Life on Hold Book Blast

I've joined the Life on Hold Book Blast, hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer. You can read about Beverly Stowe McClure's new release, Life on Hold below, then join via Rafflecopter for the chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card from the author. Good luck!

Life on Hold by Beverly Stowe McClure


A paper found.
A secret revealed.
A girl's life changed forever.

Myra Gibson's life is a lie. For sixteen years her parents have kept their secret, but the adoption paper she discovers while cleaning the guest house tells the truth. As the past and present collide, Myra finally stands up for herself and begins a journey she may regret.



Reviews:

"All I can say is wow! Beverly Stowe McClure knocked this one out of the ballpark. The story of Myra and her search for the truth touched upon one of the fundamental needs of all children (and teens): the need for a father in their lives. ... The school librarian at the middle school where I teach is already looking into buying a copy for the school library. It's that good."
~Award Winning Author Darby Karchut- http://darbykarchut.blogspot.com

"Beverly did an awesome job with this book. Myra's character and the decisions she make throughout the book are believable. Her friends, family and love interest, Jeremy, are all characters that the readers can relate to."
~Peggy Tibbetts - http://www.peggytibbetts.net/

About the Author:

When Beverly Stowe McClure was a child she hated to read. Even though her eighth grade teacher sent her poem “Stars” to the National High School Poetry Association, and it was published in Young America Sings, an anthology of Texas high school poetry, she hated to write. In spite of her rocky relationship with books, she attended Midwestern State University, where she read too many books to count, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. She taught in elementary school for twenty-two years. Reading Dr. Seuss to her sons and Newbery winners to her students made Beverly realize what she’d been missing: Reading was fun.
Now, she reads most every day. She also writes. Her articles for children’s magazines, many of them about activities her classes did in school, have been published in leading children‘s magazines. One article was reprinted in a Scott Foresman Anthology, Grades PK/K. Her doggie story appeared in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

Beverly’s five novels for teens and tweens are published by small Indie Publishers. Her YA historical novel, Caves, Cannons, and Crinolines, is a finalist in the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Novella Division. The book also is a finalist in Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards, Teen Fiction, and is an Honor Award Winner in the Reader's Favorite Book Award Contest, YA Category, as well as an Honor Winner in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards, YA Category.  Listen to the Ghost was a finalist in the 2003 Dream Realm Awards. Her first picture book came out in June 2011. Her latest book, Life on Hold, is a YA contemporary novel. She lives in the country with her husband, two cats, and a variety of wild critters that come to visit.

Links:
http://beverlystowemcclure.wordpress.com
http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/beverlymcclure
http://www.goodreads.com/beverlysmcclure
http://www.facebook.com#!/beverlysmcclure

$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
Ends 10/4/12
Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent's permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Banned Book Hop: A Light in the Attic

It's time once again for the 2nd Annual Banned Books Week Hop sponsored by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books.

Last year I participated in the Banned Books Blog Hop to promote the much maligned book Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews in celebration of banned books week, which bring light to books banned or challenged. Some of the books on the list are understandable (not that I agree with banning, I don't), some are surprising, and some are downright shocking. The sad thing is that there are so many to choose from.

This year the book I chose shocked me. Why? It's a book my own daughter read as a young girl, that I read with her. It's an amusing and fantastic book of children's poems and awesome drawings. The book I chose is A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. Surprised? Wait until you hear why it's been challenged or banned.

The poem "How Not To Have To Dry The Dishes" supposedly encourages kids to break the dishes so that they don't have to wash them and to be disobedient.
The poem "Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" was considered too morbid for children since it discusses death, particularly that the little girl died because her parents wouldn't purchase her a pony.
The book was often criticized for mentioning supernatural themes, including demons, devils, and ghosts, and promote disrespect, horror, and violence. Really? A children's poem book? As I read it with my young daughter, not once did I think it taught, promoted, or encouraged any of those things.

It was, in fact, number 51 on the list of most frequently contested books of 1990-2000. However on Amazon it has 4.8/5 stars after 130 reviews, which is a bit unfair because the three 1-star reviews all come from the same annoying person who WRITES IN ALL CAPS. And it has won and been nominated for several awards.

So, because I feel like this is a book to be appreciated and treasured, I've chosen to give away a hard copy of it via Amazon to my lucky winner. Once the contest is over, I'll contact the winner for their address and have it sent directly from Amazon.

Here's the info about the book with a few excerpts. Make sure to enter using the Rafflecopter and then click on the linky list to hop to other blogs participating in the Banned Books giveaway for a chance to win more great prizes.

Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...

Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel.
From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

I am a HUGE Jeremy Renner fan, and a huge fan of fairytales (which is pretty obvious by my Enchanted Fairytales series). When I found out Jeremy Renner is going to star in a movie based on a fairytale, my head about burst! What could be more perfect? Anything? Anyone? No? Okay, then I'll continue my rave.

Hansel and Gretel I admit is not one of my more favorite fairytales, for the singular reason that there isn't any romance in it, and I think we've established by now that I'm a complete, hopeless romantic. Still, it's an intriguing story. The film, titled Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has my heart pounding. Okay, half the reason for that is just the fact that it stars the hunkalicious Jeremy. But the other half is because of the trailer. The premise is that it's years later, after the siblings killed the witch, and now that they've had a taste of witch blood, they want more. So they've made it their mission to scrub the world of all the wicked witches. Now there's a new, super evil witch taking children. How much must that tick off the siblings who've already experienced that themselves?

I also have to give props to Gemma Arterton, who you might know from Quantum of Solace (Strawberry Fields), Clash of the Titans (Io), or Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Princess Tamina). She totally kicks butt in the trailer. Famke Janssen from X-Men (Jean Gray) and Taken (of which I can hardly wait for the sequel) as leader of the coven of witches rounds out the fantastic cast.


Rumor is it's to be released January 11, 2013, having been pushed back from Spring of 2012. Apparently the studio was worried about a "Jeremy Renner overload" this year. Seriously? Is there such thing as a Jeremy Renner overload? I was thinking we're experiencing a Jeremy Renner drought. Give us more Jeremy! Okay, enough of the fangurl screams.

I'm pretty excited for the release of this Jeremy Renner fairytale movie. (Have I mentioned I really like Jeremy Renner? No? Well, I do! In case you're not convinced, go back and count how many times I mention him in this post.) I'm sure you'll be hearing about it again after I go see the midnight release of it in January. Until then, I'm just going to give a squeal every now and then while I wait impatiently for this one. Now, watch the trailer below and tell me what you think.



Links:
http://enchantedfairytales.blogspot.com/
http://www.hanselandgretelmovie.com/

More Blogger Love

Thanks to Sonya at Sonya's Stuff and Hope at 2 Geek Girls Review Books for taking the time to read and review Heart on a Chain. I really appreciate them doing so! Go to their blogs to read their entire reviews.

  

 Sonya's Stuff: Sonya says: "This Young Adult story is really popular with women of all ages due to the lead male character. I see people all over the internet asking for books with, ‘Heroes like Henry’." "Dealing with domestic abuse and bullying, as well as a serious teen romance, this isn’t an easy YA read, but I can definitely see how it came to be loved by so many." "As I said, this isn’t a light-hearted book. But then who doesn’t like their YA books deep and angst-ridden?"

 2 Geek Girls Review Books: Hope says: "It’s a very intriguing story." "Henry was the boy who became Kate’s friend. I loved getting to know him and seeing that boys can in fact be gentlemen." "Kate’s transformation. You slowly read about Kate’s story and how it changes her." "There are several graphic abuse scenes in this novel, but they way they are written and the story insight these scenes told made it feel real for me. I was there. I felt it. It gave me a deeper understanding of Kate and her actions." "Go forth and read my pretties!"

Celebrating Bloggers

Terri Guiliano Long has a blog called The Art and Craft of Writing Creatively. She had the brilliant idea of running a series of posts called "Celebrating Bloggers" on which she interviews various bloggers. What a fantastic idea! Why didn't I think of that. If you've followed my blog, you know how much love I have for book bloggers.

This week she happened to interview one of my very favorite bloggers, Jeannette Whitus of Walking on Bookshelves. Jeannette has always been fantastically good to me, always willing to read and review my books. She's one of the first bloggers I think of when I'm looking for reviews. She's really great to all of the indie writing community, really.

Imagine my surprise when I read the interview and she mentioned me by name! I was doing a little happy dance - okay, a big happy dance - when I read it. In fact, my dogs were looking at me like I was a little crazy. Luckily, they were the only ones home with me and won't tell anyone.

So, to give myself a little ego-boost-pat-on-the-back, here's what Jeannette said:

Terri: When reviewing, do you often find real gems? What, for you, says a book is a gem?
Jeannette: I try to read at least one book by an Indie author a week. I have some of the best books! Cindy C. Bennett is one of my top five favorite authors. Her characters are so pragmatic and three dimensional. That’s what makes a book a gem to me. If I can relate to the characters and their reactions to what is happening to them is realistic. If a book stays in my thoughts weeks or months after I’ve read it also makes it a treasure to me.

*Sigh*

Thanks to Terri Guiliano Long for being smart enough to realize that bloggers deserve their day in the sun. And an especially huge thanks to Jeannette Whitus for her kind and generous comments, and for all of her willingness to help a new, struggling author to get her name out there.

Visit Jeannette's blog and Terri's to see why they're both so great.

 

 

Great Giveaway by Author Sherry Gammon






Sherry Gammon




My good friend and fellow author Sherry Gammon is having a great giveaway on her blog to celebrate the release of her new book, Souls in Peril. I was lucky enough to read this book as she wrote it, and I can tell you how much I love this book! It's heartbreaking, frustrating, lovable, hopeful, and unforgettable. All the things that make a book great. You can read my review of the book below.

If it weren't enough that she's giving away a couple copies of this fantastic book, she's also giving away some Souls in Peril swag, a couple of her other books, and she has several other books by authors Cheri Schmidt, Marie Higgins, IC Fisher, Pendragon Iman, and Daniel Coleman. And, oh yeah, she just happens to be giving away a couple of books by yours truly: a paperback copy of Geek Girl and an eBook copy of Red and the Wolf
So click on this link and hop on over to her blog to sign up for some great prizes.

Souls in Peril

 

My review:

Souls in Peril is seriously one of the best books I've ever read. It had me in turn laughing and crying, my heart aching for all the characters involved.

Max is a kid who has it all: he's popular, athletic, has a great family and the perfect girlfriend. Then, in an instant his life changes.

JD is the opposite of Max in luck. Overweight and bullied, both at school and at home, JD's only bright spot in life is his friend Izzy.

Max and JD's lives become inexorably intertwined, and for the first time in his life Max is forced to understand what it is to "walk a mile" in JD's shoes.

This book gripped me from the first page and refused to let go until I'd read all the way to the end. The ending isn't all flowers and sunshine, either. It's real. Like life. But I promise you won't be disappointed.

Gammon's writing is full of humor, sorrow, realism, and pulls you into places you might not want to go, but will be happy you did when all is said and done. I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Gus and the Lightning

Today I have a guest post on my blog, written by my daughter Lexcie. Welcome, Lexcie, and thanks for posting!

Gus

 

by Lexcie Bennett

 

            As it starts to rain down from the sky softly, my dog Gus starts to shake. If you didn’t know any better you’d think something was actually wrong with him. It’s only lightly sprinkling, but for Gus, there might as well be a tsunami outside. I call him to me and he almost falls off the couch multiple times to get to me. Now I know he’s really terrified because Gus never just comes over to me willingly. I laugh and hold him tight because that makes him feel more secure. However, as soon as my sister comes in the room, Gus decides she’s more secure and scurries away from me to her. I shrug it off because that’s always how Gus has been.

It starts to rain harder and I can start to hear the thunder rumbling. Oh, this is not good. Gus then starts to whimper softly and shake like he’s having a seizure. He starts panting as if he hasn’t had water in days and has been trapped in the desert. My sister holds him tighter, but there’s no comforting him now. We decide to go outside because we want to see the lightening, and of course have to take him with us. As you can imagine, Gus did not appreciate this at all. No matter how tightly we wrapped him up in a blanket and held him, he continued to tremble.

We try to talk to him and distract him, but nothing is working. You can see him quaking just by watching him; you don’t even have to touch him to see how hard he’s shuddering. We decide to just let him inside and go crazy and deal with it however he wants to. We also let my other dog, Lily, inside with him, even though she’s completely fine. She probably thinks he’s an idiot for the way he’s reacting, if anything. We decide to stay outside to listen to the thunder and watch the lightning. It’s pouring cats and dogs now. Pun intended, just for Gus.

After about an hour outside, we decide we’ve had enough and go inside. At first, I’m not sure where Gus is and I’m a little concerned. However, Gus soon emerges from under the table behind the couch; I didn’t even know he could fit back there. I quickly scoop him up in my arms, but he’s still a quivering mess. As the sound of the thunder gets closer, Gus has now resorted to running around. He just has no idea how to deal with his fears, and it’s too amusing to us to try to even comfort him anymore.

It doesn’t matter how light or hard it’s raining outside, Gus will always get panicked. For the rest of the night, he runs around and wheezes, even though we try to give him water several times. After a couple hours, the rain has died down some. He always does the same thing after a rainstorm because he just wears himself out and he’s exhausted. Gus finally stretches out on his favorite red blanket, and proceeds to pass out.

Rapunzel Revealed

Here it is, the cover for Rapunzel: Untangled due out Feb. 2013 from Sweetwater Books. You can read the blurb below the cover.

Fab Fane Fannigan: Are you saying you live at GOTHEL MANSION??? The Gothel Mansion?

RG: My mother calls it Gothel Manor, so maybe that’s different?

Fab Fane Flannigan: No, Rapunzel, there’s only one that I know of. It has to be the same. Are you telling me the truth here?

RG: Yes, of course. Is it weird that I live here?

Fab Fane Flannigan: No, not weird, just . . . never mind. So you live in the tower?

RG: Uh, the tower? I don’t know. Is it a tower?

Fab Fane Flannigan: Yes, it is. I know where it is. I’ll be there Friday at 8.

Rapunzel sensed the difference in his tone. Something wasn’t right.

Fab Fane Flannigan: Rapunzel, promise me one thing.

RG: Okay.

Fab Fane Flannigan: Don’t Google your house.
　

Rapunzel is not your average teenager. For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction.

But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is.

Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.

 

Reading Clean Giveaway Hop

Time for another giveaway! (I just love giving things away!)

This blog hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, Clean Teen Fiction, and One Librarian's Book Reviews.

Simply put, it's a giveaway for clean reads, and as all my readers know, my books are clean.

I'm going to give away FIVE eBook prizes. If you win, you'll have your choice of any of my books listed below:

Heart on a Chain

Immortal Mine

Beautiful Beast (Short Story)

Red and the Wolf (Short Story)

In the Beginning (Short Story)

Just enter on the Rafflecopter, then check out the linky list below it to hop to some other blogs for more great prizes!


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17 Authors, 26 Titles, 44 Giveaways

Awesome, huh?

The Crazy Dream Blog is having a crazy giveaway.

You can enter anytime during the month of September to win one of 44 giveaways from the blog, a few items of which just happen to be courtesy of moi. So click this link to visit the blog and win some great prizes. With 44 giveaways, your chances of winning are pretty good, right?

A Red Harley Hat for A Man's Life

Beautiful Sand Hollow, St. George, Utah

Yesterday I went with my husband and two of our good friends to Sand Hollow Reservoir in St. George, Utah, to ride our waverunners. The day was beautiful, not too hot at about 95°. Yeah, I know, that sounds like approximately the temperature of the place the devil resides, but there was a nice breeze blowing, so we were able to enjoy the day.

When the day ended, my hubby and I took the waverunners over to the dock to trailer them. He backed the trailer into the water (I'll tow a trailer, in fact, I'll tow two trailers at once, and have, but I don't back them up) and I put the first waverunner on, no problem.

While he was strapping it to the trailer, I went to retrieve the second boat from where it was beached. After stumbling and falling over rocks that should have been easy enough to cross (grace is not my middle name) I got on it, and rode it out into the area where boats are launched.

Suddenly, I heard someone yelling for help. A man's voice. I looked across the bay, and saw someone in the water, waving for help. For just a second, I thought he was joking. His friends weren't too far from him, but far enough away they wouldn't get to him quickly. Like a bolt of lightening into my slow-processing brain, I realized he was genuinely in trouble.

So I broke the law. Yup, I didn't keep my boat wakeless in the dock area. In fact, I gave it full gas to race to him. Just before I came upon him he went under. His hand that had been waving went with him and I panicked, worried that I wouldn't be able to find him.

And then he popped back above the water. I grabbed his hand and said, "Grab on!" He did, nearly swamping the boat. But we stayed aloft, and I held onto him as he gasped for breath. He was a young man, only twenty-one I found out. He was terrified. So was I!

After he felt like he could breathe again, he worked his way around to the back of the waverunner. There, he had to rest again before he had the strength to climb on. I don't know how many of you have ever ridden a waverunner, and had someone climb up on the back. It's precarious at best. And this guy was a big, tough, Polynesian guy. I'm telling you, my guardian angel and his were both sitting on the front of the boat helping me balance it so he could easily board, and we were borrowing someone elses angel to help him manage the climb.

He told me he's been on a mission for two years, and this was his first time swimming since before he'd gone. Swimming in a lake. Without a life jacket. Such a guy, right?

I dropped him off at the beach where he assured me he was fine. His two buddies had finished their swim to the rocky outcropping he'd been heading for, then swam back. My heart was pounding and I was shaking with relief.

So why mention a red Harley hat?

 

I happened to be wearing mine at the time, my beautiful red and black Harley cap with a studded brim. I felt it fly off when I first took off towards him, but obviously I wasn't going to go back for it. After I dropped him off, I searched for it, hoping vainly that it would still be afloat. Yeah, I know, right in the middle of constantly churning water with boats going in and out, like it had a chance.

 

When I got the waverunner trailered, and told my husband what had happened (he was wondering why the heck I took off like that in the middle of the wakeless area), he assured me he'd go on the internet at try to find me a replacement hat. But you know what?

 

It doesn't matter.

 

It's a hat.

Put a hat on one side of a scale, and the weight of a mans life on the other, and see which one really counts. I've had many hats before, and I'll have many hats in the future (gotta have something to cover the helmet-hair when I ride the Harley). I would happily toss every hat I own, and every hat I'll ever own, into the lake in exchange for this one man being okay.

So today I'm grateful. For being in the right place at the right time and being able to hear his cries. And for understanding he wasn't joking with his friends. And for not having the waverunner roll over and sink this poor guy once again. And for slippery, jagged, hard to walk on rocks that were really flat and should have been easy to cross, which would have put me a few minutes earlier having the boat on the trailer and not being in a position to help him.

Whoever he is and wherever he is, I'm sorry he had to suffer for those few minutes and be scared (he told me how scared he was) but I'm grateful to him for teaching me the un-importance of a red Harley hat.

My cute hubby on one of the waverunners

Just a pic I took of this cool tree on the beach where we were. Isn't it awesome?