Cover Reveal for The Summer After You And Me!

As a Jersey Girl, I'm so happy to be participate in the cover reveal for The Summer After You and Me!

Release date: Spring 2015, Sourcebooks Fire
By Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it's not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.

Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?



THE SUMMER AFTER YOU AND ME on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23299562-the-summer-after-you-and-m
Where to find Jen Doktorski:
www.jendoktorski.com
Twitter: @jdoktorski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jendoktorski

YA Scavenger Hunt!

Hello and Welcome to the 2014 Fall YA Scavenger Hunt!

I am Cyn Balog/ Nichola Reilly, your hostess for this leg of the hunt.

About Me

• I write and read just about anything.
• I like to bake pies and do crossword puzzles.
• I am obsessed with caramel and zombies, but would probably not like a caramel-covered zombie.
• I don't drink coffee because caffeine has been known to keep me up for days.

On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one signed book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon PST on Sunday, October 5th!

You can start right here or you can also go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage to find out all about the hunt. There are several contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter as many as you like! I am a part of the GREEN TEAM–but there are also other teams, and if you do the that hunt too you’ll have a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!



If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, see the full list of prizes up for grabs, or if you get lost along the way, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.




Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GREEN team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!). Hint: the secret number is highlighted in GREEN Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify. Rules: Open internationally. Anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, October 5th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.



Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on this hunt.

I am super excited to be hosting…

SUZANNE VAN ROOYEN

Suzanne's Bio: Suzanne is a tattooed storyteller from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When not writing, she teaches dance and music to middle schoolers and entertains her shiba inu, Lego. Suzanne is represented by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.
________________________________ ___________________________

The title of the book Suzanne is highlighting for this scavenger hunt is: THE OTHER ME. Here is a little bit about it!

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. She doesn’t fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez.
 
Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he’s perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn’t find out she’s a freak. As Treasa spends time with Gabriel, she realizes she might not love him as much as she wants to be him, and that the reason she feels uncomfortable in her skin might have less to do with extra-terrestrial origins and more to do with being born in the wrong body.
 
But Gabriel is not the perfect boy Treasa imagines. He harbors dark secrets and self-destructive tendencies. Still, Treasa might be able to accept Gabriel’s baggage if he can accept who she longs to be.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FROM SUZANNE AHEAD!!

Mix-tape Music

The Other Me is about two complicated and conflicted young people who find each other and themselves in music when Gabriel starts playing piano for Treasa's school choir. Music is an integral part of the story, be it Beethoven or Marilyn Manson. Every song or piece mentioned in the book is important to my characters and often lends extra meaning to the scenes or provides subtext to what's happening in the main storyline.

In the novel, Gabriel lends Treasa the album Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson. At the time, I considered having Treasa reciprocate by making Gabriel a mix-tape, but it never happened in the story. So here's the mix-tape Treasa would've made Gabriel with a note about why she chose these songs. The Other Me is set in the year 2000, so some of these are definitely a blast from the past!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Gabriel,

Thanks so much for lending me 'Mechanical Animals.' I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I actually kind of love it. There's something really honest about Manson's lyrics, which I appreciate, even if the CD cover is freaking my mom out.

Since you lent me your album, I thought I'd make you a mix-tape – well, CD I guess, to say thank you! Here's why I chose these songs.

1. This is my favourite choir song and I think you play it so much better than we sing it. Have you seen The Thin Red Line? I love that the movie opens with this song playing in the background.

2. Another choir favourite. We sang it last year, but I think we would've sounded so much better if you'd been the one playing the piano for us then.

3. This one's obvious! It's been a favourite of mine for ever, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone play it as well as you.

4. This piece reminds me of a Jo'burg storm. Have you played this before? If you have, I'd love to hear you play it sometime.

5. I know you're playing this next term and I just want to say WOW! I'm impressed already. I can't wait to hear you play this.

6. Before you introduced me to Manson, this was as about as close to heavy metal as I got. Still love this song. It's great for keeping me awake while I'm trying to do math homework. Also, I really like the lyrics...

7. Eddie Vedder rocks! Do you know this band? I'm sure you do. There isn't anything I don't love about this band so here's my favourite song off their album TEN.

8. I know I wasn't old enough to really know what was happening in 1994, but I'm so sad Kurt isn't with us any more. I wish I could've seen this band live just once. The lyrics of this are horribly ironic, don't you think?

9. This last song is actually kinda new to me. One of Jordan's recommendations, but I really like the guy's voice and I think the imagery conjured by the title is really cool. Jordan painted something like that last year. And of course the lyrics – this line in particular keeps haunting me: “And what do you want? I want to change”

I hope you enjoy this music as much as I do. See you at choir practice!

Love,

Treasa

_________________________________________________
Cyn here. Wow, guys, that sounds amazing. Boys with dark secrets? Sign me up! But really...I thought there would be 13 songs on this mix-tape, but it looks like just 9. Maybe you can read it and come up with the other 4?



If you think THE OTHER ME is just what you’ve been looking for, you can order your copy on Amazon.
  ____________________________________________________

Ready to move on to the next link in the hunt?

LINK TO NEXT BLOG

Writing With Two (or More!) Personas-- With Special Guest, Anna Staniszewski!

If you know me really well, you'll know that I write under several different pen names. Some I am open about. Some I am not. The top question I get is, "Why?" So I thought I'd invite another author who writes under more than one name to explain what it's like to have more than one "writing persona." Please welcome Anna Staniszewski to the blog!

I’ll be honest. Writers tend to have multiple personalities. We not only spend a lot of time talking to ourselves, but many of us also work on projects that are so different, they might as well have been written by different people. For some of us--like Cyn--we even write under different names for different genres.


When I first set out to get published, my work was DARK. Think isolated villages with corrupt leaders and post-apocalyptic landscapes. Ultimately, one of those projects was able to get me an agent, but none of them managed to find a publisher. Luckily, I had another part of my writing personality--one I hadn’t really explored yet--that “wrote funny.”




As my agent and I were struggling to sell one of my dark projects, I was writing a wacky story about fairy tales. I was very lucky when we found a publisher who not only liked it but wanted me to write more. Since then, I’ve written several more “funny books” for Sourcebooks, but funnily enough, each of my series has gotten a little darker. In The Dirt Diary series, the character is dealing with divorce, bullying, and identity issues--all told in a light, funny way.


Meanwhile, the book that I’m working on next, I’m With Cupid, is about a girl reaper and a boy cupid who accidentally swap powers. Dark? Yes. Funny? I hope so! I guess it’s taken me a while to find a way to combine my dark persona with my funny persona, but I’m excited that it’s finally happened. I think my dark projects might have been taking themselves too seriously before; maybe they were waiting for me to develop another writing personality that would finally make them work.






Anna's Bio: Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. Currently, she lives outside Boston with her husband and their crazy dog. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time reading, daydreaming, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series and the Dirt Diary series. Her newest book, The Prank List, released on July 1st from Sourcebooks. You can visit Anna at www.annastan.com .




So what do you think? Do you write under more than one persona? Why?

Another Glamorous Release Day!

So today, this little baby crawls out into the world:



It feels like a long time coming, especially since I wrote the first draft of this book in 2009. So it's a little surreal to see it as an actual book, living somewhere other than on my hard drive.


As I've mentioned numerous times, I work full-time, so what does glamorous release day entail?  Not much-- it's the same as any other day. Outside my family, not many people in my real world know or care that I write, so I will not get my Book Birthday Crown. Wah. That's okay, after five other book releases, I've stiffened my upper lip.


Anyway, here it is, and there it goes. Thank you to all of those who have supported me by buying my books and helped me to make this latest dream a reality. Because I never forget that, despite the lack of hoopla and shiny tiaras. It still is a dream, even after all these years.


About DROWNED:


Coe is one of the few remaining teenagers on the island of Tides. Deformed and weak, she is constantly reminded that in a world where dry land dwindles at every high tide, she is not welcome. The only bright spot in her harsh and difficult life is the strong, capable Tiam—but love has long ago been forgotten by her society. The only priority is survival.

Until the day their King falls ill, leaving no male heir to take his place. Unrest grows, and for reasons Coe cannot comprehend, she is invited into the privileged circle of royal aides. She soon learns that the dying royal is keeping a secret that will change their world forever.

Is there an escape from the horrific nightmare that their island home has become? Coe must race to find the answers and save the people she cares about, before their world and everything they know is lost to the waters.


Praise for DROWNED:

“Despite the presence of royalty and two hunky boys, Drowned is not your average post-apocalyptic fantasy romance. The unusual setting of a human settlement on the brink of collapse and several simmering background mysteries . . . keep the pages turning.” – Booklist

“Full of suspense, romance, and mystery, Drowned is a thrilling read that will appeal to fans of dystopian adventures.” – VOYA

“An atmospheric, uneasy tale of survival.” – Kirkus

“Suspense mounts as Coe and Tiam explore the labyrinth beneath the royal palace and the mysteries of their island’s past. A fantasy twist toward the end of this series opener from Reilly fits perfectly with the fairy tales Coe retells throughout the novel.” – Publisher’s Weekly

 
“This suspenseful and dramatic tale will make readers feel just as trapped as Coe feels by the rising tides. Coe is an interesting and well-developed character that teens will root for every step of the way, and the other inhabitants of her island provide foils and allies alike. The book ends on a cliff-hanger, and readers will clamor for a sequel.” – School Library Journal  


"This is a world like you've never seen before but with themes and issues that strike surprisingly close to home. A thrilling, brilliant read!"  -- Aprilynne Pike, NYT Bestselling Author of Wings


"A resourceful and smart heroine and a society literally on the edge of survival. Take a deep breath. Once you start reading, you won't be able to stop!" -- Maria V. Snyder, NYT Bestselling Author of Poison Study

 "A gripping and romantic tale featuring a truly original heroine facing seemingly insurmountable odds. I loved it!" -- Morgan Rhodes, NYT Bestselling Author of Fallen Kingdoms

DROWNED Blog Tour!

Hi there! So, later this month, when DROWNED releases, I'll be participating in the first of two blog tours! 







Here's the schedule:


Monday, June 23rd  - Alice Marvels 
Wednesday, June 25th -  Parajunkee's View 
Friday June 27th - The Cozy Reader 

Monday, June 30th - Chapter by Chapter 
Wednesday, July 2nd Reader Girls 
Friday July 4th - Such a Novel Idea 


I hope you'll stop by these great blogs to hear more about DROWNED and leave a comment! :)

Blog Hop!

Omigosh! I got tagged by my writing friend Charlotte Bennardo who is the author of BLONDE OPS and also happens to have the best chocolate swag in the whole world at her signings.




And then for some reason I got shut out of my blog for a few days. This was supposed to go up on Monday.  So ANYWAY, pardon my lateness. 

1. What are you working on?

I am working on the sequel to DROWNED, which is called BURIED. It's coming out in 2015.

2. Tell me one element of your current work that you really love.

I'm excited to finally be writing a series. I've written 5 stand-alone novels and everyone always asked me, "Are you ever going to revisit those characters?" and I kept saying, Geez, no, I'm so sick of those people!  I couldn't understand why my readers weren't, too.  But then I went back and read one of my books and toward the end I really felt like I could've spent more time with them.

So now that I'm writing a book with the same characters, I kind of feel like I know them more intimately than I've known any of my other characters. It makes my writing life a lot easier, knowing exactly how a character would respond to a certain obstacle! And I finally have come to really love my characters and will probably be sad when I have to say goodbye to them.

3. What part of the book did you most love to write?

There is a rivalry that sprouts up between two of the characters, and I find that to be extremely fun! Other than that, I LOVE writing the end of a book. And not just because it's the end. I love reworking that last line to make it something that will stick with the reader.

4. In your writing process, what was the most difficult?

There are a lot of authors who write sequels for every book they come up with, whether or not it needs one. That's not me AT ALL. So trust me, this book needed a sequel.

But for this book, as excited as I was to write a sequel, I wasn't really sure I could. I was hung up thinking that this book would need to take place immediately after the events of the first book. I wrote it and wrote it a thousand different ways and it was SO DULL. I kept thinking, this book needs a sequel, and I owe it to the characters and to the readers who stayed with me this long to write something that doesn't put them in a coma.

Then I made the decision to start the book several months after the events of the first book. And then it all clicked. Or at least, I'm hoping it's all clicking!!

And now I am tagging Margie Gelbwasser, who is the coolest, funnest chick in the world and also writes awesome books, like INCONVENIENT and PIECES OF US.  I hope she'll answer the same questions on her blog! :)

Two Months Til DROWNED!

It's crazy that in fewer than 2 months, DROWNED will be out in the world! Where did the time go?


Here's a bit of praise for it:






"Coe’s voice is tough but eloquent, saturated with the bleakness of Tides and her hopeless romance . . . An atmospheric, uneasy tale of survival." -- Kirkus Reviews




"This is a world like you've never seen before but with themes and issues that strike surprisingly close to home. A thrilling, brilliant read!"  -- Aprilynne Pike, NYT Bestselling Author of Wings


"A resourceful and smart heroine and a society literally on the edge of survival. Take a deep breath. Once you start reading, you won't be able to stop!" -- Maria V. Snyder, NYT Bestselling Author of Poison Study

"Suspense mounts as Coe and Tiam explore the labyrinth beneath the royal palace and the mysteries of their island’s past. A fantasy twist toward the end . . . fits perfectly with the fairy tales Coe retells throughout the novel." -- Publisher's Weekly

"A gripping and romantic tale featuring a truly original heroine facing seemingly insurmountable odds. I loved it!" -- Morgan Rhodes, NYT Bestselling Author of Fallen Kingdoms




As of now, I'm busy revising the sequel and planning maybe a third book?  I don't know.




I hope you'll read DROWNED and let Coe and Tiam into your lives!  Join #TeamTiam. He is looking for a few good people to face the tides with. Just make sure you stay in your circle.

Goodreads Giveaway for DROWNED

Just FYI that my publisher, Harlequin TEEN, is giving away 25 copies of DROWNED on Goodreads!


If you'd like to nab your own before you can buy it, just click on the ENTER TO WIN button on the left-hand side of this page, or visit the page here.  Good luck!

WIN an ARC of DROWNED by Nicola Reilly! Enter by 3/17/14

Hey! I'm giving away a couple ARCs of DROWNED, so you can read it way before it comes out on 6/24.  All you have to do is comment here (comments will be hidden).


If you REALLY want to win, you can get a double-entry by also liking the Nichola Reilly page on facebook (see the button on the left-hand side), and then share the status. :)
I'll pick the winners after 3/17/14. Good luck!





Coe is one of the few remaining teenagers on the island of Tides. Deformed and weak, she is constantly reminded that in a world where dry land dwindles at every high tide, she is not welcome. The only bright spot in her harsh and difficult life is the strong, capable Tiam—but love has long ago been forgotten by her society. The only priority is survival. 


Until the day their King falls ill, leaving no male heir to take his place. Unrest grows, and for reasons Coe cannot comprehend, she is invited into the privileged circle of royal aides. She soon learns that the dying royal is keeping a secret that will change their world forever. 


Is there an escape from the horrific nightmare that their island home has become? Coe must race to find the answers and save the people she cares about, before their world and everything they know is lost to the waters.

COVER REVEAL for THE YEAR WE FELL DOWN

One of the things I secretly LOVE is New Adult books. Those are books for ages 18 to 24. I've been reading a lot of them, and so I'm pleased to be one of the first to showcase this little beauty, THE YEAR WE FELL DOWN by Sarina Bowen, coming out March 17!






A little bit of info on THE YEAR WE FELL DOWN:


She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.

Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else can quite understand.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

Warm, funny, and often heartbreaking, The Year We Fell Down is New Adult contemporary romance. Contains: hot hockey players, too many pairs of crutches, gallows humor, Princess Bride references, and a slightly outrageous vibrator scene. (Sexual situations make the book suitable for ages 18+.)

The expected publication date is Monday, March 17th, 2014, on all of your favorite e-book websites.

And on Sarina:

Sarina Bowen writes contemporary romance and new adult fiction from the Green Mountains of Vermont. She lives with her husband, two children, eight chickens and an unwieldy pile of ski and hockey equipment.

New Cover for DROWNED

What do you think?

DROWNED, coming from Harlequin TEEN on June 24, 2014!

Coe is one of the few remaining teenagers on the island of Tides. Deformed and weak, she is constantly reminded that in a world where dry land dwindles at every high tide, she is not welcome. The only bright spot in her harsh and difficult life is the strong, capable Tiam—but love has long ago been forgotten by her society. The only priority is survival. Until the day their King falls ill, leaving no male heir to take his place. Unrest grows, and for reasons Coe cannot comprehend, she is invited into the privileged circle of royal aides. She soon learns that the dying royal is keeping a secret that will change their world forever. Is there an escape from the horrific nightmare that their island home has become? Coe must race to find the answers and save the people she cares about, before their world and everything they know is lost to the waters.

Praise for DROWNED:

"This is a world like you've never seen before but with themes and issues that strike surprisingly close to home. A thrilling, brilliant read!"  -- Aprilynne Pike, NYT Bestselling Author of Wings

"A resourceful and smart heroine and a society literally on the edge of survival. Take a deep breath. Once you start reading, you won't be able to stop!" -- Maria V. Snyder, NYT Bestselling Author of Poison Study

"A gripping and romantic tale featuring a truly original heroine facing seemingly insurmountable odds. I loved it!" -- Morgan Rhodes, NYT Bestselling Author of Fallen Kingdoms

Happy New Year!

I think the theme of this blog should what a horrendously bad blogger I am.


Seriously. The last time I updated was . . . last summer?  Yikes.


Time is totally flying!  And I've been busy with a bunch of stuff.  Like:

1. I've been working on revisions to DROWNED (under the Nichola Reilly pseudonym).  It's coming out June 24, so that means, only six months away!  The book is final, now, and now we're just waiting on a cover, which I will post here when it's ready. Any day now! I know, this blog will probably explode, getting two posts from me in a given month.
2. I ALSO finished the draft of BURIED, my very first sequel!
3. I ALSO published my VERY FIRST New Adult book.  It's under a pseudonym that will not be named here. It was just for fun.  Even so, the second one is coming out this April.
4. I'm drafting another book, which is going to be under the Cyn Balog name. I think.

Anyway, that's where I've been.  I would normally tell you my goals for 2014 right now, but I find that if I don't create those lists, I usually accomplish way more than I expected of myself. What can I say? I have low expectations.


I hope you have a very happy new year!