In celebration of summer reading, I'm also giving away autographed sets of 25 Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008) bookmarks to five YA public librarians.One of those mailings also will include a copy of the Tantalize audio, and one will include a Sanguini's T-shirt (Sanguini's is the fictional vampire restaurant in the book).
To enter the giveaway, email me (scroll for address) with your name, the name of your library, and the library snail/street mail address by 10 p.m. CST June 30! Please also type "Summer Reading" in the subject line. Note: prizes will be sent on a rolling basis.
Check out the Tantalize Reading Group Guide and the Tantalize Research Bibliographies. Watch the Tantalize Book Trailer, and listen to an excerpt of the audio book edition by actress Kim Mai Guest from Listening Library.
See also "Memoirs of a Writer's Summertime Reading" from The Bridge, Austin Public Library Programs for Youth (p. 2)(PDF file), a 2002 article I wrote about how important public library summer reading programs were to me as a young reader.
The winner of the Feast of Fools: The Morganville Vampires (Book Four) by Rachel Caine (NAL/ Jam, 2008)(sample chapter) giveaway was Zach, a YA reader in Missouri!
More Giveaways
Blue Bloods Poetry Contest: Author Melissa de la Cruz is awarding 35 copies of the Blue Bloods: Revelations four-chapter samplers. [Read a Cynsations interview with Melissa.]Directly from Melissa:
Here are the rules:
1.You can enter as many poems as possible, but can only win once.
2. Poems can be in any form: free verse, haiku, villanelle, epic, Dr. Seuss-style, what-have-you.
3. Poems should be spell-checked. If your words are spelled correctly that gives you huge ups. I don't mind misuse of capitalization so much--e.e. cummings never capitalized and did niFTy things like THis. But I do have to say, it is easier to
read correctly capitalized verse. So, up to you.
4. Poems should be about the Blue Bloods universe. Or in the voice of a Blue Bloods character. Up to you. You could pen a poem about Jack's hotness, Mimi's bitchiness, a ballad to Schuyler and Oliver, or about Michael and Gabrielle, anything you can come up with. Or you could write a poem in the voice of a character. Just make a note of who is supposed to be speaking.
5. I'm looking for creativity and polish, but also humor and originality. I was a huge poetry-entrant when I was in high school (and won a bunch), so I think this is a fun experiment.
6. We'll post the best poems on the site of course. We will have a grand prize, a first runner-up and a third-runner up, who will receive goodie-bags from my vast goodie-bag closet as well as the chapter samplers.
7. Poems are due by June 20th.
8. Poems should be e-mailed to: melissadlcoffice@gmail.com with the subject header: "Poetry Contest."
Archer's Quest Quest: author Linda Sue Park celebrates the redesign and relaunch of her official site (by Theo Black) with a giveaway of ten paperback copies of Archer's Quest (Random House/Dell/Yearling, 2008). Deadline: midnight EST, June 8. Read an interview with Linda Sue about Archer's Quest.June 2008 YA Book Giveaways at TeensReadToo.
More News & Links
ACLU Files Suit in Librarian Harry Potter Case by Joan Oleck from School Library Journal. Peek: "Smith, a Southern Baptist who believes that the Potter books encourage children to worship the occult, claims that after she declined to attend the celebration, where librarians were asked to dress as wizards." Note: the plaintiff is no relation. Source: Not Just for Kids.
Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy Singleton (Flux, 2008). From the promotional copy: "Linda Joy Singleton, author of the successful Seer books, returns with another hot paranormal series." Coming in September; check out the sneak peek at Flux. Read Linda Joy's LJ, and visit her page at MySpace. Read a Cynsations interview with Linda Joy Singleton on The Seer series.
Congratulations to Perry Moore, whose novel Hero (Hyperion, 2007), winner of the 2008 Lammy for Best YA Novel with GLBTQ Content, Published in 2007 and to Brent Hartinger, winner in the bisexual-book category for Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Zombies & Bride of the Soul-Sucking Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007)(author interview).
Question of the Week Thursday: Robin Friedman asks Lisa Schroeder: "What did you do in the way of promotion?" Peek: "Because I work 32 hours a week at a day job, I don’t have a ton of time for promotional type activities. So I decided six months or so before my novel came out that I needed to make the Internet my best friend."
The Official Minion Horde Summer Reading List by Heather Brewer at Bleeding Ink. Peek: "The official list (alphabetized just for you) of books, comics, and manga that a Minion just can't miss out on." Note: top-notch for speculative fiction fans.More Personally
I have joined the ranks of authors on Facebook. Please include include in friend requests that you're a Cynsational reader. You can also find me at my MySpace page.
