GCC Tours Melissa Walker and Small Town Sinners

MELISSA WALKER is one of our DEAR BULLY contributors, and before I tour her new book, SMALL TOWN SINNERS, Melissa is here to talk about her essay that she contributed to DEAR BULLY:

"Because of the essay I wrote for Dear Bully, I've had some old friends on my mind. There was a group of four of us in 8th grade, one of whom was sort of the ringleader of meanness. One day, the other three of us turned on her. But instead of saying, "Stop being mean," we ostracized her and cut her off completely. Not real mature.

In chronicling this episode for the anthology, another friend on the periphery of our circle, Beth, popped into my head. I remember that just after the showdown happened with my friends, she would ask me how this ostracized friend was doing, tell me she worried about her, hoped she was okay. It made me think about the "mean friend"'s side of things in a way I hadn't done before.

I reconnected with Beth on Facebook and told her about how much her 8th grade poise and wisdom impressed and stayed with me. She, naturally, coudn't remember the incident--it was just in her nature to be that kind. I can't wait to read the rest of the Dear Bully stories and hope that there are more full-circle moments for the authors who contributed and the readers who check it out. "

Readers should definitely check out SMALL TOWN SINNERS, which recently got this great review in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/books/review/young-adult-small-town-sinners-by-melissa-walker.html

~~~~~~more about Melissa's new book~~~~~~~~~ It's Small Town Sinners' Book Birthday Week! Does falling in love mean falling out of faith? “Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House, her church's annual haunted house of sin, Lacey's junior year is looking promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey Anne Byer everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for Ty make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question her religion." Read an excerpt. A few reviews: "Walker has written a credible and tender evocation of the moment when a young person’s beliefs begin to emerge and potentially diverge from the teachings of a family’s religion... Near the end, Lacey contemplates a verse from the prophet Isaiah: 'Come now and let us reason together.' It’s a good summation of what Walker asks of her characters and, by extension, of her readers." --The New York Times Book Review "A non-judgmental, nuanced, fascinating look at the teenage religious right... Walker writes an outstanding contemporary novel with a cast of characters who, far from being portrayed as hateful zealots, are relatable for readers of all faiths. The extremism of Hell House is tempered by the perfectly understandable attitudes and intentions of Lacey Anne, who struggles with what it means to grow up, to question and to think for herself." --Romantic Times "Both tender and provocative... Walker creates an astutely balanced portrait of a conservative congregation's in-your-face response to perennial issues of domestic abuse, teen pregnancy, and suicide, as well as of those who struggle to fit the prescribed Christian mold." --Publishers Weekly So, it's out this week! The first week of a book's life is VERY important. And you can help me spread the word! Here's how: 1) Buy the book! To purchase your copy, please request it at your local bookstore, or you can get it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble or various other convenient spots. 2) Shout it from the rooftops! Might I be so bold as to ask you to tell everyone you know about it? Tweet it. Facebook it. Goodreads it. Oh my! Look, handy buttons: 3) Come see me read! I’ll be at Books of Wonder in NYC (18 W. 18th Street) on Thursday, July 28th with fellow authors Sarah Porter (Lost Voices) and Aprilynne Pike (Illusions). 4) Like my Author Page on Facebook. We may be friends on Facebook, but I'd also love it if you "Like" me there. Because you already do, right? Oh, and while you're at it, find me on twitter! xx, Melissa melissacwalker.com twitter.com/melissacwalker beforeyouwerehot.com iheartdaily.com readergirlz.com

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GCC Tours Amanda Ashby and Fairy Bad Day

FAIRY BAD DAY
by Amanda Ashby

It’s going to be a fairy bad day.

First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under me by Curtis Green. Sure, he’s really cute, but that doesn’t give him an excuse.

On top of that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you’re thinking—how hard could it be, right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won’t STOP!

But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be the GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately…it’s Curtis.

What people are saying:

"Teens with a taste for the paranormal school story and a tolerance for raucous humor will be involved with and amused by this romantic fantasy. The exciting plot, humor throughout—often provided by the little fairies—and relatively innocent romance between characters will grab readers and keep them involved. " Kirkus Reviews

"In a fun mashup of the modern and the magical, Ashby (Zombie Queen of Newbury High) creates nicely developed characters and supports them with strong plotting and zippy writing. Laced with humor, danger, and romance, this book will have readers smiling all the way to the last page." Publisher's Weekly

“Great fairy fun from page one! If Buffy and Harry Potter got together and threw a magical slayer party, it would be the world Amanda Ashby created in Fairy Bad Day. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional depth, and cute boy romance, reading this book will guarantee your day is fairy awesome.” Tera Lynn Childs, award-winning author of Oh. My. Gods. and Forgive My Fins

"Fairy Bad Day is fairy awesome supernatural slaying fun." Stacey Jay author of You are So Undead to Me and Undead Much

"I really liked that no matter how mad Emma wanted to be at Curtis, she just couldn't stay mad—not with those beautiful brown eyes and that lopsided grin. I loved the cover design, it really drew me in. This was a very good book and I would highly recommend it."— School Library Journal Vanessa, age 12

_____________________________________________________________

As we get closer to the pub date of DEAR BULLY, I'm asking all of our Girlfriend Cyber Circuit members to share an experience or their thoughts on bullying -- a trend that is growing at an alarming rate.

Here's what Amanda had to say:

Unfortunately, not all of our friends are who we think they are. I have two kids at school and the amount of bullying behavior that goes on within their groups is terrifying. Because of it I’m always reminding them that friends don’t make you feel bad.

Unfortunately, it sometimes seems to me that it’s actually harder to walk away from the bully who you know and have shared some good times with than the bully who you don’t like. But, it does bear repeating, friends don’t make you feel bad. So if you have someone in your group who is bullying you, no matter how hard it is to step away (and I really do know how difficult this can be, especially if ‘everyone’ else is still friends with them) a true friend is someone who supports you, not one who teases, or hurts you or tries to sabotage your happiness.

I’m a great believer in friendship and in Fairy Bad Day there is no way that Emma would’ve been able to face her challenges without the help of her friends. I think this is the same in real life as well. Our friends help us when things are going wrong and they laugh and celebrate with us when things are going right.

ABOUT AMANDA

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia, and has spent the last fifteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand before finally deciding that to move home. When she's not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let's just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)

She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. As well as writing, she works part-time at the children/teen desk of her local library, which basically means that someone pays her to talk about books. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2010.

http://www.amandaashby.com

http://www.amandaashby.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/amandaashby/

http://www.amandaashby.com/
Fairy Bad Day ~ Puffin June 9th 2011 Sophie's Mixed-Up Magic #1 Wishful Thinking ~ Puffin Summer 2012

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Insight Stages: Dear Bully

Click below for the podcast of the DEAR BULLY panel at BEA

Insight Stages: Dear Bully

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GCC Tours Jessica Brody and MY LIFE UNDECIDED

As I mentioned last week, I'm about two authors behind on my blog tour schedule, so I just may have to double up on author in order to catch up -- especially since it's about one week until my daughter is out of school for summer vacation. There goes the rest of the little time I have! Argh!

Anyway, I'm so super excited to tour Jessica Brody this week. She is one of the contributors to DEAR BULLY and so I'm also going to post her bully story over on the DEAR BULLY website. Take a visit over there if you can (www.dearbully.com).

Before I get to her book, Jessica is going to tell a little about her experience with bullying:

I’m so thrilled to be one of the authors contributing to the forthcoming anthology: Dear Bully. I wrote a song for the book that talks about how I was bullied in middle school. I was constantly teased, harassed, pranked, you name it. And I spent the entire time on the outside, looking in, wishing I could be part of the “popular crowd.” But now, looking back on it, I’m glad I wasn’t. I talk about this a lot now when I do school visits. My experience in middle school shaped who I am today. I honestly don’t think I would be writing young adult novels had I not had these experiences. They stayed with me. Long enough that I’m able to use them in my writing. I think (hope!) these real life experiences I have to pull from make my characters more real and believable.

Jessica has an amazing book out (it came out on June 7th) and here's a little bit about MY LIFE UNDECIDED:

PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.

Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.

But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I’m gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!

Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.

But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

Reviews:

"Brooklyn is a sympathetic protagonist with whom teens will identify. Her journey is fun to read, and decision-challenged readers will learn an important lesson about self-acceptance along the way."
--School Library Journal

"Brody taps into a universal human desire...An amusing coming-of-age story with many funny moments...[Brooklyn's] flustered, off-the-cuff narration should keep readers as invested in her actions as her blog followers are."
--Publisher's Weekly

About the Author:

A few fun facts about Jessica Brody’s own life undecided:

• Jessica was born in Los Angeles, moved to Colorado when she was twelve, moved back to California after college and now indecisively splits her time between both states.
• Jessica graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts with majors in Economics and French because she was convinced she wanted to be an “important business woman.” After a brief stint as a strategic analyst for MGM Studios, she abandoned her business background to become a full-time writer. Now she uses her mad spreadsheet skills to build complicated outlines for her books.
• Appropriately, when writing this book, Jessica couldn’t decide on a title. So she polled 50 of her closest friends to finally come up with My Life Undecided.
  
  Visit her online at: www.JessicaBrody.com.

Bestselling Author of:

The Karma Club (young adult)

My Life Undecided (young adult) - Coming June 2011!

The Fidelity Files (commercial fiction)

Love Under Cover (commercial fiction)

www.JessicaBrody.com

And coming soon: www.MyLifeUndecided.com, where you can post your own undecided questions, poll the community, and get some answers.

My Life Undecided

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (June 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374399050
• ISBN-13: 978-0374399054

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GCC Tours Elizabeth Scott and BETWEEN HERE AND FOREVER

I am so overdue with my GCC Blog tours. Please forgive my time away from here. I've been so busy with DEAR BULLY, the anti-bullying anthology that comes out in August, that I've been so neglectful (is that a word?) of my personal blog. So, apologies to everyone!!! I'm actually going to be touring Jessica Brody NEXT week (even though I was supposed to do it THIS week), but right now I'm going to tour Elizabeth Scott, because I was supposed to tour her LAST week.

(Confusing, I know... welcome to my life!)

So, first things first, WELCOME, ELIZABETH SCOTT to my humble web page/blog. Here is a pic of her beautiful book cover for her latest book, BETWEEN HERE AND FOREVER.

Here's a little about the book:

Abby accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and she knows exactly what she it: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it’s nothing compared to living without her.

She’s got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

1. First topic: Revenge. What is your experience with it? Have you
ever sought revenge? As the old adage goes, do you think that living
well is the best revenge?

I think it's best to be the better person, as hard as that can be, and
I do think that living your own life the best way you can is super
important!

2. Cliques and mean girls are everywhere. At book signings I've had
everyone from 12 year old girls to 45 year old women tell me they
still encounter them. Do you? How has it changed since you were a
teen?

It's more subtle as you get older, but yes, the mean girls are still
out there! But luckily, there are also loads of amazing and truly
sweet women too.

3. I have a "Writing Music" playlist on my iPod. What would be on
yours? What one song or artist captures the essence of your book?

The Only Exception by Paramore, for sure!

4. What do you tell people is your favorite book/author? Now what is
your "real" favorite book/author. (i.e. I tell people Pale Fire by
Nabokov is my fave, but right now I'm really
into Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.)

I can't pick a favorite book or author--I love too many books (and
authors) to ever pick one and every time I'm asked this question I
feel so bad that I can't answer but in a world filled with so many
great books and authors, how can I pick only one?

5. If you could swap lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

I'm pretty happy with my own life, actually.

6. Who would be in your dream cast if your book was made into a movie
or television series? (And multimillion dollar salaries were no
issue--they'd all do it for free!)

If someone wanted to turn Between Here and Forever into a movie, I'd
be so thrilled I wouldn't care who got cast!

7. As a publicist, I know that it's important for every novel to have
journalistic hook. For The Lost Sister, it's mean girls, bullies and
hazing. What's yours?

Small towns, secrets, and finding love.

8. Just because it hasn't been asked yet, favorite 1980's movie?

Oh, I don't know--probably Empire Strikes Back. I wanted to marry Han
Solo for years after that movie!

9. Why should I choose your book for my book club?

If you like stories about sibling relationships--and, of
course--falling in love--then you should check Between Here and
Forever out!

10. I'm a huge and fabulously powerful movie producer and you have 30
seconds (an elevator pitch) to sell me on why your book is great and
should be made into a movie. Go!

I wish I'd make a pitch, but I'd probably either ask you about your
upcoming movie. Or try and figure out how much work you've had done on
your face. (!!!)

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Readergirz Rock the Drop!

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Where I work

I've shown you pictures of my dream office. Now I'll show you pics of me in my real office. It's pretty awful. Actually, you can't see most of the mess, because it is on the floor (which is a good thing -- not for me, but so you don't have to be subjected to it). Anyway, I've gotten some emails from readers asking me to show where I work, and this is it. Very exciting! And now you'll see why I'm dreaming of a new office, because this one really stinks.Enjoy!

Update: Here is me at the end of a long day spent in my crazy, messy

office. This is my day: morning to night (with an occasional errand to run). The glamorous life of a writer, don't you think? All in a day's work. Time for bed!

Another update: This is to show all those people who have commented and emailed me that I look miserable in my office, that it is actually possible for me to smile and look relatively happy in my workspace. Any other organization or decorating tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

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The new cover (almost there)

Here is a sneak peek at the new cover for DEAR BULLY. Not sure if it's going to be the final version, but it's the latest one I've seen.

It's kind of cool and yet a little creepy at the same time.

What do you think?

By the way, here's the link to DEAR BULLY on the HarperCollins catalog.

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