Perry Road by Emi Gayle Release Day and #giveaway!

Perry Road is Now Available!

Release News! Perry Road, the first in the Revolution Series, by Emi Gayle released September 3, 2013

Perry Road

Revolution Series by Emi Gayle

Release Date: September 3, 2013

Target Reader: New Adult/Young Adult

Keywords: Dystopian Paperback, EPUB, Kindle

Description

In 2132, “We the people …” means nothing, and it hasn’t for a hundred years.

Like all the citizens of the American Union, eighteen-year-old Erianna Keating is not to ask questions. She is not to believe anything except what the A.U. tells her. More importantly, she’s not supposed to know what she doesn’t know, nor that she’s a pawn.

Like everyone else, though, she is, and like everyone else, she is a hundred percent oblivious to what’s going on.

Or is she? Are they?

Erianna thinks going to Perry Road and joining the national registration program is her next step toward adulthood; the 2132 candidates for adult-classification, though, are in for a big surprise. Especially Erianna.

Thanks to Zane Warren, an awkward but hot guy who won’t shut up about a history that doesn’t—or shouldn’t—matter anymore, Erianna will know. Will learn. That includes finding out what actually happens after registration and doing something, anything, about it.

Fixing what went wrong, what caused the U.S.A. to split into two countries, though, is not on Erianna’s bucket list, but as she faces her future, she must decide whether to fall in line with the American Union’s plan for her, or to consider that Zane might not be wrong, and the time for revolution begins now.

Reviews!

What are people already saying about Perry Road?

“This one, by far, is Emi’s best. Of anything she’s written.”
— Julie Reece, author, Crux

“I really hope [this] stirs up controversy and changes some youngsters thinking. God knows we could use that today in this society!”
— Terri Rochenski, author, Eye of the Soul

“… this was a total pleasure to read.”
— Kelly Said, author, Tidal Whispers & Make Believe

“… [this] will inspire an extreme diversity of opinion. It kept me involved and interested throughout, and I love novels that make me question my current understanding/viewpoint on life.”
— Amaleen Ison, author, Remember Me
 

About the Author

I had a really great bio in my head around midnight one night …. right before I fell asleep and it disappeared into the nothingness of unconsciousness. Bummer. So here’s something less well thought out.

I want to be young again, so I’m kinda sorta living it again. At least on paper. You see, I write paranormal romance. Now, that stuff can get really hot, and really gritty and well … mine does. But! My characters are teenagers, 18 and under. Like I was once … and want to be again.

Why would I want to be a teenager again? Geez. Because! If you met the man of your dreams at 14 was engaged to him at 19 and married him at 20, wouldn’t YOU want to do all that over again? Especially if you were still in love with him? I mean, c’mon! It’s love! That’s why I write, too.

You see… just because you pass a certain age doesn’t mean you forget what it was like to be 14, 15, etc. Actually, because I kinda grew up with my husband, we both still feel like the 14 and 17 year old kids we once were. So that’s where I’m coming from. You might think it’s totally lame, but you know what? That’s ok! Maybe you’ll like my other me instead. ;)
 

Excerpt

Which I could be. Don’t want to be. Really, really, really don’t, and staring at Cam in her new clothes without holes, her clean hair cut by a professional and the fact that she’s my friend reminds me why: Flukes are poor. I should know. My mom is one.

The animation keeps going as if it’s really trying for me—not that it can. I drop my P-Comm to my leg just as dark words appear on screen. My heart picks up speed, and a tingly tension takes over.

“Well?” Cam asks.

For some reason, I don’t want her to know. I want to find out by myself if I’m going to get a real life, or if I’m destined to wear hand-me-downs from twenty years ago until I’m ninety. I want to prepare, to plan, to cry if we don’t get to go together, or if I’m not like her.

I’m not, of course—in any way like her. Who am I kidding?

After what seems like hours, but is only seconds, I say, “Nothing.”

“Damn.” She throws her arms up in the air. “Figures. And it’s almost five. So, you know, I gotta go. Mom’s sure I’m going to be chosen to pop out babies, like she is, so she wants to make sure I know how to cook before the fake chefs get ahold of me to ‘teach’ me.” Cam gives me a dramatic eye roll and places a hand to her forehead. “Like, oh, my Oz, Eri, you know? We have people to cook for us for a reason. Duh! If I learn to cook, what job am I going to give someone like your mom, you know? And why would I get picked to be fat and ugly when I look like this?” She bats at her blonde curls.

Wanting to change the subject—to anything but the woes of Cam’s perfect life—I walk to her, give her a hug and a quick pat on the back. “I’ll … call you when I get it, ‘kay?”

“You better. We only have two days to shop for the perfect outfit. Why couldn’t your birthday be October twenty-ninth instead of December?” She snatches up her coat—preparation for the winter blast that will tear into uncovered skin. “And … you’re not a fluke. You will get in the white house, and when January first comes, we’ll be official!” She boogies her way out, hips wiggling. For someone who’s not happy about the prospect of becoming a baby factory, she’s awfully chipper.

I know it’s because she’s waiting to hear my fate. To prove I’m not a fluke. To validate my relevance as her friend—the one girl Cam can give backhanded compliments, and, for that matter, insults all day long, and still walk back in with a smile as if nothing happened.

Cam walks through the hallway and says goodbye to my mom who’s probably still working at her makeshift office in our miniature kitchen—trying, I assume, to avoid the whole days’ events. As much as Cam wants me to not be a fluke, my mom wants me to be one. If I’m like her, nothing will change. Like Cam, I’ll be the same old Erianna, just one day older and as useless as all the other flukes in the world.

The front door opens and closes, and I move to the window. Once Cam disappears from view, and only then, I turn over my P-Comm and touch the one message that sits inside.

The one that says: “Invitation for Erianna Price Keating.”
 

Giveaway!

Running from September 2 – October 10, with a plethora of prizes! Or, if you just can’t wait, below, you can buy it now for just $2.99!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Buy It Now:

Cover Reveal: Perry Road (Revolution #1) by Emi Gayle

And the blurb!

In 2132, “We the people …” means nothing, and it hasn’t for a hundred years.

Like all the citizens of the American Union, eighteen-year-old Erianna Keating is not to ask questions. She is not to believe anything except what the A.U. tells her. More importantly, she’s not supposed to know what she doesn’t know, nor that she’s a pawn.

Like everyone else, though, she is, and like everyone else, she is a hundred percent oblivious to what’s going on.

Or is she? Are they?

Erianna thinks going to Perry Road and joining the national registration program is her next step toward adulthood; the 2132 candidates for adult-classification, though, are in for a big surprise. Especially Erianna.

Thanks to Zane Warren, an awkward but hot guy who won’t shut up about a history that doesn’t—or shouldn’t—matter anymore, Erianna will know. Will learn. That includes finding out what actually happens after registration and doing something, anything, about it.

Fixing what went wrong, what caused the U.S.A. to split into two countries, though, is not on Erianna’s bucket list, but as she faces her future, she must decide whether to fall in line with the American Union’s plan for her, or to consider that Zane might not be wrong, and the time for revolution begins now.

For More About Emi Gayle:

Check out her blog at:  Emi Gayle Bio
Find Emi online : Web  |  Blog  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

A dystopian YA for the win!

Approximate Release Date is: September 3, 2013

Click to go to Goodreads to add.

YA Debut: Ghosts in the Mirror by Joyce Mangola!

Welcome to my guest blogger Joyce Mangola! She's just released her debut novel, Ghosts in the Mirror from Lycaon Press. Here to tell you a little more about her book is Joyce herself:

***

When I was in middle school, we had to read a lot of books. While I loved to read, I didn't always want to go with the choices the teachers thrust down our throat. Still, if it wasn't for this painful part of English class, I wouldn't have been introduced to my favorite young adult book- The Pigman.

What I liked about it was the grittiness of the characters. They didn't live perfect lives by any means and got into things they would eventually regret. So when I decided Ghosts in the Mirror really fit the 13+ crowd, I had to change up a few things about it. Like take out a lot of 'boring' adult conversation. I cut out quite a bit of the original slightly over 50k novel. In the end, I like the final product. Jeremy, for me, is an endearing character. Having a unique son (and being a bit of an 'oddball' myself) helped me created Jeremy into who he is--A person comfortable in his skin, even if he has to share it with is latest ghostly passenger.

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Jeremy Riggs has lived his life in and out of the hospital. While the doctors are clueless as to why he lapses into comas, he is well aware of his unique ability to merge with a wandering spirit. With his own soul too weak to sustain life, it's the only thing keeping him alive.

Waking up from a coma a year after being found at the county dump—next to the remains of the last spirit to inhabit him—Jeremy finds the newest spirit is nothing like the previous ones. It's bent on revenge and has the will to take control over his body. With the police lining him up as a murder suspect and an ancient evil pursuing him, Jeremy must help the ghost hitching a ride in his body find eternal rest without seeing his own soul snuffed out.

And how about an excerpt too:

To Jeremy's elation, a couple days later, he sat in a wheel chair ready for his trip home. He steeled himself for the media frenzy waiting outside the entrance of the hospital. With his grandmother behind him, he'd find the courage not to ask for a jet pack to plow through it. Since the first coma, he'd become somewhat of a local human interest story. As he grew, and his talents of being a renowned artist blossomed, the media loved to pry into his life even more.

Attention of any kind never sat well with him. It reminded him how much of a freak he was.

He always wished some colossal discovery of a Tyrannasaurusmegacreepyalodon would be unearthed from the Susquehanna River so that the local news media would have something more exciting to cover than "The Coma Kid's Release From Captivity."

Yes, the newspapers even came up with the clever name moniker as well.

He blew out a big breath, spying the masses just outside the main doors. He saw the blonde with the caked on makeup adjusting her skirt suit, and the man brushing off the remains of the cat hair from his Men's Warehouse two-for-one special. Jeremy remembered him from the last time. His breath smelled like he had the same diet as his cats.

Some of them he didn't recognize at all, but they formed up, giving him a glimpse of the car waiting to whisk him home. As soon as he passed the automatic door, the wide corridor to freedom would close as they swarmed in. They never impeded him from reaching the car, but being rude and trying to bowl past them all wouldn't happen either. His grandmother rubbed his shoulders to give him courage.

"Can't I pretend I'm sleeping this time, Meema?" He whined.

"They'll just come to the house for the interview, Jeremy." She kissed the top of his head.

"I know." He shivered. His condition made him a celebrity in the area, and it came with the territory.

As the microphone convention converged, millions of ideas rolled through his head of what to tell them. One, in particular, stayed at the forefront. 

Hello, and welcome to the freak show! Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant, Igor, have taken tissue samples to clone me so that they can build a bigger facility for their human lab rat experiments! They promise truckloads of instant potatoes and hamster wheels for exercise in their concrete laboratory! Free admission to the first fifty people! Ghosts get a free ride in my body! Special edition ectoplasmic vomit bags for everyone to enjoy!

Purchase Links:

·       AllRomance eBooks

·       Amazon

·       Bookstrand

·       Lycaon Press

 

About Joyce:

Joyce Mangola has been writing for most of her life, spinning outlandish tales since she was twelve. She is a multi-published author over several genres and Joyce is her pen name for the young adult side. Writing will always be the one dream she pursued relentlessly until she succeeded with her first short story publication. She hasn’t looked back since. Besides bringing to life the different characters in her head, she enjoys drawing and playing the flute. Though a Pittsburgh native, she calls Carlisle, Pennsylvania her home for over twenty years now and has no plans of moving—unless it’s back to Pittsburgh, of course. She’s a proud mother of two sister rescue cats, Brine and Ariel. She encourages anyone who has the heart to adopt a furry companion. Give them love and receive it back tenfold.

Evernight Teen’s Summer Kick-off Blog Hop!

WINNER:  Karin!!

Welcome to Evernight Teen’s Summer Kick-off Blog Hop!

It’s a great opportunity to get to know Evernight Teen: Gritty Fiction for Today’s Young Adult. Our stories include fresh teen fiction that’s raw, gritty and real.

My spotlight is on S.X. Bradley’s UNRAVELED:

Blurb:

Sixteen year old math whiz, Autumn, spends her days reading about serial killers and dreaming of becoming an FBI Profiler. She never dreams her first case will be so personal. Her world is shattered when she comes home from school and discovers her murdered sister’s body on the living room floor. When the initial evidence points to a burglary gone wrong, Autumn challenges the police’s theory because of the personal nature of the crime. Thinking that finding the killer will bring her family back together, she conducts her own investigation using her affinity for math and forensics, but her plan backfires and her obsession with the case further splinters her family.

When her investigation reveals the killer is someone she knows, Autumn offers herself up as bait and sets a dangerous trap to unmask his true nature and to obtain a confession for her sister’s murder.

14+ for brief violence

UNRAVELED is an Evernight Teen EDITOR’S PICK!

Exclusive excerpt:

            He lifted the folder up and produced some papers that were protected in a plastic bag. He placed them in front of me. “Are these the questions you were referring to?”

                I looked at my parents, and both of them had their eyes glued to the plastic bag in front of me.

Without touching the bag, I looked at the front page and saw the first question. It was the Bernoulli equation question that Celeste had asked me that morning over breakfast.

                “Yes, those are the ones.”

                “Care to know where we found them?” What did he mean? I’d left them on the kitchen table when I went to brush my teeth after breakfast.

                “On the kitchen table?” I asked, trying not to sound sarcastic.

                “No. In your backpack. The backpack we found at the scene yesterday.” He looked over at my parents this time. My eyes grew wide, and my mouth fell open.

                “Mr. or Mrs. Covarrubias, did either of you put these math papers back into Autumn’s backpack after breakfast?” Papi left for the bakery every morning at 5:30 a.m. so he wasn’t even home. Mami had left right after Celeste and I had eaten because she had a dentist appointment. Maybe Mami’d seen the papers and stuck them in my backpack. Celeste had left about ten minutes before me. Her boyfriend Voss had swung by to pick her up. He did that every day. 

                “Mami, did you put the papers in my backpack?” Her eyes were swollen, and I swear she was two seconds away from passing out. Her gaze wandered around the room until it fell on me. She shook her head. My heart sank.

                “Then it had to be Celeste. She must have put them in there.”

                “Her fingerprints weren’t found on the papers.” How was that possible? The oils from her hands would have been transferred onto the paper if she’d stuck them in my backpack. It couldn’t have been her then. That left no one, and I had no answer. That wasn’t good.

                “Autumn, look, I’m going to be honest with you. There are some things that just don’t add up here. We have witnesses that say you and your sister were arguing at school that morning and that she looked very upset. Care to explain what that was all about?”

I could feel the cell doors closing in around me. This was a witch hunt, and I was about to be burned at the stake.

                My parents were staring at me, begging me with their eyes to explain what was going on. The question mark stabbed my heart. They knew that Celeste and I hardly ever fought. The last time had to have been when I’d accidentally given her a black eye when I was five and was trying to learn to hit a baseball.

                I looked at the detective and said the only thing I knew to say. “Detective Kasanoff, I want a lawyer.”

Unraveled is available here!

What’s up for grabs?

•          One lucky hopper will win a KINDLE PAPERWHITE eREADER sponsored by Evernight Teen.

•          Every book blogger/reviewer site is giving away one free eBook from Evernight Teen (winner’s choice of any eBook from Evernight Teen’s website).

•          Plus, each author offers their own unique prize! So visit each blog hop stop for a host of fabulous prizes to win.

How to enter? Add your comment and email address in the comments section below to be eligible to win a prize.

Continue hopping to the next stop!

Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

Flash Fiction / Preview: "Long Time Coming"

I took the liberty of "borrowing" my latest WIP's heroine and her setting for a flash fiction exercise Sunday night.  This is first draft status so bear with me on any typos, repeated words, etc.  The prompt was "Long Time Coming".  The WIP is still untitled.  Sorry.

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

Everyone knew the Middleton ball was the highlight of the season. Drusilla Nancington, certainly was not ignorant of that fact, but she simply had more important events on her mind that night.

“Dru, would you please stop fussing!” Her mother squawked about her, tucking lace, tightening stays and applying a coating of saliva to tame Dru’s wayward curls.

She had tried for months to wheedle her way out of attending, but her mother had insisted, claiming it to be the only place a young girl could make her coming out debut.

For her part, Dru had no interest in coming out or going in to anyplace that smacked of husband hunting. At seventeen, she’d barely grown into her breasts and hips enough to feel comfortable parading them in front of a group of gawky boys and old lechers. The treatment as no better than a brood mare was beyond galling and Dru had decided she had no interest in a husband.

Her interests lay in much darker venues.

“Ow!!” She slapped away the hand that plucked the apples of her cheeks.

Dru glanced down at her own gown of peach taffeta, its empire waist adorned with hand crocheted lace of ecru and tiny beads that dangled down far enough from her sleeve caps to tickle the skin of her arm like midge flies. Her feet she’d stuffed into her brown riding boots. It would certainly not do to have to fly off at a second’s notice and be hindered by an inadequate pair of ballroom slippers.

“Can’t I delay one more season, Mama? I really don’t think I’m ready for all this…stuff and nonsense.” Her paltry hopes of convincing her mother she suppressed as best she could.

“No. Absolutely not. The Bellefleurs debuted at sixteen. They’ve already got a year’s jump on you for the best bachelors in the 'ton.

Dru rolled her mouth into a downward arch. “They can have the old sodders—“

“Drusilla Nancington! I will not tolerate such language.” Mrs. Vivienne Nancington took her sullen daughter’s chin in hand and enslaved Dru’s gaze with her own. “You will go to the Middleton Ball and you will dance every dance save…well, I’ll grant you every fourth dance you may sit out if you like.” She released Dru’s chin and wagged a finger under nose. “But absolutely no talk whatsoever of politics or the latest lurid crime you read about in the newspaper you pilfered from your father.”

Dru sighed and rolled her eyes. In truth, her mother had hit on all of her favorite topics of conversation, topics she’d been advised on more than one occasion were not proper for young ladies to be discoursing upon.

“Hannah! Hannah!” Her mother called for her lady’s maid to assist with her hair that she had declared ‘hopeless’.

The young woman tossed a broad smile at Dru before presenting herself to Dru’s mother. “Yes, M’am.”

“See what you can do with this. I swear you are the only one able to tame the beast disguised as my daughter’s hair.” And with that she clicked her tongue and sashayed from the room in a cloud of lavender.

Dru flung herself on her bed and flung her arm across her eyes. “I’d rather listen to the Vicar wax on about biblical geneology than go to this ball tonight, Hannah.”

“Maybe you’ll meet the man of your dreams.” Hannah pulled Dru to a sitting position and gave her hair a firm tug, prompting an exclamation from the reluctant debutante.

“Impossible. I don’t dream of men. I dream of adventure!” Dru turned to face Hannah. “You ever wonder how differently your life would be if you’d been born a boy instead of a girl?”

Hannah pinched her face into thoughtful contemplation. “Can’t says I have, Miss. I think I’m pretty happy the way I am, with maybe a few niggles here and yon.”

Dru sprang from the bed to pace the floor. “Well, I have more than a few niggles that bother me! For starters, I hate these corsets and dresses and all these layers of fabric. I hate riding side-saddle. I hate that I can’t walk alone after dark, or practically any where for that matter. I can’t vote, never will be able to do that unless hell freezes over.”

Hannah giggled behind her hand, but nodded. “Miss Drusilla. You are so naughty.” Despite her scolding, Hannah snickered as she darted to Dru’s side to finished what she’d started before her charge had begun her grandstanding.

“Perhaps, Hannah, but sometimes it’s not to be borne." Dru added in a low mutter too garbled for her maid to hear, "Nevertheless, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but alas I've been left no alternative."

***

As expected, the ball offered no promise of any diversions likely to suit Dru. She circumnavigated the dance floor thrice and when she had made her presence known to all who might wag their tongues with her mother, she slipped out the side door.

Her carriage waited at the far side of the property, its driver, Will, her confederate in more ways than one. With the curtains drawn, she wrestled her way out of the dress and into the breeches and other clothes Will had loaned her. When the external vestiges of the girl named Drusilla lay in a heap of lace and crinoline, the boy named Drew took her place. The pair set out to game with the other coachmen in the Middleton stables.

"Tonight I shall win the last of the money I need to escape this place, Will," she said, lowering her voice an octave. "I daresay it's been a long time coming."

The pair made their way to the outer circle of the drivers and coachmen.

Dru pushed her way into the interior and gasped. There, the unexpected addition of Kyle Nickerson, the youngest son of Inspector Nickerson, sat, his huge stack of winnings making him fortune's favored son that eve. He lifted his head and upon meeting Drew's eyes he smiled.

"Well, well...You must be the infamous Drew, is that right? I've heard much of your luck...sir. Come. Take the seat next to me that I've saved for you in hopes you'd be here tonight."

Dru gulped. Loudly. Kyle Nickerson was the only boy she'd ever met who could see through her many disguises and pick up on her tells. Her "long time coming" appeared to have made an abrupt U-turn back to long time hence.