Blogs To Talk About (6)

[[ Anyways, for those of you who don't know what BTTA is, here's the lowdown: It's short for Blogs To Talk About. For whoever is interested can e-mail me at littleredreads@gmail.com and in the subject put BTTA or Blogs To Talk About, and in the message put your name and a link to your blog for me to check it out. Then I will contact you and send you a list of questions and when you respond I will set up a post. So, if you are interested in it, send me an e-mail! For past BTTAs go HERE ]]

Name: Jana

Age: 24

Blog Name: That Artsy Reader Girl

What’s the story behind the blog name?

Well… It’s not the most exciting story! Haha. The blog title is basically a description of myself. I’m an artsy girl (my degree is in graphic design and art history) who adores reading!

Why did you start to book blog and how long have you been book blogging?

I started blogging with The Broke and the Bookish back when we started the blog together, 2 years ago. J I created That Artsy Reader Girl last November, about the time I joined netgalley, so I could post reviews more often and gain more opportunities in the book world.

Where is your favorite place to read?

I went on a transatlantic cruise to Rome in April, and my cabin had a balcony. My favorite place in the world is right there in my chair, with my feet up, listening to the waves, feeling the sea breeze, and sunning myself by the water!

E-book or Hardcopy?

Ahh… the ultimate question every book lover struggles with! I have a Kindle, and I love it, because I’m running out of room on my shelves. However, I really love the feel of an actual book in my hands! The smell, the pages, the shiny covers. I’ll always love books. J

Favorite book of all-time and why?

Oh wow. That is super hard. My favorite book changes all the time! I think I’d have to say, though, that it’s Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard. I really connected with that book because I love travelling, and I’m a little quirky and very artsy like Bria. I just got home from 6 weeks of traveling through Europe, and I connect with the book even more now because I learned so much about myself on my trip.

Do you have any blogs/bloggers that you look up to or that inspire you (feel free to name-drop)?

I look up to Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner) because she is the one who introduced me to the blogging world! The best decision I made was starting up The Broke and the Bookish with her.  When I branched off to form my own blog, she was very helpful and supportive. And then there’s Magan and Estelle from Rather be Reading. Those ladies have it going on, and I adore them both! Alexa at Alexa Loves Books also helped me when I was a newbie, and had supported me and my blog ever since!

What do you like to do in your free time?

Well, I read a lot! Haha! Obviously, right? I also really love shopping a lot. Way too much, actually. And I design things for my clients, or myself. I enjoy building up my design portfolio, plus I’m a lover of digi-scrapbooking. I design and make jewelry, which is amazingly fun. I’m also a singer. I love listening to music… Plus, I’m a major movie buff. Oh, and I travel a lot. I love visiting new places.

Name a dessert, a color, a drink?

Warm chocolate chip cookies, magenta, Diet Dr. Pepper (which I’m addicted to, but don’t drink anymore because it gives me kidney stones! Lame!).

Favorite Coffee Shop?

Haha. I actually don’t drink coffee or tea. I do love the hot chocolate at Starbucks, though, so I guess I’d pick that one!

If you could be one character, who would you be and why?

Ho boy! That’s a hard one too!  I want Anna’s (Anna and the French Kiss) life. I mean, to go off to Paris (I LOVE PARIS) and fall in love with a cute French guy? Yes please! I’d also love to be Emma (Of Poseidon) because of the whole mermaid love story. Plus, she can communicate with sea life! I’d love to be able to do that. And I’ll be really cliché now, and say Elizabeth Bennett, because I really want Mr. Darcy.

How many books (on average) do you read a month?

It depends on the time of year, but I’d say about 7-9. I really wish I could read faster! I have SO many books just screaming at me!

What are some of your book blogging secrets?

I think my secrets are the same as most people’s. In the beginning, I was totally high strung. I had to have followers, I had to read every book everyone asked me to read, I had to post a review a day, I had to schedule out a few weeks of posts in advance, I had to comment on every blog I could find, etc. I stressed myself out! You can’t do that. You will never enjoy blogging if you turn it into a huge job. I did not want to dread reading or blogging. Once I realized I was doing this for myself, I began to have a lot more fun. Never, ever do more than you want to do. And if you hate a book, quit reading it. Life’s too short to read books not worth finishing. J

What are your favorite book-to-movie adaptations? Why?

I actually haven’t seen many movies from books… I did really enjoy The Hunger Games, though. I felt like it was true to the story, not too gory or upsetting, and just intense enough to send me flying out of my chair, grabbing on to my sister at the end. 

Do you have any book boyfriends? If so, name them and explain why?

Hmmm… I can’t say I really have any book boyfriends. I read a lot of YA, so most of the boys in those books are 16-18 years old. Too young for me. Haha. I do love what a lot of these boys represent, though. Take Sam in Incarnate. He’s pretty perfect. He’s smart, talented, caring, and considerate. Plus he’s way romantic. And Edward wrote a song for Bella! I want a man to do that for me! I really worry that reading all these amazing books has given me really unrealistic expectations of men. :P

Name 5 books that everyone should at least read once:

Well…. I’m not going to go and recommend the classics, or give huge philosophical answers. Haha. I read to escape and enjoy myself, so my 5 books are favorites that I really enjoyed.

1- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg  - It’s the ultimate example of running away and being adventurous! Plus, it made me want to visit The Met in NYC. I’m quite partial to art museums!

2 - On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves – It’s an amazing example of love conquering all, not to mention survival and beating the odds. Plus, the writing is amazing.

3 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – It was probably the first book I read that made me think about the future of the World. I mean… could we be heading towards something like this? You never know!

4 – Delirium by Lauren Oliver – Come on! It’s Lauren Oliver! You need no further information, I’m sure.

5 – Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard – It’s my favorite book of all time. J  

What is your dream job?

Well, I’m a graphic designer and I’m a reader. It has always been a dream of mine to combine those two things and design book covers! I’ve done a few album covers, but book covers are my favorite. I mean… it drives me crazy when a cover tells you nothing about the story. Like, when you can automatically tell that nobody took the time to think about it and just slapped on a pretty girl in a pretty dress and was finished. To be able to symbolically reflect a book’s awesomness in its cover would be a total dream!

What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

Wow. I feel like I have had the best luck with books this year. I actually found most of my favorites this year! Authors are really bringing it to the table and it’s hard to pick just one. Plus, there are so many criteria I judge a book on! If we’re talking a book that made me laugh, I’d pick I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. If we’re talking about a book that took me somewhere amazing, I’d say Of Poseidon by Anna Banks. If it’s introspection, I’d say Wanderlove. Plus, I absolutely adored The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland because it made me incredibly happy! So… haha! I think I cheated with this answer. J

Jana, it was a pleasure interviewing you! So nice getting to know you more!!

Go check out her page and leave her love!

xo Stephanie

Books mentioned in this post:

• Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
• The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
• The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland

Armchair BEA Introductions

(credit to Nina from Nina Reads for the image)

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog! So, as most of you know today is the start of BEA (Book Expo America) held in New York. For the people who are unable to go there is an event called Armchair BEA and I think it's a wonderful idea! We were asked to answer 5 of these 10 questions, but I think I'm going to just answer then all! :] So, without further ado, here is my introduction for Armchair BEA 2012!

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
   My name is Stephanie. I am a 22-year-old college student who loves to read and write. I'm currently an English major but I've been starting to hate my major so I'm thinking that I'm going to be changing my major to Psychology. I have been blogging for a long time but I have only been book blogging since October of 2012. I got into book blogging because I really loved the atmosphere of the book blog community and I decided that I just needed to be a part of it. :]
2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012? I am currently reading Fall For You by Cecilia Gray, Saving June by Hannah Harrington, In Honor by Jessi Kirby, Paper Towns by John Green, Becoming Chloe by Catherine Ryan Hyde, and a few others for my road trip event that I will be having throughout this month :]
3. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you. I'm thinking about changing majors from English to Psychology but keeping my writing minor. haha. I'm screwed...
4. What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)? I love the feature that I do which is BTTA (Blogs To Talk About) It's where I interview other bloggers and get to know them and feature them on my blog! If anyone is interested visit HERE!
5. Where do you see your blog in five years? Hopefully it'll be much more polished and grown a lot!
6. Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read? Probably my latest review. You can find that HERE 
7. If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? Only one?! Hmmm.... Well I'd love to meet Lizzie Bennet from Pride & Prejudice. But I'd also love to meet a lot more characters as well. Maybe I'll do a post about this later...
8. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why? Probably Sophie Mercer's world (from the Hex Hall series) or Rose Hathaway's world (from the Vampire Academy series) and I would choose either of those because not only to they take place in the real world but there's a supernatural element to them both and I love that :]
9. What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years? My favorite part of the book blogging community is how close knitted it is. Everyone's pretty much there for everyone and friendly to everyone. The only thing I'd like to see less of is plagiarism.
10. Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How? Not really. I'm really open to just about anything as long as it keeps me interested I will read it. And that's how I have always been. :] I have grown a big attachment to witches though, lately. :]

Well, there ya have it! There's my introductions for the Armchair BEA 2012! I hope to learn more about all of you as well! And I hope we're all having fun even though we can't all be in New York during this amazing event! Drop a comment and leave your link and I will be sure to check yours out too! 

Little Red Reads is on:

Twitter Facebook Goodreads

much love to all of you!

xo Stephanie

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight [Review]

[This was the only book I was able to finish during the Readathon from last week. I unfortunately got really busy and couldn't finish any of the other books I wanted to for the rest of the Readathon. However, I hope you guys enjoy the review!]

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown
Release Date: January 22, 2012
Hardcover: 236 pages
Average Star Rating: 3.87


Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.


My Review:
This book was a cute, refreshing read. A great summer read. I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. Jennifer E. Smith did a great job at creating characters that I could not only relate to but loved to read about. I fell in love with Oliver. Totally love him! What's not to love? I mean he's attractive, funny, bookish, and has an accent! The main character, Hadley (how cool is that name?!) was very relatable to me especially. She comes from a broken home and I went through it and I could definitely feel what Hadley went through, especially during the wedding part.


Jennifer's writing was great. She hooked me in from the very first chapter and I just kept wanting more. I'd love to see a sequel to this just so I can read more of Hadley and Oliver (I know it probably won't happen, but a girl can dream right?!) Anyways, I loved the dialogue between Hadley and Oliver. I couldn't wait to read more with them in the same scenes.


It was amazing to me that the entire book took place within a 24-hour period of time. I thought that was wickedly cool. I have never read a book that took place within a 24-hour period and I loved it because I read it within 24 hours it felt like I actually went through it myself. It was also cool that each chapter started with the times in USA and then in the UK. 


Overall, I loved this book. It was cute, fun, relatable, easy to read, and thoughtful. Even though at times it made me sad (only because my boyfriend is away for 5.5 more months and all I wanted to do was cuddle up next to him after this book was finished) however, I loved every second! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary and an all-around great read!


Memorable Quotes:
“Love is the strangest, most illogical thing in the world.” 


“What are you really studying?"
He leans back to look at her. "The statistical probability of love at first sight."
"Very funny," she says. "What is it really?"
"I'm serious."
"I don't believe you."
He laughs, then lowers his mouth so that it's close to her ear. "People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely too fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else.” 


“He looks at her and smiles. "You're sort of dangerous, you know?"
She stares at him. "Me?"
"Yeah," he says sitting back. "I'm way too honest with you.”


“You," he says, laughing in spite of himself, "are mad as a hatter.” 


“Love isn't supposed to make sense. It's completely illogical.”


“How long till you get here?"
"Not long," she says. "Not long at all."
He sighs again. "Good."
"But dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you remind me where I'm going?”


“He’s like a song she can’t get out of her head. Hard as she tries, the melody of their meeting runs through her mind on an endless loop, each time as surprisingly sweet as the last, like a lullaby, like a hymn, and she doesn’t think she could ever get tired of hearing it.” 


“It's not the changes that will break your heart; it's that tug of familiarity.”


My Rating:
4 / 5 Stars

Bout of Books Read-A-Thon

Standard info:

• Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, run from 12:01am on Monday, May 14th through 11:59pm Sunday, May 20st in whatever time zone you are in.
• Bout of Books is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
• How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
• Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required. Co-hosts are there to facilitate blog hopping and interaction between participants.
• Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

The Bout of Books 4.0 team consists of http://onabookbender.com/, http://paranormalbookreviews-kelly.blogspot.com/, http://creativedeeds.wordpress.com/ andhttp://onceuponatime.jaedia.net/.

Since you'll most likely be reading anyways...you can join in on the fun and sign up HERE.

Now for my actual blog post for the read-a-thon! :]

My Goals

• To have a bunch of fun!
• To get back in the swing of reading
• For this to help me get back into my blogging

Books To Read

• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (goodreads)
• Paper Towns by John Green (goodreads)
• In Honor by Jessi Kirby (goodreads)
• More to come later...

Updates

5/14

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5/15

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5/16

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5/17

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5/18

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Birthday Month Giveaway!!!

My birthday is on April 9th and I have decided to host a giveaway just because I feel like sharing the love during my birthday month!!





<center><a href="http://little-red-reads.blogspot.com/2012/04/birthday-month-giveaway.html"><img border="0" src="http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m286/staphonie/20120402-dg22q2c3d5k6twh26115qkx7ty.jpg"/></a></center>

What the giveaway entails!

• One winner will be chosen and contacted on May 1st, 2012
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen
• Winner will get their choice of 2 of the books listed below

Giveaway Challenge: The more followers I get (via GFC or Networked Blogs) the more winners I will have. So this is my challenge for you. If LittleRedReads gets a significant amount of followers and entrants for this giveaway I will up the winnings. There will be 3 winners with their choices of 2 books.


The books you can choose from:

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

Never Enough by Denise Jaden (comes out in July, so it would be a pre-order)

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead (comes out in June, so it would be a pre-order)

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini (comes out at the end of May, so it would be a pre-order)

Until I Die by Amy Plum

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Taken At Dusk by C.C. Hunter

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake (comes out in August, so it would be a pre-order)

Dead to You by Lisa McMann

The Selection by Kiera Cass

xo stephanie
(click the read more for the rafflecopter)

Sykosa Blog Tour- Interview

Today is the start of the Sykosa Blog Tour!

Please enjoy this interview with Justin Ordoñez, author of the YA novel (for 18+ readers), Sykosa. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

  1. Who or What is a Sykosa? Sykosa is a sixteen year old junior in high school. She’s the main character of a novel I’ve written by the same name. For a quick rundown, she attends a prestigious preparatory academy, is part of the school’s coolest clique, “the Queens,” and she has started dating the boy she’s secretly been crushing on for a year, Tom. It’s taken a year to start dating him because A) there was this SUPER HUGE thing that happened during her sophomore year, and it delayed things and made being intimate with Tom difficult, and B) she kinda starts seeing stars around him and loses the ability to behave in any type of serious manner.

  2. Why is Sykosa different from other novels? It’s different because youth driven literature has become full of metaphors for danger that seem to have split into either science fiction or fantasy. (Before I go any further, I like both genres, so I’m not being a snob!) Sometimes, it feels like instead of dealing with real problems, it’s easier to have kids use magic. And instead of facing real contemporary issues, kids should fight aliens or something. These metaphors are meant to represent real life, but I fear they’ve slightly crossed over into a bit of denial about contemporary Americanism, which is a hard topic to write about since our country is in an identity crisis, and has been for about 11 years. Sykosa is an attempt to counter-act this trend. When I was young, I read books about young people that blew me away like One Fat Summer and The Outsiders. These books felt real, and it felt like I could slip into them at any moment. The writing was gritty, it was unapologetic, it was brilliant. I just don’t see many of those around, and I wanted to write one, and I wanted to write one with a female protagonist.

  3. Why did you chose cross-gender writing? Toward the end of the my high school education, I was allowed to split my school day from my normal, traditional education and a newer style, self-directed educational program. I took an English class where my English teacher, someone who I’m still friends with to this day, gave me only one assignment for an entire semester, and it was, “Perform a deep self-evaluation of yourself and your writing and come up with one goal for what you’re going to improve on.” At the time, I was seriously into writing, and had taken to writing a few books per year, but most of them were in the first person, and they were just me talking about myself. The issue was that I had been in a serious car accident the year prior and I had injured a friend in it. (He fully recovered, but never forgave me). I had tried to write a first person story about myself many times since the accident, but I was constantly failing because I was dealing with some lingering self-loathing and guilt. As a way to get away from it, I decided I wanted to work on a story I had been thinking about for a while, but that I never started writing for one super scary reason. The main character was a teenage girl. Odd as it might sound, I was intimidated by the fact that the main character was a woman. So I faced my fear and said my goal would be to write women better, and I proceeded to work with several teachers and several female students to help me craft a female character that was realistic, yet met my vision of her as well. This challenge stuck with me into my adult life, and it eventually found its ultimate form in Sykosa.

  4. How will I know I’m a fan of Sykosa? I’m glad you asked! Sykosa.com has tons of stuff to help you determine if this book is right for you. Below you’ll see some humorous diagrams I’ve made, but at the website you can read an excerpt of the book, watch the book trailer, read character profiles and really get a solid understanding of Sykosa’s world.

5. What kind of stuff influenced you to write Sykosa? The primary motivators for Sykosa were Buffy The Vampire Slayer and It by Stephen King. It so happened, in 2001, I moved in with a woman I was dating. She was a fan of Buffy, so I had to watch it and became a fan myself. While most people were probably drawn to the vampire killing, it was the last thing I was interested in. I thought Whedon created an interesting cast of personalities and analyzing them was something I enjoyed. At the time, I was reading It. What I liked about It was the small town, insular feel to the novel, and how the inhabitants of this town were able to show a “front” of values, but were secretly hiding and allowing evil to proliferate all around them. From these two things came Sykosa, a girl who does not have any super powers, nor does she kill any vampires, but she did have a traumatic event happen in her life, and she’s struggling to deal with it, and its made no easier by the fact that her small, insular parochial school has decided to ignore the incident.

  6. What is your most favorite and least favorite part of Sykosa? The most favorite part is easy. It’s Sykosa’s best friend Niko, who just gets my blood pumping every time I have to write her. I love Sykosa, she’s definitely the main character and the story would never work without her, but I could sing Niko’s praises all day and all night. She’s such an interesting young woman and to see how she’s developed over the years as I’ve written the story has been a real treat. When someone first reads Sykosa and then decides to talk to me about it, I’m secretly waiting to hear them mention Niko. It’s never the first thing they say, it’s never the last, it’s always sandwiched somewhere in the middle, “By the way, this Niko—I love her!” My least favorite part… Wow, that’s hard to answer, isn’t it? In the middle of the book, there’s a section called an Interlude, which is a story structure that Stephen King used in It, and that I borrowed as an homage to it. There’s a section where Sykosa, Niko and her mother are driving in a car together. I swear, I rewrote it fifty times—maybe more—and it’s never read right to me. It just never has.

  7. What kind of writing schedule do you keep? Let’s put it this way: I recently heard a story that there are “cat writers” and “ox writers.” I’m an ox writer. I put in the time, every day, whether I’m feeling it or not, whether its terrible or not, even if I know I’ll just end up deleting it, I push through it and I do it anyway, and somewhere along the way, it ends up coming together as a story.

  8. What’s the coolest story you have from writing Sykosa? Sykosa is interesting in the sense that it took me a long time to finish it. The first couple years I was writing it, I was really just writing stories about the characters, feeling everyone out, figuring out how they fit together, but there was no plot holding it together or pushing anything forward. In 2003, I seriously debated quitting, as it had been the hardest piece of writing I had ever taken on, and to be honest, I was somewhat used to overcoming challenges easily and without a lot of adversity. And while I usually worked on the book on my bus ride to and from work, this one beautiful, sunny day, I decided not to. I sat on the bus and kept the binder of writing closed on my lap. When the bus stopped at Pioneer Square, a homeless black woman sat next to me. She noticed the book, then said to me, “So you’re writing a novel?” I couldn’t tell how she knew that, but I said, “Yes, I am.” She asked me what it was about, but I’m terrible at talking about my work, so I gave her the gist, “teenage girl” “high school” “likes her boyfriend” etc, etc. The conversation lasted one stop, when the bus opened its doors, the woman reached out with her hand, put it on my own (which was clinging to the book like I was protecting it or something) and she said, “Justin, I want you to know, God blesses this book. He blesses it, and you can’t quit.” I had never mentioned to her that I was quitting it. I started working on it after she left the bus, and I never spoke or saw her again. True story.

  9. Do you have any tips for people who are struggling with writing or want to take it up? I do. First off, keep struggling. It’s a worthwhile struggle. There’s a lot of be gained from writing. And for those who want to take it up and for those who are already writing, I can’t stress this enough: Draft. And by the I mean, write in drafts, don’t sit in a chair and challenge yourself to make it perfect now, write it perfect now, but instead write in drafts. If something only gets 5% better, that’s fine, cause it’s just one draft of what will be many, and eventually, that 5%, that 3%, that 7%—it adds up and you end up with a really good story. But, if you try to knock it out of the park every time you step up to the plate, you’ll swing the bat a whole lot, and you’ll be tired and exhausted when you’re done, but you won’t have a ton to show for it. That’s when most people quit. They think, “I can’t do this” or, “I don’t have the talent.” They don’t understand they’re doing it wrong, that’s all.

  10. When you’re not writing, you’re… Singing karaoke. I go once a week with some close friends of mine. It’s a fantastic release, also you get feedback from an audience, which you sometimes miss from writing, and you can forget how exciting it is to share your work with others. My favorite song to sing right now is Gaga’s “You and I.” Gaga has got a great voice that she can make raspy if she needs to, and I’ve got a voice that can match the raspier songs, so I think I do her proud. Otherwise I’m singing the Killers, Kings of Leon, Oasis or Lauryn Hill.

  As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Sykosa eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copy of Sykosa for just 99 cents
2. Fill-out the simple form on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event
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Leave a comment, win $100: One random tour commenter will win a $100 Amazon gift card. Just leave a comment on this post, and you'll be entered to win. For a full list of participating blogs, check out the official tour page. You can enter on just my blog or on all of them. Get out there and network! About the book: YA fiction for the 18+ crowd. Sykosa is a sixteen-year-old girl trying to reclaim her identity after an act of violence shatters her life and the lives of her friends. Set at her best friend’s cottage, for what will be a weekend of unsupervised badness, Sykosa will have to finally confront the major players and issues from this event, as well as decide if she wants to lose her virginity to Tom, her first boyfriend, and the boy who saved her from danger. Get it on Amazon. About the author: Sykosa is Justin Ordoñez's life's work. He hopes to one day settle down with a nerdy, somewhat introverted woman and own 1 to 4 dogs. Visit Justin on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.


Click the read more to get to the rafflecopter entry form!!

xo Stephanie