COVER REVEAL: Tirade (Heven and Hell #3) by Cambria Hebert

Today we have for you another cover reveal from Cambria Hebert. This is the next book in the Heven and Hell series. All I can say is WOW!!! Amazing cover!!!

Title: Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)

Genre: YA paranormal

Publisher: Cambria Hebert

Release date: November 30, 2012

Format: Ebook and Paperback

Betrayal burns. Death hurts and the clock ticks…

Minutes and hours stretch into days. How long can Sam survive being confined in Hell? I have a plan… a plan with a lot of holes. I need someone who can make up for my weaknesses, someone who possesses the power that I lack. Riley is supposed to be off limits. He’s dangerous, he’s mean and he’s not to be trusted. But I do.

Beelzebub is on a tirade, bent on revenge. I took what he wants and sent him into the flames. I will wear the scars of his punishments forever. But scars don’t scare me anymore.

On my way to free Sam I find my true path, a secret place and new allies. But in Hell nothing is easy… and everything is cruel. The only thing left to do is survive.

Links: Facebook l Twitter l Website

                                

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH... Kaitlin Bevis

About the Author (Taken from Goodreads)
I spent my childhood curled up with a book, and a pen. If the ending didn’t agree with me, I rewrote it. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I spent high school and college learning everything I could so that one day I could achieve that goal. I graduated college with my BFA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and am pursuing my masters at the University of Georgia.
My young adult fiction novel “Persephone,” will be released this summer. I also write for Athens Parent Magazine, and truuconfessions.com. I have also published several short stories, my latest, Siren Song, is available on amazon.com.

Links: Website l Blog l Twitter

Persephone 
There are worse things than death, worse people too

The “talk” was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn’t until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.

Links: Goodreads l Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Smashwords

Five Questions:
1. Why did you choose to write a book in the Young Adult genre?

I love young adult books. About ninety percent of what I read is YA. I feel like the books require more plot and better character arcs than adult books, because adult books can fall back on sex and drama to up the tension. So when it came to writing my own stories, I knew YA was the way to go. You write what you read. It's just what's in my head. 


2. Who is your favourite character you have written and why?

That changes just about daily. I love Cassandra and Melissa, because they both have such unique points of view in my story, and it can be a relief to see another perspective. Of course I love Persephone, but right now my favorite character is Hades. As it stands right now, book three is a joint pov between him and Persephone, and after two books of Persephone figuring out her limitations and experimenting with having powers, it's kind of nice to write as someone who can just blast people away and knows it.

3. Describe a typical writing day for you?

I tend to think over my scenes during the day. Mostly when I'm driving, and then sit down and write it out at night. I write on my ipad because it's the most portable thing I can actually efficiently write with. Throughout the day if I have a minute I'll take it out of my purse and read over what I have, making improvements here and there. What really keeps me on the ball is my writers group. I have a weekly submission deadline if I want them to critique what I've got.

4. What are you reading at the moment?

Agamemnon by Aeschylus and Shakespeare's Coriolanus. I'm studying for the GRE English Literature subject test, so I haven't read anything fun and relaxing in a WHILE. 

5. If you turned your ipod on now, what would be the song that is currently playing?

The best poems of all time volume 1 and 2 or Shakespeare's sonnets. Again, for the GRE. Studying for that has pretty much consumed my reading a listening life. But after October 10th I'll be able to listen to music again! Right now my favorite singer is Lorena McKennet because I can listen to an actual song and still be studying. Her rendition of The Highwayman is incredible. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BLOG TOUR: REVIEW & GIVEAWAY - Madly & the Jackal (Madly #3) by M. Leighton

Madly (Madly #1)
Madly is your average nearly-eighteen year old girl—for a princess, that is.

Madly James is thoroughly enjoying her internship in the small town of Slumber when the unthinkable happens—there’s a prison break in Atlas, the magically-protected home of Madly’s race. A traitor has set free eight Lore, the spirits of what humans know as fairy tales, and they are making their way to Slumber to awaken their descendants. 

In order to save her home, the lives of her family, and all of humanity, Madly must learn to wield her exceptional powers and recapture the Lore before it’s too late and all is lost. But Madly’s only help are her two best friends and the Sentinel, Jackson Hamilton, that threatens both her heart and her destiny. Madly has loved Jackson as long as she can remember, but he is the one thing even a princess can’t have. Can she resist love to become the queen she was fated to be? Or can she find a way to have both?

You can download Madly FREE from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Madly and Wolfhardt ( Madly #2)
Madly is your average nearly-eighteen year old girl—for a princess, that is.

Madly James is thoroughly enjoying her internship in the small town of Slumber when the unthinkable happens—there’s a prison break in Atlas, the magically-protected home of Madly’s race. A traitor has set free eight Lore, the spirits of what humans know as fairy tales, and they are making their way to Slumber to awaken their descendants. 

The first spirit to arrive is that of Ulrich Wolfhardt, a man that was once obsessed with wolves and a young maiden he would follow through the woods. After a bite from a wolf, Wolfhardt’s obsession with the girl became an unnatural hunger and the young maiden’s grandmother cursed him with a fate worse than death. And now he’s back…with a vengeance and a bite that can infect others as well.

Madly must learn the identity of Wolfhardt’s descendant and stop him before he kills again and spreads his curse across the earth. But the only person strong enough to help Madly is Jackson, the Sentinel who vowed to protect her and the one person capable of breaking her heart. Can Madly resist forbidden love long enough to save the world from Wolfhardt? Or will she have to sacrifice her heart and her destiny to save the ones she loves?

Madly and the Jackal (Madly #3)
How deep does love run? Deeper than the ocean? Deeper than memory? Deeper than magic?

Following their plan to save Atlas, Madly and Jackson return the spirit of Wolfhardt to his prison beneath the sea. But even the best laid plans couldn’t account for the surprises they find. This time, Lore aren’t their only challenges. 

Madly is special in ways no one could have guessed and dark forces seek to control her. They want her power, but first they must weaken her. They need her beaten. Vulnerable. Near death. And alone. But that task isn’t an easy one with Jackson at her side. The strongest of their kind, the only way to separate Jackson from Madly is to destroy his love for her, to erase it from his mind. And his heart. 

Is it possible to steal Jackson’s love from Madly? Or is their love the only truly unbreakable thing?

REVIEW of Madly and the Jackal (Madly #3)
OH. MY. LORD!!!! Somebody needs to give me a good shake for never having picked up the Madly series to read before now. Thank god that I somehow came to my senses and rectified this because like everything else that M. Leighton writes, this is amazing!!

The whole series is kick ass incredible, but book #3, Madly & the Jackal is just epic in it's awesomeness!!! From the very first word to the very last word, I did not put this book down, so I apologise to my family for the lack of interaction you got from me while I devoured this.

Madly & the Jackal picks up right where Madly & Wolfhardt finishes. Jackson and Madly have finally declared their love for each other and are headed to Atlas to return Wolfhardt to prison. Once they arrive in Atlas they discover that things are much worse that they originally thought. There are greater evils to fight and bigger obstacles to overcome.

Madly and Jackson are sizzling HOT!! I love this couple!! I love Jackson!! I think at the moment he is right up at the top of my book crushes and that's saying something because he has some pretty stiff competition. And how well does this author write romance and hotness! Jackson and Madly are dripping in it!! This book contains some pretty steamy scenes but they are written so well and so beautifully that I didn't once feel like it was too much. But like all good stories Madly and Jackson will have their love put to the test. I don't want to give away what happens but boy, it's a biggie!! I was devastated by the turn things took!

So, if you want a sassy and strong protagonist, an incredibly hot, strong and loving leading man, an amazing group of supporting characters, action, romance, a story with a beautiful backdrop and the exceptional writing of M. Leighton, then this is definitely the book for you!! This is without a doubt one of my favourite series ever!! I cannot wait for more!!

5 Huge, Amazing, Incredible Stars!!!

If you would like to listen to the playlist, you can check that out HERE

Links: Facebook l Blog l Twitter l Goodreads l Amazon l Barnes & Noble

You can check out the rest of the tour stops at AToMR

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW: Ember (Death Collectors, #1) by Jessica Sorensen

What if you knew when someone was going to die?

For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven. 

Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind.

But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

Review: (Contains Possible Spoilers)

I'm going to hang my head in shame as I admit to never having read anything by Jessica Sorensen before. It's not because I haven't wanted to. I actually have a few of her books on my Kindle just begging to be read. But you know how it is, there are so many books you want to read that unfortunately some get lost in your TBR pile. But I've now dug them out and plan on reading them ASAP!!

Now, if you love your books a bit dark then Ember is the book for you. Darkness and death seep from it's pages. And personally, I loved it!!

17 year old Ember has been dealt a crappy life. If her missing criminal father, her drug addicted absent mother, her depressed brother and the fact that she's pretty much an outcast in her community aren't enough then there is the fact that she can sense death. With the slightest touch Ember sees in vivid clarity the scene of how the person she touches will die!! So she does her best to avoid it. She goes to great lengths to have no physical contact with anyone. But that doesn't always work. And she's seen the horrible and graphic deaths of so many people. But then she meets the new guy in town, Asher Morgan and when he touches her there is quiet and calmness and the absence of death. I loved Asher and I loved the romance between him and Ember.

We have a bit of a love triangle in this book, but then it's not really because I think that whilst there is another male, Cameron vying for Ember's attention there really isn't any competition. But this whole cast of characters will leave you guessing as to their goodness or to where there loyalties lie. Things and people aren't always as they seem so that you are left guessing throughout the book. And it sure keeps you on your toes.

Another element of the book that I enjoyed was the little snippets of poetry between Ember and Cameron that are interspersed throughout the story. There's not a lot of it but it really added another layer to the wonderful storytelling from Jessica Sorenson.

So for something a bit dark and thoroughly gripping and a story that will keep you guessing, grab yourself a copy of Ember. Now, I'm off to read something else by this amazing author...

4/5 Stars!

Links: Goodreads l Amazon

BLOG TOUR: REVIEW & GIVEAWAY - Hollowed by Kelley York

Book Description:
All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn't supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she's turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah's secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister...who died years ago. 

(Didn't she?)

The city's body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she'd lost.

Review:
I first discovered the awesome talent that is Kelley York when I read Hushed and I've been incredibly eager to read more from her ever since. So when I heard about the Hollowed blog tour, I jumped at the chance to be involved! Hollowed isn't a book that eases you into the action. No, Hollowed grabs you and throws you right into the middle of it!! 

Briar Greyson is 18 years old. She's independent, she has a boyfriend who she loves and a best friend that she shares an apartment with. Things are pretty good in Briar's world except for the fact that she is still mourning the loss of her sister who was murdered a few years ago. One night while walking home from work, her and her roommate are attacked. Briar survives but her roommate isn't so lucky. But Briar is definitely not the same person she was before she was attacked. She is infected with the virus that will turn her into a vampire!

One of the things that I loved most about this book is Kelley York's ability to create this character in Briar that is so relatable. No, not the being a vampire part, but her feelings of uncertainty, her feelings of loss, her feelings of anger and the unknown. These are all feelings that we can relate to and empathise with her. Briar is faced with some incredibly tough situations and she handles them just as you would expect her to.

And while this book contains vampires, witches, shifters and the usual fare that we see in paranormal books, these characters were different. Whilst the baddies were exceptional in their badness, it was the good guys that contained this humanness to them. Cole, Oliver and Daniel were such likeable characters. They were all protective in their own way of Briar and helped ease her into the unknown world that she has been thrust into. Add Noah into the mix and despite the fact that he loathes the existence of vampires he always seems to be there when Briar needs him.

Hollowed is filled with enough action, twists and turns, paranormal elements and romance to keep you completely engrossed. Add in the Kelley York factor and you end up with one incredibly awesome read!!

4.5 Stars

Links: Goodreads l Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Smashwords

About the author:
Kelley writes anything from dark to light, contemporary to paranormal. She was born and raised in central California where she still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She adores all things furry, be them squeaky, barky or meow-y, is a lover of video games, and likes to pretend she's a decent photographer and artist. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or to at least write about them.

Links: Twitter l Website l Blog 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PROMOTIONAL EVENT & GIVEAWAY: Dark Summer (Book I, Witchling Trilogy) by Lizzy Ford

Title: “Dark Summer” (Book I, Witchling Trilogy)

Genre and Age Group: Young Adult Paranormal

Author: Lizzy Ford

Release date: August 16

A girl with a broken past and a dark secret. A boy with a twisted future and no second chances. When they meet, it just might cost them their souls.

Sixteen-year-old Summer doesn’t expect the new boarding school to be any different than the rest: a temporary stay where everyone will turn against her after a few weeks. Until she meets the rest of the students at this special school and realizes she’s not the only one with magic in her blood. Accustomed to the concrete jungle of LA, she gets lost one night in the forests of the Rocky Mountains and meets Decker, the boy who will become the Master of Night and Fire on his eighteenth birthday. Their connection is instant and dangerous, for both will be forced to choose between Light and Dark, life and death, love – and their souls.

One choice. One soul. One price.

Links: Goodreads l Amazon l Amazon UK

EXCERPT

“You want to dance here?” she asked, taking it. “There’s no music.”

Decker swept her into his arms. “We don’t need music.”

They didn’t. Her touch made him shudder, and their bodies synced as they did every time they danced. The music originated from their entwined souls. The blue flames of his magick traveled over her at each point where their bodies touched. Like a switch turning off, the chaos in his mind disappeared. His body relaxed, and he sensed her body yield as well.

“You’re not talking about dancing,” she said.

“No, I’m not,” he replied, heart quickening. He was lost in her dark gaze and soft scent, both girly and earthy. “I’m talking about this, whatever this is. I wasn’t sure you felt it.”

“I do. I just … I’m afraid of what it means.”

“You’ll fear it more when I tell you what I am.”

She tensed but didn’t look away or try to move away. Pressed together, their bodies kept the innate rhythm.

“What?” she asked at last.

Decker drew a breath. Fear trickled through him at the thought of her rejection. He couldn’t live with himself if she walked away. He couldn’t live with himself if he tricked her into being with him, and she found out in two weeks what that really meant. She’d hate him.

“Decker, what?”

“When Beck and I turn eighteen, he becomes the Master of Light, and I become the Master of …”

She stumbled and stopped in place, staring up at him. Her breathing grew fast and erratic, the pulse in her wrist beating like a machine gun against his hand.

“Fire and Night,” she finished in a voice almost too quiet to hear.

He nodded, throat tightening.

Her gaze went to the blue fire traveling up and down her arms. Decker looked at it as well, unable to stop the creep of his magick into her body. It acted as if they were one body, not two, and wouldn’t stay inside him. She said nothing. Decker shifted away and released her, expecting the rejection to follow. The effect she had on him faded without disappearing completely.

“I’m sorry, Summer,” he whispered. “I understand.”

He turned to walk away. The chaos and fury returned to his head. He walked a few steps and was about to run for the darkness of the forest when her cool hand touched his arm. Decker stopped without turning.

About Lizzy

Lizzy Ford is the self-publishing phenom, author of the sweet paranormal romance series: "Rhyn Trilogy" and "War of Gods" series; and the young adult fantasy trilogies, “The Foretold,” and “Witchling.” She has also authored multiple single title young adult fantasy and paranormal romances. Lizzy's books have reached the bestseller lists on Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble in multiple categories. Widely considered a freak of nature by her contemporaries for her ability to write and publish a new book every 30-45 days, Lizzy attributes her success to a team that consists of her editor, graphics artist, I.T. Sherpa, and her rabid readers. 

Lizzy released ten books in 2011 and intends to release another ten in 2012, including launching two more series. Lizzy’s books can be found on every major ereader library, to include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords. She lives in southern Arizona with her husband, three dogs and a cat. 

Lizzy’s links online

Website: http://www.guerrillawordfare.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LizzyFordBooks

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/LizzyFord2010

Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/106728579413949863215/#106728579413949863215/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4558309.Lizzy_Ford

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lizzy-Ford/e/B004XTTYOC/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: Janine Caldwell

Self-proclaimed late bloomer Janine Caldwell, YA author of The Vortex Series, didn’t decide to become a writer until she was 30. “Not for any lack of love for reading,” she explains. Janine has always loved literature and received a B.A. in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo located off the central coast of California. “I just never believed I could write for a living since it’s something I exceedingly enjoy to do.”

The first two books in Janine’s debut YA series are REMATCH and DOUBLE FAULT, a supernatural romance that plays out what would happen if you could jump back to your past and live your life out differently. The third and final book in the series, DEUCE, Janine plans to publish in 2013.

Janine currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing yoga, spending time with her family and friends, or getting caught up on the latest YA series.

Links: Website l Twitter l Facebook l Goodreads Blog

Rematch (The Vortex Series #1)

In REMATCH, Cassie and Trent’s worlds are about to collide, but not in the way you might normally expect. After a rocky start to their senior year, Trent is determined to hide from Cassie how their lives are supernaturally linked. But when Cassie’s past continues to torment her, she’s soon looking to Trent for answers. Trent must choose between admitting what he is and his role in her past, or running away from her forever.

Links: Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Smashwords l iBooks

Double Fault (The Vortex Series #2)

DOUBLE FAULT is the 2nd book in The Vortex Series where Cassie and Trent’s problems have only just begun as they navigate through a parallel world rot with mind-blowing complexity. With Cassie’s tennis career hanging in the balance, she continues to watch her world crumble while fiercely hiding a secret that might cause her to lose what’s most dear to her heart.

Links: Amazon l Barnes & Noble l Smashwords l iBooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RELEASE DAY BLITZ: Their Promise by Brina Courtney

One moment can change your life forever.

One moment to find love.

One moment to lose it.

Buy Link: Amazon

Brina's Twitter

Like her on facebook

Brina's Website

This is a young adult contemporary romance novella.

Release Day Blitz comes to you via SupaGurl Tours

BLOG TOUR: Excerpt & Giveaway - Spider Brains by Susan Wingate

If one were to bake the story SPIDER BRAINS into a cake, they should sprinkle in Charlotte’s Web, toss in one Jellicle Cat, then stir in a little Spiderman—but as a girl and not in that goofy latex outfit! A tale of hope, transformation, transition and inspiration.

After her father’s death last year and, now, in the throes of a gnarly teacher’s whim as she thinks ahead to college (or really just dreams of getting into college), a small black arachnid bites fifteen-year-old Susie Speider on the finger. The bite sends her nights into fantastical dreams about taking revenge on a teacher who, ultimately, holds her college aspirations in the palm of her cold calloused hand. But, after Susie figures out the dreams are real, she ups the ante by visiting the teacher regularly… as the spider! And, oh, by the way! Who is that boy spider munching on flies, hiding over there in the corner? A story of loss and forgiveness, tolerance and kindness, Susie Speider deals with the death of her father while Matt Ryder–the new neighbor boy–has just lost his mother. Ultimately, SPIDER BRAINS poses some important questions about how to treat Attention-Deficit-Disorder.

About the author: 

Most recently, Susan Wingate’s novels, SPIDER BRAINS and DROWNING each reached Amazon Bestseller status in 2012. DROWNING won the 2011 Forward National Literature Award for Drama. She would love for you to read her books. You can find them all under the tab on this site labeled “Books”. SUSAN has written eleven novels, two short story collections, a few plays, one screenplay and tons of poems. Her latest 2011 novel DROWNING  (contemporary women’s fiction), won 1st place in the 2011 Forward National Literature Award and also won a finalist award for the category of Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit in the 2011 International Book Awards. A vibrant public speaker, Susan offers inspiring, motivational talks about the craft of writing, publishing and marketing, and how to survive this extremely volatile (e-)Publishing industry. She presents these lectures for private groups and at writing conferences, libraries and bookstores around the country.

Excerpt:

ONE – SPEIDER: The E is Silent
Me?
Super human kid by night, regular high school teenager by day. I’m a junior. Well, next year.
My name is Susie Speider. The E is silent. My name is NOT pronounced speeder. For crying out loud. We are not a family of racers. Sheesh.
My problem? There are two major-stager problems in my life. My meds, for starters. They say I’m ADD. Yeah. Like, so, I concentrate on the moment du jour. What’s wrong with that?
Then, there’s the issue with my grades. They suck. And, my teacher, Ms. Morlson. She hates my guts! She holds my going or not going to the U in the palm of her cold calloused clammy hands.
(This  is a pic of me. The QUEEN of dorks). But, with the new glasses my mom got me and my new meds, maybe I can improve over the next two years enough to bring my grades up to pass with something decent.
The problem? With these new glasses now I look like a short amorphous geeky version of the svelte coolamundo Morticia from the Addam’s Family but not in a good way and certainly not with her way cool clingy clothes. Plus, with my braces, Lord, I look like the empress of geeks on planet Nerd-O-1.
As mom says my glasses might allow me grades, “good enough to get you into at least one of the state’s colleges.” She said colleges but I knew she meant universities.
Mom didn’t go to college so she thinks any grade higher than high school senior is college. I suppose she’s right to some extent but there are those, you know, who might argue.
Sooo.
I’m trying out new words right now, new catch-phrases, like “fierce” and “sick,” and like “rad.” Rad is just a shortened word for radical. I’m thinking of shortening the word amazing to “am” or “azin’” but worry that people might mistake me for a Cockney gal talking about small wrinkly fruit. That would be lame.
See, though, and this is pretty astonishing, the editor of the school newspaper, she’s a senior, her name is Tanya (not pronounced Tŏnya but Tănya), well, I sort of think she understands me. I think. I mean, ’cause, whenever I see her, I give her an installment of a very unique and unusual, weird word. I find them on this way cool website called, BrownieLocks. Anywho. She treats me okay. She takes my words, anyway, and sometimes they show up in the paper.
Of course, no one will want to use any of the words I make up.
I’m not cool. Only cool kids make up catch-phrases like sick.
I’m a nerd and not even the good kind. My grades suck. So, I guess, that makes me more of a dork.
Pathetic.
I have a pussy, a pussy-cat. And, yes, I say pussy so Get Over It!
Most of my girlfriends have pussies, well, two of them. Anyway, the only two girlfriends I have in the whole entire world who go Ronkonkoma High, Ricki and Jamie. The only bad thing about Ronkonkoma High School, well other than the mascot (the Roc), the pep clubbers ( the Roc-kers), all the popular kids, the loadies, the boys who somehow believe they magically lived in Tombstone during their gestation period and came out looking like cowboys, the principle, and Ms. Morlson–yuk. Well, the only bad thing other than those bad things is that Ronkonkoma High sits only a block or so past the cemetery and the cemetery sits a block or so past my house.
I hate the cemetery. I used to walk by it. No prob.
Anymore? Not so much. Now, I go the long way.
Mine is named Delilah. My pussy cat!? ‘Member? Please track.
Ricki’s is Joe.
Dweeb. Plus, Joe is a girl. Dweeb squared.
Jamie’s is Sasha. A more pussy-like name. If. Ever.
Ricki’s name is really Ricki but Jamie’s is not. Jamie’s real name is Jane because of some freakish love affair Jane’s mother and father have for Tarzan. They have every kind of Tarzan story, poster, old movie playbill, Tarzan dolls (still in their packaging for better return on their dollars! OMG), and Tarzan sidekicks too, like Boy and Cheetah. It’s totally dorky. Although, I must admit, Cheetah is pretty cool.
So, Jane, who I’ve known since Ronkonkoma Elementary and then Ronkonkoma Middle School and now Ronkonkoma High, changed her name to Jamie when she entered high school as a freshman. People still call her Jane, though, and make monkey noises at her. Not nice. People bite sometimes. But, Jane just ignores them like, “Huh? What did you just say? I can’t HEAR YOU!” And, tugs a long strand of her pink streaky hair out from behind her ear and lets it hang into her face. She’s all about Goth. I thought she’d get over it in the fifth grade but it stuck.
God.
Still, she’s my friend, probably my BFF, kind of more than Ricki ‘cause Ricki is super smart and prettier than me and Jane/Jamie by like eons away. But, Ricki doesn’t think about boys too much, just Billy, so she doesn’t wear make-up and she loves science and she spends all of her time with her father who is kind of nerdy because he is an actuary so he’s always counting on something. If you know what I’m saying.
He will, just, all of the sudden burst into Ricki’s bedroom when we’re all studying at her house and say “Did you know the average age of people who die from, blah, blah, blah…” and then my eyes glaze over like an old dog’s and I fall back onto her bed and start twirling my pencil like it’s a baton and I zone myself into marching bands and football games and before you know it, he leaves. Good Gandalf, he’s weird. Plus, he’s so ugly it explains why Ricki’s mother left him and that’s where Ricki gets her ‘pretty’ gene from. You know.
My name? Just plain old Susie. Though, I thought about dropping the E from each of my names,
Susie Speider = Susi Spidr
but it looked too graphic novel, so I just keep my stupid name the way it has been since I was just a sperm cell swimming up inside mom’s hoo.
And, don’t act like my mom never had sex. It seems kind of gross but everybody should do it at least once in their life.
Get over it.
Maybe even I will someday but not with the way these new stupid glasses make me look.
I’m trying to talk mom into getting me contacts.
“We’ll see.”
Sooo. What else…
Oh. Mother hated my grades and my “inability to focus” as she put it and got me into psych ther and got me these specs and onto meds and now my dyslexia isn’t so dyslexic, my ADD isn’t so disordered and my grades this semester actually have improved. Drastically, really. Like, they totally went 4.0 across the board. ‘Azin!
Mom’s happy and that’s good ‘cause mom’s a good old gal. And, I hate it when I make mom cry. She cries enough without my antics.
Mom graduated in 1990 from Ronkonkoma High.
Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. I know how gross it is to graduate from the same high school as your own mom.
After she graduated mom went to work for Costco as a boxer. Not the kind with gloves, the kind with cardboard boxes. Doi.
She performed so well there that they promoted her to cashier and when she excelled as a cashier, they suggested she enter the management program which she did and now she’s a regional manager covering Ronkonkoma, NY, Sanguay, NY and Poughkeepsie, NY. That’s pretty cool, I think. ‘Cause even though mom’s totally out of touch with what’s cool today, she’s still pretty cool. Plus, she works at the Nesconset store which is only an easy breezy four miles or so from our house–a one, no. 9 Sloan Drive, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779, (631) 222-7454.
So, like, we get everything, from toilet paper to dried mushrooms in bulk quantities! Mom likes working there and she likes that she can come home for lunch if she wants.
One thing about Ronkonkoma is that everything is real close by–the high school, the Costco, the cemetery. Bleh.
My mom (btw, her name is Willa Speider and used to be Camden before she married dad), can even read financial statements and all that business rigmarole, as she puts it.
Mom likes to use big words like rigmarole because she thinks the more syllables a word contains the more important you sound, like, supercallafrajalisticexpialladoscious. But, seriously, rigmarole doesn’t even come close to supercallafrajalisticexpialladoscious in syllable count. What it does come close to is ridiculous count.
Face it fool! Rigmarole ain’t antidisestablishmentarianism, now, is it?
THAT’s a big word, one with loads of meaning too. But, I prefer big words with few syllables, like, fractal. Now, that’s a huge word… in terms of meaning, no? My take on words, like this for instance, is another reason why Tanya likes me. :D
Any who.
I’m trying on new abridged words. I’m hoping “am” gets picked up on soon.
I told you that I’m super human, right?

To get your copy of SPIDER BRAINS by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Brains-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B007KDAS0C/ref=la_B003CMMERK_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339336080&sr=1-6

To view all books by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Wingate/e/B003CMMERK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

To learn more about Susan, go to her website: http://www.susanwingate.com

Visit Susan Wingate on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/susanwingate

Like Susan Wingate on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanwingate.author

Follow Susan Wingate on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/susanwingate/susan-wingate-s-books/

a Rafflecopter giveaway