CREED ARC GIVEAWAY!

Ninety days until CREED makes its way into the wild.  To celebrate, we are giving away an annotated ARC from our Teen Reader Arc Tour filled with comments and doodles from our teen fans.  You can enter to win here:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/105461-creed

CHARACTER SKETCHES -- HOW YOUR READERS SEE YOU MC

I love fan art. The little doodles  ARC readers leave in the margins and the tiny messages about what scenes they connected with most are what us authors live for. But getting an actual painting of my mc ... well, that I never expected. 

The talented and sweet Diana Pinguicha did a character sketch of Ella Lawton -- the main character in my YA Contemporary, THE SECRETSWE KEEP.  Then she took it one step further and actually painted it for me! As a person whose can barely draw a stick figure with a crayon, you can imagine how awed I was to see this hit my inbox:

But wait ... it get's even better.  

THE SECRETS WE KEEP
coming April 28th, 2015 from FSG/ Macmillan

Add it to you Goodreads TBR Pile

Seventeen-year-old Ella Lawton spent her entire life living in the shadows of her identical twin sister's popularity, but she never dreamed of having Maddy’s life; never wanted it. In fact, she’s spent the last three years trying to separate herself from the group at school Maddy has chosen, preferring the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook and the company of her best friend, Josh, to the constant battle for attention and popularity that has defined her sister’s life.

When a heated argument and a tragic accident leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by friends and loved ones who believe she is Maddy. She is overwhelmed by their joy when they realize she will live - a joy Ella is sure she would not see if they knew the truth, that it is Ella who survived, not her lovable, popular sister. After what she has done, she cannot bring herself to cause even more heartache and in that moment she makes the gut-wrenching decision to assume her sister’s life. Navigating her sister’s popularity and boyfriend are hard enough, but Ella soon realizes that Maddy’s life is full of secrets that have kept her popularity intact while slowly destroying her from the inside out. Caught in a web of lies and with no escape in sight, Ella is faced with two options - confess her deception and risk the hatred and betrayal of those around her, or give up all of her own dreams and continue down the destructive path her sister's life has mapped out for her.

THE BONE TREATY

I had the pleasure of reading THE BONE TREATY a few years back when it was in it's drafting phase. T.C. and I were part of the same virtual CP writing group that meet weekly online. I adored it then, and I love it now. The characters, the voice, the depth of emotion...just wow! So, when she asked to heist by blog for her book tour, my answer was a quick and resounding HELL YES!!!

This blog has been hijacked by, T.C. Mckee. I had to do it. I wanted to tell everybody about my new book cause that’s what people with new books do, right?

Addie Heaton’s not your average high school student. Orphaned at two, she’s spent most of her life reading the emotions of others. It’s a little trick she likes to call color-vision. But lately, a stranger has been trailing her, putting off shades of black and red—colors Addie hasn’t seen since the night her parents were killed—colors Addie never wanted to see again.  

But when Addie comes face to face with Conal Reed, owner of the terrifying shades, she learns her stranger’s a little different too. He’s brooding hot, mysterious, and all too elusive. Conal loves to materialize, and then vanish at all the wrong times. Nice.

Not.

After years of keeping her ability a secret, Addie’s found another person with gifts, someone who may know what she really is. But Conal’s not talking. He’s having more fun showing up uninvited, teasing her senses, and disappearing at all the wrong times. Instead of finding answers, Addie finds herself reconsidering ever being alone and naked again.

Now, to celebrate this little milestone I’m giving away an e-book copy of The Bone Treaty for your review, or for your reading pleasure. Just follow me on one of the sites below (or all of them). I won’t mind. Really. I just wanted to keep it simple. No hoops.

Where to Find T.C. McKee:

blog: http://tcmckeewriter.blogspot.com

On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TCMckee

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TC-Mckee/229753570369464?ref=hl

If you absolutely have to have a copy right this minute that’s allowed too. You can find it right here on amazon

I would heart you forever…TO THE BONE but not in a creepy way like Conal.

Thanks for reading. 

A TINY, YET EXCITING, MORSEL OF NEWS

My Ya contemporary, THE SECRETS WE KEEP, is going to be published in Germany by Kosmos Verlag. Who the heck are they, you ask? They are the German publisher for some of my favorite authors: Caroline Cooney, Julie Ann Peters, and Scott Westerfield.  

I can't wait to see what my German cover looks like!

MEET TEAM LEAVER-CURRIE: Two Authors, One Super-Charged, Pitchwars Mentoring Team

If you want to go fast, go alone. 

If you want to go further, go together

~African Proverb

* Feel free to ask us questions in the comments or @ us on twitter *

You'll have to excuse our lack of gif's and fancy videos in this introduction. Lindsay and I are straightforward gals with a passion for beautiful language, flawed characters, and realistic dialogue. We have teamed up for #Pitchwars this year, combining our experience and passion for  YA Fiction, to choose one "super-charged" #pitchwars team. 

  

For us, it's all about character-driven YA. Give us quirky, complex characters whose internal conflicts are supported by well-written, compelling, and carefully placed backstory. We adore the quieter pieces were the emotional intensity and dark inner failings of your character propel the plot. Regardless of the genre or setting, we want characters we can relate to and route for and a story that lingers with us long after that last page has been read.  We will push you to dig deeper and write harder than you ever imagined possible, but trust us … in the end, it will be worth it.

A little bit about each of us:

Trisha Leaver

Let’s see … I live in a dark, historical mansion surrounded by a rusted-out, iron gate and shrouded by dead willow trees.  In my spare time, I dismember china dolls and tenderly care for my flock of ravens. Sorry, but I actually live a pretty boring, completely normal life in the hell I like to refer to as Suburbia.  Three great kids, one patient husband, and a rather defiant black lab. 

This is my second year doing #Pichwars. Last year, I had the honor of working with #thefearlessfive, a group of four, insanely talented YA authors who have become cherished friends and CP’s. Two of them are now agented and on submission *proud mentor moment*

I was on the faculty for the NESCBWI 2014 Annual conference where I presented a workshop on Crafting Endings that are Happily Ever After (Not), as well as a Pitching Workshop. I am drawn to complex characters set in a realistic world whose internal demons rival the stories external forces.  I am fanatic line editor who has a love-hate relationship with commas. My feedback tends to be honest, but not cruel and NEVER IN RED! 

I publish across the YA genres: CREED, my YA Psychological Horror (co-authored w/ Lindsay Currie) releases November 8, 2014 with Flux. My solo YA Contemporary, THE SECRETS WE KEEP, releases April 28, 2015 with FSG/ Macmillan. And HARDWIRED, our co-authored YA Contemporary-Sci-fi Thriller, will hit shelves fall of 2015 with Flux.

Little bit about my tastes:

YA Horror: It's all about the psychological aspects here. I'm not opposed to paranormal elements or a good fanged monster, I just believe that the darkness surrounding us every day is scarier than any paranormal creature one’s imagination can dream up. It’s the evil that lingers within a chosen few, their dark past and tortured existences that I'm drawn to. What can I say, I like to explore the darker side of human nature.

YA Contemporary:  My first and true love. I love a unique voice and lyrical prose.  I love complex characters who are beautifully flawed and completely relatable. I don’t need a happy-ending, but I do need closure, a spark of hope no matter how dim that light may be. I love character-driven stories where the plot is slave not master to the story, one where your characters emotional instability and internal demons drive the tension and propel the plot. I adore diverse characters and difficult themes. Written well, they shine the spotlight on important issues and open the door for conversation.

YA Sci-fi: Give me a rich setting where time and place drive your characters actions as opposed to merely proving the backdrop for drama, In a genre where external forces seem to dominate character actions, I want complicated backstories and emotionally-damaged characters whose internal demons are constantly tripping them up.

YA Historical Fiction: Three out of my four #pitchwars mentees last year wrote YA Historical Fiction; what can I say … I love it. The setting, the hint of truth, the re-imagined tellings of historical events sucks me in every time. 

Lindsay Currie

I live in Chicago, Illinois with one incredibly patient hubby, three amazing kids and one adorable, but irreverent Bullmastiff named Sam. I have been writing for as long as I can remember and this is my second year as a mentor for PitchWars. I love all types of contemporary from dark and realistic to the lighter variety. Some of my favorite young adult contemporary novels are My Life Next Door, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, and Far From You. 

I am represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyons Literary agency and have two co-authored books releasing: CREED, November 8, Flux and HARDWIRED, Fall 2015 from Flux. Both were written with the awesome Trisha Leaver. 

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