Happy Post-Holiday & Sudden Secrets Launch

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! And for those with kids, may your "winter break" be a peaceful one. My son's getting his tonsils and adenoids removed today, and it sounds like recovery time will mean we're housebound for the next week-ish. Anybody out there have any great tips or tricks for post-tonsillectomy? I'm planning on a whole lotta' smoothies to get fruits and veggies into him. 

I got some good news about a week ago, but I'm saving it for IWSG!

C. Lee McKenzie is stopping by today for the launch of her book Sudden Secrets, released December 18. However, before we jump into the launch information, I wanted to pass along something both C. Lee and J.L. Campbell are doing that is pretty easy to support them with. It's called Thunderclap. From what I can tell, if they get their goal number of supporters, Thunderclap will put out information on their book via the means the supporters have each chosen (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr.) All you do is click one button, and a one-time tweet, Facebook status, or whatever the heck Tumblr sends out, will be sent at a specific time on a specific date. Pretty easy, huh?

The links:

C. Lee McKenzie, Sudden Secrets

JL Campbell, Grudge

Sudden Secrets

Publisher: Evernight Teen

Release Date: December 18

Genre: Young Adult

One Secret

Cleo has struggled to heal after her baby sister’s death, but the flashbacks to the accident won’t go away. With the move, she vows to keep her tragedy a secret and avoid pitying looks.

One Mystery

Something’s strange about the abandoned house across the street—flashes of light late at night and small flickers of movement that only someone looking for them would see.

Everyone says the house is deserted, but Cleo is sure it isn’t, and she’s sure whoever is inside is watching her.

Another Secret

In one night, Belleza’s life changes forever. So famous, her only choice is to hide her secret from the world so she can silence small town bigotry.

Then Cleo happens.

Available for purchase at Amazon.

About the Author: C. Lee McKenzie is a native Californian, and after living a lot of different places in the world, landed back in her native state on the edge of a redwood forest. When she's not writing or blogging she's hiking or practicing yoga. Then there's that half acre of garden that needs a lot of love. Sudden Secrets(Evernight Teen 2014) is her fourth young adult novel. You can find out more at her website.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Any tips for post-tonsillectomy patients? How was your holiday?

May you find your Muse.

Celebrate YA

Beth Revis is having the most amazing giveaway I've ever seen.  She's giving away nearly 50 signed YA books to one lucky winner.  There are numerous ways to get entries, including a blog post about why you love YA.

Guess what this post is about?

First, here are the books she's giving away:

You can also click on her name in the opening paragraph to view her post about this and see a precise listing of the books.  If your eyes don't pop out of your head...well...what's up???

Why do I love YA?

Story lines that aren't realistic with adults can be explored in YA.  Adventures that take me back to my teen years, to my dreams and wishes, to the things I wanted to do or imagined might someday be possible, are all things you can read in YA.

YA covers all genres and sometimes breaks rules that aren't being broken in adult novels.  It also "tends" to be less focused on sex and more focused on romance and those first flirtations, the possibilities of "when" and "if."  These are feelings we've all experiences, questions we've asked ourselves in the past.  Some regret the decisions they've made, others don't, but we have made them, and it's an experience we share.

Many fantastic authors have written YA novels, created stories that had no other outlet.  Authors I've never heard of, as well as authors I've read in the adult genres.  Sometimes it seems as if they've found voices they didn't have when writing adult novels, and that is refreshing.

Why do I love YA?

Because there are great YA stories, ones that suck me in, take me on adventures, sometimes even help me relive my teen years.

Why do I love YA?

It rocks.

Why do you read YA?  Are you as blown away by this giveaway as I am?  There's still today to enter!

May you find your Muse.