Top Ten Tuesday (24)- Top Ten Characters I'd Like To Check In With

Hi thanks for stopping by!!! And welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

April 7: Top Ten Characters I'd Like To Check In With

Ah there's so many but here's a few

1. Juliette and Warner from Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me series.
2. June and Day from Marie Lu's Legend series.
3. Aria, Perry, and Roar from Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky series.
4. Avry and Kerrick from Maria V. Snyder's Healer Series
5. Shane and Ciara and the rest of the WVMP DJ's from Jeri Smith Ready's WVMP Series
6. Elisa and Hector from Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series.
7. Aura and Zach from Jeri Smith Ready's Shade series.
8. Janelle, Barclay, and Ben from Elizabeth Norris's Unraveling series.
9. Sophie and Archer from Rachel Hawkins Hex Hall series.
10. Kaylee and Tod from Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series.

So this is my list. What about you? What characters would you like to check in on?

And come back next week for my  Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books (anything that inspires you, challenges you, makes you think, encourages you, etc.) I may not do this one still thinking on it.

Hugs,
Jaime

Top Ten Tuesday (19)- My Top Ten ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years

Hi and welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

March 3: Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (you can extend it to 5 if you need to).

1. A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU

2. SPLINTERED

3. THRONE OF GLASS

4. THE TESTING

5. ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND

6. BRANDED

7. UNRAVELING 

8. IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS

9. UNRAVEL ME

10.  SCARLET 

So this is my list. What about you? What are your top ten bookish problems?

And come back next week for my Ten Books For Readers Who Like _________! I think I'm going to pick High Fantasy! Surprise, surprise lol ;)

Hugs,
Jaime

Announcing The 2nd Annual Authors Are Rockstars Tour Author List and Sign-Ups!

We are so excited to be able to announce the details and begin the sign-ups for the 2nd Annual AUTHORS ARE ROCKSTARS Tour that we’re bringing back to you this August.

If you are unfamiliar with last year’s tour, check out the final tour schedule HERE.

Just like last year, our goal is to put as many of our favorite rockstar authors in the spotlight across the blogosphere as we can. So, for the month of August we’ll be matching up the rockstar authors who have agreed to go on tour with the bloggers who are their biggest fans.

Depending upon the number of authors who end up participating in the event, there could be as many as five or six authors being spotlighted around the blogosphere each day of the month.

And with 131 authors currently on board we’ve already surpassed last year’s totals.

Each stop on the tour will consist of an interview or guest post. Some stops may have a pre-written post or interview, but most stops will require the bloggers to come up with post topics and interview questions.

And some of the stops may have a giveaway provided by the author or publisher. As hosts of this event we do not ask for giveaway prizes, so not every stop will include a giveaway.

But every stop on the tour will be at a blog who thinks the author they’re hosting rocks!

And while we’d love to be able to include every single author we think is a rockstar and every blogger who signs up to participate, we are just three bloggers and we do have limits to the number of stops we can handle each day.

Last year’s event was amazing. And even though it was a lot of work to put it together, as event hosts we had a lot of fun. This year we hope to make it an even more exciting event. And this year we are super stoked to have Mindy of Magical Urban Fantasy Reads on board as a co-host.

All the information about the event and the link for bloggers to sign up is below. But first let us present to you the participating authors.

****The Authors****

Here are the authors (in alphabetical order by first name) currently on tour.

The list will be updated as new authors are added, so be sure to check back to see if your rockstar authors will be on tour this August!

** We are still accepting authors for the tour! New additions will be in blue**

A.G. Howard

Aimee Agresti

Aimee Carter

Alex Kahler

Alexander Gordon Smith

Alexandra Monir
Allison Van Diepen

Amanda Ashby

Amanda Hocking

Amanda Sun

Ammi-Joan Paquette

Amy Butler Greenfield

Amy Tintera

Andrea Cremer

Ann Aguirre

Ann Redisch Stampler

Anna Banks
April Lindner

Becca Fitzpatrick
Bethany Griffin

Brittany Geragotelis
CC Hunter
Cara Lynn Shultz

Cat Winters

Cecily White

Chelsea Pitcher

Chloe Jacobs

Chloe Neill

Christine Johnson

Cinda Williams Chima

C.J. Redwine

Clarie LaZebnik

Claudia Gray

Corrine Jackson

Cyn Balog

Cynthia Hand

Dan Krokos

Dan Wells

Danielle Ellison

Dawn Metcalf

Debra Driza

Elana Johnson

Elizabeth Miles

Elizabeth Norris

Elizabeth Richards

Elsie Chapman

Emmy Laybourne

Erin Bowman

Fiona Paul
Gabrielle Zevin

Gayle Forman

Gena Showalter

Gennifer Albin
Georgia McBride

Gina Damico

Gretchen McNeil

Hannah Moskowitz

Heather Anastasiu

Heather Brewer
Heidi Kling

J.A. Souders

J.K. Rock

Jackie Morse Kessler

Jennifer Archer

Jennifer Banash

Jennifer Bosworth

Jennifer Castle

Jennifer Echols

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Jennifer Rush

Jenny Han

Jeri Smith-Ready
Jessi Kirby

Jessica Brody

Jessica Spotswood

Jodi Meadows

Joelle Charbonneau

Jordan Dane

Josephine Angelini

Josin McQuein

Julia Karr
Julie Cross

Jus Accardo
Kami Garcia

Karen Ann Hopkins

Karri Thompson
Karsten Knight

Kasie West

Katherine Longshore

Kathleen Peacock
Katie McGarry

Katlyn Duncan

Kelly Keaton

Kiki Hamilton
Kim Harrington
Kimberly Sabatini

Kristen Simmons

Kristi Cook
Laura Toffler-Corrie

Lauren Miller

Lauren Oliver

Leah Clifford

Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Fallon

Lenore Appelhans

Lesley Livingston

Lisa Burstein
Lisa Desrochers

Lisa M. Stasse

Liz Coley

Louise Rozette

Mari Mancusi

Maria V. Snyder
Marni Bates

Mary Gray

Mary Lindsey

Megan Miranda

Megan Shepherd

Melissa de la Cruz

Melissa West

Michelle Gagnon

Michelle Rowen/Morgan Rhodes
Michelle Zink

Mike Mullin

Mindy McGinnis

Miranda Kenneally

Myra McEntire

Nova Ren Suma

Page Morgan

Rachel Caine

Rachel Harris

Rachel Vincent

Rae Carson

Renee Collins
Robin LaFevers
Robin Mellom
Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Crossan

Sarah Guillory

Sarah J. Maas

Sarah Ockler

Sarwat Chadda

Scott Tracey

Shannon Messenger

Sherry Thomas

Simone Elkeles

Sophie Jordan

Stacey Kade

Susan Dennard

Suzanne Lazear

Suzanne Young

T. Michael Martin

T.M. Goeglein

Tahereh Mafi

Talia Vance

Tara Fuller

Tessa Gratton

Trisha Wolfe

Veronica Rossi

Victoria Schwab

Victoria Scott

Vivi Barnes

Wendy Higgins

Please note: Some authors have specific stop date requests, post types or have previously written posts prepared. Bloggers who are chosen to host an author will be notified about any special requirements.

*************************************

AUTHORS - We still have a few spots remaining for YA authors whose work we are familiar with! If you've received an email from us and would like to participate we'd love to have you on board. If you haven't, or don't think you have, and you would be interested in participating, please email us at FiktshunandTwoChicks@gmail.com.

BLOGGERS - You will be allowed only ONE chance to change your original picks. So if you don’t see your favorite authors listed, hold off on signing up, because they may be added to the list. Signing up early does not give you preferential treatment. If you want to make a change before sign-ups have closed please email us at the address above.

*****************************

The Authors Are Rockstars Tour

The tour will run from August 1st through August 31st. Each day of the month will have multiple tour stops.

The tour will begin at Fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads and will end on all three of our blogs. There will be a kick-off post with a list of all the stops on the tour and there will be a giveaway. Each of us will also host one or two of our favorite authors. On the final day of the tour we’ll post a wrap-up of the event and will host the final three authors we’ll be spotlighting.

The rest of the month will be for you to share your love of the authors you call your rockstars.

*********************

Rules, Requirements and Other Details

RULES

You must complete the sign-up form in order to be considered.

Signing up in no way guarantees you will be chosen for a tour stop. (We’re so sorry, but judging by the number of sign-ups last year we won’t be able to include everyone.)

Being accepted as a tour stop does not guarantee you’ll get your first choice of author.

If you are chosen, you must respond with your acceptance and with your guest post topics, interview questions or other post ideas within four days after notification. If you do not respond we will be forced to choose someone else.

REQUIREMENTS

To be considered to host any author, other than a debut author, you must have reviewed their books. (See review requirements immediately below.) And if you have rated their books, ratings cannot be less than four stars, unless you provide a compelling reason why you should still be considered. The authors you choose should be ones you consider rockstars!

To host an author with three or more books published, you must have reviewed at least two of their books. (Review links will be required in the sign-up form.)

To host an author with one or two published books, you must have reviewed at least one of them.

To host an author whose books have yet to be published, you must be anxiously awaiting the book’s release and have posted about that book on your blog. (Links to WoW or Spotlight posts will be required in the sign-up form.)

OTHER DETAILS

Selections will be made based on a number of criteria including the best match-up between author and blogger, blogger’s overall reviews, and blogger’s reputation and trustworthiness.

Blog following, page views or Twitter following will not be a deciding factor in the selection process.

Blog longevity, number of reviews, types of reviews – (bash-free is a must) – will be considered when making our selections.

Blogger “friends” will not be given preference. It’s about making the best matches between authors and bloggers on the tour.

Writing in an author does not guarantee that author will be included on the tour. They may have already been contacted and either are unavailable or have yet to respond, or all tour stops may already have been filled.

Blogger’s will be notified by July 8th and will have four days to confirm their participation. Announcements will be made in a post on Fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads on Monday, July 15th.

Giveaways: For tour stops that will be hosting an author or publisher donated giveaway prize, there can be no mandatory tasks aside from leaving a blog comment. And there can be up to two extra entry opportunities. As a thank you to the authors you are hosting you may want to make those extra entries about the authors but it is not mandatory.

There will be no requirements/restrictions for tour stops that choose to host their own giveaways.

***************************

Dates to Know

Tour dates: August 1st-31st

Sign-up ends: June 30th

Blogger notifications: on or before July 8th

Blogger acceptance and post requirements needed by: July 12th

Blogger announcements: July 15th

Thank you so much for your interest in being a part of this tour to share your love for these amazing rockstar authors and for helping to make this second year’s event rock even harder!

While we can’t include everyone who signs up, we are so honored that you want to join in and support this event. Just know that even if you aren’t selected, we think that you rock too!

*******************************

Sign up!

We are beginning the sign-ups today, although we are still awaiting responses from a few of the authors we’ve reached out to. The post will be updated each day until sign-ups close with any new authors that have joined the tour.

Signing up early does not give you preferential treatment. So if you want to wait and see if any new authors are added to the tour before you sign up, you will not be penalized for waiting.

The sign-ups will close at Midnight Eastern/9 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, June 30th.

If new authors are added to the tour after sign-ups have closed, like last year we will reach out to bloggers who have signed up and who have reviewed - and loved - their books.

We are all so very excited for August and for this tour to kick-off. And we are all so grateful, every day of the year, for these authors that we call rockstars who amaze us with their stories, who provide an escape that is filled with magic, who take us to worlds we could never dream up on our own and could never visit in reality, who delight, enchant, surprise, astonish us. Every. Single. Time.

**************SIGN UPS ARE CLOSED*************

Guest Post- Elizabeth Norris Shares Summer Movie Picks

You know Elizabeth Norris as the author of Unraveling and this year’s Unbreakable. You may not know she also loves movies! After sharing 10 of her top summer movie picks with I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Tynga’s Reviews, she stops by here to share her movie “Honorable Mentions.”

Honorable Mention:

World War Z (I loved the book!)

Mean Girls


John Tucker Must Die



Kickass 2

Make sure to stop by Reading After Midnight (June 4^th), I’d So Rather Be Reading (June 10^th),Bewitched Bookworms (June 11^th), Midnight Book Girl (June 12^th), Good Books and Good Wine (June 14^th) and others to come for Liz’s top summer picks for books and TV shows --- and to read excerpts from her novels.

About Unraveling and Unbreakable

Reminiscent of Before I Fall, Elizabeth Norris's Unraveling blends realistic coming-of-age issues and heart-stopping romance with something just a little bit more. In this case, a gripping science fiction world.

Unraveling's heroine, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner, is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother.

                                                   And that was before she died...and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. The more Janelle tries to figure him out, the more she starts to believe he's connected to a case her father is working on. The one where people are dying of radiation poisoning and the body count is rising. The one that involves a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction. If Janelle wants to stop the clock and save the world, she has twenty-four days to uncover Ben's secrets--and keep from falling in love with him.

                                                                                            From debut author Elizabeth Norris, comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

 Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

Unbreakable, the sequel to Elizabeth Norris’s Unraveling, blends science fiction, mystery, and romance into a thrilling story YA readers won’t be able to put down.

                                                        It’s been four months since Janelle Tenner stopped the earth’s destruction with the help of Ben, the boy who resurrected her after she died. Ben is gone now—disappeared through a portal to his home world.

                                                     Even though Ben broke her heart, Janelle refuses to believe it when Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay tells her Ben is suspected of running a human-trafficking ring across several universes. She vows to uncover the true culprit and rescue the people who have been sold into slavery on alternate earths—not to mention find Ben and prove his innocence.

                                                                                                In addition to Ben, Barclay, and Janelle, Unbreakable brings back fan favorite characters Elijah and Cecily in this action-packed thriller.

 Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

Blog Tour- Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris Meet Taylor Barclay and a Giveaway!

Today I have an awesome blog tour post! I love Liz Norris and her books! Unbreakable was an amazing follow up to Unraveling and I am truly sad to see the series end! 

So today I get to introduce you all to Taylor Barclay! Yes he was in book 1 and no I didn’t like him very much but, that was because I didn’t truly know him and everything that makes him tick until Unbreakable. Now that I know Barclay I can honestly say Ben Michaels who? I fell hard for Barclay in Unbreakable and in this post you will see why. Oh and make sure to enter the giveaway there’s lots of books up for grabs!

Unbreakable

Elizabeth Norris

Hardcover: 496 pages

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

ISBN-10: 0062103768

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

On Taylor Barclay

I do a lot of brainstorming and outlining before I start drafting. I even write up character notes.

That doesn't mean the story never surprises me, though. I often have breakthroughs as I'm drafting—a moment where I realize there's something else. A new twist, a different plot direction, another character: it's like I missed a big piece of the story in my planning and I just didn't know it until that moment.

Taylor Barclay was one of those.

He didn't exist in my original notes. And then as I wrote the scene in Unraveling where Janelle hacks her dad's laptop (Chapter 16:23:33:54), Barclay inserted himself into the manuscript (in a form of a conflicting evaluation) and I knew exactly who he was.

He's this guy:

(Side note: I'm a Tim Riggins fan. Aren't we all?)

Anyway, I knew his backstory right away. In fact, even though he was a minor character in most of Unraveling, I thought of him like a main player, because I knew what he was doing behind the scenes. He was important even though he wasn’t on the page.

So naturally when it came time to write Unbreakable, I knew Barclay needed a bigger on-page role in the story. I wanted people to know him like I did.

He appears for the first time on page 46 of in Unbreakable, but it’s not really until chapter 04:11:47:08 that Janelle, and thus everyone else, learns more about him.

Here are Eight Things About Barclay that were in the first draft of Unbreakable but were edited out for space. (It’s a long book)

1.    He’s only a jerk because he’s confident. And he’s confident because he’s usually right. On his North Point entrance exam (a six hour test required in order to get into IA training), he had a perfect score, achieved by leaving one question blank and getting the rest of them right.

2.   He grew up poor with a single mother and an older brother, Tomas. They were always clipping coupons and hoping there was enough money at the end of the month for food.

3.   Tomas was always considered the smart brother, the one who would go on to do great things, which pushed Barclay to work even harder.

4.   He drinks hot cinnamon tea every night before going to bed. And he wakes up early to go for a run and then hit the gym before heading into work.

5.   His idol is Clyde Tolson, the guy who founded IA. He also came from a similar background as Barclay and achieved great things for Prima.

6.   He was picked on in elementary school, until he got bigger and fought back.

7.   He doesn’t ever want a desk job—even if it’s the head of the IA or something prestigious. Paperwork bores him. He always wants to be in the field.

8.   When his mother died, Barclay let his ex-girlfriend Hayley move into his mother’s house. He and Tomas both had city apartments of their own, and he didn’t want to move back into the house he grew up in. He felt like it was a step backwards. He also felt guilty that he broke up with Hayley. He loved her and cared for her, but he knew he couldn’t give her the attention or life she deserved. Too much for his attention was devoted to IA.

***Excerpt***

And here's an excerpt of "Operation Monument," Barclay's short story which will be part of the Unbreakable Extra Content. This excerpt is taken from near the beginning of his short story. Barclay has just found out that his partner and mentor, Eric Brandt is dead. He’s been told to take a few days off so he’s gone to Eric’s house to examine the scene.

I head to the kitchen and grab the scotch from the cabinet above the fridge. Not the every day stuff or even the good stuff that we used to toast every-time we completed another mission. I go for the unopened bottle that he got from the Governor six years ago for exposing a terrorist threat within New Prima. A bunch of environmentalists planned to bomb headquarters and try to shut down interverse travel. Eric stopped them, almost single-handedly.

    

He was saving the scotch for something big, something worth celebrating. I’d asked him one time about it, and he told me it was for when he did something worthy of a monument. Those are my words. He was more eloquent about it, talking about how he wanted to be heroic, but the words don’t matter when they mean the same thing.

    

They certainly don’t matter now.

    

There won’t be any monuments erected in Eric’s honor. Not now that he’s dead.

    

I fill a glass too full, sit on his couch like I have so many times before, and then I drink it straight from the bottle.

    

It’s good. Doesn’t even burn on the way down, but it still makes my eyes water and my body heavy.

    

The last time I cried, I was five and my brother accidentally broke my nose. He teased me about crying until I punched him and made his nose bleed, too.

    

This time, I’m alone, and there isn’t anyone I can punch in the face in order to feel better.

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Norris briefly taught high school English and history before trading the southern California beaches and sunshine for Manhattan's recent snowpocalyptic winter. She harbors dangerous addictions to guacamole, red velvet cupcakes, sushi, and Argo Tea, fortunately not all together. Her first novel, UNRAVELING (Balzer+Bray, April 2012), is the story of one girl's fight to save her family, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming. Also the film rights to Unraveling have been optioned by MTV! Article to link to is here http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/mtv-elizabeth-norris-unraveling-381733

Where you can find her:

Website/Blog/Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Pinterest/Goodreads

Giveaway:

There will be 5 awesome prizes!!!!!

Grand prize: A signed copy of Unbreakable, the Unraveling paperback and some 

swag.

Winners 1-4: A copy of either Unraveling or Unbreakable their choice.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

There will be a mix of reviews, guest posts, and interviews! So make sure to check out all of the stops!

4/15/2013   All Things Urban Fantasy     

4/16/2013   Two Chicks on Books  

4/17/2013   A Book and a Latte      

4/18/2013   Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

4/19/2013   Shortie Says      

4/22/2013  Katie's Book Blog

4/23/2013  Supernatural Snark             

4/24/2013  Justin's Book Blog              

4/25/2013  Tales of a Ravenous Reader          

4/26/2013  Fiktshun

Twitter Events!!

 Liz Norris will be doing an Unbreakable Twitter Teaser with PageTurners (April 21^st, 8pm ET) and BookHounds (April 22^nd, 8pm ET) hosting. Followers can send @pageturnersblog and @maryinhb page numbers from Unbreakable and Liz will respond with a line from the book and bit of back story or insight about it. There will also be a giveaway both nights. On April 24^th, at 8pm ET, Liz will be participating in a Live Chat with @mundiemoms hosting. Hashtag for all three Twitter events: #BeUnbreakable

Unbreakable Presale Information!

You can purchase Unbreakable through Books of Wonder until the release date and you'll not only get a signed copy, but it will include an exclusive extra content booklet that includes:

An Alternate Beginning

A Pivotal Scene from Ben's POV

A Pivotal Scene from Barclay's POV

An Alternate Ending