Showing posts with label Supernatural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supernatural. Show all posts

Cover Reveal: How To Date Dead Guy



HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS
by Ann. M. Noser

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Date of Publication: July 15th, 2014


Summary


College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice:  “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public, and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts”.  But when charming Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma’s sheltered life shatters. Blamed for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back.  Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell.  The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury.  As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn't the only one.   Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a desperate victim determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first.  More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows.  Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it their victims.Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will ignite the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.


About Author 

My to-do list dictates that I try to cram 48 hours of living into a day instead of the usual 24.  I’ve chosen a life filled with animals.  I train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed.  But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to write; I have to steal moments throughout the day.  Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live within my imagination.
Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task.  I work out plot holes during runs.  Instead of meditating, I type madly during yoga stretches.  I find inspiration in everyday things:  a beautiful smile, a heartbreaking song, or a newspaper article on a political theory.  For example, a long drive in the dark listening to an NPR program on the SMILEY FACE MURDERS theory made me ask so many questions that I wrote HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS to answer them to my satisfaction.
I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real life with the half-written stories in my head.  Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.


The Name of the Star

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary (Off the back of Book)
Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux flies to London for the start of a new life at boarding school. But her arrival is overshadowed by a sudden outbreak of brutal murders, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper.
'Rippermania' grabs hold of London, and the police are stumped with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory has seen their prime suspect on the school grounds. But her friend Jazza didn't see anyone.
So why could only Rory see him? And why is he planning to do next?

Review
I have serious respect for this woman after reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Which, if you haven't read yet, get off your computer and down to your local library immediately. Even so, I was a little worried when I read that this was going to be a book about a school girl, however, Johnson has managed to escape the dreaded winey school girl stereo-type that a lot of YA books have and created a world that, in parts, can be truly terrifying. There's this one part with a kidney that made my skin crawl, but you'll discover that little gruesome gem on your own. 

She captures London in a way that makes the reader want to set foot on its busy streets and try their hand at ghost hunting. There is no denying the supernatural in this novel, with enough ghosts in it to satisfy even the greediest of readers. 

The quintessential YA love story is slightly less prominent in this one, with the main focus of the book not being who Rory falls in love with but how and if she can help save the people of London from a mad ghost. It was actually quite refreshing not to read a character that falls madly in love with the first guy she sees after knowing him a grand total of two seconds. 

Overall The Name of the Star is well worth a read if you want a little spook in your life. I won't lie to you though, there were moments I wish I didn't have such a vivid imagination and had the common sense not to read this before I went to bed. 

And to finish off this review I wanted to share with you one of my favourite quotes from this book...

"Welsh is an actual, currently used language and out next-door neighbours Angela and Gaenoe spoke it. It sounds like Wizard."

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The Official book trailer from PenguinYoungReaders:



Enjoy my little ghost fighters!