Glow (Sky Chasers #1) by Amy Kathleen Ryan & a Giveaway!!

Here is the Goodreads Blurb:

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...


Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.


But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Here is my Take:

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a Goodreads First reads win for me.

If you adored Across the Universe by Beth Revis then you will enjoy Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan. It is a breathtaking journey across space with fifteen year old Waverly and her soon to be husband and Captain in training Kieran.

Come to find out that there are two identical ships launched one year apart, the New Horizon and the Empyrean. Each crew is different. One crew is religious and finds that it is lacking the ability to reproduce. They have delayed their mission to New Earth to wait for the Empyrean to aid them in their research to help them develop ways to remedy this but it is too late when they find out that the New Horizon have an agenda of their own.

Waverly finds crucial information that helps her understand how the New Horizon was plagued with their problems and who was responsible and also the conditions that the Empyrean was left in when she was taken to help the New Horizon with their fertility problems.

It is up to Waverly to decide if she wants to free Seth to help her set the Empyrean free from Kieran and another attack from the New Horizon.

This book is highly recommended to those who love YA Science Fiction

View all my reviews

Giveaway time. Guess what? I have an extra copy of this ARC....who wants it? Yeah, I know it is being released next week, but hey. Free book anyone?

RULES:

Must be a GCF

Must fill out this form below.

Giveaway deadline is September 16, 2011!

Famished by Lauren Hammond

I loved this book from the moment I started reading it. It makes me want to know more and making me crazy with the unknown. So if you haven't gotten a chance to pick up this book then please go do it now. I don't think that you will be disappointed at all.

Here is the Goodreads Blurb:
There is no United States. There is no world. An asteroid has destroyed what the human race knew as earth and The Great Famine has wiped out most of the surviving human population. For the few remaining survivors, food is scarce-- precious--a luxury. A luxury that most humans can’t find.

Seventeen year old Georgina Carver is fortunate. She’s survived the destruction. She eats three times a day while the rest of humanity is plagued by The Great Famine. And she’s safe, hidden away in an underground colony with her family and several other families of survivors.

All of that changes the day she’s randomly selected to be a gatherer. Georgina must leave her safe yet simple world and venture out into a world unknown. A vast, dangerous, destroyed world that could literally eat her alive.

After Georgina is severely injured, her life begins to fall apart. She can’t remember how she got home or what happened to her while she was on the new earth. The boy she is crushing on avoids her and she keeps having visions that involve an unknown person with violet eyes.

As Georgina begins to unravel the truth, it doesn’t take her long to figure out that maybe her safe yet simple life isn’t that safe at all.


My Take:
Famished by Lauren Hammond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wowza. I loved reading this book so much I did it all at once. I couldn't stand not knowing what was going to happen next. Craving Hunger Games from Suzanne Collins? Yeah, then you will eat this series up. It will leave you FAMISHED and wanting more by the last page.


I won this book from Lauren and am so happy I got the chance to read it. A wonderful story about a colony living underground trying to survive. Georgina is one tough young lady and has heroine written all over her.


When her name is drawn from the lottery and she is paired with her long time crush, Colin, things are looking really hot and steamy. When they get to the surface to look for supplies things go from bad to worse. They have two separate lists to shop from and have to try to dig through rocks, dirt and debris for what they need.


Once they leave each others side, the adventure begins and unknowingly Georgina will meet an ally that will help her survive. A small mixture of a love triangle is in the desolate air.


Recommended for all YA lovers of dystopian times.


View all my reviews

Celebrate and join us.

Blogfest to celebrate the wonderful community website at Writer’s Digest for writers: YA/Crossover to mingle, converse, get advice and just hang out. Thanks to Nathalie Bleach who is a very active member in the writing community, there is a place for us to gather. We are commemorating reaching 100 members by having this little blogfest.


I was new to Writer’s Digest in March this year and I was embraced with open arms into the community as I wondered around to different groups to find the support and other members that I could relate to. I stumbled across Nathalie’s YA/Crossover group and love the support and commentary that everyone gives to one another in there. I am not always active on the boards, but that doesn’t mean that I am not silently stalking somewhere. LOL.

Several of us support each other in blogging, facebook, twitter and are critique partners and beta readers for each other. I like to think that we are a family here in the YA/Crossover community because the writers are reaching out into a genre that aren’t yet fully embraced by agents.

I love how supportive we are of each other and motivate one another to keep going or to strive to better. I know that is how everyone there makes me feel and if you have any questions everyone is so easy to talk to and very approachable. So I beg you, if you are writing YA or even contemplating dabbling in it, you really need to look at dropping by the YA/Crossover group in Writer’s Digest and say Hi. I guarantee that you will stay.

Here are some of our members that have blogs that you can stop by and visit and my find yourself following in the future. I know that I do. I have also posted their twitter handle for you to follow if you are a twitterverse fanatic. You can alos check out the YA/Crossover badge to the right. Thank you for all that you do for the writing community and the support that everyone has shown me along the way. You all have made me a better writer for it.

Susan Anthony or tweet @lampsreincarnat
T Romel Blossom or Tweet @tromelblossom
ML Mansfield
PK Hrezo
Lucy Briand @RogueL
Claire Dawn  or tweet @ClaireDawn
Lizz Squashic
Jannett Fuller
Lauren Saga or tweet @Laurensaga
Bekah's Stories
Nathalie Bleach or tweet @bleacher1099
Tammy Mckee
Trisha Leaver or tweet @tleaver

A great ARC Contest hosted by Sara McClung

Ok, those of you that aren't familiar with Sara McClung, I suggest you mosey over to her blog and check her out. She is funny and has great advice for any writer. Right now on her blog she is hosting an awesome ARC giveaway. She is offering to give away some wonderful books that are going to be delicious reads and just make you itch to check it out and enter to win.

Here are the books that you will find.
A set of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness both are signed by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
The Unidentified by Rae Mariz
Halt's Peril by John Flanagan
The Goblin Gate by Hilari Bell
Jane by April Lindner
The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke

So if any of these sound like the juice that your brain needs to drink, then float on over to Sara McClung's blog and sign up. You might just become a dedicated follower. Plus she gives you a small teaser of what the book is about. So go and check it out. Thanks Sara. Good Luck with the ARC Giveaway.

I have decided that any that I am fortunate enough to win...after I read them of course, I am going to donate to our local library. Their budget is so small that we can't get the newest books for quite some time, so I am going to do what I can to help them out as a writer.

Scott Westerfeld...what can I say? Thank you.

Eating Scott Westerfeld's books up like candy. Uglies, Pretties, Specials and now finishing Extras. A must read.

Weekly Chapter Challenge Post Prompt

Ok…so I am a little behind on this post because I was promising to do it on Monday and life happened as usual. Thank goodness, I am breathing. Wheew!

So I am part of the Weekly Chapter Challenge on the Writer’s Digest Website and anyone who is aspiring to be a writer really should become a member of Writer’s Digest and go to the Weekly Chapter Challenge and find a writing buddy.

I wasn’t sure I was ready for one at first so I put it off for a couple of months and then I joined and hooked up with a wonderful YA writer, Trisha Leaver, who is represented by Jessica Sinsheimer of The Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency and is diligently working on edits for her manuscript Cedar.

In her spare time, she is exchanging chapters with me, beta reading for others and maintaining her family. I look at her with awe, because she is a magnificent beta reader and she tells me directly what she thinks…with tact. She never comes across the wrong way. She is always appropriate in her comments

If it hadn’t been for EJ starting the group, then I wouldn’t have found her. So thank you EJ. Much appreciated. I also found a couple of other people that I beta read with and am having a blast sharing my work and reading others. I guess I never thought in a million years I would be brave enough to let anyone read my work, but everyone has been so kind and honest with their feedback and that makes it easier to want to share it with the WORLD.


Also, this is the fist time that I have tried to work with links and such on my blog, so forgive me if they aren't working out. I haven't mastered the blog world yet. Post me and let me know if I miffed it up bad, real bad, really, really bad, or just forget trying it again Regina. LOL.


So this is mainly about the WCC so watch out later when I give a huge shout out to my beta crew who I hope to continue to work with them on future projects. I like their input. So go... yes, RIGHT NOW to Writer's Digest and friend me. Then go to the Weekly Chapter Challenge and get cracken on those chapters. I know you can do it. I believe in you. So go, get movin and take care of you. See you there.

New blog that I came across. Please check it out!

Leaguewriters.blogspot.com The League of Extraordinary Writers where they Debut YA Dystopian Writers. I found it when I was on someone else's blog and promised to mention it on mine. So if you can go check it out. It is really neat and has different talents on there to read about. I found it very interesting. So if you can I urge you to take a peak...Thanks.