Cover Reveal Time!!

Blood Fugue, Moonsongs Book 1 by E.J. Wesley Cover Reveal Party

Author E.J. Wesley is throwing a blog party to celebrate the release of his new book cover and wants you to join in the fun. Jump over to his blog to learn about how you can win some awesome prizes, including $50 toward a cover of your own and advance reader copies of Blood Fugue.

Cover work by Sketcher Girl, LLC 

What's the Story About? 

“Some folks treated the past like an old friend. The memories warmed them with fondness for what was, and hope for what was to come. Not me. When I thought of long ago, my insides curdled, and I was left feeling sour and wasted.”

Jenny Schmidt is a young woman with old heartaches. A small town Texas girl with big city attitude, she just doesn’t fit in. Not that she has ever tried. She wears loneliness like a comfy sweatshirt. By the age of twenty-one, she was the last living member of her immediate family. Or so she thought…

“We found my ‘grandfather’ sitting at his dining room table. An entire scorched pot of coffee dangled from his shaky hand. His skin was the ashen gray shade of thunderclouds, not the rich mocha from the photo I’d seen. There were dark blue circles under each swollen red eye. A halo of white hair skirted his bald head, a crown of tangles and mats. Corpses had more life in them.”

Suddenly, instead of burying her history with the dead, Jenny is forced to confront the past. Armed only with an ancient family journal, her rifle, and an Apache tomahawk, she must save her grandfather’s life and embrace her dangerous heritage. Or be devoured by it.

BLOOD FUGUE by E.J. Wesley, is the first of the MOONSONGS books, a series of paranormal-action novelettes. At fewer than 13k words, BLOOD FUGUE is the perfect snack for adventurous readers who aren’t afraid of stories with bite. Available wherever fine eBooks are sold September 2012. 

Join the Party!

The Open Vein, E.J.'s blog 

E.J. Wesley on the Twitter 

Listen to Me Talk About YA Lit!

Hello, everyone!

I know I implied I wouldn't be posting until September, but it hit me this week that I never told you guys I have a podcast!! 

So if you want to listen to me and the hilarious Vic Caswell talk about YA lit and lots of nonsense (new episode every Friday), check us out!! Today we talk about Patch and me with size Zs (picture included). Oh yeah.

Plans For September!

Hey, all! So, I know I was a little sparse in my blogging this summer (it happens every summer, so I think we should just come to expect it now :P), but I have a great September planned.

With all the books I received at BEA, I have a lot of reviews piled up and I know some of you are dying to know about certain books.

Here's a look at some of the ones I've read over the summer:

And many more!!

What great books have you read this summer? Are you planning on sharing any reviews?

It's That Time of Year Again!! WriteOnCon!!

With August in full swing, a lot of us are getting our kids (and ourselves) ready for the new school year. My eldest is starting kindergarten this year and I am freaking out. I have to admit it. He and I have spent pretty much every moment of the last five years together (minus a few vacations, dates with Gorgeous, etc.). I just can't imagine him somewhere else for so long every day. It'll be weird.

But do you want to know what else happens in August? One of the greatest writing conventions ever!

And if that's not enough to get my mind off the inevitable weeping I'll be doing in September, I don't know what is.

This is WriteOnCon's third year and those ladies (and one gent) have some great stuff planned. There are agents, editors, authors galore!

And it's free. Yeah, free.

Here's a look at what's going on today:

8:30 AM, EST: Picture book query submissions open. Author Emma Walton Hamilton will be critiquing and offering advice/feedback. Open for 20 hours, so don’t rush! 50 will be selected using random.org.

10:00 AM, EST: Literary agent Peter Knapp YA/MG Pitch Critique submissions open. Open for 20 hours, so don’t freak out! 50 pitches will be selected using random.org

10:00 AM, EST: Building Better Sentences submissions open. Author Gennifer Albin will critique the FIRST 100 WORDS of your manuscript. Submissions will remain open until we receive 100 entries, and Gennifer will select 10 randomly to showcase for her event on Wednesday, August 15.

12:00 PM, EST: Picture book stanza submissions open. Authors Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tiffany Strelitz Haber will be critiquing and offering advice/feedback. Submissions are open for 21 hours, and 20 entries will be selected using random.org.

NINJA AGENT THREADS open! Post your work in the appropriate thread (YA, MG, or PB) and cross your crossables that the Ninjas will take a look!

Isn't that amazing? Get over there and register!

WRiTE CLUB

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I sure did. I had a party for both my boys (since their birthdays are so close to each other) on Saturday. Yup, the hottest day of the year. We had a bounce house and pizza. It was a bug themed event with bug ice cubes in the punch and dung beetles on the bean dip (and don't forget the ants on a log!).

And yes, we had a slip and slide. It was a necessary last minute change to the party. I think we all would have died if it hadn't been there.

Despite the heat, it was a lot of fun.

But today! Today, dear readers, I want to tell you about pretty much the coolest thing happening right now.

A friend of mine, DL Hammons, is putting on his second annual WRiTE CLUB. And let me tell you, it's pretty awesome. He has some new judges for the final two entries this year. And these judges span the whole publishing industry. Authors, agents, editors. Pretty awesome names in there, too.

You want to take part. Trust me.

It's already started, but it's not too late. If you have 500 words from a WIP or a flash fiction or poetry and you want to see if your WRiTING can stand up and make it through the next few weeks of blood, sweat, and tears, you need to sign up on the little linky here and follow the directions on his blog.

If you just want to see all the amazing entries and vote for your favorite, you still need to sign up on the linky. I've signed up for voting and I've been casting them left and right!

And spread the word, dear readers! It's WRiTE CLUB! And it's a lot of fun!

Jonathan Maberry is a Freakin' Genius

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I mean a LOT. I do have over 100 books to get through, after all. O.O.

Out of all those books, there's been one author in particular who I've really come to respect.

This guy.

Prior to BEA, I'd heard of Jonathan Maberry (obviously), but I'd never read any of his books. They looked really interesting, don't get me wrong, but I had a long list already that I had to get through. But when I saw him there, you better believe I picked up one of his books.

Somehow I ended up with three, actually. :o

These three:

Well, they sat there on my shelf as I read through six other books I'd decided I wanted to get through first. 

And then one day I picked up Rot & Ruin.

I inhaled it, dear readers. Inhaled it. One day, done. And I immediately picked up the second in the series, Dust & Decay. Again, I devoured that thing like my life literally depended on it. It is about zombies, so maybe my life was in jeopardy.

Finished with those two, I didn't know what to do. Do I start Patient Zero? Will it be just as amazing? 

I really didn't know. You see, I've been into anything and everything YA for so long that I didn't know if my taste for Adult had fizzled. 

So I read some other books first. 

Patient Zero stared at me, begging to be consumed.

And I did. And oh it was wonderful, readers. Like you wouldn't believe. Other than the fact it nearly killed my eyes with its super tiny print (though that could just be me--staring at a computer screen all day has destroyed my vision) , it was just about the best thing I'd ever read.

I may have somehow gotten away with three free copies of your books, Mr. Maberry, but you better believe I'm buying every single book you ever write from now on.

And if any of you, dear readers, have not read one of his books, I suggest you rectify that situation today. I've rarely read plots so engaging, scenes so well written, and characters so immediately lovable, so pop-out-of-the-page real. I'm kind of (as in, REALLY) sad I don't have anything else of his to read right now.

Enjoy!