Month: January 2017

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh, My! by Merrie Destefano | Author Guest Post (+ Lost Girls Giveaway)

Posted January 4, 2017 by Jana in Giveaway, Guest Post / 8 Comments

Today I’m welcoming Merrie Destefano, author of Lost Girls, to the blog to talk a little about her experience writing her book! I am SUPER excited to read Merrie’s new book and plan to real soon. Read more about Merrie and her book after her post, plus enter to win a copy of Lost Girls for yourself!


Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh, My!
by Merrie Destefano

Sometimes the process of writing is like being knee-deep in The Wizard of Oz. Have you ever seen that movie? It’s always been one of my favorites. In fact, when I was five-years-old, I went though this period where I would only answer to the name of Glinda. (Remember her? The good witch?) I also had an imaginary friend who was a bubble—like that crazy, magic bubble Glinda traveled in.

But writing is nothing like the character of Glinda. That girl knew what she was doing. She had All The Power. If she was writing, she’d just snap her fingers and, POW, a story would appear. It would be perfect.

No, writing is more like being the character of Dorothy. Lost, confused, angry, lonely, worried, and yet somehow being on a Very Important Mission the whole time.

And like Dorothy, there might be a point that you realize the other characters surrounding you are an awful lot like people you really know. You don’t set out to do that. It just kind of happens.

Like Dylan McCarthy in Lost Girls.

At first, I was just adding a love interest for my main character. But before I knew it, Dylan started wearing a skin that look a LOT like a Real Life Boy I had crushed on in seventh grade. My real-life crush sat next to me in English. (Swoon.) He. Was. Adorable. And he wrote poetry that could stop your heart. And then start it thundering again.

I swear, even our teacher had a crush on that boy.

And yes, I did drop my pencil once and he reached down to pick it up. But I was too embarrassed to let him do that. I dove faster than I thought I could move and snatched it up from the floor before he could get it.

I may have foiled my own chance at romance.

Maybe. Maybe he might have. In another world and in another universe, maybe, just maybe he might have picked up that blasted pencil and given me a smile. Just like Dylan did with Rachel. Maybe it could have been the beginning of something wonderful.

Maybe.

Meanwhile, I keep writing stories where maybe actually becomes true. That’s the best way for any story to end.

Maybe Dorothy will get to go home again…

Change that.

Dorothy goes home and all is well. She even gets to keep her little dog.


Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano
January 3, 2017 from Entangled Teen
Genres: YA contemporary, YA psychological thriller, YA dark contemporary
Add to Goodreads | Amazon

Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.

She doesn’t recognize the person she’s become: she’s popular. She wears nothing but black.

Black to cover the blood.

And she can fight.

Tell no one.

She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.

But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And as much as her new life scares her, it calls to her. Seductively. The good girl gone bad, sex, drugs, and raves, and something darker…something she still craves—the rush of the fight, the thrill of the win—something she can’t resist, that might still get her killed…

The only rule is: There are no rules.


About Merrie Destefano

Born in the Midwest, magazine editor Merrie Destefano currently lives in Southern California with her husband, two German shepherds, a Siamese cat, and the occasional wandering possum. Her favorite hobbies are reading speculative fiction and watching old Star Trek episodes, and her incurable addiction is writing. She loves to camp in the mountains, walk on the beach, watch old movies, and listen to alternative music—although rarely all at the same time.

Website | Blog | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

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Top Ten 2017 Debut Books I’m Excited About

Posted January 2, 2017 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 5 Comments

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at the other blog I write for, The Broke and the Bookish.

Over at The Broke and the Bookish we do this topic every year and I swear it was made for me! As host of the Debut Author Challenge, I’m all over debuts and there are some amazing ones coming out this year! It’s hard to only pick 10, but I’m going to make myself stick to this limit!

1. Caraval by Stephanie Garber: I’ve already read it, and it’s AMAZING. You neeeed to read it! It was beautiful, and absolutely a new favorite of mine!

2. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: It’s described as being magical, guys. And it’s Russian! Winter demon… I mean come on.

3. To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough: Yay mysteries! I love them when they’re done well!

4. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller: You had me at pirate.

5. The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser: I’m reading this now, and it’s pretty fun! The characters can jump into stories and interact with the characters!

6. Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse: Girl has 7 days before she moves to Tokyo… What will she do with those 7 days?

7. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon: This sounds like a delightful romantic comedy! Two Indian-American teens are arranged to be married someday… Super interesting!

8. And We’re Off by Dana Schwartz: An artsy girl is sent to Europe on an all expenses paid vacation from her grandfather. But there’s a catch… I’m SO IN.

9. The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson: I’ve been craving an exciting dystopia lately, and this one sounds awesome! There’s a war, and the bad guys win and take over the earth. The last neutral place in the world, Sanctuary Island, is where you go to find safety… but this island is not safe at all.

10. Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser: A fantasy “set along the waterways of a magical world”. That’s ALL I NEEDED.