Author Interview: Jenna Lynne Duncan and Giveaway

 

 

 

 

  Jenna Lynne Duncan

  Website | Book Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

  I got to interview Jenna and she kindly offered up a swag pack for her first novel, Hurricane. All proceeds of her book go towards the charity, Habitat for Humanity.

 

General Questions:

1. What made you want to be an author? Was there a specific moment where you knew that's what you wanted to do? If you weren't an author, what would you be instead?

I love to read and write. About a year ago, my sister and I were talking about our goals and following our dreams. Mine was to write a book so I went for it and started writing down a story that had been in my head for while. I have always loved to write, short stories and poetry. Hurricane is my first novel.

2. If you had one million dollars to do with what you pleased, what would you do with it?

After paying off school and taking care of my family, there are a few charities I would like to give to. Since a portion of the proceeds from Hurricane are going to Habitat for Humanity, I would like to help organizations that give books to schools in New Orleans and help with the Gulf Coast. I also would want to open my own scholarship program to help disadvantage youth go to college. Sorry, nothing crazy. Maybe if I had a billion dollars I would buy my own island. I love tropical weather and the beach.

3. If you could collaborate on a book with any author, dead or alive, who would you pick and why?

A few authors I had in mind are dead so there would be some challenges in writing from different time periods.

Questions about your book:

4. What made you decide to write a book about hurricanes? Was it from a personal experience or just an interest of yours?

The title is a double entendre. Hurricane both describes Hurricane Katrina, the storm that hit New Orleans in 2005 but also the main character, Adriana Alexander’s, life. I am from New Orleans and so the setting came naturally for me.

5. Are any of these characters based on you or anyone you know? If not, where do you draw your inspiration from for their personalities?

No, they are completely fictional. I’ve tried to base a character off someone I knew in real life but that didn’t work out too well. I felt constricted to do certain things that person would say or do.

6. Was it hard coming up with the characters' names, or did they just come naturally? Were they names you liked before you started writing Hurricane?

I always loved the name Adriana and wanted to use it in a story. The heroes’ names were harder to come up with but I am pleased with them. I always like the names Hayden and Luke. My sister helped me come up with Luke’s name. We knew a Luke and it fit perfectly with his personality.

7. What sort of reaction do you wish for most from the reader for Hurricane? What emotions do you wish to spark in them?

I wish for Hurricane to be a fun, enjoyable read. I hope people will like the love story and fall in love with the characters. If nothing else, readers can gain a new perspective on Hurricane Katrina and the supernatural. It is all set in the culturally rich, mysterious atmosphere of New Orleans, LA. and by transporting readers there, I hope they will love the city as much as I do.

8. Do you have any plans on more novels? Do you think you'd ever stray from realistic fiction?

Yes, I have many more novels planned in my future! I am currently working on Book two, the sequel to Hurricane. I’m also working on another YA novel and have plans for more books in the Hurricane series.

Now for some this or that. I love these sorts of questions:

9. Coffee or Tea? Coffee.

10. Black or White? Black!

11. Hardcover or paperback? Paperback.

12. M&Ms or Skittles? M&Ms. Unfortunately, Skittles have gelatin.

13. Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe? Ooh, Poe. No Shakespeare. Ok, Poe!

 

I’d like to thank Jenna for taking the time to answer my questions! I hope she and you, the audience, enjoyed this interview and I really hope you check out her book!

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  Title: Hurricane
  Publisher: Divertir Publishing
  Published: August 9, 2011
  Pages: 208
  Buy from: Amazon | B&N | Publisher

  Website | Goodreads

I anxiously looked around, my heart palpitating, just in time to see an alligator slink into the green algae covered water that was on either side of us. I swallowed hard, and my heart raced even faster. Alligators were a different type of predator—the one thing I was afraid of. Now I was on my own personal swamp tour. What if my kidnappers left me in the middle of a swamp with five of them creeping up on me? I’ve had that nightmare before and—oh no, if my dreams really are a sign of the future—I couldn’t breathe now.

Adriana couldn’t decide what was worse—that Hurricane Katrina was heading for New Orleans, or that she might not survive her kidnapping to see its potential effects. She had trusted Hayden, even fallen for him, and now he and his brother Luke were taking her deeper and deeper into the Bayou. Why had two of her classmates, the mysterious Boudreaux brothers, kidnapped her? Why had Adriana’s dreams started predicting the future? Most importantly, would she make it out of the Bayou alive…

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One lucky winner will win a swag pack for Hurricane including one bookmark, one button, and one signed cover.

Rules/Information:

1. Must be 13 years or older or have parent permission.
2. Must fill out the form below, comments will not counted but are still welcome.
3. Giveaway ends on Wednesday, October 19th.
4. Giveaway is only open to entrants residing in USA.
5. I will contact the winners by email. You will have 48 hours to contact me back before I pick another winner.
6. One entry per person. All duplicated entries will be deleted.
7. Winners will be chosen via random.org.

Please use this form to enter.

Review and Giveaway: Misfit by Jon Skovron

  Title: Misfit                                              Pages: 384 
  Author: Jon Skovron                                 Source: Publisher
  Publisher: Abrams Books                         Published: Sep 1, 2011
  Series: ?                                                 Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 5 out of 5

Jael Thompson is no ordinary girl. And the fact that she's moved far too many times doesn't really help the situation. What makes Jael unique? Her mother was a five thousand year old demon, and her dad an ex-priest. That makes her half-demon, half-mortal. A half-breed.

But on her sixteenth birthday, her father gives Jael a necklace her mother wanted Jael to have. A necklace that just so happens to awaken the demon in her.

Coming with her new found self are powers that she has to learn to hone, because Belial, a demon who happens to hate half-breeds, is after her and she's tired of running from him.

I finished Misfit the day before I wrote this review, but wanted to let it "sink in" before I reviewed it. I wanted to make sure I still felt the same way. I do. I loved it.

Misfit is most of the time told in alternating chapters, traveling from present day and Jael's story, to the past and her parents' story. I found this a great way to tell both the prologue-ish side, and Jael's story, because I got to understand every angle of the story of how everything came to what it did.

Misfit also has a lot of mythology and exorcism talk involved, which 1) I love both of those things and 2) makes Jon Skovron sound really intellectual (I bet he is anyway!). So if one or both of those things appeals to you, read this.

The writing is absolutely phenomenal. Jon Skovron has a natural knack for telling a story that you want to keeping reading until you've devoured every last word. His dialogue is clever and witty and his descriptions crystal clear. This is especially important when you're describing paranormal creatures, which Skovron handled with ease.

The plot was mostly fast-paced. It didn't take too long to get into the action, nor did it happen too quickly. Skovron waits the perfect amount of time to drop each twist on you and delivers an incredible ending to top it all off like a cherry on a sundae.

The characters were solid. I want to know more about them, yet I'm not left feeling like I know too little. It seemed like each character Skovron brought in played a part in the story. Each character was needed in one small way or another big way.

That brings me to Jael. She's written amazingly, for being written from the eyes of a male. Sometimes when a female lead is written by a man, she doesn't get totally captured, as some men do not understand females. This also works vice versa sometimes with woman writing male leads. There are lots of other errors men make when writing females, though, like stereotyping them or putting a certain image on them.

That being said, Jael is perfectly female, and a tough one at that. She has her insecurities, sure, but she finds out that she really can do amazing things with the abilities she's acquired. She comes further than just thinking she's an evil demon. I found that she really grew as a character, for the better.

The romance in Misfit isn't as much as I hoped for, but frankly, there was quite a bit of action going on that romance might have just watered it down. In other words, I’m kind of glad that there wasn’t more romance! So, if what you're looking for is a straight up paranormal romance, Misfit might not be what you're looking for, but let that in no way stop you from reading it!

Overall, I absolutely loved Misfit. I'm guessing there's a sequel, which I cannot wait to read if there is. If there isn't, I'd be very disappointed. There is not one part I can complain about in this wonderful novel and I command you to read it! Please?

I give Misfit a 5(hundred) out of 5.

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I have two copies of Misfit to giveaway! Read on to learn the details!

You will have two optional extra entries: Following via GFC and tweeting the contest!

 

Rules/Information:

1. Must be 13 years or older or have parent permission.
2. Must fill out the form below, comments will not counted but are still welcome.
3. Giveaway ends on September 15th.
4. Giveaway is only open to entrants residing in USA.
5. I will contact the winners by email. You will have 48 hours to contact me back before I pick another winner.
6. One entry per person. All duplicated entries will be deleted.
7. Winners will be chosen via random.org.

 

Please fill out this FORM to enter

 

Disclaimer: Copies were provided by the publisher, free for my honest review and giveaway purposes. I am not being paid for either thing.

Giveaway: Waterfall and Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren

 

 

 

Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents.

Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.

 

 

 

Gabi knows she’s left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives.

When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence—while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.

But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she’s willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.

 

I have two copies of Waterfall and two copies of Cascade to giveaway so there will be four winners!

You will have two optional extra entries: Following via GFC and tweeting the contest!

 

Rules/Information:

1. Must be 13 years or older or have parent permission.
2. Must fill out form below, comments will not be counted for an entry, but are still welcome.
3. Extra entries: Following via GFC and tweeting the contest.
4. Giveaway ends on June 24th.
5. Giveaway is only open to the USA. I’m sorry, but I just cannot afford to send a package anywhere else. I can barely afford to send them in the USA :).
6. I will contact the winners by email. You have two days (48 hours) to contact me back before I will pick another winner.
7. One entry per person, duplicate entries will be deleted. You will not be disqualified if you accidentally duplicate the form (I know I can never remember what giveaways I enter!). The only way you can be disqualified is if you repeatedly send the form in. Only then will all of your entries be deleted (please don’t spam me!).
8. Winner will be chosen via random.org

 

Please fill out this FORM to enter!

 

 

Disclaimer: Copies of Waterfall and Cascade were provided by the publisher, free for giveaway purposes. I am not being paid for my review, or to give them away.