Interview + Giveaway: Jennifer Rush, Author of Altered

Well, here I am, talking about Altered again. Are you readers sick of me yet? Seriously, I've been raving about this book since January. I have trouble moving on, obviously. 

Anyway, here I am today with Jennifer Rush, who kindly agreed to answer my questions about the book and the writing process, as well as speaking a bit about the amount of sexy time between Anna and Sam. Wait, I mean KISSY SCENES. Not sexy time. I got a bit carried away.

Most Anticipated Debuts + Giveaway

We've already covered which debuts we've loved so far this year, and the debut-a-thon is for our current reads. So, let's look ahead and talk about which future 2013 debuts we're looking forward to, shall we? A bunch of people let me know what they're anticipating, and they've pretty much covered all my choices! I'm mostly looking forward to All Our Yesterdays (thanks, Debby!), These Broken Stars, and The Elites. 

Below is a picture heavy post. And a giveaway. You have been warned.

Debut-a-Thon: Kick Off!

The debut-a-thon is just around the corner for most of us, while those who live in New Zealand (Greg, I'm looking at you!) get to start RIGHT NOW. This excites me, because the debut-a-thon has still officially begun. Even if I'm not reading yet.

Being British, I won't actually get to start reading for the debut-a-thon for another eleven hours, but I am ready. Beyond ready, in fact. I have my book list (mostly) prepared, I have coffee and food in my bedroom, ready for quick access. The only thing that's not ready and in my bedroom is myself, because by the time you read this I will be at work. But once I'm home at 7PM, I'll be counting down the hours, as well as envying everyone who's in mainland Europe, because they're a whole hour (or two!) ahead of me. *glares at Judith and Debby*. 

Anyway, I hope you're all as excited as I am about this read-a-thon. Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up so far and spread the word. There are, as I'm typing this, over forty people taking part! I know, I nearly cried too. I honestly thought it was just going to be me and Judith!

A brief schedule: 

Thursday, Day One:

- Debut-a-thon Startling Line

- Mini-Challenge #1: Unscramble That Debut

Friday, Day Two: 

- Most Anticipated Debuts + Giveaway

- Mini-Challenge #2: Pair That Debut

Saturday, Day Three: 

- Interview with Jennifer Rush + Giveaway

- Mini-Challenge #3: Poemify That Debut

Sunday, Day Four: 

- Mini-Challenge #4: Solve That Debut

Things to note: 

- Please, please, PLEASE check that the books you are planning on reading are debut novels, whether they are MG, YA, or adult debuts. I would hate for you to start a book only to realise that it doesn't count towards your goals.

- My update and goals post will be going up at midnight, my time. I expect I will make a many changes to it before it actually goes live. 

- I'll be doing daily posts for everyone who wants to link up their updates daily. I'll also be pointing out some awesome challenges that Laura and I have got going on! Those posts will be going up at 8AM, GMT.

- You are always free to tweet me if you have any questions, and if I'm not around (i.e. when I'm at work on Thursday and Friday) then you can tweet your questions to Judith (@paperiot) or Debby (@snugglyoranges) and they'll be happy to help!

- Use the #debutathon hashtag to talk about the read-a-thon on Twitter! Make it easy to follow each other's updates!

- Most importantly, have fun and read like the wind! Good luck everybody.

Best Debuts of 2013 (January to June)

I am not going to lie to you, I have been disappointed by a lot of the debuts I've read this year so far. But there is that handful that I keep talking about that I really did enjoy. A couple swept me off my feet, and a couple were just really great. Let me show you those, and you can also take a look to see what other bloggers have loved! This post is going to be enormous, so sit back and grab a cup of tea because you'll be here for a while!

I will be doing another post on this at the end of the year. There are still six months left (and I need to read All Our Yesterdays), after all!

Interview and Giveaway: Kasie West, Author of Pivot Point

Let's take a trip down memory lane, back to the start of the year. I was struggling to get through a book that I had previously thought would be a great read to kick off my reading for 2013. Honestly, it was terrible. But luckily I had a whole lot of other books (over 500, if I'm going to be honest) waiting to be read. I hadn't heard much about Pivot Point, but since it was one of the first books that I had been approved for on Edelweiss, I was excited to give it a try.

Now, six months later, Pivot Point is still one of my handful of favourite books of this year. And today I'll be giving a copy away, as well as interviewing the brain behind the entire operation!

Welcome to Debut Madness

I really enjoy writing and researching for my Debut Showcase feature that goes up every month. It's a lot of fun, especially when others share their recommendations and what they're anticipating. So, since I love doing it so much, and because I haven't hosted an event in a looooonnnnnnngggg time, I decided to dedicate this week to debut books. I've been planning this for a while, and if all goes well I hope to do it again in the future! 

I have come up with a bunch of fun posts for everyone to take part in, and now that I have a job I'll also be giving a load of stuff away throughout the week! So, in summary:

What can you expect from this week?

- Lots and lots of giveaways

- Interviews

- A Read-a-thon

& more!

There's still lots of time to sign up for the read-a-thon, so if you haven't done so already then you should definitely consider it. It's going to be so much fun! I genuinely hope everyone has a great time, and that you all find some new books to read. The read-a-thon especially is going to be a great (hopefully relaxing) end to my week!