Author Spotlight: Joel Arnold's SNOW BURN

It's time for the next installment in my author spotlight series, where I'm interviewing select authors whose books are included in my Big Awesome YA Giveaway 2011.

If you haven't entered to win yet, you can find out more information about that here, and a list of all the prizes here..


And now, the interview...


*musical intro*


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Kate: Today, I want to welcome author Joel Arnold. Joel is giving away three e-copies of his YA suspense novel Snow Burn in the Big Awesome YA Giveaway. Welcome!!

So, Joel. Tell me about Snow Burn. (BTW I love the title... it's got that slight dissonance of ideas--cold and hot--that somehow goes together perfectly at the same time. It's very intriguing!) What’s it about?

Joel: Seventeen-year old Tommy Connell knows he’s in trouble when he goes winter camping with his friend Vince Nguyen without telling his folks. But when they’re caught in a sudden blizzard, and the man they rescue from freezing to death turns out to be an escaped convict, Tommy’s troubles are only beginning. Now Tommy and Vince must not only survive the blizzard, but also find a way to keep Quinn – who’ll stop at nothing to stay out of prison – from killing them.

Kate: That sounds incredibly chilling!

What kind of reader would this story most appeal to, and why?

Joel: I think Snow Burn will appeal to YA readers and adults who like suspense. It also raises some ethical questions - sort of a 'what would you do in this situation?' kind-of-thing.

Kate: Tell us about the very first idea you had regarding this story, the one
that made you say “I HAVE to write this!” Was it a certain scene,
character, or situation?

Joel: It was the situation. I wanted to explore the ethics of - if you were in the position to save someone's life, but learned as you were doing so that this person is a criminal, would you continue to save them? Would you let them die? Where does self-sacrifice and self-preservation intersect? This was a conundrum that I found fascinating and wanted to write about that.

Kate: That's a fascinating question to explore. Besides the main character or hero/ine, who’s your favorite character in this book, and why?

Joel: There are really only three characters in the book, but my favorite is Tommy's friend, Vince, who is Cambodian-American with a prosthetic leg who also plays football. I based Vince's personality on a childhood friend of mine, who seemed to effortlessly bridge the gap between the 'jocks' and the 'band geeks' of our school.

Kate: You just grabbed my interest with that description--"Cambodian-American with a prosthetic leg who also plays football." I love it! 

Where can readers interested in your work go to find out more?

Joel: My blog: authorjoelarnold.blogspot.com
Twitter: @authorarnold
Buy Snow Burn on Amazon


Kate: Thanks so much for participating in my author spotlight, Joel!!

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You can enter to win Snow Burn and tons of other awesome books now by clicking here and following the directions! The giveaway concludes Tuesday, December 20th!

Author Spotlight: Megg Jensen

As part of my BIG, AWESOME YA GIVEAWAY 2011, I am doing a few author spotlights highlighting some of the authors whose books are available to win.

Psssst!! If you haven't entered in the giveaway, you can do that here! I've giving away a whopping 39 books which will be split up among 4 lucky winners!!

So without further ado...

*ahem*

*cue interview music*

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Kate: Today's author is Megg Jensen, author of Anathema, Oubilette, and Severed (the Cloud Prophet Trilogy), among other books. That's right, she's giving away THREE books in the Big Awesome YA Giveaway!! She is also the author of Sleepers, which I understand is getting a new cover this week and thus couldn't be included.  

 
Welcome, Megg, and thank you for participating in the YA Giveaway: Author Spotlight!! Tell us about the Cloud Prophet Trilogy. What’s it about?

Megg: The Cloud Prophet Trilogy is comprised of my first three novels: Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed. It follows the journey of Reychel, a simple slave who’s destined to be more than she believes she can be. Reychel must the decisions she believes are right – whether or not they lead her to her destiny.

Kate: What kind of reader would this story most appeal to, and why?

Megg: It’s considered young adult fantasy, however I know plenty of adults who’ve enjoyed it – both male and female. There’s some romance, but there’s also a lot of mystery and action! My novels are what I like to call medieval dystopian.


Kate: Medieval dystopian? I love that!! I'm a huge fan of mixing up genres in interesting ways.


Tell us about the very first idea you had regarding TCP Trilogy, the one that made you say “I HAVE to write this!” Was it a certain scene, character, or situation?


  Megg: My daughter said to me, “Mom, I can see things in the clouds.” I answered, “What shapes can you see?” Her answer: “No, mom, I can see the future!” It was in that moment that Anathema was born. (You can tell my daughter has quite an imagination too.)

Kate: What a great story! I love that your daughter had a hand in the idea.


Is there a particular theme of Anathema, etc that spoke to you personally as you were writing it?

Megg: Everyone always writes stories about characters with a grand destiny. While this is a typical fantasy convention, I wanted to turn it on its ear by letting Reychel make her own choices. Many things are not what they seem in my books, especially the ending of Severed. My readers seem to appreciate the element of surprise.

Kate: I love that--you give tradition a nod while reinventing it. What person (besides yourself, obviously) is most influential on your writing process?

Megg: Wow, that’s a tough question. My family is very supportive of my writing career and without their support, I couldn’t get everything done. In fact, my daughter is curled up next to me while I answer this questions and my son is playing on the floor.

Kate: *cackles* I love asking the tough questions! Is there anything you’re working on now that you’d like to tell us about?

Megg: I am revealing a new cover for my novel, Sleepers, this week! Plus, I have two sequels to Sleepers coming out in 2012. I will also be releasing a short story that has a connection to the Cloud Prophet Trilogy, hopefully in January. I never stop writing. :D

Kate: Wow, that is a lot of writing. You are a woman after my own heart, then! Now, where can readers interested in your work go to find out more?

Megg: I mainly hang out on Facebook. I kind of live there. Is that weird? ;)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/meggjensenauthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/meggjensen

Website: www.meggjensen.com

Kate: There you have it, folks. Thanks so much for joining us, Megg!

Megg: Thank you so much for having me!!!!!!


~~~~~~~~~~

Intrigued? Be sure to enter for a chance to win Megg's Cloud Prophet Trilogy (one winner will get the whole set!) and be sure to check out her new cover for Sleepers!

You can check out the list of total prizes for the giveaway here. I will be featuring five more authors from the Big Awesome Giveaway, so stay tuned

BIG AWESOME GIVEAWAY: LIST OF PRIZES

As you may already know, I'm going to be giving away over 30 books in a super-awesome December holiday giveaway!!!!!

Yep, over 30 total. 39, to be exact. Some are ebooks, some are print copies signed by the authors, so even if you don't have a Kindle or a Nook it's okay--you can still enter!

And there will be at least 4 winners, maybe five!

You can find out all the details (and enter to win) here, or check out the list of available prizes below:

THE PRIZES


Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed (Cloud Prophet Trilogy) by Megg Jensen ~ The Cloud Prophet Trilogy follows the journey of Reychel, a simple slave who’s destined to be more than she believes she can be. Reychel must the decisions she believes are right – whether or not they lead her to her destiny.

Psssst! Check out Megg's author spotlight interview with me here!

Reveal by Brina Courtney (NEW RELEASE) ~ Shay Tafford is not normal. Being a cryptid is not normal. Seeing ghosts is not normal. Her father’s disappearance is not normal. Lucky for Shay, Hugh isn't normal either. So when he enters her life through her dead best friend Shay knows he may be her only chance at a normal life. A life she is desperately searching for.




Snow Burn by Joel Arnold ~Tommy knows he’s in trouble when he goes winter camping with friend Vince Nguyen without telling his folks. But when they’re caught in a sudden blizzard, and the man they rescue from freezing to death turns out to be an escaped convict, Tommy’s troubles are only beginning. Now Tommy and Vince must not only survive the blizzard, but also find a way to keep Quinn from killing them.

Check out Joel's interview with me here!



Finding Fiona by Emily Ward ~ The victim of a brutal attack, Fiona remembers little about her life until she meets someone who claims to be from her past. She finds out her parents were killed over a strange human replication machine and the world thinks she's dead. She returns to her old home in New York to find out who she is, but more importantly, confront the men who killed her parents.




Dolphin Girl by Shel Delisle ~ Sixteen-year-old Jane wants the life of a dolphin--wild, graceful, free.  But these days her life is nothing like that and it's not until she gets a tattoo and befriends popular Sam Rojas, a star swimmer, that her life begins to change.  DOLPHIN GIRL is a story of family, friendship, first love and freedom. 








Tempest by Holly Hook ~ Sixteen-year-old Janelle never thought the gray spiral birthmark on her arm meant anything special.  But when she meets Gary, a boy with a birthmark just like hers, she learns the truth: she is more connected to the destructive power of nature than she ever thought possible.  Learning the truth about herself is only the start of her nightmare.





Keeping Secrets by Maggie Dana ~ A beautiful horse is dead, and it’s all her fault . . . which is why 14-year-old Kate McGregor has put horses and riding out of her life. Forever! But her new job as a companion to Holly Chapman, a former riding star who’s now confined to a wheelchair, takes her back to the barn where she’s forced to confront her guilt. Can Kate keep her terrible secret from Holly, who is fast becoming her best friend? And, more important, can she keep her secret from Angela Dean who lives for only two things—winning ribbons and causing trouble?





George and the Galactic Games by HS Stone ~ George is the new kid in school. He also recently lost his father to a heart attack. In an effort to cheer him up, George’s mother takes him on a camping trip. That’s when their troubles really begin. Extraterrestrials abduct both mother and son. Now George finds himself an unwilling participant in the Yumal Contests, a galactic game against an alien species. He must overcome his fears and limitations to win because these games are not just a casual sporting event… his life hangs in the balance.



My Royal Pain Quest by Laura Lond ~ How far would a villain go to help a friend? Lord Arkus of Blackriver Castle thinks doing three heroic deeds is a bit too far.



Miya Black, Pirate Princess by Ben White ~ Sword fights. Ships. Duels in the rain. Unstoppable determination. The story of a girl who would do anything to protect her home; Miya Black, Pirate Princess.



Charlotte Powers, Power Down by Ben White ~ The diary of would-be greatest superhero Charlotte Powers. With the powers of super-strength, super-agility and phase-shifting, how can she fail? How indeed.

Shada by Craig Hansen ~ If you could speak to the dead, anyone at all, who would it be? When Jeni asked this question, Shada Emery figured it was a joke. So both she and Willow joined in the fun, naming their favorite dead celebrities. And then there was Ember Cole. Ember wants one more talk with her Grandpa Normie, whose death a year ago began a year of tragedy. So when Jeni suggests a camping trip into the dense woods of northwestern Wisconsin to hold a seance, Shada and Willow put off their misgivings and agree for the sake of their friend. Ember hopes to find the answers she seeks among the dead. But sometimes the dead have their own agenda.




Starfire Angels, Broken Wings, Crystal Tomb, and Origins of Dark Angel by Melanie Nilles ~ Starfire Angels, is about a teen "angel" who grew up on Earth believing she was human discovering what she really is and learning to become what she was meant to be. In the process, she falls in love with one of her own kind sent to train her while they fight those who would kill to claim the Starfire Crystal shard that she protects.




Descendant: The Protector by Daniel Koch ~ A mass genocide of the human race. A world in quarantine. And only one person can save it all.






A Little Magic by Valerie Gillen ~ She didn't believe in magic--until the magic chose her.

The Fisherman's Son, The City of the Golden Sun, and Return of the Golden Age by Marilyn Peake ~ From James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief of the Midwest Book Review: "...The Fisherman's Son is an original novel by Marilyn Peake about Wiley O'Mara, a twelve-year-old boy, living on an island up north during the beginning of the nineteenth century. Wiley befriends a dolphin and undertakes an incredible rescue mission, as well as a memorable journey through the wonders of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Fisherman's Son is a delightful and colorfully narrated tale which documents Marilyn Peake as a story teller of considerable narrative skill."



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Big Awesome Giveaway (Print Package) Win 9 books!!

BIG AWESOME YA GIVEAWAY (You could win tons of books!!)

Hi everybody!!

Remember how I promised you that I was putting together a big, super-secret, totally awesome giveaway?? A giveaway so amazing that you just HAVE to enter?

Well, it's here!!!!

See, I wanted to do something fun for Christmas/New Year's. It's been a big year for me. I published some books. I saw this blog grow exponentially. And I've met tons and tons of awesome people. So I wanted to celebrate with something... AWESOME.

Allow me to proudly introduce what I hope becomes a tradition on this blog....

And the Winner is...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Scroll down to see WHO the winner is...

It's Emily White!!!

Congrats, Emily, you win a signed copy of The Curse Girl and a pair of book-inspired earrings, designed by my sister. I'll be contacting you shortly!
Woot!!!

But... that was just a practice run.

Everybody else, stay tuned for the BIG, AWESOME, SUPER-SECRET GIVEAWAY on Monday :) :)

Check out this awesome contest!

Hey guys,

Christmas is in the air! (Seriously) Check out this awesome giveaway over on Carolina Valdez Miller's blog
for a signed copy of HERE by Denise Grover Swank. The book looks awesome and it's definitely going on my TBR list.



CHECK OUT THE CONTEST

Have a great weekend! Tomorrow I'll let you know who won my giveaway for a signed copy of TCG!