“Find your creative outlet and plug into it. Otherwise, you may just short-circuit.”
― Giuseppe Bianco
Tag Archives: young adult
So Shall I Reap
Title: So Shall I Reap
Series: The Unseen Series
Author: Kathy-Lynn Cross
Published: June 30th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YA Paranormal
Content Warning: Violence and adult language
~Synopsis~
There is no protection from the Unseen.
Las Vegas, Nevada can’t contain Alexcia Crystalline Stasis, who is living the ideal teenager’s dream as the school’s elite socialite. That is, until a fatal car accident changes everything. Now Alexcia’s emotions are on the verge of combusting. As if mourning the loss of her boyfriend isn’t enough, she is also dealing with extreme night terrors that leave her wondering if she just might need to be fitted for a straightjacket.
Tevin isn’t your normal daemon. He’s the leader of his clan, and he also happens to be a very active Grim Reaper. He never wanted to be charged with babysitting the one girl who can sway Creation’s Balance. Tevin has known and kept Alexcia safe most of her life. Now that he has to become even more personally involved in her protection, Tevin finds himself having a hard time separating his sworn duty and pure curiosity. What does make Alexcia tick?
Will Tevin be able to keep Alexcia safe from the Unseen? And will Alexcia’s emotions eventually help Tevin attempt to understand what being human is all about? Or will the entities and assassins’ of the Unseen get what they want … her dead.
Excerpt from So Shall I Reap by Kathy-Lynn Cross:
Flames and darkness served as a reminder of the future we faced. Resting both forearms around my middle and feeling defeated, I shuddered. Filling in my view with his unreadable stare, he then glanced away briefly and whispered, “I wonder if a soulless creature is worthy to be bound by a heart, tied to a soul? Yet, as you stand there looking at me, I continue seeing the eyes of the child I once knew. Do you still want to offer me your soul?”
Without hesitation, sorrow for him exploded inside my chest. Thin lines of ink trailed down his cheeks, and I reached up to caress this face while pulling him closer for a chance to kiss his lips. Even for a moment, to give him a taste of my soul.
How did I know him?
I hadn’t grasped the words he spoke, let alone the feelings I had for him. Without conscious control over my voice, it answered him for me, “I can only choose what is right and pure. This is my only function. My heart is all the power I can give you right now.” I was unsure what I meant, but he smiled at me. The creatures formed a tighter circle around us and their wings appeared to be dripping hot silver acid that melted into what looked like cloaks made of the same black mist rising from the ground. Without notice, I found myself wrapped within two massive wings.
His wings sizzled as he pulled me into his icy embrace, leaning in to whisper against the inner part of my ear, “They say love knows no bounds. Death only has one boundary, and you cross over it when your heart stops. But written on the Unseen scrolls, it states this one emotion will last even after the breath ceases.”
With his trail of words still lingering against the inside curvature of my ear, my composure disappeared. The blankets were wrapped tight around me like a cocoon. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn it had snowed in the room overnight. Shadows were thick and barricaded the bedroom and closet doors. No escape from the nightly terrors. Rubbing the grit from each lash, I unwrapped from the cocoon of covers, followed by flopping one leg at a time to the floor. My mind was clouded in the thick fog making it difficult to push off the bed. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever been so weak and chilled from sweating. An overwhelming need washed over me to open the drapes and cleanse the bedroom from the unknown with the glow from the streetlights. His presence remained in the room with me. Turning slowly from the window, it felt as if I were wearing lead shoes. Pushing their weight toward the mirror, I was horrified at the face gaping back at me. I leaned closer to try and comprehend what the glass was telling me. Two small, dried streams of red gleamed on my cheeks. I was frozen in a nonexistent moment of time. My breath caught as I gasped… and woke up.
About the Author:
Born in Pomona, California, Kathy-Lynn Cross lived there for twelve years until her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada—where she resides still to this day. Inspired by the backdrop of Sin City, Kathy-Lynn took her English professor’s advice and wrote about the hometown that she knew.
Kathy-Lynn wasn’t always a writer. In 2008, when her niece was hospitalized, Kathy-Lynn decided to do something special for her so she wrote a short tale for her to read. After devouring it in a single day, her niece and the nurses in the pediatrics wing quickly asked her, “What’s next?”
That was when a new chapter in her life opened up, and Kathy-Lynn realized that she wanted to become a Storyweaver.
Kathy-Lynn loves the color red and obsessively uses it in everything, including her bottle-blonde hair accented by red highlights. She has a knack for baking and cake decorating—that is, when her fingers are not busy writing mayhem. When recharging, you could find her curled up with a cup of coffee and a good book or spending time with her hubby of nineteen years, two kids, four cats, and the family dog.
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack, winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook, and a $15 Amazon gift card.
Giveaway is International.
Milayna’s Angel
Title: Milayna’s Angel
Series: The Milayna Series, Book 2
Author: Michelle K. Pickett
Published: July 7th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YAm Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Adult language and violence
Recommended Age: 16+
~Synopsis~
Now that the battle with Hell’s angel, Azazel, has ended, you’d think eighteen-year-old Milayna’s life would take a turn for the better. After all, what could be worse than having the angel of Hell trying to steal your soul? Plenty. Abaddon, the demon of destruction, is angry that Azazel failed to convert Milayna before her demi-angel powers matured. Now she’s untouchable… or so she thinks. It seems even in Hell, there are loopholes.
Not only is her life in danger, but her love life is crumbling, too. Just when Milayna and fellow demi-angel Chay get comfortable on their little cloud of bliss, Xavier comes to town. He’s one angel that’s as hot as the very embers of Hell, and he has his sights set on Milayna.
Now she has the demon of destruction out to kill her, Xavier out to steal her heart, and she still has to take final exams before she can graduate high school.
Sometimes life sucks, even if you are half angel.
~About the Author~
Michelle is the bestselling author of the young adult novel “PODs.” She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in a sleepy suburb outside Houston with her extremely supportive husband, three school-aged children, a 125 pound “lap dog,” and a very snooty cat.
Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.
Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014.
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack and winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook.
Giveaway is International.
Twists in Time
Title: Twists in Time
Authors: Various
Published: June 16th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen & Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel
Content Warning: Some stories may include mild violence and language.
~Synopsis~
What would happen if time, the fragile thread that both leads and binds us, could be unwound as simply as untying a knot? Would we go back, charging through our own history, changing and tweaking, plucking at that fragile thread until time itself unraveled all around us? Would we create countless universes through which we could live our fantasies—or would we become our own nightmares? Would we blaze ahead, reckless and wild, into our own futures? Would we become our own heroes, or would we become villains?
Join us for a series of stories that explore time, through the eyes of those bold enough to conquer it, and foolish enough to try to control it. From the award-winning team of authors at Clean Teen Publishing, Twists in Time will both entertain and challenge the way you see the world around you. Because when one finds a way to break the barrier of time, endless worlds of possibilities emerge.
~Featured Authors and Stories~
“After Time” by Sandy Goldsworthy
“The Fall” by Holly Kelly
“The Kiss of Time” by Amanda Strong
“With a Grain of Sand” by Kathy-Lynn Cross
“The Before Sky” by Sherry D. Ficklin
“What You Wish For” by Kelly Risser
“Tides of Time” by Julie Wetzel
“It’s The Little Things” by Jon Messenger
“Romeo and Juliet Times Infinity” by Kasi Blake
Clean Teen Publishing Links:
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack, winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook, and a $15 Amazon gift card.
Giveaway is International.
Wicked Luck
Title: Wicked Luck
Series: Wicked Luck Trilogy #1
Author: Shannon L. Maynard
Published: June 23rd, 2015
Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre: NA Romance
Content Warning: Violence, Adult Themes
Recommended Age: 14+
~Synopsis~
How can Ava Starr’s worst nightmare be Dax Miller’s dream come true?
For the past three years, Dax has been stranded on Lamarai Island with his stepsister and two tribes of cannibals. But now a beautiful girl named Ava has washed up on shore. After secretly reading her journal, he believes she is a perfect match to the girl of his dreams. He’s determined not only to keep her alive, but also to win over her heart by convincing her to forget about her past and the secrets that continue to haunt her.
Ava Starr has always been the epitome of bad luck, but she never imagined she would wake up and find herself on a cannibal-infested island with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is boarding a plane with her pilot boyfriend, Preston. But now he and his crew are missing, and she must find him before a tribe of hungry cannibals finds him first. But Ava’s troubles have followed her to Lamarai, where once again she’s surrounded by danger and people who want her dead. She finds herself caught in a web of deceit and soon discovers the answers to her mysterious past can be found in the most unlikely of places, and that no one is actually who they seem to be.
~Excerpt~
With a satisfied grin, I drop the book in my pocket and step out from behind the tree.
“Well, well, well. What a predicament. Gives new meaning to the phrase ‘sticky situation’ doesn’t it?” My voice startles her and causes a sharp intake of breath as she opens her eyes.
“Dax,” she says with a relieved exhale.
“Hey princess.” I give her my best Cheshire smile. “Looks like your little escape plan didn’t work out so well, huh? Well, I hope you have better luck escaping from that pit of quicksand.”
I turn to walk away.
“Wait! Where are you going?” she asks, and desperation oozes from her voice.
I pause to get control of the amusement cracking away at my serious expression before turning around. “I don’t know. I think I’ll head back to the beach and wait for a hot blonde to wash up on shore.” Her mouth falls open right on cue. “Oh, and sorry to break it to ya’, but you didn’t get the part. Since it’s my fantasy, I was looking for someone friendlier, a little more trusting, a little less sassy, and what was the last thing? Oh, yeah. Someone who actually likes me. But don’t feel bad—you nailed the physical profile,” I say with a wink.
“Stop being a jerk and help me,” she says, and then softens her tone. “Please?”
I uncross my arms and rest my hands on my hips. I’m pretty sure she already regrets that last comment, but I can’t stop now. “Look, princess. I’m a lot of things, but a jerk isn’t one of them. And don’t worry; I’m sure someone else will find you soon. A hungry cannibal—or Roxy. And I’m starting to think you and her might make a good team. The pity-party duo. She’s hateful, complains constantly, and she’s also a member of the ‘I hate Dax club’, just like you.”
I turn my back on her again and take a step.
“Wait! I don’t hate you. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry.”
I’m a sucker for apologies but when I turn to face her, I can’t resist putting one hand behind my ear and tilting my head.
“I’m really sorry,” she says again. “For running away and being so grumpy.” I wait for more, and she grits her teeth. “And for not listening to you.”
This is the part where I know she expects me to jump to her rescue, but I lean against a tree with a cocky grin and pull a banana from my pocket. She stares while I peel it, take a bite, and chew slowly. I’m savoring the fruit but also my triumph in having the upper hand.
“Aren’t you going to help me?” she finally asks with a hint of worry.
“I’m still debating. If I leave you here, at least I’ll know where you are and won’t have to worry about you running off. I could even build a little hut around you and toss you food and water now and then. You’d be a lot less trouble that way.”
“Very funny,” she says, but I think it is and I can’t keep from laughing.
~About the Author~
Shannon L. Maynard lives in Colorado with her five girls where she is a legal assistant by day and an author by night. In between working and writing she can be found driving kids to soccer, folding mountains of pink laundry, or eating her weight in chocolate. Other addictions include shoe shopping, reading YA, and Australian and British accents (which may be partly to blame for her massive crush on Thor). If she had one wish it would be for more hours in the day to spend enjoying all of the above. Okay, everything except the laundry.
Shannon studied art and criminology before getting a license in cosmetology, but eventually wound up an expert daydreamer; a skill that occasionally leads to getting lost while driving, but has been a huge asset to her love for writing. Her debut novel WICKED LUCK is set to release June 2015 and is the first book in the Wicked Luck Trilogy.
Crimson Tree Publishing Links:
(an adult division of Clean Teen)
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack and winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook.
Giveaway is International.
Becoming Jinn
Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit.
To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny.
Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.
A define 5 flame book!
Not since Cinder has a book held my attention as well as this one. Now one of my new favorite authors, Lori Goldstein has done an amazing job of creating an impressive world of magic.
Becoming Jinn is full of conjuring, intrigue, emotion and sisterly devotion. She nails the young snarky protagonist, breathing such reality into her that I fell she is a real person and not a character in a book. Well done. I can’t wait until book two.
The Song of the Mermaid
Title: The Song of the Mermaid
Author: Melissa Davies
Published: January 15th, 2012
Genre: YA Mystery Adventure
Recommended Age: 11+
~Synopsis~
“Yesterday morning, local boat-builder Mr Roger Trevithick was found dead at the foot of the cliffs on the Zennor Coast…”
When Stef Brightbay goes to visit her Aunt May in the village of Zennor in Cornwall, she expects to have an uneventful trip. But when her mother persuades her to research their family history and she begins to uncover a tragic event that took place there in 1812, she is determined to find out more. She also learns of the local folklore; the legend of Matthew Trewhella who was enticed to his death by a beautiful mermaid.
Why is her aunt so uncommunicative? What secret is being hidden by a strange local family who seem to want to put a stop to her investigation? And even more mysteriously, why are unusual things happening at her aunt’s cottage?
With the help of sea-salt fisherman Arthur and his faithful chocolate Labrador, Stef pieces together the past and realizes that a frightening parallel is unraveling in the present day. Will they be able to take action before it’s too late?
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads
Excerpt from The Song of the Mermaid
by Melissa Davies:
Once outside, Stef inhaled deeply, feeling her lungs expand and her mind sharpen. It was strange how rarely she actually remembered to breathe – just to stand in the open air and take deep, cold, sparkling breaths of clean, clear air. It felt so invigorating. She could taste sea salt on her lips even through the mist, and it wasn’t so thick that she couldn’t quite easily see where she was walking. Even so, she stayed far from the edge of the cliffs and strolled in the same direction as yesterday, towards the church and the rest of the village. She wondered if she might bump into Hayley again but it didn’t look like anyone else was around as far as she could see, and the mist gave sounds a muffled quality, making her feel like she was wrapped in a cocoon that she couldn’t get out of, and which nobody else could enter. It was a pleasant experience for a while, but after about ten minutes it grew a little eerie, and Stef shivered, beginning to feel the cold, and pulled her scarf more tightly around her neck and folded her arms to keep in the warmth. She turned to head back to the cottage. Her eyes darted around in panic. The mist had thickened and all she could see of the way she had come was a swirling cloud of white. She tentatively walked a few paces and waved her arms in front of her but it made no impact. She turned back again – she had been able to see ahead of her without many problems so maybe she could continue towards the church and wait there until it cleared. But the fog had fallen thickly all around her suddenly and silently, and she was no longer sure in which direction she was facing. Breathing heavily, she stopped and tried to remain calm. She knew that the most important thing was not to walk blindly, in case she roamed too close to the cliff-edge in her disorientation. She suddenly heard a sound to her right and she spun uncertainly.
“Hello?”
The mist was silent.
She sank down to her knees and crawled carefully in the direction she thought that Mermaid Cottage should be. Although she wasn’t totally sure where she was going, she knew it was a lot safer to feel with her hands in front of her on the ground than to go blundering off on foot as she might easily trip. Her knee scraped across a sharp stone and she swore, feeling a trickle of blood. Her jeans felt damp and heavy as she crawled on, her hair was plastered across her face and she breathed quickly, heart thumping. She was vaguely aware in the author’s part of her mind that she would laugh about this later, crawling through the mud not half a mile from the cottage, totally lost. But right now it was far from a joke. She knew distances could be deceptive but surely she was nearly at the cottage now? She stopped and peered around again in case the mist had lifted. It was still as thick as ever.
She thought she could hear something. Like someone speaking? No…she strained her ears, keeping her body completely still…it was like someone singing.
“What the hell?” she growled. “I’m stuck in the mist and someone is singing?”
It struck her as odd that she could actually hear anything anyway – even when she spoke aloud the sound was oddly dampened, but the voice she could hear was clear even though it was distant. She carefully turned on her knees, feeling around on the ground to steady herself, and painstakingly made her way in the direction she perceived the voice to be coming from. If someone was there, albeit someone weird enough to be singing outside in the morning, she wanted to head in the direction of civilization rather than go blundering further away. From time to time she paused and listened. The singing was definitely growing louder. It was melodic and female. She couldn’t detect any words but she was suddenly struck with the feeling that she had heard it somewhere before. In a dream! That was it – the half-remembered dream she had the night before had been about mermaids singing.
“Christ, I am really cracking up” Stef muttered, heart pounding furiously. Even underneath her coat, the hairs on her arms prickled and a chill tingled at her spine.
“I am thinking way too much about my book. I swear I’m going crazy”.
But still the voice continued, and Stef very carefully followed it, half out of curiosity and half out of desperation because right then, she had no better idea of how to find her way back. Her knees throbbed and her head ached, and the singing was now so loud it filled her ears with a haunting melody. She stopped and closed her eyes and shoved her hands over her ears to block it, crying out in frustration. The music stopped. She opened her eyes tentatively and removed her hands.
The mist was gone.
~About the Author~
Melissa Davies is a young author who has to date released 3 books available for the Amazon Kindle. She has always enjoyed reading and writing, and loves to craft short, fast-paced adventures which are particularly aimed at young adults aged around 11 or 12 and upwards, but they have also been enjoyed by adults of all ages.
Her premise is to write stories which she would want to read herself. She feels strongly that people shouldn’t be put off reading by books which try to be too literary and obscure, so instead she focuses on the story itself, making it engaging and exciting, rather than worrying too much about using as many long words as possible. However she also refrains from including drugs, sex, swearing or excessive violence because she feels they take away so much from the plot.
Her other hobbies and interests include animal rights, veganism, healthy living and yoga, and she hopes to spend more time on creative writing and improve her work in the future.
Quote of the day; Creativity comes . . .
“Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience.”
― Masaru Ibuka
Quote of the day; I write to . . .
“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of. ”
― Joss Whedon
The Elementals: Air book trailer . . .
Quote of the day; . . . jumping off cliffs . . .
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Quote of the day; Artists are visionaries.
“Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance – often visible to us, but invisible to those around us.”
― Julia Cameron
Day Parker 