SECRETS AND LIES BLOG TOUR AND THE LIAR SOCIETY: LIES THAT BIND GIVEAWAY

Today I’m super excited to be a part of Lisa and Laura’s Blog Tour for THE LIES THAT BIND, book 2 in THE LIAR SOCIETY series. It was released on November 6, 2012. For a while, I didn’t think it’d work out for us to participate in the blog tour because of what we already had scheduled and I was so bummed because THE LIES THAT BIND sounds like a fantastic sequel to THE LIAR SOCIETY. But luckily it worked out.

Here's a description from Goodreads:

 
Just when Kate Lowry thought she had life at elite private school Pemberly Brown figured out, she cracks open a fortune cookie to find a message from her best friend Grace--who's supposed to be dead.

Another Sister Gone

A classmate has gone missing, and Kate soon realizes that the disappearance is tied to the secret societies that rule her private school. Her best friend died for their secrets, and there's no way she'll let them get away with it twice. It's up to quirky outsider Kate to get some answers, but in a school where every answer leads to more questions and nothing's as it seems, who can she trust?

 So we had planned an interview with Lisa and Laura, but that didn't work out. So instead I have a fabulous guest post on how to create quirky but believable YA characters. Who doesn't need help with that?

Quirky But Not Crazy­- How to make your original character unique but still relatable to YA readers

                We’re old. Not old-old, but old enough. There’s always risk in writing for teenagers when you’re not, in fact, a teenager. We had all these goals for Kate—we wanted her to be independent and funny and cute and smart and sad and lonely and loving. The list goes on and on. But we needed to ensure that she wasn’t a thirty-something trapped in the body of a neon-haired detective. Because, let's face it, there's nothing worse than a bossy thirty-something trapped in the body of a blue-haired teen.

So we channeled our inner-YA, our awkward high school selves, and imagined who we always wished we could have been. We thought we knew everything in high school, we had it all figured out so we needed Kate to have a little of that—most teenagers do.  

Kate is extremely goofy and makes us laugh out loud. This is actually very sad because it means that we’re laughing at our own jokes. The reality is that as we switch the book back and forth while drafting, we’re always trying to one-up the other sister. Our main goal is to play make-me-laugh with the manuscript (or make-me-scared, make-me-cry, etc., depending upon the scene).

Kate is also very sensitive, even if she doesn’t show it all the time (what teenager does?). She’s fueled by her love for Grace and her need to right a wrong. She takes advantage of her devoted neighbor Seth, but sometimes she lets her guard down just long enough for the reader to witness her love for him. It will take a long time for her to learn that Seth is the kind of guy she’ll want to marry! Liam and Bradley are there to mix things up even more. Each of these characters help define the true Kate Lowry.

But at the end of the day, Kate isn't perfect. She says stupid things, judges people way too harshly and generally makes a ton of stupid mistakes. But she's a TEENAGER. A very imperfect teenager. But fun and brave too. Part of our goal when we started writing The Liar Society Series was to chronicle Kate's journey as she slowly grows up and in THE LIES THAT BIND, Kate takes one more step toward adulthood. And maybe even half a step backward. Hey, no one ever said growing up was easy!

Lisa's and Laura's publisher generously offered a copy of LIES THAT BIND for a giveaway.   To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment by midnight on December 15th. I’ll announce the winner on December 17th. If your e-mail is not on Blogger, please list it in your comment.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry.This giveaway is for US and Canada only.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway contests for RENEGADE, PASSION BLUE, and WRITING IRRISSISTABLE KIDLIT by Mary Kole. The links are at the top of the blog.
Here's what's coming up:

Next Monday I'm interviewing  debut author Kasie West and giving away a copy of PIVOT POINT, a fascinating dystopian novel I couldn't put down.

Next Tuesday, I'm doing my annual Holiday Hop Book Giveaway. I can't wait for you to see all the great choices. 

And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you on Wednesday!