FFBC Blog Tour, Playlist, & Giveaway: What Happens Now (Jennifer Castle)

What Happens Now
by Jennifer Castle
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 7th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mental Illness

"I know what it is to want something so badly, you feel like your cells aren’t properly bonded together without it. I also know what it’s like to get that something.And honestly, I’m still not sure which is worse..."
Ari Logan is battling to win her war against depression and the dark night she hurt herself on purpose. It’s not easy: her best friend is drifting away, her mom’s emotionally checked out, and she spends her days playing caregiver to her handful of a half-sister, Danielle. But it’s summer, and anything is possible...
That’s when Camden Armstrong steps onto the beach of Ari’s local swimming lake. 
At first, Ari quietly longs for Camden from afar, seeing in him everything she wants to be. When the two discover a true connection the following summer, Ari lets herself fall not just for the quirky and self-assured Camden but also his friends, tumbling into their world of independence, adventure, and shared sci-fi fandom. As Ari’s romantic dreams come true, she must unlock the mysteries of the very real and troubled boy behind her infatuation, while also struggling with her own demons, obligations, and loyalties.
From the award-winning author of "The Beginning of After" and "You Look Different in Real Life," "What Happens Now" is a touching, insightful novel about learning to heal, learning to love, and what happens when fantasy becomes reality.

http://www.jennifercastle.com/what-happens-now#Playlist

I "collected" these songs during the time I was writing What Happens Now. Each one of them inspired me or evoked the characters and story in some way.

SPOTIFY DIRECT LINK: https://play.spotify.com/user/125993404/playlist/3BCNKwjllevXexZYblLfPx

SPOTIFY EMBED CODE: https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/125993404/playlist/3BCNKwjllevXexZYblLfPx

Follow the What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Jennifer Castle received her B.A. in Creative Writing at Brown University and worked as a celebrity publicist’s assistant, an advertising copywriter, and a struggling screenwriter (yes, that’s an actual job) before falling into a niche producing websites for kids and teens. Her debut, THE BEGINNING OF AFTER, was a 2012 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection as well as a Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" book. YOU LOOK DIFFERENT IN REAL LIFE and its companion digital novella, PLAYING KEIRA, were published by HarperTeen in June 2013. Her next novel, WHAT HAPPENS NOW, is forthcoming from Harper in June 2016. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband and daughters.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CBB Book Promotions Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: Undead Ultra (Camille Picott)

Welcome to my tour stop for Undead Ultra (A Zombie Novel) by Camille Picott! This is an adult post apocalyptic horror novel and the tour runs June 20 through July 1st with reviews, interviews and excerpts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule!

Undead: a reanimated corpse with a craving for human flesh.
Ultramarathon: any footrace longer than a traditional marathon (26.2 miles).

For ultrarunners Kate and Frederico, a typical Saturday morning is spent pounding out a twenty- to thirty-mile “fun run.” It’s during one of their runs that an insidious illness descends upon northern California, turning humans into flesh-shredding zombies. When Kate receives a desperate call from her son, Carter, she and Frederico flee their hometown and set out to help him. The only problem? Carter attends college over two hundred miles away and the freeways—clogged with car wrecks, zombies, and government blockades—are impassable. Running back roads and railroad tracks becomes their only means of travel, but neither of them has ever run so far before. As pain, injuries, hunger, and fatigue plague them, getting to Carter and staying alive seem impossible. It’s either outrun the undead or become one of them, and for Kate, death is not an option.

Goodreads | Amazon

Camille Picott has been writing novels since she was twelve. When she’s not working on a book, spending time with family, or whipping up a new vegetarian meal, you can find her trail running in Sonoma County, California.

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

 

1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book? 

I’m a thirty-something wife and mother. I feel like I am an under-represented demographic in scifi/fantasy. I get tired of reading books about teenagers and characters in their twenties who don’t have much life experience. I really wanted to write a book with adult characters who had families and dirt under their nails, so the speak, because that’s something that’s meaningful to me. I’m also an ultrarunner, and I thought it would be fun to share this crazy sport with readers.

2. Who is your favorite character in the book?

 Hands down, Frederico. He is so real and beautiful – kind, funny, tragic, and flawed. I enjoyed getting to know him and his many nuances.

3. Which came first, the title or the novel? 

The concept of the novel came first, but I had the title figured out before I started writing.

4. What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why? 

The scenes where Frederico talks about his sobriety and shares some of the acts he committed when he was still drinking and doing drugs. The tragedies of his past, all of them self-inflicted by his drug and alcohol abuse, add to the texture of his character. I loved bringing him to life on the page for readers.

5. Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer from then to now? 

Don’t get bogged down trying to make the first 3 chapters perfect. Focus on the act of completing a work. The more stories you finish, the better you’ll get at the act of finishing. 

6. What do you like most about the cover of the book?

 I love how the book designers (Derranged Doctor Designs) melded two genres: zombie stories and running books. I think (hope!) the book will appeal to fans of both genres.

7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2016? 

I’m really hoping Streaming Dawn by Steve Bien will be released as an audio book soon! I love his Fated Blades series and am anxious for this next one to be available.

8. What was your favorite book in 2015? 

Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas. This is nonfiction book about a man who moved into a van to avoid going into debt for his post-graduate work. It was really mind-blowing and made me look at the way I live in a whole new way.

9. What’s up next for you? 

 To celebrate the release of my novel, I rounded up 14 people to run 200+ miles from Geyserville to Arcata – the same route the characters run in the book. We just finished the run last weekend. It was an amazing adventure! I’m working on a short film to document it.

10. Is there anything that you would like to add? 

Thanks for hosting the Undead Ultra tour and posting my interview!

Two (2) $5 Amazon gift cards (INT)

Ends July 6th

Prizing is provided by the author, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 18. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Rockstar Book Tours Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: How To Disappear (Ann Redisch Stampler)

Title: HOW TO DISAPPEAR
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Release date: June 14, 2016
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 416
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

This electric cross-country thriller follows the game of cat and mouse between a girl on the run from a murder she witnessed—or committed?—and the boy who’s sent to kill her.
Nicolette Holland is the girl everyone likes. Up for adventure. Loyal to a fault. And she’s pretty sure she can get away with anything…until a young woman is brutally murdered in the woods near Nicolette’s house. Which is why she has to disappear.
Jack Manx has always been the stand-up guy with the killer last name. But straight A’s and athletic trophies can’t make people forget that his father was a hit man and his brother is doing time for armed assault. Just when Jack is about to graduate from his Las Vegas high school and head east for college, his brother pulls him into the family business with inescapable instructions: find this ruthless Nicolette Holland and get rid of her. Or else Jack and everyone he loves will pay the price.
As Nicolette and Jack race to outsmart each other, tensions—and attractions—run high. Told in alternating voices, this tightly plotted mystery and tense love story challenges our assumptions about right and wrong, guilt and innocence, truth and lies.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | iTUNES | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS

Ann Redisch Stampler is the author of the young adult novels Afterparty and Where It Began as well as half a dozen picture books. Her work has garnered an Aesop accolade, the National Jewish Book Award, Sydney Taylor honors, the Middle East Book Award, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year mentions. How to Disappear (Simon Pulse, 2016), her first young adult thriller, will be released in June. Ann lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband Rick.

WEBSITE | BLOG | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | GOODREADS

1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

It was a write the book you want to read thing: I’ve always been drawn to dark, twisty thrillers, and to stories about people on the run. So when the idea of telling this story using two narrators neither of whom knew (or was telling) the whole truth occurred to me, How to Disappear fell into place.

2. Who is your favorite character in the book? 

I love both of the main characters, Jack and Nicolette, although neither one is what you could call a perfect person. I love how resourceful and ultimately how ruthless she is in protecting the things she cares about – even when she does this completely without regard to what she might previously have thought of as morally correct. And I love the way Jack struggles to figure things out and to maintain some semblance of control even when he’s plunged into (or creates) the most difficult situations.

3. Which came first, the title or the novel?

The title arrived when I had the kernel of the story. And then I had to finish the story because I was crazy about the title.

4. What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

It’s almost impossible to answer this question without introducing a spoiler. How do I explain this? Okay, I’m proudest of a couple of scenes that are described from both Nicolette and Jack’s points of view, so the reader gains a clearer sense of who they are, and how honest they’re being (or not being) with each other and even with themselves by seeing the ways they interpret exactly the same thing.

5. Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer from then to now?

I was told that you have to be completely taken with the process of writing and rewriting the book, as opposed to the idea of filling in “author” on the line for your profession. For me, at least, as intrigued as I was by the notion of being a writer and walking past my books on a shelf at the library, the only thing that makes this career work is that the thing I want to be doing for many hours a day is putting words on a page and revising the page. I’m a pretty slow writer, and if I didn’t like sitting there making things up at a snail-like pace, the author thing wouldn’t be viable.

7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2016? 

 My daughter Laura’s first young adult novel, Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies, a romantic comedy with so much heart is coming out in July. And even though I’ve read any number of versions of the wonderful thing, I can’t wait to celebrate its release.

8. What’s up next for you? 

 I found myself writing another thriller based on real events so horrifying that for comic relief, I started working on something very fluffy. So we shall see: The cotton candy or the dagger?

ONE (1) winner will receive a $50.00 gift certificate for Booklocker + signed HOW TO DISAPPEAR bookmarks.

***Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, June 14th:

· Book Briefs – Review

· A Bookish Escape – Review

· BookHounds YA – Author Interview

Wednesday, June 15th:

· Ryley Reads – Review

· Fiktshun - Review

· Becky on Books – Excerpt

Thursday, June 16th:

· Just Commonly – Review

· Emily Reads Everything - Review

Friday, June 17th:

· Such a Novel Idea – Review

· Curling Up With A Good Book – Author Interview

Saturday, June 18th:

· Here’s to Happy Endings – Review

· My So-Called Book Reviews – Author Interview

Sunday, June 19th:

· A Gingerly Review – Spotlight

· Book Whales – Excerpt

Monday, June 20th:

· A Dream Within A Dream – Review

· Jessabella Reads – Character Interview

Tuesday, June 21st:

· Owl Always Be Reading – Review

· The Cover Contessa – Character Interview

Wednesday, June 22nd:

· Dani Reviews Things – Author Interview

· Fishing for Books – Review

Thursday, June 23rd:

· Once Upon a Twilight – Author Interview

· Classy Cat Books – Review

Friday, June 24th:

· Star-Crossed Book Blog – Review

· Lilians Book Stuff – Author Interview

Saturday, June 25th:

· Pandora’s Books – Excerpt

· Reese’s Reviews – Review

Sunday, June 26th:

· The Phantom Paragrapher – Review

· In a Bookish World – Excerpt

Monday, June 27th:

· Movies, Shows & Books – Review

· Wishful Endings – Character Interview

Irish Banana Tours Blog Tour, Guest Post, & Giveaway: Rose and Rot (Kat Howard)

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published May 17th 2016 by Saga Press

Imogen and her sister Marin have escaped their cruel mother to attend a prestigious artists’ retreat, but soon learn that living in a fairy tale requires sacrifices, be it art or love.
What would you sacrifice in the name of success? How much does an artist need to give up to create great art?
Imogen has grown up reading fairy tales about mothers who die and make way for cruel stepmothers. As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn’t imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As adults, Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program—Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there’s more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she’s dreamed about as a child, but it’s one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart’s desire.

LINKS:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iBooks | The Book Depository

Kat Howard lives in New Hampshire. Her short fiction has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, anthologized in year's best and best of collections, and performed on NPR. Roses and Rot is her debut novel. You can find her on twitter at @KatWithSword.

Also, Shane Leonard took her photo, and she's super grateful.

LINKS: 

Website | Twitter

1 Finished Copy of ROSES & ROT (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

6/6: Such A Novel Idea - Playlist

6/7: Cosying Up With Books - Review

6/8: That Artsy Reader Girl - Art History Post

6/9: The Quiet Concert - Review

6/10: Fiction Fare - Q&A

Week 2:

6/13: No BS Book Reviews - Q&A

6/14: Curling Up With A Good Book - Guest Post

6/15: Lilybloombooks - Review

6/16: Reads All the Books - Review

6/17: Fangs & Fur Fantasy Books - Review

FFBC Blog Tour, Guest Post, & Giveaway: Break Me Like A Promise (Tiffany Schmidt)

Break Me Like a Promise (Once Upon a Crime Family #2)
by Tiffany Schmidt
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: June 7th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Retellings, Contemporary

No one is unbreakable.
All Magnolia Vickers has ever wanted was to follow father’s path as head of the Family Business. But new legislation is poised to destroy the Family’s operations in the black-market organ trade and Maggie’s recent behavior has wrecked the business-savvy reputation she’s worked her whole life to build.
She’s given an ultimatum: shape up or step aside.
Then Maggie messes up: she downloads a virus onto her father’s computer, and must sneak it off-estate for repair. When Alex, a tech whiz, uncovers the type of information on the machine, he offers Maggie a choice: her Family can give him a kidney, or he’ll irreparably scramble the data. Maggie agrees, but has no intention of keeping her promise or every seeing him again. That night Alex shows up at her Family estate with copies of confidential Family files and a shocking revelation—the kidney is for him.
The Vickers aren’t willing to let Alex out of their sight, so he moves onto their estate and Maggie is assigned to be his keeper. A task she resents and he enjoys making as challenging as possible. But procuring black market organs is becoming increasingly difficult, and as Alex’s health declines, she’s surprised to find herself falling for him.
Like it or not, Maggie must accept that if she wants to save Alex’s life and carve out a place in the new legalized organ business, she’s going to have to fight for both.

INSERT A TEASER HERE

Follow the Break Me Like A Promise by Tiffany Schmidt Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Tiffany Schmidt lives in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles. She's not at all superstitious... at least that's what she tells herself every Friday the thirteenth.
SEND ME A SIGN is her first novel. BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE will follow in Winter, 2014. The ONCE UPON A CRIME FAMILY series begins with HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH in 2015. You can find out more about her and her books at: TiffanySchmidt.com, TiffanySchmidtWrites.Tumblr.com or by following her on Twitter @TiffanySchmidt.

COMING SOON!