Halloween Madness: Little Dead Riding Hood

Because it’s Halloween, I wanted to showcase something scary and literature-related. What could be better than announcing a friend’s new book called –yep, LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD? So welcome to Amie and Bethanie Borst, who agreed to talk about the book and share some of their secrets about how they came up with such a creative idea for their SCARY EVER LAUGHTER series, which also includes CINDERSKELLER and SNOW FRIGHT.

Oh, and be sure to read all the way to the end for a chance to win a free copy. Just enter your info in the Rafflecopter and maybe it’ll conjure up an autographed book just for you.

So take it away, Amie & Bethanie…

Thanks so much for inviting us to your blog, Laurie, as part of our tour for LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD! We’re glad to be here!

You know things are going to suck when you’re the new kid. But when you’re the new kid and a vampire… well, it bites!

Unlike most kids, Scarlet Small’s problems go far beyond just trying to fit in. She would settle for a normal life, but being twelve years old for an entire century is a real pain in the neck. Plus, her appetite for security guards, house pets and bloody toms (tomato juice) is out of control. So in order to keep their vampire-secret, her parents, Mort and Drac, resort to moving for the hundredth time, despite Scarlet being dead-set against it. Things couldn’t be worse at her new school, either. Not only does she have a strange skeleton-girl as a classmate, but a smelly werewolf is intent on revealing her secret. When she meets Granny—who fills her with cookies, goodies, and treats, and seems to understand her more than anyone—she’s sure things will be different. But with a fork-stabbing incident, a cherry pie massacre, and a town full of crazy people, Scarlet’s O-positive she’ll never live to see another undead day.

Not even her Vampire Rule Book can save her from the mess she’s in. Why can’t she ever just follow the rules?

Add Little Dead Riding Hood to your Goodreads to-read list here.  Purchase LDRH at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite Indie bookstore!

***

Bethanie was only 9 when she came up with the idea for our first book, CINDERSKELLA. She had written the title on a packet of paper and drawn a skeleton in a casket. I knew immediately that she was combining the Cinderella story with a skeleton. Images of Tim Burton’s THE CORPSE BRIDE came to mind, and it only felt natural to write the story as she intended it.

But that was the hard part. There weren’t a lot of monster stories in middle-grade novels. There were plenty of fairy tale retellings, but finding other comparable books was difficult. We knew that the story needed to have this paranormal element for it to work properly, so we went with it despite the odds!

Coming up with the series was easy at that point. We brainstormed cool monsters, our favorite fairy tales, and then tried to come up with ways to change their titles to reflect the monster element. LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD with her red cape just had to be a vampire.

Currently we’re working on book three, SNOW FRIGHT, where Snow White will be a zombie!

We hope middle-grade readers will love our paranormal/monster stories as much as we do. Hopefully they’ll find a laugh or two, as well!

About us:

Amie Borst is a PAL member of SCBWI. She believes in Unicorns, uses glitter whenever the opportunity arises, accessorizes in pink, and eats too much chocolate. 

Bethanie Borst is a spunky 14 year old who loves archery, long bike rides, and studying edible plant-life. She was only 9 when she came up with the idea for Cinderskella!

Little Dead Riding Hood is their second book in the Scarily Ever Laughter series. Their first book, Cinderskella, released in October 2013.

You can find them on facebook. Amie can be found on twitter, pinterest, and her blog. ***

We’re having two great giveaways as part of our blog tour! The first is for a copy of LITTLE DEAD RIDING HOOD! So be sure to enter the giveaway by following the steps on the rafflecopter form below.a Rafflecopter giveaway

THEN – as soon as you finish that, be sure to stop by my blog for a second contest! I’m having a SCAVENGER HUNT that you won’t want to miss with lots of extra great prizes! All you have to do is make sure you enter the contest below first then hopping over to my blog and filling out the rafflecopter form there! Super easy! Here’s the rafflecopter form for my blog just in case you missed it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See you soon!

Fingers crossed that YOU are the lucky winner.

And thanks so much, Amie and Bethanie

Spells & Spies

I love it when I see authors using creativity to hook readers. Had to smile at Patrice Lyle’s preparations for her Skype visit with a school.

With her Spells & Spies sign in the background and crystal ball in hand, she was ready to discuss her tween mystery in the Poison Ivy series, The Case of the Invisible Witch. Other props included items from her paranormal collection (the figure she used to inspire the series) and surprise visits from two of her three cats.

She also gave the schools a pdf with discussion questions (authored by Mary Helen Sheriff, along with some great Common Core activities)and writing prompts as well as tidbits of interesting information about herself, such as the fact that her father was a detective and she used to snoop in his files. That’s how she learned so much about solving mysteries.

And just to clarify, the pink room is her writing room, not her daughter’s bedroom, as one student guessed.

Interested in a Skype visit with Patrice? You can contact her through her website. Learn more about her at her Leap Books author page or Twitter (@Patrice_Lyle).

Poison Ivy Cover

ABOUT THE BOOK

Thirteen-year-old Tulip Bonnaire, Witch PI, runs Spells & Spies out of her dorm room at Poison Ivy Charm School, a school for polite witches and warlocks. She has only 72 hours to figure out her latest case, or her classmate, Missy, will never be seen again. Literally.

When Missy shows up in Tulip’s dorm room around midnight, she’s invisible. As in not even x-ray vision could spot her. The mean triplets who call themselves The Belles have cast an invisibility spell on poor Missy. But if Tulip can’t break the spell in 72 hours, Missy will remain invisible forever.

It’s a case Tulip can’t resist — between her mom’s annoying new boyfriend and her own secret crush at school, Tulip understands how much it stinks to feel invisible. Luckily for Tulip, her two best friends and her cute, techy guy friend help dig up clues on a case that turns out to be her freakiest one ever.

New Thriller Releases

It’s always fun to read books by friends, even more so when they’re YAs. I confess, I’m a YA addict. Maybe because I’m still a teen at heart. Or maybe I love them because YAs are usually better written, more tightly plotted, and faster paced than adult books. I prefer stories that move along rather than meander along. I’m big on action and characters, not too interested in getting bogged down with description and setting.

So I found Jill Williamson’s YA thriller, The New Recruit, a rapid rollercoaster ride that met all my requirements.

Here’s the book blurb:

Forced to choose between military school and a Christian spy organization, skeptic Spencer Garmond signs on with the Bible geeks. But before he even boards the plane for Moscow, Spencer realizes this is no Bible club.

These guys mean business.

Stumbling onto a case involving a gang of homeless boys, a chilling tattoo, and the always beautiful Anya Vseveloda, Spencer struggles to find the faith needed to save the Mission League from enemy infiltration.

For more about the series, go to the Mission League. Jill is also offering an undercover scavenger hunt with some terrific prizes.

The book trailer:

This isn’t the only book of Jill’s that I’ve enjoyed. She has an award-winning fantasy/speculative fiction trilogy, The Blood of Kings, and the recent YA sci-fi release, Replication. Coming  in 2013 is the first of a dystopian YA trilogy, Captives.

And this must be thriller release month for my friends, because one of my CPs, Don Helin, just released Devil’s Den (Headline Books), a fast-moving adult suspense that moves from a ghostly disappearance on the Gettysburg battlefield to a plot involving an Irish mob. The hero, with his post traumatic stress syndrome, becomes the prime suspect in a ghost-related crime.

Free and Bargain E-books

Pass it on… Some great bargains for lovers of YA books are available this month:

FREE, yep, that’s right, FREE for the next few days (for Amazon prime members). It will be only 99 cents from April 1 to May 1:

Check out Island Sting at Amazon.

Anthology by authors Maria V. Snyder, Candace Havens, Shannon Delany, Jill Williamson, Judith Graves, Kitty Keswick, Dawn Dalton, Linda Joy Singleton, and others...

Spirited available on Amazon for 99 cents!! It has augmented reality by Karl Gee.

Under My Skin regularly $4.99, available for 99 cents on Amazon for a limited time.

And for adults, check out Dancing with the Devil, by Cate Masters, FREE on Amazon for a limited time. For other great bargains, check out the Leap Books site on April 1, 2012, for some great bargains.

And for a blog about FREE and BARGAIN BOOKS, see Downtown YA.

Are You Living Your Purpose?

Photo Credit: antibarbie

Three deaths in the past month has made for a rough start to the year. Two were expected; both family members were older and had health problems, and in some ways it was a blessing. But we still miss them and weren’t ready to see them leave this earth.

The third death was totally unexpected. A neighbor  and friend died of a sudden heart attack. Because she was close to my age, her death affected me the most.

When things like this happen, it makes you re-evaluate your life. If it had been me rather than her, what would I regret leaving undone?

I read recently that most people in nursing homes say they wish they’d taken more risks. It would be sad to get to the end of life and realize that while you were busy with mundane tasks, the important things of life passed you by.

What words or acts have you avoided saying or doing that you might someday regret? What dreams have you been putting off?

What were you put here on earth to do? Make that your first priority.

Angel in the Mist

Photo Credit: Zsolt Zatrok

Just got word that my short story “Angel in the Mist” will be published in the charity anthology A Community of Writers (Sunbury Press, 2012). Even cooler: All my CPs will also have stories in the book. Joint booksignings, here we come.

Royalties from the sale of the book will be donated to the Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, PA.

 

What if you sacrificed your life so others could live? A different kind of ghost story.

Can You Resist a Free Book?

I don’t know about you, but I can never resist a free book, even if it’s a genre I don’t normally read. So I jumped at the chance to get this Free e-book and thought I’d share the link in case you wanted a copy too:

Linda Joy Singleton has a FREE YA paranormal romance  Dead Girl Walking for the Nook and Kindle available at Amazon.

Live in California?

If you’re anywhere near Turlock, CA, this weekend, be sure to stop by the Borders in Turlock to meet paranormal author Kitty Keswick:

Gruesome Halloween Treats

Need a last minute Halloween recipe? How ’bout Dead Witches Fingers? They’re suitably ghoulish. See the Wolfy Chicks blog. Author Judith Graves shows you how to make these delightfully gruesome treats.

Pair them with Blood-flavored Ice Cream–a recipe by author Kitty Keswick.

Two treats sure to make your guests howl.

Blood-flavored Ice Cream, Anyone??

Entertaining any VAMPS this Halloween? Want to serve them blood-flavored ice cream? Author Kitty Keswick offers a recipe at http://leapbks.blogspot.com/2009/10/blood-flavored-ice-cream-anyone.html.

And that’s not the only fun. While you’re there, check out the free spooky reads: My Prom Date’s a Vampire and Old Flames Die Hard. Get ready for a romp through the graveyard and some spine-tingling fun.

<img style=”visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;” border=0 width=0 height=0 src=”http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNTU3MDgxNTE5NTMmcHQ9MTI1NTcwODIzNDIxOCZwPTEyMDc*MSZkPXR3RFgyTi1YR2VrVHVRR1gmZz*yJm89OGY5ZjhlMjhlMmQ2NDUwOTgwNWM*NGFjMjhlMWY3ODcmb2Y9MA==.gif&#8221; /><object classid=”clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000″ id=”playerLoader” width=”450″ height=”401″ codebase=”http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab”><param name=”movie” value=”http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/load/twDX2N-XGekTuQGX.swf&#8221; /><param name=”quality” value=”best” /><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always” /><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true” /><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent” /><embed src=”http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/load/twDX2N-XGekTuQGX.swf&#8221; width=”450″ height=”401″ name=”playerLoader” align=”middle” wmode=”transparent” play=”true” loop=”false” quality=”best” allowScriptAccess=”always” allowFullScreen=”true” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer”></embed></object&gt;