Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit: Starring Jennifer Echols!

Take a look at Jennifer Echols latest book:

Doesn't it just scream SUMMER MUST READ?! Love the cover!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

ENDLESS SUMMER by Jennifer Echols

The Boys Next Door and the sequel, Endless Summer, in one volume!

Two irresistible boys. One unforgettable summer.

Lori can't wait for her summer at the lake. She loves wakeboarding and hanging with her friends--including the two hotties next door. With the Vader brothers, she's always been just one of the guys. Now that she's turning sixteen, she wants to be seen as one of the girls, especially in the eyes of Sean, the older brother. But that's not going to happen--not if the younger brother, Adam, can help it.

Lori plans to make Sean jealous by spending time with Adam. Adam has plans of his own for Lori. As the air heats up, so does this love triangle. Will Lori's romantic summer melt into one hot mess?

Published by Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster. ISBN-10: 1442406593; ISBN-13: 978-1442406599.

OUR INTERVIEW:

KRISTINA: In two or three sentences, can you tell me what Endless Summer is about?

JENNIFER: Lori decides to shed her tomboy ways so she can catch the boy next door, whom she’s had a crush on forever. But his younger brother has a crush on her, and he’ll do everything he can to stop her. The story is set in the summertime on a lake in Alabama like the one where I grew up, and I laugh just thinking about it.

KRISTINA: In my book, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, Jane, a coffee barista, matchmakes people based on their favorite coffee drinks. What’s your favorite coffee drink?

JENNIFER: Basic black with a little skim milk. I drink a lot of coffee, and if I were mixing things in, I couldn’t afford the calories!

KRISTINA: Why do you write YA as opposed to other types of fiction?

JENNIFER: I have written a lot of books for adults that haven’t sold. My original plan was to go back and forth writing romantic comedies for teens and adults. It just hasn’t worked out that way, yet.

KRISTINA: What is your most favorite (or, weirdest, craziest, funniest, most touching etc.) comment you’ve received from a fan?

JENNIFER: Several readers have told me that they’ve read one of my novels 10 times. I remember being a teenager and reading a novel 10 times, and I remember how much I loved those books, so this is the highest compliment anyone could pay me.

KRISTINA: Are you on twitter? Where can we follow you?

JENNIFER: Please do, and I will follow you too! I’m @jenniferechols.

KRISITNA: What are you working on now?

JENNIFER: My next and darker novel, Forget You, is coming out on July 20. Right now I’m writing still another romantic drama that will be published in July 2011.

Kristina, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog!

Thanks for stopping by Jennifer!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer Echols grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama--a setting that has inspired many of her books. Always interested in creative writing, she finished her first (and still unpublished) novel soon after graduating with a degree in English from Auburn University at age 20. She worked as an editor for newspapers, a writer for business publications, and a writing instructor for three major universities, completed a master's degree in English, and finished the coursework for a PhD in genre studies before selling a book. Since then, she has written many young adult novels for Simon & Schuster, including Major Crush, which won the National Reader's Choice Award, and Going Too Far, which is a finalist in the 2010 RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the Book Buyer's Best. Her next novel, Forget You, will be released on July 20th. Currently she works as a copyeditor and lives in Birmingham with her husband and son. Please visit her online at jennifer-echols.com.

Click here to order ENDLESS SUMMER!

Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit: Starring Jeri Smith-Ready!

Another Girlfriend is stopping by to talk about her book! Jeri Smith-Ready's new book SHADE is out and isn't the cover gorgeous?!























ABOUT THE BOOK:

Love ties them together.

Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.

OUR INTERVIEW:

KRISTINA: In my book, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, Jane, a coffee barista, matchmakes people based on their favorite coffee drinks. What’s your favorite coffee drink?

JERI: I’m a purist—I love a good strong cup of black coffee. Preferably dark French roast. I’ll occasionally get a skinny dark chocolate coconut mocha, though.

KRISTINA: Why do you write MG/YA as opposed to other types of fiction?

JERI: It was a very natural path for me to take, because all of my books have a young focus. My Aspect of Crow fantasy trilogy had 16- and 18-year-old protagonists, and the heroine of my vampire books, WICKED GAME and BAD TO THE BONE, is only 24 and has a very young, contemporary voice. My adult books have a large teen readership because of these factors.

More important, in writing for teens, I get to focus on the elements of storytelling I enjoy most and that I think I’m best at: character development and voice, especially dialogue. Writing for teens usually requires a faster pace, and I’m all for that. Whether I’m writing for adults or teens, I believe in following Elmore Leonard’s #1 rule of writing: leave out the boring parts.

KRISTINA: How do you come up with the names of your characters?

JERI: One way I pick names that fit a character’s age—especially for minor characters—is to use the Social Security Administration’s Baby Name database. You can plug in a year and find out the top 1,000 names in order of popularity. It helps in keeping a name “generationally correct.” For instance, there are a lot of thirty-something guys named Scott, but when was the last time you knew a teenager or child with that name?

But with main characters, somehow their names just come to me and right away they feel perfect.

KRISTINA: What is the title of the first book you ever wrote?

WAITING IN AMBUSH. It had its moments, but in general, I look at it as a practice novel. There were a lot of plot points that I look back on and go, “Huh?”

KRISTINA: What three things must you have while you’re writing?

JERI: Cats, coffee, and a comfy chair.

KRISTINA: Are you on twitter? Where can we follow you?

JERI: A better question would be, when am I NOT on Twitter? I’m totally addicted. It’s my portal to the wider universe. Sometimes I even dream in Twitter—yes, I am pathetic. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/jsmithready.

KRISTINA: What are you working on now?

JERI: I’m writing the sequel to SHADE, called SHIFT, which will be out in May 2011. I also just finished page proofs on the third book in my adult vampire series, BRING ON THE NIGHT, which comes out in August. I can’t wait to see what fans of the series think of this installment! After I turn in SHIFT, I’ll get back to work on the fourth vampire book, which is still deciding what it wants to be named.

Thanks for interviewing me, Kristina!

KRISTINA: Thanks for stopping by Jeri! I wish you tons of success with your book!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world’s goofiest greyhound.

Jeri's plans to save the earth were ruined when she realized she was more of a “problem maker” than a problem solver. To stay out of trouble, she keeps her Drama Drive strictly fictional. Her friends and family appreciate that.

When not writing, Jeri she can usually be found—well, thinking about writing, or on Twitter. Like her characters, she loves music, movies, and staying up very, very late.

Jeri loves to hear from readers, so please visit her at www.jerismithready.com, or even better, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jerismithready) or Twitter (http://twitter.com/jsmithready), where she spends way too much time.

Click here to order Shade!