Guest Post: Author Andrew Joyce




My name is Andrew Joyce, and I write books for a living. Megan has been kind enough to allow me a little space on her blog to promote my new book, Molly Lee. The story is a female-driven account of a young naive girl’s journey into an independent, strong woman and all the trouble she gets into along the way.

Now you may possibly be asking yourself, What is a guy doing writing in a woman’s voice? And that’s a good question. I can only say that I did not start out to write about Molly; she just came to me one day and asked that I tell her story.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

My first book was a 164,000-word historical novel. And in the publishing world, anything over 80,000 words for a first-time author is heresy. Or so I was told time and time again when I approached an agent for representation. After two years of research and writing, and a year of trying to secure the services of an agent, I got angry. To be told that my efforts were meaningless was somewhat demoralizing to say the least. I mean, those rejections were coming from people who had never even read my book.

So you want an 80,000-word novel?” I said to no one in particular, unless you count my dog, because he was the only one around at the time. Consequently, I decided to show them City Slickers that I could write an 80,000-word novel!

I had just finished reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn for the third time, and I started thinking about what ever happened to those boys, Tom and Huck. They must have grown up, but then what? So I sat down at my computer and banged out REDEMPTION: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in two months; then sent out query letters to agents.

Less than a month later, the chairman of one of the biggest agencies in New York City emailed me that he loved the story. We signed a contract and it was off to the races, or so I thought. But then the real fun began: the serious editing. Seven months later, I gave birth to Huck and Tom as adults. And just for the record, the final word count is 79,914. The book went on to reach #1 status on Amazon twice, and the rest, as they say, is history.

But not quite.

My agent then wanted me to write a sequel, but I had other plans. I was in the middle of editing down my first novel (that had been rejected by 1,876,324 agents . . . or so it seemed) from 164,000 words to the present 142,000. However, he was insistent, so I started to think about it. Now, one thing you have to understand is that I tied up all the loose ends at the end of REDEMPTION, so there was no way that I could write a sequel. And that is when Molly asked me to tell her story. Molly was a character that we met briefly in the first chapter of REDEMPTION, and then she is not heard from again.

This is the description from MOLLY LEE:

Molly is about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime . . . of two lifetimes.
It’s 1861 and the Civil War has just started. Molly is an eighteen-year-old girl living on her family’s farm in Virginia when two deserters from the Southern Cause enter her life. One of them—a twenty-four-year-old Huck Finn—ends up saving her virtue, if not her life.

Molly is so enamored with Huck, she wants to run away with him. But Huck has other plans and is gone the next morning before she awakens. Thus starts a sequence of events that leads Molly into adventure after adventure; most of them not so nice.

We follow the travails of Molly Lee, starting when she is eighteen and ending when she is fifty-six. Even then Life has one more surprise in store for her.

As I had wondered whatever became of Huck and Tom, I also wondered what Molly did when she found Huck gone.

I know this has been a long-winded set up, but I felt I had to tell the backstory. Now I can move on and tell you about Molly.

As stated earlier, Molly starts out as a naive young girl. Over time she develops into a strong, independent woman. The change is gradual. Her strengths come from the adversities she encounters along the road that is her life.

With each setback, Molly follows that first rule she set against self-pity and simply moves on to make the best of whatever life throws her way. From working as a whore to owning a saloon, from going to prison to running a ranch, Molly plays to win with the cards she’s dealt. But she always keeps her humanity. She will kill to defend herself, and she has no problem killing to protect the weak and preyed upon. However, when a band of Indians (for instance) have been run off their land and have nowhere else to go, Molly allows them to live on her ranch, and in time they become extended family.

This is from a review on Amazon:

A young female in nineteenth-century rural America would have needed courage, fortitude, and firm resolve to thrive in the best of circumstances. Molly Lee possesses all of these, along with an iron will and an inherent ability to read people accurately and respond accordingly.

I reckon that about sums up Molly.

I would like to say that I wrote MOLLY LEE in one sitting and everything in it is my pure genius. But that would be a lie. I have three editors (two women and one guy). They kept me honest with regard to Molly. When I made her a little too hard, they would point out that she had to be softer or show more emotion in a particular scene.
I set out to write a book where every chapter ended with a cliffhanger. I wanted the reader to be forced to turn to the next chapter. And I pretty much accomplished that, but I also wrote a few chapters where Molly and my readers could catch their collective breath.

One last thing: Everything in MOLLY LEE is historically correct from the languages of the Indians to the descriptions of the way people dressed, spoke, and lived. I spend as much time on research as I do in writing my stories. Sometimes more.
It looks as though I’ve used up my allotted word count (self-imposed), so I reckon I’ll ride off into the sunset and rustle up a little vodka and cranberry juice (with extra lime).

It’s been a pleasure, 
Andrew Joyce



U.S. Virtual Road Trip- Day 30- New Jersey


Yesterday we where in New Hampshire with author Tricia Drammeh, you can check it out here

Today we are in New Jersey with Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic book shelf. This see what awaits us in New Jersey.

I am so thrilled that Megan chose me to represent my home state of New Jersey for the Virtual US Road Trip!! Read on to learn a little bit about The Garden State!


Photo by MPD01605 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpd01605/ licensed under CC BY 2.0

Places to visit in New Jersey

Ellis Island & The Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island is an island that is located in Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey, United States. It was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France.

Atlantic City & the Boardwalk



Photo by OnMyWayTo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/onmywayto/ licensed under CC BY 2.0

Atlantic City is a resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, known for its casinos, boardwalk and beach. It is the home of the Miss America Pageant.

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, Princeton was the fourth chartered institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies and thus one of the nine Colonial Colleges established before the American Revolution.

Six Flags Great Adventure


Photo by Shawn Wainwright - https://www.flickr.com/photos/shawn_wainwright/ licensed under CC BY 2.0

Great Adventure is the largest theme park in the world at 510 acres! Known for its world-class thrill rides and one-of-a-kind Safari Off Road Adventure, the Jackson, NJ theme park boasts 12 roller coasters including three of the world's best—El Toro, Nitro and Kingda Ka. Kingda Ka (a steel accelerator roller coaster) is the world's tallest roller coaster (456 ft) , has the world's longest drop (418 ft) & is the world's second fastest roller coaster (128 mph). And I can tell you from personal experience...that it is just plain awesome!!


Quirky/Fun Facts about NJ

  • New Jersey is a peninsula. It is completely surrounded by water except for about 40 miles along the NY border.
  • Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.
  • New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.
  • Picturesque Cape May holds the distinction of being the oldest seashore resort in the United States and one of the most unique.
  • Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world, which was the first one built in the world in 1870.
  • The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after actual streets in Atlantic City.
  • The first saltwater taffy in the world was produced at the Jersey shore in the 1870s.
  • New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.
  • Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.
  • New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production.
  • The first national historic park in America was established in 1933 in Morristown.
  • New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.
  • New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US.
  • New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."
  • North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.
  • New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first.
  • The first recorded, official baseball game was played on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken.
  • The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick, in 1869. Rutgers College played Princeton. Rutgers won.
  • The light bulb, phonograph and motion picture projector were all invented by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park.
  • NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River.
  • The first robot to replace a human worker was used by General Motors in Ewing Township in 1961.
  • The first steam locomotive to actually pull a train on a track was built by John Stevens of Hoboken in 1824.
  • Modern paleontology, the science of studying dinosaur fossils, began in 1858 with the discovery of the first nearly complete skeleton of a dinosaur in Haddonfield, New Jersey. The Hadrosaurus is the official New Jersey state dinosaur.
  • NJ's Pulaski Skyway, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway ever built.
  • The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden in 1933.
  • Oregon and New Jersey are the only states without self-serve gas stations. Attendants must pump your gas according to state law.
  • New Jersey's Ethnic Roots: Italian 17.9%, Irish 15.9%, African 13.6%, German 12.6%, Polish 6.9%
  • Religion in New Jersey: 64% Christian (37% Catholic, 27% Protestant), 15% No Religion, 4% Jewish, 1% LDS, 1% Jehovah's Witness, 1% Muslim
Famous NJ Natives

Actors/Comedians/Performers

Bud Abbott

Joan Bennett

David Copperfield

Lou Costello

Ernie Kovacs

Jerry Lewis

Jack Nicholson

Joe Piscopo

Kevin Spacey

Meryl Streep

Ray Liotta

Bruce Willis

Tom Cruise

John Travolta

Jason Alexander

Zoe Saldana

James Gandolfini

Danny Devito

Anne Hathaway

Brooke Shields

Susan Sarandon

Christopher Reeve

Kitstin Dunst

Mira Sorvino

Ethan Hawke

Jon Stewart



Musicians/Singers




Bruce Springsteen

Whitney Houston

Jon Bon Jovi

Lauryn Hill

Paul Simon

Queen Latifah

My Chemical Romance

Dionne Warwick

Jonas Brothers

Skid Row

Wyclef Jean

Kool & the Gang

The Four Seasons

Frankie Valli

Nancy Sinatra

Ice-T

William Count Basie

Clint Black



Other Famous New Jerseyans



Thomas Edison - inventor

Aaron Burr - Vice President

Grover Cleveland - President

Charles Addams - cartoonist

Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin -astronaut

William J. Brennan - jurist

Aaron Burr - political leader

Lloyd H. Conover - inventor

William Frederick Halsey, Jr. - admiral

Donald Fletcher Holmes - inventor

Alfred C. Kinsey - zoologist

Dorothea Lange - photographer

Eger V. Murphree - inventor

Zebulon Mongomery Pike - explorer, soldier

Edward J. Rosinski - inventor

Antonin Scalia - jurist

Norman Schwarzkopf - army general

Amos Alonzo Stagg - football coach

Alfred Stieglitz - photographer

Dave Thomas - restaurateur

William Henry Vanderbilt - financier


Authors from New Jersey



Judy Blume

James Fenimore Cooper

Stephen Crane

George R.R. Martin

Janet Evanovich

Joyce Carol Oates

William Carlos Williams

Peter Benchley

Harlan Coben

Allen Ginsberg

Junot Díaz

Alfred Joyce Kilmer

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Norman Mailer

Dorothy Parker

Philip Milton Roth


Books Set in New Jersey

  • Drown by Junot Diaz
  • Sloppy Firsts by Megan McAfferty
  • Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
  • Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
  • Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
  • One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
  • Creepers by David Morrell
  • Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
  • Of Poseiden by Anna Banks
  • Jersey Angel by Beth Ann Bauman
  • Plugged by Eoin Colfer
  • Tell No One by Harlan Coben
  • White Cat, Red Glove & Black Heart by Holly Black
Connect with Melissa: Blog / @MyEclecticBooks

Thanks Melissa. I didn't realise there where so many famous people from New Jersey. What do you think of New Jersey?

Follow all the road trip posts here

U.S. Virtual Road Trip- Day 29- New Hampshire


Today we are in New Hampshire with author Tricia Drammeh. Let's see what awaits us in New Hampshire.

Hi, everyone! I’m Tricia Drammeh and I live in the state of New Hampshire, where our motto is Live Free or Die.

New Hampshire is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived. You can visit a variety of landscapes, from the beach to the mountains. At Rye Beach, you can visit rocky seaside cliffs. At Hampton Beach, you can lie on the white sand or hang out at the restaurants, bars, gift shops, and arcades that line the street. Or you can take a boat out to sea to do some fishing. Summer is a great time for kayaking, camping by a lake, hiking, or just taking a nice drive up to the White Mountains. In the winter, you can ice skate on a frozen lake, or you can go skiing and snowboarding.

If you’re looking for a place to eat, you can head to the seacoast where dozens of seafood restaurants line the coast. Or you can go to O Steaks and Seafood right in the capital city of Concord. The Common Man is another restaurant I enjoy, and you can find these all over New Hampshire. Be sure to try the lobster macaroni & cheese or a bowl of clam chowder while you’re here!

New Hampshire has been the home of many important people, including the 14thPresident of the United States, Franklin Pierce. You can take a tour of Pierce Manse in Concord! New Hampshire was also the home of poet Robert Frost from 1900 – 1911, and you can visit his farm for a tour. Famous author, Dan Brown, was also born in New Hampshire.

Basically, New Hampshire is a pretty awesome place to visit or to live. I certainly love it here!

Connect with me on my websiteTwitter, or Facebook.

Thanks Tricia. New Hampshire sounds great. There looks like there's plenty to so in all seasons.

Tomorrow we will be in  New Jersey and our our guide will be blogger Melissa @ Eclectic Book Shelf

Follow all the road trip posts here

U.S. Virtual Road Trip - Day 27 - Nebraska & #Giveaway


We are on Day 27 and we have had a few mishaps during the road trip but what road trip doesn't.

Today we are in Nebraska with blogger Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviews. This see what awaits us in Nebraska and don't forget to check out the giveaway at the end of the post.


Hello from Nebraska! Kimberly from Caffeinated Book Reviewer here to share some tid-bits about my current state home. Nebraska’s State Motto is, “the good life” and that is true. It is a wonderful place to raise a family with plenty of indoor and outdoor activity. We reside on the outskirts of Omaha and there is much to see and do.

Sights-

Old Market: Offers outdoor shopping, unique specialty shops and some of the best dining around. From the cobble streets to the unique old buildings this is the perfect place to bring the family during the day or to take a romantic carriage ride and enjoy fine dining and music in the evening. My kids love the confectionary and Christmas shop. I love the little coffee house. *surprised?*





Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium: Named by TripAdvisor the “world’s best zoo” The Dooly Zoo and Aquarium is one of our favorite places to visit. We enjoy a yearly membership. It has one of the largest cat complexes and the world’s largest indoor desert known as the Desert Dome. My kids love the Jungle and Gorilla exhibit. My personal favorite is the Penguins. I dare you to try not to smile watching them play.





Baseball! Omaha hosts the yearly College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. This is such a fun event and brings folks from all over the United States.





Of course, we have lovely museums such as the Joslyn Art Museum and Durham Museum. For outdoor activity, there is the Lauitzen Gardens, which hosts many events throughout the year.


Some of my favorite events are Shakespeare on the Green- each year they host two plays. Typically they perform one tragedy and one comedy. I love that they offer free admission giving everyone a taste of Shakespeare! My other favorite is Bank of the West Celebrates America concert hosted on the Green It is a free concert followed by a spectacular fireworks display. This year Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Eddie Money will perform. We have seen some great shows including; Pat Benatar, Styx, Foreigner, and Kansas and more.


Food in Nebraska… Ever hear of Omaha Steaks? We are known for producing some of the best tasting beef in the United States, followed by corn. We enjoy grilling on the weekends and you will find both on the menu.


We have plenty of outdoor activities from camping, hiking and biking. We love exploring all of the parks. We have a park nearby called Mahoney State Park  and love hiking, camping and enjoying some of the activities like ice-skating, swimming and toboggan sledding.




The Weird: We are home to some weird things for example you can see Stoneheage made completely out of cars. Yep cars. Have a look:




Known locally as the “world’s largest coffee pot the Sapp Bros. Coffee Pot, an old-fashioned percolator. It steams and flashes light when coffee is "ready," is a refashioned water tower.




Authors you may know who hail from Nebraska- Nicholas Sparks, Victoria Alexander and Rainbow Rowell.


Books set in Nebraska: Voices In The Wind By Judy Bruce, Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires #6) by Chloe Neill, Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson, My Antonia (Great Plains Trilogy #3) by Willa Cather, and Mail Order Mistake by Lisa Page just to name a few.


Nebraska offers a little something for everyone. Our sunsets are spectacular.




Thanks for having me Megan. It was fun putting this together for Reading Away the Days US Virtual Road Trip. If any of ya’ll ever make it to Nebraska please let me know, I know a great little coffee house we can visit.



Check out Kimberly Blog / TwitterFacebook

Thanks Kimberly. Nebraska has loads to offer. It's a place I didn't know a lot about but now I do. It sounds awesome.

Tomorrow we will be in Nevada & New Mexico.


Follow all the road trip posts here


Giveaway sponsored by Kimberly, thanks Kimberly. A Book valued at up to 10 US dollars from Book Depository. Open INTERNATIONAL.



#Review- Grey ( Fifty Shades #4) by E.L. James

*WARNING: Over 18 post*

Book: Grey
Series: Fifty Shades #4
Author: E.L. James
Publisher: Arrow
Pages: 576
Bought Paperback
Rating:✪✪✪✪


As told by Christian

Review

Reading Grey was as Ana would say enlightening. To see Christian's thoughts and feelings from first meeting Ana till the last events of 50 Shades of Grey was really interesting. It portrayed Christian in a totally different light. Though Ana's perspective in 50 Shades of Grey we see an arrogant, cold, self obsessed, poweful control freak but this is the perception Christian wants people to get from him. But reading his own thoughts and feelings on the situation and the thoughts he has of himself is heart breaking. He is a sad un- confident scared man who has been though some horrific things in his life and has gained the control he needs to live though sex and BDSM. It's a place where he is in control, he makes the decisions, he says what happens. Seeing Christian this way was very interesting and I would like to see the other books from his perspective.

Have you read Grey? Leave me your thoughts below.


U.S. Virtual Road Trip- Day 26- Montana & #Giveaway


Yesterday we where in Missouri with Lisa @ Lisa Loves Literature  Literature. You can check out the post here.

Today we are in Montana with a really special post. Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis, releases in September 2015 VIA Chicken House and I had the pleasure of reading it recently, you can check out my review here The book is set in Montana and is quoted as an YA historical real life drama romance. I thought it was fantastic and will be sharing my review next month. Lucy has kindly wrote us a post as Cal, one of the lead males in Crow Mountain. I loved Cal as a character. Over to Cal :)


Well, thanks for having me on the blog, Megan. Hi everyone - wow, this is weird from the office on the ranch on a Sunday morning . It’s a nice day today. Pretty warm and breezy. I can see the horses from the window, and they’re mainly trying to stay out of the sun near the haybarn. Anyhow, these questions were real fun to answer, so thanks for sending them over. Montana’s full of places to visit , most of them are for the scenery, but we’ve got some great history too. I’m just going to put these in order of my preference on this one, but if you’re coming to Montana, you should see all of them, I think. 


1) Going-to-the-sun Mountain in the Glacier National Park. It’s a beautiful mountain, and the road leading to it is pretty spectacular too. I like the drive up there, through the park. It hold a lot of memories for me. And my family too. You should check the times and everything though, because there’s just been a huge forest fire up there last week. People are talking about a thousand acres. Our ranch was affected a little, but the damage in the park was worse. Although our cabin up there was fine, I already went to check.


2) The Western Heritage Centre in Billings. People think Western heritage is all cowboys and stuff, but there’s a lot more to it. People think Montana is all ranching and mining, but before that there were a lot of different Indian tribes and pioneers. I like the WHC because it tries to bring all those stories together.


3) Little Bighorn National Monument. People mainly call it Custer’s Last Stand. It’s to do with the Sioux Wars, which were a pretty big deal around here. In a way they still are, because they forced the Native people to sell or starve, which took their land away . Anyhow, I could go on, but I won’t. People tell me I can get a little worked up about this stuff. 



Places to eat in Montana

This is a great question, seeing as no one in my family tires of eating, although we mainly eat at home because we’re miles from anywhere. But, when we are going to go out to eat, it’s because I’m making the airport run to Helena. Helena’s a nice town and here are the places I like, in no real order. 


1) Nagoya's Steakhouse and Sushi  This is great place for dinner. My dad loves a steak, my mom loves sushi, which to be honest, is pretty thin on the ground in Montana, plus they do vegetarian stuff, so it keeps everyone happy.


2) Steve's Cafe , Helena. If  I’m trying to meet the early flight, I’ll go to Steve’s. Or we go after the airport. It does ranching size breakfasts and the eggs are great, but it does a pretty sweet stack of huckleberry pancakes too.


3) The Old Minter’s Dining Club at the Caretaker’s Cabin was some of the best BBQ food we ever ate, but it’s just closed. We had my last birthday there. I think they’ll reopen again. I hope so. It was some lease problem. It’ll be great to see them back



Quirky things about Montana

Montana doesn’t seem the kind of place to have too many quirks, but believe me, it has it’s share. 


1) Pole Bridge Merc- I was going to put this in places to visit, but really, I think it’s more quirky than that. Check our their website, it says more than I could. They’re famous for their sweet pastry bear claws. What?! I said, ranchers have got to eat


2) We have some pretty quirky radio stations. Some of them are real religious, some of them are local news. I like the local news ones, where the news is so local they role call lost dogs and cows on the main street. My passengers sometimes complain about the music, or lack of it, but I like it. 


3) Okay, so this is a weird one: In Montana you can’t have an unchaperoned sheep in the cab of your rig. It’s a bylaw and I have no idea what it even means. First of all, why would you have a sheep in your cab, except a winter lamb, or something, maybe. And second, what’s a sheep chaperone? Also, unmarried women aren’t allowed to fish (I may or may not have to disclose having broken this law once in a while - don’t tell.) 



Famous people from Montana.

1) Sitting Bull the Lakota chief.  
2) David Lynch the director. His stuff’s weird, but I like it. 
3) Someone’s just come in and told me Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was from Miles City. Wasn’t she the girl with the bubblegum and the bad manners who went blue from blueberries? The bad manners doesn’t sound much like Montana to me (it might have something to do with the fact that the person who just came in was still eating their breakfast blueberries - it’s almost eleven and the days around here start at four, how’s that for timekeeping)


Authors or books set in Montana

There are almost too many for me to talk about, but here goes. 


1) Ivan Doig is my favourite living Montana writer. Well he was, he died in April. But still, I rate his stuff. It feels like home.


 2) Joseph Kinsey Howard wrote a book called High, Wide and Handsome, which is a really famous history of Montana. You should look it up, if you like. 


3) James Willard Shultz, aka Apikuni He named Going -to-the-Sun-Mountain and so I had to put him in here. 


That’s it! Thanks again, Megan . And thanks for reading, it’s been fun. The lunch bell just rang across the yard. We’re having a BBQ today and my friend Matty’s truck is coming up the drive. Better run. Oh, and you really should come to Montana. Sometimes, people love it enough they decide they want to stay.


This post was so much fun. Thanks Cal. It was awesome learning about Montana. I really want to go now. What do you think?


Tomorrow we are in Nebraska with blogger Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reads.


Follow all the road trip posts here


Giveaway


When a finished copy of Crow Mountain by Lucy Inglis. Giveaway open to anyone in the UK/ Ireland / Europe. Giveaway being sponsored by the author, publisher and me. Giveaway open till the 28th August 2015.




Blurb

While on holiday in Montana, Hope meets local boy Cal Crow, a ranch-hand. Caught in a freak accident, the two of them take shelter in a mountain cabin where Hope makes a strange discovery. More than a hundred years earlier, another English girl met a similar fate. Her rescuer: a horse-trader called Nate. In this wild place, both girls learn what it means to survive and to fall in love, neither knowing that their fates are intimately entwined.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chapter Con London 2017

I am so excited to be posting about this event. As you know if you follow my blog, I love YA so much. To go along with this I have always wanted to go to a book convention that is all about celebrating YA books, these mostly happen in the U.S. and as I live in the UK you can imagine how hard it is to get to one. Not anymore, the wonderful woman that is author Katie M John has decided to create  "An Author, Blogger and Reader convention designed to celebrate Young Adult and New Adult stories of all genres." And I couldn't be more excited.

What you need to know?

The convention is in its BETA stage. What we know so for is it will be in 2017 in Teddington, London. I know 2017 seems so far away but between then and now there is so much work to be done and I am excited to be a part of it as an official blogger for the convention.

So far we have 5 awesome panellists signed up which include, author Carlyle Labuschagne, Patti Larsen, Bella Roccaforte, Jo Thomas and Cameo Renae.

An event like this can't run on fumes and to help this event there is currently a Go Fund Me campaign happening. The smallest amount you can help toward this event will make a difference you can check out the Go Fund Me campaign here.

If you can't donate, that's perfectly all right you can help spread the word about this event, whether that's through a blog post, a tweet on social media anything you can do to help. Just get the word out there.

I am so excited to see this convention come together over the next year , it's going to be a blast in the meantime, why not like the Facebook page here to keep up to date with the event and check out the website here