Cover Reveal for the Summer I Became A Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

So I haven't blogged in forever, but I'm happy to be back today to share the GORGEOUS cover of Leah Rae Miller's The Summer I Became A Nerd due out next year from Entangled!!!

This books sounds amazing and is on the shortlist of my most anticipated books for 2013. And now that the cover is out, it just makes me want to read it EVEN MORE!!

And since I'm not one for patience, here it is...

Isn't it AMAZING?

And in case you were wondering what it's about...

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn’t just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

Doesn't it sound awesome?

Now go pre-order the book at either Amazon or Barnes and Noble and add it on Goodreads. Then go stalk Leah at the links below because she is AWESOME!

Leah Rae Miller

 Born and raised in northern Louisiana, Leah Rae Miller still lives there on a windy hill with her husband and kids. She loves comic books, lava lamps, fuzzy socks, and Cherry Coke. She spends most of her days reading things she likes and writing things she hopes other people will like.

Twitter- https://twitter.com/LeahR_Miller  

Website/blog- http://leahraemillerblog.blogspot.com/

Be Inspired

So I got tagged twice in the Be Inspired meme.

First by one of my amazing CPs, Heather, who not only is one of the most sweetest and supportive writer friends I have ever known, but she writes about hot guys named Dylan and motorcyle kissing. Motorcycle kissing!

I also was tagged by Melissa Brady King, who writes some of the awesomest posts ever. Like on writing beginnings, her analysis of YA deals, and the perfect drinking game for revising.

Thanks girls, for the kick in the-post-on-your-blog pants.

So, without further ado, be inspired...

1. What is the name of your book? Starry Knight

2. Where did the idea for your book come from? Ooooh I wish I had a good story for this. Like it came on a train ride or in a dream. But no, not really. I was in the midst of a YA fantasy that was getting really, really weird. I mean really weird. I had this scene idea about a lonely girl and a beach and a shooting star. And well, that emerged into Starry Knight.

3. In what genre would you classify your book? Technically I would call it a Sci-fi Fantasy Love Story. But since that genre really doesn't exist...I go with Sci-fi Romance or Contemporary Fantasy

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition of your book, who would you choose? I'm not good at this stuff, but I've always been partial to Jared Padalecki for Adam, Alex Pettyfer as Zane, Asher Book as Declan, and oddly enough Avril Lavigne without makeup as Sage.

5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book. Uhhhh...it's about fallen stars, and kissing, and Lake Superior, and kissing...

6. Is your book already published? Bahahahahahahaha. That would be a no.

7. How long did it take you to write your book? Almost 2 years...oh wow. I started it in in October of 2010 and finished the first draft in March of 2011. I revised for 4 months and sent out queries in July of 2011. Got LOTS and LOTS of rejections and was ready to trunk the thing, until one fabulous agent happened to tell me that while it was a fabulous story, it sadly was not fabulous writing. This was November 2011. So I spent the next four months studying the craft. I read dozens and dozens of books, took several kickbutt classes, and even attended my first writing conference. I hooked up with some amazing writers and became part of an awesome critique group (ahem...see right sidebar). In April, I rewrote the whole thing. May, June, July, and part of August were spent revising and revising and revising. And as of today, my little MS is back out in the big, bad world ready to sink or swim. And after a short break to catch up on tons of reading (which means more giveaways soon...squee!) and sleeping, I am so ready to finally be moving on to the next shiny idea.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? (Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?) Everybody immediately compares it to Stardust. To be honest, I have never read Stardust or seen the movie. It was one of my CPs who first brought it up. So of course I run to google and I'm like whoah this book looks so much cooler than mine. But hey, after reading the synopsis and watching movie clips, I can confidently say that my book is more I Am Number Four than it is Stardust.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book? Can I say all of those fabulous YA writers out there??? Maybe Nicholas Sparks, since my book isn't for people who like happy all the time.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book? That ultimately my book is about a girl, who learns that the only person she can "save" in life is herself.


And now my turn to tag...

Amber at amberafterglow
Rena at Doctor Faerie Godmother
Jennifer Baker-Henry
Melissa Hurst


And if you're reading this and would like to join in, consider yourself tagged! Just leave a link in the comments so I can go check out your book! :)

Monday Giveaway

First up, congrats to the winner of Lies Beneath, Emma K. You should have received an e-mail from me.

And now this week's giveaway.....

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about

Ways to Enter...

+1 for accepting the terms and conditions

+2 for following this blog

+3 for following me on twitter @carrie716

+4 for leaving a blog comment

+5 for tweeting about the giveaway (you can do this once per day)

+10 for blogging about the giveaway

You must be at least 18 to enter (13+ with parental permission) and have a U.S. shipping address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Road Trip Wednesday

It's another Road Trip Wednesday over at YA Highway, and this week's question is...

In preparation for our Bookmobile discussion of Kody Keplinger’s A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE, how did you spend/how will you spend the summer after graduation?

It's been a while since I graduated, so I have to really think back on this one...

Uh, no.

Not that long (although my kids seem to think it was).

It was more like this...

It was 1994 and the internet was still a baby. I didn't have an e-mail address, a cell phone, or a clue about what I was going to do.

I did, however, have an opportunity to go to Sweden thanks to my parent's generous graduation gift. But I was seventeen, stupid, and smitten with the current boyfriend. And to be honest, the idea leaving home terrified me. Getting on a plane and flying to another country terrified me. College terrified me.

So I stayed home to be with a boy who no longer matters. I worked two jobs, hung out with friends, and signed up for fall classes at the local community college.

In all of the summers of my life so far, the summer after graduation is hardly a memorable one. It was dull and boring and safe. I was still stuck in my shell, unable and unwilling to break free. If I only I'd been brave enough then...how different my life may have turned out.

I think this is why I'm drawn to YA so much. Because I can live vicariously through the tough, courageous characters.

The ones who would've gone to Sweden.

Monday Giveaway

First up, congrats to the winner of Of Poseidon, Krista R. You should have received an e-mail from me.

And now this week's giveaway.....

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

Ways to Enter...

+1 for accepting the terms and conditions

+2 for following this blog

+3 for following me on twitter @carrie716

+4 for leaving a blog comment

+5 for tweeting about the giveaway (you can do this once per day)

+10 for blogging about the giveaway

You must be at least 18 to enter (13+ with parental permission) and have a U.S. shipping address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway