Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Starring: SOMETHING WICKED with Kelly Parra

Kelly Parra is stopping by the blog tonight with an anthology she is in called, SOMETHING WICKED.

About the Book:
Sometimes, they aren't costumes.

They’re baaaack.

More nightmares brought to you by the authors of the young adult anthology Prom Dates to Die For...
Beware the Midnight Troll on your late-night stroll by Mari Hestekin. Swim at your own risk Under Loch and Cay by Jenny Peterson. A curse of spiders on campus means Arach War by Lena Brown. Through a Glass Darkly one could lose a soul by Heather Dearly. Supernatural Hunters turn to the sea in Mermania by Kelly Parra. Social media goes to the ghouls in Spectral Media by Aaron Smith.

Don’t miss this paranormal fun for tween, teens and adults!

Kelly Parra’s short story “Mermania” continues Teen Supernatural Hunters Jaz and Blake’s paranormal adventures. The duo debuted in “Darkness Becomes Him” in the young adult anthology PROM DATES TO DIE FOR as they battled a soul hungry dark angel. In SOMETHING WICKED a merman entrances Jaz and it’s up to her and Blake to rush against time before Jaz grows her own tail by the full moon!

Something Wicked facebook: http://www.facebook.com/somethingwickedbook

Our Interview:
KRISTINA: How did you get the idea for title of your story “Mermania” in SOMETHING WICKED?
KELLY: Hi Kristina, thanks for having me! So I’m not very great at titles. Buzz Books named the anthology and both my short stories that I’ve contributed to them. The first "Darkness Becomes Him" in PROM DATES TO DIE FOR, and "Mermania" in SOMETHING WICKED. I’ve totally loved both outcomes.

KRISTINA: Would you ever try writing in another genre?
KELLY: Yes! I certainly love writing adult romance as well under Kelly Lynn Parra.

KRISTINA: Who is (or who are) the Young Adult author that turns you into a fangirl?
KELLY: I absolutely love Rachel Caine and her Morganville Vampire series. Her novels are filled with characters to root for and page-turning suspense.

KRISTINA: Do you prefer reading on an ereader or book in hand?
KELLY: I’ve always loved paperbacks. Hardcovers are too bulky to read in bed so I’m also a fan of ereaders

KRISTINA: Are you on twitter? Where can we follow you?
KELLY: Yep, my twitter is kparra. And I’d love for readers to stop by my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/authorkellyparra

KRISTINA: What are you working on now?
KELLY: I’m working on an adult romance and my next young adult novel, and since I love short stories, a collection is in the works. :)

About the Author:
Kelly Parra’s earliest stories were told with paintbrushes, but upon discovering the drama and forbidden love of romance and suspense novels, those paintbrushes were replaced with a keyboard. Now a multi-published author in young adult and romance fiction, she has created memorable characters such as a graffiti artist in Graffiti Girl, a psychic teen in Invisible Touch, and a tough undercover narc in her novel for adults, Criminal Instinct. A two-time RITA finalist, she divides her time between her novels, short fiction, and the adventures of motherhood, where she juggles her home life with two children, a tattooed husband, a sweet poodle, and a rowdy pit bull. Visit her website www.KellyParra.com.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kparra
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkellyparra
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kelly-Parra/e/B001JRXHUI/

Jane Austen Giveaway Hop

Thanks for stopping by my blog during the I Am a Reader, Not a Writer's/vvb32reads' Jane Austen Giveaway Hop!

If you're new to me and my books I'm a young adult/middle grade author and I write mostly fun, light, contemporary books. My newest YA, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT, will be released on December 15th of this year. For this blog hop, I'm giving away my YA book inspired by Emma, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, (shipping in the US only).

About the Book:

What's your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you're lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it's a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie. Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it's not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane's Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She's the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

With overtones of Jane Austen's Emma and brimming with humor and heart, this sweet, frothy debut will be savored by readers.

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And if you want a chance to win even more books inspired by Jane Austen, follow the list below my Rafflecopter form to go to other great websites on the blog hop!

Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT Cover Reveal Contest!

Yay! It's Cover Reveal Day! Here it is, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT:

Isn't it awesome? You can read more about The Paparazzi Project (and mark it to-read!) on Goodreads. The book will be released in kindle format on December 15th of this year. To celebrate I'm giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky winner. You'll also get an eARC of THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT as soon as it becomes available! And of course, signed bookmarks and stickers. Enter the rafflecopter below and thanks for celebrating my cover reveal!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Starring: LIVE THROUGH THIS by Mindi Scott

Mindi Scott is visiting the blog with her new book, LIVE THROUGH THIS.

About the book:

From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.

But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an every girl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.

Our Interview:

KRISTINA:  If your book was made into a movie, who would star as your main character?

MINDI: A very pretty blond girl with an athletic/slender build, who can pass as age 16. I haven’t seen a specific actor who would make a good match, but surely one has to exist!

KRISTINA: Lots of them! Have you ever based one of your characters on someone you know? If so, did that person find out? How did they react?

MINDI: One of the villainous characters in my first book was inspired by a villainous person whom I knew in high school. When I first started the draft, the similarities were pretty obvious, but critique partners found that character too unbelievable (ha!). I changed things so much that no one would recognize who originally inspired the character.

KRISTINA: That was a good idea! What is the weirdest comment you’ve received from a fan?

MINDIN: OH, MY! I’ve had girls and women ask me some really, um, private and detailed questions about the, er, private parts of Seth from my first novel, Freefall. (Do other writers get asked questions of this sort about their male characters? Just curious!)

KRISTINA:   I never have! What are the last five young adult books you read?

MINDI: Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Something Like Normal by Trish Dollar, Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskovitch, and We’ll Always Have Summer and It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han.

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

MINDI: Yes! @mindi_scott

About the author:

Mindi Scott is the author of Live Through This and Freefall. She lives near Seattle, Washington, with her drummer husband. Please visit her online at mindiscott.com.

Buy links: Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, IndieBound, iTunes, The Book Depository, or Amazon

Can I Write This Off?

*cross posted from A2A*

I haven't been home for the last week. I've been busily having a great time on a road trip first to visit family that live up on this really cool mountain in West Virginia.

And then for a couple of days in Washington D.C.

And then the day after I got home I was off again, this time with Megg to the Illinois Library Association Conference in Peoria, IL.

And like most writers, I'm always taking mental notes of places, people, situations and thinking about how I can fit them into a book. Take our first night in D.C. We could have driven into D.C. and parked in a parking garage. But someone told us no, take the metro, it's the best way to travel. So we took a shuttle from our hotel, to the metro. Had problems figuring out how to get tickets and whatnot but finally did. And got all 6 of us to the White House in once piece, though we spent about $30 doing it when there was a nice big parking garage with a sign that said $9 all day parking available. :-) 

We walked and walked and walked until we were exhausted. The littlest in our group being 4 and having walked his little legs off. At the end of the night, we realized we were at least a mile either direction away from a metro stop. Crap. We picked a direction (over the Arlington Bridge to the Arlington Cemetery stop) and started walking. We had to stop to sit down three times in that mile because everyone was so tired. When we finally got there we found that the metro stop was closed! There were no signs anywhere saying that this stop would be closed. It was a new thing as of October 1st. And now we were two miles away from the next stop. We were getting really worried as the hotel shuttle driver warned us his last pickup was at 10:45 so we had to call him before then and it was about 9:15-9:30. And we were stuck on an empty road with 4 kids. 

We tried for a half an hour to hail a cab. No one would stop. I guess because there were 6 of us. I finally called the hotel and told them our situation and they gave me a number for a cab company. My husband called and when they said we'd need two cabs he got mad and hung up on them. And I started crying. Our situation was really sucking. By some luck, a taxi driver finally stopped for us and I squished all 4 kids in the backseat with me. We didn't care what it cost, we just wanted to get back to the hotel. Only the driver wouldn't drive us all the way to Alexandria. He said he could drop us off at the airport. We agreed. There was no way we were getting back out of that taxi. So now it's 10 something and we're running through the airport trying to figure out where the metro is. We find it, pay another $20 for tickets and catch a train. And we caught the last shuttle to the hotel too. 

My husband was upset at what a mess it was trying to get back to the hotel but I was cracking up. How crazy was it that we walked to a closed stop, got stuck on the side of the road, caught a ride to the airport just to catch a train, to catch a shuttle? Spending hours on travel and almost $100 just to get from the hotel to the National Mall and back? When we could have drove and spent $9 on parking? 

I've got to use this in a book some day, right? And then I can write it off. :-)