Howling for Books

Author bio

REBECCA RODE is an award-winning author, journalist, and mother of four. She is the author of the YA dystopian novel, NUMBERS GAME, and the inspirational book, HOW TO HAVE PEACE WHEN YOU'RE FALLING TO PIECES. She also writes for Deseret News, KSL.com, FamilyShare, and Provo Daily Herald. However, her true love is writing for teenagers. She enjoys traveling, reading, and martial arts, and she has a ridiculous addiction to chocolate-banana shakes. Visit her at www.AuthorRebeccaRode.com.

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Q&A with Rebecca Rode

Q: Will you tell us about Numbers Game?
A: Absolutely! In the New Order Republic of America, 16-year-olds are given a Rating, a number that encompasses what they’re worth to society. It determines their career, living conditions, and potential partners. This is the story of Treena, who gets a different Rating than the one she earned. She decides to fight for what is rightfully hers, determined to get her boyfriend back in the process.

Meanwhile, she meets Vance, a mysterious prisoner-turned-soldier who has his own agenda. When someone tries to kill Treena—twice—they uncover a dark conspiracy that risks much more than Treena’s Rating.

Q: Great. You probably get this question a lot, but the concept is so unique that I have to ask—where did you get the idea for Numbers Game?
A: I love this question! My husband sent me to the bank to finalize the loan on the truck he was buying. I looked at my credit score and thought how strange it was that one number was supposed to incorporate everything about me—my purchase history, how reliable I’d been, whether they could trust me to make payments, that sort of thing. And then I thought how strange it was, that we as citizens are so trusting of the accuracy of that little number, and how important it is in our lives. It spiraled from there—what is someone was manipulating the numbers? What if the number included appearance and intelligence rather than just financial history? It didn’t take long for the plot to unfold in my mind.

Q: What type of reader would like this book?
A: I tell people that it’s like a thriller version of The Scarlet Letter, but set in the future. With bombs. And kissing. Dystopian fans who like Divergent, Hunger Games, and Matched would love it.

Q: Who is your favorite character and why?
A: At first, Tali was my favorite. She knows exactly what she wants and doesn’t put up with anything. But now that the book is done, I think Vance has overtaken her as my favorite. The way he sees the world and struggles to survive while torn between two worlds really resonates with me.

Q: What was your favorite part of the writing process? What was the hardest?
A: I really enjoyed taking an idea and running with it. Once I had the world solidified in my head, it was fun to explore all the different aspects of it—political, social, financial,
emotional, etc. I wrote myself into a dozen corners because I was just having too much fun.

The hardest part? Probably the time it took to finish it. When I began writing Numbers Game in 2012, I was also juggling a journalism career and three kids, and then my nonfiction book was accepted for publication, so that took all my remaining hours. When my fourth child was born, everything came to a screeching halt for a while. It wasn’t until Numbers Game won first place in a statewide writing contest in that I decided to buckle down and get serious with it.

Q: Why did you decide to make it a series instead of a stand-alone book?
A: You know how some authors say that their characters grab hold of the story and steer it in a different direction without their permission? That’s kind of what happened here. It just couldn’t end with this book. There was so much more that needed to be explored. Besides, Treena had a little more growing to do, and I think you’ll love the person that she becomes.

Q: Thanks for joining us. Where can we find out more?
A: Visit my website at www.AuthorRebeccaRode.com or sign up for my monthly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bdwUKL. I give away free stuff sometimes, if you’re into that type of thing. But remember, Numbers Game is only discounted on Amazon for a few days, so you may want to snatch it up quick.

16 March 2015

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Impervious by Heather Letto

Impervious (Ascension, #1)

by Heather Letto
Publication date: April 29th 2014
YA, dystopia

The residents of Impervious are the remnant, the survivors of the war of Annihilation. And though the city is chockfull of pleasures to tantalize and entertain, a beast lurks in the corners, haunting the residents with its presence. The Beast, a mysterious and terminal illness killed off most of Generations One, Two, and Three. And as Gen-Four prepares to take the stage, a provocative, yet questionable, new method to avoid an untimely death incites a cultural rage. But Fran lives counter-culture, off the grid in true rebel fashion. With a life far from opulent, she scurries through dark tunnels, searching for hot meals with Pete while ditching the holographic security team. To her, it's a healthy trade-off. Unaccountability means The Council can't steal her sliver of hope, a belief that she'll see The Epoch arrive before The Beast can pull her into its Fetid embrace.

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Note that the book will be FREE on Amazon for one surprise day during the blitz!

Author bio

I’m a book-writing, selfie-taking, latte-drinking, social media gal. I’m living a good life on the road as a full-fledged Bedouin (Well, except, my tent is actually a fully-equipped RV.) Me and my partner-in-crime (Benj) tend to hunker down wherever the skies are clear and the temps stay in the 70’s. We call ourselves Gypsy Nerds because we aimlessly wander the U.S. with glasses perched upon our noses and faces jammed into computer screens (for the first half the day... The second half of the day is typically devoted to playing because we’re also somewhat immature.)

Like most authors, the characters I create are my extended family. And like most readers, when the story ends, I get a little sad. In real life, I have two handsome, hardworking, grown-up boys who know how to make their Mama proud! *Waves to Joey and Mike!*

The Ascension Series is my debut into the world of YA fiction.

I’m living what I love and loving what I live!

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A Word from the Crowd

Today, we’ve rounded up the characters of Impervious and asked them all one question:
In just one word, how would you sum up our main character, Fran?

Pete: Arcs a brow while his mouth twitches to a smile. “Hot.”

Ted: While shaking his head. “Wickworm.”

Nissa: “Who, Wickerbug?” Waves a hand, “I don’t know… I think she’s mad at me.”

Chan: “Messenger.”

Folsom: Squints into the light. “Who?”

Derrick: “Smooth. No, wait, I mean, cool. And brave.”

Random Council member: Scoffs, “Rebel.”

Tanya: Scratches her head. “Interesting.”

Retter: Shrugs, “Friend?”

Ruth: “My joy.” Tears glisten.

Ian: Chuckles. “Sarah-Fran? Oh, definitely Princess.”

Ben: “Fortunate.”

Ema: While patting Ben’s shoulder. “Oh, yes, she’s fortunate, dear. But I’d add delightful as well.”

Marcus: Sneers, “Mine.”

There you have it… the many marks Fran has left on her world. Read her story to find out which character you agree with!

16 October 2014

Book Blitz: Frost by Kate Avery Ellison

Frost (The Frost Chronicles, #1)

by Kate Avery Ellison
Publication date: March 28th 2012
YA, dystopia

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone.

After monsters kill her parents, Lia must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.

But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle the farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but every move she makes puts her in more danger.

Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

Frost on Goodreads.

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Author bio

I live in Georgia with my wonderful husband and two spoiled cats. When I'm not writing, I'm usually catching up on my extensive Netflix queue, reading a book, giggling at something funny online, or trying to convince my husband to give me just ONE bite of whatever he's eating.

Learn more about my writing and books at my blog (http://thesouthernscrawl.blogspot.com/), find teasers for upcoming works on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/kateaveryellison), and subscribe to my new releases newsletter to be notified of new novels as soon as they hit stores (https://tinyletter.com/kateaveryellison)!

Interview with the author

Describe Frost in one sentence.

A fierce girl learns falls in love with the enemy while struggling to protect her siblings in her icy, monster-filled world.

How did you get the idea for The Frost Chronicles?

Frost was originally supposed to be a short story set in the world of another book series that I have yet to write. In that version, Gabe’s character had magic abilities, and Lia started out as an orphan living alone (eventually I added a brother, Jonn, but he was much younger). In the first version, the Frost wasn’t very frosty either. It was an evergreen, mountainous region, not the frozen wasteland from the final version. Basically, the whole thing was unrecognizable except for the core story of a girl who helps a boy fugitive despite her misgivings about it and her social conditioning to fear him.

There are 5 books in the series. How many books did you plan to write?

Frost started out as a short story, but it kept growing and growing until I had enough content for a book, then several books. I thought I would write a trilogy, but by the time I’d finished Thorns, I knew there would be more story. I planned to have only four books in the series up until I was half

way through Bluewing, and I realized there was no way I’d get it all wrapped up in that book. So, I never planned to write five books, but I’m glad I did.

What’s your favorite thing about the main character, Lia?

She is kind of ruthless, and I like it. She’s strong and determined to do what needs to be done. I admire that. She lives a hard life and she’s a survivor, but at the same time, she’s able to change and become a better person because of her experiences. She isn’t brittle or inflexible.

Are you anything like Lia, personality-wise?

Not really, other than the fact that we’re both logical in our thinking, and I think we share a fierce desire to protect the people we love. I’m a lot more like Ivy. I love taking care of animals, reading books, and daydreaming. Growing up, I was always that kid wandering around with her head in the clouds. Not very Lia-like.

The series is finished. Are you writing anything else for the Frost world?

I’m actually planning to work on one more novella set in the Frost, told from the perspective of Anne, Lia’s friend. Her story evolved into something very interesting over the course of the series, most of it behind the scenes, and I think it’s something that would be fun to explore further.

13 October 2014

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Dead New World by Ryan Hill

Dead New World
by Ryan Hill
Published by Curiosity Quills Press
Publication date: October 13th 2014
YA, dystopia, zombies

Zombies aren’t mindless anymore.

Before the world fell into chaos, the undead existed only in the imagination. Now, more of them walk the earth than living. Zombies move about freely, while humans entomb themselves inside concrete barricades to stay alive.

All that, while the leader of a powerful cult – known only as Reverend – becomes the next threat to the rebuilding United States. Believing zombies to be God’s latest creation, making humanity obsolete, he wants to give every man, woman, and child the chance to become one. With his combined army of humans and zombies, he may well get his wish.

Best friends Holt and Ambrose went up against the Reverend once. Holt lost a foot and a zombie bit Ambrose…though he survived the virus, only to become a human-zombie hybrid, reviled by the living and unwelcome among the dead. When the Reverend kidnaps the woman Holt loves, the race is on to save her from a fate worse than death.

Dead New World on Goodreads.

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Author bio

Growing up, Ryan Hill used to spend his time reading and writing instead of doing homework. This resulted in an obsession with becoming a writer, but also a gross incompetence in the fields of science and mathematics. A graduate of North Carolina State University, Ryan has been a film critic for over five years. He lives in Raleigh, NC, with his dog/shadow Maggie. Ryan also feels strange about referring to himself in the third person.

Excerpt!

Disgusted with myself, I let go of Nancy and walked, alone and with a heavy heart, to Ambrose’s room. I could see him through the window, asleep on a twin bed.

“Push the red button to talk into the microphone,” Nancy said.

I pressed the red button on the control panel next to the door. “Hey, man, wake up.”

Ambrose slowly stirred from his sleep. “Who is it?”

“Your mother.”

“Ha.” Ambrose stood, draping bed sheets over his white scrubs. The days of being stuck in this small room seemed to have sapped his strength. He leaned against the wall, too tired to stand on his own for long. “Nice to see you on your foot.”

“Funny. I could say the same for you. I hear you got one hell of a hickey. Didn’t your mother teach you to stay away from strangers?”

“I never did mind her like I should have.”

I tried to get a good look at him, but the lack of light made it impossible. “They said most people don’t last a day after being bitten. You’ve made it four. I guess I should congratulate you.” Surviving this awful disease longer than most. What a terrible silver lining. I bet he wished the virus would get it over with and turn him.

“Yeah, lucky me.” Ambrose coughed into his bed sheets. “Maybe they’ll give me a prize, like some bacon or something.”

“What… what does it feel like?”

Ambrose shrugged. “Kind of like being sick. Had a fever at first, then some numbness over part of my body.”

“Is it getting any worse?”

“No.” Ambrose sniffed. “Some parts still feel like me, others… like these gray parts, nothing.” He pointed at his arm where the skin had turned a sickly gray. “They’re dead, I guess.”

Nancy loudly cleared her throat. “We need to get you back to your room. They patrol this place pretty regularly, especially when we have… guests.”

I nodded to her, then turned my attention back to Ambrose. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I wish it was me in there, instead of you.”

Ambrose stepped up to the window. The light from the hallway revealed his face. For the first time, I got a glimpse of what his loyalty to me cost him. I froze, unable to take a breath for a long beat. One of his eyes remained normal, but the other took on that awful redness. Patches of dead skin were all over his face. The guilt rising up seemed almost too much to bear. What kind of hell had I sent my friend to?

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12 October 2014

Book Blitz, Quest Post + Giveaway: Day Zero by Summer Lane

Day Zero (The Zero Trilogy, #1)

by Summer Lane
Publication date: October 10th 2014
YA, dystopia

Elle is a survivor.

Since the collapse of modern society, she's been living in the remains of downtown Hollywood, California, foraging for food and fighting for her life.

And then everything changes.

After she is forced out of her home, she heads north. What she finds is a group of bunker survivors, unlikely comrades, and the hope of a safe haven. Together, they journey toward the dregs of civilization, facing starvation, imprisonment and death.

They are alone, but they are ready.

Day Zero begins today.

Day Zero is a novella, the first installment in The Zero Trilogy, a novella series complementing the international bestselling Collapse Series.

Day Zero on Goodreads.

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Author bio

Summer Lane is the author of the international bestselling Collapse Series, which includes State of Emergency, State of Chaos, State of Rebellion and State of Pursuit. The fifth installment, State of Alliance, is releasing January 2015. Summer is also the author of The Zero Trilogy and an upcoming survivalist/science fantasy series coming in 2015. She owns WB Publishing, Writing Belle Magazine, and is an accomplished creative writing teacher and journalist.

Summer lives in the Central Valley of California, where she spends her time writing, teaching, and writing some more. When she is not writing, she enjoys leisurely visits with friends at coffee shops, dates to the movies, hiking in the mountains and strolling on the beach.

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Quest Post by Summer Lane

The Names

Names are fun. One of the perks of writing fiction as a primary job is that you get to play around with lots of names. Names should represent the personality of a character, in my opinion, so I try to match my characters with appropriate monikers. In Day Zero, my protagonist’s name is Elle. It’s a somber, pretty name for a somber, pretty girl. (A girl with attitude, mind you, but still!)

My favorite names in Day Zero are Pix and Flash – twins, a brother and a sister. I don’t want to give away anything, but I played around with a lot of names before settling on those two. Thanks to the Internet, you can find names and their meanings far quicker than in the past. It’s better to use Google than to slog through those dusty piles of baby-name books in your mother’s attic.

Not that I’ve done that, but you get my point! Names should be memorable, and I also think that there should be a fair variety of different names in a book. For example, naming your characters James, John, Janice, Jenny and Jared is what I’d call “alliterative overkill.” Mix up the names! Make them fun, and most of all, make a character and their name instantly identifiable to the reader.

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18 September 2014

Book Blitz + Giveaway: A Vault of Sins by Sarah Harian

A Vault of Sins (Chaos Theory, #2)

by Sarah Harian
Publication date: September 16th 2014
NA, dystopia

In her stunning New Adult debut, The Wicked We Have Done, Sarah Harian introduced readers to the Compass Room: a twisted experimental jail where the guilty and the innocent suffer alike. But breaking out was only the beginning…

Even though she’s escaped, twenty-two-year-old Evalyn Ibarra is anything but free. She’s desperate to return to a life that no longer exists, but prying reporters continually draw her back into nightmarish memories, using the tabloids to vilify her. Bad press is the last thing she needs during the trial of the year: the case that she and her fellow survivors staked against the Compass Room engineers. A case that could terminate the use of the inhumane system forever…

But in her dreams, she is still locked in that terrifying jail.

When she wakes, someone is trying to communicate with her in secret, through strange and intricate clues. As Evalyn follows their signs, she uncovers a conspiracy that goes so much deeper than her own ordeal. A dangerous intrigue that only she can bring to light. One that will force her to work with the one person she doesn’t want to see.

The person who owns her heart…

A Vault of Sins on Goodreads.

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Author bio

Sarah Harian grew up in the foothills of Yosemite and received her B.A. and M.F.A. from Fresno State University. When not writing, she is usually hiking some mountain or another in the Sierras, playing video games with her husband, or rough-housing with her dog.

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Excerpt

Time is a luxury I didn’t acknowledge until recently.

“Wait,” I repeat.

His eyelashes flutter against me as he blinks. I count, forcing myself to wait a full minute before our lips meet. His tongue coaxes me open, hands fisting the back of my shirt.

I unwrap him, fingers fumbling on every button of his coat. He shrugs it off, and my hands roam from his collar to his belt, sliding beneath his shirt to risen scars. Familiar territory.

“Fuck the media. Fuck everyone. I can’t live like this.” He flips me onto my back and slides on top of me, even though I know he’s hurting. “I can’t keep ignoring you. I can’t keep pretending I don’t give a shit about your life when half the country would kill you if they had the chance.”

“It’s too dangerous.” The second the sentence leaves my mouth, I know it will never persuade him. Hand cupping the back of my neck, he says, “I’d take a bullet for you.”

“Don’t you ever say that again,” I threaten.

He rolls his eyes. “Regardless, we’re fucked anyway, Ev.”

No, I want to say. I’m fucked. And it’s the truth. Before we entered the Compass Room, we signed a contract that said we could be retried for our original crimes. Casey’s lawyer is fantastic. His sentence will be minimal.

Me on the other hand—no further evidence has been found unearthing what really happened the day of the shooting; it’s a closed case. If I’m lucky, I’ll be sentenced to life in prison.

I don’t remind Casey of this. It isn’t just his hip that pains and slows him. I see the shape of his soul in his eyes and the lines of his face. And I want him, as selfish as that is. While I deserve all of this self-loathing, being with Casey reminds me that I’m capable of other emotions too.

I nod. “Then we’ll make something work.”

His smile reaches his eyes, skin crinkling around his lashes. He leans in, and our kiss is slow. His sweeping tongue savors me, and the feeling borders between euphoria and pure torture.

My fingers fumble with his belt buckle until he stops me.

“Not tonight.”

I gape at him, but before I can argue, he cuts me off. “Evalyn, I have three more hours before the sun comes up and all I want to do is stare at you. Let me.”

I relax in defeat and touch my forehead to his. His eyes search mine and I want to ask what he’s looking for, but the question would be too much of an interruption.

So for three hours, we say nothing. His fingers comb through my hair as I think of our confessions of love in the Compass Room, wondering if they were contrived by circumstance—by desperation. Maybe they were and maybe I don’t care. Casey makes me feel human. It’s different with Mom, and even with Liam in the brief moments I’ve seen him since I escaped. In the same breath they say they believe me, they also want to forget, hoping I’ll reboot and begin again.

Casey knows better. He knows it’s more complicated than starting over.

At five in the morning, we call our cars and leave our shitty Missouri hotel. I shut the door behind me, and beneath the eaves, he leans in and kisses me on the cheek.

As he limps toward his car, I realize we haven’t exchanged a word in three hours. And those three hours were exactly how they should have been.

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