Apocalypsies Feature: Janci Patterson

Welcome to my next Apocalypsies Feature where I ask a bit about brand new fabulous books from my YA debut crew and a few random questions that inquiring minds want to know. Okay, well, at least weird questions that I want to know. Welcome Janci Patterson and debut novel CHASING THE SKIP!
CHASING THE SKIP
by Janci Patterson

Release Date: Today!

Synopsis: Ricki’s dad has never been there for her. He’s a bail bondsman who spends his time chasing parole evaders—also known as “skips”— all over the country. Ever since Ricki’s mom ran off, Ricki finds herself an unwilling passenger in a front-row seat to her father’s dangerous

lifestyle. Ricki’s feelings get even more confused when her dad starts tracking seventeen-year-old Ian Burnham. She finds herself unavoidably attracted to the dark-eyed felon who seems eager to get acquainted. Ricki thinks she’s ever in control—the perfect accomplice, the Bonnie to his Clyde. Little does she know that Ian isn’t playing the game by her rules.

Leanna Asks:

Your Fave thing about your book:

I loved writing about bounty hunters, and their place in the American justice system. It's exciting to write about people with interesting lives--things real people do for a living, but that other people generally know very little about. Plus, the subject allowed me to write some adventure and some pathos, which is a fun combination.

Your Fave fluffy animal: 

The red panda. Most adorable critter ever, and exotic, too.

If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?:

Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City. I could be ghostly and still enjoy the flowers.

Your Website, Twitter, FB links: http://www.jancipatterson.com/ , https://twitter.com/#!/jancipatterson , http://www.facebook.com/JanciPatterson

Thanks Janci! HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!

Apocalypsies Feature: Jay Kristoff

Welcome to my next Apocalypsies Feature where I ask a bit about brand new fabulous books from my YA debut crew and a few random questions that inquiring minds want to know. Okay, well, at least weird questions that I want to know. Welcome Jay Kristoff! Happy Release Week to Stormdancer!

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Stormdancer

Synopsis:
A DYING LAND

The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, land choked with toxic pollution, wildlife ravaged by mass extinctions.
AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST

The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary beast, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows thunder tigers have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.
A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL

Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a hidden gift that would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Your Fave thing about your book, Jay:

Chainsaw katanas.

Your Fave fluffy animal:

Ninjas. They're fluffy, right?

If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?:
The guy who cancelled Joss Whedon's Firefly. (And Leanna says "Amen!")
Your Website: http://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/misterkristoff
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJayKristoff

Yay Jay! Happy Release Day!

Apocalypsies Feature: Anne G. Brown

My Apocalypsies Debut Crew features continue! Today with Anne G. Brown. Happy release day, Anne! I had the pleasure of meeting Anne in NYC earlier this year and I can't wait for this book!
Title: LIES BENEATH


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Happy Release Day!

Synopsis:
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters must prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually they select their victims at random, but this time around the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death. It's going to take the whole White family to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between family and the girl he loves. One thing's for sure, whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

Your Fave thing about your book: THE MAP at the front that shows where everything is!! I'm a huge Winnie the Pooh fan, so any book with map makes me happy. The setting is a very real place where I spent a lot of time growing up (and still do). It was my editor's idea to include the map, so now readers can gain a familiarity with the area, too.

Your Fave fluffy animal: Yellow baby chicks

If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?: Probably an antique store. I'd wander around and touch all my old stuff.

Your Website: http://annegreenwoodbrown.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AnneGBrown
FB: http://facebook.com/annegreenwoodbrown

Yay Anne!

Apocalypsies Feature: Kathleen Peacock

Welcome again to my Apocalypsies feature, where I ask my fellow YA and Middle Grade debut crew a little about their book and a few totally random (but important to me) questions. Today, welcome debut author KATHLEEN PEACOCK! *Muppet dance!*


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Book Title: HEMLOCK
Release Date: May 8, 2012 - Today!

Synopsis:

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered. Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf. Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Your Fave thing about your book:

The way the characters interact with each other.

Your Fave fluffy animal:

A kitten. Or a bunny. Oh! Can I say Bunnicula?

(Leanna says: "Yes, Kathleen, yes you can. See that bunny up top there? That's Persebunny but sometimes I think she's actually Bunnicula. Which rocks.)

If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?:

A huge old used bookstore with a resident cat. Or each of my ex-boyfriends (if they thought I was PitA while I was alive…).
Your Website: http://www.kathleenpeacock.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kathleenpeacock

Yay Kathleen! Happy release day! Hemlock looks amazing!

Apocalypsies Feature: E. C. Meyers

Welcome to my next APOCALYPSIES Debut feature starring E. C. Meyers!

In this feature I ask a bit about these fabulous debut novels and of course something about fluffy animals and ghosts because this is my blog after all, and I'm nothing if not true to my themes...

Welcome E. C. and his fabulous new book!


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Title: Fair Coin

Release Date: March 6, 2012 - Today!

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is horrified when he comes home from school and finds his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide attempt is
even more disturbing: she thought she’d identified Ephraim’s body at the hospital that day.

Among his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim finds a strange coin—a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his thumb, he can turn his alcoholic mother into a model parent and catch the eye of the girl he’s liked since second grade. But the coin doesn’t always change things for the better. And a bad flip can destroy other people’s lives as easily as it rebuilds his own.

The coin could give Ephraim everything he’s ever wanted—if he learns to control its power before his luck runs out.

LRH: Your Fave thing about your book:

E.C.: You mean other than the fact that it's finally out in the world? I'm really pleased that my protagonist has a good relationship with his mother, and that this is something many readers appreciate so far. I think Fair Coin breaks with some YA conventions, such as the missing or dead parents, and it straddles some lines. That makes it a weird book indeed, but it's exactly the story I wanted to tell.

LRH: Your Fave fluffy animal:

E. C.: Red panda! It's like an adorable mix of a raccoon, a panda, and a fox.

LRH: If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?:

E. C.: The Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library. I'm assuming that I'll be able to manipulate objects so I can read all the books there, but even if not, I want to be around people who love books as much as I do. I would also enjoy just hanging around that beautiful building, and something tells me I'd have a lot of ghostly company there.

(Leanna says: OMG this is one of my fave responses I've received to that question. You rock, E. C.)

Website, Twitter, FB links:

Website: http://ecmyers.net/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ecmyers
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/flipthecoin


Cheers and congratulations on release day!

Apocalypsies Features

I'm a proud member of THE APOCALYPSIES debut crew of YA novels releasing in late 2011 and 2012. Due to the madness of the DARKER STILL tour, I'm belated on shoulting out my fellow 2011 Apocalypsies releases. Here's what 2011 and early 2012 has brought us SO FAR in our Apocalypsies realm. Very exciting books!

August 23, 2011


POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil (Balzer + Bray)
October 13, 2011

DARWEN ARKWRIGHT AND THE PEREGRINE PACT by A.J. Hartley (Razorbill)
November 8, 2011

DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul by Leanna Renee Hieber (Sourcebooks)
December 1, 2011

CATCHING JORDAN by Miranda Kenneally (Sourcebooks)
January 1, 2012

THE BOY PROEJCT (NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS OF KARA McALLISTER) by Kami Kinard (Scholastic)

LIVING VIOLET: THE CAMBION CHRONICLES by Jaime Reed (Dafina)

LOVE AND LEFTOVERS, by Sarah Tregay (Katherine Tegan Books/HarperCollins)
January 3, 2012

CINDER by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends)

THE CABINET OF EARTHS by Anne Nesbet (HarperCollins)

UNDER THE NEVER SKY by V. Rossi (HarperCollins)

CRACKED by K.M. Walton (Simon Pulse)
January 5, 2012

LITTLE DOG LOST by Mônica Carnesi (Nancy Paulsen Books)
January 10, 2012

THE GATHERING STORM by Robin Bridges (Delacorte)

DITCHED by Robin Mellom (Disney-Hyperion)

MAY B by Caroline Rose (Schwartz and Wade)

DESTINY'S FIRE by Trisha Wolfe (Omnific)
January 17, 2012

NEVER EIGHTEEN by Megan Bostic (Graphia)

FRACTURE by Megan Miranda (Walker/Bloomsbury)

THE BOOK OF WONDERS by Jasmine Richards (HarperCollins)
January 24, 2012

EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton (Balzer + Bray)
January 31, 2012

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows (Katherine Tegen Books)

ARTICLE 5 by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen)
February 1, 2012

HALFLINGS by Heather Burch (Zondervan)

THE OTHER LIFE by Susanne Winnacker (Marshall Cavendish/Usborne)

February 2, 2012

HARBINGER by Sara Wilson Etienne (Putnam)
The whole list is over on The Apocalypsies Blog and it is the best way to keep track of all of us as a whole and what we're up to.

BUT, in the coming months and through 2012 I will bring some of the Apocalypsies here to elaborate upon themselves and their work in a few brief questions. You know, like what their favorite fluffy animal is. And if they were a ghost, where would they haunt. Burning questions I want to know. Oh, and a little about their books too. :)

So stay tuned!