Spread the love: Myra McEntire and HOURGLASS

Hey friends,

So it's that time again when I get to spread the love (i.e. rant and rave) about something that I think is truly awesome. And I've been saving this post for something (and someone) that has brought pure giddiness and joy into my crazy and hectic life over the last few weeks:

HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire

Synopsis:

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

I'd been wanting to get my hands on Myra's book ever since I first read about the premise several months ago. Then I got to know the hilarious Myra McEntire over twitter and email, and I wanted her book even more. And then when Myra showed me the cover, I was like: MUST. HAVE. NOW.

Luckily, Myra and I share the same publisher, so I concocted a wild scheme to infiltrate their offices in order to kidnap Elizabeth Law's life-size Edward Cullen cutout to hold for ransom in exchange for an advanced readers copy of HOURGLASS. However, someone else beat me to the kidnapping. And as it turns out, all I had to do was ask nicely (a.k.a. leave huge hints that I was dying to read it/would kill someone in order to get a copy) and my super editor sent me the book.

Let me tell you: BIG mistake on his part. Because all writing on THE SAVAGE GRACE ceased the moment I started reading HOURGLASS. (Don't worry, I'm back to writing again.)

HOURGLASS fully lived up to my high expectations. I am totally jealous of Myra's killer descriptive prowess. I just love the way she can describe a character/action/setting with just a few, choice, evocative details that make me want to swoon with writer envy.

The other thing swoon-worthy about this book are the guys. All I can say about Micheal and Kaleb without going on for another hour is: YOWZA! The passion and yearning electrifies the pages of this book. (Yet it's still pretty darn clean for readers who are sensitive to those sorts of things.)

And by far the best thing about HOURGLASS is the main character, Emerson. As many of you know, I am the mother of all boys--whom I love with all my heart and wouldn't trade for anything. But sometimes, my heart also aches for the daughter I don't have, and the name I've had picked out for a little girl ever since I was in college just happens to be Emerson. And if I had a daughter, I'd want her to be a lot like the main character of this book (minus the stint in the mental institution): sassy, witty, intelligent, able to beat up boys, but still looks adorable in an awesome dress.

*Side note: If I had 2 daughters, I would have named the second one Ava, which happens to be the name of another character in this book--but I wouldn't want my daughter to be like her. (You'll see why.)

Okay, so have a I ranted and raved enough? What more do I need to say to convince you to GO. READ. THIS. BOOK??

Oh, one last thing. Reading this book will make you feel smart. Because not only is it sexy, it's also full of science (but not in a "Yikes, this makes my brain hurt!" sort of way).

And one last, last thing--HOURGLASS hit stores today, so now you can read it too!

For all this goodness, I hereby declare today:

Spread The Love for Myra McEntire and HOURGLASS Day! I highly suggest you celebrate by picking up a copy of the book and cancelling all other plans until you're done reading.


**Disclaimer: I have NOT been asked to endorse this book by Myra, my publisher, or anyone else. I simply wish to spread the love for books that I truly enjoy.

p.s. What do you think of the new blog format? I think it's easier to read. Hope you like it.

Spread the Love: Be a character in TDD3 & help tornado victims in Alabama

5/11/2011

Hey friends-

GOOD NEWS:

The 3rd book in the Dark Divine trilogy finally has a title and a cover--I'm just not allowed to share them with you yet. But I will as soon as I get the go ahead from my publisher. Seriously, I HATE keeping secrets!

IN THE MEANTIME:

I'm devoting this week's "Spread the Love" post to showing a little love for the people of Alabama. As many of you know, several cities in Alabama were practically wiped off the map by tornadoes. I have many family and friends out there who have seen their communities devastated not only by the storm, but also by a loss of hope. Blogger Courtney Barr (a.k.a. The Southern Princess) asked me if I'd be willing to donate to the ALL 4 ALABAMA Tornado Relief Auction to help raise money for these communities--and I jumped at the chance to help.

In addition to donating signed copies of THE DARK DIVINE and THE LOST SAINT to be auctioned off, I decided to throw in something extra special...

Have you ever wanted to see your name in a book? Ever imagined yourself interacting with some the characters in the novel your reading? Ever wanted to BE one of the characters? Here's your chance:

I'm auctioning off the opportunity to BE a character in the third Dark Divine novel!

Details--what the winner of the auction can expect:

1. Your character will be named after you (or a name of your choosing--as long as it's not too ridiculous).

2. Your character will have multiple lines of dialogue (not just an "extra" in the background).

3. Your character will fit your physical description (eye color, hair color, gender, & ethnicity).

4. Your character will have supernatural abilities (and get to kick some butt!)

5. The 3rd book in the Dark Divine trilogy will be published in December of 2011--so you don't have to wait forever to see yourself in a book!

6. Signed copies of THE DARK DIVINE and THE LOST SAINT so you can brush up on the previous books before meeting your character.

So whether you're a fan of TDD, or just want to be a character in a published novel, click HERE to go bid in the ALL 4 ALABAMA Auction.

(There are MANY other items also up for bid, so check those out while you're there.)

NOTE: Do not place bids for the auction here on my blog, you must go HERE in order to bid.

Winners of BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE

4/28/2011

Here are the winners of signed copies of BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE by Emily Wing Smith (as chosen by Random.org):

Culinary Contessa
noliea

Winners, email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your shipping address. If you can get it to me before 7pm MST tonight I can get your copy signed specifically to whomever you want.

Everyone else, I hope you'll go out and buy a copy of this fabulous book! And thank you for sharing your "loved" books with the rest of us.

Spreading the Love: Emily Wing Smith and BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE (Giveaway)

4/25/2011

Sorry for the blog silence (I know, I know, I've said that a lot lately) but I'm hard at work on book 3 of the Dark Divine trilogy. (Yes, there is a book 3! It comes out December 27th--hence why I'm working on it so furiously.)

Anyway, I'm taking a little break from writing about Grace and Daniel in order to start a new feature on my blog called "Spreading the Love."

Even though I've been holed up in my writing cave for the last several weeks, I've still been in tune with the YA world enough to notice that there's been a lot of bashing and anger and hating going on around the interwebs lately (over a myriad of topics from all different view points). In my opinion, hate is a nasty, contagious, disease that I would prefer to stay as far away from as possible so I don't get infected with it. (I'm neurotic enough, I don't need anything else to obsess over.) I just don't have time for hate in my life. I'd much rather spend my time talking about the things I love--and why I love them.

Which is why I want to spend a little time each week "Spreading the Love." So for the next little while, expect a series of posts from me about the things I love.

To kick off "Spreading the Love," I'd like to tell you about one of the people I love the most in the world: Emily Wing Smith.

Emily is one of my critique partners, a dear friend, and one of the reasons I am a published author today. Seriously, I don't know if THE DARK DIVINE would even exist if it weren't for the amazing Emily Wing Smith.

Here's why: Emily and I met several years ago (about 11, I think) when we were both taking a YA fiction writing class in college. I loved Emily's writing and was in awe of her talent. We got to know each other a little bit during that class, but after it was over, I didn't see her again for many years. About 7 years ago (I think) I went to a writing conference called Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers. It was during a time in my life that although I was very determined to become an author--I felt very daunted by the task of trying to do it all by myself. I went to that conference looking for a little inspiration, and what I found was Emily.

Em and I ended up in an advanced writing class together and by the end of the week we'd re-sparked our old friendship. It felt so awesome to have a writer-friend again. Em and I started talking about putting together a critique group with another writer-friend from our old college class. Soon a fourth person was added to our little group that met once a month to share our writing, critique each others' work, and just plain lend our support.

It wasn't long after our little group started meeting that I decided to challenge myself with a new writing project: a story about a girl named Grace and a boy named Daniel. My group encouraged and helped me through so many drafts of THE DARK DIVINE over several years. Our group has grown over time (there's six of us now--which is why we call ourselves The SIX) and we are more than a critique group. I'd say that we are best friends who also happen to critique.

Emily was the first in our group to get a book published. A beautiful collection of stories called THE WAY HE LIVED. Seeing Emily succeed prompted me to take a chance and start submitting my stories around, and a little while later, I sold the Dark Divine trilogy.

Emily and I (along with Brodi Ashton and any other member of The SIX who is available) meet almost every Thursday to write, talk through plot points, and mostly just enjoy spending time with other people who "get" what were going through as writers. It's pretty much what keeps me sane.

This Thursday, April 28th, Emily's second book, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE, is going to be released!!!

This was actually the book Emily was working on all those years ago when we met at that conference. I've had the privilege of reading and critiquing several parts of this book--and I can't tell you how excited I am for this book to finally make it out into the world. It's beautiful, romantic, thought-provoking, and also a lot of fun. Who could want more than two hot guys, a road trip, an unplanned Vegas detour involving Barry Manilow, and lots of Sprite?

To celebrate the book release, I'll be joining The SIX in our one and only performance as our Barry Manilow cover band "The Barely Manilows" at Em's launch party at The King's English Bookshop this Thursday (7:00 pm). As the most non-musical, non-coordinated person in the world, it means a whole darn lot that I'm willing to make a fool of myself for Emily and her book. (And you certainly don't want to miss it!)

GIVEAWAY TIME:

For those of you who can't make the party, don't worry, as part of my "Spread the Love" series, I'm going to give away 2 signed copies of BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE here on the blog...so you can love it just as much as I do.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment about a book you love--or a book you're looking forward to. That way you can "spread the love" for that book to the rest of us.

Contest ends Wednesday night (April 27th) at 11:59 p.m. I'll announce winners Thursday morning.

Now go spread your love in the comments...