Posts Tagged: kami garcia

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia~ Blog Tour, Top Ten and Giveaway

03 Oct, 2013 by in unbreakable Leave a comment

Fire and Ice welcomes Kami Garcia to the site today as part of the official blog tour for Unbreakable:The Legion Book One. Tour arranged by Fangirlish.

Kami is here with us to share two Top 5 lists and an awesome prize pack giveaway.

Kami Garcia’s Top 5
Urban Legends

1) The Clown Statue – A babysitter is freaked out by a family’s clown statue. When the parents call to check on the kids, she mentions it. They tell the babysitter that they don’t have a clown statue. In some versions, she leaves the house and learns that a midget has been killing people. In other versions, he kills her. * Another reason not to fill your house with creepy clown statues.

2) The Jersey Devil – Believed to be the abandoned child of a witch and the devil himself, the legendary creature is often described as having the head of a goat and bat-like wings. In the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, people claim to hear his blood-curdling cries.

3) Bloody Mary – I love this one because I think every elementary school kid has been dared to do this at one time or another. According to the legend, if you turn off the lights, face a mirror, and say, “Bloody Mary” three times, you will call up the ghost of a woman persecuted for witchcraft. In some versions, Mary’s ghost will kill the offender.

4) Vanishing Hitchhiker — A man picks up a woman hitchhiking on a deserted road. When they get to the address she gave him, he looks in the backseat and she’s gone.

5) Alligator in the Sewer – In one popular version of the story, a couple returns from Florida or Louisiana with baby alligators. Eventually, the gators get too big, and the couple flushes them down the toilet, Of course, the gators survive and thrive in the sewer, where they reproduce and  eat sewer workers.

Kami Garcia’s Top 5
Haunted Places

West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia – Between the men executed in the “Old Sparky,” the prison’s electric chair, to the deaths from illness and torture, Moundsville is a breeding ground for paranormal activity. The Ghost Hunters even investigated the site. Open for guided tours. The prison is featured in Unbreakable.

The Sultan’s Palace in New Orleans, Louisiana – The house was owned by a sultan, who forced a harem of women and young boys to live their against their will, subjecting them to torture and his sadistic whims. Even more sinister was the way he died—buried alive in the yard, his wives and harem murdered. Visitors believes he haunts the residence.

Bell Witch House in Adams, Tennessee – Want to wake up with a few bruises or take a nap with thousands of cockroaches? That’s what happened to the Bell family when the Bell Witch haunted and terrorized them 1817-1822.  The Bell farm was located on the Trail of Tears, the route taken by the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, and Choctaw tribes when they were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma by the US government. Tours are available.

Lilburn Mansion in Ellicott City, Maryland – The ghost of a girl in a chiffon dress, swinging chandeliers, and heavy footsteps in the tower are what homeowners can expect from Lilburn Mansion. The house was originally built in 1847 by iron trader Henry Hazelhurst, whose wife and daughter died there. Frequent hauntings were reported after a fire destroyed the Gothic tower, and the new owners rebuilt the tower in a different architectural style. Ghosts hate construction—and change. The house is featured in Unbreakable.

Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California – Want to wander through a labyrinth of rooms and hallways that often dead-end at brick walls? Once the residence of Winchester rifle heiress, Sarah Winchester, the Victorian house was under constant construction around the clock, from 1884 until 1922. Today it’s a tourist attraction.

Official Bio: Kami Garcia is the #1 New York Times & international bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful
Creatures Series and the author of UNBREAKABLE, the first book in the Legion Series, releasing on October 1, 2013.

 Kami is fascinated by the paranormal, and she’s very superstitious. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found watching disaster movies, listening to Soundgarden, or drinking Diet Coke. She lives in Maryland with her family, and their dogs Spike and Oz (named after characters from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Lean more about Kami: Official Website/  Facebook 
Twitter: @kamigarcia
Tumblr: kamigarcia.tumblr.com

The Legion Series
Official Website/ Facebook
Twitter: @TheLegionSeries
Tumblr: thelegionseries.tumblr.com

As part of the blog tour there is a huge Unbreakable prize pack giveaway! To enter fill out the rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beautiful Darkness Signing at King’s English

22 Oct, 2010 by in margaret stohl, new YA fiction 52 comments

Last night was the final tour stop for YA authors Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia’s Beautiful Darkness Book Tour at Utah Indie bookstore The King’s English. Kami and Margie were full of Southern Hospitality even though they herald from L.A.
If you want a good laugh, tune in and watch their previous blog T.V. coverage of the tour. They have fun bantering back & forth. (Frequently MStohl breaks into random song) Kami revealed she likes to think of new ways to kill off her characters, so you can bet not everyone survives the four book series. She is a Black Sabbath type of girl while Margaret prefers Glee.
The two have already planned out the entire series via grape smelly marker on a white board. Interestingly, the original idea for Beautiful Creatures came after hearing a group of teens complain about what they saw in YA fiction and what they wanted to see change.

YA contemp author Emily Wing Smith
hosted the first Q&A session and introduced her upcoming book
“Back When You Were Easier To Love” to be released April 28, 2010 by Dutton.

Brodi Ashton, author or the upcoming Ever’neath series mediated the Q&A speed round where questions were taken by blog TV participants online as well as live participants. In the audienc fieilding questions was Bree Despain, author of The Dark Divine.


Fellow Utah Book Bloggers Emily’s Reading Room were there with their Literati group.


I got to see some of my fun and favorite TwilightMOMS

Lisa- founder of Twilight MOMS, me, Jenny and Tara

and I spent my days before hand collecting meaningful junk for gift necklaces.


Here’s where you all come in…

Kami and Margaret were generous with their swag and we are giving some away. Our prize pack includes a Beautiful Darkness bookmark, a pin from the authors and one of my handmade necklaces.
Simply comment below to be entered to win.
Contest ends November 21, 201o and is open internationally.

Book Review- Beautiful Darkness

21 Oct, 2010 by in margaret stohl 2 comments

Hardcover, 512 pages
Published October 12th 2010 by Little Brown ISBN0316077054
series Caster Chronicles #2
4 stars

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems

First of all a special thanks to fellow Twilight MOM Laura for letting me borrow her advanced reading copy of Beautiful Darkness before its release. She’s the best! I enjoyed this installment even more that I did Beautiful Creatures, finished it almost two weeks ago and the story has really stuck with me.

Beautiful Darkness picks up with Lena in a tough place after the events that unfolded on the night of her 16th birthday. She’s grieving and trying to figure out where she stands…torn between the world of a light and dark caster. Book #2 of the Caster Chronicles has a much more angst feel as she explores her dark side.

Here’s what I loved about the book

-New boy character John Breed. I wish we could have learned more about him but I have a hunch he will be back in a big way in book #3.

-The rich world building that combines every day southern culture and caster underground. In this book you are introduced to tunnels laying under Gatlin and secret passageways into a whole other world. Picture The Wizard of Oz’ ish alternate reality.

-The background history behind who Ethan’s mother Lila was and how intertwined his family is with Lena’s. She is a strong female adult character who influences past and future.

-We see more of Ethan’s housekeeper Amma. She keeps popping up in random places during the story to save the day. She’s got some sass and know how to whip up a mean pie for the county faire.

-The detail in Kami and Margie’s writing. They pack so much information in there its hard to process it all. But wow, they’ve upped the anty in this book. Intelligent, beautiful rich passages make the story immersive.

On the flipside, it took me a while to get back into the groove after a year has lapsed since the first book Beautiful Creatures. I would recommend reading that one again before picking up #2. There are a lot of repeat characters and back history that would be difficult to understand without the prequel. The series definitely builds on itself.

My favorite scene: when Ethan finds Lena on her ceiling surrounded in her thoughts. For some reason is an image that stuck with me after I finished. She is dealing with so many complex emotions and her writing, doodling and dress portray outwardly what she is feeling on the inside.

My favorite thing overall about the series: all of the symbolism and objects they tie into the story. It makes the book more tangible and real.

I’ll be at the Beautiful Darkness signing tonight at Kings English Bookshop -7 PM. Stay tuned for photos and news. And if you are in Utah… stop by! Margie and Kami are so fun to meet in person. If you are some where else, catch live coverage via blog TV. See their website for details http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/

In My Mailbox #18

11 Oct, 2010 by in m stohl, rachael renee anderson, Shannon Hale, sheralyn pratt 6 comments


In My Mailbox is a weekly bookish meme hosted by the Story Siren. Got some really yummy goodies these last two weeks!!
  • Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and M Stohl– ARC, borrowed from my friend Laura, currently reading
  • Penitence by Jennifer Laurens- bought from The Books Depository for review
  • Forest Born by Shannon Hale- bought from local Indie bookstore Fire Petal Books
  • Divinely Designed by Rachael Renee Anderson- bought from Half.com- for review
  • City Limits by Sheralyn Pratt- new release, author signed copy- bought at Deseret Book ladies night book signing
  • Blink of An Eye by Gregg Luke-received from author, signed copy-for giveaway and interview, currently reading
  • The Silence Of God– bought for author interview and review, met author at Ladies Night
  • Mistwood– bought from Fire Petal books, already read, 4 stars

Caster Girls BC Ridley Contest

07 Jan, 2010 by in margaret stohl Leave a comment


Caster Girls is giving away some great Ridley swag from the book “Beautiful Creatures” by Kami Garcia dn Margaret Stohl.

You can win: a 5×7 Ridley Print from VLC Photo, BC bracelets and dog tag, Pink Hair clips, Ridley’s candy, and Ridley’s shoes signed by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl!

Click here to enter http://castergirls.com/ridley-kicks-a-contest/

Contest ends February 1st.
Open to USA only.