Blog Tour + Interview + Giveaway - Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach

Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: May 3rd 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Expect a bundle of joy—er, trouble—in this hilarious, heartwarming story from the award-winning author of Stupid Fast Geoff Herbach.

Taco's mom always said, "Today is the best day of your life, and tomorrow will be even better." That was hard to believe the day she died of cancer and when Taco's dad had to move up north for work, but he sure did believe it when Maggie Corrigan agreed to go with him to junior prom. Taco loves Maggie- even more than the tacos that earned him his nickname. And she loves him right back.

Except all that love? It gets Maggie pregnant. Everyone else may be freaking out, but Taco can't wait to have a real family again. He just has to figure out what it means to be a dad and how to pass calculus. And then there's getting Maggie's parents to like him. Because it would be so much easier for them to be together if he didn't have to climb the side of the Corrigans' house to see her...

Book Links:

 

Goodreads | Amazon paperback | Barnes & Noble (B&N)

Book Depository | iTunes | Kobo

 

Find the tour schedule here.

When did you start writing?  

The first story I remember writing was in 5th grade. My mom had an electric typewriter that shook the whole desk when you turned it on. It took me about six weeks to write a couple of pages about these extreme sports ants who would hang glide out of a park to steal bratwurst from a grocery store. I thought it was genius.

How did you get the idea for Anything You Want?

I thought about Paulie Bleeker from the movie Juno, a lot. I wondered what if he was poor and his family was broken and he thought his only chance at having a family would be to keep the baby when his girlfriend got pregnant. I thought about how Paulie Bleeker is just a kid and he couldn't handle it, but he'd try so hard. Then I began to write Taco.

Who is your favourite character in Anything You Want?

Other than Taco, it's the lawyer Nussbaum. That old guy is so messed up, but also really cool. As the story progresses you get a good view into his life and how he became who he became. You see him make choices to protect Taco even though he doesn't exactly want the responsibility at first.

Do you have any works in progress?

I co-wrote a book with Tom DeLonge, formerly of Blink 182. It's about these skate punk kids who turn into paranormal investigators. Pretty fun. That's coming out in October. 

What are your hobbies?

I'm a runner, which I need to be because I love to eat. I'm also a big movie buff. I've started teaching a gaming narrative class, which is getting me more into games, too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

I am the author of the YA title, Stupid Fast (June 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire). I also wrote The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, a Novel from Three Rivers Press. When I'm not writing books, I'm writing for Radio Happy Hour or developing ridiculous musical bits.

When I'm not writing, I'm teaching writing at Minnesota State, Mankato, which means I write a lot of comments about writing on student writing. 

Writing a lot of writing and reading about writing and writing on reading.

  Author links:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

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Book Blitz + Giveaway - Tone Deaf by Olivia Rivers

Blog Tour + Promo + Giveaway - The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Release Date: May 3rd 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Suspense

Synopsis:

When Olivia's mother was killed, everyone suspected her father of murder. But his whereabouts remained a mystery. Fast forward fourteen years. New evidence now proves Olivia's father was actually murdered on the same fateful day her mother died. That means there's a killer still at large. It's up to Olivia to uncover who that may be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first?

CHAPTER 1

 

SCATTER MY BONES

The only sound I can hear is my own panicked breathing. I’m running flat out through the forest. Then my toe catches a root, and suddenly I’m flying.

 

Until I’m not. I come down hard. With my hands cuffed in front of me, I can’t even really break my fall. Despite the plastic boot on my left leg, I’m up again in a crazy scrambling second, spitting out dirt and pine needles as I start sprinting again.

 

Running like my life depends on it. Because it does.

 

 Three weeks ago, I was living in Portland. Working in a supermarket deli. Slicing turkey breast and handing out cheese samples on toothpicks.

 Now I’m hurtling through the Southern Oregon woods, being chased by a killer. And no one knows I’m here.

 

Because of the handcuffs, I can’t pump my fists. Instead, I have to swing them in tandem. Trying to avoid another fall, I lift my knees higher as the ground rises. I can’t hear my pursuer, just my own panting breath.

 

If I don’t come back, will Duncan ever know what happened to me? These woods can hide things for years. Will animals scatter my bones, plants twine around my remains?

 

When I reach the top of the hill, I don’t slow down. Instead, I try to lengthen my stride. It’s impossible to maintain a rhythm. I leap over a log, splash through the silver thread of a creek. My mouth is so dry. It tastes of dirt and the bitterness of fear.

 

A Steller’s jay startles up from a branch, squawking. If only I could take wing and fly. But I’m stuck here on earth, legs churning, staggering over this uneven ground.

 

I can’t stop or I’ll die.

 

The reality is that I’m probably going to die anyway. And if that’s so, I’m going to go down fighting.

 

Copyright © 2016 by April Henry

Inspiration 

(http://www.aprilhenrymysteries.com/the-girl-i-used-to-be.html)

The book was inspired by a real case from the 1980s that took a sudden turn thirty years later after additional human remains were discovered.

And the book is partly about the girl I used to be.

Although I’m older than Ariel, I, too, grew up in Medford. (And yes, I know she’s fictional.) A big chunk of The Girl I Used to Be was actually written in Medford during visits with my mom. I got to put all the things I love about my home town in that book. The tawny hills that hold the valley like cupped hands. The evergreens that stand like sentinels on the horizon. The historic cemetery I have walked through hundreds of times.

Most of all, I put as much of my mom in that book as I could. Ariel’s neighbor is named Nora. She wears my mom’s clothes, looks like my mom, has heart failure like my mom did, and even has the same old-fashioned turns of phrase: we’re a pair to draw to, I should hope to shout, I could wring your neck, get out of my hair. I even lifted a whole scene nearly verbatim from an encounter we had with some homeless men in the cemetery, one that showed me how differently I saw the world than my mom did.

In the book, neighbor Nora gives Ariel a beautiful button necklace from around her own neck, just like my mom gave me when I told her how much I liked it. That necklace ended up playing an important role in the story, becoming a talismanic object for Ariel (almost as much as it is for me).

When my mom was on hospice in the fall of 2013, I moved home to take care of her. While I was there, I got to read the first few chapters of The Girl I Used to Be to her. I think we both knew I was writing it thinking I might be able to keep part of her in this world.

Follow the The Girl I Used To Be by April Henry Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

I write mysteries and thrillers. I live in Portland, Oregon with my family.

If you've read one of my books, I would love to hear from you. Hearing from readers makes me eager to keep writing.

When I was 12, I sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine.

My dream of writing went dormant until I was in my 30s, working at a corporate job, and started writing books on the side. Those first few years are now thankfully a blur. Now I'm very lucky to make a living doing what I love. I have written 13 novels for adults and teens, with more on the way. My books have gotten starred reviews, been picked for Booksense, translated into six languages, been named to state reading lists, and short-listed for the Oregon Book Award. 

I also review YA literature and mysteries and thrillers for the Oregonian, and have written articles for both The Writer and Writers Digest.

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Month9Books Friday Reveal + Giveaway - Cover Reveal: The Perilous Journey of the Much-Too Spontaneous Girl by Leigh Statham

Today Leigh Statham and Month9Books are revealing the cover for THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO  SPONTANEOUS GIRL, book 2 in THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL Series! Which releases October
11, 2016! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers to receive an eGalley!!

Here’s a message from the author:

Why I love the cover: Hello, GOGGLES! I love how artist Christel Michiels captures Marguerite's amazing fashion sense and tech
gadgets. Plus this cover, like the first, is just the right mix of danger and fun. Who doesn't love leather gear cuffs and a good tophat?

On to the reveal! 

 Title: THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL (THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE
NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL #2)

Author: Leigh Statham

Pub. Date: October 11, 2016

Publisher: Month9Books

Format: Paperback & eBook

Find it: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Goodreads

Lady Marguerite Vadnay and her trusty automaton, Outil, have settled into life in New France rather well. Marguerite is top of the class at flight school and her future as an aerpilot is nearly secure. She has everything she wants— except a commission on the pirate hunting dirigible The Renegade. Using every card in her aristocratic arsenal, Marguerite wiggles her way onto the finest warship France has to offer. But as usual, Marguerite’s plans endanger the lives of those she holds dear— only this time no one else is going to save them. As Marguerite and Outil set off on a rescue mission they may not return from, she finally realizes it’s time to reorder her cogs.

This steampunk adventure is littered with facts from The Golden Age of Piracy and follows (not too closely) some of the lives and adventures of the brave men and women who sailed the seas as privateers, pirates and soldiers.

Leigh Statham was raised in the wilds of rural Idaho, but found her heart in New York City.
She worked as a waitress, maid, artist, math teacher, nurse, web designer, art director, thirty-foot inflatable pig and mule wrangler before she settled down in the semi-quiet role of wife, mother and writer. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, four children, five chickens and two suspected serial killer cats. If the air is cool and the sun is just coming up over the horizon, you can find her running the streets of her small town, plotting her next novel with the sort of intensity that will one day get her hit by a car.

Where you can find Leigh:   

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

1 winner will receive an eBook of THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL & an eGalley of THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL (when available), International.

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