Tuesday, May 19, 2015

BONE DEEP by Kim O'Brien: Release Day Blitz


Title: Bone Deep
Author: Kim O'Brien
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

A note from Kim:

I chose this passage because it’s kind of creepy and I love the idea that people who have passed can come to us in dreams, communicating through our subconscious. When I was about twelve, my best friend’s mother had a brain aneurism and was taken to the hospital. I was very shy, very quiet around adults. So my friend’s mom and I looked at each other more than we talked. A couple of days after she’d gone to the hospital, I woke up and in the middle of the night and saw her face floating in the corner of my bedroom, near the ceiling. It was just her head, nothing else, and it glowed as if it were lit from within. The next morning, I found out she had died the night before. I never saw her image again.

Excerpt

In my bed, I lie with the covers pulled high looking up at the ceiling. Although

I’ve been trying for hours, I can’t sleep. The room feels cold, much colder than usual— as if the thermostat is set to about fifty degrees.

I flip over. It’s just after two o’clock in the morning. I’m so tired my hands tingle, but I can’t sleep, not when Emily’s missing. I wonder if the police have Jeremy in custody. If they’ve found Emily. Another chill goes through me, and I tuck the quilt more tightly around my shoulders.

I’m thinking of getting up and putting on a pair of sweats when my door creaks and Emily walks into the room.

In the moonlight, her hair looks disheveled. Half her face is in shadow, but as she nears, I see it’s not the lack of light, but dust coating her left cheekbone.

“Oh my God! Emily!” I sit up straight. “You’re okay!”

“Paige!” She hurries to the edge of my bed. Her long pale hair falls forward as she leans over me. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”

“Where were you?” I study every inch of her. She’s very pale, and there are small chunks of something plaster-like dangling in the strands of her hair.

“I got lost,” she states, a little sadly. “I’ve been walking for a while.” She looks down at her feet. “I lost my sneakers. Isn’t that funny, Paige? They disappeared when I was sleeping. I just woke up, and they were gone. Have you seen them?”

The question is odd, but I’m so happy to see her I don’t care. “No.”

Her shoulders sag. “Oh.”

“They’re not important,” I assure her. “What matters is that you’re back and you’re okay. What happened to you?”

Her face wrinkles. “I don’t know.” Her eyes move to the top left corner of their sockets, as if she’s thinking really hard. After a moment, she shakes her head. “I can’t remember.”

“Were you in a car accident?”

“I don’t think so.” She feels the back of her head with her hands and then grimaces. “God, my head hurts.”

Throwing my covers off, I swing my legs over the side of the bed. Emily stands very still as I throw my arms around her. “Stop trying to remember. It doesn’t matter what happened. I’m just so happy to see you.”

She smells strongly of roses, as if she has doused herself in perfume. It’s so unlike her that it takes my mind a second to register that her body is stone-cold in my arms and her skin feels hard and smooth as polished marble.

Stunned, I pull back far enough to look into her face. Only instead of Emily, she morphs into my mother, who leans over me, the strap of her silk nightgown slipping from her pale shoulder, her eyes black and angry.

“You didn’t see him, Paige,” she says. “You were dreaming.”

My alarm goes off, and I jolt upright. Heart pounding, I fumble for the off button and switch on the lamp. The room is empty, and it’s 2:13 in the morning. I pick up the clock to reset the alarm and discover it’s already at set for six—my usual time. So why did it go off? The dream was about Emily. So why then did my mother say, you didn’t see him?

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Blurb

When Paige Patterson travels to Arizona to spend the summer with her archeologist father, she expects answers. Why did her parents divorce? Why did her father choose his career over family? She doesn't expect to be reunited with her best friend Emily Linton, a girl she has always admired and secretly wanted to emulate, or to find herself falling for the project manager's son, Jalen Yazzi.

But the summer takes a terrible turn when Emily vanishes. As the police struggle for answers, Paige sets out to find the truth.

The search takes Paige from the Cliffside ruins of prehistoric Native Americans to the Navajo Nation to the horrifying possibility that the answer is much closer to home. Emily, it turns out, was not the ony one good at hiding things.

Her father has no alibi for the night Emily disappeared. An intern with the motive insists he's innocent. And Jalen has some secrets of his own.

Old bones might not be the only things buried in the ruins. As Paige digs deeper into Emily's disappearance, she realizes that uncovering the truth may cost her everything - even her life.

Giveaway is open to US only.

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Buy Bone Deep

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About the Author

Kim O'Brien grew up in an old Victorian house in Bronxville, NY. Her mother loved telling her bedtime stories, especially onees about the ghost in their attic. Kim not only believed the house was haunted but also fell in love with books and the art of storytelling.

At Emory University in Atlanta, Kim earned a B.A. in psychology. She then attained a M.F.A. in writing from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. She worked for many years as a writer, editor, and speechwriter for IBM before becoming a full time fiction writer. She lives in Texas with ehr husband, daughters, and four-legged friend Daisy.

Kim is the author of eight inspirational romances and seven non-fiction children's books. She loves to hear from her readers and can be found at www.kimobrienbooks.com, Facebook, and Twitter (kimobri).
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Monday, May 18, 2015

Blog Tour: BONE DEEP by Kim O'Brien

Title: Bone Deep
Author: Kim O'Brien
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

A note from Kim:

Aren’t the relationships between best friends fascinating? In Bone Deep, Paige and Emily grew up together following their fathers around the Southwest. Paige’s father was an archeologist and Emily’s was an anthropologist. Emily was always considered the smarter and prettier of the two girls, but it was Paige’s imagination that proved to be the most powerful bond between them. Both girls got dragged around to the various work sites and had very little supervision. So they made up a game, essentially of dares, which turned out to be a very dangerous one.

Excerpt

We found the cave by accident, one morning when we were exploring the rock formations rising in Chalupa Canyon in New Mexico. It was well-hidden, the opening so disguised it looked like a shadow between two rocks. I stuck my face into the darkness. I couldn’t see much, but I knew it was a perfect place to play our game.

Emily grinned. “The best-told stories are the stories told just before dark.”

I hesitated. The last time I had played the game, I’d almost fallen off a very tall rock. For a long time now, I had wished we could stop playing these games. I actually thought what our fathers were doing was a lot more interesting, but I’d always done what Emily wanted me to do. The bottom line: I didn’t want to lose her friendship.

I promised myself this would be the last time. “Okay, but I’ll have to get inside before I’ll know the story.”

To prove I wasn’t afraid, although I was, I went first. What little light there was vanished almost immediately, but I moved slowly, waving my arms around like a blind person, making noise, and taking tiny baby steps. The air grew cooler, smelled musty.

“We’re in a si’papu,” I said, pausing as Emily shuffled up behind me. “And we’re going backward in time, to the world that existed before ours.”

Emily’s hand dropped on my bare shoulder, connecting us, but startling the hell out of me. “Shit,” I said, and she giggled. The noise echoed in a terrible way.

With Emily’s hand on my shoulder, I led us deeper into the cave. It was very dark, but we were used to it. The deeper we went, the more the walls became increasingly narrow. Each bend became harder to squeeze through.

The sounds became magnified, or maybe we were just breathing harder and harder. My heart thumped loud and fast, and my sides scraped against the rock that was pressing now on me from both sides even though I was mainly turned sideways. I told Emily that the cave had a heart and lungs and if we listened closely enough we could hear them. I stopped. We listened.

“Oh, shit,” Emily whispered. “I hear it. I’m totally freaking out.”

“Let’s go back.” I thought about lying, saying that the cave ended. It was too tight for her to pass me. She’d never know. But I didn’t. Instead, I led us deeper, embellishing the story, releasing my fear in the story I told as we inched our way through the darkness.

The bat came out of nowhere. I didn’t even hear it until it was flapping by my head. I ducked to the side, and then it happened. One minute there were walls and floor, and the next they were gone. I had long enough to realize I was in serious trouble, and then the ground flew up at me. I heard something crack, and then Emily’s weight smashed into me.

My leg exploded into a thousand knife-points of pain. It blazed up my body, took my breath, and lit my brain on fire. I had to clamp my teeth together to keep from screaming.

“Emily… Emily…” I croaked out. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she said. In the darkness, it seemed like her voice was everywhere—around me, on me, even inside me. She shifted off me. “Are you okay?”
The pain was terrible. I couldn’t keep myself from making a horrible groaning noise.

“I…I think my leg is broken. And I’m bleeding.”

Emily sucked in her breath. “Oh, shit,” she said, and for once there was no excitement in her voice, only fear.

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Blurb

When Paige Patterson travels to Arizona to spend the summer with her archeologist father, she expects answers. Why did her parents divorce? Why did her father choose his career over family? She doesn't expect to be reunited with her best friend Emily Linton, a girl she has always admired and secretly wanted to emulate, or to find herself falling for the project manager's son, Jalen Yazzi.

But the summer takes a terrible turn when Emily vanishes. As the police struggle for answers, Paige sets out to find the truth.

The search takes Paige from the Cliffside ruins of prehistoric Native Americans to the Navajo Nation to the horrifying possibility that the answer is much closer to home. Emily, it turns out, was not the ony one good at hiding things.

Her father has no alibi for the night Emily disappeared. An intern with the motive insists he's innocent. And Jalen has some secrets of his own.

Old bones might not be the only things buried in the ruins. As Paige digs deeper into Emily's disappearance, she realizes that uncovering the truth may cost her everything - even her life.

Giveaway is open to US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Buy Bone Deep

Amazon Barnes and Noble The Book Depository

IndieBound Kobo

About the Author

Kim O'Brien grew up in an old Victorian house in Bronxville, NY. Her mother loved telling her bedtime stories, especially onees about the ghost in their attic. Kim not only believed the house was haunted but also fell in love with books and the art of storytelling.

At Emory University in Atlanta, Kim earned a B.A. in psychology. She then attained a M.F.A. in writing from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. She worked for many years as a writer, editor, and speechwriter for IBM before becoming a full time fiction writer. She lives in Texas with ehr husband, daughters, and four-legged friend Daisy.

Kim is the author of eight inspirational romances and seven non-fiction children's books. She loves to hear from her readers and can be found at www.kimobrienbooks.com, Facebook, and Twitter (kimobri).
Website Twitter Facebook

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

About the book

Title: Freaks of Nature
Author: Wendy Brotherlin
Series: The Psion Chronicles, #1
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Isbn: 9781633920064
Get a Copy: BN | Amazon | Book Depository

"Stand back because a new generation of superheroes is here.  “Freaks of Nature” is that rare action-adventure novel that simultaneously tugs at your heart and punches you in the gut.  With equal parts mystery, mayhem and romance, this is a story that will leave you begging for the next vividly imagined installment."
D.J. MacHale
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author
The global Ebola-X pandemic of 2022 lasted five months, two weeks and six days before a cure could be found. In its wake, it left a generation of psionic freaks who can turn a single thought into a weapon… or worse.
Fifteen-year-old Devon McWilliams is one of those freaks, but instead of some awesome ability like telepathy or telekinesis, he talks to plants. Yes, plants. In other words, Devon rates a big fat zero on the scale of kick-ass psychic abilities. But when Devon escapes from his psionic detainment facility, the United States Military intercepts him before he can rendezvous with the Psionic Underground Network. Regaining consciousness, Devon finds himself securely fastened to his seat aboard a military airship headed to Washington DC, where he will either be incarcerated for life or killed. 
However, there are six other psions aboard this one-way flight to doom… and one of them, a telepath named Bai Lee, claims to have the means to escape, but they have to convince her, one by one, that they’re worthy of freedom. This is not good news for Plant Boy. The last thing he wants is to relive his nightmare escape from the psi-facility that left his best friend dead, especially since he’s made the acquaintance of the lovely, blonde healer, Alya du Roumanie, sitting beside him. Worse than that, he wouldn’t be able to bear the look in her eyes if she ever found out how truly pathetic a psion he really is. 

They say there are no keeping secrets from a hell-bent telepath, but Devon McWilliams is determined to do just that, risking everything not to be left behind.
About Wendy Brotherlin
Wendy Brotherlin is a screenwriter, music enthusiast and all around geek-goddess. She earned a Masters in Screenwriting at the University of Southern California and went on to write for children’s television including Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Today, she lives in Manchester, Maine with her husband and two little super-heroes-in-training. Freaks of Nature is her first novel.
Tour Schedule
April 27- Wendy Brotherlin
April 28- Mindy @ Books Complete Me 
April 29- Brooke @ The Cover Contessa
April 30- Stephanie @ Chasm of Books
May 1- Raychelle @ Steele Reviews
May 4- Nicole @ Nicole Payne
May 5- Release Day!!
May 6- Raychelle @ Steele Reviews
May 8- Deitre @ A Leisure Moment
The Giveaway
*Open to US entrants *Must be 13 years of age or older *No giveaway account may be used for tweeting/following, must be an active account
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Monday, March 30, 2015

Cover Reveal: LEAD ME BACK HOME by Brandi Lynch


Title: Lead Me Back Home
Author: Brandi Lynch
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Blurb

High school junior Trisha Myles thought her sister loved her, but her sister's suicide note revealed that she'd wished Trisha had never existed. In the aftermath, Trisha abandons her old life to become a social ghost. Not existing is sort of peaceful... until a vicious bully targets her.

She’s saved by Jesse Reagan--the one guy in Hoghfield, Alabama who outranks her as an outcast. Trisha’s desire to live blossoms, but spending time with Jesse is more than she bargained for. After she freaks over the slashes on his arms, he explains he’s cursed--a curse that can only be controlled by blood magic. Trisha thinks he’s insane--especially when he tells her someone has cursed her, too. But when freak accidents almost crush Jesse with a truck and destroy her attempts to reclaim her old life, Trisha knows it’s not just a delusion.

A ritual can free them from their curses, but only if they can shed their guilt and anger. However, if Trisha and Jesse can’t let go, the curse will bleed Jesse dry, and Trisha will lose the person who brought her back to life.

Author Bio

Brandi Lynch lives in rural Arkansas with her fiancé. When she’s not reading or conjuring stories of her own, she enjoys delving into the rich world of an RPG or chatting on Twitter. Oh, and there’s work in between.

   
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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Cover Reveal: BURNT BONES by Darby Karchut


Title: Burnt Bones (The Adventures of Finn MacCullen #4)
Author: Darby Karchut
Release Date: March 2016
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Blurb

Just when Finn MacCullen thought fate couldn’t kick him any harder after the events of the Festival of the Hunt, it does. Now, he must overcome a series of nearly impossible trials to prove his worth as an apprentice, or lose his place at his master Gideon’s side.

But, Finn and Gideon, and their friends, are determined to boot fate right back. They’re going to do whatever it takes to succeed, including teaming up with a sorceress and a certain teen angel.

However, Finn’s life has as many twists as a Celtic knot, and master and apprentice find themselves in their ancestral homeland of Ireland with only their wits—and a fair bit of the Black Hand’s charm—to protect them from the vengeful Celtic goddess known as the Scáthach.

In this heart-stopping finale of the award-winning series, it’s going to take every scrap of Finn’s Irish luck and pluck to save himself, and his master, from death. Or worse.

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About Darby Karchut

Darby Karchut is an award-winning author, dreamer, and compulsive dawn greeter. She's been known to run in blizzards and bike in lightning storms. When not dodging death by Colorado, Darby is busy writing urban fantasy for tweens, teens, and adults. Visit her at her website.

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Friday, March 13, 2015

MOLLY PEPPER AND THE NIGHT TRAIN - Release Day Blitz & Giveaway


Blurb

Hidden somewhere in the fog of the San Francisco bay lies Blue Rock Island, home to the bay area’s two best-kept secrets: Bell’s Bluff, the old, abandoned prison on one side of the island, and the Night Train, a mysterious train ride on the other. When twelve-year-old Molly Pepper receives a secret invitation promising a night of magic and adventure aboard the Night Train, she is skeptical. In her experience, most promises prove too good to be true. The fact that she lost her mom is proof enough.

Still, Molly gives hope another chance. Together with her loyal friend, Noah Wonderly, they sneak out of the house and follow a string of clues leading to the Night Train. But when the train stops at Bell's Bluff, Molly discovers the real reason she was invited. There, she starts to wonder if hope and magic not only fix broken promises; but make you believe in them again.

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Excerpt

CHAPTER
1

The Real Face of Adventure

When she opened the mailbox on the first day of summer break, Molly Pepper found three pieces of mail. The first two items did not seem all that interesting: one, a Woman’s Day magazine; two, her final report card on which she already knew mostly C’s would be hogging all the white space; and three, a small, crème-colored envelope with her name on it.

That was the most interesting discovery. Molly could not recall the last time she had ever received anything in the mail. Not only was the crisp, smooth envelope addressed to her, but it also lacked both a return address and a stamp. No stamp meant somebody had sidestepped the entire mail system altogether and placed this exact letter into her mailbox, probably this very day.

Molly popped a cinnamon bear into her mouth and peered over her shoulder for any chance that the owner of the envelope might still be watching her. All she discovered behind her, however, was the sound of the distant ferry whistling through the salty air, and the passing by of an old, white convertible spewing a fume of exhaust in its wake. She coughed in protest, and then ducked behind a lone, thick palm tree, in case she was mistaken. She wasn’t going to take any chances. Who knew what might be out there, hiding in the shadows, watching her every move?

For twenty-point-five seconds, Molly chewed on the remainder of cinnamon goo in her mouth and held her position while surveying the neighborhood for any sign of bedlam.

But, she hated to admit; everything appeared just as it should.

Same as always.

With a sigh, Molly tucked her report card into her back pocket for safekeeping and reemerged from behind the palm tree, doing her best to appear carefree. But it was more difficult than she’d hoped, especially after her detour to the side of the house where she deposited the Woman’s Day magazine into the recycle bin.

Secretly stashing unwanted mail had been her routine for the last few months. She’d taken it upon herself to bury any rogue reminders of her mother under a pile of crumpled newspapers before her dad ever had a chance to see them. Molly figured it was better she deal with the mess of their new life than him. Especially today, the first day of summer break that was supposed to be filled with the promise of adventure…not reminders of broken promises.

The house was quiet when Molly stepped inside, except for the sound of her dad’s daytime snores flooding the hallways like an occasional blast of an off-tune trombone.

That sound this time of morning always put Molly in a despondent mood because it meant change—an unwanted, unrequested change she hadn’t yet grown used to. Secretly, she wished her dad would learn how to sleep in silence. Then, she could live under the ruse that her life remained the same as last summer when the world was still the kind of place in which most people liked to stay put.

At the kitchen table, Molly pushed aside yesterday’s mail to make room for the letter. Her letter.

Now, the moment of truth. She hesitated before opening it, trying to guess just what it could be…a note from a secret admirer? A party invitation? Russian correspondence?

She sucked in a deep, audible breath. Then, on the count of three she exhaled and popped open the pointed flap.

A thick, crème-colored note slipped out onto the table, revealing a simple sentence printed in black ink, each line spaced evenly from top to bottom.


IF ADVENTURE

IS YOUR DESIRE

174 CANDLESTICK HILL

AT NINE O’CLOCK TONIGHT

NO SOONER

NO LATER

GO TO

Well. There wasn’t a question in Molly’s mind about her desire for adventure. In fact, if anybody desired adventure more than her, she would like to meet them face-to-face just to see what the real face of adventure looked like. Because she was pretty sure the freckled face she met in the mirror each morning silently begged for something more than this—more than entertaining herself all summer long while her father worked two shifts at the police department and slept it off the next morning.

Adventure was the easy part.

The difficulty about this whole message, if Molly chose to follow the card’s directions after all (and she was definitely still debating the whole idea), was the getting-to-the-top-of-Candlestick-Hill-without-passing-out part.

See, Candlestick Hill was the steepest hill in all of California. In fact, if Blue Rock Island were situated a little closer to Canada instead of in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, Candlestick Hill would make the world’s best ski run. But, a thick blanket of fog was as close to white the island ever got, making Candlestick Hill a nightmare instead of the attraction it could be.

Therefore, a little skepticism about the mysterious message was in order. The more Molly thought about it, the more she wondered if perhaps somebody was playing a joke on her just to get her to climb the murderous hill for nothing.

Who would do something like that?

Molly chewed on that thought along with another cinnamon bear, and drummed her fingers along the tabletop, trying to come up with a few criteria. First off, somebody with easy access to her mailbox; secondly, somebody creative enough to make up the whole idea in the first place; and lastly but most importantly, somebody who knew Molly well enough to play on her longing for adventure.

Somebody probably like…

“What’s that?” asked a voice coming from a space right behind her.

Molly coughed on her cinnamon bear and whirled around as the beginning of a scream eked its way out of her throat. She stopped just before it grew loud enough to wake her dad. “Noah!” Molly hit her next-door neighbor on the arm. “Why are you sneaking up on me?"

“I’m not. You didn’t answer when I knocked, and I know your dad’s rule about ringing the doorbell, so..."

“You could have warned me! I thought you were a burglar.”

Noah Wonderly rubbed his arm and pulled out a chair beside Molly. “I’m sorry. But, I did knock, you know."

Molly slid the mysterious note across the table. “Do you have any idea what this is?” she asked, getting right down to business.

She wanted to gauge Noah’s reaction, certain if he were behind it, the truth would reveal itself immediately. He could never withhold information without the whole truth bleeding out through his shifty brown eyes and seesawing smile. Because of that, Noah was a terrible secret-keeper and an even worse actor.

When they were kids, Noah was the lousiest performer in the history of neighborhood plays, resulting in Molly having to play both Darth Vader and Princess Leia (which didn’t turn out so well). Even now, Molly could tell by the way Noah shifted his eyes to the right whenever they made eye contact that he had a crush on her.

But, she was careful not to let on because she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about him. Not yet.

Noah picked up the crème-colored note and studied both sides of it very thoughtfully, as if taking a test. His eyes narrowed as he mouthed the words of the message quietly to himself.

Molly couldn’t stand how long he took just to consider a few words on a piece of paper, and immediately concluded that he was much too serious to be part of any practical joke. She snatched the note back from him, a little relieved.

“Is it some kind of joke?” he asked, helping himself to the bag of cinnamon bears lying open on the table. She allowed it.

"I thought the same thing,” she said, glad she wasn’t the only one to jump to conclusions.

“I don’t know. I found it in the mailbox.”

Noah glanced at the note. “Well, are you going to go up there tonight?”

Molly thought for a minute, but still didn’t know what her answer should be. She wanted to go. The promise of adventure had definitely piqued her interest. But, at the same time, she felt this deep, lurking fear building up inside her. What if she went all the way up there, only to be met with…nothing?

“Not sure,” Molly said. “I have to think about it for a little while. I’m trying to decide if it will even be worth the climb.”

“I don’t think you should go.”

She looked up, surprised. “Why not?”

“I just don’t trust it,” he said, revealing a bit of the blood-red remains of his demolished cinnamon bear. “What if it really is a joke?”

Molly sunk back into her chair, not sure what she should do. She had hoped for a little more support from him than this.

Noah remained quiet, his mind searching for a solution, a way to help Molly without her having to risk falling victim to some kind of mischief. Noah Wonderly was that kind of friend—the kind to back you up when you didn’t know where to go next, and the kind to offer up solutions to problems that weren’t even his. Molly almost always felt happier when he was around; he had his own way of making everything look brighter, even on a foggy day. San Francisco had a lot of foggy days.

And he also usually smelled like a clean laundry room.

Though, that didn’t mean Molly liked Noah, or anything.

“What about your dad? Would he drive you up and check it out for you?” Noah asked, dropping his chin on his hands.

“Nope. He’ll be at work. Plus, policemen don’t approve of this kind of correspondence.”

“You mean, like secret messages?”

“Yes. Secret messages. Not exactly a police-approved activity. We’ll have to keep this one under wraps. Which means if my dad starts asking questions, you’d better leave. He’ll be able to tell you’re hiding something just by looking at you."

“What? No he won’t!” Noah jerked upright and ran his hands through his dark hair, as if proving he was smooth and had skills.

Molly pointed a finger. “That look on your face right now…guilty.”

“What are you talking about?” A hesitant smile spread across Noah’s face, despite his every effort to tame it.

Molly laughed.

“What’s so funny?” asked Noah, laughing now, too, though he wasn’t sure what he was even laughing about. But, that was the thing about Molly, and the whole reason he liked her. Everything about Molly Pepper was contagious, making it that much harder to be around her when she was sad.

Molly looked up at him. “If I decide to go, will you come with me?”

Noah wasn’t sure about that. Did he want to go? Not really—who wanted to climb Candlestick Hill ever? Plus, he wasn’t very excited about chasing after an anonymous prankster. It just seemed…stupid, and maybe even a little bit dangerous.

On the flipside, he never turned down an opportunity to hang out with Molly, especially when it meant the chance to prove he was brave and strong and all that other macho stuff girls liked. What guy wouldn’t want that?

But, first, he thought he might as well ring in a favor in exchange, and hoped Molly wouldn’t run away screaming at his request. Especially when she found out there might be spiders involved. “Yes,” he said with his shifty eyes. “But I need you to help me with something, first."


CHAPTER

2

The car backfired when it pulled into the neighborhood, which was the last thing Ruby Dodd wanted to happen seeing as how she was supposed to be undercover.

Why the bureau didn’t give her something a little more inconspicuous, maybe something made in this decade instead of the one in which she was born, was beyond her. But, she had a job to do, and complaining about vehicle options was not it.

The ferry ride over had been uneventful, just like every other day for the past month. Although, this morning Ruby couldn’t figure out how the ferry captain could see through the fog enough to land safely on Blue Rock Island instead of crashing into the rocks at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

She was relieved when they docked right on time at ten am. The drive to Penny Lane was a mere five minutes, and she parked in her usual spot around the corner from the stucco rambler, close enough to see the front of the house…but not so close that she would be spotted.

Ruby eyed her watch and started counting down. She had a feeling something would happen today. It was June 13th, Moody’s five-year anniversary. Just thinking about it made her exhausted—five years of following clues all leading to dead-ends.

She was this close. This close!

At the thought of victory, Ruby smiled, until a UPS deliveryman wearing brown shorts and a brown shirt emerged from the fog. She sat up straight in her seat when he stopped in front of the small, stucco house and placed something the size of a letter inside the mailbox.

Ruby looked around for any sign of his truck. Certainly he had other packages to deliver? But, just as she suspected, the UPS man walked to the end of the street, turned the corner, and disappeared. The fog seemed to blot out his existence.

Ruby panicked. She didn’t know whether to chase after the man or try to intercept the correspondence inside the mailbox before it was discovered.

She jumped out of her car, ready to spring to action, but stopped at the sight of Molly Pepper already standing in front of the mailbox, peering inside.

Shoot!

Now it was too late. The UPS man had vanished, and Molly Pepper had already found his message.

That left Ruby with no other choice. Today she would follow that girl’s every move.

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About Courtney King Walker

Courtney King Walker grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area building rocket ships and rafts out of cardboard, hoping to make it the moon or at least Niagara Falls. But a trip across the border to Tijuana was as exciting as it ever got, so she decided writing about adventure was the next best thing. She now lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and four children, and still dreams of flying to the moon. Her YA debut, ON THE FRINGE, was published in 2011 by Lands Atlantic Publishing.




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Friday, February 27, 2015

Cover Reveal: THE HOUSE ON BLISTER HILL by K.T. Gannon


Title: The House on Blister Hill
Author: KT Gannon
Release Date: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Middle Grade

Blurb


Twelve-year-old Neddy Puddy's greatest desire is to settle the score with Delores Shrumm, her arch-enemy and former best friend. But one summer night, a strange snow falls over Neddy's hometown of Heaven's Peak, North Carolina, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Neddy touches the snow, and it burns, leaving blisters on her hand. But where did the burny snow come from, and what does it portend? The next morning the snow is gone, but when Grandpa Joe dons his bowler hat, sets out with Old Jim Flint on a secret errand, and ends up dead, Neddy has more than a broken heart to deal with. She has a mystery on her hands.

Why did Grandpa Joe go to that awful, abandoned house on Blister Hill? And why has a carnival pitched its tents on Blister Hill's front lawn? The Carnival of Shivers is no ordinary carnival either. Dead dogs with shining red eyes patrol the carnival's perimeter, and with attractions like Bash the Banshee, The Diabolical Dunking Tank, and the Tent of Pickled Punks, the place seems designed to make kids squirm.

To make matters worse, all the adults in Heaven's Peak have come down with the floating flu, and can no longer protect their children. When BD Lamb threatens to eliminate each and every bugsnot kid west of the Dismal Swamp, Neddy knows that everyone she loves might disappear with the last fold of the carnival's tents.

But Neddy is not alone. Despite being dead, Grandpa Joe is still doling out advice from beyond the grave, because Grandpa Joe's spirit is stuck inside his bowler that now rests on top of Neddy's head. With a posse of misfit kids and Old Jim Flint by her side, Neddy will have to face her worst fear and worst heartache, and live to tell the tale.

In Heaven's Peak, dead things own the world, and darkness has eyes.

But darkness doesn't last forever...or does it?

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Author Bio


KT Gannon was born in Queens, New York. She studied writing at Columbia University and then received her MSW from New York University. KT worked with victims of violent crime in New York City for years before returning to writing. Now she lives in Arlington, VA with her stuntman-turned-lawyer husband and her three amazing daughters: Ava, Cate and Syd. When KT isn't writing she can be found in the bleachers at Ava's softball game, answering (inadequately) Cate's questions regarding human existence, and reveling in Syd's quiet triumphs.