Of Sea and Stone Cover Reveal

Say hello to Of Sea and Stone by Kate Avery Ellison

Coming February 2014


Synopsis:
All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving…



Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20456671-of-sea-and-stone


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AUTHOR BIO
I've been making up stories since I was five years old, and now I'm thrilled to be able to do it as a full-time job. I have an obsession with dark fantasy, dystopian futures, and Pride and Prejudice-style love stories full of witty banter and sizzling, unspoken feelings. When I'm not writing, I'm creating digital art, reading funny blogs, or watching my favorite shows (which include TVD and BSG). I live with my geeky husband and our two bad cats in Atlanta, GA

Cover Reveal: Sleepers Rebooted

When I originally commissioned the artwork for Sleepers from Robin Ludwig Design, I was absolutely in love with it. I still am.

But as I prepared to continue with the trilogy, I had a really hard time coming up with concepts for what I wanted the other two covers to be. I had heard about artist PhatPuppy months ago and knew she designed some cover art for Amanda Hocking. I spent hours going through her website, falling in love with multiple pieces of artwork.

The more I combed through her art, the more I realized that there were pieces that embodied exactly what I was looking for. A couple were perfect, in fact. I decided to take the plunge and use her artwork for my next two books. Yet...it wouldn't match Sleepers original cover and I needed this trilogy to make sense visually. It was agonizing for me, but I decided to recover Sleepers.

Here it is and I hope you love it as much as I do!!!!!!!

 

Thank you so much to the 83 bloggers who are revealing Sleepers' new cover on their blogs today. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you!!!!!! :D

If you haven't read Sleepers yet, I have it priced at only 99 cents!!!! Check it out now! :D

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: Katie Klein

If you haven't heard of Katie Klein and you're a reader of YA, then I'm pretty sure you must be living under a glacier in the Arctic, nursing wounds from a near-death fight with a polar bear, wondering if you will ever make it back to civilization so you can charge up your Nook.

Katie is blowing up the charts with her novels, CROSS MY HEART and THE GUARDIAN. I met Katie through a mutual friend, Kristina Springer (who will be feature in this series soon), and I think Katie is pretty darn cool.


MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, Cross My Heart, in your own words - not the official synopsis. 

KK: Cross My Heart is the story of a girl, Jaden, who is somewhat of a perfectionist. She's set her sights on Harvard med school and is the all-around "good girl." Good daughter. Good student. Always dependable. Things change when she's paired with Parker, the school "rebel," for an English project. They start spending more time together, and Jaden learns there's more to Parker than she realized. Sparks fly (both literally and figuratively). It's not your typical "good girl meets bad boy" romance, though, and that seems to have pleased many a reader.  

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

KK: I pantsed and plotted. I like to have an idea going into my story what it's going to be about, or what's going to happen, so I do begin with an outline. I'm not afraid to deviate, though. When my characters surprise me by deciding something else is going to happen, I go with it. I don't force anything. You can see the elements of the final version in my original outline, but the story usually takes on a life of its own. The "plot" twist in Cross My Heart was a clearly a "pants" decision, but I'm glad I went with it.

  

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

KK: I actually just released the second book in my Angel/Demon trilogy The Guardian. It's called Vendetta, and continues the story of Seth and Genesis and their struggle to be together, despite the supernatural odds stacked against them. My next project will be the final book, and I'm hoping to have that available in the early part of 2012.

MJ: Who is your celebrity crush?

KK: There is no such thing as "a" celebrity crush for me. I have a thing for tall, dark, mysterious "bad" boys (Parker Whalen, anyone?). This changes from day to day, but I am known to have swooned over Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Robert Downey, Jr., James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal. . . . As a teen I was partial to guys like Heath Ledger and Leonardo DiCaprio, and since I just watched Wanted the other day, I'm currently nursing a crush on James McAvoy as Assassin.

  

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies?

KK: Not that I have anything against wolves, but I am clearly Team Vampire.  Zombies are kind of gross.

  

MJ: When you were a teen were you a cheerleader, a sporty girl, the smart one, the band geek, or something else?

  

KK: I have *no idea* where I fit in, actually. I went to a small private school my whole life, and there were "cliques," but not to the extent we see today (I say that like I'm so old, but I'm only 29). I was a band geek at one time, and it didn't go well. I tried to be a cheerleader, but I wasn't coordinated enough. I was smart, but I didn't know it, yet. I wasn't really a "slacker," but I didn't really "try," either. One thing I am proud to classify myself as, though, is a Drama Queen. I was kind of a theater nut. I enjoyed the spotlight.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

  

KK: I have always dreamed of retiring early in some kind of water-related area. I currently have my sights set on a beautiful house on a river in a charming town not far from where I grew up. Will I make it happen?

M8B: As I see it Yes.

MJ: Okay, I have to be honest. I had to shake up the 8 Ball six times before I got a positive answer. I really wanted that for Katie because it's such a great dream. Let's all help her make that happen!!!! Here's the links:

Website - Katie Klein Writes

Buy Cross My Heart, The Guardian, and Vendetta on:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: P.J. Hoover

The next author in my interview series is P.J. Hoover. Up until a few months ago, I didn't know much about P.J. Sure, I'd heard her name over the years, but it wasn't until I connected with her on Facebook that we found out we have a lot of unusual things in common (a love of Star Trek, to name one).

I've also read Solstice and really enjoyed it, so I'm excited to host P.J. on my blog today. I think you'll love reading her answers to my questions!

PJ: Thanks so much for letting me be here! I’m excited to meet your blog readers. :)

MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, SOLSTICE, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

PJ: SOLSTICE is set at least eighteen years in the future when global warming is basically killing the earth. This girl, Piper, gets a mysterious box as a present for her eighteenth birthday, and her entire world shifts. She discovers that, in addition to her global warming world, there’s this world of mythology, and somehow she’s deeply connected to it. Her mother is psychotic and won’t give her any freedom, so when Piper gets a rare opportunity for freedom, she seizes it. And the next thing she knows, her best friend almost dies, she visits the Underworld, and gods are walking the earth. And that’s only in the first eighty pages. :)

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

PJ: I’m kind of a half and half person. For SOLSTICE, I plotted out general ideas of what I wanted to have happen in the story, and then, while writing, I totally diverged from this plot. And I love when this happens. In fact, I’ve come to count on it while writing, because I think these inspired breaks from the plan really bring something special.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

PJ: I. Don’t. Know.

Okay, that’s not quite fair. Most likely, my next release will be the sequel to SOLSTICE, but I’m still in the revision stage for that, so it won’t be until next year.

MJ: Now for the fun stuff. I sent P.J. eight questions and asked her to answer three. She answered all eight! BONUS!

If you were trapped on a deserted island and you could only bring three books, what would you bring?

PJ: Wait, does the Nook count as one book? Okay, seriously, I’d bring the three longest books I could find on my bookshelf. Probably CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, WAR AND PEACE, and Dante’s INFERNO.

MJ: Who is your celebrity crush?

PJ: Thor. He was the perfect mix of arrogance and humility.

MJ: What is your favorite color?

PJ: Red.

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies? 

PJ: I guess vampires, though I’m not much on any of them.

MJ: What do you wear when you write?

PJ: Since I go to Kung Fu most mornings, lots of the time, I am still in my Kung Fu pants and a tank top.

MJ: What’s your favorite vacation spot? 

PJ: DisneyWorld.

MJ: When you were a teen were you a cheerleader, a sporty girl, the smart one, the band geek, or something else? 

PJ: Not only was I a cheerleader, I was the captain of the varsity cheerleading squad. Yes, that was me. No, all cheerleaders are not bimbos and bitches. But I should point out that I was also the smart one and used to have Calculus study groups at my house.

MJ: Do you have any pets? 

PJ: I have a darling Yorkie who sits by me constantly when I write and two Sulcata tortoises, King Tort and Nefertorti, who will grow to 150 pounds and live to be 180. I need to sell lots of books to provide for their future.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

PJ: Will it ever be back under 100 degrees in Austin, Texas?

M8B: My reply is no.

MJ: oooooh, that sucks....but sooooo appropriate considering the subject matter in Solstice.

Thanks so much to P.J. for hanging out with me on my blog today. You check out her book and her website:

Website - Roots in Myth

Buy Solstice on:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

P. J. Hoover first fell in love with Greek mythology in sixth grade thanks to the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. After a fifteen year bout as an electrical engineer designing computer chips for a living, P. J. decided to take her own stab at mythology and started writing books for kids and teens. P. J. is also a member of THE TEXAS SWEETHEARTS & SCOUNDRELS. When not writing, P. J. spends time with her husband and two kids and enjoys practicing Kung Fu, solving Rubik's cubes, and watching Star Trek. Her first novel for teens, Solstice, takes place in a Global Warming future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade fantasy novels, The Emerald Tablet, The Navel of the World, and The Necropolis, chronicle the adventures of a boy who discovers he’s part of two feuding worlds hidden beneath the sea.

Trailer Tuesday, YA trailers

This week I have three awesome YA trailer to share with you. Enjoy! :D

Descendant: The Protector by Daniel W. Koch



The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto



Return the Heart by T.K. Richardson

Winner & What's Coming Next!!!!

There is a black hole in my brain where names are concerned, especially for important characters. I have so much trouble naming them and I'm thrilled people are willing to help me out!

Eighteen names were suggested for the prophet. If you've read Anathema, you know who he is. If you haven't, then you should go out and buy a copy. (Links to the right.) He plays a more prominent role in Oubliette and I couldn't get away anymore without a name.

I had a hard time choosing and I narrowed it down to seven favorites. Then my eight-year-old and I had a powwow. We discussed the merits of each name and quickly narrowed it down to two names. Then she told me it was too hard and I had to choose. So I went with my gut an chose:

ZELOR

I love Zelor. Just like my character it's creepy, old-fashioned, and a little insane.

A big congrats to LunaMoth, reader and book blogger with the most gorgeous website! Definitely check it out.

So what's coming up on the blog? On Tuesdays I'm starting a new feature called Trailer Tuesday. I happen to adore book trailers and I want to share some with my readers. It won't be only indies, I'll definitely feature some traditionally published books too.

On Thursdays I'm going to make an honest attempt to blog....about something....hopefully something interesting. I'm also open to suggestions if there's anything anyone wants to hear about self-publishing, or writing, or bats (which I know a lot about too).