Let's Get This Party STARTED!

 

Hello there everyone! This is Leslie Soule, author of the fantasy YA (Young Adult) novel, Fallenwood. I’m honored to be kicking off Decadent Publishing’s Worldwide YA Blog Stomp.

  At each blog on the tour, a lucky commenter will be entered to win a free ebook copy of one of Decadent’s fantastic YA titles.

  Each comment throughout the month counts as an entry for the Grand Prizes, so make sure to stop by as many of the blogs as possible and comment, in order to get the maximum number of entries for the Grand Prizes.

  Decadent is offering up some excellent prizes for the YA Blog Stomp. 1^st prize is a Kindle, pre-loaded with Decadent’s YA titles. 2^nd prize is a whole year’s worth of Decadent ebooks, one per month for 12 months, and you get to choose which books you get. This could save you a lot of money if you’re a voracious reader, like I am.

  For example, if you got 12 copies of Fallenwood (wishful thinking on my part, tee hee hee) at $4.99 per ebook, that would ordinarily cost $59.88!

  3^rd prize is a half-year’s supply of ebooks, one per month for six months – and you get to choose the titles!

  In other news, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is coming out in theaters on July 15^th – July 14^th if you’re going to the midnight showing like my friends and I are. Is anyone else going? If so, are you dressing up like anyone from the series?

Leave a comment! You’ll be entered to win a copy of my novel Fallenwood and you’ll be entered into the contest for the Grand Prizes!

  And remember, the next stop on the blog tour is on July 5^th – it’s the blog of Julie Particka, author of Pretty Souls. Her blog can be found at http://www.julieparticka.com/blog

  Happy YA Blog Stomping!!!

Getting My Sharpies Ready

by Julie Particka 

A few weeks ago, I got to do my first book signing. Granted, it was for a bunch of family members at my grandfather’s birthday party—which, believe me, made me feel really weird—but it was a legit signing nonetheless. And it was great practice for me since RT is right around the corner and I’ll be signing copies of Pretty Souls at the Saturday book fair. (So, you know, if you’ll be there, stop by my table and say hi. You can even buy a copy if you want. My friend Allison Pang will be sitting next to me signing her fabulous urban fantasy, A Brush of Darkness as well.)

 But, I digress. The practice book signing taught me a few things:

-          Book signing scares the crap out of me. I don’t have the best handwriting, and with more names than any sane person should have, I’m terrified of signing the wrong one. Plus, it’s not like panels or regular socializing—I can’t rely on turning up the snark if I get nervous. Well I could but then it would be a snark-filled personalization, and I kind of feel like those are the domain of the League of Reluctant Adults.

-          Personalizations are hard. It’s one thing to have a few general phrases to use, but if you actually know the person they want you to say something really meaningful, funny, etc. O.O There’s a reason novels take me a while to write; I’m not always that witty LOL.

-          Signing on the back of the front cover doesn’t work well. LOL It seems such a little thing, but for whatever reason that’s where they wanted me to sign, so I got a lot of practice. It’ll be title page signing from now on unless someone makes a special request.

-          As scary as signings are I loved every minute of it. Pretty Souls is my first published novel. My baby. It was the first thing I ever wrote that I really and truly believed in. I know those characters like they’re my own kids, and I love them all (even the evil ones). It’s crazy-exciting to have other people get excited over them too.

What that all means is while I might get nervous and might sit there for a long time trying to figure out what to write, I can’t wait to get to sign books for readers new and old.  (And if this picture from last year’s book signing doesn’t show you how big it is, you’ll just have to trust me)

I know not everyone can make it to RT or even to LA for just the booksigning. So I’m excited to let you know that I’ve also gotten some special Paranormal Response Team bookplates! I ordered them for a remote signing in…August with Calico Books, but in the meantime, if you have a print copy of Pretty Souls and want a bookplate, send me a copy of your receipt and your snail mail address (to Julie@julieparticka.com) , and I’ll happily sign and send you one. Oh, be sure to include the name you want me to use for the personalization!

About Pretty Souls:

My life followed a simple pattern.



Run to keep my inner wolf asleep. Make sure my blood-sucking foster sister, Cass, feeds. Hunt for supernatural trouble when we should be sleeping. Keep my grades up and my head down.



It was mostly a game.



Until people started wandering around like living zombies. Until people I care about started getting hurt. Until the menace came knocking on my front door.



Game’s over.



Time for the soul-stealer to realize just because he’s hunting something doesn’t make it prey.



Cass and I bite back.

~The Paranormal Response Team~


Saving the World Before Breakfast

 For more about Julie and the Paranormal Response Team, please visit www.julieparticka.com. To purchase a digital or print copy of Pretty Souls, please visit Decadent Publishing.

10Q Tuesday with Julie Particka!

Tell us about your current release.
Pretty Souls is a young adult urban fantasy that follows teen werewolf, Elle, and her half-vampire foster sister as they hunt for the demon-spawn that is stealing the souls of people in their town and turning them into living zombies. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they have to deal with bullies, tutors, first love, betrayal and heartbreak along the way.

Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes. There are a lot of things in this world that we don’t have explanations for and ghosts are, in my opinion, among the more plausible of supernatural creatures. I recall reading once that the human body loses a tiny amount of weight upon death. Some people think it’s the weight of the soul as it leaves the body. And if there’s a soul, it stands to reason some of them might stick around.

What does your significant other and family think of your writing career?
I have some extremely supportive family members—especially my husband. He reads everything I write and isn’t afraid to both let me know when I’ve nailed something and when I’ve fallen short. My kids put up with a mentally absentee mom a lot and still love me, so I take that as a show of support. My son is still a little put out that I haven’t come up with a story for the premise he devised with me LOL.

Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Yes, definitely yes! My crit partners/beta readers (I have some that fall in both categories) are the best. They kick me in the pants and keep me sane. I definitely wouldn’t be published without them. Any aspiring author should find a solid set of people who are willing (and have the ability) to help them hone their craft.

Tell us about your family.

I’m the youngest of six kids…by seven years. The other five were born one right after another. (My parents are Polish and Catholic; that should explain everything.) That means I basically grew up with five extra parents. Sometimes it was great. Sometimes…not so much LOL. But we are a big, loving group, and now that most of us have children of our own, I’m not relegated to the kids’ table nearly as often.

How do you develop your plots and your characters? Do you use any set formula?
I don’t have a set formula per se, but there are certain things that work well for me. I like to have physical images for my characters, so I tend to “cast” them. Sometimes that means famous people, but other times they’re people I’ve never heard of. (I have a friend who is stellar at finding people who fit the exact look I’m going for—she’s amazing.) I also tend to use plot points rather than a hard-core outline. I look at it like a road trip. The plot points are the places I want to make sure I hit on the journey, but how I get there is left open.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I went through so many phases as a kid. The medical field was a huge contender for a while (doctor, nurse, veterinarian), then I wanted to be a writer, then I wanted to be a teacher. In middle school, I decided on aerospace engineering. It’s actually what I initially majored in at college until I realized I really didn’t like physics. I switched to a chemistry major and fulfilled the teaching dream for a few years. Now I’m living the author dream and loving every minute of it.

What group did you hang out with in high school?
My high school was kind of a strange place. While there were “groups”, there weren’t really cliques and the groups tended to have a lot of overlap (ie—there were football players who were also in drama and choir). I was in the flag corps and tended to hang (mostly) with other marching band people. However, I also had drama friends and choir friends and wrestling friends and…

Do you play any sports?
LMAO…no. Anyone who knows me is well aware that sports and I don’t mix. Non-competitive stuff I’m more than willing to try, but even individual sports were not my thing. I did dance for several years though, and my son wants me to sign up for martial arts with him.

Morning Person? Or Night Person? How do you know?
Definitely a night person. Anyone who tries to talk to me before I wake up is likely to get something unintelligible or very rude. Plus, around eleven at night, I tend to get a second wind. That’s the beginning of my prime writing time when my muse is most forthcoming. I’ve been known to write for hours then.

Pretty Souls Playlist by Julie Particka

Miss Murder by AFI

Apocalypse Please by Muse

I Guess You're Right by The Posies

Send the Pain Below by Chevelle

Islands in the Stream by Feist and the Constantines

Wicked Game (666 Remix) by HIM

Love Is Noise by The Verve

Our Time Now by Plain White T's

There and Back Again by Daughtry

Beautiful by HIM

Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale

Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse

Devour by Shinedown