HERE BE DRAGONS (And authors!)

Because I was at DragonCon last week and the week before my book release signings are happening this week instead! So excited to visit bookstores and meet readers and sign books--it's one of my favorite parts of the job! After all, writing can be a solitary venture, sitting at home all day, all alone, with only the interwebs to keep me company. (aka distract me!)

On Weds, Sept 16th at 7pm I will be doing a talk and signing at BOOK PEOPLE in Austin, one of the country's most awesome independent bookstores. I am always so honored when they invite me to sign--as some of the biggest authors in the world have sat in these chairs. (It can also be a bit intimidating but the staff is so supportive to local authors!) So I'm definitely looking forward to that!

And then, as you can see above, I'll also be signing at Barnes and Noble in San Antonio (the La Cantera one) on Saturday at 2pm. I was supposed to actually sign with them back in the summer along with a few other authors and ended up having to miss. So I'm excited to be invited back! Especially with such an AMAZING display at the store. This is something you don't always think about when an author does a bookstore visit. While you may only be in the store for a couple hours, actually signing books, displays like these can really draw attention and bring in potential new readers!

Also, the dragon stuff animals are SUPER CUTE. I totally have to take one (okay maybe more than one) home with me after the signing!!

Later in the month I will also be doing a signing at the Barnes and Noble in McAllen, Texas with PJ Hoover.

In addition to signings I've got a lot of other cool stuff coming up. For example, I was honored to be chosen as one of the authors for the TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL on the weekend of September 17th. And I'll be hanging in costume, signing and selling books, at AUSTIN COMIC CON (Wizard World) over Halloween weekend. And then there's perhaps the most exciting event of all - YALL FEST in November! This will be my very first YALL FEST and I'm so thrilled to get to take part!

I'm also hoping to set up school visits and Skype visits this fall so if you're a teacher or librarian interested in scheduling something, definitely let me know!

In the meantime, hope to see you at a bookstore near you! :)

MARI

Are you a Book Dragon?

Hey all,

Have you ever seen this meme? It always makes me laugh!

Of course when I do a school visit we ALWAYS talk dragons! And I love talking dragons on this blog as well. But if you want to meet other dragon fans (and fans of my books) and have a Facebook page, well I hope you will come join the discussion over at BOOK DRAGONS!

Isn't this a cool font? I found this crazy cool text generator online that I use all the time for cheesy/crazy fonts.

Just click on the link above and join the group and go ahead and introduce yourself! We can talk about the Scorched series, my Blood Coven Vampire series, about writing and publishing (I give tips and answer questions!), cosplay and more. I also offer sneak peeks exclusive giveaways, and other member only benefits. 

If you were once a member of the Blood Coven, this is sort of the next generation of that. So come by and join us!! We don't bite...much. :) 

MARI

Princess Celestia Cosplay How-To

Hey all, 

Since I've gotten so many wonderful comments on my Princess Celestia cosplay, I thought I'd go ahead and give you the background on how it all came together. This is my favorite kind of cosplay - where all sorts of separate elements are gathered from all over and combined to create the finished costume. So much more fun and challenging than just running to Party City for a costume in a bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that - I give everyone props for dressing up regardless of how you got the costume - homemade, store bought, commissioned off Etsy, etc. In the past I've done all of the above. But for those who want a little added challenge this year, here's what I did for Princess Celestia. Most of this could be applied to any of the ponies, too! 

I didn't do any sewing for this costume, by the way. But you could totally make a dress from a pattern if you wanted to up the level even more! :) 

CROWN AND NECKLACE: 

I made these using a low-melt thermoplastic called Wonderflex. I cut out the pattern,then heated it to the shape I wanted. Then I added detailing with craft foam and Model Magic clay. (I had better luck with the craft foam.) Then I primed them with Gesso and then spray painted both with a metallic bronze paint. (It was not as shiny as I wanted. I need to investigate better metallic paints.)

Lastly I added the purple gems (which I found for a couple bucks off eBay) and the horn (also from eBay - and IT LIT UP!) By anchoring the horn INSIDE the crown, I didn't have a problem with it sliding off my head. Which I totally would have, otherwise, as it is pretty heavy. I think it looks more accurate and better anyway to have it in the crown. I'm just mentioning this cause I've seen many crowns/necklaces made out of craft foam, which is fine, but you'd need a lighter horn to pull that off. 

Also, if you prefer to make the horn instead of getting a light up one, you can use Model Magic for that, too. Lastly, I've sen some cosplays add LED lights to the gem parts. When I next upgrade this, I'm totally going to do this for the necklace. (Won't bother on the crown, seeing as I have the light up horn already.) 

WIG: From Arda wigs - a company that makes great costume wigs. This one is the Candy Striper Harmony wig. (It's currently out of stock but if you pre-order it, they usually get them in in a couple weeks.) www.arda-wigs.com

CORSET: Just a plain waist cincher. You can find them all over the internet. Don't need anything fancy. I chose this one cause it didn't have any fancy buckles and I could wear it UNDER a costume as well as over in the future. 

WHITE SHIRT: An underarmor type shirt I got at Kohls. It was the kind that wicked away sweat which is important with costumes!@ 

ARM BANDS - just some cheap gold arm bands I got off eBay. I want to upgrade these to armor before I wear this costume again. 

WINGS - made of craft foam and wire. They attached under the arms but I'm going to fix that and put a coat hanger between them so they can be attached by the corset instead. Too sweaty to have them under the arms and they don't always stay in place. 

CUTIE MARK - I got the plain wood sunshine at Michael's in their wood crafts section and painted it. Then we took a hook and drilled that in and hung it from a string on the corset. I had an idea that you could actually also stick one of those credit card holders onto the back of it so you could carry your ID and credit cards around without a purse. 

SKIRT - A hoop skirt and an over skirt that I had hanging around from previous costumes. 

SHOES - you can't see them here but they are strappy gold sandals. They looks great - like armored hooves, but my feet were dying by the end of the day. 

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!! ALL THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!

DragonCon wrap-up

Hey all,

It's my most favorite time of the year! DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia over Labor Day weekend. Where 70,000 geeks and nerds and fan boys and girls gather together to hang out and party and, of course, costume!

As an author, DragonCon is my biggest publicity event of the year by far. But it's also something I'd attend even if I wasn't in the industry. I just love the vibe, the excitement, the amazing cosplay. So many people coming together and just sharing and having fun.

This year I spoke on panels for the YA Track, the Writing Track, the Urban Fantasy Track and the Horror Track. The track leaders do such an amazing job every year - I'm always blown away by how seamless everything is and how many people attend the panels. Even Friday morning at 10am when my first YA panel started, there was barely a seat in the house. (That's major credit to Bev Kodak who runs the panel. She works tirelessly and it shows!!)

At the YA Horror panel with James Ray Tuck, Madeline Roux, Ted Naifeh, and Peter Solomon 

Me and the amazing Bev Kodak after my panel! I only got to do one YA panel this year, but it was a good one!

One of the coolest panel moments was during the iZombie fan panel. A woman in the audience decided to tweet Rahul Kohli who plays Ravi on the show to let him know we were talking to him and low and behold, by the power of social media, he skyped in and talked to the audience at the end, answering questions, etc. Just goes to show you never know what might happen at DragonCon. Also major kudos to Carol Malcolm, our fearless track leader. I love doing this track every year.

The power of social media! 

By the way, if you want to listen to the complete panel, it was put up as part of the iZombie podcast here.

Perhaps my favorite panel of all, however, was one I wasn't even supposed to be on. Derek Tatum, the fearless leader of the Horror Track put together a last minute panel on the legacy of Wes Craven, who had died earlier in the week. I hadn't meant to be ON the panel, just attend it, but when I arrived Derek asked me if I wanted to take part and how could I say no? It was so much fun talking about Wes and his legacy and the mark he made on modern horror. He was an artist with a vision, not just some schlock director out to make a buck and it showed in his work.

In any case, it's inspired Jacob and I to go back and watch some of his stuff we haven't seen for a while. Like what Derek considers an underrated classic: Shocker!

Did you realize the guy in the electric chair is Skinner from the X-Files? Who knew!

I also worked at the Tairen Lair booth, which is made up of a group of authors who get together to sell and autograph books at the show. We can move a LOT of books at a Con like DragonCon. Which is pretty amazing, if you think about it, considering just how much cool stuff is available to purchase. But these are our people and our people love books! And just getting to be there, talking about books to readers - that was fun in and of itself.

My little spot at the Tairen's Lair booth!

A new reader and his homemade dragon Iris!

I also got to fan girl a little myself. I was on a panel with Todd McCaffrey, author and son of Anne McCaffrey who wrote the Dragonriders of Pern series, which was a great influence on me and my dragon love growing up! I was a total dork and actually gave Todd a signed copy of Scorched and told him how much his mother's writing meant to me. He was thankfully very gracious when I asked if his name had two "T's" in it when I meant two "D's". Yeahhhh. I'm so cool. I don't know if he'll ever read the book, but I like knowing he has it now!

I also got to meet fantasy artist and author Larry Dixon who was super cool and bought a signed copy of the entire Scorched series (!!) for himself and his wife, the amazing Mercedes Lackey. (OMG. OMG. So. Not. Worthy.) The idea that the two of them now have MY books in their collection? My pre-published self would have pretty much keeled over and died. Also, Larry gave me a signed copy of one of his griffin drawings!

And, of course, as always -  I cosplayed! Most of my cosplay costumes were a bit over the top this year - meaning it wasn't always easy to get from place to place. But it was a lot of fun all the same and I must have had my photo taken a thousand times over the week. I felt a little like a weary celebrity at the end, haha. Like, wanting to run up to my room and wear something normal so I could walk the halls incognito.

Here is my cosplay line-up:

FRIDAY: Princess Celestia from My Little Pony

This costume is one I basically built myself. I am going to post another day how I put it all together. 

FRIDAY NIGHT: Queen Elsa and Sub Zero from Frozen and Mortal Kombat.

This one got a LOT of laughs and a lot of "OMG that is SO WRONG." Haha. My husband Jacob is the one playing Sub Zero and it was his idea to decapitate Olaf in typical Sub Zero finishing moves!

SATURDAY NIGHT: Tate and Violet from American Horror Story: Murder House (The first season)

This costume is mostly all about Jacob. I just wore typical "Violet" clothes, which aren't that different than my regular everyday clothes, along with a long brown wig. Jacob's took a lot more work, painting his face. We didn't get recognized AS much since it's a bit more eclectic than, say, Queen Elsa, but when we did, people were excited!

And last but not least... SUNDAY!

Sunday was my most exciting costume. I didn't make this dress - I had it commissioned by an amazing lady named Lane from Wicked and Wonder. And it got a TON of attention. The best part was when little girls would come up, their faces full of awe, wanting photos of me. I had little "princess prizes" to hand out to them, too. It was like being a real life Disney Princess for a day! I am already trying to decide what princess to do next year!

With the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout 3/Vegas. 

With K9 from Doctor Who

With Jason Voorhees. But a DARMA Initiative (from LOST) mash-up.

Did I mention it was a REALLY big dress? 

But, of course, I'm not the only one in costume at DragonCon. And I had a blast taking  photos of other creative cosplayers, too. Here are a few of my favorite finds:

My Little Pony goes to the Dark Side!

Star Wars meets Beauty and the Beast

Gender-flipped Imorten Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road

I'll let you think about this one for a moment...
Yes, it's a limo driver, at the airport, waiting for Godot. :)

Gender-flipped Jareth. That baby was not hers, but another couple's who wanted to give their baby to the Goblin King.

These two were amazing! Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, all done up in Marie Antoinette style!

All in all it was a great time. I got to see old fiends and meet new ones. Sign books and speak to readers. Dress up like a Disney princess and a ghost and a pony and just have a blast the whole weekend. I'm already trying to decide what I want to do next year!!

MARI

Happy Book Birthday to SMOKED

Hey all,

This happy day has been years in the making! The release day of SMOKED, the fiery conclusion to the SCORCHED trilogy. It's hard to believe, thinking back on it now, when I had the original idea of a dragon time-travel story - a Terminator with dragons, if you will - that we would come so far. Looking at the covers of the three books together now just makes me feel complete. 

Covers by Tony Sahara - isn't he so talented?

As a reader, I've always been a dragon lover and a lover of fantasy fiction. So to know I have, in some small way, added something to the genre? It's pretty much a dream come true. I owe a huge thanks to my publisher, Sourcebooks, for believing in this series and giving it such cool packaging and promotion and distribution. And another to Scholastic Book Fairs and Clubs for picking it up and offering it to their readers. 

And a special thanks to all the readers out there who took a chance on the series. There are SO MANY books out there--especially in the YA space right now. The fact that you chose mine is such an honor and a privilege. So THANK YOU. 

I'm looking forward to meeting lots of readers at DragonCon this weekend and others during upcoming book signings and events like Y'ALL Fest this fall. For those of you who can't make it to one of my events personally but still want a personalized autographed copy? I can hook you up. Just go to my storefront and place an order. Or email me at mari at marimancusi dot com. 

I may do a video later, but that's it for now! Thanks again!!

MARI

Once upon a time the world burned.

Until a girl and her dragon smothered the flame.
But the spark that ignited the apocalypse never went out.
And the scorch is about to begin...

When Team Dragon rescues Emmy from the government lab, they think the future is finally safe. But they soon discover that Emmy has a secret-a secret so dangerous it could trigger the very apocalypse Connor and Caleb were sent back in time to prevent.

As a dragon hunter, Connor has committed his life to saving the world. There's nothing he wouldn't do to complete his mission...even if it meant betraying his brother and losing Trinity's heart. Even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

But a desperate choice meant to prevent The Scorch, may be the spark that sets the world aflame once more.

The epic conclusion to the genre-bending Scorched series, which Melissa de la Cruz, New York Timesbestselling author of the Blue Bloods series, called "A heart-pounding, twisty, time-travel fantasy."

Scorched: http://amzn.to/1LHZ8XX 
Shattered: http://amzn.to/1N7gwss 
Smoked: http://amzn.to/1LHYZns

Where to find me at DragonCon

Hey all,

For those who are heading to Atlanta this weekend for DragonCon, I wanted to give you a head's up as to where you can see me speak or get me to sign. I'll have copies of SMOKED on hand - as well as copies of Scorched and Shattered and also Gamer Girl and The Camelot Code. 

And, most importantly, COSTUMES!!! 

My live-action Cinderella dress... Hopefully it will fit in my suitcase!

First up, here is my speaking schedule: 

Title: Tropes in YA
Description: What are the popular themes in YA? Join us for a discussion of common tropes in all their forms.
Time: Fri 10:00 am  Location: A707 - Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Mari Mancusi, Todd McCaffrey, Kathryn Hinds, Melissa Grey)

-------------------
Title: Finding the Teen/Middle Grade Reader Within
Description: How does an adult develop strategies and write novels that kids will relate to? Is the YA market feasible for you?
Time: Sat 01:00 pm  Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Stephen L. Antczak, Cinda Williams Chima, Mari Mancusi, Lisa Mantchev, E. C. Myers, Sara Raasch, James Hugh Reeves)

-------------------
Title: Autograph Session
Time: Sat 05:30 pm  Location: International Hall South - Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: A. J. Hartley, Mari Mancusi, Naomi Novik)

-------------------
Title: Giving Voice to the Other: Young Adult UF
Description: Our panel of authors discusses how the paranormal/UF genre speaks to young adults through its portrayal of "otherness."
Time: Sun 05:30 pm  Location: Chastain ED - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Zac Brewer, Delilah S. Dawson, Mari Mancusi, Sarah Nicolas, Tamsin L. Silver, Christi J. Whitney)

-------------------
Title: Undead With a Purpose: iZombie
Description: A moderated fan-panel discussion of the new hit show's first season
Time: Sun 07:00 pm  Location: Chastain ED - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Kevin Bachelder, Mari Mancusi, Karen E. Taylor)

-------------------
Title: Teenage Wasteland
Description: Young adult characters in horror and dark fantasy fiction
Time: Mon 11:30 am  Location: Peachtree 1-2 - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: James R. Tuck, Peter Adam Salomon, Mari Mancusi, Catherine M Scully, Madeleine Roux, Ted Naifeh)

I will also be selling/signing books at the Tairen's Lair booth in the vendor area. This is located at 1223 and 1225 in America's Mart by the Westin. I will be there a lot when I'm not paneling, but I have some specific times I will DEFINITELY be there if you want to make sure to catch me. 

Friday 1-4pm. 

Saturday: 10-11:30, 2:30-4:30pm

Sunday: TBA

Monday 1-2pm 4-4:30pm

If you can't make any of those times but you still want to meet up to get a book, you can always PM me on Facebook or tweet me on Twitter and we can arrange a meet up. 

Also, in case you're just looking for me in the crowd, I may be in disguise! I'm doing the following costumes while there:

Princess Celestia from My Little Pony

Cinderella (live action version)

Elsa from Frozen (with my partner in crime Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat)

Queen Cersei from Game of Thrones (with my brother Jamie)

Violet from American Horror Story Season One, Murder House (With my partner in crime, Tate)

SEE YOU THERE!!

Mari

COVER REVEAL: SMOKED (And contest!)

Hey guys,

It's finally here! The final cover for the third and final Scorched book, SMOKED! And I have to say, it's looking pretty darn smokin' too! Tony Sahara once again outdid himself! 

Once upon a time the world burned. 

Until a girl and her dragon smothered the flame. 

But the spark that ignited the apocalypse never went out. 

And the Scorch is about to begin. 

When Team Dragon rescues Emmy from the government lab, they think the future is finally safe. But they soon discover that Emmy has a secret--a secret so dangerous it could trigger the very apocalypse Connor and Caleb were sent back in time to prevent.

As a dragon hunter, Connor has committed his life to saving the world. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to complete his mission… even if it meant betraying his brother and losing Trinity’s heart. Even if it meant doing the unthinkable.  But a desperate choice meant to prevent The Scorch, may become the spark that sets the world aflame once more.

Want to win an advanced copy of the book? Go ahead and RETWEET the following! 

COVER REVEAL: The fiery conclusion to @marimancusi's #ScorchedSeries is out this September. RT to #win #LightTheSpark ow.ly/i/afrdQ 

Haunted Halloween Trail

Welcome to the first stop of The Looking Glass!

This is the first ever Halloween Book Trail, featuring your favorite YA & MG authors! This trail is based on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes presented by the Apocalypsies. In THIS trail, you’ll find all kinds of posts, and discover new authors and their work.

How do you play? Every post contains information that will lead to killer prizes! Books, swag, skype sessions, locks of hair (jk jk)! At the end of each blog you’ll find a link that will take you to the next stop in the trail. By the end, you’ll find a quiz. Now you’ll be happy you read all the posts! Submit your entry to the quiz for a chance to win a grand prize! Accuracy matters here, so take your time, or go back and refresh your memory! One quiz entry per trail.

About me:

For those of you unfamiliar, my name is Mari Mancusi and I'm the author of the SCORCHED series, which I compare to TERMINATOR WITH DRAGONS. I've also written a bunch of other books for teens, tweens, and adults including The Blood Coven Vampires series and Gamer Girl. For a full list of my book you can go to my website.

Now for a little Q & A

1. If your MC went trick or treating, what would he dress up as and why?

My heroine, Trinity, is basically a mother of dragons so I'm guessing she'd go as Daenerys from Game of Thrones! 

2. What scares the pants off of you?

The idea that George RR Martin might die before he finishes writing A Song of Ice and Fire. 

3. What is your favorite Halloween candy? 

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Especially the ones in the shape of pumpkins! Mmm. 

Thank you for participating!

For the next stop on the trail, visit Anne Greenwood Brown's lovely blog!

DragonCon wrap-up

Hey all,

It's hard to believe one week ago I was in the middle of DragonCon, one of the largest sci-fi/fantasy cons in the world. With more than 60,000 people converging on downtown Atlanta for a long weekend of programming, costumes, celebrity guests, vendors, games, etc. etc. DragonCon is INSANE and yet insanely awesome and it's definitely my favorite publicity event I do every year. If I wasn't an author I would totally just go there for fun.

This year I was celebrating the release of Shattered and it went amazingly well. I met so many amazing readers - many who had picked up Scorched last year at DragonCon and were excited to return and get a copy of the sequel. I sold out of the copies that I brought with me and sold tons of copies of Scorched as well. Next year I'll have the third book of the series, Smoked, which will have just been released. It's kind of awesome how the releases of this series tie in so perfectly, time-wise, with DragonCon.

Scorched and Shattered and The Camelot Code on sale at our booth!

I also spoke on eight different panels - on all sorts of topics - including vampires, urban fantasy, anti-heroines in YA fiction, the Twin Peaks TV show (25 years later!), and other writing related topics. I think the Twin Peaks panel was my favorite because I could be a fan-girl instead of just an author. People actually dressed up as Twin Peaks characters in the audience which was awesome, too. I also loved the panel I did with Sherrilyn Kenyon. That woman could read the phone book and be fascinating. :) I adore her.

Twin Peaks panel was packed and such great cosplay!

Another favorite was Princess Alethea's Traveling Sideshow. We were officially part of the YA Track this year and I think we made the most of it! Diana and I wrote and performed a skit called THAWED: A YA Literature Retrospective, as told by the characters of Disney's Frozen. Yeah!

We even dressed up for this one - doing Elsa and Anna "bring back summer!"

Which brings me to the best part -- COSTUMES!

Here's the rundown of mine:

ELSA from Frozen in Beach Wear.

Queen Regent Cersei from Game of Thrones

Jacob was a dashing Jamie Lannister - check out the gold hand!

With Diana Peterfreund aka Zarina the Pirate Fairy. (Which is an awesome cosplay!)

And Babydoll from the film Sucker Punch!

I am ALWAYS going to do costumes with swords from now on!!

Anyway, I could go on and on and may add to this later but my daughter is waking up so I have to go! In all, it was an AMAZING time and I am already planning for next year!!

MARI

Happy Book Birthday to me!

Hey all,

Today's the day! The long-awaited release of SHATTERED, book 2 in the Scorched series! I am SO EXCITED to introduce readers to the new adventures of Trinity, Emmy, Connor and Caleb. (And some new characters, too!)

The book is available in hardcover, ebook and audiobook formats. I hope you will check it out!! :) You can find out all you need to know - and get the links to purchase here.

Thank you for all your support!!
xo
MARI

Getting Shattered!

First copy of SHATTERED - hot off the presses! So what's under the dust jacket this time? I decided to find out for myself!! Take a look! :)



Publish Post

Scorched now available in PAPERBACK and AUDIOBOOK

Hey guys,

Great news! For those of you who haven't gotten your copy yet - Scorched is now available in a paperback version and an audiobook!

This is the first time I've ever had an audiobook so that's super exciting as you can imagine. There's just something so surreal about listening to your own words read by another person!

The paperback also features a sample chapter from the upcoming SHATTERED which will be released in less than a month. Whoo hoo! And it sports some brand new back cover copy.

The paperback copies should be available starting today at your local bookstore or, of course, you can always find them online. The audio version can be either bought on CD or downloaded on Audible.com. You can also pre-order the Shattered audiobook now.

Thanks all!
MARI

New book trailer for Shattered!

Hey all, 

We're only a little more than a month away from the release of SHATTERED, the second book in the Scorched series. So exciting! And to hold you over, Sourcebooks, the publisher, has created a special little book trailer to pump you up for the new series! 

Check it out!

For all the gamers out there!

I'm participating in a cool collection of gamer-themed ebooks with my book Alternity. Check out the Game Masters Bundle of eight gamer-themed books available for a very low price! Check it out. (BTW I've read the Feyland one and it's awesome. And the rest look great, too!)

Here's the info:

Curated by Anthea Sharp

Sometimes gaming is the best escape. Until virtual reality gets a little too real...

Welcome to the Game Masters Bundle–eight stories of gamer-themed fiction that explore the intersection of pixels and reality. Each of these tales takes a gamer-centric look at the world, tackling big issues with plenty of fun and geeky goodness along the way.

I scoured the web to find the best indie authors of gamer-set books, and am thrilled to present this StoryBundle selection. Whether you're in the mood for a modern-day coming of age tale packed with humor, or a gritty speculative dystopian future, these bestselling and award-winning authors deliver, with stories that explore the boundaries of immersive gaming.

Join the hackers and heroes adventuring between these pages, but beware! Losing the game has dire consequences – not only for the players, but the entire world. – Anthea Sharp

The initial titles in the bundle (minimum $3 to purchase) are:

• Spark: Feyguard Book 1 by Anthea Sharp
• Massively Multiplayer by P. Aaron Potter
• Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp
• Dead Man's Resolution, a short story by Thomas K. Carpenter
• Gamers by Thomas K. Carpenter

If you pay more than the bonus price of just $10, you'll get another three books:

• Feyland: The First Adventure, a novella by by Anthea Sharp
• Alternity by Mari Mancusi
• Level Zero by Jaron Lee Knuth

The bundle is available for a very limited time only, via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, and .mobi) for all books, but after the three weeks are over, the bundle is gone forever!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
• Pay what you want (minimum $3): You decide how much five fantastic books are worth to you. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to five thrilling titles.
• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to charity. We're currently featuring Mighty Writers and Girls Write Now.
• Receive extra books: If you beat our bonus price, you're not just getting five books, you're getting eight!

Ready to get your game on? You can do so here. 

How I Write What I Write

Thank you Annie Oldham for tagging me on this blog hop! Check out her website and see her answers to these questions as well! And check out her books! She writes awesome dystopian/post-apoc YA too! :) And she even has a dragon book! 

What am I working on?

I just published my YA time-travel Arthurian fantasy THE CAMELOT CODE. So I’ve been trying to do some publicity/attention for that title. It’s a younger YA, perfect for readers 10 and up. Or just those who love Arthurian legend and would like to see it turned on its heels. In The Camelot Code King Arthur time travels to the 21^st century, Googles himself and learns his destiny—then decides he’d rather play on the football team instead. It’s one of my favorite books I’ve ever written so I’m excited to share it with readers at last.

Available as an e-book or paperback

Also I’m hard at work on the third book in the SCORCHED series, called SMOKED. It’s kind of weird to be writing the third book when the second hasn’t been released yet. Like, I feel like I can’t talk about it too much, cause, spoilers. But I’m very excited at how it’s turning out so far!!

And Shattered (Book 2) comes out in September! 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I often add a little (or a lot) of humor to my books. In a day when so much YA is dark and serious, I want to write stories that have not only action/adventure/romance – but also some fun.

Why do I write what I do?

I write what I love to read. I have a passion for dragons and fantasy and love time travel “what-ifs”. I also like fish out of water stories. Putting people into time periods or situations unfamiliar and letting them claw their way out! (Authors are evil like that!)

How does your writing process work?

I write best in the early mornings, sadly, which means a lot of coffee. When I’m polishing my first draft, I read everything out loud, to hear how it sounds, as well as what it looks like on the page. 

But enough about me! I'm going to tag DIANA PETERFREUND for the next stop on this tour. Diana writes amazing classic-story retellings set in dystopian futuristic worlds. She also writes about killer unicorns, which, you know, is obviously awesome. 

 

About Diana:

Diana Peterfreund has published nine novels for adults and teens, including the four-book Secret Society Girl series (Bantam Dell), the “killer unicorn novels” Rampantand Ascendant (Harper Teen), and For Darkness Shows the Stars, a post-apocalyptic retelling of Jane Austen’sPersuasion. Her newest book, Across a Star-Swept Sea, is a companion novel inspired by the classic series The Scarlet Pimpernel. In addition, she’s written several critically acclaimed short stories and a variety of non-fiction essays about  popular children’s literature.  Diana lives in Washington D.C., with her family.