Wednesday, March 16, 2016

YA In The Alleyway~THE LINGERING GRACE by Jessica Arnold & Giveaway!



YA in the Alleyway
 is my revised meme to give young adult literature the spotlight it deserves. It also gives YA authors the opportunity to share their signature with the world! Feel free to join me any Wednesday. 

I'm really excited to share this featured author with you! We're celebrating her next release in her young adult series The Looking Glass. Meet book II: THE LINGERING GRACE. Ah...there's just something about this title that I absolutely love. And check out this book description: 

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks 
The Lingering Grace (The Looking Glass #2)
by Jessica Arnold

Publication Date:  March 15, 2016
Publisher:  Month9Books

All magic comes with a price. 
The new school year brings with it a welcome return to normalcy after Alice’s narrow escape from a cursed hotel while on summer vacation. But when a young girl drowns in a freak accident that seems eerily similar to her own near-death experience, Alice suspects there might be something going on that not even the police can uncover. 

The girl’s older sister, Eva attends Alice’s school, and Alice immediately befriends her. But things change when when Alice learns that Eva is determined to use magic to bring her sister back. She must decide whether to help Eva work the highly dangerous magic or stop her at all costs. After all, no one knows better than Alice the true price of magic.


The Looking Glass~Book I
Find the diary, break the curse, step through The Looking Glass!

Fifteen-year-old Alice Montgomery wakes up in the lobby of the B&B where she has been vacationing with her family to a startling discovery: no one can see or hear her. The cheap desk lights have been replaced with gas lamps and the linoleum floor with hardwood and rich Oriental carpeting. Someone has replaced the artwork with eerie paintings of Elizabeth Blackwell, the insane actress and rumored witch who killed herself at the hotel in the 1880s. Alice watches from behind the looking glass where she is haunted by Elizabeth Blackwell. Trapped in the 19th-century version of the hotel, Alice must figure out a way to break Elizabeth’s curse—with the help of Elizabeth's old diary and Tony, the son of a ghost hunter who is investigating the haunted B&B—before she becomes the inn's next victim.
Please give a warm Alleyway welcome to young adult author, Jessica Arnold. She lives in New York City and works as a digital production manager at a fancy-pants NYC publishing house. If she has a spare moment, she's always up for a round of Bananagrams. She likes puppies. She doesn't believe in long bios. 
'K, <3 her already! Hi Jessica, we're so happy to have you here. Let's give your readers a starting point about you. What or who inspired you to first try writing?
Being a writer has not been a lifelong dream for me. When I was in middle and high school, I struggled with essays so much that I thought I was terrible at writing and simply wasn't cut out for it. It wasn't until I started experimenting with creative writing in college that I realized I loved it. It's been a lesson for me that I can't give up on something just because it's hard. I'll admit, though, that I still hate writing papers.

Honesty IS the best policy to live by. Well, since you've obviously taken to writing novels like a charm what do you see as the most important exercise to lead a writer to success?
As far as I can tell, the best way to be a successful writer is to focus on writing something amazing. Thousands of Twitter followers will never compensate for an underdeveloped manuscript. My vote is for honing the craft, being persistent, and letting the rest of the details shake out as they may.

The publishing world is changing so quickly today. Any thoughts?
I work in digital publishing—making ebooks is my day job.

Very, very cool! Sorry I interrupted. Please continue.

Because of that I'm often hyper-aware of the changes happening in the publishing world. There's been a lot of hand-wringing recently about ebooks vs. print books, and even the big publishers (or should I say ESPECIALLY the big publishers) have been wrangling with how to transition into a more digital world. Here's what I can say for certain: 1) Print books are NOT going away. The most recent sales data shows that print sales are actually getting stronger and ebook sales are leveling off. So don't worry—readers still want those paper books! 2) Publishing as an industry is actually very stable. There's always a feeling that people simply aren't interested in books anymore. After all, with the Netflixes and the Hulus of the Internet offering entertainment so readily and cheaply, who has time for reading? But don't worry—there are still as many readers as ever looking for a great new read. The opportunity to publish is still there, even though the industry is competitive and harsh. Publishers have been through a rough time lately, but they remain optimistic. And writers, whether they're self-published, conventionally published, or not published at all, shouldn't worry about the industry disappearing anytime soon.

Can I hear a big YAY! for the longevity of print books? WOOT! Let have a fun graffiti wall question. If you had to outline your current WIP or next story using only images, what images would you choose? 
A stone tower, a wolf, a witch, and a firebird.

TOUR SCHEDULE
Interesting...Now you've got me wondering. It's been a pleasure learning more about you and your work. Looking forward to more books from you in the future.

If you'd like to learn more about Jessica, feel free to visit her at these social media sites:  Website | Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you ever been to a place that others have claimed is haunted? 
 photo Sheri2.png

30 comments:

  1. Books in one form or another won't ever go away. It's more about how those books arrive in readers' hands now.

    Congrats on book 2, Jessica.

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    Replies
    1. Oh no! Could you image a world without books or stories or tales for us to escape through? #shivers No, I don't believe that's even a possibility. Personally, and as much as I like my Kindle, my heart still belongs to paper and ink. <3

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  2. I agree with L. Diane. Books will always be around. The format of how we read them might continue to change though.

    I love these covers! :)

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  3. I'm so grateful that books will continue to be around--no matter how much things change on how we get them. Awesome that Jessica already works with digital books. That must be a huge help to her when working on her own books. So agree that it's the quality of the book not social media that matters.

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    Replies
    1. I agree. I couldn't image not being able to hold a physical book in my hands, the smell and the feel. It's kind of intimate, you know.

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  4. The storyteller will always be around. The venue means nothing. From the flickering flames of the campfire to the digital devise in our hands, it is the story that matters and how it touches us. Stories complete the emotional circuit in us somehow. Best of luck and highest of sales, Jessica!

    S.A -- thanks for commenting on my own guest post at Hart Johnson's blog. :-)

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  5. I won't worry then.
    Cool to find someone else who never planned on being an author.

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    Replies
    1. It is kind of cool when this profession finds someone. I never imagined writing books either. I think partly because it seemed like such a mountain to climb.

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  6. I agree with print book not going anywhere. When I can, I prefer print. I think the thing I hate that it's easy to buy eBooks but now I have a ton on my Kindle and don't think I'll ever get around to reading all of them. But the print books I buy, I know I'll read.

    The cover for The Lingering Grace is stunning!

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  7. I agree with print book not going anywhere. When I can, I prefer print. I think the thing I hate that it's easy to buy eBooks but now I have a ton on my Kindle and don't think I'll ever get around to reading all of them. But the print books I buy, I know I'll read.

    The cover for The Lingering Grace is stunning!

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  8. These sound like really fun twists.

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  9. It's shameful the way big publishers are complaining about their profits when studies show any profits they lose from print are more than made up for by the increase in ebook sales. They aren't losing money, but they use the lie as an excuse to stop paying author advances or doing any marketing for them.

    Love the premise of the book! Wishing Jessica much success! :)

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  10. I feel you on writing essays. I hated them in school. Writing fiction is a whole different world. Congrats, Jessica!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, when Jessica mentioned 'essays' it got me thinking. I loved the writing aspect of them, but 'essays' imply writing for someone else, for a purpose not our own, and under someone else's criteria usually on a topic of no interest to me. :( Not always, but a lot of the time it was like that.

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  11. Woo hoo! I suspected print books were still going strong. Look at the continued popularity of bookstores.

    These books sound intriguing, especially the haunted B&B part. The only building I can recall being in that's said to be haunted is an Inn built in 1835 in Kennett Square, PA. It's supposedly haunted by a ghost named Letitia, or at least that's what their restaurant menu says! I've never heard any strange noises there, though. I'm sure it's just a gimmick to draw customers.

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    Replies
    1. Any time I walk into a bookstore it's almost like ambling upon a hidden treasure or a world unseen from the outside. It's kind of funny; I'd say I'm almost intimidated to enter a bookstore at times. Whether true events or fictitious, so much of our humanness rests in a place like that. It's so huge.

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  12. Huzzah for the longevity of print books (my favorite), and the continued e-book sales! Huzzah for readers!
    And Huzzah for your novel! I like the diary for clues idea. Wonderful!

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  13. YAY for Lingering Grace and wishing Jessica all the best!

    I have not been to a place that I thought was a haunted. Most likely, I would not last long. My imagination is too hyper lol!

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    1. We have a house located in a nearby town that's haunted. Ghost hunters visit it all the time. It's even been on a few of those types of shows, investigations and such. The owner is cousin to one of my good friends and he does guided tours of the place. Many people have reported seeing a few specific entities, one being 'Captain' - a military man from the 1700s I think; maybe it's the 1800s. I can't remember. Anyway, he doesn't hurt anyone, just follows people around ... and they see him. I still haven't dared to do a tour yet.

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  14. Congratulations, Jessica, on your series. The covers are gorgeous. They sound like great stories.

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  15. This sounds like such an interesting read. I love stories that lead you into such interesting times and places.

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  16. I love hearing about people getting the writing bug after childhood. We're all on different timelines. Jessica has beautiful covers and I like the book descriptions.

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  17. i really like the sound of this series! ghostly, historic, mysterious, magical!
    and beautiful covers! congrats!

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  18. There will always be readers who love a print book. There is nothing like holding a book in you hand and FLIPPING the page!

    Congrats on Book 2, Jess!

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  19. Oh, Hi, Sheri,

    Thanks for featuring Jess. Sounds like a fun and magical series!

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  20. I like what you said about focusing on the writing, not the bits and pieces on the outside (like Twitter.) And thanks for the positive news about print books! I don't know how I could ever give them up.

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    1. Yeah, I could never give up printed books either.

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  21. I like my kindle, but it will never replace my love for actual books! The feel, the smell, how nicely they stack on my shelf.

    I love these books covers, Jess!!! And they sound amazing!!! Good Luck.

    Hi, Sheri ~~ Happy Easter!

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  22. Haven't read her first book yet, but I'm intrigued :) Great guest, Sheri, and a lovely interview too.

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