BADASS AUTHOR, BETHANY HAGEN

Straight from the mouth of Bethany Hagen: 
I am a former librarian living in the Kansas City area with my husband and two children. My debut novel Landry Park came out from Dial/Penguin in 2014, and the sequel,Jubilee Manor, will be out August 11, 2015. I am represented by Mollie Glick of Foundry Media.

Now, let's get to know this badass.

What is your favorite word?

Haberdashery.

What is your least favorite word?

Moist.

What sound or noise do you love?

The sound of rain falling…

  

What sound or noise do you hate?

The sound of the printer jamming.  

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I can cheat a little bit at this since I was a librarian before I got published—I would go back to the info desk in a heartbeat!

  

What profession would you not like to do?

Pet food taste tester.

What is your favorite color Popsicle?

Red—who doesn’t answer red?!

Sprinklers or Slip N Slide?

Sprinklers (how else would I get grass stuck to my feet?!)

Favorite John Hughes Movie?

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Last song you listened to?

“Pedestrian at Best” by Courtney Barnett

What book do you wish you would have written because it’s just that good?

Oh man.  There’s too many.  The last batch includes Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, Tiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra, and the latest Lockwood and Co book by Jonathan Stroud.

In one sentence or less, what does every aspiring-author need to know?

Read a lot!  A ton.  All the time.

Grass stuck to her feet...told ya. Straight-up BADASS!

Here's a peek at LANDRY PARK which is included in the AGAINST THE ODDS prize pack:

Click here for a full list of prize packs

Madeline Landry is born into a world of influence and luxury, a world of estates and gardens fueled by nuclear power and maintained by a caste of people called the Rootless.  When a Gentry girl is attacked, it is the Rootless who are blamed, even though Madeline knows better.

As she searches for the truth, she can’t escape the rumors of revolution and retribution circulating through the ballrooms, and neither can she escape the city’s new golden boy, Captain David Dana, who has secrets of his own. Soon, she finds herself forced to choose between her duty and her desires, her ancestral destiny and her conscience,and her choice will shake the very foundations of the world she was born to rule.

Be sure to stalk Bethany on Tumblr, Pinterest or Twitter. And don't forget to add her books to your Goodreads list!

Now, ENTER THE CONTEST!!!

 

SORRY TO OUR INTERNATIONAL READERS, BUT THIS IS A U.S. ONLY GIVEAWAY

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*Many thanks to James Lipton for letting me steal sharing his awesome interview questions*  

BADASS AUTHOR, A.G. HOWARD

A.G. Howard was inspired to write Splintered, the first book in her bestselling Splintered Series, while working at a school library in her Texas hometown. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.

Now, it's time to get acquainted with this badass:

What is your favorite word? Eloquent

What is your least favorite word? Snot

What sound or noise do you love? Rain 
What sound or noise do you hate? Tornado sirens (scary!)    

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? 

Fashion Design      
What profession would you not like to do? Housekeeper (I can hardly get my own housework done…much less someone elses. *coughs*)

What is your favorite color Popsicle? Red
Sprinklers or Slip N Slide? Sprinklers
Favorite John Hughes Movie? Some Kind of Wonderful
Last song you listened to? Hazy by Darkness Falls
What book do you wish you would have written because it’s just that good? 

Jane Eyre

In one sentence or less, what does every aspiring author need to know? When you’re reading a critique of your work for edits, know the difference between pride and vision. (Can find a more detailed explanation of this advice in the Q&A section here)

Yup. Grade 'A' Bad.Ass.

Now, let's take a look at the books that make up the IT'S A MAD, MAD WORLD prize pack: 

A postcard with three paragraph sneak peek 

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF PRIZE PACKS

 

SPLINTERED:  Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

UNHINGED: Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole. She was crowned Queen of the Red Court and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the boy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly appealing Morpheus. Now all she has to do is graduate high school.
That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.
Could she leave Jeb and her parents behind again, for the sake of a man she knows has manipulated her before? Will her mother and Jeb trust her to do what’s right? 
 

ENSNARED: After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She’s determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world—a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts.

In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that’s gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?.

You can stalk AG Howard on her website, twitter and Facebook. And be sure to add her books to your Goodreads list, too!

NOW, enter the contest for your chance to win these gorgeous books. 

 SORRY TO OUR INTERNATIONAL READERS, BUT THIS IS A U.S. ONLY GIVEAWAY

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
*Many thanks to James Lipton for letting me steal sharing his awesome interview questions*

 

BADASS READS PRIZE PACKS

20 YA AUTHORS +

 25 BOOKS UP FOR GRABS =

 ONE BADASS SUMMER
 

#BADASSREADS

7 HUGE PRIZE PACKS INCLUDING:

IT’S A MAD, MAD WORLD 
SPLINTERED, UNHINGED and *ENSNARED (*AUDIO BOOK)

AG Howard 
PLUS an UNTAMED postcard w/three paragraph sneak peek!!!

AGAINST THE ODDS 
LANDRY PARK, Bethany Hagen

DEFY, Sara B. Larson
GATES OF THREAD AND STONE, Lori M. Lee
NIL, Lynne Matson

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, Anne Blankman

MURDER COMPLEX, Lindsay Cummings 

LIARS, INC., Paula Stokes (hard copy) 

SAND BETWEEN MY TOES

NO PLACE TO FALL, Jaye Robin Brown
SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS, Bethany Crandell 

PLAYING NICE, Rebekah Crane 
THE SUMMER AFTER YOU + ME, Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

GRITTY BOYS OF SUMMER 

TAP OUT, DARE ME, PRESS PLAY 
Eric Devine

SPELLS, SPIRITS and SWOONS, OH MY!

INTO A MILLION PIECES, Angela V. Cook
ASPEN, Rebekah Crane
THE ONE THING, Marci Lynn Curtis (hard copy) 
DAUGHTER OF CHAOS, Jen McConnel   
OF BREAKABLE THINGS, A. Lynden Rolland

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

EXTRACTION, Stephanie Diaz (hard copy)

BURN OUT, Kristi Helvig
ANOMALY, Tonya Kuper

                                        

TOLD YA. IT'S BADASS!!

ALL BOOKS WILL BE SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR!

(paperback unless otherwise stated)

*Giveaway is US ONLY*

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY READING!

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FREAKING GRANDE, YO!

Something HUGE is going down this summer. 

HUGE

No details yet, but trust me when I say it's FREAKING GRANDE, YO! 

The fun begins Saturday, June 20. Mark your calendars now & 

check back here in a couple weeks for more info.

I am aware that this is a big, fat tease of a post, but I really don't care. 

 And once you see what's at stake, you won't either.

Let the countdown to a HUGE summer begin....

 

Huey Lewis & the short Canadian

Because my creative well has  run dry, I decided to let the next tweet that appeared in my feed provide the topic for this post. Considering some of the freaks people I follow, it could have been very bad. Thankfully, it was pretty awesome. Like, totally awesome!

Today, May 3, 2015, marks a unique day in movie history as evidenced by the below photo:

If you don't know the movie you're either under the age of 21 and your parents have neglected you, or you've been living under a rock. Either way, you're a travesty to me and the entire film industry. Seriously. You MUST remedy this sitch immediately or you'll have to forfeit your membership to my fan club. Yeah, it's that serious.


BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of the best films to come out of the 80's. (And John Hughes had nothing to do with it so...yeah, that's saying something). It's right up there with Karate Kid and The Goonies. Okay, maybe not the The Goonies, but it's a right of passage for sure and will go down in history as one of my top twenty...maybe fifteen movies of all time.

I won't give away the story for those of you who haven't seen it yet, *adopts threatening expression directed right at YOU*, but it's in this movie where you get to see Michael J. Fox step away from his Alex P. Keaton role and into something a little less...conservative. He may only be five feet tall, but this little Canadian can deliver!  Plus, you'll understand why Power of Love is one of the best songs to come from the 80's. *Nods to Huey Lewis...and the News*

Here's a little reminder for those who haven't seen it in a while...
and for those of you who never have, digest this awesomeness now and then scamper off to Netflix, Amazon Prime or...anywhere, and get your hands on this movie. You'll be so happy you did.

(Also, don't judge the wardrobes harshly...everybody dressed that way in 1985. #truth)






Finally, we have a winner for last month's anniversary giveaway. Congratulations, Thais!! And thanks to everybody who entered. A fun, summer read giveaway will be coming soon so stay tuned.

Happy, Happy, Happy!! A birthday celebration and giveaway!

One year ago today, SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS rolled onto the scene.

 *pauses while you look at the calendar, scratch your head and say, "No freakin' way!"*

Hard to believe, I know, but it's true.

365 short days ago, Cricket Montgomery strolled into Barnes and Noble with a Fendi over her shoulder and demanded that the world listen to her story, and listen it did!

Readers have called this book: honest, heartwarming, funny, authentic, irreverent, uplifting and so many more happy adjectives that to list them all would take until this day next year. (Okay, I'm exaggerating a smidge, but seriously, people are kind, yo!)  And now it's your chance to read the book to see if what they're saying is true. (If you agree, leave a review somewhere. If you don't...well... let's just say kittens have been known to go missing. Ahem.)

To celebrate this momentous first birthday, I'm offering up a signed copy of SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS PLUS a $15 book gift card (winner chooses the store) so you can check out one of the amazing 2015 books that are strutting their stuff on the debut runway.


THE CONTEST IS INTERNATIONAL AND RUNS THROUGH THE MONTH OF APRIL.

So, brush up on your mad contest-entering skillz and win yourself this awesome prize.

No minions were hurt during the posting of this blog

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And the monkey shall entertain you

I realize I've been slacking on the blog lately, but I promise I've got a very, very good reason for my laziness.  Here it is:

I'm writing. 

My current WIP has stolen my heart and with it, every second of free time I have.
I promise to return with some ridiculous witty commentary soon, but in the meantime this little monkey is here to keep you entertained. I have yet to determine if she's cute or just plain freaky.

Cute/Weird photo courtesy 1Funny.com