Holiday #Hullabaloo DAY 2: SOUL SAVERS Series Mug & Bookmark Set

Day two is heating up! Keep it (and your tea) warm with this fantabulous SOUL SAVERS series coffee mug! Enjoying a good book with that tea? Mark that page using one of your favorites from Kristie Cook's amazing series!

***This giveaway is open to US residents only. Please check back because we have TONS of international giveaways, too!

Want to win this amazing gift set? Just follow the Rafflecopter instructions below! Don't forget to enter for the grand prize drawing: a $200 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble! Follow the Linky below for all the giveaways happening today!

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Holiday #Hullabaloo DAY 1: signed copy of TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper

It's Day 1 of the Holiday Hullabaloo!!! How exciting is this?! 14 authors participating in 12 days of giveaways = every kind of awesome!

We're starting out with a splash...literally! I have a signed copy of TANGLED TIDES (The Sea Monster Memoirs #1) by Karen Amanda Hooper.

Yara Jones doesn't believe in sea monsters-until she becomes one. When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people-until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process-or she might open the gateway to a love that's deeper than the oceans.

 
Reviews:
Tangled Tides includes a delicious romance that even the most dispassionate soul can t refuse. I absolutely adored Yara and her strength in all things, including love. And Treygan? I seriously want in on that merman action. Blue has never been so sexy. Hooper has created a believable underwater world that will leave readers wishing for a tail instead of legs. - Elana Johnson, author of POSSESSION

I adored this tale of sea monsters and forbidden love. Full of deception, romance, and intrigue, Tangled Tides is a story best savored but impossible to put down. - PJ Hoover, author of SOLSTICE

Tangled Tides is a delightful, smartly plotted tale of adventure, family secrets, and sizzling romance. I couldn t put it down! - Rae Carson, author of THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

***This giveaway is open to US residents only. Please check back because we have TONS of international giveaways, too!

Want to win this amazing novel? Just follow the Rafflecopter instructions below! Don't forget to enter for the grand prize drawing: a $200 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble! Follow the Linky below for all the giveaways happening today!

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Holiday Hullabaloo Epic Awesomeness

Holiday Hullabaloo [hol-i-dey huhl-uh-buh-loo] noun: a reader's heaven; epic giveaway; every kind of awesome celebration.

In other words, this Holiday Hullabaloo is something you don't want to miss. It's over a week long giveaway, including 14 different authors brought together by bestselling, Denise Grover Swank. This means each person is hosting their own giveaway - that's 14 chances per day to win something incredible!!! Tell me that isn't every shade of splendiferous!
  
All you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below starting on the 10th! Make sure to enter for the daily prize as well as the grand prize! You have to enter each day, so don't forget to come back all week! To see what everyone is giving away, click on the names in the Linky below.

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Book Lover's Holiday #Hop

Christmastime is here! What better way to celebrate your loved ones (or yourself ;) than with a $10 Amazon gift card? Don't have one, you say? No worries. It just so happens I do, and I like to share!

Just follow the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win in this ho-ho-holiday hop courtesy of I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Chapter by Chapter for hosting this fun giveaway!

This giveaway includes everyone, both US and international! See rules in the Rafflecopter for more details.


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Thankful for Books #Giveaway #Hop ~ Autographed Goodness

Okay, guys, I am SO excited about this hop! Want to know why? Because I'm giving away one of my very favorite books by one of my very favorite authors and ::drum roll:: ... it's SIGNED!!! Read on to find out more!


 

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares. His life depends on it.    

So there you have it. If you want to see my review of Nevermore, you can find it here. It's spoiler free ;)

Want to win? Follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. Because this is an actual book, this contest is open to US residents ONLY.

Many thanks to I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Tristi Pinkston for hosting this awesome hop! Be sure and check out the Linky below for more bloggers participating in this hop!


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The Next Big Thing

Welcome to Week 20 of The Next Best Thing!

In this blog hop, authors answer ten pre-determined questions, which will reveal bits and pieces about their current release or upcoming book. Today, I'm going to highlight the sequel to my debut novel, The Willows: Thorn. But first, I want to say thanks to the amazing, Layla Messner for inviting me to play along!

Q&A:

Q: What is the working title of your book?

A: The Willows: Thorn

Q: Where did the idea come from for the book?

A: It's a continuation of The Willows series, but the original idea spawned from one of my lead characters, Gabe Willoughby.

Q: What genre does your book fall under?

A: Young Adult paranormal romance.

Q: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

A: I'd love to have Alexandra Dadario play Ashton. She has the most perfect shade of blue eyes. The rest of my dream cast can be found here.

Q: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A: I don't have a one-sentence synopsis written for Thorn yet. It's still being written ;) 

Q: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

A: Thorn will be published by Raven Key Press.

Q: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

A: I'm still working on the first draft. My debut novel, The Willows: Haven, took about nine months.

Q: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

A: I'd say, story-wise, it falls somewhere between Julie Kagawa and Amanda Hocking.

Q: Who or What inspired you to write this book?

A: I've always written, but I'd never tackled a full-length novel. My awesome husband really encouraged me to finish one after our second daughter was born. It was a way of having something for myself. It's easy to get lost in taking care of everyone else. He wanted to me to have my own outlet. :)

Q: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

A:You probably haven't read anything about what my characters are before. I really love taking existing history, fable, myths, or beings and making them my own.

I’m breaking the “rules” of this blog hop a bit because, despite numerous posts on Twitter, I couldn’t find five more authors who wanted to answer these questions about their WIP/new release (I guess everyone’s busy writing.) Rather than become the most annoying person on Twitter, I decided to link to five of my author buddies. Feel free to play along if you'd like, guys. No pressure! If anyone else would like to participate, just leave a comment, and I'll link you in :)

My author buddies (who are AMAZING writers. Check them out!):
Elizabeth Isaacs
Rachel Harris
Lucy Swing
Trisha Wolfe
Tiffany King 
Mindy Ruiz
Todd Keisling

The rules: Post *next Wednesday.* Answer these 10 questions about your WIP or new release. Find five authors to “tag” for week 21.

Stymied: I versus Me.

 

 Stymied schmy-mied. I can answer this one for ya! Maybe.

It's a source of debate lately and understandably so. The English language is ever changing and evolving, not that it made much sense to begin with. Add creative writing into the mix, and you hear every kind of reasoning for bending, or sometimes shattering, the rules. But for grammar's sake (aside from the fact that I started this sentence with but), let's at least know what rule we're breaking and how, shall we?

I think I and me are one of the most common mix-ups I see, simply because the proper use doesn't always sound correct. It's a lot like not ending a sentence with a preposition, even though we all do that now. No one asks, "For what are you looking?" Well, unless you're tapping into your inner Shakespeare. 

So, what's the difference?

The traditional grammar rule states when a pronoun ( I, he, she, they, etc.) follows a linking verb (is, be, seem, appear, etc.) the pronoun should be in the subject case. It’s also called the nom-nom-nom “nominative.” Linking verbs don't describe an action so much as describe a state of being. When pronouns follow these non-action verbs, you use the subject pronouns such as "I," "she," "he," "they," and "we."

Confession: My mom was right. "This is she," is correct. Thanks, Mom.

What does it all mean?

That means it is grammatically correct to say, “It is I.”  Congratulations, gold-belted rat. You landed a mighty blow.

A few examples, WHY they work, and HOW you can think about it:

Try reversing the order of your statement and see what sounds correct.

Who won the grammar challenge? It was he. (He won the challenge, not him.)
Who covered the fight? It was I. (I covered the fight, not me covered it.)
Who cares? It is we. (We care, not us cares.)

See what I did there?

But wait ... silver-belted rat staggers into the center ring! He ... he's making a comeback!

90 percent of you are probably thinking, "Yeah, nobody talks like that anymore!" And you would be right. In the book, Woe Is I, Patricia O'Connor notes that almost everyone says, “It is me,” and that the “It is I” construction is almost extinct. (Grammar Girl)

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage says that it’s a style choice, and that “It is I” is formal and, “It is me” is casual. Needless to say, unless you're clerking for NYU's English department or writing an article for The New York Times, you're probably in the clear ... in this matter! 

Happy writing!