Giveaway Time!

Hey everyone,
I know I haven't posted too much in this past week, being a college kid is taking a ton of time from me. On top of being out of town with family for the weekend... let's just say I've missed you guys.

Let's go straight to the good news!
Elizabeth Sharp has offered to do a giveaway for her her book Natural Selection. So over the next 2 days we will have a post starring her on The Ink Puddle. If you by Friday, September 16th post your answer as a comment to the following question:

"What would you miss most if you were forced to go all organic?"

You will be entered in a drawing to win a e-book copy of Natural Selection or a signed paperback copy! Just make sure you include your e-mail address so we know how to reach you if you are the lucky winner.

Below this post is the review that we did for the book, and we didn't have a single bad thing to say about it! So make sure to look and post your comment to be entered in our contest. :)

Hope your week is going fantastic,
-J

Review: Natural Selection by Elizabeth Sharp

“What do you do when you find out your family isn't your family, death is knocking at your door, and that guy you can't stop thinking about knows more about who you are than you do?
Amelia Hoffman was just a normal 15 year old until she found out the truth. Now ancient myths, supernatural beings, and murder have changed everything. Tests and school dances are no longer the biggest worry in her life-- she has to figure out how to save everyone she loves and accept the future in front of her before it’s too late.”

When I began reading Natural Selection, I wasn’t sure where I would stand. I was hesitant and honestly, a lot of it had to do with Amelia, or Lia’s, age. I wasn’t sure how much depth a 15 year old could have. But Elizabeth put any trepidation to rest very early as we have the opportunity watch this physically under developed girl become a beautiful woman. The beings are very different than the vampires and werewolves we’re used to, but even more intriguing as you’re introduced to witches, various demons, Gaia and many other creatures. While I found the beginning kind of slow, I couldn’t put the rest of the book down.

If you’re like me, you’ll be very fond of Lia’s relationship to her family, especially her brother and sister, Xander and Sariah. It’s the prime example of true siblings and family love. Elizabeth will have you laughing, crying and rejoicing as Amelia finds strength she never thought she was capable of having to save her loved ones from the misguided beliefs of the murderers.  If you’re looking for book with action, romance, surprise and supernatural wonder, this is the book for you.

My rating for this book:

About the Author:
Elizabeth Sharp learned to read at a very early age. It came as no surprise to her family that after she learned to write she began writing stories. A self-proclaimed techno geek, she lives in a quiet subdivision with her husband, 3 cats and too many electronics.

Click here to see our interview with Elizabeth Sharp, and here to read an excerpt of Natural Selection!

A copy of this book was provided to The Ink Puddle by the author, Elizabeth Sharp.

Labor Day Kindle Sales!

Yeah I said it! Who's as pumped as I am?

Amazon is doing a sale that's 100 books for $3.99 and under, the link is here.
And the other link here, is a bunch of indie books for sale for $0.99!

So far I've bought 4 books... and I'm still digging for more! Sorry Nook readers, I looked but I couldn't find anything for you guys. :(

Anyone else hear of other sales going on this weekend for books?

And make sure you stayed tuned because we will have Elizabeth Sharp on The Ink Puddle for an interview and a GIVEAWAY of her new book Natural Selection next week. Trust me, it's one you're going to want to read! (I couldn't put it down..)

See you tomorrow!
-J

Review: Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell

“Chloe King is a normal girl. She goes to class (most of the time), fights with her mom, and crushes on a boy…or two. But around her sixteenth birthday, Chloe finds that perhaps she isn’t so normal after all. There’s the heightened night vision, the super fast reflexes – oh, and the claws.

As she discovers who she is – and where she comes from – it is clear she is not alone. And someone is trying to get her. Chloe has nine lives. But will nine be enough?”

When the Nine Lives of Chloe King started up on ABC Family this summer I fell in love with yet another series.  The show was captivating.  Shortly after I heard that it was a book and had to read it.  Needless to say I was quite disappointed, which is unusual because I normally love the books of TV shows or movies that I watch.  I found the Chloe in the book annoying and the relationship between her and her mother strained in comparison to the fine balance of single mom parent and friend routine that they have on the show.  Not to mention the fact that the role that Brian, Chloe’s friend/crush, was completely flipped from the show.  Chloe’s friendship with Paul and Amy is on the rocks half the time and she only seems to like Alec for his sex appeal and seems to think he has rocks for a brain.  Basically, the relationships within the novel were a bit not only different, but not as well put together as what I found to like on the show.

The writer’s style was catered to my tastes though.  She wrote the different point of views of different characters in the book which I like because sometimes I want to know what going on in the heads of the other characters.  Another high note is that the story all flowed evenly.  I think the idea behind the story was great and the world seemed to agree a bit at least because the TV show is doing quite well.

My rating for this book:

Liz Braswell was born in Birmingham, England but grew up in a New England town.  She majored in Egyptology at Brown University and produced video games in New York for about ten years. To learn more about her visit Lizbraswell.com

The Hunger Games Movie

The New Twilight? 

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past eight to ten months, The Hunger Games trilogy was picked up by Lionsgate, casted, the first book has been filmed, and is now beginning to be promoted starting with the first trailer premiering last night during the MTVs VMAs.  With the Twilight saga coming to an end this November some are saying it will be the “next twilight”.  With the movie coming out in March 2012 here’s what you need to know:

About the Story

The Hunger Games is a story of a girl named Katniss Everdeen who grew up in district 12 of the dystopian, post apocalyptic society in the runes of North America.  Katniss is the protector and provider of her household and has been ever since her dad was killed.  She and her best friend, Gale Hawthorne, who too is the head of his home, go out to hunt, gather, and do black market trades every day to make sure their families aren’t among the ones starving.    Katniss would do absolutely anything to keep her younger sister, Prim, safe and that’s exactly what she does when she takes Prim’s place as the girl tribute from district 12 for The Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games are an annual event in which each district must drawl two names, a boy and a girl, starting at the age of 12, to be brought to the capital and put in the cornucopia to fight until death.  The last one alive wins and gets to return home with better means of living.  If things couldn’t get any worse, the boy tribute is Peeta Mellark.  The last person she’d want to kill is the boy with the bread.     

Characters

Katniss Everdeen, the heroin of The Hunger Games will be played by Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawerance.  You may know her as Mystique from X-Men: First Class, Winter’s Bone, or the Beaver.
 

Peeta Mellark, the male contender from district 12 will be played by fellow Kentuckian, Josh Hutcherson.  Josh has been in The Polar Express, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Kids are alright.     

Gale Hawthorne is played by Liam Hemsworth, mostly known for his work in The Last Song, is the younger brother of Thor’s Chris Hemsworth, and on and off boyfriend of Miley Cyrus. 

Elizabeth Banks will be playing Effie Trinket, is the manager type escort of Katniss and Peeta to the capital.  You may know her from the Spider Man movies, the 40 Year Old Virgin, Scrubs, etc.  

 

Woody Harrelson is picked to play Haymitch, the only surviving district 12 tribute from 24 years ago who is now a drunken mess for the coach of Katniss and Peeta.  He’s known for being in the early 90’s hit show Cheers and the movies No Country for Old Men, 2012, and Friends With Benefits.  

Rocker Lenny Kravitz will be playing the beloved Cinna, Katniss’s stylist in the capitol.  Although he is mostly known for his music, he has made appearances in shows, such as Glee and Dancing with the Stars, and movies such as Bad Boys II.  He is also the father of X-Men: First Class’s Zoey Kravitz. 

Little Rue will be played Amandla Stenberg.  Rue is the District 11 tribute that reminds Katniss painfully of Prim and the team up.  Other than the new movie Columbiana this is Amandla’s first big movie. 

Willow Shields will be playing Primrose Everdeen (Prim), Katniss’s 12 year old sister and who’s place Katniss takes in the Hunger Games. She’s been in the TV Show In Plain Sight.

About the Movie

The Hunger Games has been filmed in Asheville, NC instead of creating a fake Appalachian setting in Hollywood.  The three books will be converted into four movies instead of three.

 So have you guys read the books? Are you excited about the movie?  What do you think of the casting?  Do you think that  The Hunger Games will be the next twilight? Better? Not as good?  Let us know & remember may the odds be ever in your favor.

-M

I got my information for E Weekly mag, IMDB.com and The Hunger Games trilogy.

Veronica Mason Interview- Rock 'n' Roll is Undead

Today we are lucky to have Rose Pressey's Veronica Mason from Rock 'n' Roll is Undead to join us for an interview! Everyone please welcome Veronica!

So, you love the 50’s: your style, the music your band plays, your car… what draws you to that era?

Oh wow, I don’t know for sure. My mother loved the era too, so maybe I got it from her. She talked about it a lot when I was growing up. The clothing is so cute, though, it’s hard not to love it. The cars, the music, the clothing… I love it all.

When did you know that you wanted to sing for a living?

At a very young age, I sang at the top of my lungs in the bathtub when I was as young as three. By ten, I’m pretty sure I knew I wanted to sing everyday for the rest of my life.

Vampires and witches have quite a bit of tension with each other; do you think their ties will ever be mended?

Anything is possible. Its’ nice to think that tension could disappear, but as of right now, it’s not going anywhere. I think the witches need some sense of protection against the vampires. It makes them feel safer- that tension provides the safety.

Does it get to you much that when you do spell your magic tends to go awry?

Sometimes, I brush it off… laugh about it. But other times I get really frustrated.

Speaking your mind doesn’t seem to be a fear of yours, what are you afraid of?

Clowns freak me out. I guess I can admit I’m a little afraid of the dark. Darkness means sleep and dreams… and the visions.

Speaking of visions, this is a new power you’ve never experienced as a watch. How hard is it to tone your abilities so you can control them instead of them controlling you?

Right now I’d say I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m trying though with the help of my grandmother and some of her friends. I take it one day at a time.

You have tattoos all over your body, do they have meanings or just cool designs that you liked?

Some have meanings and others I just think are cool. The roses are for my mother. She loves roses so much. I finally got a tattoo for my bother. It’s a small cross on my shoulder blade. I think it’s awesome. Something tells me he would have wanted me to get a tattoo that said “half-ass witch” but I won’t give him the satisfaction.

How did you and Kitty, your best friend who happens to be a werewolf, become friends?

We met in high school. She was behind me in the lunch line and saved me from the turkey tacos. After that, we’ve been inseparable.

So you’re determined to not date band members, with being the lead singer of your band, you think you’d have men lining  up to hae a chance to be with you. Where are you with your love life?

Um, well… it’s complicated. I’ll talk more about it soon, but right now… well it’s complicated. Buzz is… well, he’s Buzz.

Lastly, I loved Rock ‘n’ Roll is Undead. Do you think you can convince Rose to write more of your story?

Rose is easily persuaded. LOL. She’s agreed to write at least two more books. Hey, if readers are interested in my crazy life, I’m sure I could talk her into more.

That sounds like awesome news to me. Thanks for stopping by Veronica! It was a ton of fun having you here! And if any of you readers have not read Rock 'n' Roll is Undead, surely now you can tell how much you're missing out! You can click here to see what we had to say about the book.

 

Review: Rock 'n' Roll is Undead by Rose Pressey

"Rockabilly singer Veronica Mason discovers her vampire bass player staked through the heart. A vision of the murder flashes in Veronica’s mind. She’s about to land a record deal. Suspicion soon turns to her when another vampire dead. When an utterly delicious mystery man steps in as the new bass player, Veronica can’t figure out if he’s there to help or cause more problems."

Rock ‘n’ Roll is Undead is a book that takes place over 3 days of Veronica Mason’s life. The story starts out at her show, just doing her normal thing when she’s packing up to leave and she finds Johnny, her bass player in ashes. Suddenly she can see the killer’s thoughts before the murder as well as Johnny’s, an ability she’s never had before as a witch, a term she uses loosely. When these creepy occurrences keep happening and the vampire detective on the case begins suspecting Veronica for murder, she finds herself in panic mode to figure out what is really going on.

I found myself giggling throughout the book as Veronica explains why lipstick appears at the end of every spell she does (or tries to do) and how vampires are now able to go out in the sunlight. Rose Pressey takes you to a whole new world in this quick and effortless read that plays with your emotions. Each and every character will be a suspect at one time or another as you get to know them and try to determine who’s responsible for the cruel murders, especially the super hot new bass player Buzz. And the ending is one that will have you eager for more rockabilly, magic and of course, Veronica and the gang.

My rating for this book:

Rose Pressey enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding the answers to the unexplained fascinates her.
When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family and listening to oldies from the fifties. Yeah, she loves Elvis, she can’t help herself.
Rose lives in Kentucky with her husband, son and two sassy Chihuahuas. You can follow her here:
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To see our fun interview with Veronica Mason herself, click here!