Contest + New YA Release: CALL ME GRIM

July has been quite the busy month!  I returned from an amazing vacation in France (I'm pretty sure, in another life, I was born on the French Riviera) and started a new role at my marketing day job. All exciting stuff, but needless to say my writing has taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully August will see me back in the writing saddle.

In the meantime, I wanted to share another exciting new release and author giveaway.  This time for my pub sister, Elizabeth Holloway, and her fantastic new YA novel CALL ME GRIM releasing in early September.

To celebrate the release, Elizabeth joined forces with Dorothy Dryer (author of MY SISTER'S REAPER and MY TETHER SOUL) to create a reaper-themed Prize-Pack of Death Giveaway.

The winner will receive a signed ARC of CALL ME GRIM by Elizabeth Holloway, a signed copy of MY SISTER'S REAPER by Dorothy Dreyer, a signed ARC of MY TETHERED SOUL by Dorothy Dreyer, a wicked cool Goth pendant, and a $50 gift card for Amazon or Paypal cash!

Sounds amazing, no?  Enter to win at the Raffelcopter below, or visit Beth's website here .

About CALL ME GRIM: 
Release date: Sept. 9, 2014 by Month9Books

The truck should have turned Libbi Piper into a Libbi Pancake -- and it would have, too, if Aaron hadn't shown up and saved her life. The problem? Aaron's the local Grim Reaper... and he only saved Libbi's life because he needs someone to take over his job.

Now, Libbi has two days to choose between dying like she was supposed to, or living a lonely life as Death Incarnate. Talk about a rock and a hard place. 

And the choice goes from hard to sucktastic when her best friend shows up marked: condemned as a future murderer. Libbi could have an extra week to stop the murder and fix the mark... but only if she accepts Aaron's job as Reaper, trapping herself in her crappy town forever, invisible and inaudible to everyone except the newly dead. But, if she refuses? Her best friend is headed straight for Hell.

Goodreads  |   Pre-Order on Amazon  | Pre-Order on B&N  |

More about Beth Holloway: website  | Blog  | @EHolloway300

More about Dorothy Dryer:  website  | Blog | @DorothyDryer

MY SISTER'S REAPER | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

MY TETHERED SOUL | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

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YA Book Pick: FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

Once a month, we choose an outstanding YA book to review. We want to spotlight books of interest to aspiring writers, as well as highlight some of our favorite books and authors!

This month's Book Pick is FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

First Line: "There was a boy in her room."

This is a great first line, because it sets up the conflict immediately. Our viewpoint character is someone who isn't comfortable having boys in her room. The next few lines make it clear that Cath has just arrived at her new dorm and is sort of freaking out about the newness of everything.

Highlights: Gosh, where to start? First, let me say that I devoured this book. I literally couldn't put it down. My YA fiction taste tends to skew more speculative, but this contemporary novel completely won me over (much like ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins--also highly recommended).

I gushed about Rainbow Rowell nailing the teenage voice in my review of her last book, ELEANOR & PARK. This book is even better. Cath, her sister Wren, the boys in her life, her roommate Reagan--any one of them could have stepped right out of life and into her book. The central romance is sweet without being cloying or sappy. Cath's fears and doubts about her love life will ring true for anyone, not just eighteen-year-olds.

The author's take on the subject of fandom and fanfiction writing is gentle, but also realistic. As someone who spent her teenage years obsessed with the TV show The X-Files, I saw a lot of myself in Cath. I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to this, no matter what their age.

A Good Read For: YA contemporary/romance writers searching for great examples of teenage voice or a slow-build romantic relationship. Although the book was marketed as YA rather than New Adult, it is set in the first year of college and therefore might be of interest to NA writers as well.

Are You A "New" Adult?

While I don't consider myself an old adult, I'm definitely not a new one (mind you, I'll always be young at heart!). With that being said, I'm not one to shy away from a good New Adult book. This somewhat new segment of fiction has sprung up to define that age category of characters who are in their late teens or early twenties. That time in life after high school (I promise you, life isn't all downhill after graduation). When love is more than crushes and stolen kisses and protagonists are dealing with bigger issues than the need to break free of family and childhood rules.  

ABC News has likened New Adult to Smut Fiction but there is definitely more to this new genre than just a bridge between Young Adult and Erotic Fiction. 

Two authors who have provided succinct commentary on this new genre are Ellen Hopkins and Abbi Glines. You can find an interview with both authors on the subject here at the Sony Reader Store Blog.

But if you think this is a new fad, think again. The term was first used by St. Martin's Press in 2009. This recent Modern Manuscript post provides a brief history on the beginnings of this new term and it's rise in popularity with the help of popular blogs such as NA Alley and authors Colleen Hoover (Slammed) and Cora Carmack (Losing It).  

If you're interested in reading New Adult novels, check out Goodreads' New Adult Book Club.  It boasts 1749 members....and counting.