Post-Conference Giveaway!

Hi there!

I know this post is, like a week and a half overdue. I am so sorry about that.



I have been trying to complete a draft of my WIP to send to betas while I'm out of town (and will probably get NO writing time *sigh*).  And then, TRAGEDY STRUCK.




I had one of my BEST WRITING DAYS EVER and wrote 3,000 words.  And when I saved, something went wrong.  When I tried to open the file the next day, it WOULDN'T OPEN.




*shakes head* *cries*  At least I have most of the manuscript, but those 3,000 words are gone. *moment of silence for lost words*

ANYWAY, I am finally done mourning and ready to work some more, and ready to post this GIVEAWAY!

I have a signed copy of Nancy Werlin's IMPOSSIBLE

PLUS, some awesome sekrit RENEGADE swag.

(RENEGADE is a SUPER AWESOME book coming out in November from Tor Teen--you want this swag, I promise.)

Enter via the Rafflecopter below. Extra points for commenting on my TWO upcoming blog posts with Conference tidbits. ;)


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Keep being awesome!

Winner, signings, hot models, and a conference! (Oh my!)

Almost a week later, (sorry!) I have chosen a winner! (Actually, Random.org chose her, but you know what I mean).

Medeia Sharif!

Congrats, Medeia! Email me your physical addy at lchardesty at yahoo dot com and I'll send you THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING CHARLIE. YAY!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going to the #daemoninvasion signing for Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series.  The cool part was that she brought her cover models with her.

After the signing, I went to dinner with everyone, and then I got to see my great friend and critique partner, J.A. Souders, open her very first box of ARCs. I think I was *almost* as excited as she was.

This weekend, I'm heading to the SCBWI Florida Mid-Year Workshops, and as usual, I'll be back next week with tips from the conference, and at least one signed book from a presenter!

See you next week!

GIVEAWAY: The Downside of Being Charlie

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the book launch for The Downside of Being Charlie, a contemporary YA debut from Jenny Torres Sanchez. 

Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

Charlie is handed a crappy senior year. Despite losing thirty pounds over the summer, he still gets called “Chunks” Grisner. What’s worse, he has to share a locker with the biggest Lord of the Rings freak his school has ever seen. He also can’t figure out whether Charlotte VanderKleaton, the beautiful strawberry lip-glossed new girl, likes him the way he likes her. Oh, and then there’s his mom. She’s disappeared—again—and his dad won’t talk about it.

Somewhere between the madness, Charlie can at least find comfort in his one and only talent that just might get him out of this life-sucking place. But will he be able to hold his head above water in the meantime?

Though the  signing was local, it was still about 45 minutes to an hour to get there, and we missed her speech. *sadface*  But I was so happy to see that Jenny had QUITE the line going for the signing.

I went with Jessica Souders and Christina Farley (from whom I stole borrowed all of these images--Christy is the BEST at getting lots of great pictures).  Here we all are with  Jenny!

And guess what? 


Okay, so it's really not a surprise since I titled the blogpost "GIVEAWAY", but I bought a copy for you, too!  And even nabbed you some swag!

Just comment with your email address to enter, and you can get an extra entry for anywhere you spread the word (twitter, blog, facebook, tumblr, etc.).  Just leave a link.


Contest closes Friday, June 8 at 6pm EST.

A Special Offer From My Favorite Author

*This post is about an adult romance series*

To celebrate the upcoming release of Once Burned, from now though June 25th, Jeanine Frost's publisher is offering a special ebook edition of Eternal Kiss of Darkness for only $1.99!  Eternal Kiss of Darkness won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance and it was a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestseller.  Plus, in this limited-time discount edition, you can get a sneak peak at the entire first three chapters of Once Burned, available wherever books are sold June 26.

Order at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Sony, Kobo, or your favorite ebook retailer.

.

Watch the new book trailer for this special edition of Eternal Kiss of Darkness:

Link to the trailer is here: http://youtu.be/vxiDLcSCP9g

Her Night Huntress books are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE adult romances. So go get your read on!

That Succs Query and 500 words

Hey everyone! I'm posting my query and 500 words for comment for a contest (details here).  I love feedback, so lemme have it!

Query:

Dear Editor,

Fifteen-year-old Emmy Duivel believes in true love: heart flutters, first kisses, candlelight dinners, even the crazy idea that love lasts forever. Unfortunately, she's stuck in a world of non-believers--her mom and best friend’s philosophy is “men are for fun, not forever.” Invisible in their shadows and pinned under her mom’s one-night stand only rules, Emmy has kept her romance novel collection—and crush on hot classmate, Paul—hidden.

But then the school's MVP, Jake Miller, asks her out. To her own surprise, she agrees, figuring her first date is bound to be a disaster. Her mom and her best friend tell her to take it slow and avoid kissing, and even Paul warns her to be careful on the date. However, Emmy gets carried away and kisses Jake--and he almost dies. Confused and scared she finds herself being consoled by the one person she didn’t expect--Paul.

But even as things heat up between her and Paul, Emmy demands answers from her mother, who explains the devastating truth: she’s not human and there is a price to pay for it. One human life a month for the rest of her life. And to make matters worse, the one person she thought she could trust has secrets of his own that could destroy Emmy and everything she holds dear.

Finding love is hard. Finding out you can never have it, because you're a monster? That succs.

THAT SUCCS is a 50,000-word YA Paranormal. I am a member of SCBWI and a Moderator on Verla Kay's Blueboards. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Larissa Hardesty

First 500 words:

 

I stared in the mirror, wondering how Lily could possibly consider the piece of cloth she’d given me a dress.  It covered less than my t-shirt.

“Do you have it on yet?” she called through the door.  “Come on out.  I wanna see it.”

My cheeks reddened just thinking about walking out of the dressing room with the dress on.  “O-okay.  Uh, just a minute.”  I gave the hem one more tug, but it was as far down as it was going to get, which was less than five inches from my underwear and way too short for public viewing.  Then I had to tug the top again, since every time I pulled on the bottom, the top came down, too.  I give up.

I stepped to the door, when what I really wanted to do was take the stupid thing off and put my t-shirt and jeans back on.  Sadly, I didn’t have much of a choice.  If I didn’t come out, my best friend would insist, loudly, and by the time she got her way, there’d be a crowd.

With a sigh, I opened the door and stepped into the dressing room hallway.  My shoulders curled in as I tried to keep as much of my body inside the “dress” as possible.

“Oh, honestly, Emmy.  Stop hunching.  You look fabulous.”  She grabbed my shoulders and pulled them up and back so I stood straight, then she pushed me in front of the three-way mirror at the end of the hall.  “See?  You are totally hot.”

I looked, but all I saw was way too much of my own skin.

“Now all you need is somewhere to wear it.”

My eyes widened as I met Lily’s gray ones in the mirror.  “Uh, I am so not getting this thing.”

Ignoring my objections, she turned me around and sent me back to my stall.  “Now try on the skirt and tank.”

I rolled my eyes, but complied.  I wanted to go home, but it wasn’t worth the argument—I’d just end up doing what she wanted anyway.  It was a lot easier to do it, and then dump these “clothes” in the back of my closet and forget about them. 

While I changed, she talked through the door.  “So, I’ve been thinking you need to get out there.”

I tripped putting my leg into the skirt, and almost fell over.  “What?”

“You know, go on some dates.  Get out there.  Meet guys.  Act like you’re almost sixteen, not twelve.”

Wow.  Thanks a lot.  “Uh, why?”

She sighed.  “Because you’re almost sixteen, dummy.”

Another stall door closed, and I hoped whoever was in the dressing room with us didn’t go to our school.  The last thing I needed was people at school talking about me.  I shuddered.

Lily tapped on the door.  “Get that outfit on and get out here.  I need to check on something real quick.”  The purr in her voice told me what she wanted to check on was a guy.

Rondom Act of Kindness BLITZ!

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community. 

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS!

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

I am picking my amazing critique partners and close friends, Jessica Souders, Christina Farley, and Tara Gallina. Without these three women, I would not be the writer I am today.  All three are tireless critique partners, cheerleaders, and confidantes, and I don't know what I would do without them. Ladies, for my RAOK gift, I have a little basket of writerly goodies for each of you! 

I really appreciate Jessica (link), Christina (link), and Tara (link). If you have a minute, please stop in and tell them how awesome they are!

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge? Don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)

Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  Let me know in the comments!

Lucky 7 Meme!

I am WAAAAAAYYYY late with this post, but I got tagged in the Lucky 7 Meme a while ago.  I really LOVE this meme.  The posts are fun to read, and it's SO interesting what's on people's page 77.  LOL.

Here are the details:

There are 5 simple and fun rules to the Lucky 7:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines or paragraphs as they're written-- no cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers
5. Let them know!

I'm up today on the Oasis, so I'm doing my tagging over there (hint: I'm cheating).

This is from my Upper MG manuscript, LURE.  Let me know what you think!

            “Ma’am?  Ma’am!  You have to help me!  My dad was in an accident and his leg got crushed under a truss.  Please!” I shouted, pulling on her arm.  I almost sobbed in relief as she sighed and lowered her book.

            “This better be serious, or you kids are in some real trouble,” she said, still glaring at us.  She stood and tucked Lure in her pocket, keeping one hand on it as she followed us over to Dad.  She knelt, examining his leg briefly, and then stood.

            “It’s a serious injury, but he’ll be fine.  Let’s get him into a room and I’ll start an IV.  He looks dehydrated.”

            She marched to the back of the chair and wheeled him down the hall, not waiting for us to follow.  She turned into the first empty room, and we helped her get him onto the bed.  With quick efficiency, she grabbed supplies out of drawers and cabinets, and had an IV started practically before we could blink.

            “Now, I’d like a doctor to look at that injury before I clean and bandage it.  I’ll be right back,” she said, walking out the door.  Jen and I exchanged a glance, and followed her, knowing the pull of Lure might interrupt her before she found a doctor, as well as that there were no other unaffected people in the building, possibly the town.

            The nurse’s brisk walk slowed after only a few steps down the corridor.  After a few more steps, she stopped and turned back to us.

            “Why is it so quiet?” she asked, and I could see fear creep into her eyes.  She snatched her hand out of her pocket, as though only just realizing she had been caressing the book there.  “Wha-What’s going on?” she whispered.