ZOMBIE TAG by Hannah Moskowitz

12/20
Zombie Tag | Hannah Moskowitz
Roaring Brook Press
Hardcover/240pp.

Wil is desperate for his older brother to come back from the dead. But the thing about zombies is . . they don’t exactly make the best siblings.
Thirteen-year-old Wil Lowenstein copes with his brother’s death by focusing on Zombie Tag, a mafia/
capture the flag hybrid game where he and his friends fight off brain-eating zombies with their mothers’ spatulas. What Wil doesn’t tell anybody is that if he could bring his dead brother back as a zombie, he would in a heartbeat. But when Wil finds a way to summon all the dead within five miles, he’s surprised to discover that his back-from-the-dead brother is emotionless and distant.
In her first novel for younger readers, Moskowitz offers a funny and heartfelt look at how one boy deals with change, loss, and the complicated relationship between brothers.

You thought Hannah Moskowitz’s YA was good? Wait until you get your hands on her MG debut, ZOMBIE TAG.

I started ZOMBIE TAG expecting a real good story about brothers. The typical Moskowitz book.

But what I got was even better than a typical Moskowitz book (and believe me, typical Moskowitz books are THE F%^$IN S&*%). It was the best Moskowitz book I’d ever read.

First of all, the writing is tight. It’s to-the-point and short and harsh and blow-by-blow and it paints a wildly beautiful picture. Second, the characters are a blast to read. They make you laugh and laugh, but they also tug at your heart. I really did sympathize with Wil—the loss he suffers is written so real. That’s Moskowitz for you. Real.

Also: Moskowitz is THE ONLY WRITER ON THE PLANET that can write a porn magazine into a novel for middle grade readers and make it work. She should be applauded.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DON’T LET ME GO

Today is a very important day.

Today JH Trumble’s DON’T LET ME GO officially hits shelves.

I read this story about two years ago, and it’s one I love a lot. I say it’s one of my favorites, and that’s really, really true—not just because JH is my friend, but because the writing is impeccable and the storyline is flawless. And the characters? You will love them so much it hurts.

It’s about love and acceptance and hurt, but mostly love. I remember sitting down at the kitchen table one night, and opening up a word document, reading the first page, and not being able to stop. That manuscript was flawed and had typos and missing punctuation but oh dear god was it amazing. I couldn’t get past the first ten pages without sending JH emails like, “PAGE TWO! I adore paragraph five.” When I was finished the story, I told JH something along the lines of, “I hate this book, it makes me want a boyfriend too bad.”

Now and then I’ll re-read DLMG or something else from the ever-talented JH, and I’ll tell myself, “Man I am lucky to have such a talented friend.”

So you should get your hands on a copy of this book. Because I love it, and I think you will too.

You can read an interview I did with JH on Lambda here.

JH Trumble’s Website * Goodreads * Amazon * B&N
IndieBound * InsightOut Book Club

Cover Reveal: CHOSEN ONES by Tiffany Truitt

Aaaaaaaaand the cover is here!



Beautiful, yes? The only thing I don’t love is the font; it’s too all over the place and not crisp enough.
Here’s the official summary:

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?

Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.
But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

S.R. Johannes on Publicity

Today I have independently-published author S.R. Johannes (aka Shelli Johannes-Wells) on the blog to discuss her publicity technique for her YA thriller, UNTRACEABLE.

Publicity For Untraceable

First of all I don’t like to call it “publicity” or “marketing”. Because I honestly care and appreciate everyone who has supported me. So I don’t want my contacts to seem impersonal, because it isn’t.

I guess that is part of my “publicity” is getting to know people, build relationships, and be appreciative (not expectant) of great reviews and supportive posts.

To me, when you are doing publicity for a book, bloggers are the best way to get started. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of bloggers and I love meeting them online. They read books and do reviews on their own time. They don’t ask for anything in return. They do it because they love books and they love to talk about the ones they love to their readers. I think we, as authors, are lucky to have them put that time aside for us. I never understand when authors are jerks to bloggers or reviewers.

For Untraceable, I really wanted to build a grass roots effort and get directly to readers and see what they thought about the book. So I offered anyone who signed up or emailed me a free ebook. They only had to post an “honest and constructive” review – good or bad – online at Amazon, Goodreads, and B&N.

I also offered to do interviews, guest posts, or anything they felt was fun on their blog. I never turned anyone away and I always made sure I cross-promoted his or her blog as a reciprocal.

I did do some official PR and marketing stuff. I did a press release drop on PRWeb - but saw little results. I did a sponsorship in Kindle Nation, which was a wonderful way to reach ebook readers directly. And I submitted my book to places for formal reviews – Indie Reader, Kirkus, and some smaller sites.

But in the end, bloggers were my priority over anything else. I’m hoping for word of mouth over time. That a buzz will build about Untraceable. My book is a contemporary thriller. I hope it is good and different enough to stand out in a YA world dominated by paranormal and dystopic books.

But in the end publicity is not about just selling books. It’s about building relationships and being courteous.

***

S.R. Johannes lives in Atlanta Georgia with her dog, British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess, which she hopes- someday- will change the world. After earning an MBA and working in corporate america, S.R. Johannes traded in her expensive suits, high heels, and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and her love of writing. You can find her hanging out online and visit her at srjohannes.com

the future of us by jay asher & carolyn mackler

11/21/11
The Future of Us | Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Razorbill
Hardcover/356pp.

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.
By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler team up to create an engrossing, emotional story about appreciating your life and living in the moment. Though 13 REASONS WHY isn’t my favorite book ever, and I’ve never read anything from Carolyn Mackler, I was really excited to start reading THE FUTURE OF US, because you have to admit: that’s a great concept.

Emma has just gotten her first computer. As soon as she turns it on and inserts an AOL CD-ROM, a weird-looking website called “Facebook” appears on the screen. And at the upper left hand corner? Is an image of a woman that looks exactly like Emma. After a little clicking around, she finds out that the woman is her, fifteen years into the future. The sad thing is: future Emma isn’t happy with her life. Well, then Emma’s best friend Josh gets in on it, and turns out, he has a perfect life in the future. Emma and Josh fight to keep their friendship alive and come to realize that everything they do in the present has an effect on the future.

I loved the characterization and the writing, though the plot was a little nonexistent. If it weren’t for the Facebook aspect, this would just be a simple childhood-friend-turned-lover story. It’s kind of funny to see how even though there have been all these major advances in technology, etc., there are a lot of things that have stayed the same: people, feelings, and relationships.

If you want to read a heartfelt contemporary story with a cyberpunk twist, try THE FUTURE OF US.