Crossroads Tour Finale: Judith Graves (Contest!)

*sniff* This is…the last crossroads interview… 🙁

BUT…today the Crossroads bring you the lady who started it all…JUDITH GRAVES! Yes, she is the master mind of the Crossroads, of course, and I’m happy to be apart of her awesome idea.

Ms. Graves here has written Under My Skin…and that, my friends, is about…

*drum roll*

All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life…

Redgrave, Alberta had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief’s son and Redgrave High’s resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn-in fact, she’s lethal. But she can’t help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding-human Alec. And then her world falls apart.

A normal life? Now that’s the real fairytale.- taken from her website, here.

Cool, right?

The Interview:

1.- You write about a town that has a lot of…creepy things! Do you ever wish you lived in a town filled with vamps, weres, and the oh my! ?

You mean I don’t? Now that’s disappointing…lol…

2.- I hate to ask…would you want to date a werewolf of a vampire?

In the Skinned series werewolves are very nasty creatures – soulless, mindless beasts – not unlike some guys I dated back in the day. However, if you’re talking lycan/wolven-ish shapeshifters, then I’d be much wiser now and choose one of those to date over a cold-blooded, scary-assed un-dead vampire.

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

The Bride of Frankenstein, or Marge Simpson, or better yet – Marge Simpson as the Bride of Franky. Why? The updos of course! Hold on a minute, has anyone seen Marge and The Bride in a room together at the same time? Hmm…..

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Like that great episode of Buffy. Nice. Well, this year I’m going as the WWII propaganda machine that was Rosie the Riveter, so I’d likely be going around saying “We can do it!” and flexing my wimpy biceps. 😉

5.- What’s next in your writing career? I’m working on several projects, Second Skin, the next book in the Skinned series, where darkness settles over Eryn like a second skin…as well as a contemporary YA novel that I’ve been picking away at. So, remember back when I interviewed Shannon Delany…my first interviewee? Author of the awesome book, 13 to Life? Well, now you have a chance to WIN 13 to Life! In the comments below, tell me the best costume you’ve ever worn, the best costume you’ve witnessed, or the best costume idea you have and you’ll be entered to win it (randomly)! (You have until Nov. 6th!) Add your email, please! HAPPY HALLOWEEN, READERS! P.S. There will be a chat with the authors from the tour over at Page Turner’s Blog today and tomorrow! Check it out!

Crossroads Tour: Tonya Hurley! (Swag Contest)

Today we have the queen of all ghost, Tonya! You might have heard of…GHOSTGIRL? Perhaps gazed at the beautiful covers?

Gorgeous and gothic right?

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she’s dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn’t stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.

If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we’ll go to be seen.

R.I.P. – Read In Peace

-taken from ghostgirl.com Tonya’s website is here.

1.- Do you believe in ghosts? Well, I never really had an opinion one way or the other until recently. I went to the Amityville horror house tag sale, the actual house on Long Island, and bought a blue chandelier. Let’s just say that some strange things have been happening since I put it in the house. I’m told that spirits travel in glass. 2.- Did you have to go through any research for ghostgirl? The only research was looking back on my own life and on the lives of the people I knew then and know now. 3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be? Hit Girl in Kick Ass! That’s what my daughter is going to be this year. That, or I would wear a ball gown made out of raw meat like the Mark Ryden portrait, but Lady Gaga already beat me to that. The only thing I’d add would probably be fly strips for earrings. 4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as? Sophia Coppola. 5.- What’s next in your writing career? Writing more. Thanks, Tonya! Readers, leave a comment telling me if you’ve had any ghostly experiences or not, and you’ll be entered to win some swag!

Crossroads Tour: Lucienne Diver!

Today we get all vamped out with Lucienne Diver, author of VAMPED (and REVAMPED):

Hey, all, it’s me… Gina Covello, fashionista of the damned. Yeah, I know, I managed to get almost all the way through high school without cracking a book and now here I am immortalized in one. Well, actually, the immortalization process might have started a bit earlier, like in the broom closet at the after-prom-party, somewhere around the time Bobby-freakin’-Delvecchio started gnawing on my neck. Anyway, this is one book I’d maybe even phone a friend about, since it covers all my adventures going from chic to eek. Because, let me tell you, eternity without a mirror or tanning options—totally uncool. And they don’t tell you in, like, Vampirism 101 about crazy conspiracies, psycho-psychics and other hazards of unlife. But I will, so stay tuned.- taken from Lucienne’s website, here.

Interview:

1.- Would you freak out if you were turned into a vampire suddenly?

Well, it depends whose universe I woke up in . If I was one of those vampires who could tolerate the sunlight, eat sumptuous meals and still stay slender, I’d be great with eternal youth and beauty and all the other perks that come along with joining the bite club! I kinda like the thought, though, that with great powers come great vulnerabilities. My vamps have some traditional drawbacks, like sun allergies, pointy stick phobias and the complete inability to keep down mochachinos. I’d almost certainly freak out if I were to wake up in a world without caffeine! Consorting with a vampire, though…that’s another matter entirely.

2.- Since she can’t look into a mirror, I read were Gina mentioned turning a person vamp so they could be her stylist! Would that be something you recommend, as well?

I never even let my stylist blow dry my hair after a cut—with my type A personality I can’t see taking time for something that will happen on its own if I just wait an hour. Also, I can’t imagine dooming anyone else to a life without tanning options, so I’m pretty certain I’d go around looking stupid a good deal of the time, with hair sticking out every which way and lipstick that completely misses the point. I’d make a very scary vampire indeed, and for all the wrong reasons.

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

My favorite costume from when I was a kid was Isis, from the old television show by that name. Every Sunday at 2 p.m. I’d drop whatever I was doing to watch Isis the way I did Buffy when I reached adulthood. The heroine was an archaeologist =and= a goddess/superheroine. That’s my dream come true—right after literary agent/published novelist/ruler of the known world! (Side note: unfortunately, a few years ago I got my hands on old VHS tapes of Isis, all excited at my find, only to discover that they don’t hold up. At all. They play now like a bad after-school special. “What’s that? Billy inflated a life raft in the science lab? Clearly we need an ancient Egyptian goddess to save the day!”) [Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn29b0cgnaE&feature=related]

Today, I’d probably still choose a goddess. Maybe Athena.

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Insert ancient goddess here. I was an anthropology and writing major in college. I particularly love the myths and legends. Let the smiting begin!

5.- What’s next in your writing career? I’ve just turned in the third Vamped novel, Fangtastic. The fourth, Fangtabulous, is definitely on the horizon, since it’s contracted, but the muse is messing with me at the moment. Something a little darker (and unrelated) is starting to call to me, but since I don’t have all the kinks worked out, I’ll be a little mysterious about that for now.

Crossroads Tour: Amy Brecount White!

An author you will not forget, Amy White, joins us today!

Her first novel, Forget-Her-Nots came out in March of this year. (Did you totally catch the ‘you will not forget’ and the title of her book similarity? Should I stop with the whole trying to be funny? Yeah…)

With a cover in a lovely shade of pink, here’s some info on Forget-Her-Nots:

When someone leaves three mystery flowers outside her dorm door,Laurel thinks that maybe the Avondale School isn’t so awful after all — until her own body starts to freak out. In the middle of her English presentation on the Victorian Language of Flowers, strange words pop into her head, and her body seems to tingle and hum. Impulsively, Laurel gives the love bouquet she made to demonstrate the language to her spinster English teacher. When that teacher unexpectedly and immediately finds romance, Laurel suspects that something — something magical — is up. With her new friend, Kate, she sets out to discover the origins and breadth of her powers by experimenting on herself and others. But she can’t seem to find any living experts in the field of flower powers to guide her. And her bouquets don’t always do her bidding, especially when it comes to her own crush, Justin. Rumors about Laurel and her flowers fly across campus, and she’s soon besieged by requests from girls — both friends and enemies — who want their lives magically transformed — just in time for prom.- taken from her website, here.

Interview of awesome flower power:

1.- Finally! Flower power!!! Where’d this idea come from?!

I’ve always loved gardening, and I found out about the language of flowers when I was a freelance writer on the lookout for story ideas. I never wrote the article, but I did make a symbolic bouquet, a tussie-mussie, for a friend who was very ill. She loved it, and I so wanted my flowers wishes to come true. Then I started thinking, what if they did….

2.- Silly questions this may be but…can you look at flowers the same now?

No, I definitely look at flowers differently. I can’t walk by one without smelling it. If it has no scent for me, I wonder if it would for my main character Laurel?

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

I’d be a tussie-mussie of orange crocuses (for mirth), snowdrops (for hope), and parsley (for the feast of life, because I plan on eating lots of chocolate!)

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Yikes!! I probably would have been lazy and thrown a witch’s hat on and grabbed a broom. Although magic powers could be fun, and I’d be a white witch, of course.

5.- What’s next in your writing career? Just finished up a contemporary novel called String Theories. It’s about a 14 y.o. girl who gets in over her head, a stream, the physics of relationships, and getting even. White bellflowers for hosting me!! Omg, if String Theories is literally about the physics of relationships, I’m at the bookstore at midnight! And if it’s not, it STILL sounds awesome! 14 y.o….I can relate! 😉 Thanks for stopping by at the crossroads, Amy!

Crossroads Tour: Angie Frazier!

(Sorry for the lateness…won’t happen again. I hope. I’m scheduling one. I know, I know. Lauren, why didn’t you schedule, ya know, a lot of them at once?! Well, A.) I’m a very slothy person. and B.) It wouldn’t be the Lauren Way if it wasn’t done last minute. So, tomorrow: Be here at 10pm for next post.)

But today we have…Angie! Angie Frazier! Angie Frazier, author of Everlasting!

So, first of all, the summary. (Phase one of falling in love with a book before reading it).:

Sailing aboard her father’s trade ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a girl of society in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love, or condemn herself and her father to poverty. On her final voyage before the wedding, the stormy arms of the Tasman Sea claim her father, and a terrible family secret is revealed. A secret intertwined with a fabled map, the mother Camille has long believed dead, and an ancient stone that wields a dangerous – and alluring – magic. The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar, a handsome young sailor whom she is undeniably drawn to. Torn between trusting her instincts and keeping her promises to her father, Camille embarks on a perilous quest into the Australian wilderness to find the enchanted stone. As she and Oscar elude murderous bushrangers and unravel Camille’s father’s lies, they come closer to making the ultimate decision of who – and what – matters most.- taken from her website, here.

Phase 2: The wonderfultastic cover. Because it’s pretty effin’ beautiful!

Phase 3 of this Blog Post: The Interview!

1.- Since Camille in Everlasting wants to sail the waters, did you have to do some research? Perhaps a cruse was in order?

The only research I did was through books—I am SO not a sailor! I get seasick very easily, so I envy that part of Camille’s character.

2.- Everlasting is your debut novel! How long did it take you to write it?

From start to finish, SIX very long years. However, I did write other manuscripts during those years, only coming back to Everlasting every now and again for a new draft. But still, it took me a long time to figure out what the real story was. The first draft was something totally different.

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

The more outrageous and random the costume the better IMO, though I can never think of anything great. This year I’d like to dress up as an Egyptian goddess a la Cleopatra. That would require preparation though, and I’m not so great in that department!

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Is this a permanent spell or something that lasts for 24 hours? If it’s only for a day, I’d love to be dressed up as Katniss, but only if I don’t, you know, end up in the Games 🙂

5.- What’s next in your writing career? My first middle grade mystery, THE MIDNIGHT TUNNEL: A SUZANNA SNOW MYSTERY is releasing on March 1, 2011 (so excited!!) and then in June 2011 the sequel to EVERLASTING will be released! Thanks, Angie! Check back soon for upcoming contest, peeps!

Crossroads Tour: Rosemary Clement-Moore!

Ack, sorry for the lateness! *hides face in shame*

But!!!!

We do have an awesome author with us for the Crossroads today…Rosemary Clement-Moore…author of The Splendor Falls! (Man, my book wish list is getting LONG. ;))

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?

-Taken from Goodreads, but Ms. Moore’s website is here!

1.- It seems that a lot creepiness happens in the South. What made you set Splendor Falls in Alabama?

I’ve visited Alabama quite a bit because my best friend lives there. The setting is actually her fault, because she told me about Old Cahawba, the real ghost town that inspired the setting for The Splendor Falls. And it’s easy to imagine spooks and haunts in the South. There’s a lot of superstition and history, both of which are still very strong there. Plus once you get out of the city, and away from the interstates, there are some beautiful, natural places that make it the perfect place for Sylvie’s story.

2.- What type of research did you go through for Splendor Falls?

I researched the real history the region–not just the state history, but the prehistory as well. The legend of Prince Madoc landing in Mobile bay, for example, is a real legend. (I love taking things like that and running with them.) I did visit Old Cahawba (I took my little dog with me, too!) to get a ‘feet on the ground’ feel for the place. It really is kind of spooky there.

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

A fairy princess. Pretty AND magical!

4.- What’s next in your writing career? I have another gothic/mystery/ghost story/romance coming out in June of next year, called Texas Gothic.

Crossroads Tour: Stacey Kade

Another author who has a book with an AWESOME title and cover, Stacey Kade, author of The Ghost and the Goth!

Alona Dare-Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star…and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect,especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian-Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?- taken from her website, here.

1.- There’s the the ghost cheerleader…and the goth! Two totally different ends on the Social Network of High School. Which ‘class’ were you? (I’m a total band geek!)

I didn’t really belong anywhere! 😉 I was welcome in several circles but never quite found one place to call home. I kind of floated around the periphery watching everyone else maneuver! : )

2.- I absolutely love the cover of The Ghost and the Goth! Did you have any say in it?

My editor, the amazing Christian Trimmer, and I talked about it. We looked at movie posters and DVD covers, and I sent some stock images that my mentor and fellow writer, Linnea Sinclair, helped me find.

But really, it was all the brilliant Hyperion folks! And the models—aren’t they perfect?

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

Oh, dear. Um, I’ve always wanted to go as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unfortunately, that would have to be one heck of a costume because I do not look the part! : )

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Shamefully, on most Halloweens, I would just be me! I’m the one who answers the door, wrangles the dogs, and hands out the candy. No time for costumes in all of that!

5.- What’s next in your writing career? The sequel to the Ghost and the Goth, Queen of the Dead, comes out next June. I’m also working on the third book in the series, title TBD.

Crossroads Tour: Jackie Morse Kessler! (Swag Winner Announced)

I really can’t wait to read HUNGER by Jackie Kessler! Haven’t heard of it?!

Here:

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?

A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens. -Taken from Amazon

Find blurbs at Jackie’s website, here!

Awesome, right? Love the cover.

1.- Many of your other books are adult. Did something happen to make you suddenly switch over to YA or did inspiration just hit and the heroine happened to be a teenager?

Got it in one! HUNGER just happened to have a teenage protagonist. I didn’t set out to write YA; that’s just how the story unfolded.

2.- In Hunger, Lisa finds out she’s Famine in the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Will we get to read/learn about the other horsemen?

Absolutely. But not everything will be in HUNGER. J

3.- If you could dress up as anything you wanted for Halloween, what would it be?

Wilykit from Thundercats. No, wait – Dark Willow!

4.- Oh no! You’re at a Hallows Eve Party and at 12am you actually become what you were dressed up as! Who/what would you be dressed up as?

Zoe from Firefly. (Not from Serenity!!!)

5.- What’s next in your writing career? Right now, I’m all about the Riders’ Quartet: RAGE, the second book, will come out in spring 2011, and I’m currently writing LOSS, the third book. WINNER: Heather from Buried in Books! Send me your addy to readergirl321@aol.com Awesome swag headed your way! 🙂