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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Starring: TEN by Gretchen McNeil


It’s been awhile since I’ve had a touring girlfriend! Gretchen McNeil is here to talk about her super intriguing looking book, TEN.


About TEN:
And their doom comes swiftly.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives – three days on Henry Island at an exclusive house party. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their own reasons for wanting to be there, both of which involve Kamiak High’s most eligible bachelor, T.J. Fletcher. But what starts out as a fun-filled weekend turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly, people are dying and the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Our Interview:

KRISTINA: How did you get the idea for (title of book)? 
GRETCHEN: TEN is an homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, originally titled Ten Little Indians.
KRISTINA: If your book was made into a movie, who would star as your main character? 
GRETCHEN: Not sure about Meg, but I’d love to see her best friend Minnie portrayed by Elle Fanning.
KRISTINA: How much time do you spend on marketing your book? Is there one specific type of marketing that you find works best for you? 
GRETCHEN: TONS of time.  Currently, I'm running a grass roots campaign called The Army of Ten (http://armyoften.blogspot.com) where fans can win prizes for helping me with promotion.  Grand prize includes getting their name in the Acknowledgments of my next book!
KRSTINA: Would you ever try writing in another genre? 
GRETCHEN: I'd love to write adult horror.  Slight difference, I know, but oh, the things I could do…
KRISTINA:   Are you on twitter? Where can we follow you? 
GRETCHEN: Oh yes!  @GretchenMcNeil!
KRISTINA:   What are you working on now? 
GRETCHEN: My next book is called 3:59 and comes out Fall 2013.  It's sci-fi horror about two girls who are the same girl in different dimensions, who discover that their worlds connect every twelve hours – at 3:59 – for one minute.  When they decide to switch places for a day, all hell breaks loose. Literally.
After that I just sold a two book series, also to Balzer + Bray, for 2014 and 2015.  GET EVEN and GET DIRTY are books one and two in the Don't Get Mad series about four very different girls who have formed a secret revenge society, getting back at bullies and mean girls who have terrorized their classmates, which all goes well until one of their targets turns up dead and the society is implicated in the death.
KRISTINA: They all sound fantastic Gretchen! Good luck to you with TEN! And if you guys want to pick up a copy of TEN you can find it here. And be sure to leave Gretchen a review on Amazon and Goodreads!

About the Author:
Gretchen McNeil is an opera singer, writer and clown.  Her YA horror POSSESS debuted with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins in 2011.  Her follow up TEN – YA horror/suspense about ten teens trapped on a remote island with a serial killer – will be released September 18, 2012, and her third novel 3:59, sci fi doppelganger horror is scheduled for Fall 2013.  Gretchen's new YA contemporary series Don't Get Mad (Revenge meets The Breakfast Club) begins Fall 2014 with GET EVEN, followed by the sequel GET DIRTY in 2015, also with Bazler + Bray.
Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4's Code Monkeys and she sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk.  Gretchen blogs with The Enchanted Inkpot and is a founding member of the vlog group the YARebels where she can be seen as "Monday."

Saturday, September 15, 2012

New Release Coming in December!

I'm so excited to share some news! My young adult contemporary book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT, will be coming out in kindle format on December 15th!

Here's the book summary:


Livvie Peterson thought taking Interpersonal Communications her junior year would be an easy A. But when the first assignment is given, her world flips upside down.  Here’s the deal: the class is assigned a six-week project and is split into three groups— Paparazzi, Tabloid, and Celebrities. The Paparazzi follow around the Celebrities taking pictures and grabbing any kind of quotes they can. The Celebrities try to navigate being tailed on a daily basis. And the Tabloid receives all the information collected by the Paparazzi and decides what makes the weekly summary report. Sounds harmless…and it’s all just pretend anyway, right?

Livvie is assigned as Paparazzi and when she is matched up with the über-cute Chas Montgomery as her Tabloid boss she’s pretty sure things couldn’t get much better. Livvie’s uncanny ability to capture the Celebrities in compromising photos matched with Chas’s skill of exaggerating captions and editing the photos make them an unstoppable team. And the long hours working side by side with Chas aren’t a bad bonus.

Livvie simultaneously launches an anonymous blog, leaking the class’ photos and stories on the Internet. Her rising follower number quickly becomes addicting and she possibly spills too much information online. Once she finds her own celebrity will she be able to give it back? And will Chas be gone before she ever has the chance to find out?


____

I'm SO excited for this book to be out in the world! Stay tuned for the cover reveal on October 15th.

And p.s., if you don't have a kindle but have an iPad or iPhone, download the free kindle app. That's how I do my reading. :-)

Friday, September 14, 2012

We've Got a Winner!


Congrats to Sheila Windley Staley!! Your book and swag are on their way!


Monday, September 10, 2012

Just Your Average Princess is a Perfect Fall Read

This is my absolute favorite time of the year! From the Pumpkin Spice Lattes to pumpkin scented candles and baking pumpkin bread, I just love it all.


It's also the perfect time to read Just Your Average Princess if you haven't already.

Here's a summary:

Jamie Edwards has loved growing up on her family's pumpkin patch in Average, IL, and she's always dreamed of one day being the town's Pumpkin Princess at the annual Pumpkin Festival. But when her rich and famous cousin, Milan Woods, comes to town and changes everything, Jamie knows she has to expose Milan for who she really is and teach her that life's not all pumpkins and apple butter at the patch.


Enjoy it with a latte at your favorite coffee shop! :-)



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Reading Clean Giveaway Hop

Thanks for stopping by my blog during the I Am a Reader, Not a Writer's "Reading Clean Giveaway" Blog Hop!
If you're new to me and my books I'm a young adult/middle grade author and I have three books with Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. My first YA,THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, has sold in six countries, was a 2010 Society of School Librarians International Honor Book, and has been optioned for film. My Middle-Grade novel, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, was a Scholastic Book Club Bestseller and a 2012 YALSA QUICK PICK. And my most recent YA novel, JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS, is a perfect Fall read as it's about a girl who has spent her whole life on her family's awesome pumpkin patch. And that's the book I'm giving away in this hop (shipping in the US only).

All my books are very clean and you can share with anyone from your fifth grader to your neighbor.

And if you want a chance to win even more great stuff, 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