I am so happy to be able to have Cindy R. Wilson, the author of PAPER GIRL due to release next month, here on my blog today! She is sharing how she got started as a writer - very sweet story...
I haven't left my house in over a year. My doctor says it's social anxiety, but I know the only things that are safe are made of paper. My room is paper. My world is paper. Everything outside is fire. All it would take is one spark for me to burst into flames. So I stay inside. Where nothing can touch me.
Then my mom hires a tutor. Jackson. This boy I had a crush on before the world became too terrifying to live in. Jackson's life is the complete opposite of mine, and I can tell he's got secrets of his own. But he makes me feel things. Makes me want to try again. Makes me want to be brave. I can almost taste the outside world. But so many things could go wrong, and all it takes is one spark for everything I love to disappear.
GUEST POST by Cindy R. Wilson
"I WROTE MY FIRST BOOK ON A DARE."
I get asked a lot about the first book I wrote. When did I write it? Why did I write it? And so on. I often tell people I wrote my first book on a dare. I was a kid when I decided I really, really liked storytelling. My younger brother and sister used to ask me to tell them stories all the time and I would. I'd come up with stories on the spot, often telling my siblings one "chapter" a night until the story was done. To this day, my brother and sister still remember some of those stories I used to tell them. The day before my thirteenth birthday, I was bored. I wanted my older sister to hang out with me but she didn't want to. And after bothering her repeatedly, she said, "Why don't you just write a book?" You know, basically the most time-consuming thing she could think of to get me out of her hair. But I thought that sounded like a great idea, so I did it. I started writing a book. And I stuck with it until I'd hand-written nearly 300 pages. I finished that book when I was fifteen. Then I figured if I could do it once, I could do it again. So I did. Two more books before I turned twenty, and two more reasons why I knew I wanted to be a writer. There's nothing better than bringing new characters to life and falling in love with them. Nothing more enjoyable than escaping to a new world you've created. And nothing more rewarding than finishing those last words on a book and letting the world see what you've done. So technically, I wrote a book on a dare, but really it was just a perfectly timed push for me to follow my dreams.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Cindy R. Wilson
Cindy R. Wilson is a YA speculative and contemporary author whose own struggles with anxiety disorder inspired her to write a story with a real-life topic readers can relate to.
She lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and loves using Colorado towns and cities as settings for her stories.
She's the mother of three girls who provide plenty of fodder for her YA novels.
When she's not writing, you can find her hiking some of Colorado's tallest peaks, reading, or listening to playlists she's created for her next story idea.
SUMMARY *PLEASE NOTE: Keeper of the Bees is the second book in the companion series to BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS. However, as per the publisher, you do not need to read BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS before KEEPER OF THE BEES in order to enjoy them both. "Beauty and the Beast like you've never imagined!" - New York Times bestselling author Pintip Dunn KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways. Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can't stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries - since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people. He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn't see a monster when she looks at Dresden. Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden's solitary life and Essie's tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse. ORDER LINKS can be found HERE!
EXCERPT from KEEPER OF THE BEES
She closes her eyes. Her breath hitches. Then, she does the improbable and throws herself against me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I am paralyzed. Motionless, breathless in my first embrace in a millennium. To be touched... my eyes close as I tremble from head to toe. The pain is glorious, excruciating.
"Thank you," she breathes against my chest. "You calm my mind. Why is that?"
"I don't know." Speech takes an unbearable effort. I'm overwhelmed in every single possible way - destroyed on a level she can't begin to comprehend. My arms hover, uncertain how to return her embrace and unsure if I should. Unable to push her away. I feel as though I will shatter if I move, but my arms slowly close around her. One of my hands falls on her hair, where the elastic has loosened. The thin band slips from her hair and falls into my hand. My fingers close around it.
READ the first book to the companion series NOW!!!
BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS by Meg Kassel Release date: September 5th, 2017 Published by: Entangled Teen
SUMMARY to BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS
A simple but forgotten truth:
Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.
Angie Dovage can tell there's more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can't imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece - and he's not human.
What's more, she knows something most don't.
That the secrets her town holds could kill them all.
But that's only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.
*Bumbles and Fairy-Tales is not responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Meg Kassel
Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A graduate of Parson's School of Design, she’s been creating stories, whether with visuals or words, since childhood. Meg is a New Jersey native who lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her husband and daughter. As a fan of ’80s cartoons, Netflix series, and ancient mythology, she has always been fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the creepy, and the futuristic. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart® winner in YA and a double 2018 RITA® finalist for her debut novel, Black Bird of the Gallows. GOODREADS / WEBSITE / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / AMAZON
*A finished-hardcover copies of SPILL ZONE and THE BROKEN VOW (Spill Zone #2) were sent to me for free by the publisher, Macmillan, for an honest review. All thoughts here are my very own. Any problems, concerns, questions, etc. please contact me via email - thebumblegirl@rocketmail.com - Thank you!
All hell breaks loose in the second volume of New York Times-bestselling author Scott Westerfeld's visionary graphic novel duology.
Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Strange manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone. Addison got close enough to the Spill Zone to touch it, literally. She survived the encounter but came back changed.
It turns out she's not alone. North Korea has its own Spill Zone, and a young man named Don Jae is the only one who made it out alive. Alive, but changed. Now Addison, Don Jae, and, curiously, a rag doll named Vespertine, share an unholy bond and uncanny powers.
From Scott Westerfeld, the inspired imagination behind the New York Times bestsellers UGLIES and LEVIATHAN, comes THE BROKEN VOW, the second volume of our highly anticipated new graphic novel series.
MY REVIEW
*A finished-hardcover copies of SPILL ZONE and THE BROKEN VOW (Spill Zone #2) were sent to me for free by the publisher, Macmillan, for an honest review. All thoughts here are my very own.
Another page-turner! So much action and the story continues to flow effortlessly!
THE BROKEN VOW picks up right where book one left off...
Addison has sold off the last of her pictures from the zone and now has enough money to "retire" and take care of her sister, Lexi. But. It seems that Addison may have spent too much time in the zone and she is feeling a bit off... and she not only learns that her Lexi's crazed doll has a huge role in why the Spill happened; there is also another survivor from a different Spill that happened in North Korea who comes looking for Addison for help. Together, they try to understand and figure out why the Spill happened and how to either control the Zone or end it all...
And guys - the creepy doll, named Vespertine, is still creepy as all heck!
But she's also sassy and kind of grows on you. Trust me - you'll be rooting for her halfway through the storyline!
Again, the illustrations are so vividly bright and yet still so eerie! The colors make the "monsters" look animated enough to jump off the page. And the style is just right - realistic enough to make the story creepier than it is already, but hard to look away. You really don't want to miss a single detail.
My one and an only TINY little bit of gripe with this book - I want more!
Although we do get some answers and things seem to end on a well enough note, there is still potential for more and I still have a few questions...
I definitely recommend this series to those who not only enjoy graphic novels and comic books but to someone who really loves to immerse themselves into a new world with an open mind and vivid imagination. There is just so much that these books have to offer!
Was it an angelic visitation? A nanotech accident? A porthole opening from another world?
Whatever it was, no one's allowed in the Spill Zone these days except government scientists and hazmat teams. But a few intrepid explorers know how to sneak through the patrols and steer clear of the dangers inside the Zone.
Addison Merrick is one such explorer, dedicated to finding out what happened that night and to unraveling the events that took her parents and left her little sister mute and disconnected from the world.
Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times bestselling author of YA. He was born in Texas and now lives in Sydney and New York City. In 2001, Westerfeld married fellow author Justine Larbalestier.
He is best known for the Uglies and Leviathan series, and his next book, Afterworlds, comes out September 23, 2014.
His book Evolution's Darling was a New York Times Notable Book and won a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award. So Yesterday won a Victorian Premier's Award and both Leviathan and Midnighters 1: The Secret Hour won Aurealis Awards. Peeps and Uglies were both named as Best Books for Young Adults 2006 by the American Library Association.
"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme that used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I've missed posting these on a weekly basis and have decided to start doing them again.
Waiting On Wednesday is where I/we get to "spotlight" the books that we are most looking forward to reading soon!
Every millennium, one age ends and another age dawns...
and whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers holds the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one wish. The time is near... and the missing pieces of the scroll will be sought throughout the land of Iwagoto. The holder of the first piece is a humble, unknown peasant girl with a dangerous secret.
Demons have burned the temple Yumeko was raised in to the ground, killing everyone within, including the master who trained her to both use and hide her kitsune shapeshifting powers. Yumeko escapes with the temple's greatest treasure - one part of the ancient scroll. Fate thrusts her into the path of a mysterious samurai, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Yumeko knows he seeks what she has... and is under orders to kill anything and anyone who stands between him and the scroll.
A wish will be granted and a new age will dawn.
MY THOUGHTS
I am SO happy that we are all getting another book/series from Julie Kagawa!!!
Although I have not been able to finish her TALON series yet (sorry! I plan to!), I have been a fan since the first book of the IRON FEY was released!
There are SO many good things that this summary has to offer! Some things that caught my eye are...
- "... ask for any one wish."
- "... unknown peasant girl with a dangerous secret."
- "Demons..."
- "... hide her kitsune shapeshifting powers."
I'm excited about this, are you???
What else are you dying to get your hands on soon???
Format read: ARC acquired from a book blogger friend.
SUMMARY
Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.
Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair, and freckles.
Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee.
Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them.
Wink. Poppy. Midnight.
Two girls.
One boy.
Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.
What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.
MY REVIEW
*An ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) was acquired from a book blogger friend for free to read and review. All thoughts here are my very own.
This book has my brain all jumbled up! It was whimsical, addicting and... everything that you would want in a book that will leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused in such a good way... I'm advising you now, when you pick up this book, be prepared to be sucked in until the end. This is not a book that you could/should read in spurts or while reading other books. This book will demand your undivided attention and you should not go against it! Wink, Poppy and Midnight are our three main characters and the story is told from all of their point-of-views... there is a love triangle here, BUT, it is not like anything you have probably read before. Their story is so complicated and full of unexpected twists and turns, revelations and more. No one who is who you think they are and then they are and then they're not again. Their story is full of manipulation, and puzzling thoughts... they're not here to make friends with you, to get you to connect with them and sympathize; they're here to tell a story, their story.
Wink is the new girl next door who believes in fairytales and feels that life should be lived like one, and feels that Midnight is the hero to her story. Poppy is purposely the villain. She admittedly has a black heart and enjoys playing with peoples emotions and their lives. And will do anything to claim what is hers and put people in their rightful place. Midnight is hers and she will play along, or until she grows bored. And, Midnight. Midnight is our lost boy who is in love with two girls who may be exactly who he thinks they are and also knows that he doesn't. He's torn between the two, but he also has his own story to tell. THE WRITING! Oh, my goodness - the writing is AMAZING! It is flawless and lyrical; some passages are so captivating and realistic. For me, while reading, I felt like I was there seeing everything first hand, smelling the strawberries and barn, feeling the sheets and the grass between my toes, seeing the dust and cobwebs. It is quite eerie the way the magic of Tucholke's writing had on me. I highly recommend this book to those who want a quick read to fall into for a while and get lost in, to then take some time to find a way to climb out of. For those who love honest complex characters, mysteries and a mind-boggling experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - April Genevieve Tucholke
April Genevieve Tucholke is the author of BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, BETWEEN THE SPARK AND THE BURN, and WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT.
She also curated the horror anthology SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS.
She has received five starred reviews and her novels have been chosen for the Junior Library Guild, Kids' Indie Next picks, and YALSA Teens Top Ten.
When she's not writing, April likes walking in the woods with her two cheerful dogs, exploring abandoned houses, and drinking expensive coffee.
She has lived in many places around the world and currently resides in Oregon with her husband.
It’s
been two years since the night that changed Ashley's life and two years of hell
for Derek. When it all comes to
a head at Thanksgiving, will these siblings be able to salvage their
relationship? From the award-winning
author of Some Boys comes an unflinching
examination of rape culture that delves into a family torn apart by sexual
assault.
SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW by Patty Blount Release date: August 7th, 2018 Published by: Sourcebooks Fire Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Format: Paperback, eBook Trigger Warning: Rape
SUMMARY
It's been two years since the night that changed Ashley's life. Two years since she was raped by her brother's teammate. And a year since she sat in a court and watched as he was given a slap on the wrist sentence. But the years have done nothing to stop the pain.
It's been two years of hell for Derek. His family is totally messed up and he and his sister are barely speaking. He knows he handled it all wrong. Now at college, he has to come to terms with what happened, and the rape culture that he was inadvertently a part of that destroyed his sister's life.
When it all comes to a head at Thanksgiving, Derek and Ashley have to decide if their relationship is able to be saved. And if their family can ever be whole again.
Ashley’s hated me for a couple of years now and it’s okay. I wanted her to hate me and did whatever I could to make it happen. Of course, that was before I knew what hate really meant. Now that I get it, I can’t change it, can’t undo all the shit I did, can’t fix what went wrong. So I suffer.
See, hate is a meaningless word. Everybody tosses the word around like it’s confetti, diluting it, rendering it about as effective as a Band-aid over an amputated limb to describe how they feel about every little thing that annoys them. They hate this song, that food, that person, or this movie. They hate homework, hate their teachers, hate their parents. They hate this team and that game. They hate every damn thing but nobody has even the smallest clue what hate really means unless they’re the object of it.
The focus of it.
Hating somebody is more than you stop caring about them, and it’s more than not wanting to see that person ever again. It’s this need—an urge you can barely control—to make that person suffer. True hate goes all the way down to your bone marrow. Sometimes, it’s glacier cold and infinitely patient; other times, it’s surface-of-the-sun hot and bullet fast.
Ashley hates me in that glacier cold, slow-moving kind of hate. It leaves me permanently frost-bitten and has this really annoying habit of shadowing me around even when she can’t. Like right now—I’m surrounded by flyers. One was slipped under my dorm room door, another was stuck on the exit door of my building, the third was stuffed into my hand when I ordered some breakfast and this one is folded into one of those little tent cards and placed on top of every single table in the dining hall. I’ve been on campus at Rocky Hill University—several states and hundreds of miles away from my sister—for a few weeks, relieved to be away, to be anonymous, to be on my own. Mom and Dad wanted to come with me, set up my dorm room, have the big sloppy farewell like they did when Justin left for college four years before, but I wanted no part of that. I just wanted to be gone. Free. When Dad got the last of my crap into the car and asked if I’d said my goodbyes to everybody, I’d said yes.
But I hadn’t.
I’d tried to say goodbye to Ashley. She held up a hand and said. “Just go.” It had cut deeply, but I knew I deserved it, so I did.
I’d climbed into the passenger seat. Mom came to the front door and waved as Dad pulled out of the driveway. Ashley stood behind her, freezing me with that same cold, dead stare she’d been saving just for me since the trial. I kicked back, happy to be rid of her for the next four years.
And what happens?
Everywhere I look…reminders of her.
The flyers announce You Can Stop Campus Sex Assault! Blue paper, white text, announcing we’re gonna Take Back The Night.
Great.
There’s a huge rally being planned for Homecoming week—Rock Stock here. Because we’re the Rockets.
Of course, it would be homecoming week, because, like I said, I must suffer.
There will be guest speakers and live music and a candlelight vigil for all the survivors of sexual assault. I flip it over to read my favorite part: Are you a guy against rape? Join GAR today!
GAR. I wonder if people say it with a rolling R, like a pirate. Garrrrrrrr.
Oh, and the coach informed us the entire football team would don special uniforms for that game, showing our support.
Awesome.
I crumble up the collection of flyers into a single giant ball and shove my breakfast aside, my stomach churning up acid. I was already planning on being hurt, injured, or maybe both that day.
“Hey, Derek.”
I glance up into the smiling face of Brittany Meyers, my girlfriend. We actually met in high school but didn’t hook up until we both arrived here. “Hey, Britt.” I sit up a little straighter, shove thoughts of my sister the hell out of my brain. Brittany’s hot in that girl-next-door way. Her long blond hair’s tied up in a loose knot with strands hanging loose. She’s wearing a tank top, shorts and flip-flops and her toes are painted an electric green and my mouth goes suddenly sand-paper dry. Happens every time.
Quickly, I take a sip of orange juice. A big one.
“What’s this?” She indicates my balled up collection of flyers and I shrug. Understanding dawns a second later. “Oh. The rally.”
“Yeah. That.” I rub the side of my face, scratch at the scar near my temple.
“You’re gonna go, right?”
Hell, no. I shake my head. “No way. I’m the last person who should be there.”
She slides into the chair opposite mine, covers my hand with hers and my whole body heats up. “Derek, you’re the best person to be at that rally. You get it. A lot of guys claim they get it and have no clue. But you do.”
I look into her big blue eyes for a minute and finally decide she believes her own bullshit. And then I decide she’s right. I do have a clue. In fact, I have the whole mystery solved. And because I do, there’s no way in hell I’m going anywhere near that rally because I don’t need the entire university knowing I’m Derek Lawrence, the guy whose sister is the Bellford High School Rape Victim.
That’s what the media called her.
Ashley was barely fourteen when it happened. A minor. So her identity was protected. But she took her story public, posting a detailed account to her do-it-yourself website. And she included my role in it. Now, everybody from feminist bloggers to Matt Lauer knows our names.
So, yeah. I don’t want my whole school saying, “Oh! You’re that Derek Lawrence.”
Yep. The Derek Lawrence that played a stupid game that got his sister raped and then told a court of law that to go easy on her rapist. The same Derek Lawrence who drove away and left her standing alone in an empty parking lot, putting the whole friggin’ ordeal into motion.
Self-hatred runs another ice cold finger across my bare skin and I shiver, reminding myself I deserve this…deserve every second of it.
GIVEAWAY
Rafflecopter for SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW First Look Giveaway!!!
Patty is offering Five (5) lucky winners a special prize pack consisting of:
- a $10 Amazon Gift Card,
- a paperback copy of Some Boys,
- and an advanced e-copy of SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW.
To enter for your chance to win one of these exciting prizes,
*Bumbles and Fairy-Tales is not responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Patty Blount
Patty Blount grew up quiet and somewhat invisible in Queens, NY, but found her voice writing smart and strong characters willing to fight for what's right.
Today, she's the award-winning author of edgy, realistic, gut-wrenching contemporary and young adult romance.
Still a bit introverted, she gets lost often, eats way too much chocolate, and tends to develop mad, passionate crushes on fictional characters... and actors like Gilles Marini... and Sam Heughan. Okay, so Patty's not nearly as cool as her characters, but she is a solid supporter of women's rights and loves delivering school presentations.
Patty is best known for her internet issues novels, including SOME BOYS, a 2015 CLMP Firecracker winner and RWA Rita Finalist, and SEND, a 2012 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick. Her upcoming release, SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW, has already been selected as a 2018 Junior Library Guild Fall Pick.
Visit her website at pattyblount.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter.
When she's not writing, Patty loves to watch bad sci-fi movies, live tweeting the hilarity, and scour Pinterest for ideas on awesome bookcases.
Patty lives on Long Island with her family in a house that, sadly, lacks bookcases.
She loves hearing from readers, especially when they tell her she's cool (even though she knows it's not true), and is easily bribed with chocolate. Never underestimate the power of chocolate.
