HAPPY LABOR DAY AND RANDOM ACTS OF PUBLICITY WEEK POST

First, here’s the winner of THE GATHERING by Kelley Armstrong:

LINDA A!

Congrats! E-mail me your address by the end of Wednesday so your book can be sent to you or I'll have to pick another winner.

I hope everyone is enjoying your Labor Day weekend. I’m planning to rest today. I know many of your kids have already started school, but here in Michigan it doesn’t start until the day after Labor Day. Tomorrow is Anna Li’s first day of high school. I can’t believe she’s really already in 9th grade. And we start with a bang. She’s on the high school girls swim team and has to be at practice tomorrow and 3 days a week through early November at 6:00 am. She and I have to get up at 5:00 am those days. Yikes! I’m up before 6:00 most days but that seems early. But it’s so great watching her be so passionate about swimming and working hard toward her goals.

I don’t know if you’re all aware of this, but this is the 3rd annual Random Acts of Publicity week September 6-8 started by Darcy Pattison, a published author who also runs awesome novel revision retreats. The purpose is to promote a friend’s book, your favorite book, a new book, or one less known. You can do it by blogging about the book, reviewing it on Goodreads or Amazon, talking about it on Facebook, or telling a friend about it. The Facebook link is here and Darcy will be offering tips and prizes for your friends on her blog here all week.

So I thought I’d tell you about some books that I’m excited to share with you over the next month. What’s most exciting for me is that I know all the authors through following their blogs.

First, on September 12th I’ll be interviewing P.J. Hoover and giving away a copy of her e-book SOLSTICE. Here’s a description from Goodreads:

Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives with her mother who suffocates her more than the chaotic climate. When her mother is called away to meet the father Piper has been running from her entire life, Piper seizes an opportunity for freedom.

But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more than he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known.

I loved the combination of dystopian and Greek myths in this story. And P.J. picked a problem we can all relate to—global warming.

Then on September 26th, I’ll be interviewing Kiki Hamilton and giving away a copy of her debut book, THE FAIRIE RING, which will be released on September 27th. Here’s a description from Goodreads:

Debut novelist Kiki Hamilton takes readers from the gritty slums and glittering ballrooms of Victorian London to the beguiling but menacing Otherworld of the Fey in this spellbinding tale of romance, suspense, and danger.
The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.
Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.
Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty…

This is a fast paced page turner with deep secrets unfolding about the plot and the characters. And Kiki did an excellent job transporting us to 1871 London.

On October 3rd, I’ll be interviewing Hilary Wagner and giving away a copy of her middle grade book, THE WHITE ASSASSIN. I just got my ARC. Here’s a description from Goodreads:

Book II of the Nightshade Chronicles. The next step in the journey of the Nightshade City rats!

“Fans of Redwall and the Warriors series will love this heroic tale of good versus evil in a subterranean society of rats. The world of the Catacombs is so compelling readers will wonder if it really might exist under our city streets. Expect great adventures in Nightshade City.” ~ Rick Riordan, Author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

I’ll be honest that I don’t usually like books with animals as the main characters. But I love this series and am enjoying getting to know new rats/heroes that Hilary introduces us to in Book II. I’m about half-way through and am trying to race through it. It’s that good.

Finally here’s a book that I’m not doing an interview on. It’s an awesome dystopian book that my daughter and I just finished, XVI by Julie Karr. I saw it at the library and recommended Anna Li read it. Here’s a description from Goodreads:

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world-even the most predatory of men-that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past-one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

I always know a book is good when Anna Li can’t stop reading it. She was even trying to read it when her dad was having her to do her chores. I couldn’t put in down either.

I could go on and on because I’ve been reading a ton of good books lately. But I’ll let you go enjoy your day. What good books have you read lately?

And don’t forget to enter my contest for a signed copy of BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton until midnight on September 10th here.

I hope you'll come back next week when I interview P.J. Hoover and giveaway a copy of her book SOLSTICE.