Keary Taylor

Follower Love Giveaway Hop!

2012-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Follower Love Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer! There are over 300 blogs participating int his hop, so TONS of chances to win lots of cool book related things! To hop to all of the other blogs, follow the link to I Am A Reader.

Let's get right to the prizes! There are 2 chances to win on this stop!

FIRST: One person will win any book from the Book Depository, up to $25! Make sure you check that they ship to your country. This is open internationally!

SECOND: One person will win a copy of my own Fall of Angels: The Complete Trilogy! This includes Branded, Forsaken, Vindicated, and bonus novelette, Afterlife! This one is only open to to the US.

Plagued by nightmares of angels all her life, but left with the scars to prove they’re more than dreams, Jessica has hidden herself away from the world on the shores of Lake Samish, Washington. But when caring but almost too-perfect-to-be-true Alex, and beautiful yet terrifying Cole enter her life, everything about Jessica’s world is about to change. She’ll learn that the angels aren’t content to stay in her dreams any longer and they’ll do anything to drag her into their world. The lines between right and wrong will be blurred as she fights to cling to the life she’s built and the love she’ll find.

Now, here's the rules:
1) You must be a follower of this blog to enter
2) You may gain extra entries by following me on FACEBOOK or TWITTER (click for links to those pages)
3) This giveaway closes to entries the night of Feb. 14

To enter, fill out the form!

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Cover Lust (17)

2012-01-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

It's been FOREVER since I've done a Cover Lust post, and I can only blame laziness and business... So this week I present to you...

Glitch by heather Anastasiu
320 pages
Expected publication: August 7th 2012 by St. Martin's Press

Summary from Goodreads:

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.

When Zoe starts to malfunction (or "glitch"), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.

As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

I love everything about this cover! The coloring is beautiful, the thing on the back of her neck is intriguing, and I love the way the title has been done, with some of the letters smaller and fitting inside the others. I really can't wait to read Glitch and if you aren't following Heather's blog, I suggest you do so!

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

2012-01-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

Summary from Goodreads:

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias' death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

My Thoughts:

I'm not totally sure how to word this review. I really, really wanted to love Legend. I really did. It got a lot of hype, I've seen great reviews on it, and it's selling really well.

But, I just didn't... love it.

I think my main problem was that there was almost too much detail and not enough at the same time. I felt like about a quarter of the detail there was in the book could have been left out, and then from there the book needed to be about twice as long as it was. I never felt like I fully understood the world of Legend, and I never really loved the characters that much. I hate to say it, but I think Legend is a book that I won't remember much about 6 months from now.

Man, I feel terrible writing this review...

I will say that I will read the next book. I do think it may be better, with more world building and more development behind the characters.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2012-01-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Hardcover: 370 pages
Expected publication: January 24th 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins / Balzer + Bray
Source: ARC from publisher by Netgalley

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

My Thoughts:

I’m honestly not really sure with where to begin this review… I had measured expectations about Everneath. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews, and while I really wanted to just fall in love with it (because look at that seriously beautiful cover!), I held a little back, just in case I found I didn’t fall head over heels.

I shouldn’t have been so worried.

Everneath was fantastic. I take that back. It was fan-freaking-tastic! I honestly don’t even want to call this a Hades/Persephone story, I just want to let it be its own amazing story. Really, Everneath is everything Abandon by Meg Cabot should have been… It was dark, heart-wrenching, and romantic. I think Everneath had the best first chapter that I’ve read in a really, really long time. So creepy and “what is going on here?!” I love it!

One thing that threw me just a bit was the character of Cole. Don’t get me wrong, he was great. But he reminded me a little too much of a different Cole I know quite well. My own Cole from my Fall of Angels trilogy… I won’t go into too much detail but… stalker, bad guy, obsessed with the MC, way too good looking, determined to take someone into the “Everneath/afterlife”… anyway.

I seriously can’t wait to read the next book and it almost makes me wish I hadn’t gotten an ARC of this because now I have to wait all the longer! So go out and buy this NOW! I won’t be surprised if Everneath ends up in my favorite reads of 2012.

5 out of 5 stars!

Cross-eyed and crazy!

2012-01-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been quite a while since I last blogged! My excuse: I was out of town again for 11 days and since I use a desktop, I couldn't really take the computer with me. But I'm back now and just wanted to give you all a quick update!

I'm back at work on What I Didn't Say (WIDS for short... lol). This is a weird round of editing, seeing as how I'm going through and converting everything from first person to third. An interesting process, that's for sure, and very time consuming. I'm hoping I can have it all switched over by the end of the week. So that's where WIDS sits. Moving along!

Eden: I know everyone is waiting to hear what happens with this one. A little bit has happened, though nothing incredibly exciting to all of you. Hopefully I'll have something to share soon!

Hmm, I was thinking there was something else I was going to tell you all about, but now I can't remember...

Oh yeah! Anyone interested in having me do graphic design for them will have a pretty big wait. I currently have eight projects on my plate right now, so I'm about a month out right now for new projects. I've been staring at this computer screen so long today I think I'm starting to go cross-eyed...

So this is Keary, signing off and bidding you a fantastic day!

Another Cover Reveal?

2012-01-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yeah... so I feel a little weird, doing ANOTHER cover reveal, just the day after I revealed the cover for What I Didn't Say... But really, you know me, I can't wait, and I really don't see much reason to wait.

So, a while back I did a reveal of the cover for the combined version of the entire Fall of Angels series. It's been out for a little bit now, like 2 weeks or something. And I really just haven't been pushing it. I didn't really want to push it, or show it off. I was a little embarassed by it. It took me a while to realize why.

I hated it's cover.

Hated it.

And that's a huge problem for me. As you know, I'm a wee bit obsessed about covers. I know how important they are. And mine sucked.

So, I decided to fix that problem.

Without further ado, the new cover for the entire Fall of Angels series!

I am sooo much happier with how it turned out! I hope you all like it too!

Synopsis:

With over 34,000 copies sold in 2011, don’t miss out on this special edition heart-pounding trilogy that pushes the boundaries between good and evil and what one is willing to do to save the person they love. Includes the entire Fall of Angels trilogy: BRANDED, FORSAKEN, VINDICATED, and novelette, AFTERLIFE.

Plagued by nightmares of angels all her life, but left with the scars to prove they’re more than dreams, Jessica has hidden herself away from the world on the shores of Lake Samish, Washington. But when caring but almost too-perfect-to-be-true Alex, and beautiful yet terrifying Cole enter her life, everything about Jessica’s world is about to change. She’ll learn that the angels aren’t content to stay in her dreams any longer and they’ll do anything to drag her into their world. The lines between right and wrong will be blurred as she fights to cling to the life she’s built and the love she’ll find.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble

I'm still working on getting the paperback version switched, it will probably take a week or so, so for now this is only on the digital editions. So tell your friends, tell your neighbors!

My New Book has a title, and a cover!

2012-01-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I think I've been teasing you all long enough, especially on Twitter and Facebook. I've been talking a little about this new book I've been working on. I just finished the first draft New Year's Eve and am just starting in on the edits (ugh... the editing...)! So, I think now is a good time to finally reveal the title, the cover, and the (rough) synopsis!

Title:

What I Didn't Say

Cover:

Synopsis:

Getting drunk Homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.

His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He’s been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it’s too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he’ll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn’t limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she’ll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she’ll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn’t say before, even if he can’t actually say it.

(not final synopsis)

Release Date?:

This is a tad bit up in the air. While I'm making really good progress, there is a chance this will have to be set aside for a while with everything that is going to be happening with Eden. Not saying this WILL happen, but there's a chance. But if everything keeps going smooth, as long as I am able to keep working on it like I want to, I plan to release it sometime in April. Sorry, I can't be much more specific than that.

So, what do you think? Of the cover, of the title, of the idea? I'm really excited about this project, it's very near and dear to my heart. It's set on the island I live on, I talk about real places, and share the craziness of living in such a small population. And it is based on some of my own personal life experiences (no, I am not mute, but you'll learn more when the book releases). This is a bit different for me too in the fact that the main character is a 17 year old boy, and it's told in 3rd person.

I really hope you all love it when it comes out!

Show me the (2011) numbers!

2012-01-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

I've seen quite a few self-published author's do posts on their sales numbers and I'm always very interested in reading them. I always think "Maybe I should do one of those" and then chicken out. I've just always felt weird putting my numbers out there. But then I think how helpful I find it, reading those other author's numbers and so I am finally going to do it.

Here are my numbers for 2011. Keep in mind that these are JUST for Amazon Kindle. Barnes and Noble's sales reporting is kind of a headache so I'm not including them (and I don't sell a ton on B&N). And these numbers are the US and UK (though the vast majority of them are from the US).

Branded (been out for almost 2 years now): 23,579

Forsaken (been out for 1 year): 12,729

Vindicated (been out for 55 days): 3,619

Afterlife (been out for 55 days): 1,594

Eden: (been out for 7 months): 5,249

2011 Kindle Grand Total: 46,770

I think my Nook sales were roughly around 5,000, which pushes me over 51,000 digital copies of my books for 2011.

Here's a chart to give you a little idea of what sales did this year (again, just from Kindles):

So as you can see, this was quite a crazy year. Going from selling almost nothing at the beginning of the year, to about 11,000 in July. And then a huge, fast fall through the fall. Thankfully December went well and even though I didn't sell as many books as I did in the summer months, I did make more money because I am charging more for my books.

It's been an interesting experiment to play with pricing. It always seemed that charging $0.99 was the way to go, and most of the time it is. But Eden wasn't doing that well priced there, so I decided to raise the price, just to see what would happen. It actually started selling better. And honestly I don't know that I would have gotten this whole movie deal if it had stayed priced at $0.99... The probably wouldn't have looked at it if it had.

So all in all, this has been a FANTASTIC year for me. I am so grateful for everything that has happened. I never would have imagined I could make it this well on my own. I made more than a full-time living doing my absolute dream job. I just hope 2012 will be just as wonderful.

2011 Year End Report

2011-12-31T12:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a crazy and amazing year 2011 has been for me! There have been a ton of high's and I'm happy to say, almost no low's this year. I wanted to take a minute and reflect on some of the things that happened this year.

January
The year got off to a weird start for me. Guess this was the one low, when my daughter ended up in the hospital for a week and underwent a month of home health care. Thankfully everything cleared up and she's been fine ever since. Soon after that though I finished the first draft of Eden! Weird to think that happened this year!

February

I did a post on how author's personalities affect my decision to read their work. I also adopted a new mantra in regards to my writing:

March
I released a new Branded book trailer. Branded also really started taking off this month in the UK which was wildly exciting! I also announced the launch of my new graphic design business and its website www.IndieCoverDesigns.com

April
I did a post on where I live, Orcas Island, WA and it's probably the post that's had the most hits on my blog. I also attended the SCWBI WW conference and had a awesome time! I did two post on it, here and here. I also found out some scary info on the technology I created in Eden is evolving NOW. Yeah, I was a little freaked out, and promptly stopped looking into the real deal stuff.

May
This was a really awesome month! My sales all the sudden did some major jumping, I was finally starting to make some money! And I revealed the cover for Eden. And then it was just time to prep for it's release!

June
I ranted and raved about my love for the Goo Goo Dolls. I also dove into the first draft of Vindicated! And then I released Eden on June 8th, a full 13 days earlier than I had announced I would. I also did a post about my own, true love story.

July
I posted a picture I hashed together, something I made out of boredom, titled "A girl can dream, right?" Dreams do come true, sometimes. I also did a post about how writing has become my job. The best job in the world! And on the 27th I turned 24!

August
I got the coolest present ever. I also realized I'd written almost half a million words between all my books. And I finished the first draft of Vindicated!

September
I made a new book trailer for Eden:

The highlight of that month was probably doing my very first author photoshoot with Jenni Merritt.

October
I revealed Vindicated's cover! I also read a really awesome book, my favorite of 2011 titled Anna Dressed In Blood. My son also turned 2!

November

November started off in a majorly exciting way. I got contacted by KK&P about the movie rights to Eden. I thought keeping it all a secret until the announcement was made was going to kill me! I announced that I'd been keeping a(nother) secret from everyone, finally telling everyone about Afterlife! And then I released it and Vindicated a few days earlier, about 3 weeks ahead of schedule! And just after Thanksgiving I started the first draft of my new WIP (which I will be doing a title/cover/synopsis reveal of in a few days). My oldest, my daughter, turned 4!

December
I announced and released the combined version of the entire Fall of Angels trilogy. The whole movie deal with Eden was announced! MAJOR excitement there! And just a few days ago I made a list of my top 5 books of 2011. And I'm proud to announce that today I finished the first draft of my new WIP! And oh the editing that needs to be done... lol. And here we are, New Year's Eve!

So 2011 was a seriously fantastic year! Far better than I ever could have imagined! I just hope 2012 will be just as awesome! Happy New Year's everyone! Have fun and be safe!

Review: Caleb + Kate

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Summary from Goodreads:

When Kate's family purchases a hotel in the Pacific Northwest, she enters a world that is wholly unknown to her. She never has any privacy because of the constant flow of guests. And as the hotel owner's daughter, she struggles to make friends.

Then she meets Caleb, a strange combination of working-class, Hawaiian culture, and Christian bad boy. He talks about love in an all new way that she finds so alluring. But the two have nothing in common. He rarely smiles, rides a motorcycle with a rough crowd from town, and worst of all, he totally ignores Kate. But Kate has something that he needs and she resolves to prove to him that what she has doesn't define who she is.

My Thoughts:

What a fun spin on Romeo and Juliet! Meet the Monrovie’s and the Khalini’s. Their grandfathers have been feuding for years, over land, and over a woman. Kate and Caleb know they’re not supposed to like each other, and they sure try not to, but sometimes you just can’t help the one you love.

This really was a cute story. I really enjoyed the romance between Kate and Caleb. It was sweet, innocent, and with a touch of forbidden, I couldn’t resist. I also appreciated the cleanness this book held. There was no swearing, to threat of sex happening anywhere in it, and religion is actually a fairly big part of the book. It was just a nice, light read.

The setting kept throwing me just a bit, and that is my one complaint about the book. The mix of Hawaiian culture while being set in Oregon was a little weird for me, I just had a hard time grasping it. But I did appreciate the author’s ability to balance the contrast of Hawaiian families and the setting of the Pacific Northwest.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: Catching Jordan

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Summary from Goodreads:

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

My Thoughts:

I had really high hopes for Catching Jordan. The premise sounded cleaver: a girl who’s the quarterback on her high school football team? Yes please! Falling in love with the guy that plays her same position? I’ll take some of that! And just look at that adorable cover!

I have to say, I have really mixed feelings about Catching Jordan. Jordan is a compelling character, she’s tough and can hold her own, but she’s still a girl who has very girl-ish feelings. She gets confused by her feelings and doesn’t know how to deal with things.

But I kind of felt like Jordan was a player. What I didn’t expect from this book was the major love triangle. I really don’t mind love triangles, I usually love them, I just like to know when to expect them. I was really thrown by it, not really sure who it was that I was supposed to route for.

Parental alert: There is a LOT of swearing in this book. It does kind of make sense, considering these are all football players, but there is a lot of it. And sex is dealt with very casually.

Overall I did enjoy the book. It was compelling and I did finish it in about two days.

3 out of 5 stars.

Winner of Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop!

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of those who entered for a chance to win Catching Jordan and entering in the Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop! There were over 100 people who entered and I was tickled pink to have you all stop by my blog.

Now... onto the winner!

Drumroll please!!!

The winner is:

Marianne!

Congrats! I hope you enjoy Catching Jordan!

Thank you all for entering!

My Top 5 Books of 2011!

2011-12-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

We're almost to the end of the year so I'm jumping on the bandwagon and posting my favorite reads of 2011!

5) The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

Amazon

4) Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Amazon

3) Blood Red Road by Moria Young

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Amazon

2) Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Amazon

And coming in in first place is...

1) Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake!

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Amazon

So there we have it! 2011 brought us a lot of really great reads and I am majorly looking forward to what 2012 will bring us!

Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop

2011-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's time for another giveaway hop! This one is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer!

Let's get right to the prize!

One lucky person will win a copy of Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally! I just started reading a copy this morning and am loving it so far! And seriously, how adorable is this cover?!

From Goodreads:

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

Now, the rules:

1) You must be a follower of this blog.

2) US residents only (sorry, international shipping is killer...)

3) You may gain extra entries by following me on FACEBOOK or TWITTER (click for links)

4) The giveaway closes to entries at midnight on December 27th, winner will be announced around the 29th.

Fill out the form to enter! (please, no entries in the comments)

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Don't miss out on a ton of cool giveaway's for lots of chances to win books, gift cards, and other book-ish things! Here are the links to the other blogs in the hop:

Movie news, meetings, California, and catch up!

2011-12-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

I'm back from California! And I must say, I'm missing the warm weather already... lol! But I missed my kids even more so, I guess I'll deal with the cold ;-)

The trip went fantastically! I really had a blast with my husband, bumming on the beach, visiting Universal Studio's, and meeting with Kami Garcia, Mark Morgan, and Brett Hudson! The meeting went fantastic, better than I could have even imagined. These guys are amazing and I am beyond stoked for what is to come in the next year+.

My husband, Kami Garcia, Me, Mark Morgan, and Brett Hudson

I just wanted to quickly share a few things with you relating to the whole exciting movie deal business. This was an article from The Film Stage, and it totally just made my day!

Feature Adaptation Planned For Keary Taylor’s ‘Eden’; Described as ‘Hunger Games’ Meets ‘Terminator

Posted by Amanda Waltz, on December 16, 2011 at 3:45 pm

The success of Suzanne Collins’ young adult fantasy series The Hunger Games, as well as the highly anticipated March release of its film adaptation, has the industry clamoring to cash in on the newest teen pop culture obsession: strong-willed dystopian heroines.

It was announced this week that the independent production company Kerry, Kimmel and Pollack (KK&P) purchased the film rights to the post-apocalyptic novel Eden by Keary Taylor. The story follows Eve (of course), a teenage girl struggling unravel the secrets of her past in a futuristic world where all but two percent of the human population was wiped out by killer robots. The similarities to Collins’s literary hit seem to end with the female protagonist, but that hasn’t stopped it from being marketed as a “cross between The Hunger Games and The Terminator.” [Variety]

As if it couldn’t be more primed to become the next teen sensation, Mark Morgan, who helped bring such adolescent literature as the Twilight series and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief to the big screen, is producing. Brett Hudson, Michael Pollack and “Beautiful Creatures” series co-author, Kami Garcia, have also been tapped to produce, but no word yet on possible choices to pen and direct the film.

Has the teen sci-fi/fantasy craze hit its peak? Will young audiences embrace Eden? (source)

How cool is that?! "As if it couldn't be more primed to become the next teen sensation"... that is just way too awesome.

Here's a few more online articles about it:

HERE

HERE

HERE

And HERE

Just in case you missed the announcement on Variety.com, here's the screen shot of the announcement:

Get EDEN on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

So yeah! Lots and lots of exciting things going on! I feel so distracted lately and I can't seem to make myself focus on much of anything else, lol. Thank you all again for all of your support! You've all been amazing! I'll be playing catch up on everything over the next few days so if it takes me a bit to respond to comments/emails/tweets, etc, hang tight while I catch up on things! :-)

"KK&P Lands Film Rights to 'EDEN'!"

2011-12-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

So, I kind of hinted and some way-beyond-exciting things that were happening about a month ago on Facebook, but I just couldn't talk about it. Well, now I can!

Remember, back a few months ago when I posted this picture, titled "A Girl Can Dream, Right?", a project I made out of boredom...

This just came out today on Variety.com. The official link is HERE.

KK&P lands pic rights to 'Eden'

Dystopian thriller to be based on Keary Taylor novel
By JEFF SNEIDER

Independent financier and production company Kerry, Kimmel and Pollack has acquired rights to Keary Taylor's novel "Eden," a dystopian thriller described as a cross between "The Hunger Games" and "The Terminator."

Story follows Eve, a teenage girl living in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and robots that were created to serve humans have turned against them. As Eve struggles to fight the Fallen and help her friends find safety, she must choose between a boy she has always trusted and one who holds the secrets to her past.

"Eden" will be produced by Mark Morgan ("The Twilight Saga"), Kami Garcia (the "Beautiful Creatures" series), Brett Hudson ("Fast Flash to Bang Time") and Michael Pollack ("Black Forest").

KK&P, which recently acquired feature film and TV rights to pop culture guru Caprice Crane's novel "How to Be a Hater," is currently in pre-production on the W. Peter Illif-scripted psychological thriller "Fast Flash to Bang Time."

Holy freaking cow!!! You guys have no idea how excited I am about this!!!!! My husband and I are actually flying out to California on Friday to go meet with Mark Morgan and Kami Garcia. How amazing is that?! Meeting the producer of the Twilight movies and a NYT bestselling author of some seriously fantastic books!

(Note: The actor's I put in my picture above probably won't have anything to do with my movie, who knows... and honestly I have NO idea when it would actually be released)

So if you feel like it, share the news! This is pretty exciting, especially considering that I am a self-published author who was told "no" by more than 100 literary agents between all of my books. And you know what? KK&P wasn't the only production company in Hollywood to contact me ;-) This could be really big news in the self-publishing world.

So never give up on your dreams people! Amazing things can happen if you believe in yourself enough!

Thank you all so much for your support! It really does mean the world to me.

Week End Wrap-Up (8)

2011-12-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has had a great week! Mine was super busy but really great!

On Wednesday I got to go up to The Kings English Bookshop for a signing and got to meet Angela Corbett, author of Eternal Starling and Lani Woodland, author of Intrinsical and Indelible. Angela did a reading and Eternal Starling sounds like a lot of fun! Can't wait to read it!

Yesterday I happened across something incredibly exciting! Yesterday's edition of The Wall Street Journal had an article titled "A Reader's Guide to Self-Published Big Sellers" that featured 12 different books, and guess what? Branded was one of them! My name and my book was totally in the WSJ! Holy freaking exciting and cool! Here's the link to the online article. And here's some pictures I snapped of the print version!

How seriously cool is that?! (I think I may have already said that... lol) Needless to say, it really made my day!

And, just in case you missed it, I announced on Monday that I will be releasing a combined version of the Fall of Angels trilogy on December 19, 2011. Here's the cover if you haven't seen it yet:

Eden's cover got placed on a couple of cool lists! One HERE and HERE.

So I think that's about it for me! I hope you all have an excellent weekend!

The Rambling Silence

2011-12-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this seemed to be a continued thing as of late, my quietness on the web. The family and I have gotten settled in for our winter stay here in Utah. I seem to have forgotten what it's like to live back in the real world, among the hustle and bustle. On the island we normally live, there isn't a whole lot to do and thus there isn't a whole lot to distract me from keeping up with my blogging, twittering, facebooking, etc. But here, back in the real world, there is sooo much going on. And it doesn't help that Christmas is fast approaching.

So, what does this mean? Don't freak out now people, cause it really isn't that bad... but it means you just won't be hearing as much from me online. My blogging will take a step back until we get back to the island in March. Things are just super crazy lately. And I'm going to California for a few days the end of next week (majorly excited for a vacation!). And the other thing going on with me?

Writing.

Lots of it.

Beautiful first drafting mode.

Yep, I'm a good chunk into my next WIP. As of this moment I'm just over 25,000 words into it and I just started it about 10 days ago. Making pretty good progress so far and I'm pretty happy about it. I have picked a title for it and guess what? I made a cover for it! Haha, you guys know me. But I am trying to wait until the end of this month to share both with you so you'll just have to wait ;)

So, I just felt like I needed to give you all an explanation why I haven't been around much lately. I love you all, life is just calling lately!

Mini Reviews: Hollowmen and All These Things I've Done

2011-12-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Due to massive time constraints I'm just going to do mini reviews on these two books.

Summary from Goodreads:

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

Engrossing and suspenseful, All These Things I've Done is an utterly unique, unputdownable read that blends both the familiar and the fantastic.

My Thoughts:

This wasn't exactly the book I was expecting. When I picked it up I was expecting a dystopian. I'm not so sure it really is. It is set in the future, but there isn't really a whole lot that's changed about the future, and really, there wasn't much of any action to it. I would more call this a futuristic mob/crime book. While it wasn't quite what I was expecting, I did enjoy the strong family relationships and forbidden love.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Summary from Goodreads:

After six months in the quarantine, Remy finds out things are much worse than she feared. Her plans to escape come with a heavy cost, and she realizes that zombies aren't the worst of her problems.

My Thoughts:

Well, there goes most of the characters.... There is a LOT of death in this book. I was a little disappointed that my favorite character from the first book was killed off. So were most of the other characters... *sigh* I did enjoy all the action and I really did love the ending. And weirdly, I really liked the romance that slowly blossomed in it. It was unexpected but felt realistic. Overall, an okay read, and I would read another should Amanda Hocking write another in this series (though it did seem to wrap up so I don't think there will be another).

3 out of 5 stars.

Fall of Angels: The Complete Trilogy

2011-12-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

So, remember how I said last week that I had some fun news to share? Today's the day I'm going to share it with you!

I've been planing, since before I wrote Vindicated, to release a combined volume of the trilogy once it was all finished. Well, now that it is all out, I'm moving forward with that! I will be releasing a combined volume of the entire trilogy, including the novelette, Afterlife on December 19th! It will include Branded, Forsaken, Vindicated, and as I said, Afterlife!

The page count? 737. And that's with the actual book bigger in size than the others and putting the font at 11, lol. I got the proof copy today, and it is so big and beautiful! This bad boy is over a quarter of a million words!

Oh yeah, it will all have a new cover! Wanna see it?

And here's the full:

Sorry, the full might look a tad bit messy-ish, this is for print so things have to be made a little funky...

I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and as usual, I had a blast creating the cover.

So, I'm looking to send out a handful of ARC's to bloggers. I am requiring that bloggers have 400+ followers, cause man, these puppies are spendy at so many pages, lol. But if you're interested in a review copy, fill out the form below and I will be in contact!

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So I hope you guys are as excited about this as I am! I can't wait to hear what you guys think!

Updates and such!

2011-12-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, I feel like I've been gone from the web forever! I really haven't been meaning to neglect all of my wonderful blogging friends and a HUGE welcome to all of my new blog followers! Go glad to have you here! I now have internet again so let the blogging (and Facebook-ing, and Tweeting, and...) resume!

So here'a few updates about what's been going on lately!

1) Vindicated has been out for 3 weeks now and has been doing quite well. It keeps bouncing around #10 in contemporary fantasy on Amazon and I am super happy about that. The entire series is actually in the top 60 in contemporary fantasy which I am thrilled about!

2) I will be uploading Vindicated and Afterlife to Smashwords sometime this afternoon (hopefully, things are way crazy for me lately...). So if you have an e-reader besides a Kindle or Nook you will be able to get it! But don't wait too long after it's up, it won't be staying on Smashwords for very long. I'm actually going to be pulling all of my book out of there in a few weeks. I've been having piracy issues with them lately... lots of issues... :( grrr....

3) Big news! I started my next writing project! I am really excited about it, it's been rolling around in my head for quite a while now and I am finally able to start on it! I started on it on Monday and just hit the 10,000 word mark this morning! It is a contemporary so it's quite a bit different for me, and told from a boy's point of view, and I'm loving the challenge. Now I just need to figure out a title for it....

4) I have some other fun news, but that's going to have to wait until the beginning of next week to share! I hope you guys will be excited about it!

5) Oh yeah, just for fun, and it's been a while since I've shared any graphic design work. My Australian writer friend, CJ Duggan revealed the cover I did for her so I thought I'd share it with you too! I can't wait to get my hands on it! Here's her post on it HERE. I had a blast creating it and we were both really happy with how it turned out! www.indiecoverdesigns.com

So that's it for now! Catch you guys later!

Gratitude Giveaway Hop Winner!!!

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm a few days late on posting the winner of the giveaway hop. We're finally all settled after the move and I finally, FINALLY, have the internet again! So without further ado, the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is.........

Anne!

Congrats! I will be emailing you here in just a second.

Thank you to everyone who participated! I had 263 entries! Wow! You guys are amazing!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Why I've Been So Quiet Lately

2011-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

You may (or more likely may not) have noticed Keary's been rather quiet online the last week or so. There's a good reason for that, though it's quite boring and normal. My family and I are getting ready to move on Sunday (it's just a temporary move for about 3 months, almost like a very long vacation, though a really boring one, then we'll be back home) and this last week has been crazy for me! I've been trying to get house cleaned, mountains of laundry done, and tie up everything that needs to be taken care of before we go (including research for my next book). Thus I haven't really had much time to be on Blogger, Facebook, or Twitter.

Sorry for the quietness, but sometimes real life calls, lol.

So you won't be hearing much more from me till about this time next week. We're leaving Sunday, will get there late Monday, and then it will take us some time to get settled into our house. Add to that I'm not exactly sure when the internet will get set up at the new house. But I expect to be semi back to normal by the end of next week.

So I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving if I don't see you before then! Eat lots of turkey and be safe!

Gratitude Giveaways Blog Hop

2011-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's time for another blog hop! This one is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. I really like this one, and it seems so timely, a Gratitude Hop, because I really do have so much to be grateful for this year! This is a way for me to thank you for everything you do for me, and for all of your support!

This hop is simple: you hop around to the different blogs and enter the different giveaways. And since this is a "Thank You" hop, the entries are simple, no "go like me on Facebook or Twitter too".

So let's get to it! Here you can win 1 $25 gift card to Amazon.com. That way you can get whatever fantastic books you want!

The rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog

2. The giveaway ends November 27th at midnight

3. The winner will be announced on November 28th

4. Open to US only

Simple!

To enter, fill out the form!

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Again, I want to thank all of you for all the support you've given to me! I am always amazed at the wonderful community there is in the blogging world and I'm so glad to have each of you as a part of my life!

Here are the links to all of the other blogs!

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

2011-11-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Summary from Goodreads:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Thoughts:

This review won’t be long because, well, this is the week of insanity for me…

I wasn’t so sure about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, to be honest. It seemed like it just all of the sudden cropped up, it has kind of a weird cover (though makes sense after reading it), and the description just didn’t really grab me. But I saw some great reviews on it. So I decided to go ahead and get it.

Wow, am I glad I did! I think this may be my favorite book of 2011. Taylor’s writing is complicated and lyrical, but still has the power to hook you and draw you in. And the world in this book and how things were connected together were simply fantastic. I kept smiling as I read and my husband would just chuckle and shake his head as he watched me. I loved every moment of this book.

This may sound weird but Daughter of Smoke and Bone really reminded me of Harry Potter. Maybe it was the well-built world, or maybe it was the weird creatures Taylor came up with, but honestly, I would place the two side by side in quality. Just as a note- I’ve probably read the first Harry Potter book about 7 times since I first read it about 10 years ago. And I liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone just as much!

So, word of advice: Read this book! Now!

5 out of 5 stars!

Happy Super Early Christmas Readers!

2011-11-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Guess what! Yeah, you've probably guessed it, or maybe already saw it.

VINDICATED AND AFTERLIFE ARE NOW LIVE ON AMAZON FOR KINDLE AND
BARNES AND NOBLE FOR NOOK!

Here's VINDICATED ON AMAZON

Here's AFTERLIFE ON AMAZON

HERE'S VINDICATED ON NOOK
(for some reason it doesn't have the cover yet, but I have re-uploaded it and it should be fixed in the next 24 hours, you will still get the book just fine though)

HERE'S AFTERLIFE ON NOOK

Wow, this self-publishing process is sooo much faster then it was when I first started 2 years ago. It used to take about 3 days for everything to go live, it took only about 8 hours this time.

I seriously worked my butt off to get this out early, and am so happy that it's out a full 19 days before the release date! I really wanted to get it out before Thanksgiving, as well as before a big trip I have coming right before Thanksgiving.

I will post the links when the paperback is available on Amazon. It should be soon, hopefully in the next day or so. Sadly, I have no idea when the paperback will be available on Barnes and Noble, I don't have any control over that. With Eden it took about a week longer than everything else.

So, I hope that you all enjoy both Vindicated and Afterlife!

Lookie! Lookie!

2011-11-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

The UPS truck stopped at my house today.

He brought me a beautiful present...

YAY! My proof copy finally came today and my what a beautiful sight it was to see!

It's so weird to see them all together and realize that this is it!

I did order bookmarks of all 3 (and a half...) books, but for some reason the Vindicated and Afterlife ones didn't get delivered. I'll have to post pics of the series of bookmarks when they come tomorrow : )

I've sent out the ARC's to a handful of bloggers. If you'd like to request one shoot me an email to me(at)kearytaylor(dot)com. If you filled out the form before your copy got sent out today! Oh, and just a heads up, Vindicated and Afterlife will be releasing earlier than the 29th! I can't give you an exact date yet, but it shall be SOON! You guys know me, I'm sooo not patient!

My stack is growing!!

I've been keeping a secret from you....

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

It's true. I've been keeping a secret from all of you. A pretty big one.

I don't have just one book coming out here in the next little bit.

I kinda of have two.

When I say kinda, I mean I have one novel (Vindicated obviously) and one novelette. Titled Afterlife.

What is Afterlife you may ask?

Afterlife is a 11,000 word companion to Vindicated. Do you have to read Afterlife to get Vindicated? No. But I'm pretty sure you're going to want to read it. Because the main character in it... is Cole. That's right, you'll get to step into Cole's world and find out what he was up to during the events that transpire in Vindicated.

Wanna see the cover? You know you do...

I am BEYOND happy with how it turned out, it's probably one of my favorite cover's I've done.

Cole Emerson never was and never will be a good man. He has his position for a reason. But there are consequences for returning to the world of the living. He is about to lose the one thing he still has, his leadership of the condemned. As if that wasn’t enough, one of his brothers is hell bent on exposing what has happened to Jessica and Cole has no choice but to protect her. And he’ll stop at nothing to do it. Even if it means ending a few lives.

Cole never was and never will be a good man.

Let me explain a few things that Afterlife is NOT:
* Afterlife is NOT meant to be the ending of the Fall of Angels series. Vindicated is that, no question about it. It is just a little extra that you get to go along with Vindicated.
* Afterlife is NOT meant to turn the series into more of a love triangle. Jessica and Alex were always meant to be together. Come on guys, there was never any question about that.
* Afterlife is NOT a standalone or the start to another series. It is meant to be a companion to Vindicated, like the cover says. If you don't read Vindicated, you'll probably be pretty lost.

I hope that clears things up.

So here's how things are going to work. Afterlife will be included at the end of Vindicated in the paperback version. So if you buy Vindicated, you'll get Afterlife too! Because of how things work, Afterlife will be sold on Kindle and Nook seperatly from Vindicated but at only $0.99, it's not exactly going to be spendy.

So I hope all of you are as excited about this as I am! It has been KILLING me to keep this a secret the last few months but I really wanted it to be a surprise! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it (and oh how I enjoyed stepping into Cole's world)! I will post the links as soon as it's up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Cover Lust (16)

2011-11-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s the dawn of the 22nd century, and the world has fallen apart. Decades of war and resource depletion have toppled governments. The ecosystem has collapsed. A new dust bowl sweeps the American West. The United States has become a nation of migrants—starving masses of nomads roaming across wastelands and encamped outside government seed distribution warehouses.

In this new world, there is a new power: Satori. More than just a corporation, Satori is an intelligent, living city risen from the ruins of the heartland. She manufactures climate-resistant seed to feed humanity, and bio-engineers her own perfected castes of post-humans Designers, Advocates and Laborers. What remains of the United States government now exists solely to distribute Satori product; a defeated American military doles out bar-coded, single-use seed to the nation’s hungry citizens.

Secret Service Agent Sienna Doss has watched her world collapse. Once an Army Ranger fighting wars across the globe, she now spends her days protecting glorified warlords and gangsters. As her country slides further into chaos, Doss feels her own life slipping into ruin.

When a Satori Designer goes rogue, Doss is tasked with hunting down the scientist-savant—a chance to break Satori’s stranglehold on seed production and undo its dominance. In a race against Satori’s genetically honed assassins, Doss’s best chance at success lies in an unlikely alliance with Brood—orphan, scavenger and small-time thief—scraping by on the fringes of the wasteland, whose young brother may possess the key to unlocking Satori’s power.

As events spin out of control, Sienna Doss and Brood find themselves at the heart of Satori, where an explosive finale promises to reshape the future of the world.

WHOA! I REALLY, really love this cover guys! As I really do "lust" this cover. I wish I had created it. It's creepy, it's grungy, it makes me drool over it. The author has informed me the art was done by Cody Tilson, who is majorly talented. And it is so simple! And guess what? This book is already out! Must get my hands on it NOW!

Publication Info:

Hardcover, 350 pages
Published November 1st 2011 by Night Shade Books

Winner of Spooktacular Giveaway Hop

2011-11-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Amber Smith who won the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop here on my blog! She's getting a signed copy of EDEN as well as a $25 gift card to Amazon.com! This giveaway turned out huge and there were over 290 entries!

Thank you all for participating in the hop! Stick around, I will be participating in another pretty soon here!

VINDICATED's Book Trailer

2011-11-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I realized the other day that I hadn't made a book trailer for Vindicated yet so I wanted to correct that! This isn't fancy and it's not too long but I hope you enjoy it!

*Should the video not work, please let me know. I just barely uploaded it to YouTube and sometimes they take a while to process. It's working for me so I hope it's working for you!*

VINDICATED ARC's!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has some fun plans for tonight and stay's safe. I myself will be going out with a super cute butterfly and a terrorizing pirate ;)

With everything starting to wrap up with VINDICATED, I'm starting to get things prepped for the release. So, if you are interested in a review copy, please fill out the form below! I will probably cap it at 15 copies so don't delay in signing up!

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Cover Lust (15)

2011-10-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

Summary from Goodreads:

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Publication Info:
400 pages
Expected publication: April 24th 2012
by HarperCollins Children's Books

You guys know me, I can't resist a good, creepy cover! Seems fitting since Halloween is tomorrow!

Any covers you guys have been lusting after this week?

GENESIS by Kristie Cook blog tour stop!

2011-10-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be part of Kristie's blog tour for the release of GENESIS! She is here today doing a guest post and I hope you will all make her feel welcome!

Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella is a bit different from the other Soul Savers books. Although the fantasy world I created is the same, the real world is not. After all, it takes place over 2,000 years ago, around 200 B.C. So it required a lot of research to understand life in Greece during that era. For each stop along the release tour, I’m sharing something I learned and how it ties into the story.

Pets are not something that immediately pops to mind when thinking about Ancient Greece, but they did actually have pets. Birds, dogs, goats, tortoises and even mice were often kept as pets. Cats may have been introduced when Alexander the Great returned after conquering Egypt, so they would have been around during the time of Genesis.

Although it’s not mentioned, the main characters probably kept many animals as pets throughout their lives, at least for brief periods. They lived as nomads, so they wouldn’t take most animals along on their moves. However, as healers, I just can’t see Cassandra, her mother or her daughter passing by an injured animal. They would certainly care for it at least until it recovered fully and could return to the wild.

Case in point - Cassandra finds an injured goat in the story, which she treats and then keeps as a pet. She saves it not just for its milk and cheese, but also for companionship. As I said, you don’t really think of pets of the time, so when the goat showed up in the story, I was a little surprised, but I went with it. It was a relief to find that it wouldn’t have been unusual for someone then to keep a goat as a pet.

Thank you, Keary, for hosting me today! I have a Soul Savers swag pack up for grabs for one lucky commenter. Your comment also gains you entry for the Grand Prize at the end of the tour. For more info on the Grand Prize and a list of other stops, please visit the tour page (http://www.kristiecook.com/2011/10/genesis-release-tour-giveaways.html).

ABOUT KRISTIE

Kristie Cook is a lifelong, award-winning writer in various genres, from marketing communications to fantasy fiction. She continues to write the Soul Savers Series, with the first two books, Promise and Purpose, available now and the third book, Devotion, coming February 2012. She’s also written a companion novella, Genesis, coming October 2011.

Besides writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, traveling and riding on the back of a motorcycle. She has lived in ten states, but currently calls Southwest Florida home with her husband, three teenage sons, a beagle and a puggle. She can be found at:

Author's Website & Blog: http://www.KristieCook.com
Series Website: http://www.SoulSaversSeries.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristieCook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/kristiecookauth
Tumbler: http://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/kristiecook

Thank you so much Kristie for stopping by! And I hope all of you will check the Soul Saver's out!

Small VINDICATED clip!

2011-10-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

33 days people.

Just 33.

Soon Vindicated will be out of my hands and into yours. And then the Fall of Angels will be over. Over.

A massive waves of butterflies just hit me. This is coming. Really quick. You all will get to read how everything ends. It makes me nervous. No more will the end of everything be just in my head, just in a file on my computer. You will see how it all goes down two.

Major butterflies. But also major excitement. I can not wait for you all to get to finish this journey with me.

So in honor of the approach of V's release date, I have a little clip from it for you. You guys ready for this?

Blackness wrapped around me like the coldest blanket that ever existed. I groped around me, searching for a surface to gauge myself to, but there was nothing. Wherever I was, it felt empty and void of anything.

Jessica, a voice whispered through the dark.

I whipped my head around, my eyes searching wildly for the source of the voice.

Jessica.

“Who’s there?” I demanded.

They’re watching you.

That time the voice was unmistakable.

“Cole?”

They know something’s wrong. Four times now they should have had you before them and yet they haven’t.

“What are you talking about?” My heart was hammering in my chest. My eyes searched wildly through the dark, seeking Cole’s familiar face.

Don’t let them see for themselves what has happened to you, Cole’s butter smooth voice said through the dark. I suddenly sensed a presence next to me in the dark. It is the only advantage you have against them to save him.

“To save Alex?” I repeated quietly.

You must be more careful. They will try to take everything from you.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, my voice sounding slightly frantic. “How do I stop them from taking Alex?”

The air suddenly seemed to be shifting, growing warmer by the second. The ground beneath me started to vibrate.

“Cole?” I said, my voice panicked. “How do I stop them?!”

They are watching you.

So are you guys as excited and nervous about this as I am?!

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop!

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to participate in my first Giveaway Hop! Spooktacular Giveaway Hop is hosted by I am A Reader, Not A Writer & The Diary Of A Bookworm. This hop is HUGE! There are over 400 blogs participating so a LOT of awesome giveaways to enter!

Alright, onto the giveaway!

There are two things to win here, one winner will win both.

First up:

A signed copy of my book EDEN and 5 signed bookmarks for you and your friends!

Summary:

Eve knew the stories of the Fall, of a time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. She's seen the aftermath of the technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter, able to grow new organs and limbs, how it evolved out of control. The machine took over and the soul vanished. A world quickly losing its humanity isn't just a story to her though. At eighteen, this world is Eve's reality.

In their Fallen world, love feels like a selfish luxury, but not understanding what it is makes it difficult to choose between West, who makes her feel alive but keeps too many secrets, and Avian, who has always been there for her, but is seven years her senior.

The technology wants to spread and it won't stop until there is no new flesh to assimilate. With only two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. While fighting to keep Eden alive, Eve will discover that being human is about what you will do for those you love, not what your insides may be made of. And even if it gets you killed, love is always what separates them from the Fallen.

Second Part of the Giveaway:

A $25 gift card to Amazon.com! That way you can buy whatever fantastic books you've been dying to read!

The Rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog.
2. US residents only (sorry, international shipping is killer)
3. You may gain extra entries by following me on Facebook or Twitter (click for links)
4. Giveaway closes to entries at midnight October 31st and the winner will be announced Wednesday November 2nd!

The Giveaway is Now CLOSED!

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Here are the links to all of the other giveaways! This is a LONG list and there are hundreds of things to win!

Good luck to everyone and have fun with the hop!

Updates and what's up with Keary

2011-10-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, I realized it's been seriously like forever since I've done an update on my own writing, besides releasing Vindicated's cover and release date. Shame on me!

So the status:

I am hard at work on Vindicated and finishing up the editing. Things are moving along fantastically and I hope to be sending it off to my editor tomorrow or Saturday. While I wait on him I'll be going through one more round of edits and then I'll plug all of his edits in and work on any issues he finds with it. After that it's just a matter of getting the formatting done and prepping for the release! Soooo close to having it get out there! I am so excited for all of you to read it!

I don't think that it's fully hit me until just recently that I am almost finished with the Fall of Angels trilogy. Finished. No more writing about Jessica, Alex, and Cole. Their story will be done being told. Weird. And wow. I started writing Branded over 2 1/2 years ago and these characters have been chatting in my head for so long. It will be strange to move on from them!

What's next after Fall of Angels you may ask? I don't want to give a whole lot away because I am still plotting, letting the story and characters form in my head, but I will tell you this: it is a YA contemporary. No science fiction, no fantasy. You'd think someday I'd settle on a genre and stick with it, but what can I say? I gotta write what the muse tells me to write.

Other than that I've just been super busy with graphic design work. I currently have 3 book cover's lined up and 1 bookmark. I am getting to work with some seriously fantastic authors and I can't wait to share the designs with all of you!

So that's about it! I'm signing off now to go spend the rest of the day with my 2 year old birthday boy! Can't believe how old my baby is getting!

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

2011-10-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Summary from Goodreads:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

My Thoughts:

Hmmm… honestly I’m not really sure what to say about The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
A lot of other blogs have said that about this book. And then continued to rave about the book.
I’m not really sure that’s what my feelings were. I have a feeling this review is going to sound more negative than I mean it to.

It took me a lot longer than I would have liked to really get into this book. Some weird stuff started happening but I didn’t find myself going “Oh my gosh, what is going on?! I must read this NOW to find out.” It was more like “huh, that’s kind of weird, I guess”. I think I went into this book with too high expectations after all the hype that surrounded it. I think it was expecting it to have the creep factor that Anna Dressed in Blood did. Sadly it didn’t for me.

What I did really like about Mara Dyer was the romantic factor between Mara and Noah (love the name Noah btw). There was so much tension between the two and I couldn’t help but smile at the two of them. My daughter kept asking me “what’s so funny mom?” as I was reading. The banter between the two of them was great.

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I felt like I was missing about a third of the book. There were many things that weren’t explained, left very open. Many seem to have liked this about this book but for me it was just frustrating.

I’m sad to say that is was only a 3.5 out of 5 stars for me.

Graphic Design Stuff (4)

2011-10-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while again since I've posted any new design work so here's what I've done lately!

Water by Terra Harmony

Redfred's Masquerade by Hayden Thorne

Bookmarks for Hilary Weisman Graham

Bookmarks for Emily M. Danforth

Bookmarks for Patricia Lynne

If you're interested in having me design a cover or anything else for you check out my website:

www.IndieCoverDesigns.com

Cover Lust (14)

2011-10-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

From Goodreads:

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

Why I love this cover:

To be honest, I hesitated in featuring Partials for this weeks Cover Lust for the fact that it reminds me just a little too much of my own EDEN. But I just couldn't resist. I love the contrast in this cover and I have this thing lately for cityscapes for some reason. I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

Expected publication: February 28th 2012 by HarperCollins Publishers

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

2011-10-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Summary from Goodreads:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

My Thoughts:

Anna Dressed In Blood is one deliciously twisty book.

I cannot seem to get this book out of my head. I’m serious about that. I devoured Anna. I drank it in and didn’t want it to ever end. I’m actually kind of annoyed that it is over now. I WANT MORE. Now. Thank goodness there is another book coming sometime next year. I might kill someone if there hadn’t been another one… kidding.

I am not normally a big ghost fan. But there was something so wonderfully dark about Anna and her possessed, kill-you ways that I just absorbed it. Cas was fantastic as a main character, totally believable. He did swear a bit more than I would have liked, but then again, he is a teenage boy.

This is how much Anna stuck with me: After reading about the first 200 pages, I finally had to go make dinner, put the kids to bed, and finally go to bed myself. I had a dream that night. I dreamed about a ghost that lived in a house. I went in such house with a group of people. This ghost got inside of me and started suffocating me from the inside out. I literally woke up gasping, feeling like I was being choked to death. Yeah, it was freaky.

Now, not a lot of supernatural stuff in books and movies gets me freaked out. But for some reason Voodoo does. I don’t know if it’s because I kind of believe in Voodoo and kinda think it’s some real stuff, but it is some seriously freaky shiz to me. Holy cow, Voodoo guy at the last half of the book… *shivers*

Wow, what a ramble this was. In case you didn’t get the picture, I loved Anna Dressed In Blood. It is the perfect read seeing as we’re approaching Halloween. So go out and buy it. NOW!

5 out of 5 stars!

VINDICATED's Cover!

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to FINALLY reveal the cover for VINDICATED, the last book in the Fall of Angels series!

Man, I thought this one was going to kill me. Things just weren't working right but I wasn't sure what felt wrong. After some suggestions from some amazing people ;) I finally got it and am really happy with how it turned out!

Now I just can't wait for you all to read it November 29th!

Winner of Second Chance Giveaway!

2011-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post the winner of The Eleventh Plague yesterday, I didn't even turn the computer on all day! Can't remember the last time that happened!

Drum roll please!............

And the winner is.......

Jamie Manning!

Congrats Jamie! I'll be emailing you here in a second and The Eleventh Plague will be on its way to you!

Week End Wrap-Up (7)

2011-10-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone! Is it just me or did September go by WAY too fast?! October?! Wow! Moving on... Here is what's been going on the last week in Keary land!

I did an interview with the fabulous Kristie Cook and you can read it HERE.

Don't forget to enter my Second Chance Giveaway of The Eleventh Plague! Entries close tonight so don't wait! The post to enter is HERE.

Blog Posts this week:

My Wasting Time Skills
Cover Lust: Struck
VINDICATED's Release Date!

I know that I said I was hoping to do the reveal of VINDICATED'S cover by the end of the week, but obviously that didn't happen. I'm working on it. It is REALLY close to being done, but I just want to make sure it is perfect before I share it with everyone! So stay tuned the beginning of this next week!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! Be safe!

VINDICATED's Release Date!

2011-09-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share Vindicated's release date with you today! I know I've taken my time in sharing it with everyone. Most places around the web have said that the release date would be February or March of 2012... which probably feels like forever away. I've really wanted to make sure I could meet a deadline I set and now I am sure that Vindicated will be ready for you all by:

November 29, 2011!

Yep, well before the end of this year! YAY! And look, there's a cool little countdown over there tracking it all for you ----> (you might have to scroll down just a little bit)

I'm hoping that I can share the cover with all of you within the next week or so, but be patient with me. It's coming soon!

Now back to work for me!

Second Chance Giveaway: The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

2011-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Unfortunantly every once in a while I get a book that I just don't quite connect with. But just because I didn't get into The Eleventh Plague doesn't mean someone else won't love it! So I'm giving it a second chance at love and all of you a chance to win it!

Summary from Goodreads:

The wars that followed The Collapse nearly destroyed civilization. Now, twenty years later, the world is faced with a choice—rebuild what was or make something new.

Stephen Quinn, a quiet and dutiful fifteen-year-old scavenger, travels Post-Collapse America with his Dad and stern ex-Marine Grandfather. They travel light. They keep to themselves. Nothing ever changes. But when his Grandfather passes suddenly and Stephen and his Dad decide to risk it all to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen's life is turned upside down. With his father terribly injured, Stephen is left alone to make his own choices for the first time.

Stephen’s choices lead him to Settler's Landing, a lost slice of the Pre-Collapse world where he encounters a seemingly benign world of barbecues, baseball games and days spent in a one-room schoolhouse. Distrustful of such tranquility, Stephen quickly falls in with Jenny Tan, the beautiful town outcast. As his relationship with Jenny grows it brings him into violent conflict with the leaders of Settler's Landing who are determined to remake the world they grew up in, no matter what the cost.

Rules for the giveaway:
1. You must be a follower of my blog
2. You must be a resident of the US. Sorry guys, international shipping is killer
3. Giveaway ends October 1st. You don't have to wait too long to find out if you've won!

So fill out the form below for a chance to win!

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Cover Lust (13)

2011-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

From Goodreads:

LA has been devastated by a massive earthquake and the city is full of chaos and shattered lives. Mia Price has a connection to the storm that caused the earthquake but doesn't know why - who should she turn to for answers? The religious Followers prophesise the end of the world and claim to have the answers that Mia is seeking. The mysterious and beautiful Jeremy warns her away from them but he's hiding a more sinister truth. In the end, Mia is to discover that she is part of a power much larger than she could ever have imagined. When the final disaster strikes, she must unleash the full horror of her strength to save them all.

Why I love this cover:

I have to admit, I am a sucker for stormy backgrounds. They just feel... powerful I guess. I love the lightening, love the title. This seems like a really unique book and I'm excited to check it out when it comes out May 8, 2012.

Wasting Time

2011-09-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've really, really been missing the world of Eden lately. I really sank myself into Eve, Avian, and West's world and it's been hard being out of it again. So to put myself back in it just a little bit I've been wasting time today with fake covers ;)

Don't worry, I'm not planning to replace my amazing eye cover, just needed to clear my head today with a little graphic design!

Finding Balance

2011-09-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much updating lately, and the reason is, to be honest, there hasn't been a whole lot to update about or a whole lot of time to do it. VINDICATED is still coming along. I'm now to the round of editing that I loathe so things are slowing down just a tad. It's still 2 weeks or so a head of schedule so that's great.

I wanted to apologize for the lag of good blog posts lately. My entire online presence has slipped a bit and the reason for that is simply that life is crazy. Keeping up with everything lately isn't easy for me. I've got a lot on my plate like:

1) Continuing to work on Vindicated

2) Graphic design work. I've gotten a lot of design jobs lately, and I LOVE it but it does eat up a lot of time

3) My family! My kids are amazing! They are everything to me and I wouldn't change a thing. But they are young (almost 4 and almost 2) and being a mom to them is more than a full-time job!

4) It's not quite happening like I would like, but I would really like to lose some of this "writers weight" and be able to work out!

5) Everything else! i.e. housework, church, helping hubby with work, projects around the house, the list goes on.

One of life's biggest challenges is to find balance. There are so many things I wish I had time for that I just can't fit in. There are only so many hours in the day and I only have so much energy. But the real trick is being happy with what you did get accomplished. My house may not be perfectly clean... but I did play hide-and-seek with my kids for an hour... I did get another chapter edited...

I may not be perfectly balanced yet but you can be sure that I am trying my very best.

Week End Wrap-Up (6)

2011-09-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great week! Fall seems to be coming quickly here on Orcas Island and I'm both loving it (because I love fall) and dreading it (because we didn't get much of a summer and fall eventually leads to winter...). Here's what's been up with me this week.

I posted the pictures from my photo shoot with Jenni Merritt HERE.

I also posted VINDICATED's playlist HERE.

You can check out the bookmarks I made for Jessica Spotswood, author of BORN WICKED, HERE.

Kindle Obsessed posted this great review of EDEN, you can read it HERE.

Oh yeah, as you can see, I redid the blog a bit. I don't know if I will keep this header and background forever, but I needed a change. And my old layout was WAY too busy so I've majorly simplified and I'm really happy with the change.

In news: I finished round 2 of the edits to VINDICATED! I am currently about 2 weeks ahead of schedule with it. I hope to let you know a release date in the next week or so (it's going to be earlier than you're expecting!).

Well, I think that's about it! I'm off to Leavenworth, WA tomorrow for a few days on a much needed camping trip/vacation with the hubby and the kids! Take care!

Insurgent Cover Reveal!

2011-09-16T09:35:00.001-07:00

I was really excited to see that HarperCollins revealed the cover for Veronica Roth's next book, Insurgent this morning! I LOVED Divergent and can't wait to read this book.

I'm a bit on the fence about the cover, it feels a bit washed out to me I guess. I do like the tree, I think that's interesting and I'm dying to know how it ties into the story. I LOVE the tagline though. The tagline for Divergent is "One choice can transform you" and this contrasts so well with "Once choice can destroy you". So powerful!

I can't wait to read it but May of next year seems so far away!

Vindicated's Playlist

2011-09-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've been in this weird funk today for some reason. I got some editing on Vindicated done this morning but then just felt... weird. So to help pull myself out of it I went on Youtube and made a playlist of all of the songs I picked for the Vindicated playlist!

It's a bit long (there are 21 songs here...) and I have to say some of music video's are weird, but I do love each of these songs and each of them has a reason for being included. I hope you enjoy!

Photo Shoot with Jenni Merritt Photography

2011-09-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I got the amazing chance to go do a photo shoot with Jenni Merritt, writer extraordinaire, fabulous photographer, and my really good friend. So I packed up my things early in the morning, got on the ferry, and went over to San Juan Island for a few hours. I seriously had a blast with Jenni and it was so good to actually see her (we talk online pretty much every day but have only met in person about 5 times)!

So without further ado, here's the amazing pictures she snapped!

With my great-grandmother's typewriter :)

It was really windy that day so my hair was doing some interesting things... lol

This was an amazing grass field. It was right next to the ocean (camera is pointed away from it) and it was just a HUGE beautiful field.

I believe I will use this as my official author photo! You can't see it that well, but that would indeed be the Pacific Ocean behind me.

I do believe this is my favorite picture of the lot!

I have to say THANK YOU again to Jenni for such an amazing job! I couldn't be happier with the pictures!

I will not forget

2011-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't listened to Yellowcard since high school but this song still gets to me every time.

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

From Goodreads:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

My Thoughts:

I know, more werewolves! You all know I’m not normally a fan, but I really, really liked Nightshade. I fought reading it for a long time but I'm glad that I finally gave in and bought a copy.

I really liked that Calla was tough. I’m starting to like tough chick heroines more and more and honestly, Calla reminded me a lot of my own character, Eve, from Eden. She knows how to handle herself, she can have a bit of an attitude, and she’s one confused girl.

Be warned, there is a love triangle here. A very conflicted love triangle. Calla wants Shay, Shay, Shay but there’s hot, hot, hot Ren. It was fairly clear from the beginning who she was going to end up with, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. I think I liked the guy she didn’t pick better, despite his faults. The other guy didn’t seem to care that he was constantly putting Calla in danger. I am curious to see how things go in Wolfsbane and I already have my copy!

One of the things I really loved about Nightshade was the world building. I was really lost and confused for about the first 50 pages or so. Mrs. Creamer uses a lot of words like Keepers, Guardians, and Searchers, but doesn’t give much explanation for quite a while. But once you figure it out you feel pulled in and like you’ve been raised as one of the pack. And I loved the relationships in this book. The friendships felt real and I felt pulled into their triumphs and dramas like I was a character in the book.

I can’t wait to start on the next book! 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

2011-09-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

From Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

My Thoughts:

After reading so much dark fantasy and dystopian, I was ready for something different. Contemporary YA is not something that I read very often but I’ve seen a lot of praise for Anna and the French Kiss so I went ahead and bought it. I wasn’t disappointed!

I can’t even imagine how terrifying it would be to be dropped off on your own, at a new school, in a country that you don’t speak the language of, and without knowing anyone. This is Anna’s new world. After her Nicolas Sparks father (yeah, that’s pretty much who her dad’s supposed to be… lol) decides she needs some more culture he ships her off to Paris. Teenage insecurity ensues.

Miss Perkins does a great job of painting a picture of Paris and makes her readers try and calculate in their head how they are going to possibly afford to make it there. I’ve honestly not been one that wanted to go to Paris but after reading this book, I’m SO ready to go!

Anna and St. Claire were cute and yet frustrating. I wanted to smack St. Claire upside the head and tell him to dump his girlfriend as he was obviously in love with Anna and I wanted to smack Anna for being SOOO obsessed with St. Claire! But… they were very cute and I could totally feel the heartache Anna was going through, pining away after him.

I highly recommend Anna and the French Kiss if you’re wanting something that reads fast, is light hearted, and will make you go awwww! 4 out of 5 stars!

Week End Wrap-Up (5)

2011-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Here's what's been going on this last week!

I was invited to team up with an amazing handful of other Indie authors to create http://ourbooksourvoice.blogspot.com/
Among the very talented authors are:

Emma Michaels
Kristie Cook
Jamie Magee
Kim Richardson
Victoria Simcox
Jessica Sorensen
Brenda Pandos
Samantha Young
Jayde Scott
Megg Jensen
Danyelle Leafty

The site is just launching and there are some amazing events lined up so make sure you follow the blog so you don't miss out!

I did an interview HERE.

And just in case you missed it, here is the new EDEN book trailer!

Have a great weekend everyone!

The NEW Eden Book Trailer!

2011-09-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

I do love the old Eden book trailer but it didn't feel quite... I don't know... right. So, I've been working really hard on a new one and I am really happy with the way it turned out!

Thank you to DJ DeSmyter, Savanah from Books With Bite, and Erika from Moonlight Book Reviews for letting me use quotes from their reviews! I hope you all enjoy the trailer!

Feel free to pass it along! Here's the link: http://youtu.be/_bKRo7BmkoY

New FAQ page!

2011-08-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, this post won't be very long. I've created a new FAQ page. You can either click on the page up there, next to my about me page, or click HERE.

Sorry some of the font is all screwed up. Sometimes I really don't like Blogger, I seem to be having this problem a lot lately whenever I try to copy and paste anything... Any suggestions?

*Ah! Thank you Kendra! That fixed the problem (for the most part... lol)*

Talk to you later!

It doesn't quite feel real... but I did it!!!!

2011-08-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

I finished the first draft of VINDICATED just a few minutes ago!!!

I don't think it has quite sank in yet. I'm nearly done with this journey, with the Fall of Angels series. Yes, there is still lots, and lots of editing to do, but the story is written, and the end is in sight.

Wow.

I haven't picked a release date yet, but it will be quite a bit earlier than I had originally thought. Like, before the end of this year! :)

So, that is all! There's still much work to be done, but...

I DID IT!!!

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-08-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Summary from Goodreads:

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit, Forever wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down. I set a schedule for myself of when I wanted to have it finished by, and finished it on that day.

What I do love about this series though is Grace and Sam’s relationship. They truly are a couple made for each other and their relationship feels real. Sweet is the perfect word to describe the romance here. There is no question about how much Sam loves Grace and how much Grace loves Sam. Things felt real here.

But I think my favorite part about Forever was the dynamic with Cole. For one I’m a sucker for his name considering one of my own MC’s name is Cole, and in certain ways their personalities are the same. For two, the boy is smart. And unpredictable. And I loved the relationship between him and Isabel. The tension was obvious and had me dying for them to just get over themselves and admit they want to be together.

While I loved the relationships in Forever, like I said, it is slow. It felt like nothing was really happening, for a really long time. I would put the book down for a while, go back and try and review in my head what had happened previously, and couldn’t think of much that had gone on that was important. And then with how slow most of it was, the ending just raced along. It did feel a bit rushed. I got to the last 20 pages, kept looking at how much was left, and kept thinking “how is this possibly going to wrap up in time?” But it did.

I do have to admit, I am not a huge werewolf fan, but I do recommend it to all those who do love their shape-shifting characters! 3 out of 5 stars.

VINDICATED Synopsis

2011-08-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally got a synopsis of VINDICATED worked up. It isn't perfect and I am quite sure this won't be the final version but for those of you dying for something about the third book, here's what I've got so far!

With the pain of the past behind them, Jessica and Alex are ready to move on with their lives. But moving on is hard when it involves reconnecting with the family who wanted to send Jessica to an institution. And living life isn’t easy when someone who doesn’t belong is watching her, threatening her life, determined to take Jessica back to the afterlife she should have joined months ago.

And every day becomes a little harder for Alex. Time is ticking and if it runs out, Alex won’t be returning to the world of the living. It all boils down to Cole’s final words to Jessica: What are you willing to do to save him?

The answer to keeping Alex lies in Jessica returning to the place he saved her from.

Cover Lust (12)

2011-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Summary from Goodreads:

LONDON, 2012: It arrives and with that the world is changed into an unending graveyard littered with the bones, wreckage, and memories of a dead past, gone forever.LONDON, 2032: Twenty years later, out of the ashes, a new world begins to rise, a place ruled by both loyalty and fear, and where the quest to be the first to regain lost knowledge is an ongoing battle for power. A place where laws are made and enforced by roving gangs-the Bloomsbury Boys, the Gardners, the Red Lady's Gang-who rule the streets and will do anything to protect their own.THE FOUR: Zane, Titus, Erin, Eve. Living in this new world, they discover that they have abilities never before seen. And little do they know that as they search post-apocalyptic London for Titus' kidnapped sister that they'll uncover the secret of It, and bring about a reckoning with the forces that almost destroyed all of humanity.

Okay, I know this book has already been released, but I seriously, seriously love this cover. I think my favorite part about it is the upside down city-scape. I love the grunge, love the dominating title. I really need to get y hands on this one!

(Sorry if this is all highlighted and weird. I don't know what blogger's problem is!)

Week End Wrap-Up (4)

2011-08-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Forgive me if I don't make a whole lot of sense in this post, it's early and my brain doesn't quite feel awake.

The past two weeks or so have been totally INSANE for me! Seriously non stop. I have a mountain of laundry to do and no time to do it. Oh well, despite the stress of being so busy I love it! It means things are going good.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to browse around the web this week but here are two links for you:

I was interviewed by the local newspaper here on the islands. The article is here: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/lifestyle/127902348.html

Here is a bit more of my graphic design work done for the awesome Jill Hathaway! Bookmarks for her upcoming novel, SLIDE, coming out March of 2012. http://jillscribbles.blogspot.com/2011/08/so-evidently-it-pays-to-whine-on.html

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Eden Kindle Review Copies

2011-08-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I'm offering up some EDEN Kindle review copies, "gifting" them I suppose as I will be sending them through Amazon. So if you have a Kindle or a Kindle app and have a blog you post reviews on, fill out the form and I'll send a copy your way!

FORM

Take care all!

A million words that are me

2011-08-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about something this morning that kind of made me smile. I started writing seriously 3 years, 1 month ago. I started The Ever Chronicles in July of 2008. 3 years. It feels so much longer that that. I mean, that's a slightly skewed number just for the fact that I've been writing stuff my whole life but nothing really serious until 3 years ago.

And then I thought about all the projects I've started, all the ones I've finished. And I wondered how many words I've written in that 3 years, 1 month.

So I sat down and started totaling. Here's the breakdown for you:

Ever Dawn (book 3 in The Ever Chronicles. Yes I started with book 3): 37,202
Ever Burning (book 1): 74,304
Ever Shadow (book 2): 6,825
Branded: 96,715
Forsaken: 76,119
Eden: 110,688
Vindicated (current): 44,845
Small, random projects total: 6,442

GRAND TOTAL: 453,140

That is a lot of words in 3 years, 1 month.

I love writing. It pulled me out of depression. Each one of those words was a step back into a better place for me. For quite a while I was afraid that if I stopped writing I would go back into that dark place. I'm not afraid of that anymore, but that sure as heck doesn't mean that I will stop writing.

Someday, I hope to get that word count over a million. I like that goal:

A million words that are me.

Cover Lust (11)

2011-08-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm trying to get back on schedule, now that I am back and I finally have my house and yard to myself again for the first time since June. So here is this weeks Cover Lust! And sorry, Blogger is being retarded so I can't paste the description but here is the link to the Goodreads Page.

Graphic Design Stuff

2011-08-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I do quite a bit of graphic design stuff, mostly book covers and such. For more info visit my website www.indiecoverdesigns.com. It's been a while since I've posted any of my recent work so I thought I'd share with you!

Daniel's Blog

Nicole's Blog

Dan's Facebook Page

Both Patricia and I were super happy with how this cover turned out. I think it is one of my favorite covers I have ever done.

Patricia's Blog

And the full

Yeah, this was a little teaser banner I did for VINDICATED. Not so great, but hey, I was bored I guess, lol.

Not exactly writing related, but this was a wedding invite I did and I loved how it turned out.

This one isn't exactly exciting but I really love the dark title page that is in the paperback edition of EDEN. For some reason I love the simplicity (and metallic markers are always fun to sign with!).

There you have it! I'm sure I will have more to share with you soon!

Probably The Coolest Thing I Have Ever Been Given

2011-08-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

While I was away I was given this really neat box:

Inside there were these strange round button things:

Inside was this beautiful, perfect condition writing thingy!

It acts like an instant printer when you push the buttons!

And it even knows how to spell my name without spell checker telling me to change it to Kearny or Kerry.

Isn't it beautiful?!

So the backstory:

I was visiting my extended family who live in Ucon, Idaho and mentioned how my friend Jenni Merritt did this amazing author photoshoot with a typewriter that I loved. I told them how someday I would love to copy her and would love to find an old typewriter of my own but was having a hard time finding one. Well my aunt mentioned how she though my grandma had one I could probably borrow sometime, she called grandma, and grandma told me to come over.

As she pulled out this amazing black box, she told me how it was her mother's, so my great-grandma's who passed away last year. She told me about how she was this amazing fast typist. And then she opened the box and I nearly stopped breathing, it was just so beautiful. I fawned over it, drooled a bit, and was just elated that something so cool was in my family.

And then she asked if I wanted it.

I nearly died with joy! I just said "yesyesyesyes!" I couldn't believe it! Grandma said it was just going to sit in her garage otherwise and never be looked at again. She said she couldn't think of anyone better to give it to. And grandma basically made my whole month! I couldn't have asked for something cooler or more meaningful to me.

So now I am the proud owner of my great-grandmother's working 1920'something Remington Remette typewriter! And I couldn't be more proud.

I'm back!

2011-08-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I am back from my trip and I had an amazing time!

This won't be a very long post but I just wanted to let you guys know about a few little things.

If you have emailed me while I've been gone, hang tight for the next few days while I try to catch up on everything. My inbox is a bit crazy these days! lol

I am now over half way through the first draft of VINDICATED! Woohoo! It is going awesome and I am loving the first draft mode! I hoping to start pounding out a bunch of words now that I am back!

I have a few awesome blog posts I plan on doing over the next week or so so keep an eye out for those!

For now, take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Still away

2011-07-30T19:31:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! I am still in Utah for the next little while, then I will take a short trip to Idaho (Ucon to be exact, where Jessica from Branded is from :) ) to see my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles I haven't seen in a few years. So I plan to be back on August 6th and then normal blogging will resume.

I will admit, I haven't gotten a ton of writing on Vindicated done while I have been gone but I have hit a turning point that marks the slide toward the end of the book! It has been really awesome and really exciting to start writing these scenes that the entire series has been building up to. And I am still getting used to writing on my iPad and the keyboard I got to go with it. I may have splurged a bit much for my birthday a few days ago ;)

Anyway, take care all and I will be back to catch up in a few days!

Cover Lust (10)

2011-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

This week I'm featuring a book that has already been released but when I first saw the cover a few days ago, I just kept looking at it. I love the title, the green, the black and white, and the powerful pose the model's are in.

Published December 2, 2010 by Transworld Publ. Ltd UK

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another.

Goodreads Page

I will admit, I don't know that I will read this book, I'm kind of picky about my contemporary YA but I do really love the cover.

What about you? What covers have you been lusting after this week?

Week End Wrap-Up (3)

2011-07-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yet again this week I don't have a ton for you guys. Summer is speeding by so fast I'm afraid if I blink once it will be over. Things are just crazy but awesome right now!

The only link I have to share with you today is an interview I did with the amazing and super sweet DJ who always makes me smile from DJ's Life in Fiction. You can read it HERE.

Oh yeah, if you're on Google+ come find me HERE (hope this link works anyway, lol). Honestly I think I like Google+ more than I like Facebook now, though I don't use G+ as much just for the fact that there aren't as many people on it, yet...!

Just to let you guys all know, I am going out of town today to see my family for two weeks so you may not see any blog posts from me till I get back. I'll miss you guys but I miss my family more! I will be back the first weekend in August and I'll catch up with you all then!

Have an awesome weekend!

The END is near...

2011-07-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

My hand is cramped but I did it. I just finished outlining the last half of VINDICATED. And wrote THE END at the end of those notes. The FINAL the end. It's coming, it's almost here. Writing that at the end of my first draft of the final book of the Fall of Angels series will be... awesome, intense, scary. Weird?

It's getting there. I'm currently half done with it. It's been an emotional roller coaster ride for me, for Jessica, for all of the characters. And I'm about to take the plunge into the final dozen chapters and my heart starts beating fast when I think about everything that is going to happen to these characters that have become my fictional children.

All I'm going to say is that it's going to be an intense ride.

And I can't wait to share it with you when the time comes.

My Sarah and Royce Cast Picks (EDEN)

2011-07-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been forever since I've done a post! Sorry about that!

So to wrap up my EDEN cast picks I have Sarah and Royce for you! Sarah is Avian's younger sister and has been like a sister to Eve ever since she showed up in Eden. She's the caring type who'd take in anyone who needed taking care of, she's a tender-hearted person. My cast pick for Sarah would be Erica Durance from Smallville.

Up next is Royce. You don't meet Royce until the last third or so of Eden but he's an important character. Without giving too much away if you haven't read Eden yet, Royce is the leader of another group of survivors. He's ex-military with a background in weapon's development. He doesn't take any crap and he's a natural born leader. My cast pick for Royce would be Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy.

What about you? Who would you pick to play Sarah and Royce?

Week End Wrap-Up (2)

2011-07-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sadly I don't have a whole lot to share with you for this Wrap-Up. This has been a crazy busy week so I haven't had a ton of time to find awesome links for you. So here's the one that I do have for you, a great review of EDEN by the Reading Addict HERE.

Just a few updates: I know Branded had some editing and formatting issues so I hired 2 editors a few weeks back and the new, error-free version is now uploaded for Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

I am working on Vindicated currently. I'm just short of half way through the first draft. It's coming along slower than I would have hoped, things are just so busy lately I'm having a hard time finding time to give it love and having a hard time focusing. But fear not! The words are slowly leaking out onto the page! All I will say now is that I can not wait to write the ending! It is going to be intense and amazing!

That's about it for this week! I hope you all have an amazing weekend!

My Bill and Graye Cast Picks (EDEN)

2011-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do two of my cast picks today, since the two are kind of always together in Eden.

Let me introduce you to Bill and Graye. They're both always a part of Eve's scouting and raiding team. They're the best protector's Eden's got, aside from Eve of course ;) The two of them are like family to Eve, the brother's she never had. They've got each other's backs no matter what.

First up is Bill. He's the tough silent type who traveled across the country by himself after the world Fell to the infection. He keeps his past quiet, doesn't talk about where he came from, and despite his years in Eden, no one really knows much about him. My cast pick for Bill would be Jason Statham from the Transporter movies.

Next up is Graye, Eve's other partner in war and protection. He's the type that just might blow up at any moment, who keeps everything bottled up inside until he explodes. Despite his young age, he lost his wife and child to the Fall, he was the only survivor. Some in Eden might think of him as selfish, but Eve starts to realize that he's just trying to take something back from the world that took everything away from him. My cast pick would be Kellan Lutz from, well, Twilight, lol.

What about you? Who would be your Bill or Graye cast picks?

When writing becomes...

2011-07-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a very profound realization lately. Want to know what it is? I’ll share a little secret with you. Lean closer to the screen and I’ll whisper it to you…

Writing is my JOB.

Whoa! I know, right?! When did that happen?

Sorry about that, I got a little carried away. lol But seriously, it did just kind of hit me a few days ago that writing is literally a job for me now. I wake up at six in the morning, work until my kids wake up sometime around seven. And then I resume work at nine, after I take my three-year-old to preschool until I pick her up at noon. And I’m always jumping back to work on one thing or another throughout the rest of the day.

Yesterday I literally worked a full eight hour day. With my one and a half-year-old clinging to my side and my three-year-old running around half the day. It was a crazy but awesome day.

I had a lot of self-doubt when I started out on this self-publishing journey. At the beginning of 2010 I didn’t really know of anyone who was self-publishing, much less anyone who was having any success. I could only make a few pennies for all I knew. And after I did self-publish, I made just a few pennies, for a really long time.

And then something changed a few months ago.

Suddenly I was climbing some carts, gaining some rankings. Suddenly I was like “Woohoo! I’m going to make a few hundred bucks this month!” And suddenly my jaw is hitting the floor as I look at the numbers, do the math on royalties, and still can’t believe what I’m seeing. Suddenly I have days like today where I’m #2 in contemporary fantasy for Kindle and steadily around #8 in YA fantasy.

Suddenly I’ve realized- I’ve done it.

And with that very humbling, very awesome success comes a lot more work. Just keeping up with my email requires a lot of time during the day. And it’s amazing. I love hearing from fans, from people who’ve enjoyed Branded, Forsaken, and Eden. And I love the connections I am making.

But the thing that drags me down occasionally is realizing that sometimes taking care of the job part of my writing gets in the way of my actual writing. I spend as much time on the business, email, promotional, whatnot side of things as I do on the actual writing. And some days it gets, I don’t want to say frustrating cause that’s not the right word, but, well, some days I wish I could just ignore that side, and just write.

But one thing that I can say is this: I LOVE my job. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was writing epic Harry Potter fanfic’s with my best friend at thirteen. I always thought being an author would be the coolest job I could ever ask for. And it is. It seriously is.

And I can’t thank you all enough for letting me turn my dream into my job.

Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

2011-07-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

From Goodreads:

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

My Thoughts:

You know those books that you find and after you read them you keep thinking about them and find that you’re really anxious for the next one to come out? Thankfully, thankfully, Blood Red Road was like that for me.

Saba comes from a dysfunctional yet close family. Her mom passed away giving birth to her little sister and Saba hates the sister for it. The dad’s gone a little loopy since the mom passed. The sister is a pretty normal winey little kid. But Lugh is perfect in Saba’s eyes. He means everything to her. So when he’s taken away, it pushes Saba to grow up and go after him.

In the reviews I’ve seen of Blood Red Road, people talked about the rough way Saba talks. And it is rough, jarring, and now what you’re used to reading in a novel. But I LOVED it! I found myself thinking in the language Saba used for days after I finished. It was just a raw, no nonsense way of thinking.

Saba’s growth in the book was wonderful. In the beginning she wasn’t much more than her twin brother’s shadow, always looking to him to do the right thing. And as she goes after him, she becomes a tough, quick thinking warrior. I have to say, I loved how she became known as “The Angel of Death” without giving away any spoilers. It was just great.

I did have a few hang-ups with this book. The fact that there were no quotation marks around any of the dialogue drove me CRAZY! It made me pay very close attention but when I’m reading I don’t want it to have to be work. There were a few twists that seemed predictable to me. And I was having really high hopes that this might be a standalone novel but the last three pages made that not possible. Now I have to wait for the next one… sigh.

Overall, I really did like Blood Red Road. I would place it in my top 5 favorite books I’ve read in 2011 so far. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Cover Lust (9)

2011-07-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

I found this while browsing through books on Goodreads and there is something just wonderful about this dark and slightly creepy cover! I just downloaded the first book Lockdown and can't wait to read it!

Goodreads Page

What about you? What covers have you been lusting after this week?

Week End Wrap-Up (1)

2011-07-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

So there are always all these links and different things I want to share with you but if I shared everyone all the time, I would be doing several posts a day and that just wouldn't work. So, I'm going to try and start doing a Week End Wrap-Up post every Saturday and let you know what's happened and share a lot of links with you.

I happened across this list and was super excited to see my name on it. I've not really ever heard of Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine but heck! They listed me on the best science fiction novels of the first half of 2011! And Eden has only been out for a month! YAY! Click HERE for the link.

DJ's Life in Fiction posted his review of Eden HERE! Thank you DJ, you always make me smile!

Books with Bite posted an awesome review of Eden HERE!

I am doing a giveaway of Eden on Goodreads so if you're a member click HERE to enter!

Well, I think that's about it for now! Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

A girl can dream right...

2011-07-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is what I do when I'm avoiding doing laundry on Friday afternoons....

My Gabriel Cast Pick (EDEN)

2011-07-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to introduce you to Gabriel, the unspoken leader in EDEN. He's a man who lost almost all of his family to the Fall, he's they guy who leads Eden despite not being asked to, he keeps everything running smooth, and has kept thirty-something-odd people alive in the mountains since the Fall.

I've had a hard time finding someone I would cast as Gabriel. He's not an ugly man but he's not Hollywood looking guy either. With his Santa Claus beard but wilderness weathered face, that's not an easy one to find. But the closest I can find, and I think would be a pretty decent Gabriel is Jeff Bridges from Tron, True Grit, Iron Man, and a lot of other great movies!

What about you? Who would you cast as Gabriel?

EDEN is going up! (in price and reviews, lol)

2011-07-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Alright, the time has come. I warned everyone that I would. I've kept EDEN at $0.99 for the last month that it has been out but that's about to change. On Saturday I will be increasing the price to $2.99 so if you haven't grabbed it for you Kindle or Nook yet, now is the time to do it before it goes up! Here are the links for you:

Thank you all for your support! I am thrilled at how well EDEN has done in it's first 30 days of being on sale and I owe it to you wonderful people!

My Avian Cast Pick (EDEN)

2011-07-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to Avian, Eve's other love interest in Eden. He's a soldier turned make-do doctor in the colony of Eden, a natural leader, and unfortunately 7 years older than Eve, which doesn't make it any easier for them.

My cast pick for Avian would 100% be Wentworth Miller from Prison Break. Even though he's a bit to old to play Avian, he's still pretty much exactly how I picture Avian. I drool a little bit every time I watch Prison Break... lol!

What about you? Who would you cast as Avian?

Cover Lust (8)

2011-07-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day everyone (well, tomorrow)! I'm a little bummed I didn't see Josh Groban at the parade here on the island yesterday, a first since I moved here (his parents live on the island, we see him every year) but it was still a great day!

This cover has been around for a while but I just love it! I think it is so beautiful and it just makes me do a happy little sigh, lol. I was so happy to see this was available on NetGalley and I am super excited to start reading it!

Goodreads Page

What about you? What covers have you been lusting after?

My West Cast Pick (EDEN)

2011-06-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to West, the snarky, sarcastic guy who catches Eve's attention in Eden. He's the guy who always knows more than he says, who keeps too many secrets. He's also the guy Eve can't stand but can't stay away from. He's a survivor, a boy turned soldier in the Fallen world of Eden.

My cast pick for West would be Matt Lanter from the TV show "90210" and the movie "Vampire's Suck", both of which I haven't actually ever watched, lol.

What about you? Who would you cast to play West?

My Eve Cast Pick (EDEN)

2011-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

I did a post once up on a time about my Eden cast picks, back when I was still writing the first draft of it. Now that it's out and people are actually reading about these characters it seems more relevant to post my cast picks. So, for today, here is my cast pick for EVE, my kick-butt MC!

I found this really great picture of Gillian Zinser from the new "90210" and thought, "wow, she's great!" but then when and looked at her other pictures and she looks totally different. So, this picture of her is almost exactly how I imagine Eve looking, always slightly messy looking blond hair, skinny after living on a rations diet all her life, sharp looking features. And a "don't mess with me or I will hurt you" attitude!

What about you? Who have you pictured playing Eve from Eden?

My Love Story

2011-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

It’s been said about many romances in books, my own included, that the love just happens too fast. That’s it’s not believable or realistic. That love just doesn’t develop that quickly. And sometimes it’s true. Sometimes you just say “come on…”. But I want to tell you a story that proves that sometimes it does just happen that fast.

* * *

I met my husband Justin when I was 18. Just 22 days after I turned 18 to be exact. He was 22 at the time. I had just graduated from high school a few months before and the world was waiting for me to take it over! I’m not super proud to say that we met through MySpace (back in the day when it was booming) in a roundabout way. We talked online one morning for about 3 hours. I wish I had saved that conversation somewhere, we talked about some really interesting stuff (and I don’t mean that in a sarcastic, bad way…). I was supposed to go out with a different guy that night but my previous date with him had been bad, and I mean bad in the way where I was actually scared to go out with him again. Justin talked me out of going out with that guy and going out with him instead.

He picked me up later that evening and we went out for dinner and a movie. As we were going through the day I just kept thinking “wow, something feels… different, about this guy”. Justin was the first guy I ever kissed on a first date. And he even had me home by 11:00 pm.

We went out the very next day. And the day after that, and the day after that. Within a few weeks we were already talking about getting married. Our lives changed for each other drastically, fast. We moved, one of us switched universities just days before school started. And within 7 weeks of us talking/meeting for the very first time, Justin asked me to marry him, and I said yes without any hesitation. He also had one heck of a ring for me ; )

Things were crazy for the next few months. We were both going to school full time, both working graveyard shifts full time, and planning a wedding. And then not long after we got engaged, I got the bomb dropped on me that my parents were finally getting a divorce. Despite knowing it was coming for a long time, it was still hard to take. Justin held me that entire night after I found out while I bawled my eyes out.

On December 28, 2005, Justin and I were married in the Manti, Utah Temple (for more info check out www.lds.org). Just 17 weeks after we had met. Justin and I went 5 ½ years of seeing each other every single day until our daughter spent a week in the hospital and we had to switch every few days so one of us could be at home with our son. We’ve had maybe 3 or 4 fights since that very first day. We balance each other out, despite being very different types of people.

Sometimes love does happen that fast. It’s not often and sometimes it dies out just as quickly as it formed. But that kind of love does exist.

And I’m living out my own love story.

Cover Lust (7)

2011-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

This was just unveiled Friday and I LOVE it! So beautiful and catching! And I love the title!

Goodreads Page

I can't wait to read it!

EDEN Reviews, Giveaway, and Teaser

2011-06-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

The reviews are starting to pop up and I am loving it!

Thank you to Trish at YA Bound for the great review! http://yabound.blogspot.com/2011/06/eden-by-keary-taylor.html

Thank you Kirthi at Pages! http://the1bookblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-eden.html I think I just might snuggle up with this review and take it to bed with me : )

Starry Sky Books is hosting a signed giveaway copy of EDEN so head over for a chance to win a copy! http://starryskybooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-eden-by-keary-taylor-signed-book.html

The Fiction Enthusiast featured EDEN for Teaser Tuesday: http://thefictionenthusiast.blogspot.com/2011/06/teaser-tuesday-eden-by-keary-taylor.html

If you haven't had a chance to grab EDEN for yourself yet, here are the links for you ; )

Paperback Amazon, paperback B&N, Kindle US, Kindle UK, Nook, Smashwords.

Review: Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

2011-06-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Never Eighteen
By Megan Bostic
Published by: HMH Children's Books
Pages: 204
Release Date: Jan. 16, 2012
Source: ARC from NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads:

I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.

My Thoughts:

I had the awesome chance to hang out with Megan Bostic for a while at the writers conference a few months back and I was thrilled when I got the chance to review her book through NetGalley!

Austin is on a mission. A mission to set things right, to mend the wrongs of his past, to help those he hasn’t had the gumption to help before. He faces his greatest fears and takes his best friend along for the ride.

I loved the friendship between Austin and Kaylee. It was sweet, realistic, and charged with romantic tension. It reminded me a lot of a relationship I had in high school, and just in general reminded me what it was like to be in high school and all the drama that is involved. Kaylee was totally believable and I loved her sarcastic, don’t-give-me-any-crap attitude.

Never Eighteen reminded me a lot of Thirteen Reason’s Why, but while 13 was really sad and depressing, 18 was hopeful and uplifting. It made you think about what your priorities in life really are, who you’ve effected throughout your life, and what things you need to fix. The message is one that we’ve seen done many times before but it puts a young and fresh spin on it.

The simplistic style in Never Eighteen was great. It read fast (and it is a short book) and I actually really enjoyed the short chapters. I buzzed through the book in about 3 days (fast for me having 2 kids and my own writing to do, lol!).

Be advised: there is a LOT of swearing in Never Eighteen. It didn’t bother me too much because it was all believable and it flowed with how a teenager would talk.

I recommend this book to those who want to read something a little different from all the other YA stuff out there. It was nice to slow down, and take a look at my own life, and put myself in Austin’s shoes. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Cover Lust (6)

2011-06-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't done a Cover Lust post in 2 weeks. My bad. It's summer, what can I say?

I have 2 covers for you this week, both pretty similar but both very awesome and kinda creepy!

What about you? What covers have you been lusting after this week?

Updates, Links to a Giveaway, and B&N!

2011-06-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

I've been off-island for the last 2 days being put through h-e-double-hockey-sticks (a.k.a. car shopping... thank goodness its now all over and I have my pretty new ride) and it's crazy how behind I feel after just those 2 days! Geesh! But time to get all caught up!

My good friend Jenni is doing a signed giveaway of EDEN and she also posted an interview with yours truly. Go HERE for both.

EDEN is now available on Barnes and Noble in paperback! YAY! With my other books they took forever to get them so I am thrilled they got Eden up so fast! You can find it HERE! And it is only $10.79, and that is cheaper than Amazon has it listed right now.

I think like all authors I've been super nervous to start seeing reviews of my book but I've found 4 so far and they have all been 5 star reviews! Thank you, thank you!

Don't forget to grab Eden soon if you have an e-reader! It's listed at only $0.99 right now but that will only last for a few more weeks! Find it at Amazon, Nook, and Smashwords.

A small Vindicated update: I'm a bit behind on my word count challenge since I was gone but I'm hoping I can pound out a lot of words throughout the rest of this week! I got some awesome ideas the last few days and Jessica is totally going to kick some after-life butt!

Lastly, I created this to be a new blog header but it didn't quite match right with my background so I decided not to use it but I still love how it turned out so I thought I would share!

I think that's all the updates I have for right now, I hope, lol. I feel so scatterbrained these last few days! I hope you have an awesome week! Take care all!

NOW AVAILABLE!!

2011-06-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you guys know me. I am sooo NOT a patient person. I had things ready, the posts were popping up everywhere and I started getting anxious. So, guess what? EDEN IS NOW AVAILABLE! WooHoo!! A whole 13 days early! Honestly I didn't expect for it all to show up so fast but I'm thrilled that it did! So here's the links for you:

Paperback on Amazon

Kindle

Nook (Barnes and Noble. Hopefully they will have the paperback version soon)

Smashwords

Just to let you know, the digital prices will not be staying at $0.99 for very long. I'm going to leave it at this price for a few weeks, maybe a month and then it will be increasing to $2.99 so get it while its still at the lower price!

Some of the pages are still being built (mostly just on Amazon) so if things look a bit off don't worry about it, you'll still get Eden just fine.

Don't forget to enter Electrifying Reviews Eden giveaway and please, help spread the word about the release!

Lyrical Inspiration

2011-06-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

My Vindicated playlist has been on repeat for the last couple of hours as I work on pounding out some words and I just wanted to share some with you. A song can have a powerful effect on your writing.

Here We Go!

2011-06-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

It's all starting, the pre-release stuff for EDEN! I am stoked! The first giveaway went up today! Thank you Alex from Electrifying Reviews! To enter the giveaway go to his post HERE and fill out the form!

I am currently 7,600 words into VINDICATED in the 50,000 words writing challenge. I do only write 5 days a week usually so that number should be 10,000+ words bigger by the end of the week : ) It's been a little bit of a struggle going from Eve's head back into Jessica's for the fact that they are totally different in pretty much every way but I love Jessica to death and Alex is a blast. Here's a little teaser for you: Jessica will be seeing the mom she ran away from at the age of 16 very soon! Things are about to get interesting!

And here to help me get in the mood to work some more on V (Vindicated) and hopefully help you get psyched for it as well, Vindicated by Dashboard Confessionals!

Under Construction

2011-06-04T11:52:00.001-07:00

As you can see I'm changing things up here on my blog. Hang tight till I get everything fixed up!

Just had to share!

2011-06-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Guess what came in the mail yesterday?! Woohoo!

My other children : )

4 books in just under 3 years. I think it's okay to feel proud of myself right now.

Music and my love of The Goo Goo Dolls

2011-06-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

For a lot of writers, music plays a very important part of their process. I know it sure does for me. Just a few weeks ago, I went and created an early playlist to VINDICATED, before I even wrote a single word. As I was working on EDEN, I had to turn on the playlist or it took me a lot longer to get into my groove. Today I want to just ramble about the band that has probably been the biggest musical inspiration to me: The Goo Goo Dolls.

The Goo Goo Dolls formed in 1986. I was born in 1987. That is 25 years now that they've been around and they never cease to amaze me. I think I got my first album of theirs over 10 years ago, and they are still my all time favorite. Through all the musical phases I've gone through, Goo Goo Dolls have stayed.

And it's no wonder, with songs like IRIS, NAME, BROADWAY, and my current favorite and theme song of EDEN, SOLDIER (click the links for the Youtube videos). These guys are simply awesome.

I thought I was going to die when they came to Seattle last year and I didn't hear about it until the morning before and had no possible way to go (due to being on the island and having 2 kids with nowhere to take them). I've made it one of my lifes goals to see them live someday.

Words have a powerful effect, whether they are written in a novel, placed in prose, or sung in harmony. For me these guys capture it all.

And so I leave you with the lyrics to SOLDIER and the Youtube video to their latest song, part of the new Transformers movie.

SOLDIER by THE GOO GOO DOLLS

When you came back I knew you'd have a story.
You need someone to ease the pain of living life.
You're like a soldier in the fray, seeking shelter
from all the madness that you've seen raining down now.

I know things change, your world has slipped away.
I know things change, but you're living like a soldier
who's caught in the fray.
Don't lose your faith,
it's not so cold,
it's not too late.

When you were naive you were so invincible,
and you laughed at anyone and anything that ever got in your way.
But now the mirror shows the change and you don't see that
you're sinking back into the crowd, an echo fading.

I know things change, your world has slipped away.
I know things change, but you're living like a soldier
who's caught in the fray.
Don't lose your faith,
it's not so cold,
it's not too late

And I never thought I'd see
you living on your knees,
A slave to some disease
that holds you captive.

And you can look inside of me
but the answers that you seek
and everything you need
is all inside you.

I know things change, your world has slipped away.
I know things change, but you're living like a soldier
who's caught in the fray.
Don't lose your faith, it's not so cold, it's not too late.