Exclusive Book Cover and Trailer Reveals for Emily Snow!

I'm happy to announce the cover reveals for three of Emily Snow's books! Gosh, they're so good!!

 

And here are the awesome new trailers!

Visit Emily Snow's Website for more details about her books! 

Firefly Book Tour Agenda

March 15th
Books & Broomsticks - Opening Extravaganza 
YA Books Recommendations - Excerpt of Firefly

March 16th
Valsul Fluturilor - Book Review
The Reading Geek - Book Review
We Heart Bookz - Interview with Belle Whittington

March 17th
YA Book Recommendations - Book Review

March 18th
Willing to See Less - Guest Post
I am Wide Awake - Guest Post

March 19th
I am a Reader, Not a Writer - Guest Post
Dream Books Lovers - Excerpt of Firefly

March 20th
Books & Broomsticks - LB's Birthday Bash Surprise Giveaway
A Book Lover's Review - Review of Firefly
Seeing Night - Interview with LB from Books & Broomsticks

March 21st
Nerdy Dino - Interview with Belle Whittington
Lucky Books - Guest Post

March 22nd
What's Beyond Forks? - Review of Firefly
Cioburi de vise - Vlog Post

March 23rd
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf - Review of Firefly

March 24th
Texas Bibliomaniacs - Review of Firefly
Books and Coffee - Excerpt of Firefly
Bittersweet Enchantment - Guest Post

March 25th
YA Book Addict - Excerpt of Firefly

March 26th
Books & Broomsticks - Live Twitter Event
Follow B&B's Twitter
Follow Belle Whittington's Twitter

March 27th
The Loyal Book - Review of Firefly
Comfort Books - Guest Post

March 28th
Books Complete Me - Review of Firefly
Red Reader Reviews - Excerpt of Firefly

April 1st
Books & Broomsticks - **New Cicada Book Cover Reveal**

April 2nd
Books Complete Me - Guest Post
I Read Indie - Excerpt of Firefly

April 3rd
That Artsy Reader Girl - Review of Firefly
Whispers at Moonlight - Review of Firefly

April 4th
Paranormal Book Club - Review of Firefly
Falling in Love with Books - Guest Post

April 5th
Nerdy Dino - Review of Firefly
Giveaways and Contests Close

April 7th
Prize Winners Announced at Brooks & Broomsticks

Want More?

• Book Tour Promotional Images
• Sign-up for the tour (Sign-up closes March 5th)
• I want to be informed about future B&B book tours

Do You Hear the Call?

I'm pleased to say that I've been reading The Dragon's Call by K.W. McCabe and that the review should be up this week. So, please, be on the look out for it!

In a war-torn world, a careless act of destruction wakes a creature of myth and legend - a dragon. Mankind unites to battle for survival, but when dragons enter the fray in human form... humans lose. Three decades later, Cecily lives in an enclave with her father and brother. Ignorant of life before the war, she placidly obeys the restrictions imposed by dragonkind. Stifled by court life, Derek, heir of the Dragon Queen, commits a petty crime. To avoid punishment and chronic boredom, he escapes to the enclave. His arrival sparks increased tension when he meets Cecily. She realizes the limitations on her freedom, and Derek discovers his life is built on a lie. Their forbidden friendship threatens to splinter the separation between their people, but something more dangerous occurs. A mysterious killer has kidnapped Cecily's mother - and seems to be stalking Cecily. Derek and Cecily must defy the rules of their society to find and stop the murderer before Cecily is next. Buy it now!

In other news, I would like to make some announcements about the blog. First of all, the official Books & Broomsticks tumblr is up. Please follow it if you're a tumblr user, you seriously won't be disappointed. I reblog the coolest stuff. An another super exciting note, I've started collecting emails for the mailing list, or what I like to call The Owling List. This is for anyone who wishes to have information on current and future book tours that I will be hosting. As well as, information on my mom's books! I promise not to spam ya! Sign-up now!

Firefly Book Tour Prizes & Events Revealed!

I'm pleased to announce that we have picked out our prizes and decided on the blog tour events. We will have many interviews, reviews, two giveaways, tons of swag, a blog Easter egg hunt, and the reveal of the NEW Cicada cover! 

Swag includes: 1 Texas T-shirt, 1 I <3 Everett T-shirt, Signed Bookmarks, Signed Pamphlets, Cicada magnets, Blair + Everett Book Tote, Window Decals, Stickers, Electric Firefly Jar, and Signed Copies of Both Cicada and Firefly.

We will be accepting people to sign up for the tour up until March 10th. If you're interested, please fill out this form to participate.

To download your own promotional images, right click > save as in the following collection.

Special thanks to www.dryicons.com 

who created the Easter Egg and Bunny icons we will be using for the Hunt.

Five Star Review for Firefly!

I was so happy to see this on the Firefly Amazon website today! It's from Miss Literary Vixen:

Epic follow up to one of my favorite books of 2012 `Cicada'. This one follows Blair Reynolds after the events in book one. Her world has changed as she has changed in the most unusual ways. This follows her transformation as a mere human into something more ethereal. All my favorite characters return in this one: Everett, Andrew, David and Natalie. They join forces once more to save Blair from the outside forces baring down on her and attempting to claim her forever. I'm in awe of this series. I never read anything like this storyline. Sci-fi lovers will love this! It takes paranormal into a high new level of intrigue and mystery. I had to drop everything to read this sequel, it was that amazing! I loved the new characters that were introduced too−Ash was probably my absolute favorite. We don't discover what his role is to the very end and that had me really frustrated because I wanted to know what he had to do with Blair and how did he know her so well? Love how it's written, the pet names everyone has for each other and the fierce love they share makes you root for them in every way, praying that they get what they want and live through the treacheries around them. Not a short read at all and that was a good thing. Packed full of mystery, suspense, love and even horror, I found the story grabbing my attention and never letting go. The only thing I'd change, is have book 3 in my hands right now! Awesome!

Make sure to buy your copy of Firefly today! 

Have A Happy Valentine's Weekend With These FREE Finds!

♥ SURPRISE VALENTINE'S DAY CONTEST!!!! ♥

To celebrate www.bellewhittington.com 's unveiling, we're offering a Valentine's Day contest! The prize is an I <3 Everett car decal!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, I want to announce that Michelle Browne is offering her book The Stolen: Two Short Stories for free this weekend. I would highly suggest snagging the book for free while you can. She will also be interviewed on this blog later in the month!

Tired of apocalypse stories about zombies and explosions? Pick up an accessible and beautifully-written two-story collection about characters lost in a world that's chosen to trade freedom for enlightenment. "After a few hours, the sun had risen too high for us to continue, and they dragged us back to the bus. We had only cleared a small corner of field, from the looks of it, and the guards made their displeasure clear with still, cold body language and a few strokes of their Sholbans on the ones who’d collapsed. Clever, I thought, to save us the smell of singed hair and sight of seizures until we were on the bus, and unable to look away from them. They said little to us, though, just striking the ones who’d collapsed, and after, the ones who wept."--The Fields "She tapped her display to bring up the TorYoBiKo. It opened in front of her, the virtual leather binding parting smoothly, the haptic software providing the sensation of silky parchment. On the title page inside, luscious black type spelled out the name in elegantly serif-free capitals. TorYoBiKo: Manual For a Better World. Man, thought Sarah, a good wank would be better, but ‘indulgent self love’ in the office would get me wearing the sign for weeks." --WordThieves What crimes are committed in the name of peace, control, and harmony? Clarice and Sarah are about to find out.

 Then head over to snag Alexia Purdy's Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1) while it's still for free too. It's an excellent addition to a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend!

Ever Shade ~ a dark twist on faeries. For Shade, a chance meeting with a powerful Teleen Faery warrior who wields electrical currents and blue fires along his skin, has her joining him on a treacherous mission for the good Seelie Faerie Court across the land of Faerie. Magic and malice abound and nothing is what it really seems to be. The evil Unseelie Queen and her treacherous allies are around every corner as Shade makes her way across the breathtaking landscapes of the world of Faerie, which exists alongside the mundane human world. Shade discovers her own uncharted magic and meets some of the most powerful warriors in Faerie while battling evil dryads, conniving Teleen guards and challenges on her life with every step in a world where nothing can be taken for granted. Book 1: Ever Shade Book 2: Ever Fire ~ available now!

5 Ways To Kill Your Book

So you finally uploaded your e-book and you're ready to send it out into the world. Or maybe, you've done so, it's been weeks, and wow so many people are reading it. In fact, too many people. People are contacting you to talk about your book, wanting you to do events with them, and asking when the next book will be out. You didn't realize what a horrible burden this would be. You have no one to turn to, but one thing is certain... You have to kill your book.

Here are five sure-fire steps to make sure you kill and bury your book forever.

1. Delete your website. You don't need it, you don't need anyone! Try to erase as much web presence as possible. And, if you must be on the internet, make sure your Facebook pages, twitter, or any other social media is all under different username and NOT connected. The last thing in the world you want is for people to know anything about you or your book. Or, alternatively, keep your website, but load it with as many gadgets, music, and images as possible. Make sure anyone even daring to Google you will want to pull out their own fingernails by the time your page is loaded.


2. Do not respond to emails. If you dare press that reply button you risk fans seeing you as likable and approachable. No matter how warm and friendly you are, you must fight off this urge. Be aloof, cold, and distant. In fact, forget you have an email all together. If you must reply to emails, make sure you do it as slowly as possible. It would be best that so much time has passed that the person you're responding to doesn't even remember who you are.

3. Snub other authors. This is obviously a game. And, like I said earlier, you don't need anyone. Whatever you do, do not try to make any connections with other authors. Don't try to be friends. And DO NOT READ THEIR BOOKS. The best way to kill your book and your career is to be as self-involved as possible and forget anything your mother ever taught you about manners or social etiquette.

4. Slap together the worst cover you can imagine. Don't hire an experienced book designer to put together a tasteful and appealing cover. Consider using clip art for your cover, it's free... right? Or, better yet, put a candid picture of your wife in her best Christmas sweater on the book cover. Cut her out using the wand tool in photoshop then put a wonderful starburst gradient behind her. Make your name bigger than the book title.

5. Do not giveaway your book. And definitely do not occasionally put it up for sale. This would cause other people to become curious about your book. It might even make them get it, read it, and recommend it to other readers. Under no circumstances should you be generous with your work. Expect everyone to buy your book for full price and be offended if anyone asks for a free copy to review.

Cover Reveal: Click To Subscribe by L.M. Augustine

Click To Subscribe

Author: L.M. Augustine

Genre: YA romance

Release Date: April 2013

Designer: Allie Brennan (who is fantastic and brilliant and totally recommended by L.M.)

Blurb:

1,135,789. That’s how many subscribers sixteen-year-old West Ryder has on his web vlog series. But he only has eyes for one of them. 

As one of the internet’s most prestigious video bloggers, West talks about high school relationships under the name “Sam Green.” As far as he knows, no one from school, not even his best friend, Cat, has seen his videos. But the highlight of the whole thing is Harper Knight, who comments every day at exactly 2:02 in the afternoon. He doesn’t know anything about her aside from the occasional deep philosophical messaging on why pizza tastes so delicious, but as stupid as it sounds, he might be falling for her. So when they finally agree to meet in real life, West’s hope for romance seems more and more in reach. But that all changes as soon as he arrives at their meeting spot and sees Cat walking toward him, wearing the same “I <3 Sam Green” T-shirt Harper promised she'd have on.

To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him.

Add it on Goodreads.

Author:

Blog  Twitter  Facebook

Some Things:

To celebrate the cover reveal… there is a giveaway! Note: ARCs won’t be ready until late March/early April, but if you win one, you will be the first to get it. (All of the winners will be emailed a day after the giveaway ends.) For those of you interested in the book, check the author’s Facebook page and blog (links above) because he will be posting a number of excerpts of CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE throughout the week. And to anyone reading this: thank you! Your support seriously means so much to me. (Me = the awkward author, L.M., who has raided this blog for the day. MUAHAHA!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Little Inferno Review

Congratulations on your new Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace! Throw your toys into your fire, and play with them as they burn. Stay warm in there. It's getting cold outside! Burn flaming logs, screaming robots, credit cards, batteries, exploding fish, unstable nuclear devices, and tiny galaxies. 

Little Inferno was released in 2012 by Tomorrow Corporation, an indie game developer who also released a game called World of Goo. It is advertised as "100% indie, made by 3 guys, no office, no publishers, no funding". It is available for Windows or Wii either through Steam, Tomorrow Corporation, Nintendo, or in the iPad App Store. It's considered a sandbox game, meaning players can freely roam through it. However, that only happens during end game. It's a unique puzzle game that is widely considered a satire.

My initial impression of Little Inferno was that perhaps it was too dark for me. The images of children and burning cute stuffed animals did not make me want to buy it. However, it somehow ended up on my wishlist and the concept of burning things for fun got stuck in my imagination. A few weeks later, I found myself getting it on an impulse buy in the early hours of the morning. I don't know, I like to burn things.

At first it was exactly as I expected from watching a few of the trailers. I was actually very gleeful earning coins and stamps by burning my toys so that I can purchase more toys... to burn. Soon I discovered that I could get bonuses for discovering "special" combinations of toys to burn. It's really very mesmerizing, I barely even noticed the little notes arriving from my character's neighbor. She'd even send me toys or ask for me to send her toys. Little did I know, this was an integral part of the plot. I was sent warnings not to burn my toys too quickly... that all good things come to an end, but I did not heed them; in fact, I burned them. After burning through toys and stamps and coins galore, the story took an abrupt and dark turn.

It is important to note the magnificent quality of the game itself. The artwork, akin to the style of Jhonen Vasquez, was appealing and set a sinister (yet oddly playful) tone for the game. I should also mention that the soundtrack, which can be downloaded for free here, is impeccable and haunting. There is an overall sense of foreboding that is woven into the game, but the player is too immersed in the addicting puzzles and mysteries of the Little Inferno to care. Inevitably, the game does come to an end, with a tongue-in-cheek message that will leave the player scratching their head and asking themselves... "Was I just insulted?" Right before they click "New Game" to play again.

My only critique of Little Inferno is that the meta message embedded in the plot overshadows some of the most entertaining elements of the game. On some message boards, gamers ask if Little Inferno is worth shelling out the $10. To some I would say, probably not. Only because there is roughly 2 - 4 hours gameplay for the whole game. I would suggest catching it on a sale, like the Steam holiday sale bumping it down by a very reasonable 33%. I wish that the game had two modes, a "story" mode and a "game" mode. This way, after players go through the story, they can come back and earn all of those meaningless tokens and toys. Of course, suggesting such a thing is against the very essence of the plot. However, if you're like me and you have the urge to burn, go ahead and purchase it at full price. I really was not disappointed and I don't think anyone would be. 

I give this game 4 out of 5 broomsticks (With hopes that perhaps there will be a "game" mode of it someday!)

Firefly Book Trailer Revealed!

The Best Snickerdoodle Recipe in the World

The Viking's favourite cookie is a snickerdoodle. I send him some every Christmas and I've found a perfected snickerdoodle recipe. I would suggest these to anyone who likes cookies, because they are the best snickerdoodles ever.

The following is a recipe for the yummiest snickerdoodle in the world, perfect for shipping ground long distances. If you are packaging them for the mail, wrap two cookies back to back with foil. Put the foil wrapped cookies in a large zip-lock bag. Put the zip-lock bag in a metal cookie tin. And, viola!

Makes: 30
Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 10 minutes

You need:

2 non-stick cookie sheet pans
2 large mixing bowls
1 hand held electric mixer
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup unbleached flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Sugar mixture:
3 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger powder

Note: Make sure to set out your eggs and butter for about 20 minutes before you start the cookies. When you start mixing, remember to do it as thoroughly as possible. The secret to good cookies is very well mixed ingredients. 

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Sugar mixture: Mix your white sugar, cinnamon, and ginger powder in a small bowl. Set it aside, it will be used later.

3. Dry ingredients: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in one mixing bowl

4. Butter mixture: In another big mixing bowl combine butter, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix very well.

5. Carefully combine a cup of dry ingredients into the butter mixture bowl. Mix well. Repeat step until dry ingredients and butter mixture are combined.

6. Put your dough and ungreased cookie sheets in the fridge for 10 minutes.

7. After the dough is chilled, scoop 1 inch globs of dough into your sugar mixture. Cover the globs completely, then line them up on the chilled sheet. Don't let your dough get too soft, if it does go ahead and bake one batch of cookies first.

8. Bake for 10 minutes. Chill the rest of your cookie dough. Remove your baking pan immediately after 10 minutes.

Firefly Book Tour Sign Up

Hey guys and gals, I'm co-hosting a book tour for the release of Firefly by Belle Whittington. This is going to be a very fun tour involving lots of free goodies, multiple interview subjects, and an Easter egg blog scavenger hunt! Hurry up and sign up, limited copies available to those who wish to review!

The Official Butterbeer Frappuccino Recipe

My two months working as a Starbucks barista didn't grant me much, but the one thing I'm proud of is my Butterbeer Frappuccino invention that caught on like wildfire on Tumblr. I originally posted it on my Tumblr (imochayoualatte) about a year ago, along with some other recipes. I still love to order new things at Starbucks and give the baristas a run for their money.

This is exactly how you order it:

[Beverage size] Toffee caramel frappuccino with one pump of vanilla, double blended, extra whip, and extra caramel drizzle (they put it on the inside of the cup).

There are some people who leave off the extra whip and double blend. I prefer double blended because it makes the texture perfect.

I think it's superbly tasty and all it really is, is a toffee caramel frap. Lots of repostings of my recipe tell you how many pumps to put in, that's wrong. Only because you should leave that to the barista because pumps change depending on what size you buy. Also it seems like lots of people are forgetting to add the pump of vanilla, believe me. It makes a difference.

It's also very sweet, I suggest getting a tall. I know most of you like to get ventis or trentas, but seriously... that's a LOT. I told all my friends to try it and they all couldn't stop drinking it. That's when I posted it on Tumblr. A few days later several people started reblogging instagram pictures of their butterbeers. I was very happy and I'd love to share this with all interested!

Here are a few pictures people have posted snagged from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/butterbeer+frappuccino

 

(From a cute rant about my recipe)

There have even been some lovely demonstration videos! This lovely lady in Vancover adds root beer to her's, yummy!

10 Ways to Stand Out as a YA Indie Author

No one said indie publishing was easy. And if they did, I'd be wary if they really knew what they were talking about.


What acclaimed indie-author Belle Whittington says: 

When LB approached me about co-writing this post, I thought it was a terrific idea. Not only because of the subject material, which is one of my most passionate obsessions, but mostly because I was excited about co-writing something with my very talented daughter. She and I have worked really hard together over the past year-and-a-half on promoting Cicada and Firefly and also promoting me as an author. We’ve learned a lot, to say the least. And, no doubt, we’ll learn a lot more over the next couple of years. However, LB wanted to share what we’ve learned so far, and she gave me the restriction of listing five tips to stand out as an indie author. I can’t tell you how difficult it is for me to smash this swarm of information that’s buzzing around inside my head into five tips. But, here goes!

LB's tips:

1. Be dynamic! Whether you want to come off as magical and sparkly or simplistic and minimal, you want your book and website design to be dynamic. It should not only capture your personality and your book's concept, the designs that represent you should be bold and follow the rules of design. 

If you're not familiar with design principles, start small. For instance, have your name bigger than your book title. That's a big no-no and takes away from your cover. Research what makes an eye-catching cover before you seek out a designer. Look around at other book covers and see what you like. Then bring those covers to the designer you pick so they know what you're looking for.

2. Mold your persona. Even as an indie author, you're still in the spotlight; more-so because you directly communicate with your readers. Brainstorm for a while and figure out what top two or three traits you want to be known for. Perhaps you want to be whimsical and kind like J.K. Rowling, sassy and out-going like Amanda Hocking, or maybe you are more of a recluse like J.D. Salinger.

Burning Stuff and Other Things I Shouldn't Do

It's been a while since I posted a blog... wait, I shouldn't start out like that. I hate when posts start out like that. Let's see, what should I say?

I'm refocusing the blog on reviews in general, not just books. This is for a few reasons. First of all, I read mostly non-fictions and scholarly journals in my leisure time. (I know it's a little shocking.) The second reason is I play video games and watch TV shows a hellavua lot. I'm a junkie, really. And that's cool too, because it's a hobby. This totes doesn't mean I won't review an indie book, it just means I'm broadening my horizons. My first review will be on a game called Little Inferno. Never heard of it? That's okay, you will hear of it soon enough. If you're like me and you like burning things, you'll like the game.

I have a few projects I'm starting up. The biggest one is learning Coral Draw and exploring designing vectors and logos (using vectors, derp). If I can do well at this, I will be hired as a graphic designer for a new sign business that will create advertisements, billboards, and business signs in the greater Houston area. Exciting? Yeah, I know.

I am also taking a Design I class. This isn't really for a degree, since I already have art credits. It's more because I love the professor and I want to sharpen my design "eye". I'm working with a lot of mixed media, NOT graphic art. This is super awesome because I can take what I learn and apply it to my design work.

What does this mean for readers? Well, it means since I'm "learning", my rates for book covers and logos will be cheaper for a while. So, you should probs contact me if you like my work and want to make sweet magic with me. I know you want to. ;)

Montgomery County Book Festival was a SMASH HIT!

"I really do have the best readers in the whole wide world! Just look at these two lovelies from Texas Bibliomaniacs who stopped by my table at Montgomery County Book Festivall to pick up Cicada and Firefly! Love, love, love! ♥" - Belle Whittington

We sold out of Cicada books and only had a few Firefly left. Mom got to interview Sophie Jordan, Kathi Appelt, and Tracey Deebs. We also got to meet Deeanne Gist, Brian Falker, and so many others. We even got to see the wonderful and talented Melissa Studdard again this year!

Don't miss the Montgomery Count Book Festival next year!

If you want to get the most up-to-date information on my mom, make sure to follow her on Facebook!!