps me up into the holiday zone. Anything by Johnny Mathis because I grew up listening to his Holiday records. Yup, I said records! It brings me back to dancing and singing in front of the mirror with a hairbrush.
It's the holiday season, and you have to spread a little Christmas cheer, who are you spreading it to? 
 Needy kids and families in my community. <3 I like to get kids books too. 
It's Christmas Eve, what are you doing? 
 Hanging out at my Mother-in-Laws house, watching the kids almost explode with excitement. Awesome!
Santa added another reindeer to the bunch, what's his name?
George or Fred. I've always named everything Fred or George--long before they were Weasley's. 
Want more on the book? Click HERE
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YA and NA Holiday Giveaway Day Two, Genna Rulon


Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so I'm kicking off the holiday season with a little YA, NA Giveaway! I will feature a different author, everyday for the rest of the week. To see them all check back daily for the other prizes! There will be a secret word hidden in the author interview so you might want to read it! All interviews will give us a secret look at our favorite author's holiday traditions and wish lists.


What is your favorite thing about Christmas?
I love watching the excitement on my sons’ faces increase every day Christmas draws closer.  And presents…I freaking love presents J

 If Toys for tots was only for books what three books would you include that you think is essential for a child to read?
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

 What's a typical Christmas dinner for you and your family like? What are you having and who's there?
We have a big family dinner on Christmas Eve with ham, turkey, fish, a huge array of side dishes, and most importantly DESSERT…we have so many varieties each person could have their own cake, pie, tart, etc.

Santa's coming, what's on your Christmas wish list?
A new kick-ass laptop to write on ;-)

Egg nog or Hot chocolate? If neither what's your favorite festive holiday drink?
Hot Chocolate with salted caramel drizzle…yummy!!!!  My mom also makes hot spiced cider, which is delicious.

Your participating in a Secret Santa with your favorite author, what would you give them, who is it, and why?
I love so many authors that it is impossible to choose.  Let’s pretend I pulled Kristen Ashley from the name bag—I would get her a set of cosmo glasses that were etched with the name/cover image of each of her books…and cashews!

Favorite holiday song if any.
I LOVE “It Wasn’t His Child” by Trisha Yearwood for my favorite religious song.  “Oh Holy Night” by Martina McBride is my absolute favorite Christmas song/version.

Favorite holiday movie.
A strange choice, perhaps, but I watch the classic Judy Garland “Meet Me In St. Louis” every Christmas.  It reminds me of my grandparents, and there are some fantastic winter/Christmas scenes in the movie.
I always watch Mickey’s Christmas Carole with my boys, too.
Want more on the book? Click HERE.
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Book Two Pieces for you is available NOW! Click HERE!

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Shadow of Samhain by Dawn Colclasure Quick Review




Shadow of Samhain by Dawn Colclasure
Publisher: Gyspy Shadow Publishing Company
Published Date: October 19th, 2013
Genre:Paranormal, Fantasy

She called him the "dark man." Who is Jonathan, a man haunting Malissa Ratham's dreams? What sort of secrets from his past does he try to keep buried? Everybody says the dreams are only dreams and nothing more. But soon Malissa starts acting strangely, knowing about ancient Druidic rituals and a history too mysterious to unearth. With the help of Jovin, an ancient Druidic spirit on a mission to stop Jonathan from his path of death and destruction, and Tessie Malkin, a psychic with an advantage over Jonathan's power, Malissa must own up to her past and walk between worlds to destroy an ancient curse . . . . . . before it is too late.

Review+Rating
3 out of 5 stars

*copy provided by author in exchange for a honest review* 
This is a story about a young teenaged girl who dreams of ancestors she's never met but constantly dreams about. The same has happened to her mother who struggles to deal with it now happening to her daughter. It's an interesting story that was a little difficult to grasp at first, due to the different POV's. Sometimes a story gets a little hard to read when there is more than two point of views. Aside from that this is a decent story with an interesting and intriguing cast of characters. There is a mix of paranormal, romance, and fantasy. It has a decent blend of everything. Readers will struggle to get into the book but it's worth seeing through to the finish.
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YA AND NA Holiday Giveaway: Day One, Anne Eliot



Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so I'm kicking off the holiday season with a little YA, NA Giveaway! I will feature a different author, everyday for the rest of the week. There will be one entry form but you can choose which book you'd like to win. To see them all check back daily for the other prizes! There will be a secret word hidden in the author interview so you might want to read it! All interviews will give us a secret look at our favorite author's holiday traditions and wish lists.

You're having christmas dinner, and all of your guests are authors. Who's there and what are you having?

This question is impossible. First because I have a list a mile long of authors I'd wish to invite and could never pick, and second, because if anyone dared to show at dinner, AT MY HOUSE, I'd freak-choke-pass-out. I've got serious star struck on author issues, so if I really love an author's work when I meet them I can't speak. If I manage to move my lips at all rocks fall out of my mouth. This has happened to me at Romantic Times and Romance Writer's of America. I finally see/meet my dream authors who inspired me and crickets-crickets-run-the-other-way'. I'm also dyslexic and at parties (and in life) I forget and mix up everyone's names, even people I know well, like my whole family.


This is also how I operated back when I had crushes on boys. The bigger the crush--the faster I'd choke. I'd go to a party, the guy would be at the party, I'd freak out (call him by the wrong name, of course) and I'd feel a lot sick and LEAVE by way of RUNNING back to the dorms and sit alone. Yep…so, obviously I was single and the last living virgin on the planet because of this. Not gonna lie…but it worked out…eventually. I married a patient guy called Tom--er--Edward--Mr. Darcy--heck, what's his name?

If you could spend Christmas in any other place besides where you live, your family can come along, where do you go and why?


I would love to go to spend Christmas with my cousin Sonia and her family in Italy. She and I are so close, but now that we have kids and jobs and lives with husbands and school schedules for kids--it's too expensive to travel so far with four tickets to Italy (and same for her four tickets to the USA). This is sad so if I could go there, I would.

You're responsible for making a holiday soundtrack, what's on it?

Oh…all the campy old-school ones by Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra…all the songs where they add in extra snapping fingers and cheesy 'jingle jingle' and really campy bells and awkward 'ho ho ho's' in the background. My dad always played those so I love them the best.

The elves are all sick and they need someone to get the toys ready for Santa, what toys do you put in Santa's sack?

Gift cards gift cards and gift cards…I just hate shopping in every way and I hate wrapping presents more, so if I could fill that sack with cards, then people could go out and spend them and the wrapping is just an envelope!

Sometimes we don't always get what we want. What was the one thing you never got but wish you had on Christmas?

Well…hmm…I got the Easy Bake Oven, and I got that Cabbage Patch Doll, but my parents would never get me one of those FURBYS. You know those? I just saw an ad that says they are back and my whole body was like…OOOOH-WANT-FURBY…so, I think I'm still harboring some sadness over that thing. 

Santa's coming, what's on your christmas wish list?
On my wish list…(besides the new Furby) I've got my eye on some seriously nerdy things. I love any and all office supplies and lap desks, any and all soft blankets, pillows and whatever it is--if it's made of strange fleeciness--I WANT IT. I also have always wanted one of those 5gajillondollar massage chairs. So…(true confession here) during the holidays, I convince my daughter to dress up a bit, and we waltz into the Relax the Back store where we pretend we that we are going to by one of these chairs for my 'oh-so-rich' husband for Christmas. Then we totally sit in the chairs and get a full demo and chair massage. We really spend extra time pushing all the buttons in them (side by side) and milk it for all we can--and then we dash out. Is that sad and bad and pathetic? We were just talking about how it's THE SEASON last weekend. THE GO SIT IN THE FANCY CHAIR SEASON… Don't laugh…we live in a town where there is not much to do, okay? (hah-lol)

Today's christmas eve, what kind of cookies are you leaving for santa?

Oh, warm chocolate chip (the kind you cook off the ready-made cookie dough--don't get any ideas that I was adding baking soda or anything like that) and a half glass of milk (because we know he's so full by the time he gets to our place).

Are you on the naughty or the nice list?
I hope I'm on the nice list...
Want more on the book? Click HERE

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Enter the Giveaway BELOW---->
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Blogger Spotlight Sunday, Sophia of Bookwyrming Thoughts Blog



Blogger Spotlight Sunday is a meme hosted by yours truly, and it spotlights and promote bloggers in order to gain page views and followers. But, it only works if we support one another. So stop by the featured blogger's blog, comment, say hi, and follow.
Today I welcome Sofia from BookWyrming Thoughts Blog.

(Click the icon above to visit Sophia's blog)


1. Tell me a little bit about your blog. When did you start blogging and why?
In a few words (well a tweet I guess, lol), Bookwyrming Thoughts is a book blog aimed toward Young Adult, Middle Grade and now New Adult reads. I officially started blogging in February 2012 (specifically February 5...) but it was about gaming (Wizard101). Apparently gaming was absolutely not my type no matter how much I enjoy it. Several months later, I decided to try out book blogging, which sort of makes sense since I would probably keep at it for quite awhile because I enjoy reading. But I also began book blogging to talk about my thoughts and opinions on books instead of keeping it all bottled up except to a few close friends/book club members.

2. What is the best thing you've learned while blogging?
Just be yourself. ;)

3. Least favorite food
Anything spicy. And garlic. Unless the garlic is virtually not there (but it is).

4. Favorite place to read
Anywhere comfortable... that includes the bed, chair, sitting on the stairs, etc.

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?
I have no clue - I'm still deciding! But I'm running out of time. I'll probably be a nurse (yippee, tech school!) and maybe something else. Oh, and definitely in college... junior year. O_o

6. Dream fictional boyfriend
So many to name. Let's see... if I can't get Prince Ash, I'll go after Puck. But then there's Ezekiel Crosse, James Carstairs, Adrian Ivashkoniv (how do you spell the Bloodlines dude's name again? Don't tell my friend I said that; she'll kill me! O_o)....

7. Do you always finish every book you read? If not what causes you not to finish?
Almost always. It's extremely rare for me to not finish a book, mainly because there's lack of action or it's just the same action repeating over and over again. So far, that seems to be the only thing. Maybe I have an eye for catching good books, but I don't know how I manage to avoid DNF books the majority of the time. (And I'm curious as to how since I have bad eyesight. 

8. One of the greatest moments of your life.
Greatest moment? Let's see... *shifts through 16+ years of memories* Can't think of any. Sorry! Well, there are the few years when I was waddling around that I certainly don't remember... but I was a toddler. What do I know? :p

9. Favorite movie
I hardly watch movies. >_< Mom, we need to have a mother-daughter talk of going to the movies one day... no buts about it! O_o

10. What do you like to do most besides read?
Graphic designing, web designing (sort of), writing (does journaling count?!), listening to music (kpop anyone?), etc. Okay, I'm not an outdoors person.

Want more of Sophia?
Find her on:
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Favorite Book Friday # 3


It's Favorite book Friday and I haven't done one in quite a while. Here's my choice for today:

What happens Next by Colleen Clayton. I have a special place in my heart for Contemporary fiction, when it's written well it can be a beautiful thing, and most of all for the most part they're emotional one way or the other. You laugh, you get angry, you cry. They touch on some part of real life and make me feel something. I love that about contemporary novels. 
This book is no different. It is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. I recommend it all the time now I'm recommending it to you. Just prepare for the feels.




What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton
Publisher: Poppy (Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Published Date: Oct 9th, 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction

How can you talk about something you can’t remember? 

Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy “Sid” Murphy was a cheerleader (at the bottom of the pyramid, but still...), a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends. When she ends up on a ski lift next to handsome local college boy, Dax Windsor, she’s thrilled; but Dax takes everything from Sid—including a lock of her perfect red curls—and she can’t remember any of it.

Back home and unable to relate to her old friends, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey “The Living Stoner” Livingston for company. But as she gets to know Corey (slacker, baker, total dreamboat), Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Now, if she can just shake the nightmares and those few extra pounds, everything will be perfect... or so she thinks.

Witty and poignant, Colleen Clayton’s stunning debut is a story about moving on after the unthinkable happens.
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The Saving of Benjamin Chambers by Anna Bloom Book Highlight, Excerpt+Giveaway!

The Saving of Benjamin Chambers by Anna Bloom
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published December 4th, 2013

Benjamin Chambers needs saving, he just does not know it yet. Bored of his life of repetitive gigs with a band going nowhere fast and one night stands with girls who are only interested in his role as a lead singer, something has got to change. It’s just what do you do when the only life you know involves messing around with guitars and attempting to run away from any female attention that comes your way.

Ben has a New Year’s resolution and one that he is determined to keep, quit the band and get a life of his own. Little does Ben realise that on his last night with his band Sound Box he is going to meet a girl who will turn everything he knows upside down.

As Ben sets himself the challenge to find ‘The Girl’ again, he may be about to learn that in an effort to rescue her, he himself will be the one to be saved.


Amazon



       Delilah, Lilah or whatever she is called is, standing over on the far side of the room, her back against the wall wearing a figure-hugging red, floor-length dress. Her dark hair and eyes stand out in contrast. She looks like a Forties movie star, all curves and perfect poise, watching everyone with a critical eye. She hates this place and she hates the people that are here, that is clear to me straight away.
       I want to jump off the stage to get to her. I can’t tear my eyes away, even though Dave has picked up my guitar and shoved it back into my hands, hissing, “play, you idiot.”
       I am walking to the front of the stage still staring when I notice that I am being watched but not by her.
       Some guy who looks like a pretentious arsehole is watching me watch her and then he starts to move across the floor to get to her before I can leave the stage. I am stuck like a rabbit in headlights, rooted to the spot as I watch him clearly move towards her like he is proving he has ownership.
       When he gets to her he pulls her in close and winds his hands around her waist. I have to physically restrain myself from leaping off the stage and punching him. That’s what I want to do, a deep urge burning inside me. Jump from the stage, bop him on the nose, hopefully causing significant blood loss, and then throw her over my shoulder and march her off with her someplace. Someplace where I can kiss her and talk to her, in no particular order. Then I may well ask her to marry me because I am pretty sure that I want to.
       I don’t though, I don’t move from my spot on the edge of the stage. I start to play my guitar instead but not the song the rest of the band are expecting. Luckily it has a long intro so they are able to catch up.
       As I start to sing ‘Wonderwall’ I watch as the banker wanker twirls her onto the dance floor.
       It’s not a song for twirling, what is he doing the bloody arse?
      She has her hands on his shoulders and her back to me but I can clearly see an enormous diamond ring sitting on her left hand from my spot quite a distance away on stage.
       Damn it to hell.
     I nearly stop singing, but I hold it together and as I head into the second verse my choice of song becomes even more appropriate.
      The banker wanker pulls her in even tighter and I get a nasty taste in the back of my mouth. I am just in the middle of the chorus when they take a turn and I catch a glimpse of her face.
      That’s what does it. That very moment gives me something completely different to live for.
       Her.
      She is biting her lower lip and the beautiful eyes are staring far away in the distance, framed by a frown. She looks like she would rather be anywhere then where she is right now. She looks lost, but on top of that she looks lonely and I feel a bubble of something well up inside me, something like joy. Joy at the fact that this guy holding her, who’s obviously bought her the ring, has no idea what she is feeling. I don’t think he has looked at her face once, not to read it the way that I am. This is good. It means that if I can get to talk to her again then I can make sure my words are the right ones, the ones to make her notice me, the ones to make her want to at least talk to me. And, well, if that fails then I will just crinkle my freckles at her, pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and march off with her hoping for the best.
       I know that I will do anything to save her from whatever is causing her sadness and by doing that I have a feeling she will save me.





Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

                  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 


Posted by Unknown

Feature and Follow #13






Feature & Follow Friday and How it Works:
Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Parjunkee and Alison Can Read. This week's F&F topic/question is: 

Tell us at least one new or unusual thing you’ve done in 2013.

I moved to a new state. I moved from New York City to Atlanta. I want to say that I've loved it here the past year but unfortunately it hasn't gone as planned, and I'm far from enjoying it. I'm not cut out to be a southern girl. I'm trying to get back to New York City where I belong! There is officially no place like it in the world and I miss it terribly. I'm going to go back and hug a taxi cab or something :P
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A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford Book Review~



A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published Date: February 22nd, 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy 

Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.
Review+Rating
4 out of 5 stars
I picked this book up at the library a year ago and returned it before getting very far in it. It felt a little too dark so I returned it before finishing it. When I noticed it again I felt like I needed to give it a solid chance and I'm glad I did. The story is more than I initially thought. Its a story that plays with a balance between good and evil.

There are people who don't die but should be dead, there are people who should die but so die, there's angels who should be angelic but aren't quite. Its a twisty sort of dark goodness.

There's betrayal, angst, romance, and suspense, all the makings of a great story. I loved the characters in all of their multi layered goodness. Every character is able to stand alone without the support of another. I always like when I can love a character separately without having to think about another.

I love the MC she's all smart mouthed and bad a**. I love strong female lead characters, especially ones that have weak moments but know how to bounce back.

A Touch Mortal is an amalgamation of light and dark, good, and evil. What makes it so good is that neither side really wins. It's kind of tough to get into at first but once you delve into the story you won't want out. Not if you're the kind of reader willing to take chances.

The book kicks off pretty quickly. There's a climatic event at first but then it slows down (slightly) building up with the action developing quickly and purposefully towards the end. You get enough taste of the world its building, just enough to whet your appetite for the sequel. The fact that the author gave so much in the first novel let's me know I'll like the second book even more. Definitely worth reading!


Posted by Unknown

Shelf Life by Stephanie Lawton Book Highlight+Giveaway


Title: Shelf Life
Author: Stephanie Lawton
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Publication date: December 3, 2013

*Mature situations and sexual content - recommended for ages 17+*

It’s impossible to focus on college biology when your family believes doomsday is imminent and the government is out to get you.

All Pete Wilson’s ever wanted is to become a veterinarian, but those dreams are going up in flames. Commuting to an urban college and helping his parents with their apocalyptic prepper crap is more than he can handle.

Worse, Pete’s asshole neighbor is stirring up trouble, his family’s stockpile has been destroyed and farm animals are turning up dead.

Lindsey Linger is the tomboy sister of his best friend. Now a sexy spitfire, she and Pete are liable to set the barn ablaze as their romance finally heats up. But she’s hiding a terrible secret, and rural life isn’t all bonfires and hayloft romps. That becomes clear one icy winter night when the survival of everyone Pete loves hangs in the balance.

Can Pete be the hero they need, or will this be the end of the world as he knows it?


Amazon Paperback | Amazon Kindle



Join us all day TODAY on Facebook as we chat with Stephanie, as she celebrates Shelf Life's launch day with giveaways, excerpts, special content, free downloads, & more!






Always a misfit, Stephanie Lawton writes twisted romance that tugs the heart strings then punches you in the gut.
She has a tendency to psychoanalyze people, which comes in handy when creating character profiles. She has a fascination with teacher-student relationships, bullies, psychics, doomsday preppers and larger-than-life characters.
Making readers squirm is her greatest pleasure. 
Proceed with caution.

Website | Twitter | Facebook







Book Highlight & Tour hosted by Good Choice Reading Blog Tours


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Top Ten Tuesday, 2014 Releases I'm dying to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This weeks topic is: 2014 Releases you're dying to read. Here's my list:

1. Erased (Altered, #2) by Jennifer Rush 
2. The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #3) by Michelle Hodkin <---I want this so bad!
3. Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) by Stephanie Perkins
4. Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3) by Wendy Higgins
5. Don't Let Go (PERSEFoNE, #3) by Michelle Gagnon
6. After The End (After the End, #1) by Amy Plum  (I'm excited to see what Plum can do outside of the Die for Me series)
7. Quarantine #3 by Lex Thomas (It's currently untitled, and I haven't gotten number two yet but I don't need to I want this one just as much!
8. Enders (Starters, #2) by Lissa Price
9. Alienated (Alienated, #1) by Melissa Landers 
10. Mine to Spell (Mine, #2) by Janeal Falor 



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Manic Monday #4, Onyx (Lux, #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout


Manic Monday is a meme hosted by myself in which I post about a book I am manic about.
 The definition of Manic is defined as "pertaining to or affected by mania. Mania is defined as "excessive excitement or enthusiasm; craze." (courtesy of dictionary.com)

Today's choice for Manic Monday is Onyx (Lux #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I just started this series about a week ago, and I seriously feel like I can't wait to get my hands on this book but sadly I do have to...wait. I can't get the copy from the library until I'm in the area where the library is and I'm miles and miles away. It sucks that they only had an eBook copy of only the first book. I mean geez? I knew I shouldn't have started but now that I did I NEED IT!


*sigh* Is there any book you want really bad, so bad, that you are manic about it?
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4 to 16 characters by Kelly Hourihan, Interview with the author+Giveaway!


    Please welcome Kelly to ThisGirlReadsAlot. 
For those of you unfamiliar with her debut novel here's some info on the novel including the blurb:



4 to 16 Characters by Kelly Hourihan
Publisher: Lemon Sherbet Press
Published Date: November 7th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

Fifteen-year-old Jane Shilling’s best friends don’t know her real name. In fact, they don’t know anything about her at all. Jane’s life has collapsed in the last few years; following the death of her mother, her father turned to drinking, and Jane is reeling from the double blow. To escape, Jane devises a number of online personas, each with a distinct personality, life history, and set of friends. But things become trickier when she finds herself drawing close to some of her online friends, and winds up struggling with the question of how to maintain a real friendship while masquerading as a fake person. With the help of Gary, a socially awkward classmate and competitive Skeeball player who is Jane’s only offline friend, and Nora, her therapist, Jane begins to sift through her issues. The only catch is that that involves taking a long, hard look at what her life’s like when the computer is shut off, and that’s a reality she’s been fighting for years.


How did you come up with the concept of 4 to 16 Characters?

Honestly, a lot of it is drawn from my own life.  I began it years ago, shortly after I'd come out of a major immersion in fandom and wasbeginning to contemplate the reasons behind that. For me, as for Jane,fandom was in large part a place where I could escape from a bad personal situation, and the Internet provided me a way to dodge mytypical social awkwardness and form solid friendships. As for theconcept of multiple online identities, I never took it to the lengths that Jane does, but I had a habit of coming up with new onlineusernames, some of which had vaguely defined life stories thatdiffered from mine, and using one until it felt too much likereal-life me, at which point I'd switch to another one. Jane isn't much like me personality-wise, but her emotional  journey has a lot in common with mine.-Jane is such a fangirl. 
Do you know any Janes, are you a Jane? 
Oh, as far as fangirling goes, I've known so many Janes!  I think it'simpossible to spend a lot of time in fandom without knowing a bunch ofpeople who are as into it as Jane is. Yes, there are definitely plentyof people in fandom who aren't totally possessed by it, but there arealso plenty of people who live more in the world of fandom and the Internet than they do in their physical lives.  And I think a lot ofpeople in the latter category are at least partially impelled by lousy crap happening to them in their physical lives.-

Tell me something you fangirl about?
Right now I'm not in a particularly fangirly place, because things have been good in my life for some time. I'm a big fan of The Hunger Games, but I'm not really in the fandom.

-Have you ever written any fanfics? If so where and what about?
I have written so many fanfics and so many of them have been so bad.My first experience in fandom was, bizarrely, for the TV show Frasier. I wrote hundreds of thousands of words of  crazy-angsty fanfics about that show, which, since it was a sitcom, was not something that made awhole lot of sense on any logical level.  The page that hosted all my Frasier fanfics disappeared from the Internet years ago, for which Iam extremely, extremely grateful. Eventually I drifted out of Frasier,and then a couple years later things went south for me again and Iwound up writing fics for Law and Order: SVU.  My fics for that were alittle better but I'm still glad that I posted them under a pseudonym. A little later I found myself in the Desperate Housewives fandom,cementing the fact that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason towhich fandoms I wind up in.  Anyway, these days I still write somefic, but it's mostly for fic exchanges or ficathons and is usuallywritten to other people's prompts.  All the "fic" I am currently willingto admit to having written is posted athttp://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlykylie/works.

Are the characters inspired by any real life persons?
Some of them, primarily Gary and Jane's dad, started out echoingpeople I knew in real life, but they quickly developed into their ownpeople.  The guy whom I originally associated with Gary, for example,was a real grind who was very serious most of the time and who woundup going to MIT.  He did ask me if my math teacher drank more coffeeor more tea though.-

Tell us something about 4 to 16 Characters that is not included in the story that you might want a reader to know?
I have a lot of headcanon that didn't turn out to fit in the book.One thing that readers often ask me is what ended up happening withthe Lookies.  So, spoiler alert: TealDeer wins the grand prize, butthe fandom doesn't come anywhere near to hitting the $15,000 goal, soshe doesn't get to go to the script reading.  Jane and Audra'scollaboration wins the drabble category.-Why did you choose to write a story like this as opposed to maybe aDystopia or a Mystery?I like dystopias and mysteries (particularly dystopias), and Iactually have some back-burner ideas for novels in both of thosecategories, but I think 4 to 16 Characters was just the story that Ihad to tell at the time in my life when I started it. Also, in termsof technical issues, I was interested in exploring a new form ofstorytelling; there have been novels written all in IMs and all inblog posts before, but I hadn't seen anybody trying to make use of abroad range of elements from the Internet, and I wanted to try it.


Have you always wanted to be a writer or was this something you justwanted to do?
It's been sort of sporadic.  I started my first novel when I was infifth grade, which I (naively) intended to submit to publishers, butthat never got finished, which was not much of a loss.  I started afew other novels over the years, only one of which was ever finished,but the one that did get finished was atrocious and I never followedthrough on trying to publish it – definitely a gift to the world ofliterature.  In between these forays I convinced myself that I didn'thave enough talent to make it as a writer, but then 4 to 16 Charactersbegan to take shape, and I decided to see it through.  That changed myself-perception and made me decide to keep writing. I have a few booksin the hopper now, one of which is in what I think will be its finalround of edits, so I'm hoping that you'll see more from me in thefuture.


Tell me something interesting about yourself.
I sleep-talk (so I'm told), and apparently I say really ridiculousthings. I just asked my wife what the weirdest thing I ever said wasand she said it was probably "There is no way of knowing what wouldhappen if you put a Transylvanian hop in your bed."  There was even aperiod of time when, thanks to a sleep medication I was on, Ideveloped a habit of sleep-tweeting.  All of my sleep-tweets werecompletely nonsensical, and they really amused a bunch of my followersand really annoyed a bunch of others.
Tell the readers why they should read your book?
4 to 16 Characters is meant to be a book that reaches out to anyonewho has gotten lost in the Internet from time to time, which I think means almost everyone under 35 years of age these days.  I thinkpeople who are familiar with the Internet will recognize andappreciate the all-Internet style of storytelling, but I think thestory and themes will resonate on a deeper level as well.


Twitter or Facebook?
My Twitter handle is @MostlyKelly.  My personal Facebook is private,but there's a fan page for the book athttps://www.facebook.com/pages/4-to-16-Characters/427769727330452/.  I enjoy both, but I'm not fabulous at the short-form writing that Twitter requires and I tend to get frustrated by the fact that nuanceis hard to convey there, so I guess I prefer Facebook.

Contact the author on: Twitter


Now for the giveaway, yay!

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