JKS Communications and Cheryl Rainfield presents (new) Cover Reveal for "Stained" plus Info, links, Excerpt and VIDEOS!

Some time ago I did a cover reveal for Cheryl Rainfield's Stained.  Well, it's being updated and changed.  Apparently the original cover was declared "too graphic" by Barnes & Noble.  Here's some information about the book, and a couple of videos!  But first, I did want to let you know that today, June 18, 2013, you can pick up her book Parallel Visions for free on Amazon (my review here).  Just follow the link on the book's title and pick up your free copy.  Okay, without further ado..

 BLURBS for STAINED: 

“Powerful. I raced through it, wanting to know if Sarah would find a way to escape both her captor and her self-doubts. A real nail-biter! “

 - April Henry, New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die

“A compelling, gutting, and ultimately triumphant read. You won't want to stop turning pages -- Or blink. Or breathe. -- until you reach the very last one.”

-Jennifer Brown, award-winning author of Hate List

“STAINED is dark, tense and gripping; a triumph of one girl's heart, soul and will to survive. Sarah's strength during her descent into terror kept me reading way past bedtime! “

-Laura Wiess, critically acclaimed author of Such a Pretty Girl

FROM the AUTHOR:

Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED, I drew on some of my own experiences of bullying, abuse, and trauma to write STAINED and to give it greater emotional depth. Like Sarah in STAINED, I experienced abduction, imprisonment, periods of forced starvation, mind control, and having my life threatened. And like Sarah, I tried hard to fight against my abuser, keep my own sense of self, and escape. I hope readers will see Sarah's strength and courage, and appreciate her emotional growth as she reclaims herself.

  

Tagline for STAINED:

Sometimes you have to be your own hero.

You can buy STAINED on:  (just link to the ones you want to):

Amazon (hardcover): http://www.amazon.com/Stained-Cheryl-Rainfield/dp/0547942087 (well, it says you can get an email when avail)

Amazon (kindle): http://www.amazon.com/Stained-ebook/dp/B00AUZS5VG/

Amazon.ca (hardcover): http://www.amazon.ca/Stained-Cheryl-Rainfield/dp/0547942087

Amazon.ca (ebook): http://www.amazon.ca/Stained-ebook/dp/B00AUZS5VG/

Amazon.co.uk (hardcover) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stained-Cheryl-Rainfield/dp/0547942087/

Amazon.co.uk (ebook) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stained-ebook/dp/B00AUZS5VG/

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780547942087/?a_aid=allbookstorescom&selectCurrency=USD

Powell's: http://www.powells.com/biblio/:new:0547942087:?&PID=7355

Books a Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780547942087?AID=42121&PID=520726

Excerpt from p. 2

Today is the day I’ve been waiting for my entire life—the beginning of normal.

I reach for the latest Seventeen and flip through its glossy pages until I find the perfect face. The girl is pretty, with wide green eyes, hollow cheekbones, and full, pouty lips. But what I notice most is her smooth, unblemished skin. It’s perfect. I cut the photo out and stick it above my bed, in the last of the space. Now I can’t even see the sunlight yellow of my walls—but the confidence that shines in these faces is even brighter. And today I’m going to get so much closer to that. I don’t care how much the treatments hurt; it’ll be worth it. It can’t hurt as much as the stares and rude comments I get every day.

I know I shouldn’t let people’s ignorance get to me. Mom’s always telling me I’m beautiful; that it’s what’s inside that counts. But she’s not living in the real world. Sure, whether you’re kind or good matters. But pretty people automatically get better treatment. Ugly people get ignored ... if they’re lucky. And me, I get stares, taunts, or people going out of their way to pretend they don’t see me.

I try to think of it as fuel for my comic scripts. All heroes have to go through personal trauma before they find their true strength—and most of them feel like outsiders even after they do.

And finally, the videos!

Book Trailer:



Why the author wrote the book:

Tell Me Something Tuesday

Tell Me Something Tuesday has been hosted up until now by Cambria Hebert, but this is the last week she'll be hosting it. I figured I'd take part one last time with her. In Cambria's words:
Welcome to my weekly meme Tell Me Something Tuesday where I ask you something and you tell me the answer!! It’s as simple as that and I thought it would be a great way for all of us bloggers to get to know one another! So this is how it works: I post a question here on my blog and then i give my answer. I invite all the bloggers to take the question and post it on their blog with their answer and we can hop around and see what everyone says! If you are a blogger don’t forget to leave your link at the bottom of this post! If you aren’t a blogger – that’s okay too!! Leave your answer in the comments section!

If you decide to take part, be sure to sign up with Mr. Linky over at Cambria's site.

Tell Me Something:

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2013?

My Answer:

Well, see, many, many years ago I decided I would stop making New Year's resolutions, and thereby resolved to never make another. So I haven't. However, I still want to take a moment and discuss resolutions with you. I'll be talking more about this on Nick Wastnage's blog on the 6th, because it is an issue that has been troubling me for months now, and that issue is cyber-bullying and the attacks on authors and reviewers and bloggers that try to maintain good relations with authors that I have been seeing on the various readers' sites: worst, of course, on Goodreads and the Amazon fora. This is a serious issue, and it seems to be a small, vocal minority of discontents who have nothing better to do than to try to pull down other people, destroy people's lives and works, and for what? Because they're bored? They're certainly not doing it for the "good of the readers" as they claim, because a lot of the drivel they are spreading is outright lies, or at the least horribly twisted for their own purposes. So, to them I say: STOP. Why are you doing this? You're creating dissension when there should be discussion. You're creating drama where there should be learning. Your senseless and needless cruelty is destroying people's lives. Yes, those who you are attacking? Those are real people with real lives.

What does this have to do with New Year's Resolutions? It's simply this:
Let's all resolve in this new year to be kinder to one another. To remember that there is a real person on the other side of that blank screen. To remember that words can hurt, and that what we do affects the people with whom we interact. There's no need for the senseless cruelty I've seen in this past year. There's no need to cut other people down, to try to destroy other people's lives in some quest for popularity. Just stop, think, and start to treat other people the way you would want them to treat you. it doesn't matter if other people reciprocate. It doesn't matter how they treat you. YOU change yourself, and the world will gradually change around you.

Let's start the new year by helping to STOP bullying!

Recently I won a copy of Billie A. Williams' book Cold Water in a giveaway. In subsequent e-mails, it came to light that Ms. Williams is offering a great guide to help stop bullying, free, on her website. You can find more info here. The name of the e-book is Let's Investigate Bullying. It can also be used as a reading guide for Cold Water. All in all, I think this will be a good resource for anyone who works with children, has children, or generally wants to help stop bullying. Check it out.

Tell Me Something Tuesday

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly Meme hosted by Cambria Hebert. Remember if you take part to go to the original post here and add yourself to Mr. Linky.

Here are the rules and this week's question:

Welcome to my weekly meme Tell Me Something Tuesday where I ask you something and you tell me the answer!! It’s as simple as that and I thought it would be a great way for all of us bloggers to get to know one another! So this is how it works: I post a question here on my blog and then i give my answer. I invite all the bloggers to take the question and post it on their blog with their answer and we can hop around and see what everyone says! If you are a blogger don’t forget to leave your link at the bottom of this post! If you aren’t a blogger – that’s okay too!! Leave your answer in the comments section!

Tell Me Something:

Were you bullied in school? How do you think bullying has charged over the years – do you think it’s worse now than it was a few years ago?

Bullying is a hard thing to deal with, partially because it is so subjective. Lately there are a lot of accusations and counter-accusations of bullying all over the web among the reader, reviewer, and writer groups - is it all really bullying?

How to you define bullying to ensure the safety of the victims without having to subsequently deal with the bullies, who tend to say, "Hey, I wasn't doing nothin', just having my own opinion is all..." or, more often, "Just havin' a little fun, is all, I didn't mean nothin'," with big innocent eyes. Meanwhile people are having nervous breakdowns, becoming suicidal, and fleeing social sites because they can't deal with that person's aggressive, combative, and hostile "opinions". I believe that if a person feels very emotionally traumatized, that should be considered cyber-bullying. Again, it is very subjective, but people have different levels of attacks that they can handle, depending on their life situation and how they are being attacked.

Now, as to me - was I ever bullied? I went to a very small school (when I graduated, there were 79 students in the entire high school, counting 8th grade - 19 of those were my classmates. The most students I ever remember having in my class were 32), in a very small town, where everyone knew everyone else. I think probably some people at some point tried to bully me, but I have a very protective older brother, and if I complained about anyone, those people would receive a quiet "talking to" and usually I wouldn't have any further trouble from them. some may say my brother was bullying the bullies, but he was always very quiet and respectful as he spoke to them - he has always been a master at getting people to see the error of their ways. I actually became much better friends with some of these people after they had their "talks" with my big brother. Were other people bullied in my school? Yes, I think so - I definitely remember protecting some of my friends from people who were being cruel to them. I am not aware of anyone being physical attacked or threatened, but it might be that, as a small farming and ranching community, the students mostly had other things to do than to cause trouble.

How has it changed? Is it worse now? Well, the internet is a blessing and a curse - a blessing because it has made the world so much smaller, and helped more people than ever before have a place where they can fit in and have friends. However, it has also exaggerated all the worst of the bad in people, too - people create on-line personas that have no relation to their real self, and as such, they feel safe venting out all the anger, bitterness, and grief that they've always had to keep inside - quite often inappropriately. Perfectly nice people will get on-line and suddenly they will turn into raving jerks, cyber-stalking people, cyber-bullying people, attacking people left and right... and you really don't want to believe all the stories you hear about it. Then, one day, it happens to you. Now you're a believer - and much sadder about things.

I think the basic tenets of social interaction are more important than ever on-line.

Treat others like you would want to be treated yourself. Remain civil and polite. Disengage from unfruitful and combative situations rather than allowing yourself to be dragged into them. You may not always be able to do this - it is especially hard when you know people are telling lies about you everywhere, because you want to go and clear things up, but the types of people who organize these on-line witch hunts are the types of people who will twist any words you say beyond your recognition. Better to ignore them, walk away. That's actually pretty good advice for your average, real-life interactions with bullies, too - if you can safely do so, just refuse to react and walk away. Obviously if you are in danger, you should protect yourself, but most bullies are all talk and, at their heart, total cowards.

Next week's question:

Is your TBR pile out of control? How do you plan to reign it in? I imagine everyone awaiting a review from me will be anxiously waiting to hear this!

Again, if you have a blog and you want to play along, be sure to link up. Mr. Linky is at the end of Cambria's post. Or you can just respond in the comments section. Thanks for a thought-provoking question this week, Cambria!

Book review: "Bravado/Dramatique" by S.L. Madden

Bravado/Dramatique by S.L. Madden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy Reading Level: Young Adult

Disclosure: I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Synopsis: The play’s the thing....

Between training, fighting demons and studying for school, Nick has more than enough to worry about. So how did he end up starring in the school play opposite Reva and Wendy, the two girls he can’t decide between?

Reva’s beautiful and popular and has a crush on him, but she wants to keep it a secret. Wendy’s a good friend, but she’s too wrapped up in thinking her father’s new care provider is a witch to notice Nick slipping away from her.

It’s enough to distract him from what’s important, like the demons who crave the Orb’s power. Then there’s Cal Phibbs, the school outcast, who’s been heard having conversations with himself. It’s almost as if he’s talking to someone — or something — no one else can see...

My Thoughts: This is book two in Only Human on the Block. I read and reviewed the first book in the series, The Four-Year-Old Guardian, in September, 2011, and that review can be seen here.

Since it has been so long, I was tempted to re-read the first book before starting on this one, but decided I need to get moving through some of these older books, so just had to hope my memory would come through for a change. As it turned out, I fell back into the plot fairly easily. Being able to see how these characters are growing and changing is a real treat, and having the play be such an essential part of this story was a rare treat, as I was in drama throughout grammar, middle and high school, and well into University. I’ve always loved performing in front of a crowd, to the point where karaoke is one of my favorite things to do, if I can find a place where I enjoy hanging out.

I particularly liked Cal Phibbs – to tell the truth, he is exactly the sort of person I would have hung out with in school, if anyone in my little town had the guts to be a Goth. My parents would have blown a gasket, but I’ve always favored the outcasts and the misfits – being one myself – so I really related to Cal. I’m very concerned about Myles – when you read the book you will know why. He’s a sweet boy, and I’m terribly afraid something horrible is going to happen to him. We will see.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of editing errors in my copy. I enjoyed the story, obviously, but the constant parade of extra words, missing words, wrong words, incorrect tenses, wrong forms, redundancies, etc. really started to wear on me – there was something on pretty much every page. Like this sentence, for instance: “He his him in his lap.” What was meant was “He hid his hand in his lap.” Despite that, I quite liked the book; if the story had been any less, I would have taken off a star for the editing, but the story was so fun and engaging that I will leave it at five stars.

This is to be a five-book series; the next book, Together Alone should be out soon, and I will definitely be watching for it. If you enjoy young adult urban fantasies, you should definitely enjoy the Only Human on the Block series, set in Averton, OR – the monster capital of the world. I’ll be reading another book by Madden next – from a separate series – so watch for my review, coming soon!



View all my reviews