Saturday, October 17, 2015

Spooky Reads from LEAP: Tina Ferraro



Welcome to the third week of Spooky Reads from Leap! This week we asked Tina Ferraro, author of Half-Life, about her Top 5 Spooky Destinations!
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes

Thanks to Tina for joining us today! Here are her top Five SPOOOOOOOOKY Destinations she has and wants to visit! Click the destination link for more information about ghosts and other "happenings" at those places!



1.      Visited 1986: The White House, Washington, DC.

2.      Visited 2011:  The Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California.
        
3.      Visited 1998:    The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California.

4.      Might visit 2015: Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, NH.
 
5.      Might visit 2017: The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO.  (The hotel where they filmed "The Shining.")  
Tina Ferraro been writing since she learned to hold a pencil, and sold upwards of a hundred short stories to national magazines before turning to novels. She is the author of three Random House novels, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, which have received distinctions such as the ABA Book Sense Award and two RITA nominations. Her fourth YA, The Starter Boyfriend, has spent time on Amazon’s Top 100 Lists. She lives in Los Angeles with her rocket scientist husband, two cats and whichever of their three young adult children is in town. When not writing, she enjoys playing Facebook Scrabble, swimming, and chasing coyotes out of her neighborhood. 

Tina’s latest title with Shine….HALF-LIFE follows Trisha in the days before her 15th birthday, as her long deceased identical twin makes appearances in mirrors to help prevent her similarly early demise. Follow Tina on Twitter, Facebook, and her website

LEAP Books October Spooky Reads titles, each only $1.99 all October long!

Killer's Instinct: Amazon | B&N
Beware the Little White Rabbit Anthology: Amazon | iTunes | B&N | Smashwords | Goodreads
Half-Life: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes
Fright Before Christmas AnthologyAmazon B&N | iTunes Smashwords
The Case of the Invisible Witch
LeapBooks | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Spirited Anthology: Amazon | B&N


Thursday, October 1, 2015

Spooky Reads From LEAP: Patrice Lyle

LEAP Books October Spooky Reads titles, each only $1.99 all October long!
Killer's Instinct: Amazon | B&N

Beware the Little White Rabbit Anthology: Amazon | iTunes | B&N | Smashwords | Goodreads
Half-Life: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes
Fright Before Christmas Anthology: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Smashwords
The Case of the Invisible WitchAmazon |  Smashwords | Goodreads 
Spirited Anthology: Amazon | B&N 

Welcome to the first week of Spooky Reads from Leap! This week we are featuring Patrice Lyle and her spooky books, including her newest release in the Poison Ivy Charm School series, The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock & an excerpt!
When thirteen-year-old Tulip Bonnaire’s super-cute crush, Dexter, is threatened with expulsion from Poison Ivy Charm School, she can’t help but take the case. Someone has put a spell on Garrett’s Levitation skills and all the evidence, including the testimony of a sea hag stone, points to Dex. Tulip can’t imagine Poison Ivy without him, so she’s intent on proving his innocence. But that means delving into an old secret to find out who turned Garrett into a washed-up warlock.
Book Two in the Poison Ivy Charm School Series,
releasing  October 5, 2015


Pre-Order Links: Amazon |  Smashwords | Goodreads 
Excerpt from The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock:              

               “Any news yet?” He sat down on his bed and wedged himself against a mountain of pillows.
                I was about to answer when a glint of gray caught my eye. A stone the size of a cookie, with an uneven hole in the middle of it, sat on his bedside table. “Is that your enchanted sea hag stone?” The one that had started all the trouble?
                “Yeah. Glad she finally woke up and told me ’bout Dexter busting into my closet.”
                I ignored him and approached the troublemaking pebble. Its smooth exterior was cool against my skin when I rolled it between my fingers. Not a sign of life existed until I dropped it – kinda accidentally – onto his table. Thud.
                Dark, creepy eyes appeared, lined with spiky, green eyelashes. A tiny mouth with slimy black lips emerged around the hole. And a long, carrot-shaped nose covered in warts jutted out. “Hey, you. Don’t drop me like a bag of dirt.” Her voice screeched like a spider monkey on a rampage.
                I laughed. “You talking about Garrett’s Lev performance?”
                Garrett cleared his throat. “That’s not my fault. It’s a spell.”
                “Don’t you drop me again, you idiotic hooligan.” The sea hag had a ’tude stronger than Alexandria’s.
                I wanted to fling the stupid stone out the window, but that wasn’t the best way to get information. If the dumb hag had seen Dexter, maybe she’d seen something else that could help me solve the case.
                “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to.”
                “Yeah, right. I know a rock dropper when I see one.”
                I stifled a smirk and a smart comment about a rolling stone. “You see anything else suspicious in Garrett’s room?”
                She batted her needle-like eyelashes. “Nothing but that nerd ’lock who slipped in here like some moron ghost who hasn’t mastered being dead yet. He fumbled with the door forever before crashing in like a nitwit.”
                Anger shot through my veins like an ink pen explosion. First Garrett had insulted Dex. And now some stone with a hideous, old hag face? Who do they think they are? I grabbed the dumb rock with both hands and pinched the sea hag’s ugly warty nose, intent on breaking it off.
                But she bit me!
                Her moldy teeth chomped down on my fingers, drawing blood.
                “Ouch! You stupid sea hag!” I tried to hurl her against the wall, but her grip was like a pit bull’s.
                If pit bulls had carrot-shaped noses, spider monkey voices, and moldy teeth.
                “Get this thing off me,” I yelled at Garrett. “Or I’ll drop your case.”
Patrice Lyle has never met a ghost story she didn’t like. She’s been fascinated with the paranormal since childhood. She attributes this fascination to having heard old family stories of ghostly wreaths, ESP, and money hidden in the lining of antique purses. She grew up on the Oregon Coast and has a Master’s Degree in Writing Popular Fiction. Now she lives with her husband and three cats near Orlando, where she’s working on the next Poison Ivy novel and trolling the area for ghostly happenings.
Friend Patrice on Facebook or visit her website. She is also on AuthorsNow! and Twitter: @Patrice_Lyle


Monday, September 21, 2015

Happy Cover Reveal Day to Patrice Lyle!

Leap Books Seek is proud to share the amazing cover of The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock by Patrice Lyle!



Title: The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock (Poison Ivy Charm School #2)
AuthorPatrice Lyle
Release Date: October 5, 2015

When thirteen-year-old Tulip Bonnaire’s super-cute crush, Dexter, is threatened with expulsion from Poison Ivy Charm School, she can’t help but take the case. Someone has put a spell on Garrett’s Levitation skills and all the evidence, including the testimony of a sea hag stone, points to Dex. Tulip can’t imagine Poison Ivy without him, so she’s intent on proving his innocence. But that means delving into an old secret to find out who turned Garrett into a washed-up warlock.


Author Bio:

Patrice Lyle has never met a ghost story she didn’t like. She’s been fascinated with the paranormal since childhood. She attributes this fascination to having heard old family stories of ghostly wreaths, ESP, and money hidden in the lining of antique purses. She grew up on the Oregon Coast and has a Master’s Degree in Writing Popular Fiction. Now she lives with her husband and two cats on Florida’s Space Coast, where she’s working on her next novel under an umbrella on the beach. For more information, please visit her website at www.patricebooks.com.  

Monday, September 7, 2015

The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock Cover Reveal and Book Blitz Sign-up



Leap Books is celebrating the cover reveal and release of 

The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock by Patrice Lyle



Thirteen-year-old Tulip Bonnaire moonlights as a private investigator at Poison Ivy Charm school, and her latest case depends on uncovering an old secret to prove her crush Dex hasn't been casting harmful spells. She's in for quite a scare with this case.

We're looking for bloggers to help us reveal this amazing cover on September 21st and possibly help with the book blitz on October 5th. If that's you, please fill out the form here. Options for the cover reveal, book blitz, and e-ARCs for review are all contained on the form.

Want to win a copy of The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock? Enter the Goodreads giveaway here. And don't forget to add this book to your Goodreads shelf.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Special Pre-Order Pricing for Linda Joy Singleton NEVER BEEN TEXTED

Leap Books is excited to announce a special Pre-Order Sales Price of just $0.99 for our e-book version of the soon to be released Young Adult contemporary fairy tale, NEVER BEEN TEXTED by popular author Linda Joy Singleton. 

When Ashlee’s stepdad completely forgets her birthday she takes matters into her own hands to get the one thing she really wants: her own cell phone. But text messages start rolling in from a broken-hearted boy, and though Ashlee knows not all stories end happily, she’s determined to make hers the best it can be.

Order now, because this price is for pre-orders only!

Amazon
B&N
Kobo
iBooks




Tuesday, July 21, 2015

SEEK and What a Find!

Exciting changes are happening at Leap Books! 


We recently updated our middle grade line's name from FROLIC to SEEK because we noticed our books' protagonists don't do a lot of frolicking--but they certainly seek out adventure and answers.

The first book in the SEEK line is WHEN SPARROWS FALL by Diana Blackstone. A powerful debut for Diana, WHEN SPARROWS FALL follows Susanna Stutzman as she solves a mystery that pits her conscience against her community.

To add to the excitement of the new line name, and the launch of a new SEEK book, we at Team Leap are also excited to announce our brand new Acquisitions Editor for the SEEK line: Kelly Hashway!

Kelly Hashway has been carefully editing books for Leap for more than a year and has been an invaluable member of our freelance staff. So it was a tremendous stroke of luck that we could bring her aboard to play a larger role.

Kelly holds a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching language arts for seven years, she became a full-time writer and freelance editor. Her editorial experience includes editing picture books and novels for three book publishers, proofreading educational documents for two school districts, and offering both developmental and copy edits for her own list of clients. She’s had over one hundred short stories published in a variety of venues and has  two young adult series published, another on the way, and many other projects in the works!

Kelly takes over all acquisitions for the SEEK line immediately and we've heard a rumor that she's about ready to open the doors briefly to unagented submissions! Watch our site here for more details and follow Kelly on Facebook.com/kellyhashway or Twitter.com/kellyhashway and Twitter.com/Leapbks to keep up-to-date on submission calls.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Fright Before Christmas Anthology Official Author Roster


We have finalized our impressive list of authors to be featured in our middle grade horror anthology project, FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. This collection of 13 tales, from 13 different authors, will knock the stockings off your fireplace this Christmas season. FRIGHT is set to launch in November. Be sure to watch for the cover reveal soon!

And so we give you the FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS anthology author roster (authors listed in no particular order):

Richard Ankers


Richard is a former authonomy.com gold medalist. He has featured in Third Flatiron Publishing’s ‘The Time It Happened’ anthology and also in The New Accelerator digital imprint. Richard lives for writing and his love of the great outdoors.

Jackie Horsfall


Jackie Horsfall is the author of 20 books and hundreds of short stories and articles. She lives deep in the woods of upstate New York, awaiting a Bigfoot sighting.

Boyd Reynolds


Boyd Reynolds is a freelance writer and educator living in Vancouver, Canada. He has published short stories for children, teenagers and adults. His other published works include newspaper articles, educational non-fiction pieces and pop culture commentary. Boyd holds a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature and enjoys all things scary.

Lea Storry


Lea Storry (her real name) is a writer who owns a memoir writing business. She loves creating fiction too and has a kids’ book out about a raven learning to fly. Besides being a writer, Lea’s a pilot and a traveller who lives with her husband in Alberta, Canada.

Ally Mathews


Ally lives in Texas with her husband, three kids, four dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and assorted reptiles. She used to be a children’s librarian, but now spends her time writing middle grade and young adult books, and is particularly fond of fairy tale retellings.

Laura Pauling


Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder, and mystery. She’s the author of the young adult Circle of Spies Series, the Prom Impossible Series, and the Holly Hart Cozy Mysteries for adults. She writes to entertain…and work in her jammies and slippers.

Ty Drago


Ty Drago is the author of several published novels, including the critically acclaimed YA series, THE UNDERTAKERS, which has been adapted for a feature film.  His short fiction and articles have appeared in numerous magazines, e-zines, and anthologies, including WRITERS DIGEST.  He and his wife Helene live in New Jersey.

Jessica Bayliss


Jessica Bayliss's love for reading goes all the way back to the 6th grade book bin, and it's never faded. She writes across genres and age groups, but Jessica's dearest dream is to dazzle the hearts of young readers.

Judith Graves


Judith Graves loves tragic romance, werewolves, vampires, magic and all things a bit creepy. A firm believer that teen fiction can be action-packed, snarky and yet hit all the right emotional notes, Judith writes stories with attitude. She lives in northern Alberta and when she’s not writing, she works in a school library.

Andrea Stanet


A freelance writer from upstate New York, Andrea Stanet has been published online and in print since the late 90s. While she typically writes contemporary and urban fantasy, her reading interests span all genres. Other published middle grade work includes “Nelita and the Shadow” in the anthology Wild Cards.

Patrick Hueller

Patrick Hueller is the author of several scary YA and middle grade books, including Wolf High, The Wish, and (under the pen name Paul Hoblin) Foul.

Dax Varley


Dax Varley writes the kinds of stories and books she wishes were around when she was a kid. She’s the author of Sleepy Hollow, Return to Sleepy Hollow, Bleed, and Nightmare House. Dax enjoys reading and writing horror and loves all the eerie bumps in the night.

Medeia Sharif


Medeia Sharif was born in New York City and now lives in Miami. She received her master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. Published through various presses, she writes middle grade and young adult short stories and novels. In addition to being a writer, she’s a public school teacher.