YA Guy Launches... DAUGHTER OF DUST!

YA Guy is thrilled to announce the publication of my new novel, DAUGHTER OF DUST! The first volume in the Book of the Huntress trilogy, this is a novel I've worked on for many years, and it's become very close to my heart. Here's the cover, plus a blurb:

Michelle Simmons watched the eerie yellow fire consume the countryside on her seventeenth birthday. Cut off from home, she's lost in the desolation that remains. When Michelle is discovered by other survivors under the command of Jason, a ruthless leader with a mysterious past, she fears she may never be freed to search for her missing family. And when a video surfaces showing nightmarish creatures with the ability to mimic human beings, Michelle is sure the end has come.

But then Kareem, a teenage boy, arrives in Jason's camp claiming to have lost all memory except one: there is a city nearby, a city that holds the secret to the attacks that shattered Michelle's world. He can take her there, if she's willing to risk leaving Jason's camp behind. What Michelle doesn't know is that there are other, more sinister secrets hiding in the scarred city. And that Kareem might not be what he claims to be.

You can order DAUGHTER OF DUST from Amazon at the following links:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Huntress-Joshua-David-Bellin/dp/1734831502/

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Dust-Book-Huntress-1-ebook/dp/B087W5YN5G

I hope you love this book as much as I do. And please remember to leave a review--authors rely on reviews to get the word out about books readers love!

YA Guy Hosts... The CHALLENGING DESTINY Book Blitz! (Plus a Giveaway!)

Challenging Destiny

by Cherie Colyer

Release Date: 03/27/14

Summary from Goodreads:

Logan Ragsdale and his younger sister, Ariana, have been marked, chosen to be unwilling participants in a war between angels and demons.

Logan can sense something's not quite right. Like an unexpected chill on a summer's day, he can feel the unseen closing in. He's had these feelings before and, each time, someone close to him died. He's afraid this time it might just be Ariana.

Logan's fears are soon confirmed when he discovers their new friends aren't human, but rather representatives from Heaven and Hell sent to Earth to ensure he and Ariana accept their roles in an ancient prophecy. Demons want Logan to open the gates of Hell. Ariana has the power to stop them, but if she chooses to side with Heaven to spare the lives of thousands of innocent people, she'll damn her brother for eternity.

Together, they must derail the biblical event if they hope to save themselves and the future of mankind...but what price are they willing to pay to keep the other safe?

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo Books

Here's an excerpt from Challenging Destiny, narrated from Logan’s point-of-view: 

That night I awoke to a noise in our apartment. Soundlessly, I got out of bed, grabbed the metal baseball bat I kept near my door—a habit I’d picked up from my uncle—and went to look around. I pushed Ariana’s bedroom door open a crack. Her room was dark. It smelled like the autumn-spice candles she always burned. She was fast asleep, curled up on her side under her thick cream comforter. A search of the family room and kitchen turned up empty. Relieved, I decided that I had to have been dreaming or had heard one of our neighbors out in the hall. I stumbled back to my room, cursing under my breath when I jammed my little toe on the edge of the doorframe. 

My head had barely hit the pillow when a raspy, male voice barked, “Trap!”

My racing heart drowned out the rest of its words. I knew that voice, and there was never a person attached to it. My mind went numb with fear, and every muscle in my body tensed. I’d thought I was past hearing voices. I wanted to scream and would have, but I didn’t want to wake Ariana. 

The disembodied voice spoke again in a hurried whisper: “Must protect.” There was a long pause. “Up to you.”

And then silence. Outside, a distant horn blared and cars swooshed past the apartment complex. I sat in the shadows created by the moonlight and listened. 

It didn’t speak again.

What trap? Protect who? Why was it up to me? The words had been garbled so badly, I wasn’t even sure I’d heard them correctly. Hearing voices freaked me out—it always had. And now I had more questions that I didn’t know how to find the answers to. 

A moment later, Ariana’s blood-curdling scream had me out of bed and sprinting to her room.

About the Author

A little about myself: I write young adult and middle grade novels. I love finding new stories that keep me up late reading. While my favorite genre is fantasy, if the book is beautifully written with characters that come alive, I’m all over it. My debut novel EMBRACE is now available from Omnific Publishing.

Author Links:
   

GIVEAWAY:

$20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card (INT)
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Book Blitz Organized by:

YA Guy Hosts... Vicki Leigh's CATCH ME WHEN I FALL cover reveal!

It’s cover reveal day for Vicki Leigh’s CATCH ME WHEN I FALL! Lots of awesome stuff going on, including a giveaway! But first, here's a special message from Vicki:

And here's what CATCH ME WHEN I FALL is all about:

Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL will be available on October 23, 2014 in both paperback and e-book formats from Curiosity Quills Press. For more information, visit the book’s Goodreads page.

Now, there can’t be a cover reveal without a giveaway, right? Lots of authors stopped by and donated some fantastic books to help Vicki celebrate. You don’t want to miss out on these! Here’s what you can win:

• An e-copy of CATCH ME WHEN I FALL by Vicki Leigh
• A submission package critique (query+synopsis+first chap) from Vicki Leigh
• An e-copy of HEIRS OF WAR by Mara Valderran
• Two query+first chapter critiques from YA author Emily Stanford
• A full manuscript critique from YA author Emily Stanford
• An e-copy of WITHOUT BLOODSHED by Matthew Graybosch
• A paperback of DESTRUCTION by Sharon Bayliss
• An e-copy of KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH by Katie Teller
• One query+first chapter critique from YA author Katie Teller
• An e-copy of DARKNESS WATCHING by Emma Adams
• A copy of DESCENDANT by Nichole Giles
• An e-copy package of EVER and EVADE by Jessa Russo
• A signed copy of DIVIDE by Jessa Russo
• A copy of UNHINGED by A.G. Howard

Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win! All prizes will be accompanied by a Dreamcatcher swag package from Vicki Leigh.

Thanks for stopping by!

About Vicki:

Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.

Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press, a co-founder of The Writer Diaries, and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

You can find Vicki at her website and blog and on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Goodreads.

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YA Guy Hosts... Vincent Morrone's VISION OF SHADOWS Blog Tour!

Today I'm hosting the blog tour for Vincent Morrone's YA paranormal romance VISION OF SHADOWS!

Given my interest in gender issues, I asked Vincent how it came to pass that he'd chosen to write this novel from a female POV. Here's what he told me:

Some people might find it strange that I decided to write a novel from the POV of a teenage girl named Bristol Blackburn. After all, I am not now, nor have I ever been a teenage girl, with or without psychic powers. (Okay, I may have dressed up as a cheerleader or a nun, but that was for Halloween, I swear!)

I knew that it would be a challenge, but it was one that I was eager for. The voice of Bristol was simply calling out to me. Her story needed to be told. Besides, every writer has to be able to get into the heads of characters with different POVs, whether they be male, female, androgynous or some other such creature that we’ve made up.

So I rolled up my sleeves and dug in. I’ve had plenty of experiences with women and girls. Between my mom, my sister, many of my close friends from high school, and my wife and two daughters, I’ve been around women and girls all my life.

Plus, I wanted to write a female character who was strong, despite her insecurities. And do so without making her act like a guy. Bristol’s character may have supernatural abilities, but she’s very human.

In the end, I don’t want people to read Vision of Shadows thinking this guy did a good job creating a female character. I want them to just fall in love with the person who really is telling the story.

Bristol.

More about Vision of Shadows

Vision of Shadows is published by Entranced Publishing. This blog tour runs from 30 December till 19 January, and you can view the whole tour schedule on Vincent Morrone's website.

Vision of Shadows (Vision #1)
by Vincent Morrone
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Release Date: December 30, 2013

Blurb:

Is Bristol Blackburn about to meet the love of her life...or her killer?

After the death of her parents, Bristol Blackburn's life is thrown into chaos and she's forced to move to Spirit, a small town where shadows are stirring. As she learns to navigate her new school and figures out how to keep her psychic abilities secret from her family, Bristol comes face to face with the boy who makes a regular appearance in her dreams: the gorgeous, possibly deadly, Payne McKnight. Soon she’ll find out if Payne will be the love of her life, or the end of it--and she has no idea which possibility scares her more.

And that's not even the worst of it. Strange shadows are haunting her dreams, and they're up to something that could put Bristol and the lives of everyone she loves in jeopardy.

You can buy Vision of Shadows on Amazon.

You can add Vision of Shadows to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can find more about Vision of Shadows on the Entranced Publishing website.

Want to chat with Bristol, the main character of this series? Well, she has her own Twitter account.

Vision of Secrets (Vision #0.5)

by Vincent Morrone
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Release Date: December 2, 2013

Blurb:

Bristol understands secrets. She's got plenty of her own, ranging from the annoying ghost that keeps showing up and attempting to sing Copacabana (badly), to the visions of a terrifying future that is getting closer each day.

Bristol knows secrets can kill. She's getting flashes of a boy racked with guilt over his secret. And a girl whose prank might lead to someone's death.

Vision of Secrets is a free prequel that introduces you to Bristol Blackburn before the explosive events in Vision of Shadows and lets you see how a young girl deals with her Visions of Secrets!


You can add Vision of Secrets to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can download Vision of Secrets for free from smashwords

About the Author:

Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Vincent Morrone now resides in Upstate NY with his wife. (Although he can still speak fluent Brooklynese.) His twin daughters remain not only his biggest fans, but usually are the first to read all of his work. Their home is run and operated for the comfort and convenience of their dogs.

Vincent has been writing fiction, poetry and song lyrics for as long as he can remember, most of which involve magical misfits, paranormal prodigies and even on occasion superheroes and their sidekicks.

As they say in Brooklyn: Yo, you got something to say to Vincent?

Check out http://vincentmorrone.com/ where you can learn about Vincent and leave him a comment. You can also connect with Vincent on Twitter https://twitter.com/Vince524 and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Morrrone.

You can find and contact Vincent Morrone here:

- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads

Vincent also participates in a group blog called YA Rush, which consists of YA and NA Entranced authors. You can find YA Rush here:

- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Pinterest

There is a tour-wide giveaway for the blog tour of Vision of Shadows. Here is what you can win:

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen
- 1 Vision of Shadows Calender
- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen & calender
- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen and calender in a Vision of Shadows canvas bag
- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen, calender in Vision of Shadows canvas bag and an e-copy Vision of Shadows

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win:

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YA Guy Reveals... VISION OF SHADOWS by Vincent Morrone

YA Guy's been quiet for a bit, adjusting to the start of the fall semester. But I'm thrilled to be back with a COVER REVEAL of Vincent Morrone's forthcoming YA Paranormal Romance, VISION OF SHADOWS. Check it out!

Blurb:

Is Bristol Blackburn about to meet the love of her life...or her killer?

After the death of her parents, Bristol Blackburn's life is thrown into chaos and she's forced to move to Spirit, a small town where shadows are stirring. As she learns to navigate her new school and figures out how to keep her psychic abilities secret from her family, Bristol comes face to face with the boy who makes a regular appearance in her dreams: the gorgeous, possibly deadly Payne McKnight. Soon she’ll find out if Payne will be the love of her life, or the end of it--and she has no idea which possibility scares her more.

And that's not even the worst of it. Strange shadows are haunting her dreams, and they're up to something that could put Bristol and the lives of everyone she loves in jeopardy.

To add Vision of Shadows to your to-read list on Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18108617-vision-of-shadows
Information about the book:

Title: Vision of Shadows
Series: Vision series
Author: Vincent Morrone
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Length: 210 pages
Release Date: December 30, 2013

About the Author:

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Vincent Morrone now resides in Upstate NY with his wife. (Although he can still speak fluent Brooklynese.) His twin daughters remain not only his biggest fans, but usually are the first to read all of his work. Their home is run and operated for the comfort and convenience of their dogs.

Vincent has been writing fiction, poetry, and song lyrics for as long as he can remember, most of which involve magical misfits, paranormal prodigies and even on occasion superheroes and their sidekicks.

 



As they say in Brooklyn: Yo, you got something to say to Vincent? You can find and contact him here:

Website: http://vincentmorrone.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Morrrone
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vince524
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7143975.Vincent_Morrone

Vincent also participates in a group blog called YA Rush which consists of YA and NA Entranced authors. You can find YA Rush here:

Website: http://yarush.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YArush1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YArush6
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/yarush6/

And here's an excerpt from Vision of Shadows:

Journal of Bristol Blackburn

Sunday, March 17th

There are times when being psychic really bites and this is one of them. Here it is, three in the morning and all I can think about is the boy who will eventually have his hands on me.

I have no idea what his name is. We’ve never met, but I feel like we’ve grown up together. I’ve had visions of him since I was six years old. Now, eleven years later, I know we’re getting closer and closer to finally meeting. I think it’s going to happen any day now.

And the thought scares the hell out of me.

I know what Dream Boy will look like. In a word: hot. Dark hair that falls loosely over his deep blue eyes. He has an angel’s face and the devil’s grin.

I know he’s got a bad boy attitude. Half the time, I get flashes of him getting hurt. Sometimes he’s playing the hero. Other times, he’s just being an idiot. Many times, it seems like there’s someone who enjoys hurting him.

What I don’t know is what he’ll be to me.

There are times when he seems to love me. Don’t ask me why. But he’ll look at me with nothing but love and contentment in his eyes. Earlier tonight, I had one of those dreams. One where he couldn’t keep his hands off of me. Weird that I know every inch of his body, yet I have no idea what his name is, huh.

Then there’s the other vision. It was the first one I had of him and the one I have most often. It’s the one I woke from tonight, the feeling of his hands still on my skin.

In that vision, he doesn’t look at me with love, but hatred. He has his hands wrapped around my neck as he slowly squeezes the life out of me.

So any day now, I’m about to meet the boy of my dreams—literally. Then I get to see if he’s going to be the love of my life, or the end of it.

Funny thing is, I’m not sure which idea scares the crap out of me more.