EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK!

Hey guys! Sorry I've been gone for so long, but all my spare time has been dedicated to writing and reading, which leaves very little time for blogging. ☹

 BUT…

I had to come out of my secret cave to rant and rave about a book I've just finished. Okay, so it wasn't the physical form of the book. And no, it wasn't even an electronic version of the book. I experienced this book by audio (my first audio book ever) and I plan on purchasing a hard copy of it as soon as I can because I need to physically hold this book in my hands so I can hug it and caress it and have it on my book shelf forever and ever and EVER INTO ETERNITY.

"Tell me the name of the freaking book already!" you scream.

 Okay, okay.

The book I'm talking about is called Between Shades of Gray (please, PLEASE do not confuse this book with 50 Shades of Gray!!!! I'm still so mad that author chose a title that is so closely related to the master piece that is Between Shades of Gray).

The book is written by Ruta Sepetys and she is an absolute genius. Period. I have never been so touched and so moved by a book ever and when I said before that I experienced this book by audio, I specifically chose the word "experience" because that's what this book is. It is an experience like no other. BSoG made me feel and experience every emotion the human soul encompasses including some emotions I didn't even know existed! I laughed, I cried, I smiled so big my cheeks hurt. I was angry, I was appalled, I was educated and enlightened and there were moments where I literally thought I might throw up from the anguish and pain of what I was reading. The fact that it is based on facts from history (and a mostly hidden one at that) and the lives of real people and events these people went through, makes the story so incredibly important and that much more amazing and beautiful and ugly and heartfelt. Every person and their mother, brother, father, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparents, Mother from another, sister from a mister, and every friend and friend of a friend and their friends should read and experience this book.

 It. Is. Phenomenal.

 If you are not touched by this story and by the characters, then in the words of Hermione Granger, "You have the emotional range of a teaspoon." As soon as I get to a book store I will not only be buying one copy of this book, but two because I want to give one away. If I could afford it I would buy 50 copies to give away. Maybe one day when I sell one of my books ;-)

Lastly, I have to note that Emily Klein, the woman who did the reading for the audio version of this book, is AMAZING. Truly, truly, truly, AMAZING. She was a huge part of this experience for me and I'd like to thank her and congratulate her on the job she did with this reading. She gave this book true justice and her voice will forever be as important a part of this experience for me as was the story.

When you have time, check out Ruta Sepetys' website for Between Shades of Gray and watch the video. I fell more in love with her and this story after knowing all that she went through to write this amazing book.

Summary for Between Shades of Gray:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

Cover Love--My Heart Be Damned by Chanelle Gray

The summary from Goodreads:

If you're a Hunter, there are only three things you must know about the Damned. The Damned can't lie, can't live without a body, and can't leave you alone.

Amerie Carter has the blood of a Hunter, unfortunately. She is one of a rare line of women who, upon her sixteenth birthday, will come into extraordinary powers used to hunt the Damned; escaped souls from Hell who take up residence in human bodies. It's supposed to be her sweet sixteen, but Amerie has never dreaded a day more, and her worst fears are confirmed as the celebration turns tragic when her mother is killed.

Grief-stricken, Amerie vows to never hunt a day in her life. She's determined to hide behind normalcy, attending school, hanging out with her friends and working an after-school job at The Hut. All Amerie wants is to be left alone. But try telling the Damned that. The harder Amerie tries to ignore her powers, the more the Damned come looking for her.

When an attack leaves one of Amerie's friends in the hospital, and endangers the lives of her fellow students, she knows she has no choice: Hunt or Be Hunted. Thankfully, the gorgeous, secretive, and so-off-limits Marshall offers to train Amerie to take out her supernatural enemies. But training with Marshall means leading lying to her friends, her family, and confronting the mysterious circumstances surrounding her mother’s death.

Amerie soon discovers she’s not the only one with something to hide, Marshall's secrets might kill her before the Damned get the chance.

I love this cover! And I'm not just saying that because she's one of my good writing buddies. But as someone who knows how hard it is to make it in the writing industry and all you have to go through, seeing your first cover (or a friend's first cover) is so SOOOOOOO exciting. I love the feel of this cover. I love the model and the creepy fog with a girl in a gorgeous dress standing in a cemetery with a dagger in her hand. It's just made of awesome all around.

Most of all, I love seeing Chanelle's name on the cover! I'm incredibly excited for her! This is a BIG DEAL people! The book is set to release on July 15th and I for one cannot wait to have my very own copy of this book! And I'm not just saying that because she's my friend. I'm saying it because the story sounds awesome. The cover is awesome and it's totally my kind of story!

A LESSON LEARNED REGARDING EMAIL AND QUERYING...

I always thought the spam folder was the best thing ever created for email. I hate all those stupid emails that are obvious scams and have the potential to deliver a bug to my computer system. For a while, I would look through the folder, curious to see what was in there. But after a while, it was the same old stuff, sooooooooo....I started just hitting that little trash can button and deleting them without looking because it was filtering the bad stuff quite well.

Today, for some odd reason, I saw there were 2 emails in the Spam folder and decided to just take a look. And guess what? There was a response letter from an agent re: my query!!!!! W.T.F.??? Okay so it was a Rejection letter and you probably think, meh, could have done w/out seeing that one, but nooooooooo. I love to receive back a letter even if it is a form R because I like having some sort of closure with that agent to file away from my project being queried.

Obviously, my concern now is, what if I have deleted other letters? WHAT IF ONE OF THOSE LETTERS REQUESTED A PARTIAL OR FULL???? GAAAAAHHHHHHH! Such a horrible feeling.

So, my advice. If you are in the process of querying, check that spam folder before deleting and when an agent tells you that it may have accidentally gotten into their spam folder...THEY AINT LYIN'

Damn. :(

Lesson learned.

Carry on.

Melanie is MIA

Yes, I have been MIA for the last few weeks because I have been doing a ton of beta reading and working hard to finish up my own revisions based off of beta reader feedback. Well, I have FINALLY finished all revisions and edits to my novel, UCDs, and I am now on the Query Highway, riding it fast and hard.

I will be back soon and hopefully with some amazing news. A couple of crossed fingers would be cool if you can spare them. Oh, and maybe some crossed legs and crossed eyes, too. :D

Thanks!

Hugs to you all!

First book on an e-reader?

My friend, Dawn Rae Miller, has just come out with her debut novel, Larkstorm. It was released on the 6th and she's been having some amazing success and wonderful reviews all over the place. Yay Dawn!

Another friend of ours JUST got her first e-reader (a Kindle) and she was very excited to be downloading Dawn's book as her very first. I remember that excitement of getting my e-reader and was trying to remember what the very first book I purchased was. It was Courtney Summers' newly released Fall For Anything. Nothing for me will replace the feel of a real book with pages and bookmarks and covers that I can lay on my night table and fall asleep staring at, but there is a real excitement about having any book you want at your finger tips, without having to go anywhere or do a whole lot to get it (actually, that would be the "dangerous" part of e-readers: not getting carried away and downloading EVERYTHING you want to read).

So, for those of you who have an e-reader, what was the very first book you downloaded? If you don't have one and you were going to get one for this holiday season or sometime in the near future, what would be the first book you would want to download?

Win a Kindle and a copy of Larkstorm!!!

My buddy Dawn Rae Miller's self-published book, Larkstorm (the first in a series), is set to release on December 6th. Anyone in this industry (or trying to make it in this this industry) knows that this is the BIG payoff. For some of you it might be the dream of money and glory and fame and MORE MONEY, but once you come off that cloud and step into reality of what the biz is really about, just being able to say you're a published author is a huge, GINORMOUS accomplishment and the one true payoff.

So, to celebrate this accomplishment and the release date of Larkstorm, YA Highway is generously giving away a kindle and a copy of her novel. Can you believe it??? I'm so insanely excited that I'm going to shove another Peppermint Oreo in my mouth and take a huge swig of my yummy cold milk because it's too damn early for wine!

Here's the summary of Larkstorm:

In the years following the destructive Long Winter, when half the world’s population perished, the State remains locked in battle against the Sensitives: humans born with extra abilities.

As one of the last descendants of the State’s Founders, seventeen-year-old Lark Greene knows her place: study hard and be a model citizen so she can follow in her family’s footsteps. Her life’s been set since birth, and she’s looking forward to graduating and settling down with Beck, the boy she’s loved longer than she can remember.

However, after Beck is accused of being Sensitive and organizing an attack against Lark, he disappears. Heartbroken and convinced the State made a mistake, Lark sets out to find him and clear his name.
But what she discovers is more dangerous and frightening than Sensitives: She must kill the boy she loves, unless he kills her first.

Tell me that doesn't sound ridiculously awesome?!?

And for another peek at her story, check out the very cool book trailer:




Now get over to YA Highway and enter to win! You only have until Monday night, December 5th, so HURRY!!!!!