A WARRIOR has arrived!

Do you guys know what today is????????

Yes, it *is* the last day of 2013 and New Years Eve and all that jazz--but even more exciting than that: IT'S WARRIOR'S RELEASE DAY!!!!

Yes--that's right. The awesome sequel to PROPHECY is finally hitting stores today (side note: holy crap--I can't believe our group has now reached the point of sequels. Seriously, WHERE does time go?) And if that gorgeous cover doesn't already have you desperate to read, here's the official summary from goodreads:

First an outcast, now a hero. 

But her fight rages on. 

Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman. 

But it wasn’t enough.

Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others… 

Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?

Sounds epic, right? And if you are as eager as we all are to get your hands on a copy, here's a few handy links to help:

amazon

barnes & noble

books-a-million

Indiebound

The Book Depository

HAPPY BOOKDAY, Ellen! 

And happy shopping to everyone else. We'll see you in 2014!!!

TWO Giveaways & InsomniaDare Report!

Elsie, Ellen and I did a super fun Insomnia-Dare promotion last week. We were joined by a few other awesome writers/readers/bloggers (Bridget, Gillian, Octavia, Kierra, etc - thank you!) We talked trash until our sentences were barely coherent... and we had so much fun!

We stayed up until at least 4am and reported in hourly on some basic details:

* number of yawns 

     steadily increased hourly across the board *gasp*

* words written (or other things accomplished)

     steadily decreased hourly across the board. The last hour was truly pathetic

* number of caffeinated beverages consumed

     another increase...although it was less effective than you might expect

* $ amount donated to The Swear Jar

     Also increased the more tired we got. Shocking, no? We ended up with a nice donation for the JDRF which is great. Some of the participants also donated (Thank you, Gillian!) so not sure how much the total raised was, but every cent helps. 

In case you missed it in my Friday post, you can click here to see the result of my sleep-deprived vlogging with no microphone.

Silent movies are totally coming back into style...you just wait. 

We planned to do a giveaway during the InsomniaDare, but we decided to wait and do it here instead.

Leave a comment below on anything Dare - Silent Movie - Insomnia related, and you'll be entered to:

Win a signed ARC of Insomnia and a signed copy of Dualed!

For those listed above that participated in the InsomniaDare with us, you each get a bonus 5 entries for your participation and general awesomeness. We'll select a random winner and announce it in our post on Friday!

And for the SECOND Giveaway: don't forget to pre-order Insomnia and enter my NookHD giveaway!

Pre-order from any of these sites:

B&N ~ Amazon ~ IndieBound ~ BAM ~ The Book Depository

**It is absolutely acceptable to enter one giveaway and not the other, we don't care, we just like to give our stuff to other people. It's a sickness...really. **

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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J.R. Johansson loves reading, playing board games and sitting in her hot tub. Her dream is that someday she can do all three at the same time. She is a YA thriller author published with Flux and FSG/Macmillan. She's represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Her debut novel, INSOMNIA, is due to be released in June 10, 2013. You can find her on twitter, goodreads, her website, or her personal blog.

Ellen Oh's First VLOG Ever! and dare...

The dare - Write a ridiculously bad poem and videotape yourself reciting it.
The foolish one - Ellen Oh aka Ello aka Speakswithbadcold
Unfortunately, this video transmission will NOT self-destruct in five seconds...

The poem - a really really bad burrito poem repeated here for your endless amusement:

I love you, she said,

with tears in her eyes.

But we can't be together,

we must say our goodbyes.

How can you do this?

he cried in agony and pain.

How can you leave me

standing in the rain?

You said that you'd love me forever,

but it was all untrue

All it took was one burrito.

What's a man to do?

Should I have gone to the bathroom?

Should I have held it in?

Was it really so bad?

Was it such a big sin?

She nodded quite sadly

as she said with a sigh.

It's pretty bad,

I nearly died!

My mascara has run

and my nose is still burning.

My contacts have melted,

and my stomach's still turning.

We can't be together,

this much is true.

You fart like an elephant.

You stink like a zoo.

With that she turned away

and quickly departed.

Leaving the boy and his burrito

completely brokenhearted.

Duh End

PROPHECY and THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER Double Cover Reveal and Signed ARC Giveaway!

Us Friday the Thirteeners couldn't be more proud and excited to reveal not one but TWO brand new covers today! Getting a cover is a huge step in the journey toward publication, so you can imagine how hard we're celebrating such a memorable day with two of our own. Major congratulations to Ellen Oh and Megan Shepherd for their phenomenal covers for PROPHECY and THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER!

Make sure to keep reading so you can find out how you can win signed ARCs of both PROPHECY and THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER!

PROPHECY

by Ellen Oh

The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms . . . is a girl with yellow eyes.

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope. . . 

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy.

THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER

byt Megan Shepherd

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London-working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward-both of whom she is deeply drawn to-Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius-and madness-in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic the Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.


Absolutely gorgeous covers, right? And both these fabulous books kick some serious ass! For your chance to win SIGNED ARCS of both PROPHECY and THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER, head on over to Young Adult Books Central to enter!

PROPHECY (HarperTeen) and THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER (Balzer + Bray) will both be published in January of 2013. Visit Ellen at her website and add PROPHECY to your Goodreads! As well, visit Megan at her website and add THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER to your Goodreads, too!

 Huge congratulations, Ellen and Megan! You're both so incredibly talented and we're so happy and excited for you! 

Ellen Oh Talks the Truth

I was all set to do a food related dare about showing you guys how to cook a Korean meal that was featured in my book, but then this question showed up from Wendy and I really felt that I had to take a stab at it. Her question is:

You guys are obviously all hard workers, dedicated to craft. But there are so many good writers today. Is there one special moment, something you did or an epiphany you had that you can share with us, that stands out to you as the reason for your success in today's market.

I think this is a fabulous question and one that I challenge all of the Thirteeners to answer because I believe you will get a different answer from all of us. But since I'm up right now, I get to answer it first. So is there a special moment or an epiphany that I had that I can attribute my getting a book deal to? Why yes, in fact, for me, there were several moments but there is one that sticks out. My apologies because I'll be a little long winded.


I have many wonderful stories about the wonderful positive encouragement I received from my family and friends. But sometimes, you have to thank the naysayers.





I'd become fascinated with Ancient Asian history after reading a biography on Genghis Khan back in the year 2000. It led to years of obsessive research that led to a kernel of an idea -- an idea that I could write a fantasy novel using a mix of history, mythology and legend. And then it happened. One morning, while stuck in horrible gnarly traffic on the Washington, DC beltway heading to work, the idea blossomed into a story that just came tumbling out of my head. Since traffic was either at a stop or crawling along, I grabbed every single scrap of paper out of my purse and began scribbling the story down of a young prince who is supposed to be the hero of legend, but then it turns out that the hero is really his cousin, who’s a girl. And that was the idea that ultimately turned into Prophecy.


The difficulty was that I had a demanding legal job (and at the time 3 small children) which made finding time to write very challenging. Then there was a major corporate restructuring and all the senior management that I reported to and respected, left my company. The day job was even more demanding, but now not as fulfilling. I was turning more and more to my writing for satisfaction. My husband, who has always been a great support and has always believed in me, said, “Why don’t you quit and give the writing a go?”



Ok, to be honest, it really wasn’t an easy decision for me. I had enjoyed my legal career. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give it up to try something that might never pan out. But I really loved my new book. I believed in it. There were two failed manuscripts in my drawer that would never see the light of day, but I just knew this one was it. That was the epiphany. A feeling of knowing that a book idea you have is good enough to be published, but not knowing if you were good enough to write it. But I knew, no matter what, I had to try.


At the time I had a close work colleague who couldn't understand why I was quitting. In a moment of rash and stupid honesty, and because we were friends, I told him in a very bashful, slightly embarrassed manner, that I was working on a book and my dream was to see it published and maybe make a career out of it. I had never shared this dream with anyone outside of my husband at that point. My friend laughed. Loudly and derisively. And then he said, "Yeah, right. Keep dreaming.” He even made that pftttthhh sound. You know the one you make when you think someone is full of shit? Yep, that one.


It's funny. I've had many more negative comments thrown at me before and after that statement, and yet it is this one derogatory comment, made by a close work colleague, that I can absolutely point to as the turning point. It was at that moment that I decided I would prove him wrong. No matter how long it took, no matter how many books I wrote, no matter how bloodied and broken my hands were (hey that happened, I actually worked on a very tight deadline with a broken hand!) I would prove him wrong. 

This fired me through countless rejections, difficult criticisms, and 75 redrafts of my manuscript. My book underwent more plastic surgery than Joan Rivers. I was merciless because I had something to prove. I tore that manuscript apart to its bare bones and built it back up again so many times and in so many different ways. And yet I never got sick of it. Quite frankly, I don't know if it's because it's that good or because my intense fury would just never die away. Either way, I actually owe my old friend a debt of gratitude. He gave me the kick in the butt I needed to chase after my dream. He made me determined to prove him wrong. He made me so freaking mad!



One day I'll have to give him a call and buy him dinner and tell him "Dude, a long time ago, you were a real asshole to me and I have to thank you for that." He probably doesn't even remember what he said that long ago day, but it changed my life and for that I am grateful.


So here's to all the naysayers in our lives that make us burn with vengeance to prove them wrong. May we all channel that fury into book deals! 

Thanks Wendy for your fabulous question! Since this is my first Truth or Dare, you get to choose a prize - a $13 gift card to Barnes and Nobles or Amazon or a 13 page critique. Thanks again for playing Truth or Dare!

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Posted by: Ellen Oh Writer, lawyer, college instructor, donut-slayer, chocolate lover. Addicted to diet coke. Likes to quote extensively from the Princess Bride, Monty Python and Godfather movies. Never leaves home without her iphone, chapstick, a book and her American Express card. Her debut, PROPHECY, comes out in Winter 2013 by HarperCollins Childrens.