Posts Tagged: james dashner

What’s Going on at Comic- Con 2013

19 Jul, 2013 by in SDCC Leave a comment

We were planning our trip to San Diego this year around Comic-Con, but alas it was not to be! Tickets sold out online in 90 minutes and the others that were not claimed went just as fast. Next year we are hoping to catch Star Wars, Hasbro and all of our favorite authors. But this year we just keep up vicariously through all of your friends who are there live. Here’s some of the books you can expect to see at #SDCC and how to win one of your own.



Penguin has a ton of titles featured at their booth, which can be found here. 

My top pick from them is Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike.



#1 New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike has created a heart-stopping romance built on a love triangle like you’ve never seen before and filled with epic stakes and a centuries-long conspiracy. Give it to fans of Beautiful Creatures and Nightshade.

Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told. 

Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents’ death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them–and that she may have been the true intended victim–she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.


Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.  Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn’t know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson’s love. And that’s the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she’d never do.


Penguin has a giveaway open to all of us! Enter HERE

ACE/ROC COMIC-CON® 2013 SWEEPSTAKES

Enter for a chance to win:
An Ace/Roc tote bag filled with the following books: The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy;Orleans by Sherri L. Smith; Legend by Marie Lu; Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes; Earthbound by Joe Haldeman; Adventure Time Mad Libs®; Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead; The Thousand Names by Django Wexler; Dark Storm by Christine Feehan; Marbles by Ellen Forney; Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton; Blood of the Lamb by Sam Cabot, and two advance readers copies, including Frozen: Heart of Dread by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston and Grim Company by Luke Scull 

Random House Kids is featuring The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine) by James Dashner


From James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, comes an all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure. The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.
 
Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

James is giving away a signed copy when his Eye of Minds facebook page reaches 100 likes, so go enter here.


Scholastic uncovered the new cover to book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) 
Read the full story here.


Chronicle Books has an awesome Comic-Con 6 book giveaway for those who can’t make it to San Diego. 

Grand Prize:

*Super Graphic ($18.95)


Enter on their facebook page here.

And last, but not least Harper Voyager is offering a free Comic-Con sampler! “With genres like science fiction, epic fantasy, urban and paranormal fantasy, military science fiction, supernatural, near-future thriller, and more, plus authors including Kim Harrison, Raymond E. Feist, Robin Hobb, Richard Kadrey, Vicki Pettersson, Ian Douglas, and newcomers like C. Robert Cargill, Nick Cole, among others.”

Download it for free here.

  • Huffington Post ran a story on what we missed in movie news for Divergent and Ender’s Game here. 
  • TheHobOrg is posting Hunger Games SDCC related news on their feed.
  • Plus, follow events live on twitter with one of our favorite bloggers,  @mundiemoms!
If you are an author or publisher with other SDCC book related news or giveaways, leave us a link in the comments, and we will add it on to our post.
What have you seen at Comic- Con so far and what were you most looking forward to?

Authorpalooza Winter 2013 Event Photos and Swag Giveaway

05 Mar, 2013 by in Heather Gardner Photography, sheralyn pratt, tyler whitesides 7 comments

 

Every year Barnes and Noble bookstores put on these amazing events with multiple authors we fondly call Authorpalooza. This year there were two rows of writers smooshed into the Sandy, Utah store to sign.
Among those authors signing were: Sheralynn Pratt, Elana Johnson, Heather Ostler, Melissa Lemon, Mette Ivie Harrison, James Dashner, Carla Kelly, Tyler Whitesides, Jessica Day George, Jennifer A. Nielsen, Cindy C Bennett, Duane Keown, Paul Rimmasch, L. Vaughn Curtis, A.E. Cannon, Michelle Snow, McKenzie Walker, Sherri Mills, Betsy Schow, Jeff Olsen, Howie Garber, David J. Ridges, Karla Turner, Michele Ashman Bell, Courtney King Walker, Heather Frost, Tres Hatch, Camron Wright, Lisa Rumsey Harris, Salvador Jimenez, Bobbie Pyron, Craig Farmer, Gale Sears, Ken Baker, Judy Byington
Sydney Cline, Kristyn Decker, B.K.Bostick, Christy Monson, Shannen Crane Camp, and Frank Cole.
Did I miss anyone?
There were so many people all in one place… not to mention bloggers Mindy from Min Reads and Reviews as well as Cathy from A Book A Day.
Heather managed to pick up some awesome swag with author signed bookmarks for our blog readers.
To enter to win: Comment below with which author you would like to meet or which title sounds most interesting of those pictured.
To see the author names click on over to Heather Gardner’s Photography page on facebook.  See the photos on black at her gallery on SmugMug.
If you were there this year, let us know! We love to meet new authors.

BIR 2010 Giveaway Prize Pack #5

13 Dec, 2010 by in matched, sarah beth durst 11 comments

Welcome to day 8 of the Best I’ve Read 2010 giveaways. We have four books to highlight today with a chance to win one!

Matched
By Ally Condie
Published by Dutton Juvenile
Website: http://www.allysoncondie.com/
4.5 stars

Book Summary:
In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

I first spotted an ARC of this book at the Writing for Charity event and I fell in love with the cover. It is magical. Shimmering. Perfect. Matched is a story that will stick with you long after you are done reading. And it’s one I could happily read over and over. Ally Condie is a master. She takes a dystopian concept and gives it a hopeful poetic tone. Her writing leaves an impact and a deep impression in your mind. This is a book that I see being taught in classrooms because of the ideas it presents and explores.

It starts out as Cassia is getting ready to attend her Matching ceremony, traveling along with her childhood friend Xander and their families. The whole event sounds like a girl’s dream. A new green silk dress, and the once in a lifetime chance to meet the man you may marry. The society hand picks them for you and statistics show all will be well.

Cassia’s path may be different than her peers, after her match goes wrong and she sees the faces of two boys instead of one. Both of them live in her borough, but one has a secret. Soon the perfect face of society will start to crumble as Cassia uncovers their methods. They control every facet of life: the food, the jobs, the history, and even the chances you will have in the future to succeed. Society officials watch your every move and limit your choices. As they once seemed protective and helpful they become Cassia’s source of confusion and entrapment. Will she be able to break free and choose love over loyalty?

Matched is slow moving but immersive. I found myself falling for both of Cassia’s men. They are incredible. The families are tight knit, each of the character’s pasts are intertwined and interconnected. The plot has layers which continue to unravel and the romance element is clean and perfect. I’m looking forward to the sequel, since in the end there are a lot of unanswered questions. Overall Matched is a beautiful, thought provoking book bound to become a classic.

The Scorch Trials:
Sequel to the Maze Runner
By James Dashner
Released Oct 12, 2010
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
http://www.jamesdashner.com/

The Maze was only the beginning…

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more Variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety… until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, much of the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated–and with it, order–and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim… and meal.

The Gladers are far from done running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder–does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

The Lonely Hearts Club
By Elizabeth Eulberg
Published by Point
Released December 29, 2009
http://www.elizabetheulberg.com/

Love is all you need… or is it? Penny’s about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It’s a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there’s this certain boy she can’t help but like. . . .

Enchanted Ivy
by Sarah Beth Durst
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published October 12th 2010
by Margaret K. McElderry

http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/

What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!

Lily’s test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he’s her guard. That’s weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.

When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

For a chance to win one of these titles as a part of BIR2010 enter here.

James Dashner Scorch Trials Release Party

13 Oct, 2010 by in Heather Gardner Photography, maze runner, scorch trials 27 comments

Last night was another fabulous release party hosted by The Kings English for James Dashner’s new book “The Scorch Trials,” book two in his Maze Runner series.

We learned that:

Thrive magazine announced The Maze Runner has been optioned by 20th Century Fox. They are currently writing a screenplay and selecting director for the movie. He hopes Robert Pattinson or Zac Efron play Thomas (LOL!)

The author that most inspired James is Dean Koontz, whose style he tries to emulate. Fast paced, short chapters. And the book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is his favorite book of all-time.

A very big player in this book “The Scorch Trials” is a certain disease called the Flare. He had to do a lot of research on the brain and viruses.

There is a thing in the second book called “Flat Trans”, very advanced technology

He is currently working on three series, including “The Thirteenth Reality”



James speaking to his readers


The scorched sugar cookies


Twilight MOMS Natalie, Christy, Amy O and book blogger Catie S

Also in attendence were YA writers and member of “The Six” Emily Wing Smith, Bree Despain, Brodi Ashton, Valynne Nagamatsu, author Nichole Giles and book blogger Maw Books. Special thanks to James for being so kind to us and teaching my oldest not to use the word “fart” in public. He has a new little fan!

We are giving away a signed hardback copy of The Scorch Trials to our readers.
Fill out this form to enter.
Contest ends November 12, 2010 and is open to US Residents only.

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum

23 Apr, 2010 by in book review, Shadow Mountain, Thriller, time slip romance Hannah Montana 3 comments

to be published: May 10th 2010 by Shadow Mountain
details: Hardcover, 416 pages
url http://leosdungeon.com/
characters: Abagail Beatrice Edmunds, Dante Alexander
isbn 1606416359
4 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads.. His eyes. His touch. His kiss. Dante was unlike anyone Abby had ever met. Now he’s gone, and Abby will do anything to get him back…

The hourglass door has closed behind Dante, sending him back in time to hunt down Zo, Tony, and V. Abby knows that Dante, as a Master of Time, is the only one who can stop them from destroying time itself. She also knows that he will need her help. But almost immediately, things start to change and Abby’s worst fears are realized when Zo begins targeting her past specifically.

With each new change that ripples into her present, Abby’s life continues to spiral out of control. Her relationships with Jason, Natalie, and even her family, are threatened to the breaking point – and beyond. Zo’s power is greater than Abby ever imagined, and as she struggles to free Dante, she receives help from an unexpected – and unlikely – ally.

As Abby’s world fractures around her, she must face a terrible truth: either Dante didn’t make it through the door, or he is lost forever. So with Dante’s blueprints in hand, she begins construction on a new door, a new time machine that will either save Dante – or doom him.

The river of time is running wild, churning up secrets and betrayals, revelations and promises. With each new turn of the river, Abby faces a new challenge. Who can she trust? And how many more changes can she survive?

The bank is eroding, the barriers are thinning. And time is running out

Book two in the Hourglass Door trilogy was sent to me as an ARC from Shadow Mountain publishing and I let out a squee when it arrived. I met Lisa Mangum at the Authorpalooza in Utah a couple of years ago and the first book in the trilogy is amazing! So needless to say I got right to work on reading it. That being said, I wish I would have re-read book one before jumping back into the trilogy. My ADD brain had a hard time picking up where it left off a year ago. I think they two books would be best when read in sequence, one right after the other. The second book picks up with Dante stuck between the banks of time and I for one really missed him! The highlights of this book for me were the tidbits of native Italian (put more in book three please), the dark room sequence, and hearing stories of the Pirate King. This book is philosophically detailed with theories of time travel, music, and the creation of limits and balance. Obviously the author, Lisa Mangum is a deep thinker!
My favorite chuckle was in the acknowledgements where Lisa advises other writers to “find inspiration wherever you can” She says, “One night I dreamed my friend James Dashner and Hannah Montana were doing the “Thriller” dance complete with zombie moves and the make up. That dream saved he ending of this book. It’s probably best if you don’t ask too many questions on that one…”
Overall, I gave it four stars and reading this book inspired me to start a time slip collection on Etsy which will be revealed this weekend. I am even thinking I may try my hand at a photo gallery and book trailer. If you are interested in participating in our ARC tour for the Golden Spiral please email me your snail mail address and link to your blog at fireandice.heather@gmail.com