Mundie Moms

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Clockwork Prince's February Teaser

(not final cover)

Cassie's treated fans to an early Valentine's gift, with her February teaser for Clockwork Prince-


They slowed finally at the southeastern corner of the church. Watery daylight poured through the rose windows overhead. “I know we are in a hurry to get to the Council meeting,” said Jem. “But I wanted you to see this.” He gestured around them. “Poet’s Corner.”

Tessa had read of the place, of course, where the great poets and writers of England were buried. There was the gray stone tomb of Chaucer, with its canopy, and other familiar names: Edmund Spenser, who had written The Faerie Queen, “Oh, and Milton,” she gasped, “and Coleridge, and Robert Burns, and Shakespeare —”

“He isn’t really buried here,” said Jem, quickly. “It’s just a monument.”

“Oh, I know, but —” She looked at him, and felt herself flush. “I can’t explain it. It’s like being among friends, being among these names. Silly, I know . . .”

“Not silly at all.”

She smiled at him. “How did you know just what I’d want to see?”

“How could I not?” he said. “When I think of you, and you are not there, I see you in my mind’s eye always with a book in your hand.” He looked away from her as he said it, but not before she caught the slight flush on his cheekbones. He was so pale, he could never hide even the least blush, she thought — and was surprised how affectionate the thought was.

She had become very fond of Jem over the past fortnight; Will had been studiously avoiding her, Charlotte and Henry were caught up in issues of Clave and Council and the running of the Institute —even Jessamine seemed preoccupied. But Jem was always there. He seemed to take his role as her guide to London seriously: they had been to Hyde Park and Kew Gardens, the National Gallery and the British Museum, the Tower of London and Traitor’s Gate. They gone to see the cows being milked in St James Park, the fruit and vegetable sellers in Covent Garden, had watched the boats sailing on the sun-sparked Thames from the Embankment. And as the days went on, Tessa felt herself unfolding slowly out of her quiet, huddled unhappiness over Nate and Will and the loss of her old life, like a flower climbing out of frozen ground. She had even found herself laughing. And she had Jem to thank for it.

“You are a good friend,” she exclaimed, and when, to her surprise, he said nothing to that, she said, “At least, I hope we are good friends. You do think so too, don’t you, Jem?”

He turned to look at her.

These teasers are killing me! Of course always in a good way as I'm anxiously awaiting to read the whole book. You can read more teasers for City of Fallen Angels & Clockwork Prince at Cassie's site here

Author Interview with debut author, Colleen Houck




I'm really excited to have Colleen on our site today, as Tiger's Curse has been on my book radar for a couple years now. I've been looking forward to reading it since some friends of mine read it shortly after Colleen first self published it in 2009, and raved about how awesome the book is. Now I can follow in their raving about this wonderful debut book.


Here's a little bit about Tiger's Curse, the first in a 3 book series-


By Colleen Houck
Published by Sterling Publishing
Released on January 11th, 2011

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?
The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world.
But that's exactly what happened.
Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.



In three words, how would you describe Tiger's Curse?

Magical, Sweet, Adventurous

We were really drawn to the premises of Tiger's Curse. What inspired you to set the story in India?

I wanted to do a changeling book and settled on a white tiger. After researching white tigers I was led to India and the rich mythology associated with it.

What is something you most admire about your characters, Kelsey and Ren?

Kelsey is brave. I was never a risk taker like her and I admire that about her. She also has the courage to do what she believes is right even if it causes her pain.

Ren is a poet at heart—sensitive, thoughtful, and kind. He sacrifices himself for others and makes everyone around him feel like they belong and are important.

We're looking forward to reading Tiger's Quest and Tiger's Voyage. When you first wrote Tiger's Curse, did you write it knowing it would always be part of a series?

Yes. From day one I knew I wanted to write a series. I love the anticipation of getting my hands on the next book but I wanted the reader to really feel like the story had a purpose, that it was headed somewhere. I didn’t want a meandering series that wandered back and forth without direction. I wanted mine to be fast and furious and feel like an ultimate thrill ride. When the ride is over I want the reader to laugh, cry, and run to the end of the line to hop on the roller coaster again. I’m very happy that my publisher feels the same way. That’s why we are releasing the first three books in the same year. Hopefully, the impact will powerful, memorable, and worthy of our tiger mascots.

What element of your story (romance, adventure, lore) did you enjoy writing the most and why?

I’m a sucker for romance and those are my favorite parts to read over and over. Visually, I love the action scenes. I’m a special effects geek so I can picture them in my head. To see them come to life on the big screen would be over-the-top awesome. The parts that are the most fun to write, however, are the fights. I really loved the show Moonlighting which ran back when Bruce Willis still had hair. He and Maddie Hayes, which is where I got Kelsey’s last name by the way, had the best romantic tension fights. I wanted to put that into my books, not only because I think it keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, but because it’s really, really fun. I enjoy the fast back and forth dialogue. Smart and witty verbal jousting is exciting to invent.

If there was one piece of advice you could share with an author who's just starting to write, what would it be?

I believe writing can never be a bad thing. If you have a desire to write you should. My grandfather wrote cowboy books. He never got published and he died before I was born so those books are the only way most of his grandchildren ever got to know what he was like. Always seek out traditional publishing first, but if you’ve exhausted your options, then there is nothing wrong with self-publishing. When I was self-published, I was perfectly content and happy just sharing my material with others. Whether I have ten fans or ten thousand, writing makes me happy. If writing is something that makes you happy too, then by all means, write!

_____________________________________

Thank you Colleen for joining us today! Tomorrow I'll be posting my review for Tiger's Curse.

If you'd like to learn more about Colleen and her series, please visit her site here- http://www.tigerscursebook.com/

You can read a preview of the book here

You can watch Tiger's Curse trailer here-

In My Mailbox

This week was full of great surprises and some of which I'm looking forward to sharing with you. At the end of the post I've included some information about some upcoming author interviews & giveaways we'll posting on our blog this week.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren where we share what books we've received through out the week either for review, that we purchased, borrowed or were gifted. This week I've combined our MG and YA books.


For Review:

* Divergent by Veronica Roth, published by Harper Collins, to be released on May 3rd, 2011.
* The Secret Life of Ms Finkleman by Ben H. Winters, published by Harper Collins Children's Books, released on September 21st, 2010 (MG)
* Shimmer by Alyson Noel, published by Square Fish, to be released on March 15th, 2011
* By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle, published by Square Fish, to be released on February 15th, 2011
* Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber, published by Harper Teen, released on December 28th, 2010 (Our interview with Ellen will be posted this coming week)
* Desires of The Dead by Kimberly Derting, published by Harper Teen, to be released on February 15th, 2011 (my review will be posted closer to the release date)
* Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, published by Harper Teen, released on January 4th, 2011
* Afterlife by Claudia Gray, published by Harper Teen, to be released on March 8th, 2011
* Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, to be released on February 15th, 2011
* The Dark City (Relic Master, #1) by Catherine Fisher, published by Dial Books, to be released on May 12th, 2011
* Memento Nora by Angie Smibert, published by Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, to be released on April 1st, 2011
* Zitface by Emily Howse, published by Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, to be released on April 28th, 2011
* Crystal Bones (The Fallen Chronicles) by C. Aubrey Hall, published by Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, to be released on April 28th, 2011
* Summer (Beautiful Dead #3) by Eden Maguire, published by Source Books, to be released on March 2011

I normally don't take a picture of the package the books arrive in, but I really loved the marketing behind Catherine Fisher's upcoming release, and I wanted to share with you what the box looks like. I love the added feature of the map inside the box.




Gifted/Won:

* The Chronicles of Narnia (the one w/ PC on the front)- Thank you Sophie!
* Dash & Lily's Books of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan- won from Random House
* 13 To Life by Shannon Delany- from Shannon Delany
(Don't miss our blog stop and LIVE author chat with Shannon this month! We will be giving away some signed goodies)

Bought:

I'm still waiting for my books I bought two weeks ago, so of course I couldn't resist and I bought more this last week too. I'm hoping they all arrive this coming week. Here's a few I do have in my hands that I picked up this week-
* The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan
* The Giver (SIGNED) by Lois Lowry- thank you Jen Bigheart for picking this up for me!! I'm not one for crying, but I almost cried over having a signed book by an author I've grown up admiring.
* I Am Apache by Tanya Landman
* Stormbreaker (Alex Rider series, UK edition) by Anthony Horowitz (I bought this as a gift for someone, whom shall remain nameless LOL).


A huge thank you to Harper Teen, Harper Collins, Penguin/Dial books, Square Fish/MacMillian, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, Source Books, Random House, Shannon Delany, and Sophie for this week's awesome reads.

Don't miss out on some of our upcoming interviews & giveaways this next week-

Interviews- We will be posting some great The Dark Days of Supernatural Tour author interviews through out the month. Last week we shared our interviews with Cynthia Hand & Kimberly Derting. This coming week we'll be posting our interviews for Ellen Schreiber & Courtney Allison Moulton.

Upcoming Giveaways- this month we'll be giving away a copy of Unearthly and an ARC of Angelfire as part of our 2nd Birthday Bash. We'll also be giving away a SIGNED ARC of Angelfire next month, as Angelfire is our Debut Book Of The Month.

What goodies did you receive this week?

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