Hot off the Press: Haunting Violet Competition!

Wonderful news, Alyx Harvey fans! Emma at Bloomsbury shared this news this morning, 

The wonderful Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey is out today! To celebrate we are offering one lucky winner the opportunity to win an incredible iPad 2, along with a signed copy and goody bag for 10 runners up. Head to the Facebook page to find out how to enter:

My Love Lies Bleeding Facebook Page

Good luck!

Hot off the Press: RHCB acquires three new novels from YA author Karen Mahoney!

Fabulous news from RHCB today - to all the fans of The Iron Witch, this is something to delight you with I'm sure!

Random House Children’s Books is delighted to announce a three book deal with YA author Karen
Mahoney. Fiction Publisher Annie Eaton and Fiction Editor Jessica Clarke secured a deal for World
English Language rights for two titles in a brand new series called Beautiful Ghosts, on behalf of
Miriam Kriss at Irene Goodman, the first book of which will be published by Random House in 2012.
A separate deal was made with Heather Baror of Baror International for The Stone Demon, the third
and final book in The Iron Witch trilogy which will be published in 2013.

Annie Eaton, Fiction Publisher comments ‘Karen Mahoney is a natural storyteller with a wonderful
imagination. Her debut novel, THE IRON WITCH, was published to rave reviews, and there is an eager
audience out there wanting more!’

Jessica Clarke, Karen Mahoney’s Editor adds ‘Karen is a dream author, with an incredible passion for
YA fiction and a huge online following on both sides of the Atlantic. Her blend of strong female
protagonists and punchy paranormal drama is breathing new life into this genre, and we are very
proud to have her on the RHCB list.’

THE STONE DEMON is the final book of The Iron Witch trilogy, where Donna Underwood must work with the alchemical Order of the Crow in London to create a new Philosopher's Stone. If she fails? A three-way war between the dark elves, demons and alchemists will lead the world into an
unimaginable apocalypse.

BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS - Being a vampire is for life - not just a lifestyle. Reluctant teenage vampire Marie 'Moth' O'Neal infiltrates a group of Otherkin kids in Boston, teenagers who believe they are reincarnated vampires, in order to find out who or what is killing off the troubled teens... and then turning them into something truly undead with a taste for human flesh. All this while trying to stop sexy young hunter Jace Murdoch from shooting anything that doesn't breathe - including her.

Karen Mahoney is the author of The Iron Witch and The Wxtood Queen. She has been published
alongside some of her favourite authors, in anthologies like THE ETERNAL KISS and KISS ME DEADLY.

Karen lives in London though she dreams of one day living in Boston. You can visit her website at www.kazmahoney.com.

Score! :D

Book Covers: The Last Echo (Kimberly Derting) & Bloodlines (Richelle Mead)

Two very exciting cover releases that I wish to share with you guys tonight. First up is the third book in one of my favourite series - The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting! I am absolutely in love with Violet and Jay and can hardly do more waiting for the third book!

Kimberly has hinted on her blog that the colour is significant - perhaps there will be an echo with the colour purple in the book? What do you think?

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers.

Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice. When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye....

Now for another much-awaited cover...

Fans of Vampire Academy rejoice! The UK cover of the much awaited first book in this brand new trilogy by Richelle Mead has finally been unveiled! May I present to you the cover for BLOODLINES?

LOVE AND LOYALTY RUN DEEPER THAN BLOOD…

Sydney protects vampire secrets – and human lives. As an alchemist, she is part of a secret group who dabbles in magic and serves to bridge the world of humans and vampires.

But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she’s still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir—the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir—is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as Jill’s protector.

The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathising with vampires. And now she has to live with one . . .

Published by Razorbill 25th August 2011 - mark the date!

Hot off the Press: Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne finally cast!

I'm keeping this short, because if given the chance I might not stop ranting - I've just heard about this and thought I'd share it with my fellow Hunger Games fans! The characters of Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne have finally been cast!

 

Josh Hutcherson (left) is to play Gale Hawthorne Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth (right) will be Peeta Mellark Gale Hawthorne (Sorry, my excitement muddled my thoughts. Cheers for the correction Jasmine!) in the much anticipated The Hunger Games movie coming March 2012.

Personally, although I'm not exactly ecstatic about the choices, at the very least we finally get an idea of the cast ensemble. Better than waiting I guess! However, I thought they look older than the Peeta and Gale I envisioned - of course, it makes sense because they chose a somewhat older Katniss too. Funny how Josh's face structure is closer to what I envisioned Peeta's to be like! (Self-correction: Well duh, he plays Peeta. I feel better now!)

What do you guys think?


* Photo above courtesy of Just Jared. Click HERE for more information - and do a google search to find more! :)

Hot off the Press: Excerpt from Daniel's Journal + more!

Firstly, for the lovely fans of Lauren Kate's Fallen and Torment, good news! Torment is now available on paperback! To those who haven't yet read Torment, here are some teasers for you - check out the trailer for and the first chapter of Torment below!

All right, folks, here you go -


Daniel’s Journal

Golden, British Columbia


March 21, 1992


Next time, I will have to give her up.


In this life we’re already too far along. Our course is set. Our old disaster looms ahead. My pen quakes as I write these words:


I can’t save her.


It has been one month since she found me at the bookstore. One month since she introduced herself—this time she goes by Lucy, which is so quaint it is beyond sweet—blushing as she tucked her hair behind her ear before she shook my hand. One month of taking that hand in mine each afternoon when she returns home from school.


I have cherished every inch of her. I have savored every pore of her soft skin and filled up too many sketchbooks with her hypnotizing eyes. Nothing is more bittersweet than this month of euphoria. It’s the same with each life’s love.


I’m a fool to savor it. Especially with the end so near.


Ages ago, Gabbe told me not to write this book. And there’s a long list of reasons why she’s right. I’ve been hunted for the things I wrote. Tried for heresy. I’ve gone mortal generations with a price on my head. Of course, right now the only reason that matters to me is this:


If I had never written The Watchers: Myth in Medieval Europe, Lucinda wouldn’t have stumbled across me restocking the shelves at the university library where her sister


attends college. She never would have invited me to walk across the campus to meet Vera after class, never worked up the courage in those ten minutes to give me her phone number on the back of a drugstore receipt. We never would have ended up at her parents’ house later that night. Never walked through the drifts of snow on the path behind their cabin, talking for hours, laughing as if we’d known each other for centuries.


We would never have fallen in love.


And she wouldn’t be living her last days.


No. Even here, in these private pages, why do I continue to delude myself?


The truth?


Lucinda would have found me regardless of my stupid book. Just like she always does. She would have tracked me down and followed me and lowered her defenses with a rapidity she never understands. She would still have fallen in love. For the thousandth and the first time in her life.


And why not? It’s not torture for her . . . until the end.


It means it’s up to me to make the change.


Because, as Heaven is my witness, I can’t go on like this. The agony of one more loss will overwhelm me. Drive me mad. Having to watch her walk once more into the blaze of knowing—


I can’t.


Let these pages serve as a record: If it takes seventeen years to purge her from my soul—and I know it will—I’ll do it. The addiction will fade away. The pain of withdrawal has to ease.


Is it even possible? That someday love will loosen its grip on me? Until she’s only a memory, not a drug I have to have? It’s too hard to imagine, and it’s the only option I have left.


If I can do that for her, Lucinda will live a long and healthy life. She’ll do something she’s never done before: She’ll die old. She will love and blossom and find happiness. All these things she’s never known before. All without me.


It’s too late now, but it won’t always be. I have already begun the preparations for our next encounter seventeen years down the road.


How to save her. How to pull away.


Yesterday, I went to a meeting.


There was a flyer on the bus stop at the corner of Grand and Calgary: Twelve Steps to Overcoming Your Addiction. I was strung out and jittery after five hours of not seeing her. Five hours. It was all I could do to wait for her to get home from school so I could take her in my arms and—


Hold back. Because I always have to hold myself back. The moments when I haven’t have been the moments when she died. As soon as I kissed her, as soon as I did what I felt I was made to do, she was taken away from me.


Love. Vanishing. Into thin air.


I know all of this so well, but it has never gotten easier to control.


So I memorized the address on the flyer. I got on the bus and I traveled some distance and I got off. I walked into the dim, low-ceilinged room in the annex of a church. I sat on a hard folding chair in a small circle of grim-faced strangers. When it was


my turn, I stood up. I cleared my throat and tried to ignore the burning itch of my wings when I said, Hello, my name is Daniel, and I am an addict.


They nodded and recognized me. They said: Tell us about your greatest high.


The other day. For example. I went further than usual with my drug of choice. A walk in the woods, that’s all. Snow falling, sun burning through the trees, and her. I’ll wager no one has ever felt more alive. It was like I couldn’t get enough. I knew that it could have turned ugly—I knew I was dancing with an overdose. But one tempting kiss was just so beautiful. The truth is, every time is exactly as intoxicating. Every moment surpasses metaphor.


They said: Now describe rock bottom.


Emptiness. Raw and consuming. From the first instant I run out until the instant I get my hands on more. An absolute vacuum ripping through my body, pulling out anything vital I contained. Weight where there should be weightlessness. A withdrawal worse than Hell.


Then they said: So is it worth it?


And I fell silent because it is all there is and no, it isn’t worth it.


And those bastards looked at me as if they got it.


It’s said in some circles that I have delusions of grandeur, but that is not the case. I recognized myself in all those sad souls around me at the meeting. My lost, forlorn expression mirrored each of theirs. Their skin was yellow and they smelled like Hell and their eyes were sunken with a kind of weak surrender. And every one of them was telling me it gets easier.


Easier.


Not for me.


It wasn’t going to work. They spoke of romance with nostalgia, and in a way, I envy that. But the thing about these meetings is that their motto—their whole one day at a time approach—does not apply to me.


One day at a time for sixty more years is a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m looking at. An eternity of days without the one thing that completes me. A gaping emptiness without compare.


There was also the problem of God.


They said: Let Him restore you to sanity. Turn yourself over to Him.


And their faces—all that blatant disappointment—when I told them, frankly, that this is one trial God just isn’t going to help me through. I knew what they were thinking: In time, with a few more meetings and some straight, sober perspective, I’d surely come around. I wish I could.


On the bright side, I walked out of the meeting understanding one thing more clearly than I ever had before:


My addiction is not killing me. I’m the toxic thing that’s killing her.


I stepped into the shadows behind the church, let my wings slip forth, and opened them wide.


I had never felt so powerless. Even as I flew away, into the snow-white sky, above the blizzard they’d been expecting for days. My wings can’t save me. My nature can’t save me. It’s my soul that has work to do. I must close its heavy door on her.


Next life.


This life, I’ve already gone too far. There’ll be no stopping it now.


It’s beginning to snow again and I must sign off. There’s a skating party at Lucy’s house tonight. Vera invited all her friends, and I promised I would go.


This is it.


I’ll show up. I’ll know what’s coming. And I’ll love her right up until the very last moment. This will be the last Lucinda who ever dies at my hands.


Next time, I will give her up.


DG

*

Excited yet? Don't forget to check out these cool pic badges for Fallen for you to use on facebook! Just follow the link for instructions to show your love for Lauren Kate! http://www.picbadges.com/torment-by-lauren-kate/1448803/

Hot off the Press: Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle news!

An e-mail from Rosi at Random House got me very excited and I'm sure you'll be too! Calling all fans of Christopher Paolini - here's some amazing news for you!

The fourth and final book in Christopher Paolini’s global bestseller Inheritance Cycle will be published this autumn. Following the number one bestselling novels Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, the book will be called INHERITANCE.

‘The burning questions asked by fans around the world will be finally answered in this last instalment,’ said Christopher Paolini. ‘All will be revealed!’

INHERITANCE will be published in the UK on Tuesday 8th November 2011, simultaneously with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, priced £18.99. It will also be available in ebook and audio editions.

Philippa Dickinson, MD of RHCB in the UK says, ‘We are extremely proud and excited to be publishing INHERITANCE. Christopher Paolini's books are an incredible worldwide phenomenon and readers have been eagerly awaiting the final instalment in the cycle. RHCB are anticipating a huge amount of interest in what is sure to be one of the biggest events of the year.'

All Sunday Times bestsellers in the UK, Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr have been international publishing sensations. The first three books have sold over 25 million copies worldwide, including more than 4 million copies in the UK and Export markets.

Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr will be reissued in paperback in the UK on 7th July with new cover designs that breathe new life into John Jude Palencar’s stunning artwork.

*

Fantastic! Are you excited yet, Paolini fans? 

Hot off the Press: Haunting Violet (Alyxandra Harvey) teaser + Trash (Andy Mulligan) Trailer!

Exciting news from Bloomsbury! Alyxandra Harvey will be coming to the UK in May to promote her  forthcoming book Haunting Violet! Keep checking the Facebook page, event details will be added soon: http://www.facebook.com/myloveliesbleeding

In the meantime here’s a little teaser about the new book from the author herself:

Dear Reader:

I love historical fantasy because I can lose myself in a world where Mr. Darcy might be just around the corner . . . or the ghost of a murdered girl out for revenge. It combines corsets and cravats with paranormal mysteries of every kind.

Haunting Violet takes place in Victorian England, during the 1870's, which was the pinnacle of the interest in mediums and séances. Talking to ghosts was all the rage in private parlours and public halls. The details of clothes and food and the popularity of séances are as accurate as I could make them to create a realistic backdrop for ghosts and spirit possession. But in the end people are people; we still just want to be happy. And 1870 or 2010, I love a girl who can kick butt . . . especially when wearing a corset.

I hope you'll enjoy meeting Violet as she struggles to come to terms with her new gift for communicating with the dead . . . and as she chooses between a traditional safe life and an Irish pickpocket with a wicked grin.

Alyxandra Harvey

Check out Alynxandra's site below for more news!
http://alyxandraharvey.com//http://www.alyxh.livejournal.com/ 

In other news, Andy Mulligan's superb book TRASH is out on paperback on the 31st March! This is a brilliant book which I recommend heartily. Check out the trailer below!



From the publishers who brought you THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS and THE
CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, comes another story that transcends reading ages and leaps literary fences. Three street boys take on the world in TRASH, a fast-paced, exciting, intensely moving story by Andy Mulligan.

Paperback is out 31st March 2011 - if you haven't read it on hardback yet, wait no longer! Trash will make you laugh, break your heart and will truly uplift your spirit. You can find my review HERE, in any case.



Hot off the Press: West of the Moon Blog Tour!

First off - this news isn't exactly hot off the press, but I've only just had the time to put this one up. None the less, the blog tour is up and running until the end of the month, so there's still a lot of time to catch up with the stops you might have missed!

Katherine Langrish’s month-long blog tour for West of the Moon kicked-off on the 25th of February, and on 21st March, will stop right here at Girls Without a Bookshelf!  Katherine will be discussing about the top ten writing commandments so aspiring writers, this one's for you!

Check out Katherine's website at http://www.katherinelangrish.co.uk/ for the list of all the stops in this blog tour!


West of the Moon is available from the 3rd March 2011.
Want to find out more? Check out the blurb below!

It is a time of dark magic and fearsome creatures - a time of vikings and heroes.

When Peer is orphaned he is taken by his wicked uncles to live at their foreboding mill

in the shadow of Troll Fell. Here he meets beautiful, spirited Hilde. After a terrifying

encounter with the sinister creatures who live below the fell, the pair form an

inseparable bond. Thirsty for adventure, they decide to set sail for Vinland – a

mysterious place across the perilous sea. But are the captain and his sword‐wielding

son really honest sailors? What creatures lurk in the shadows and forests of the new

land? Will Peer and Hilde ever return? Spanning years and continents and filled with
brilliantly imagined characters and creatures, this is gripping, atmospheric antasy at its

best.

West of the Moon is an abridged collection of all three books in the original Troll

Trilogy: Troll Fell, Troll Mill and Troll Blood. Now available in one standalone book, West

of the Moon is perfect for new readers and existing fans alike.

Hot off the Press: Love Story (Jennifer Echols) Cover!

*Squeaaaaaaal!*

Going Too Far and Forget You fans, here is what I'm sure you've all been waiting for - Jennifer Echols' next offering! No blurb (that I can find) yet, but don't you forget to list it on your July 2011 pre-orders!

Jo Cotterill's Valentine Story - You Decide!

Hanna and I loved Jo Cotterill's Sweet Hearts series and I'm sure a lot of you readers do or will do too, so here's something exciting you can help create!

The lovely Jo Cotterill (author of the Sweet Hearts series) is writing an interactive Valentine’s story through her blog and Sweet Hearts Facebook page. Readers can help to shape the story, through different questions each day this week, and the full story will be published on Valentine’s Day.

BUT – people have been a little shy so far today in coming forward with suggestions! We’d love for you to spare a moment or two to add a quick comment…

Yesterday’s question was ‘What’s the name of the heroine?’ – And Jo chose Camilia. So, today’s question is…. ‘What does Camilia love to do best?’

Answers can be posted on Jo’s blog:
http://www.ilovesweethearts.co.uk/blogJo/?p=466

or on her Sweet Hearts Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Hearts-by-Jo-Cotterill/104882149555819

As avid readers, isn't it wonderful to be a part of the creation process of a story? So don't you be shy and go on help shape the story!

Hot off the Press: Get yourself a free The Iron King e-book!

Some exciting news from the good folks of Mira Ink was just announced via their facebook page and I took the liberty to share it with you readers!

Mira Ink has teamed up with The Sunday Express to give away 1,000 FREE eBooks of The Iron King!!! All you need to do is find the code in Sunday 30th's edition of The Sunday Express (hint: near the fab review of The Iron King), go to the link provided, enter your code and The Iron King eBook will be all yours... absolutely free!

How very generous - and yes, you'd want to own this book :) In case that's not quite enough, also check out their newly launched website, www.miraink.co.uk to find out how to win one of five copies of exclusive, not-available-in shops editions of The Iron King!

Have you heard of the newly launched MIRA INK?

I'm sure fellow bloggers received this news as part of MIRA INK's Christmas stocking, but I thought I'd share the news with the rest of you.

This is an exciting news for UK YA bloggers in particular, as well as to book enthusiasts in the country. Let's hear it from the editor at MIRA INK!

My name is Maddie West and I am obsessed with YA books. Luckily for me, I’m the editor atMIRA INK, a new imprint devoted to all things YA.

We’re launching MIRA INKat the start of 2011 with some amazingly exciting books! We’ve got completely thrilling stories of forbidden love and dark secrets. Banshees, faeries, vampires, werewolves and zombies have battled for my attention and I’m still struggling to pick a favourite.

For starters, we have Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers. A normal, everyday, fade-into-the-
background high school girl discovers that she isn’t exactly human. She’s a banshee, forced to sing in the presence of death. Of course, her singing isn’t exactly pleasant to hear. And everyone thinks that she’s going mad. Everyone, that is, apart from gorgeous hunk (and captain of the school football team) Nash.

Don’t fancy banshees? How do you feel about a future in which society divides into Uppers and Lowers? In which the Uppers have acres of space and all the technology, while the Lowers resentfully wait on them, policed by the Pop Cops. Until the day when one of the Lowers inadvertently starts a revolution...All this is in Maria Snyder’s Inside Out.

Then there’s Meghan Chase. She thinks she’s an ordinary fifteen year old – until her little brother goes missing, and Meghan is forced into the world of the Fey to find him. She’s soon torn between her best friend, Puck, who turns out to be a lot more than he seems, and a mysterious dark prince, who may want her dead – or may just want her. Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series is seriously one of the best things I’ve read this year!

Last but not least, Gena Showalter’s Intertwined books are bursting with Others – vampires, werewolves, witches, zombies and one possessed teenage boy. Aden is somehow going to have to save a world full of people who think that he’s a troubled bad boy. I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for some of the great things coming from MIRA Ink this year. I know I’ve had the best time ever reading them! If you want to know any more – or just want to discuss YA books generally – you can email me on maddie.west@hmb.co.uk.

Maddie

Watch out for the following books on the shelves of your local bookstore - they are bound to be fantastic!

Hot off the Press: Outside In UK cover!

Mira Ink has unveiled the UK cover for Maria Snyder's Outside In, to be published 18th March 2011. This is the sequel to dystopian fiction Inside Out, which is a fabulous book by the way. I love the way the pipes are exactly like how I imagined it - although I thought the space in between would be a little smaller. I cannot wait to get my hands on it - what do you guys think?