Enter to win an autographed hardcover of National Book Award Finalist Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (Front Street, 2006) from Cynsations. From the promotional copy:"Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern.
"Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and thereby gain a reprieve--but only for twenty-four hours She must find her one true love within that time, or all is lost.
"Keturah searches desperately while the village prepares for an unexpected visit from the king and Keturah is thrust into a prominent role as mysterious happenings alarm her friends and neighbors. Lord Death's presence hovers over this all until Keturah confronts him one last time in the harrowing climax."
To enter, email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type "Keturah and Lord Death" in the subject line. Deadline: March 30! All Cynsational readers are eligible! Note: there is a slight uneveness to the cut of the back of the cover and a couple of slightly bent page corners, but it's otherwise in great shape.
Congratulations to Martha in Wisconsin, the winner of paperback copy of Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde (Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, 2008)!
More News
Interview: Cyn Balog - Author of the upcoming Fairy Tale (Delacorte, June 23, 2009) from Want My YA. Peek: "Fairy Tale is about a teenage girl who learns her boyfriend is a fairy, and that he's due to leave her and return to Otherworld on his 16th birthday. She decides to fool the fairies and fight to keep him with her." Learn more about Fairy Tale.Fillers and Drainers by Kristi Holl at Writers First Aid. Peek: "After you attend your next writing event (large or small) ask yourself: 'Was I filler or a drainer today?' Did you make encouraging comments as well as ask for help? Did you give as well as take?"
Audiobooks with Mary Burkey of Audiobooker from Elizabeth O. Dulemba. Peek: "No, I don't feel that listening to audiobooks is reading - but it isn't cheating either! In today's world, we often overlook the listening component of Language Arts. By integrating audiobooks into a literacy program, students increase vocabulary, gain fluency, hear how phrasing and intonation results from punctuation, and experience authentic accents and dialects."
Author R.L. LaFevers of Shrinking Violet Promotions fame will be appearing at 11 a.m. March 22 at BookPeople in Austin. Read a Cynsations interview with R.L.
Join author Michelle Knudsen to celebrate the release of The Dragon of Trelian (Candlewick, 2009) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 14 at Books of Wonder (18 W. 18th Street) in New York City! Peek: "A middle-grade fantasy adventure involving a princess, a mage's apprentice, a dragon, a hundred-year war, several secrets, old grudges, new enemies, lots of danger, a little romance, and an evil plot against the kingdom of Trelian that must be stopped at all costs!" Read a sample chapter (PDF file). Read a Cynsations interview with Michelle.Kids book author accumulating accolades for first novel by Kayla Slimp from The Eagle of Bryan-College Station, Texas. Peek: "Kathi Appelt said she still feels like she's shaking the glitter out of her hair."
Maggie Gets Violent: My Thoughts on Bloodshed in Books by Maggie Stiefvater at Words on Words. Peek: "While I think there's a time and a place for physical pain in a novel (anyone who has read any of my novels will see that I live by these words), I never think that physical pain will have the same affect on the reader that emotional pain does." Read a Cynsations interview with Maggie.
More Personally
Attention MySpace readers: you may want to check out the fan-generated Eternally Tantalizing Role Playing Game and new character page for Sabine on MySpace. In addition, there are now over 400 members of Tantalize Fans Unite! (Thanks, Britmett Bear!).Attention Facebook readers: you may want to check out my featured author interview at The Ultimate YA Reading Group.
Publishers Weekly says of Eternal: "The confessional style, alternating between Miranda and Zachary's points of view, is intriguing as a diary—readers should be hooked by this fully formed world, up through the action-packed finale."Gwenda Bond of Shaken & Stirred says of Eternal: "the best kind of sequel--the kind that's even better than the first book... If you never thought guardian angels could be awesome, we have something in common: We were wrong. Dark, witty, fabulous. Read this now."
{Insert Book Title Here} YA Book Blog chimes in: "The whole vampire/guardian angel concept was interesting... I loved how she left us with a glimmer of hope at the end that left me begging. I want the third novel now! I can't wait to see what this author will come out with next."
Thanks to Kim Winter at Kat's Eye for re-reading Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007)!
Thanks to Donna Bowman Bratton for her report on author Lila Guzman's Austin SCBWI presentation (with photos!).
