COVER REVEAL! CLOSED HEARTS

Coming May 23rd, CLOSED HEARTS by Susan Kaye Quinn.
(Book 2 of the Mindjack Trilogy)

When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you.

Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.

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Susan Kaye Quinn, Author

Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. She pursued a bunch of engineering degrees and worked a lot of geeky jobs, including turns at GE Aircraft Engines, NASA, and NCAR. Now that she writes novels, her business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" and she doesn't have to sneak her notes anymore. All that engineering comes in handy when dreaming up paranormal powers in future worlds or mixing science with fantasy to conjure slightly plausible inventions. Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as much as she can handle.

Way too often, you can find Susan on her blog, facebook, and twitter.

Susan’s Other Works

Open Minds

In His Eyes Anthology (includes Mind Games, a short prequel to Open Minds)

Life, Liberty, and Pursuit (a teen love story)

Full Speed Ahead (short afterstory to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit)

I HAVE A DREAM

I’m not a leader. I’m not a follower.

I am an artist. I am a dreamer.

I dream of writing and sharing great stories. I dream of meeting amazing and supportive readers. I dream of interacting with and supporting my fellow authors.

I don’t care which path leads to me my dream. For me, it’s about the journey and the destination, not the vehicle in which I travel.

I personally know many “big” traditionally published authors, small press authors, self-published authors, and writers-who-will-one-day-be-published-somehow. I do not classify them by their path, or their vehicle. I learn their names and respect them for pursuing their dream.

Sometimes I read and watch quietly from the sidelines, as some (not all) authors, agents, editors, readers, reviewers and others in this storytelling business, argue or defend or scheme or belittle or throw stones, and I think, “Why?”

For the love of books, why can’t we all just get along?

I’ve heard some ambitious people talk about how they want to knock down the walls that separate traditional and indie authors and publishers. I understand the concept, but I don’t want to knock down anything—or anyone.

Instead, I want to throw a grand and beautiful garden party. Fantastic music and twinkle lights will lure everyone out from behind their walls to gather together under the same big sky. Competition and negativity will melt away as people smell the flowers and breathe in fresh air, meet and mingle, dance like no one is watching, and eat dessert first.

Name tags are optional, labels aren’t allowed, and no one cares how you were published, how big your deal was, your number of sales, how many followers you have, or the number of comments you receive. The simple fact that you are an artist, and a dreamer, and an eternal work-in-progress means that you are welcome and—as if there was ever any doubt—you are a VIP.

One of America’s greatest leaders, Martin Luther King Jr, was also a dreamer. I’m going to borrow the groundwork of his most famous speech, but adapt it to fit my dream for the world of storytelling.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the current stereotypes and upheaval of the publishing world, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this world will rise up and understand the true meaning of writer: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all authors are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the drama-filled pages of the internet, the sons and daughters of former slaves to the Big-Six-Is-All-That-Matters way of thinking will be able to sit down together at a table of readerhood.

I have a dream that one day even indie and self-published books, which currently exist in a world of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into a reader's paradise of justice and originality.

I have a dream that my fellow authors, no matter how they are published, will one day live in a world where they will not be judged by the name and size of their publisher, but by the content and quality of their stories.

I have a dream today.

Tell me, dreamers, what’s your dream?

WEEKEND READ

Happy Friday!

Want a good read for the weekend? Like soft sci-fi? Romance? Hot aliens? A female lead who ISN'T perfect but far from dull? I suggest HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN by Magan Vernon.

I read this book months ago, but I still occasionally have fond thoughts about Alex and Ace. I'm SO looking forward to book 2 of Magan's alien series, and I never thought I could think an alien was swoonworthy, but Ace is YUM-MEE. Here's the quick rundown:

High school senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at Circe Operations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn't your typical military base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of intergalactic war?

One of my favorite parts:

"Okay, my turn." He put his hands on both of my arm rests, leaning in so that his face was only a few inches from mine. He smelled like peppermint tea and the breeze after a snowstorm. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever smelled and I wanted to inhale all of him.
"Do you," his eyes drew up, drinking me in before meeting my stare, "like me?"

Want to know how Alex responded to Ace? (the uber hot alien who is NOT green, or slimey, or has 6 arms.) You'll have to read the book to experience more of their intergalactic chemistry.

Buy it at Amazon
Add it on Goodreads
You can stalk Magan at http://www.maganvernon.com


Self-proclaimed geek-to-glam poster child who channels her inner geek by writing science fiction for teens. Even though she slept with a night light until she was in middle school for fear of alien attacks. She now lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in central Illinois where she still sleeps with a night light...just in case.

ROCK THE DROP 2012

Happy ROCK THE DROP and TEEN LIT DAY!

This is my second year participating in Rock The Drop, and each year I get a little too excited. My bookplates are printed, my books are ready, and I'm brainstorming fun and interesting places to drop my books for some lucky person to find.

This year, I'm dropping Tangled Tides (of course), The Girl of Fire and Thorns, and The Near Witch. *fist pump*

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, GO HERE. Over ay YA Confidential we're hosting a contest and giving away winner's choice of a book or ARC from our vault.

If you do know what I'm talking about, ARE YOU READY?
Which book(s) are you dropping this year?

PROTECTED

Today, I'm celebrating Cindy Hogan's newest release! The sequel to her amazing book, WATCHED, is now available. Here's a little bit about PROTECTED.

She has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of and she has a shot at becoming popular.
Life is great!
Until they find her.
Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows,
including herself.

"This anticipated sequel sizzles with equal parts thriller, suspense and romance. A spine tingling story I could not put down." ~C.K.Bryant, author of BOUND

"Protected has equal parts romance and thriller. This fast paced novel has a little something for everyone!" -Lani Woodland, author of Intrinsical

Sounds good, huh? Get your copy HERE.
Add it to your Goodreads lists HERE.

But remember, first you have to read WATCHED.

It takes more than a school trip to Washington, DC to change Christy’s life. It takes murder.A witness to the brutal slaying of a senator’s aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI, but also by two hot guys.She discovers that if she can’t help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.

Cindy is awesome, so go check her out her blog and celebrate her tour with us, or stop by and visit Lisa Nowak's blog who is also parting PROTECTED style.

Happy Monday!

I HAVE A DREAM

First things first: the winner of my YA Scavenger Hunt giveaway is MADISON aka CookieMonster!

Congrats, Madison. :) And thanks so much to everyone who entered my contest.

Second, I posted over on the Indelibles blog today.
I gave a speech and may or may not have invited everyone to a grand and beautiful garden party with twinkle lights and all. Come check it out!