Cover Reveal: THE WARRIOR'S CODE by David James!

You guys, I'm so excited to reveal the fantastic cover for the next installment in David James' Legend of the Dreamer series! Just like the other two (Light of the Moon, The Witch's Curse), this one rocks--check it out!!

Live by the Code. 

Die by the Code. 

Official Synopsis: "In the magical world of the Order, Warriors fight for justice, freedom, and peace. Becoming a Warrior is an honor given to few, and twelve-year-olds Zackery Solts and Kate Black will do anything to have a place among the elite. Zack and Kate must compete against eighteen others and pass three deadly tests of courage and skill. Above all, they must be strong because while the dangers of the tests are unknown, one thing is clear: not everyone will survive."

Available 5.14.13

The Warrior’s Code (Book 1.2) is an e-format prequel short story in the Legend of the Dreamer series that can be read before or after Light of the Moon (Book 1) and The Witch's Curse (Book 1.1). 

David James writes books about stars and kisses and curses. He is the author of the YA novel, LIGHT OF THE MOON, the first book in the Legend of the Dreamer series, as well as the companion novellas, THE WITCH'S CURSE and THE WARRIOR’S CODE. The sequel, SHADOW OF THE SUN, will be released in late 2013. Living in Michigan, he is addicted to coffee, gummy things, and sarcastic comments. He enjoys bad movies, goofy moments, and shivery nights. Be sure to visit David’s blog and facebook to learn more about his various addictions and novels.

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A couple more books...

Hey everyone, just a quick note to let you know that the first book in my new dystopian series with Pendrell Publishing, GENERATION Z, is up on Goodreads! There's no description yet (it's coming) but feel free to add it to your TBR lists if you'd like--HERE!

Also, the last book in The Blood Prophecy trilogy is on Goodreads as well--and it has a title! That title is...

BLOOD REVELATION!!

I think Revelation is the perfect title for this book, because all the questions Ava (and the reader!) has had since the beginning will be answered in this book: Where did Ava come from? Why is Aldric her father? Why did her mother give her away? And so many more!

You can add this one to your TBR lists as well, right HERE!

Winners announced!

The official BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour ended last Friday (huge thanks to Yara at OUaT and all the participating bloggers!), and today I'm announcing the winners! 

The winners of a $15 Gift Card to B&N or Amazon are...

Veronica DeLuna and Daniela Pagnotta Alis!!

The winner of a signed copy of BLOOD AWAKENING plus swag is...

Cassandra Loskot!!

The winner of a hardback copy of BLOOD BORN, a BLOOD AWAKENING ARC, and swag is...

Meghan Stith!!

The winners of signed copies of BLOOD BORN & BLOOD AWAKENING plus swag are...

Rachel Spring and Destiney Rice!!

And the Grand Prize winner is...

Darith Ly!!

Congrats to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who followed the tour and commented! 

To the Winners: Email me (jmanni32 @ yahoo dot com) within 48 hours to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll be selecting another winner, so don't miss out!

Happy Release Day to T. Michelle Nelson and Lily Drake #2!

Today I wanna give a huge congrats to my friend T. Michelle on the release of her second novel in the Lily Drake series, 'TIL DEATH DO US PART!

If you've yet to read book one, LIFE & DEATH OF LILY DRAKE, I urge you to--it rocks! And please visit T on her website, Facebook, Goodreads or Twitter to wish her a Happy Release Day. :-)

First up, a bit about the book:

'TIL DEATH DO US PART
by T. Michelle Nelson
pub date: Yesterday!

product description from goodreads.com

With a doting husband and a new job training a vampire military, Lily Drake was living up to the prophecies of being the best. Her life was seemingly perfect, until tragedy strikes bringing her a loss she's not sure she can endure.

The hard-working super mom / vampire slayer, Lily Drake, has just learned problems still exist even after you become immortal.

As everyone knows, even if you find your soul mate, you don't always get a happily-ever-after. Lily may have found temporary happiness being a newlywed, but the honeymoon is over. When she finds her husband going out for late night bites with another woman, Lily has to fight to try and regain what she wants most, love and a happy family.

If Lily thought being a single mom was hard, she’ll find being married can be a bloody mess.

T was so kind in agreeing to guest post on my blog today, talking about what writing romance is like in today's world. Take it away, T!

One major difference I see in romance books today compared to their predecessors is the

ending. Not all, but most books today have the “happily ever after” endings. In fact, if you’re a writer, you’ve probably run across many publishers who require your endings to be this way or at least a “happy for now” type of conclusion. 
Do books have to end this way? Personally, I love a good tragedy. In college, I despised reading Shakespeare’s comedies. My personal favorite was Othello…forbidden love that winds up with a husband killing his wife. Give me a great tragedy anytime. Makes a person feel better about their own life, you know? Case in point, my favorite author (who won a Pulitzer Prize, by the way) Edith Wharton. Almost all of her novels ended up in tragedy or at least an unhappy ending, and they are classics. Why is it readers now expect a happy ending out of a romance? 
Maybe it’s because times are so much different. Sure, life was harder back in “the old days” as far as work and the lack of technology, but I never hear my grandmother recalling how stressful life was. People were married at a young age and stayed together. Today, the divorce rate is around half of all married couples, and finding a suitable partner isn’t always the easiest thing. Maybe that’s why we like a cheerful ending now. We have enough to worry about without a depressing story bringing us down.

A great point, T, how life today has certainly influenced all aspects of the writing world, but none more so perhaps than the Romance genre. 

What about you guys...Do you think romance novels of today tend to give a false sense of "happily ever after?" Or do you think they keep hope alive? Weigh in below!

Also, T. Michelle has a really cool photo contest going on, with a pretty awesome swag pack up for grabs--check it out HERE!

And Happy Release Day, T and Lily!  

Book Two is out!!

I honestly cannot believe that today marks the release of my second novel, BLOOD AWAKENING!

It truly is an unbelievable yet wonderful thing, this world of publishing. The journey is a bouncy one, but rewarding in ways unexplainable. 

And the best part? My book is out there for anyone to read!

So, if you might like to snag a copy, you can find it here:

Amazon               Barnes and Noble             Pendrell Publishing

The first book in the trilogy, BLOOD BORN, is also available on the above sites...just in case you may not have read it yet. ;-P

HUGE thanks to everyone who's supported me and encouraged me and helped get me to this point. Love to you all!

Release Party Tonight!

Today is the official release party of BLOOD AWAKENING, book two in the Blood Prophecy Trilogy! 

So if you happen to be in the Brewton, Alabama area between 3-6pm this afternoon (or driving through, which is what most people not from here do, lol), stop by The L House and snag a signed copy of my second novel, BLOOD AWAKENING!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Final Stop!

Aw, today is the last day of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour! (cue sad face.)

Head on over to Nikki's Book Blog: Vamps and Stuff and check out her review. And be sure to enter the giveaways (last chance)!

And as a final note, the awesometastic Yara at Once Upon a Twilight will be hosting a live chat with yours truly on Wednesday, April 24th, at 9pm CST. I'm pretty positive (okay, I'm positive) there'll be some giveaways going on during the chat, so I hope you'll all come by and say hi!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 9!

Wow, this thing is flying by--it's day nine of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour!

Check out the blog Reading Date, where there's an excerpt from the book, and be sure to enter the giveaways!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 8!

It's day eight of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour!

Me, My Shelf and I is today's stop, and they have a review for you guys. And be sure to enter the giveaways!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 7!

It's the seventh day of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour, and Live To Read is hosting a character interview!

Head on over and check it out, and be sure to enter the giveaways!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 6!

It's week two of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour!

Visit WinterHaven Books, where they have a review of BLOOD AWAKENING, as well as the rafflecopter for entry into the giveaways!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 5!

I can't believe the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour is already half over! (sad face.)

Take a trip over to Writing, Stuff and Nonsense and check out an interview I did. And don't forget to enter the giveaway!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 4!

It's day four of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour, and the lovely Savannah at Books With Bite has a review--go check it out!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 3!

It's day three of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour, and I'm having so much fun!

Go check out another review by Simply Infatuated!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 2!

It's day two of the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour!

Head on over to A Book Lovers' Review and check out a review of BLOOD AWAKENING!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour -- Day 1!

Today marks the first stop on the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour!

I seriously can't believe that a year has gone by since the first book in Ava's story, BLOOD BORN, was released--wow, how time flies!

Anyhoo, head on over to Once Upon a Twilight and check out the interview myself, Ava, Chance and Erik did with Yara (it was fun!). While there, go ahead and enter the giveaway!

BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour starts Monday!

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that the blog tour for my second novel, BLOOD AWAKENING, starts Monday at Once Upon a Twilight!

It'll run for two weeks (4/8-4/19), and there will be lots of prizes at the end, so be sure to follow along!

Here's a complete list of all the stops on the tour:

Week 1:
4/8 -   Once Upon a Twilight - Conversation Interview
4/9 -   A Book Lovers Review - Review
4/10 - Simply Infatuated - Review
4/11 - Books with Bite - Review
4/12 - Writing, Stuff and Nonsense - Author Interview

Week 2:
4/15 - Winter Haven Books - Review
4/16 - Live to Read - Character Interview
4/17 - Me, My Shelf and I - Review
4/18 - Reading Date - Excerpt/Teaser
4/19 - Nikki's Book Blog: Vamp and Stuff - Review

Three Line Thursdays--Final Week!

Since the next two Thursdays I'll be posting about various blog stops on the BLOOD AWAKENING Blog Tour, this will be the last Three Line Thursdays post. (aw, sad.)

What exactly is Three Line Thursdays? It's simple, really. Every Thursday between now and the release of BLOOD AWAKENING, I'm going to tease you guys with three random lines from the book! I'll treat this just like Teaser Tuesdays, by turning to random pages and selecting three lines (take that, two-line Tuesdays!). Fun, right?!

   

     Erik wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into him, and I finally opened my eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dull throb of pain still coursing through my head. “Whatever truth it is you think she needs to know, it can wait,” he said, squeezing me tight against his chest. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get the hell away from you.”