INVISIBLE Book Trailer... finally!

I know it's taken me nearly a year, but I finally got a book trailer made for INVISIBLE! Come meet Mason and Olivia and learn a little more about their story. 

Oh yes, and if you'd like to grab a copy, Invisible is currently FREE on Amazon, or you can get Invisible along with 19 other amazing books for only 0.99 in the PANDORA box set, a USA Today Best Seller. 

And when you finish reading, I'd love to here what your think, so please consider leaving a review :) 

#BlogTalkRadio: Top Ten Book Boyfriends

Today was the launch of A Special Kind of Crazy Radio Show! 

Come join myself, Amanda Strong, and Gail Wagner talking about our picks for the Top Ten Book Boyfriends!

Current Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with A Special Kind of Crazy on BlogTalkRadio

Wednesday Writers: Gail Wagner

Today I'm super excited to welcome a good friend of mine, author Gail Wagner!

Once upon a time, there was girl who lived to read…wait, I meant loved. J  Her family was the type that family time meant all sitting in the same room together while reading different books.  She walked the school hallways with her nose stuck in a book because she had to finish the next chapter before class started.  She read so many books she got to put her name in a drawing over a hundred times and actually won a set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books (she never won anything).  She enjoyed most of the required reading in school.  She even became best friends with a girl in high school simply because of their mutual affection for Little Women (don’t judge, friendships have formed on less stable foundations).

Okay, clearly that girl is me.  Books were my escape from reality, not that my reality was bad. I don’t have any sob stories about how horrible my family was or how I was bullied in school.  Honestly?  I kind of just flew under everyone’s radar.  I had good grades, okay great and the rest of my class may have been a little surprised when I ranked number one.  I was in choir but only did one solo, simply because I have such bad stage fright I thought I might pass out while I whispered the second verse of Silent Night (thank heavens for microphones!).

I spent most of my childhood dreaming of being an actress or a singer.  Kind of funny after that sentence before, huh?  Unfortunately I have zero talent for acting (unless lying counts…I’m a great liar but don’t worry I try to use my powers for good, like surprise parties!).  I’m a fair singer but without the willingness to wear skimpy outfits and dance on stage that pretty much killed my pop career before it started…not to mention the whole passing out in front of a crowd thing.

Writing never crossed my mind.  My oldest sister was going to do that.  She’d made it quite clear to her twin

and I that were we ever to publish before her she would kill us in our sleep.  21 years older than me, I knew her well enough to know she was fairly serious (I love my sister!).  Oh she wouldn’t actually kill me, but she sure would make me miserable.  I didn’t think it would be a problem though.  I was so not interested in writing.

Flash forward several years.  My sister has passed away from a type of brain cancer I can’t pronounce let alone spell and I have one published book, one agented series and several more WIPs.  I didn’t start writing till she’d been gone for a couple of years and maybe it was her that put the bug in my ear…that or my husband telling me to quit whining about all the vampire/werewolf Twilight rip-offs and write my own book.  I’d like to think that after her initial reaction of wanting to kill me for getting published when she never got to, she’s my biggest cheerleader. 

However it happened, I’m so glad it did.  I’ve met amazing people and gotten to do some pretty awesome stuff because of it. 

 Follow Gail here: 

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon / Blog / Street Team / Wattpad / LinkedIn

Wednesday Writers: David Kirk

Today I'm pleased to welcome David Kirk!

I write stories with young adults in them. You will notice that I did not say I “write YA.” There is a difference. Publishers select genre designations primarily based on marketing issues. So a book with younger characters usually carries the genre young adult. Unfortunately, Amazon describes their category as “teens.”

I prefer to describe my novels as “coming of age,” or as the Germans say “bildungsroman.” This is a story in which the protagonist is confused about the ways of the world or suffers a loss, and then begins a journey of discovery. At the end, hopefully, some learning or maturity has taken place. It’s described as a novel of education or my favorite, a “novel of formation.”

YA and coming of age are not mutually exclusive. Many novels in the YA genre have elements of the bildungsroman. However, coming of age differs from books written primarily to entertain teens. It is also not restricted to the teenage years. I recently read an article about a high school beauty queen who led a fairy tale life. She married a successful business man and lived in a plush suburb. Suddenly, she found herself at forty, abandoned with four kids, and juggling night school and a job. Her coming of age began all over again.

Young adulthood is such a vivid time to write about. Scientists once believed that our brains were fully developed at twelve or thirteen. Recent imaging techniques reveal that biophysical development of the prefrontal cortex continues to as late as the mid-twenties. Some of us wore our emotions on our sleeve and had less-developed social filters to modify their expression. Feelings were intense. Mood swings were amplified.

Imitation begins at this time, which is an external compulsion. Little kids don’t have it. I recall the assignment in first grade to draw a picture of our house. We didn’t look at the person sitting next to us and copy her paper. (One of things the exercise taught me was that a career as an artist was in doubt.) But as teenagers we begin to imitate dress, style, music, even writing. We try different things out in order to someday develop our true identity.

I often speak at high schools and library sponsored young adult readers/writers groups. The question frequently comes up as to what, for someone obviously past their formative years, do I know or even remember about these years. Well, I helped raise two and I did go through it myself. But most importantly, I wrote it down. I grew up on a farm and that meant hours of driving a tractor up and down a field, or walking through acres of soybeans with a hoe cutting down weeds. Developing a vivid imagination not only helped pass the time, it was a matter of psychological survival. Plus I kept a journal, the kind college writing teachers tell you to keep, and wrote down sayings, quotes, experiences, and passionate love poems, usually about some girl who would have nothing to do with me. The characters of my first novel began in that journal.

So whatever the label, teen, young adult, or coming of age, it is such a great time to write about.

I would like to thank DelSheree Gladden, a great YA writer, for hosting me on this wonderful blog. I also like to chat, so drop me a line at djkirk@djkirk.net or with the contact form on my web site at www.djkirk.net. In addition, please check out my coming of age novels.

The Twilight Comparison...Seriously?

Yes, there was a whole horde of "Twilight Knockoffs" after the series hit the big time, but there are a lot of authors out there who are getting pretty tired of The Twilight Comparison. 

I know I'm not alone in this. In fact, I'll give you a list at the end of the post of authors who's books have been compared to Twilight despite the fact that they are nothing even close to sparkly vampires. 

I've gotten this comparison more than one. I will admit that when Zander sneaks into Ivy house at night and watches her sleep because it's the only time he can pretend she's dead and she doesn't stir his hunger like when she's awake, there are some Twilight-esque attributes to that scene, but the goal of these scenes were pretty much the complete opposite of Edward and Bella. Zander, at this point in the story, is obsessed... like unhealthy, creepy, weird obsessed. He's watching a girl sleep for crying out loud! Sure, he thinks he's in love, but most readers get the concept that this is very wrong and Zander has crossed a line. In Twilight it's supposed to be sweet, or romantic, or whatever, although in reality it should seriously disturb a girl. 

Many of my other books have been dubbed "Twilight-ish" as well, for much more insignificant reasons. It's frustrating. It's annoying. It makes you wonder what on earth the reader is seeing when they read your book. The fact is, Twilight is what made tons of girls and women start reading again or for the first time, which is awesome. If Twilight is the book that turned on that love of reading, sure it's going to be the book you compare every other book to when you're reading. I get that, but don't judge a book solely on that one point. 

A book is not "like Twilight" just because it has: 

• Characters meeting for the first time during school hours. Particularly if there happens to be a science class involved. Trust me, Bella and Edward were not the first, and they will not be the last. 
• A sense of "lust at first sight." Again, this is a fairly time honored tradition in YA. Let's face it, teens are hormonal and driven by physical attractiveness in most of their relationships.
• Romantic moments set in scenes similar to Twilight. Many characters have kissed at dances, in the forest, in a house, in car, etc. Characters kiss in all kinds of places, in real life and fiction. Don't be so surprised if one happens to get repeated in two different books. 
• Something paranormal. Sure, anything with vampires or werewolves is going to get compared to Twilight. Hard to avoid. But angels? Demons? Native American myths come to life? A girl destined to destroy the world? Aztec curses? Twilight does not have the paranormal market completely to itself. 
• Romance in general. Some books get accused of being too much like Twilight simply because there are romantic elements. At all. Teens do tend to fall in love, or think they have anyway. There's a good chance any YA book you pick up will have some romance at some point. 
• An insecure girl who doesn't see her own beauty or an overbearing guy who thinks he knows best. Many teenage girls have self-esteem issues. Many teenage boys think they are pretty macho and have everything under control. This is true in real life and fiction. True, Bella took it to the extreme, hence the accurately dubbed "Bella Swan Syndrome" readers got tired of. Even so, these are common personality traits you'll see in YA fiction, not copycats of Twilight. 
• Life or death situations. Most really captivating novels, YA or not, are going to have a moment where your favorite character might die. Sometimes they should die (at least one secondary character in Twilight should have died, IMO). Just because one character has to save another doesn't mean the author is trying to mimic Edward saving Bella for the eleventy-millionth time. 

Of course, if you're comparing a book to Twilight because you honestly think it's a book Twilight readers will like, that's fabulous, and we appreciate the recommendation. Kirkus Reviews did exactly that for Wicked Hunger, and Kim Finn's Book of Shade received a similar recommendation. 

So, want to know what other authors have had to deal with this? I've made a handy list for you. Check them out and make the call for yourself! 

DelSheree Gladden - most recently... Wicked Hunger, but most of my books have gotten this at some point. 

Holly Kelly - Rising and Descending

Erica Rock Kiefer - Lingering Echoes
Kim Finn - Book of Shade

Free Books Anyone?

We're coming up on summer, let's get to reading! 

I'll be sharing my official summer reading list recommendations in the next few weeks (There are some awesome books on it!), but until then, you're more than welcome to grab one of these FREEBIES and share them with your friends. All of them. Seriously. 

Not sure where to get them? 

Well, here are the links!

Invisible

Wattpad

Smashwords

iBooks

(working on Kindle, they're slow. Right now it's only .99)

Inquest

Kindle

Smashwords

iBooks

Wattpad

Escaping Fate

Smashwords

iBooks

Kindle

Wattpad (full book will be up this month)

Wicked Hunger

Kindle

Smashwords

iBooks

Wattpad

Twin Souls

Kindle

Smashwords

iBooks

Happy reading everyone!

Meet Sebastian Wallace...

I've been so wrapped up in Wicked Hunger the last month and prepping for the release of Wicked Power on May 1st, that I fear I've neglected some of my other characters. Ketchup has been stealing the spotlight lately, but I wanted to make sure Bas got an equal chance. 

So, meet Sebastian Wallace from Soul Stone (Escaping Fate #2) and make your own decision on whether he's arrogant, annoying, and out to make Arra's life miserable... or something else entirely. 

Please join me in welcoming Bas. He's ready to tell us more about his role in Soul Stone and why Arrabella, the girl with the dreams, apparently can’t stand him.

Bas: How did I know questions about Arra were coming? Silly me to think you wanted to hear about the curse.

By all means, tell us about the curse first. We’ll save the details about you and Arra for the end.

Bas: (shakes his head) Okay, fine with me. I missed the whole Aztec curse, as I was overseas visiting relatives during the summer. I really didn’t know what was going on with Arra even after I got back until she asked me for a favor. Even then, I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but I knew it was only the first step in a long, weird journey. One that’s probably not ending any time soon.

If you knew that, why did you decide to help Arra?

Bas: Why wouldn’t I help her?

Well… because you two don’t get along.

Bas: I get along with Arra just fine. She just doesn’t get along with me.

So, Arra’s the problem? Not you?

Bas: Of course not.

So, you didn’t give her a goose egg on her head and not apologize? Or get her phone confiscated? Or spill her chemistry experiment? Or…

Bas: Those were all accidents. Every single one of them.

And you wonder why Arra doesn’t believe you. Anyway, tell us about Sibeal Ahearn, the girl who has suddenly become the center of some very strange dreams.

Bas: Sibeal, yes, there’s definitely something weird going on with her. Aside from her creepy reflection. Really, she’s a nice girl. She’s pretty and smart, sweet. Under normal circumstances, the guys probably would have been all over her.

Including you?

Bas: Well, no …

Why not?

Bas: I’m just not interested in her like that. I mean, I want to help Arra figure out what’s going on and make sure she doesn’t die, but not for any romantic reasons.

Who would you like to save… for romantic reasons?

Bas:  Are you trying to get me to admit something about Arra? It’s not going to happen. I don’t know why, but I seem to bring out the worst in her. We’re barely managing friends as it is. I just got sucked up in all of this because she’s Tanner’s girlfriend. I’m trying to help save Sibeal. It isn’t any more complicated than that.

Hmm, if you say so. What if Arra has more strange dreams? Will you help her with whatever they bring as well, or are you done after this one?

Bas: Well, just because we aren’t that great of friends doesn’t mean I want to see her die. If she needs my help again, she knows I’ll be there.

I’m sure she’ll be glad to hear that. Tanner, maybe not so much.

Bas: What’s that supposed to mean?

It looks like we’re about out of time, Bas, so sorry. I guess it will just have to remain an enigma, just like why the whole town of Grainer thinks you can do no wrong. So many mysteries, and only enough room for one more question. What will the dreams bring next? 

Bas: I suppose it would be too much to ask for it to be something good. I’m not really sure, but Arra said something about Oracle Lost the other day. You’ll have to ask her for more details, I was only half paying attention because I was trying to get all of her pencils out of her backpack without her noticing at the time.

Bas, Bas, Bas. I do hope you know what you’re doing. Until we see you again, good luck with the curses, and with Arra. 

See what Bas is up to in Soul Stone in Paperback or Kindle

You can also check out the book trailer for Soul Stone!

Wicked Hunger Book Trailer Debut!

I know I'm a little behind in getting the book trailer for Wicked Hunger finished up and released, but here it is! I hope everyone enjoys it!

Interested in grabbing a copy? 

Wicked Hunger is available now on: 

Amazon/Kindle

B&N

Book Depository 

(free shipping worldwide)

Smashwords

...and coming soon to all your other favorite ebook stores!

Wicked Hunger Release Day!!!

WICKED HUNGER by DelSheree Gladden

Release Date: TODAY! Wicked Hunger is Finally Available!!!

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing

 

 

“Save him and hurt him, don’t save him and hurt him. Pain, either way. Delicious pain. Hunger will be the only one that wins. Hunger always wins.”

Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. Their whole life is a giant web of deceit made in an effort to conceal the deadly secrets that plague their family.

Zander will do anything to forget his mistakes, including pushing everyone away. He was barely surviving in his self-forced solitude before Ivy Guerra entered his life. The new girl in school, with her pink-striped hair and unyielding curiosity, incites something wicked inside Zander that can only be blamed on his family genes. Now Zander is forced to fight an internal war and make a choice between loving Ivy Guerra and killing her.

Vanessa wants nothing more than to shed the strange powers she wields and be normal. Because if Van were normal, she’d be able to have normal things… Like a relationship with the boy she’s been secretly in love with for years. Unfortunately, her life is anything but ordinary. That boy who owns her heart just happens to be her brother’s kryptonite and a potential liability for her entire family. When choices between love and family loyalty have to be made, Van finds herself faced with an impossible decision.

As if the Roth family needs anything more to worry about, a vicious plot to expose Van and Zander for what they are is uncovered. When it becomes apparent that someone close to them is at the center of this devious plan, the fight to maintain control and keep their cover ensues. It's a seemingly impossible battle because something is causing their powers to stir stronger than ever before… and it won’t stop until Van and Zander give in to their wicked hunger.

Wicked Hunger is the first book in the all-new paranormal series, Someone Wicked This Way Comes.

KIRKUS REVIEW OF WICKED HUNGER

Teenage siblings with a dark secret find their lives complicated by the arrival of a mysterious girl.

Zander and Van are tougher and heal faster than ordinary teenagers. However, the price is a terrible, mysterious hunger—a bloodlust that becomes intensified by specific individuals. Younger Van does her best to suppress it so she can have friends and a normal life; Zander instead keeps everyone at arm’s length and warns Van that once her 16th birthday hits and her powers reach full strength, she should do so as well. Ivy, a new girl—cousin to one of Van’s friends—puts everything at risk. Both Zander and Van hunger to hurt her, but Zander falls for her in a push-pull love story reminiscent of Twilight, right down to Zander’s sneaking into Ivy’s room to watch her sleep. Van, however—when she’s not busy with a love triangle of her own, with a mysterious boy she’s just met and her trusty best friend, Ketchup—is suspicious that certain things don’t add up with Ivy. The conclusion, made strong by unraveling secrets and formula-shattering twists, sets up a sequel.

The pairing of a formulaic start and formula-breaking ending makes the book ideal for paranormal-romance readers seeking a new spin on the familiar. (Paranormal romance. 13-17)

EXCERPT FROM WICKED HUNGER:

“Oscar,” I snap. His mouth stops blabbering and he looks up at me. “I need to know if Zander’s in trouble.”

“Trouble,” Oscar says. He nods deeply. “Tell me everything.”

So I do.

I force myself not to look over at Ketchup once during my explanation. I hadn’t been planning on letting him in on the secrets of our family right now, or any time, to be perfectly honest, but what else was I going to do. There was no chance I was going to ask him to step out. Not only would that be incredibly unfair after I forced him to bring me here, but also, as much as I love Oscar, I do not want to be left alone with him. My mouth spills out the details of Ivy and Zander’s bizarre relationship as I pretend Ketchup isn’t listening to a word of it. I tell him about our hunger reactions, my suspicions, Zander’s love, his likely confession, and his slip that Ivy was somehow going to help him.

At that last part, Oscar’s entire body goes rigid. His eyes latch onto me like a barbed dart, painful and difficult to be free of. “She thinks she can help him?” Oscar says. “She won’t. She won’t help him. She doesn’t really want to. Ivy, Ivy. Ivy is lying. Ivy Guerra. I don’t like her name. Vines and War, that’s what her name means. She will wrap herself around Zander and strangle the life out of him, start a war that none of us can win. Ivy Guerra can’t be trusted.”

“I…what? Her name means war? What are you talking about?”

Oscar tsks at me, one finger of his bound hand bobbing up and down. “I told you to keep up with your Spanish, Van. It’s always useful to know languages. Shows you things that others miss. Guerra means war. Ivy is here to start a war.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Not that I disagree with him, but he’s actually crazy. I suspect Ivy is trouble because of what I’ve seen. I want to stop her, but I’m not going to launch a full out campaign against her on the word of my murdering, psychotic brother.

The dull thud of Oscar’s head hitting the metal table startles me. I look down at him. Panic creeps under my skin. Is this the end of his lucidity? It can’t be. I have more questions still. “Oscar. Oscar! How do you know Ivy is here to start a war? You have to tell me or Zander might get hurt.”

“Oh, Zander will get hurt.” The muffled slur of his words makes them even more ominous. “That girl is no good. If you want to save Zander, you have to stop her, but he’ll still get hurt. Save him and hurt him, don’t save him and hurt him. Pain, either way. Delicious pain. Hunger will be the only one that wins. Hunger always wins.”

My fingernails are digging into Ketchup’s skin. Pain ripples around his wrist, but I pay it no mind. All my focus is on Oscar. “How do you know about any of this, Oscar?”

“They didn’t want me to know, but I found out. Someone tried to help me, and I didn’t believe them. I searched and asked and demanded and screamed until someone told me. They didn’t want me to know, but I found out. I found out, and it made me angry. So, so angry. Furious. Irate. I wanted blood and pain and death when I found out. Nothing could feed my hunger enough, not after being starved for so long. I found out, and they paid for it. I made them pay.”

“Oscar,” I whisper, his words making more sense to me than I wish they would. He made them pay. They didn’t want him to know. He made them pay. My shaking rattles the uneven legs of my chair against the floor, a skittering noise that fries the last of my barriers. I ask my last, most frightening question. “Oscar, why did you kill Mom and Dad?”

“Because,” he hisses, “because, because they lied to us. They knew. All along they knew who we were, what we were, but they tried to pretend, change us, turn us into something we aren’t, starve us, deny us, make us suffer for years and years and years! They said they loved us, but they lied! They lied! They lied! THEY LIED!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, The Destroyer Trilogy, and Invisible. The first book in the Someone Wicked This Way Comes series, Wicked Hunger, is scheduled to be released through Clean Teen Publishing on April 1, 2014.

Want to READ MORE from Clean Teen Publishing?

Check out our huge selection of amazing reads! There's sure to be something for every reader!

Soul Stone Cover Reveal and Blog Tour Signups are Now Open!

Guess what's coming up? 

Early 2014 is going to be an exciting time for me, and for my readers! Between now and April, I'll be releasing 4 new books!

First up on the list in the second book in the Escaping Fate Series. 

Soul Stone will be releasing Feb 26th. 2014. 

If you'd like to participate in the Cover Reveal on Feb 19th, or the Blog Tour starting Feb 26th, head over to Signup Genius and sign up now! Bloggers, reviewers, and readers are welcome to participate!

Next up is "Intangible" the next book in The Aerling Series!

If you've been patiently waiting to find out if Mason and Olivia will find their way back together after being separated in order to save Mason's life, mark your calendars! 

Intangible will be released March 12, 2014

Cover Reveal and Blog Tour signups will be coming soon!

You won't want to miss the cover reveal. Invisible and Intangible will be getting brand new covers in the cover reveal, featuring Mason and Olivia!

Last, but not least, is Wicked Hunger and Wicked Power, the first two books in the Someone Wicked This Way Comes Series!

Wicked Hunger will be released by Clean Teen Publishing April 1, 2014. Wicked Power doesn't have a set release date yet, but we're hoping to release it either the same day, or shortly after, so check back for updates often! 

Clean Teen Publishing will be hosting a Facebook Release Party on April 1st for Wicked Hunger and KC Finn's new ya novel "Mind's Eye. I'll post the link and invite as we get closer to the release date.