Interview + Giveaway with Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

Hey guys! Would you look at this – content on a Thursday. I might be slacking, but there are some great authors out there who are doing you guys justice! One such author is Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban, author of Two Moon Princess and the soon-to-be released The King in the Stone. Let’s meet her!

DSCN5574-e1457049581624-300x246I was born in Galicia (Northern Spain) and went to college in Madrid, where I finished my Ph.D. in Biology. For the next ten years, I worked as a researcher both in Madrid and at the University of Davis in California.

My writing career started when I came to live in Pennsylvania in the 1990s. Following my first sale, a magazine article on latex allergy, I published four books for Chelsea House (Facts on File): Heroin, Ritalin, Mad Cow Disease, and Lung Cancer.

My Young Adult novel Two Moon Princess, (the story of a discontented medieval princess, eager to live life on her own terms, who lands in modern day California) was published in 2007 by Tanglewood Press. It was recognized with the bronze award by the ForeWord Magazine in the Juvenile fiction category. It’s also available now as an e-book.

Two Moon Princess won first price in the 2015 Latino Book into Movie Awards, family and children category.

Immortal Love, a paranormal romance, (Crimson Romance, 2012) follows my adventures in search of a literary agent in a contemporary alternate world where the late Spanish poets Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Federico García Lorca are immortals.

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Now, she’s here today to answer some questions about her upcoming novel, A King in the Stone. What’s this book about, you ask? Well, let me tell you!

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12 Debut Authors I’m Looking Forward to in 2012

So, after my December post about books I was looking forward to in 2012–which ended up needing a part two–I realized that I only had one debut author on there. Clearly, something needed to be fixed. You have to have somewhere to go when those series have ended, right? So here are some of my picks for 2012! (In no particular order) In order to fit them all into one post, I have linked to all the blurbs–all of which lead to the book’s Goodread’s page. I have included some genre keywords so you can get a sense whether or not the book would be up your alley! Please note that all release dates are for the US and subject to change.

Author: Jodi Meadows

Book: Incarnate

Release Date: January 31

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal/Supernatural, Dystopian, Romance

Read the blurb here

Author: Brodi Ashton

Book: Everneath

Release Date: January 24

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Greek Mythology, Romance

Read the blurb here.

Author: Veronica Rossi

Book: Under the Never Sky

Release Date: January 3

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance

Read the blurb here.

Author: Robin Bridges

Book: The Gathering Storm

Release Date: January 10

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, 19th Century

Read the blurb here.

Author: Susan Dennard

Book: Something Strange and Deadly

Release Date: July 24

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Zombies, Historical

Read the blurb here.

Author: Wendy Higgins

Book: Sweet Evil

Release Date: May 1

Genre: Young Adult, Angels, Demons, Romance

Read the blurb here.

Author: Tricia Wolfe

Book: Destiny’s Fire

Release Date: January 10

Genre: Young Adult, Steampunk, Paranormal

Read the blurb here.

Author: Jessica Shirvington

Book: Embrace

Release Date: March 6

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Angels, Romance

Read the blurb here.

Author: Corrine Jackson

Book: If I Lie

Release Date: August 28

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Military

Read the blurb here.

Author: Katherine Longshore

Book: Gilt

Release Date: May 15

Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Romance, Tudor

Read the blurb here.

Author: Michele Vail

Book: Undeadly

Release Date: February 28

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Necromancy

Read the blurb here.

Author: Kathleen Peacock

Book: Hemlock

Release Date: May 8

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Werewolves

Read the blurb here.

Black on White–A Magazine and a Forum in One

Hello blogosphere, oh how I have missed you.

I have been so absent because my grandmother passed away. Though she was failing, it came as a shock and I’ve spent most of my time with family. However, I am now back to tell you about an exciting new development by a friend of mine that I wanted to share!

My friend–who shall remain anonymous because she wants to be–has set up an online magazine for all writers who want to showcase their work, called Black on White. But it is NOT just a magazine. It is also a forum, as seen at www.blackonwhitemag.wordpress.com. After each issue is published online, each piece of work goes onto this forum where other readers and writers can comment on the pieces. Consider it an opportunity to get some feedback on work AND get it published at the same time. You’re welcome. 😀

Writing Resource List Up!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I have just put up a Writing Resource list. The shiny new addition to this blog is right up there on top and an easy click away. It’s short right now, but I promise to update it as I go! If I learn about it, you’ll learn about it! By the same token, this is a shout out for all you writers out there: If YOU find a cool site, let me know! I hardly think that I know everything there is to know, and I’m very excited to hear what you guys have found. If you think there is a site that should be added to the list, comment on the page with the link and why it’s awesome! I’ll link it in and give you credit for the find.

Thanks!

First Book/Author Column (I had an idea!)

I can’t believe I forgot that there WAS something else I could post up on here. 😀 Every month I write a book/author column for my school’s newspaper. VOILA! The first non poetry thing I can think of. 😀

Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

 

Looking for a supernatural read this October that doesn’t involve vampires? I might have a book for you!

            Depends on if you like the Undead or not.

            In the Yvonne Woon’s debut novel Dead Beautiful, that’s just what you get. The book starts out on the sixteenth birthday of Renee Winters, whose present is to find her parents dead in the redwood forest in what looks like a double murder.

            Though Renee is convinced there is something stranger going on, no one listened to her. Instead, her new guardian—her wealthy estranged grandfather—sends her to Gottfried Academy, a boarding school in Maine with strange students with secrets to take classes like Latin, Philosophy and the “Crude Sciences.” As if just losing her parents weren’t bad enough.

            But then she meets Dante Berlin, the handsomest—and most elusive—boy at school, to whom she can’t help but feel drawn. As she falls in love with Dante and makes friends around the school, she finally feels that maybe she can move on after all.

            Or not.

            As she and Dante get closer, strange things start to happen, and Renee stumbles onto the dark tragedies of Gottfried’s past. All at once, the Academy no longer feels like it could be anything like a home, not with all the secrets hiding behind its walls.

            Little does she know it is Dante who is hiding the deadliest secret.

            Though Dead Beautiful is billed as a romance, it was to me first and foremost a mystery. It is the questions surrounding her parents’ death and then surrounding Gottfried Academy that give the story its drive from beginning to end. The feelings between Dante and Renee almost take a backseat to the chaos going on in Renee’s life. The romance is definitely there, but I’d read this one more if you were going after a skin-crawling mystery then a love story.

            Another factor that made Dead Beautiful a good, new Young Adult book was the fact that it dealt with actual philosophy (as a class and in the book in general!). It raised questions about life after death, love and the nature of the soul. Now, before you go “Ughhh, not something I’d like,” understand that this was not a main force of the book, but they were the undercurrents.

            At this point in time, it is not clear whether or not there will be a sequel, but Woon definitely leaves that open. I, for one, hope she does. I’m not ready to abandon the world of Dead Beautiful quite yet! In the mean time, I find it to be the perfect October read for any lover of the Young Adult genre. It’s a perfect mix of the supernatural elements permeating the market right now, the new twist everyone seems to be looking for, an entangled web of mystery and a dash of romance. I hope you’ll like it as much as I did!

            …Or, maybe a little less. That’s all for me this time, since I’ve got to go return this overdue book to the library!