Cover Lust Friday: Phantom Limps by Paula Garner

Freitag, 27. Mai 2016

Cover Lust Friday Logo

   Cover Lust Friday is a weekly meme that's all about covers. Pick a cover that stands out to you, add your reason why you've chosen that particular one or what you like about it. Let's have fun with it and share the love for our favorite covers.

   The Cover:


Phantom Limps by Paula Garner
Expected Publication: September 13th 2016 by Candlewick
Number of Pages: 368 Pages (Hardcover)
Series: No

   How do you move on from an irreplaceable loss? In a poignant debut, a sixteen-year-old boy must learn to swim against an undercurrent of grief—or be swept away by it.
   Otis and Meg were inseparable until her family abruptly moved away after the terrible accident that left Otis’s little brother dead and both of their families changed forever. Since then, it’s been three years of radio silence, during which time Otis has become the unlikely protégé of eighteen-year-old Dara—part drill sergeant, part friend—who’s hell-bent on transforming Otis into the Olympic swimmer she can no longer be. But when Otis learns that Meg is coming back to town, he must face some difficult truths about the girl he’s never forgotten and the brother he’s never stopped grieving. As it becomes achingly clear that he and Meg are not the same people they were, Otis must decide what to hold on to and what to leave behind. Quietly affecting, this compulsively readable debut novel captures all the confusion, heartbreak, and fragile hope of three teens struggling to accept profound absences in their lives. (goodreads.com)

   The Reason:


   This cover is literally everything!
   Sure, this cover is kind of simple, but that's the thing that makes it just so amazing. The simplicity definitely caught my eye, and then I read the blurb and wow I want it and I want it now. (If Candlewick would like to send me an ARC I would be overjoyed, ha ha) I love the font, the fact that it looks like the title and author were just written onto the page by hand. Such fonts are amazing and so unique! And the tear drops that also form a heart in one place are just so pretty. 
   I definitely want to congratulate the cover designer for their work because this cover is everything!

 * * *

Want to join in? No problem! Just follow the 'rules' below:

  1. Write a blog post (or post a picture using #CoverLustFriday on Instagram) about a cover you love.
  2. Add your link in the comment section of the original post (click here) so we can have something like a list going on.
  3. And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
  4. Check out other posts, and have fun!

Ask the Author: Katherine Fleet (The Secret to Letting Go)

Samstag, 21. Mai 2016

   Welcome everyone!
   Thanks so much to Alice for hosting me on her site today! I’m Katherine Fleet, the debut author of The Secret to Letting Go. It’s a YA contemporary set in a fictional town on the Gulf Coast of Florida during that magical summer after high school graduation when the whole world is out there waiting for you. It’s the story of two teens – Clover, a mysterious girl who shows up in town lost in her secrets and fears, and Daniel, a boy who’s drawn into her troubled world despite his better judgment. Life keeps throwing them together, but their secrets keep them apart. Ultimately, it’s a story about living through tragedy and learning to forgive your self.

The Secret to Letting Go
Published: February 1st 2016 by Entangled: digiTeen
Number of Pages: 334 Pages (Kindle)
Series: No

   One summer can change everything...
   Haunted with guilt after his girlfriend’s death, Daniel Hudson has no interest in committing to anyone. At the end of the summer, he’ll be leaving Florida for a new start in college. If only he could avoid the mysterious new girl in town, who seems every bit as naive and eccentric as she looks. Trouble is, she’s hard to ignore, with her beautiful piercing eyes, pitiful-looking dog, and unsettling tendency of finding trouble.
   Clover Scott lived her whole life off the grid and arrives on the Gulf coast in search of her grandparents. She never expected to nearly drown, or get caught in a hurricane, or fall in love with the boy who rescues her. Now, she has a chance to rewrite her life’s story, to finally fit in somewhere, but Daniel wants answers about her past. When the police start asking questions about the disappearance of her parents, she must make a choice: go to jail or confess her secrets—even if they might destroy her chance at a happily-ever-after. (goodreads.com)

Interview with Katherine Fleet


   1 - Describe The Secret to Letting Go with a haiku or twitter pitch.
   Since I was always terrible at our annual holiday haiku contest at the office, I’ll stick with a twitter pitch!
   Homeless and running from her past, Clover needs saving. Daniel’s not good at being anyone’s hero, but he can’t walk away.

   2 - What was the first initial thought or thing that sparked the idea of The Secret to Letting Go?
   This will probably sound cliché, but I had a dream, which was basically the first scene of the book. When I woke up, I just lay there, letting the characters take shape. I didn’t know what Clover had been through, but I knew it was something bad. From there, I started writing.

   3 - What do you like most and least about your protagonists Clover and Daniel?
   I love that after everything they’ve been through, neither one of them has given up on life, hope or love. What do I like least? That’s a hard one. It’s probably that they had so many self-doubts. I wanted them to be confident in their own goodness and worthiness, but I knew that it would take a while for them to accept it.

   4 - What was the most challenging thing about writing The Secret to Letting Go and which scene was the most fun to write?
   The most challenging part was portraying Clover’s character to the reader in the same way I saw her. To me, Clover is a girl with quiet strength. She requires saving on several occasions and she has her phobias, but she’s survived so much and still has the ability to see good in the world and feel compassion toward others. I believe it takes great personal strength to emerge from trauma and tragedy, without losing hope and optimism. So, I was surprised when feedback on early drafts mentioned that she seemed weak and needy. That’s when I realized that a writer’s vision of a character may not always come across clearly. So I revised and tweaked until readers could see Clover the same way I see her.
   I love writing emotional scenes. So the parts I had the most “fun” writing are actually the ones where I was on the verge of tears as I was typing. There are a lot of emotional scenes in this book, but the cemetery scene in the middle of the storm was probably my fav.

   5 - How long did it take you from first thought until publishing deal? Out of curiosity, how many queries did you have to send until you found 'the one'?
   This book had an unusually long timeframe. Unfortunately, I’d just started writing when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It took over six months before I was able to return to the story and eighteen months in total before it was finished. The publishing deal took many, many queries and another three years of waiting and perseverance!

   6 - How did you feel when you first realized that this story you had written would soon be read by hundreds of people and how do you feel now, a couple of weeks after the publication?
   I was nervous, because a part of me was afraid no one would read it or like it. When the initial reviews started to come in, I realized that readers were forming their own thoughts and relationships with the characters I’d created. It’s an amazing and surreal feeling, because the story takes on a life of its own, independent from me. The amazingness of this still hasn’t worn off.

   7 - Why do you think the readers out there should pick up The Secret to Letting Go? What makes the story stand out and, in a way, important?
   There are so many great YA stories available right now, so it can be difficult for readers to choose. I like to think that my book is a unique emotional journey. At points, it’s deep and raw, but always hopeful. The romance is sweet, but the secrets are dark. It’s a small-town book, with a rich cast of characters, some surprise twist and turns, and an eccentric heroine that readers are falling in love with.

   8 - While writing the story did you ever imagine how a cover might look like and what do you think about the absolutely gorgeous final version?
   I had some basic ideas for the cover, which I shared with Entangled, but what they created looked very different from what I’d envisioned. So when I first saw it, I was a little disoriented, but it didn’t take long for it to grow on me. Now, I love it and can’t imagine anything else!

   9 - Did you listen to any particular songs or artists while writing The Secret the Letting Go? If so, could you give us an example?
   I love writing to music and have different playlists for different activities. Certain songs put me in the right mood to write emotional scenes, and other songs I listen to when editing. Most of The Secret to Letting Go was written while listening to Mumford & Sons.

   10 – What advice could you give aspiring authors?
   Writing is a craft and a skill, and like any other skill, it gets better with practice. Your first book may not get published, but if you keep writing, you will succeed. Oh, and if you are serious about being a writer, tell people you are a writer. Saying these words out loud to family, friends and even strangers makes it real, and it makes you accountable. It will help you hang in there, even when you feel discouraged. Also, find the people who will support and encourage your writing goals. It may be your family, friends, a critique partner or an online writing community. You may need to put yourself out there to find them, but the reward will be worth it!

   11 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
   My selfish answer is that I’d love to be able to fly! It probably wouldn’t be very helpful for crime-fighting and helping people, but it would be so cool☺

About the Author


   Originally from Newfoundland, Canada, Katherine Fleet moved with her family to the Caribbean island of Curaçao in 2007. The slower pace of island life gave her time to pursue a long-time goal - becoming an author. When she’s not writing, she spends her time baking, chauffeuring her three amazing, talented kids around, and having sun-filled adventures with her wonderful friends. She is a member of RWA™ and several of its chapters. She also loves NaNoWriMo and is an active supporter of the associated Young Writers Program. She is represented by super-agent Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency. The Secret to Letting Go is her debut novel.

Website / Twitter: @KatherineFleet / Instagram: @katherine_fleet

Ask the Author: L.E. Sterling (True Born)

Samstag, 7. Mai 2016

   Welcome to this weeks edition of Ask the Author! For this time I'm bringing you the amazing L.E. Sterling, author of True Born, who took some of her time to answer my Qs for you guys. Check out her amazing sounding book (I'm actually currently reading it and it's really good so far) and As below!

True Born by L.E. Sterling
Published: May 3rd 2016 by Entangled: Teen
Number of Pages: 304 Pages (Hardcover)
Series: Yes, book #1 in the True Born Trilogy

   Welcome to Dominion City.
   After the great Plague descended, the world population was decimated...and their genetics damaged beyond repair.
   The Lasters wait hopelessly for their genes to self-destruct. The Splicers pay for expensive treatments that might prolong their life. The plague-resistant True Borns are as mysterious as they are feared…
   And then there's Lucy Fox and her identical twin sister, Margot. After endless tests, no one wants to reveal what they are.
   When Margot disappears, a desperate Lucy has no choice but to put her faith in the True Borns, led by the charismatic Nolan Storm and the beautiful but deadly Jared Price. As Lucy and the True Borns set out to rescue her sister, they stumble upon a vast conspiracy stretching from Dominion’s street preachers to shady Russian tycoons. But why target the Fox sisters?
   As they say in Dominion, it’s in the blood. (goodreads.com)

Interview with L.E. Sterling


   1 – Describe True Born with a haiku.
   How about this?
   Moody antlers rule
   What the Fox twins’ blood reveals –
   The blond panther snarls.

   2 – What sparked the idea for True Born? The sole idea of writing a sci-fi tale involving a apocalyptic world stricken by a plague or something completely different?
   There are a few things that led to the book but the most interesting is the incredible story of my great-grandmother, who was born in England and sent to the U.S. to be an indentured servant. As the story goes, she was very young when she was shipped over, and I imagine the whole voyage was traumatic, because apparently my great-grandmother forgot her identity through the crossing. When she finally arrived in the U.S. she gave them her twin’s name. And she lived her entire life, until she was a middle-aged adult, as her twin. I loved the idea of having a bond with someone that was so close that it took over your own, so I explored this in a fictional world.

   3 – What was the most challenging thing about writing True Born and which scene was the most fun to write?
   I really, REALLY loved writing the action scenes – which were, of course, also among the most challenging. I wanted these scenes to seem believable and not too gory but also really kick ass. These are harder to write (and more fun) when the characters doing the ass-whooping aren’t quite human.
   But now that I think about it, the thing that I really struggled with was trying to fit these really odd people, the True Borns, into a plague world where everyone else is so frail, so fallible and human.

   4 – What do you like most and least about your main character, Lucy, and her sister Margot?
   Ohh, great question. I adore Lucy – she’s got spunk and depths that she’s only just beginning to explore. But at the same time she’s really trapped by the thought paradigms she’s grown up with. I think that strange duality leads to some of the best tension in the book, because she’s always fighting with her desire and inclination to play it safe, play by the rules of her parents and her upper class world. In the end, she just can’t. She just isn’t that person, no matter how much she wants to be. She’s far bigger, and the world is not going to let her forget it.
   As for Margot…well. Margot is a whole different problem. I don’t like that Margot is not a responsible character and continually lets Lucy hold the bag for her, so to speak. She doesn’t even seem to be aware of the privilege she has within her family – and it’s so arbitrary! Lucy is identical to Margot, after all, so why are they treated so differently?? At the same time, she needs to be free. I love that Margot seems to use all the systems she lives in against themselves to help her bust free of what she views as painful constrictions.

   5 – In retrospective, is there anything that you’d change about the story or are you happy with the way it turned out in the end?
   I’m extremely happy with the book! In many ways, I’d say that this book turned out much better than I could have ever imagined. It’s the most nuanced, layered, complicated, FUN book I’ve ever written. 

   6 – I heard the story has previously been published on Wattpad. How did you handle the transition from posting your story on there to moving over to the publishing world, getting an agent and publisher?
   Funnily enough, I already had an agent when I published the story as a novella on Wattpad! I wrote the story to work the kinks out of a world that I wanted to set a whole other series of books in – the world of Dominion. And I posted it with the hopes of drawing more attention to my second novel, Pluto’s Gate, which I published with a very reputable small press – who did absolutely no marketing of the book.
   But the True Born story just…really took off. The response was so completely overwhelming (the sections I posted were read 500K+ times) that I realized I’d better just finish the whole novel and see if my agent wanted to sell it.

   7 - How did you feel now when thinking about the fact that in only a couple more weeks your  book will finally hit the shelves and people will able to buy and read it?
   Scared. Nervous. Exhilarated. I feel a bit like the whole world is about to see me with my pants down, if you know what I mean. Publishing anything is such a vulnerable experience… and I’ve already published two books previous to True Born, so I know what of I speak!

   8 – What do you think about the cover for True Born? Does it do the story justice?
   I adore the cover – it’s a moody, hypnotic, symbolic cover. I love that the leader of the True Borns, Nolan Storm, has a characteristic (the antlers) that can be used to tell an interesting story on the cover. The antlers define him, certainly, but it’s what those antlers point to, his unseen qualities, that are really his power.
   I can hardly wait to see what the designers do for Book 2 and 3 of the series!

   9 – Do you have a writing routine or do you write whenever creativity strikes?
   I get up at 5 am to write. Every day. So obviously, there’s coffee involved. I don’t have a lot of time because I have a full-time day job (and I’m a mom to a little kid) so I get pretty busy. I write in a journal before sitting down to the novel, though, because I need to empty my mind. It’s a very zen experience for me. Writing is a career for me, even if I can only get it done very part-time.

   10 – What advice could you give aspiring authors?
   You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about this question. The advice I would always give is to read and write as much as you can, because that teaches you everything you need to know. The other is to treat writing as a business. Learn as much as you can, learn from each and every rejection, because those will teach you far more about what you need to do than your successes.

   11 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
   Do I really need to pick just one??? I think I’d have to pick immortality… it’s the one power that would allow a person to develop in so many amazing ways. Think of all the languages one could learn, the places one could travel, the books one could read and write!!

About the Author


   L.E. Sterling had an early obsession with sci-fi, fantasy and romance to which she remained faithful even through an M.A. in Creative Writing and a PhD in English Literature – where she completed a thesis on magical representation. She is the author of two previous novels, the cult hit Y/A novel The Originals (under pen name L.E. Vollick), dubbed “the Catcher in the Rye of a new generation” by one reviewer, and the urban fantasy Pluto’s Gate.
   Originally hailing from Parry Sound, Ontario, L.E. spent most of her summers roaming across Canada in a van with her father, a hippie musician, her brothers and an occasional stray mutt – inspiring her writing career. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Blog Tour: The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn (Review + Giveaway)

Dienstag, 3. Mai 2016

   Welcome to my tour stop for The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn!
   I was very happy when I saw that there were open spots for the blog tour, since I loved Forget Tomorrow by Pintip, so I was even more overjoyed when I was given a spot. I was truly excited to dive into The Darkest Lie, eager to see what story she'd created this time. Check out my thoughts below along with the giveaway!

The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn
Expected Publication: June 28th 2016 by Kensington Publishing
Number of Pages: 256 Pages (Paperback)
Series: No

   “The mother I knew would never do those things.
   But maybe I never knew her after all.”
   Clothes, jokes, coded messages…Cecilia Brooks and her mom shared everything. At least, CeCe thought they did. Six months ago, her mom killed herself after accusations of having sex with a student, and CeCe’s been the subject of whispers and taunts ever since. Now, at the start of her high school senior year, between dealing with her grieving, distracted father, and the social nightmare that has become her life, CeCe just wants to fly under the radar. Instead, she’s volunteering at the school’s crisis hotline—the same place her mother worked.
   As she counsels troubled strangers, CeCe’s lingering suspicions about her mom’s death surface. With the help of Sam, a new student and newspaper intern, she starts to piece together fragmented clues that point to a twisted secret at the heart of her community. Soon, finding the truth isn’t just a matter of restoring her mother’s reputation, it’s about saving lives—including CeCe’s own… (goodreads.com)

* Thank you to Kensington for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review *

   Mystery thriller type books are my jam, have always been and will always be, so when I realized that The Darkest Lie was one of them, I was excited. The story we get to read unfolds slowly but pulling you in more and more as you go along since you want to know what really happened.
   Something that stood out to me about The Darkest Lie were the descriptions that really make you feel whatever it is CeCe is feeling, which is only made better by how realistic her feelings and her struggles are, especially when thinking of her mother and dealing with the aftermath of her suicide. I also enjoyed the lack of sugarcoating whenever we experienced CeCe being bullied in horrible ways at school. Adults always say that kids are just kids, but The Darkest Lie shows that high schoolers can be downright cruel if they want to be. I really appreciate that because that's reality.

   When it comes to the characters, I liked the depth they all had, above all, CeCe. The loss of her mother was always present, not something that was just mentioned from time to time, but rather something she suffered of and struggled with at all times. I loved the way her feelings for her mother slowly changed and the way CeCe hunted down all the small clues.
   Sam, CeCe's love interest, was also a really interesting character. He's really into journalism, doing an internship at a newspaper and all, which I could identify with since I used to be just the same. I love the fact with just how much respect CeCe and Sam treated each other because it was refreshing. Good job, Pintip.

  I also liked the way that the tension was built in the story, though in a few places I would've wished it would happen a little quicker. I also wasn't the biggest fan of Liam. Something about him just seemed off at all times. The idea behind the story, a scandal surrounding the main character's mother's suicide was something I've not seen done before, so it was fun to read something original like that.
   Even though I liked Pintip's writing style in Forget Tomorrow a little more then in The Darkest Lie, I still liked it well enough to make me read on. She is a good author, no arguing with that, but something just didn't quite grab me about it as much as it did with the other novel.

   All in all, The Darkest Lie is a interesting mystery read without sugarcoating the ugly stuff but with an honest narrator that struggles with the loss of her mother, something I don't even want to imagine. It's not the longest story, but it's a good one, perfect for a rainy day to just read in one go. So if you're into mystery type reads, definitely give it a shot.
I give The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn 4 out of 5 stars.

About the Author


   Pintip Dunn graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL. She also published an article in the YALE LAW JOURNAL, entitled, “How Judges Overrule: Speech Act Theory and the Doctrine of Stare Decisis,”
   Pintip is represented by literary agent Beth Miller of Writers House. She is a 2012 RWA Golden Heart® finalist and a 2014 double-finalist. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, YARWA, and The Golden Network.
She lives with her husband and children in Maryland. You can learn more about Pintip and her books at www.pintipdunn.com.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway!


   Tour Wide Giveaway (International)
   $25 gift card to Amazon OR Book Depository (International)

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