Feral Blog Tour {Guest Post and Giveaway}

I'm so thrilled to have the Feral Blog Tour stopping by today with a fun Guest Post by author Holly Schindler and an awesome Giveaway...

Feral

by Holly Schindler

August 26, 2014

Harper Teen

The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think you know.

It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out will offer her a way to start anew.
But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened. 
But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley….
Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very last page.

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / IndieBound

WATCH THE FERAL BOOK TRAILER

I asked Holly to answer this very important question: If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by FERAL, what would it look and taste like and what would you call it?

The opening quote from FERAL comes from PARADISE LOST:

“The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.”

FERAL is a classic psychological thriller—with a heavy focus on the mind.  While the book features mystery, horror, and paranormal elements, the emphasis is definitely on the “psychological” aspects, rather than thriller / action.  The novel features a Hitchcockian pace and focus on character development (here, we’re exploring the inner workings of the main character, Claire Cain).  Essentially, every aspect of FERAL is used to explore Claire’s inner workings—that even includes the wintry Ozarks setting.  The water metaphor is employed frequently in psychological thrillers to represent the subconscious or unconscious mind, and here is incorporated in the form of a brutal ice storm (that represents Claire’s “frozen” inner state).  The attempt to untangle what is real from what is unreal (another frequently-used aspect of the psychological thriller) also begins to highlight the extent to which Claire was hurt in that Chicago alley.  Even the explanation of the odd occurrences in the town of Peculiar offers an exploration into and portrait of Claire’s psyche.  Ultimately, FERAL is a book about recovering from violence—that’s not just a lengthy or hard process; it’s a terrifying process, too.  The classic psychological thriller allowed me to explore that frightening process in detail.  

Because there’s so much attention to the mind in FERAL, to the psychology and inner workings of the main character, Claire, I’d have to say that the cupcake I would create inspired by the book would have to be a tea party style cupcake.  The imaginary cupcakes you once created as a girl to go along with imaginary tea in your delicate little miniature china teacups.  The cupcakes would taste different for each person at the tea party: they could be richly chocolate, or Pixy Stix sweet, or jawbreaker sour—depending on her (or his) own state of mind.  

That’s another important aspect of FERAL: we all see the same world, but we attach different meaning to it, depending on what our own personal experience has been in the past.  For example, in the novel, a Peculiar High student can look at the woods near the school and see a hideout, an escape (the woods offers students a shortcut and place to hide to smoke).  Claire Cain, who has just come to town and has endured, only months before, a brutal gang beating back in her hometown of Chicago, can look at the woods and see nothing but danger.

So that’s what I’d have to create—imaginary cupcakes that live only in the mind, that taste as we expect them to, depending on our past experiences.

Holly Schindler is the author of the critically acclaimed A BLUE SO DARK (Booklist starred review, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year silver medal recipient, IPPY Awards gold medal recipient) as well as PLAYING HURT (both YAs).  

Her debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, also released in ’14, and became a favorite of teachers and librarians, who used the book as a read-aloud.  Kirkus Reviews called THE JUNCTION “...a heartwarming and uplifting story...[that] shines...with vibrant themes of community, self-empowerment and artistic vision delivered with a satisfying verve.”  

FERAL is Schindler’s third YA and first psychological thriller.  Publishers Weekly gave FERAL a starred review, stating, “Opening with back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A BLUE SO DARK…This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer for speaking…This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is scary, imperfect, and carries no guarantees.”

Schindler encourages readers to get in touch.  Booksellers, teen librarians, and teachers can also contact her directly regarding Skype visits.  She can be reached at hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com, and can also be found at hollyschindler.com, hollyschindler.blogspot.com, @holly_schindler, Facebook.com/HollySchindlerAuthor, and hollyschindler.tumblr.com.  

Giveaway runs from 8/26 - 9/2

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Cover Reveal: FERAL by Holly Schindler

I'm thrilled to help reveal the cover for the lovely Holly Schindler's upcoming YA book, FERAL...

FERAL

by Holly Schindler

releasing August 26, 2014

Harper Teen

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

Goodreads / Pre-Order

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Whaddya think of that cover?! I think it's AWESOME and I CAN'T wait to read FERAL!!!

Author Interview: Gregg Rosenblum, author of the Revolution 19 series

I'm so excited to have author Gregg Rosenblum back on the blog today for another fun interview! Gregg is the author of the action-packed, sci-fi Revolution 19 series and book two, Fugitive X, releases next week...

Fugitive X

(Revolution 19 #2)

by Gregg Rosenblum

1/7/14

Harper Teen

Their fight for freedom is humanity's last hope for survival. The chilling Revolution 19 trilogy continues in Fugitive X.

A war between humans and robots is on the horizon, and only one side will survive.

Siblings Nick, Kevin, and Cass are struggling to survive in a world where deadly, sophisticated robots have turned on their creators and enslaved mankind. Fugitives from one of the bot-controlled Cities, the siblings venture into the woods, but when they are attacked by bot foot soldiers, the siblings are separated...and for the first time, they are on their own.

Created in conjunction with Alloy Entertainment; Howard Gordon, showrunner of 24 and Showtime's Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning Homeland; and James Wong, writer-director of the Final Destination films, Fugitive X is the gripping next installment in the cinematic Revolution 19 series.

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / IndieBound

Revolution 19

Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us.
Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky —they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world—by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.
Revolution 19 is a cinematic thriller unlike anything else. With a dynamic cast of characters, this surefire blockbuster has everything teen readers want—action, drama, mystery, and romance. Written by debut novelist Gregg Rosenblum, this gripping story shouldn’t be missed. 

Amazon / B&N / Indiebound

What three words best describe Fugitive X?

Danger, surprise, struggle

Grab a copy of Fugitive X and answer the following:

Favorite chapter?

Chapter 39, the final chapter. I creeped myself out.

Favorite page?

23. Something terrible is happening to Nick and Cass, but it's a powerful moment, I think.

Favorite new character?

Erica. She's dangerous, and self-reliant, and strong, and Nick is in way over his head with her...

Flip to a random page and give us a 1-2 sentence teaser:

Okay, I did do this randomly, although I was tempted to cheat...Pg. 155: "One of the girls stepped towards her, slowly, her hands raised in a gesture of peace. 'Cass, I'm Lexi. This is Farryn. We're your friends. And Nick is your brother.'"

How have your three main characters- Nick, Cass, and Kevin- changed and grown since book one? Have any of them surprised even you, their creator, with how they’ve evolved or developed, or are they exactly how you always magine them to be?

All three end up separated, and have to survive without each other's help. Kevin, I think, grows up a great deal...he proves to himself what he can survive, and gains confidence and (some) maturity. Nick ends up being quite the fighter, with help from an unexpected source...but Cass is the one who surprised me the most. She goes through some extremely difficult trials, and she ends up being stronger than I had originally imagined.

There’s some pretty awesome tech and weapons used in Fugitive X, do you have a favorite? What one piece of tech or weaponry would you recommend as a necessity  in a war against robots?

I'll take a Wall cloak, to hide away. I'm not a fighter.

In both Revolution 19 and Fugitive X we are introduced to different kinds of robots with varying purposes...what would YOU use a high tech robot for?

A combination chauffeur/chef/dogwalker.

Can you give us any hints about what’s to come for Nick, Cass, and Kevin in the last book of your trilogy?!

The struggle against the bots comes to a head, but not quite in the way that Nick, Cass, or Kevin, had expected. It turns out they have more than just the Senior Advisor to worry about...

Fill in the blanks:

I’m really awesome at Worrying.

I’m really embarrassed to admit that I don't know how to drive a stick-shift car.

The last great book I read was An ARC of The Museum of Intangible Things, by Wendy Wunder

If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by any one character or setting in Fugitive X who/what would be the inspiration, what would the cupcake look and taste like, and what would you call it?

A Sphere Bot Cupcake Ball: Vanilla cake, with silver frosting, and a molten chocolate center when you manage to crack it open (with a burst rifle, or just a really big bite).

Thanks so much, Gregg, for stopping by today! Readers, be sure to check out Gregg's thrilling Revolution 19 series!

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Proxy by Mindee Arnett Has Launched! {Excerpt and Giveaway}

I'm out of this world excited to help celebrate the launch of Mindee Arnett's new novella, PROXY! Proxy is a prequel novella to Mindee's new book, Avalon. Below, you can learn more about Proxy, read an excerpt, and enter to win an ARC of Avalon and a gift card...

Proxy

(Avalon 0.5)

by Mindee Arnett

12/3/13

Harper Teen Impulse

If you need something stolen from any star system in the Confederation, you need look no further than the Shades. Jeth Seagrave and his band of teenage mercenaries have been making a name for themselves for being able to steal anything—and for disappearing before anyone is the wiser.

Their latest job, a jewel heist on Grakkus, should be no different. But when Jeth's boss replaces a key member of his crew just before takeoff, and Jeth discovers a betrayal within his own ranks, he begins to suspect that not everyone is going to be coming back from his job alive.

Proxy is an action-packed introduction to a world like nothing readers have seen before.

Find Proxy: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

from Proxy

The thrill of the job never got old. Jeth Seagrave lived for it. For the way the anticipation sent electricity pulsing through his veins, making his blood burn hotter, his heart beat harder, and sharpening his senses until he felt like something more than human. A superhero from one of the ancient myths of First Earth, perhaps.

You’re no hero. The automatic thought skidded through his mind, barely registering. No, he wasn’t. He was a thief. One of the best.

And that was all that mattered. Never mind that he was only sixteen. Never mind that most of his crew was even younger. Together they were an unstoppable force, a gang of teenage thieves their adult marks never saw coming. The thrill pulsed harder inside him, and with an effort he focused on the nav monitor in front of him. They would be entering the patrolled zone around the planet Grakkus soon.

To his left, Celeste piloted the Debonair forward, her hands steady on the control column. Jeth would’ve preferred to pilot this job—he would prefer to pilot every job—but he and Celeste took turns. All of the members of the Malleus Shades held specific roles that played to their strengths. Celeste’s forte was counterintelligence, particularly the art of distracting marks. Jeth’s was strategy, and he typically took point on every job. But when it came to piloting, he and Celeste were equally matched.

Jeth drew a breath, still struggling to focus. He couldn’t help it. The upcoming job was the most challenging, complicated one they’d taken on yet. The target was located in a vault at the top of a tower only accessible through the emperor of Grakkus’s personal bedchambers—not some insignificant politician or petty crime lord, but an emperor. Pulling it off would be like flying a spaceship through a solar storm without getting fried. A grin threatened to break on his face. The job was going to be fun, and with a payout well worth the risk.

At last the nav computer flashed an indicator that they were heading into the patrolled zone.

Celeste glanced at him, her dark eyes narrowing. Straight black hair hung in a blunt cut down to her shoulders. “Are you going to turn on the stealth drive or what?”

“I’m thinking about it.” A part of him didn’t want to. The so-called stealth drive was brand new and untested, at least by the Shades. If it didn’t work, things were going to get a whole lot more interesting real quick. And if it did work, well, then things weren’t going to get interesting. He couldn’t decide which he preferred.

In the end, Celeste made the decision for him, reaching over to a switch on a sleek new section of the control panel. Jeth sighed. It was the right thing to do, of course, and there would be plenty of risks to be had once they landed.

Or it might not work properly, he thought, examining the nav monitor once more. Best not to blindly trust some newfangled technology. Within minutes he spotted a blimp on the monitor, a patrol to their starboard. The ship was far off, but within range to scan them.

“What should I do?” A hint of panic colored Celeste’s voice. They had never before flown so boldly through a patrolled area.

“Hold course,” Jeth said, not taking his eyes off the blimp. So far the patrol ship hadn’t given any sign that it had spotted them.

“You sure you’re right?”

“Aren’t I always?”

Celeste snorted. “Do you want an honest answer?”

“Nope. I prefer my own version of the truth.”

“Right.” Celeste tightened her grip on the controls. According to the instructions they’d received from their employer, who owned the Debonair, the stealth drive worked best when the ship maintained a constant speed and course. Any sharp turns or drastic acceleration or deceleration could turn up on a system scanning for thruster signatures, stealth drive or no.

Maybe it was for the best that Celeste was piloting, Jeth realized. He would’ve been tempted to test the theory of what constituted “drastic.”

They passed out of range of the patrol a few minutes later, and Jeth sat back in the copilot’s chair, folding his arms across his chest as he tried to ignore his disappointment. They flew within range of three more patrols but moved past them without incident, finally breaching Grakkus’s atmosphere.

Once through, Celeste headed for their rendezvous point, an isolated forested area a few hundred kilometers outside of the capital city. Beyond the bridge’s main windows, the first rays of sunlight were breasting the horizon, heralded by a swath of purple, pink, and vermillion.

At last Celeste set the Debonair down on a large stretch of tall grass the color of seaweed. She powered off the engines and turned on the auxiliary, which would keep the shipboard systems running, including the stealth drive. It wasn’t likely that anyone would spot them out here—the place was well off the main thoroughfares, not to mention how inhospitable the swamp surrounding them was—but Jeth decided not to point that out.

Celeste stood and stretched, the movement languid as if she were part cat. The dark, fitted clothing she wore aided the illusion. “So, what now?”

Jeth checked his watch, which he’d synced to Grakkus time. “I say breakfast or lunch, whichever works, and then a couple hours’ R and R. The setup man’s not due to arrive until fourteen hundred.” They’d had to get here early to avoid being detected during landing. The stealth drive hid them from sight, but it couldn’t disguise the sound of the engines or the wind raised by the thrusters.

“Think I’m going to shower again, before—” Celeste broke off as a voice echoed over the ship’s comm system.

“Um, Boss? We sorta have a situation. You might want to get down to the common room.”

Jeth blinked, all his disappointment from their unadventurous journey vanishing in the space of a single breath. It wasn’t often that Will Shady sounded nervous.

Wondering if maybe the ship was on fire, Jeth turned and headed off the bridge with Celeste quick on his heels. They arrived in the common room on the deck below moments later. Jeth stopped in the doorway, surveying the scene. There wasn’t a fire. There wasn’t anything amiss at all, as far as he could tell. Shady was sitting on one of the sofas, his attention focused on the 3D projection from his portable gaming system, a wave of bloodthirsty robots coming at him, each one falling to his simulated gunfire. The comm unit he’d used to radio the bridge sat discarded on the sofa beside him, in danger of being swallowed by a cushion.

Jeth approached him. “What are you doing?”

“Practicing,” Shady said, not looking up. The scowl on his face as he let off a triple blast, drilling a robot right between its bulbous black eyes, made his features look distinctly leonine, the appearance aided by his shaggy mane of blond hair. Shady’s assigned role in the Malleus Shades was ordnance officer.

Jeth put his hands on his hips. “We’re not going to be shooting anybody on this job. And please tell me this wasn’t the thing I needed to see.”

Shady shook his head. “Nope. It’s in that storage locker.” He pointed to the row of lockers along the wall across from them. “The one in the middle.”

Jeth arched an eyebrow. He considered pressing Shady for more, but knew there wasn’t much point. All the crew dealt with prejob nerves in different ways, and once engrossed in his ritual video game, it was hard to get Shady to concern himself with anything else.

Jeth crossed the floor to the locker in question, wondering where the Debonair had been last. Their employer used the ship for lots of different jobs, and it was possible it had been parked planetside somewhere a wild animal could’ve gotten in. An image of something furry and clawed and with teeth the size of fingers flashed through Jeth’s mind. He wasn’t wearing a gun, and he briefly considered getting one before finding out what had Shady so nervous, but then he shrugged and pulled the door open.

There was something alive in there all right, but it wasn’t a wild animal. Even still, it took Jeth several moments to come to grip with what it was. Who it was.

And look for Avalon in January 2014

A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly.

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Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space. She has far more dreams than nightmares. She's the YA author of The Nightmare Affair (Tor Teen), an urban fantasy series about a girl who is literally a nightmare and must use her skills to solve a murder, and the forthcoming science fiction series, Avalon,  where Jeth and his teenage mercenaries need to pull off one last big job in order to earn their freedom.

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