Sunshine Award

Leap Books received a Sunshine Award. Now it's up to us to pass it along. That's hard to do, because we know so many wonderful bloggers. We'd love to give an award to each and every one of them. But we're only allowed to select a dozen, so we hope those bloggers will spread the sunshine by passing the award along.

We want to give a special thanks to bloggers who have gone out of their way to promote Leap Books and spread the word about our upcoming releases.
A special shout-out to:

Mel     http://hefollowedmehome.blogspot.com/

Dark Faerie Tales  http://darkfaerietales.com/

Teens Read Too  http://www.teensreadtoo.com/

La Femme Readers http://lafemmereaders.blogspot.com/

Mundie Moms http://www.mundiemoms.blogspot.com/

The Book Butterfly http://butterflybookreviews.blogspot.com/

YA Books Central Blog  http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/

Ellz Reads http://ellzreadz.blogspot.com/

Princess Bookie http://www.princessbookie.com/

Book Lovers, Inc. http://book-lovers-inc.blogspot.com/2010/01/interview-iwth-class-of-2k10-when-did.html

Read this Book http://readthisbook.wordpress.com/

The Story Siren http://www.thestorysiren.com/2010/02/january-winner-2010-debut-author.html

To pass on this award, select 12 bloggers you think are spreading sunshine and comment on their blog. Link to the person who gave you the award, and pass on the kudos.

We have many more bloggers to thank, especially those who hosted author Judith Graves this month. Watch for more posts about all the wonderful sites she visited.

And for everyone who is eagerly awaiting a copy of Under My Skin, production glitches have backed up the release date a few weeks, but if you've ordered a book from us, we'll see that you get the very first, hot-off-the-press copies! Thanks for your patience, but we're trying to get every detail perfect before we send it off into the world.

Sassy Voice

Thanks to Teens Read and Write for a great review of Freaksville. Here are a few of the many glowing comments:

If you like a sharp, snappy female protagonist embroiled in danger, mystery and action, Freaksville is for you.

The strongest thing about the story is Kasey's sassy voice. And talk about energy. This girl has got plenty and it leaps from the pages with a manic pace....

Kasey is a screech. Her sarcastic wit had me laughing often, and she is full of spunk and determination. She and her best friend Gillie have a wonderful relationship, open, honest and loyal. Having boys enter the picture didn't interfere with their love for each other....

It's a good, lighthearted read with funky characters, a hefty dose of paranormal and layers of mystery weaving throughout. I'd recommend it, especially for younger teens and anyone who loves all things British. 

 
 Of course, we here at Leap Books love Kasey, too, and think she's fab. And the art by Canadian graphic designer, Val Cox, just adds to the fun.

Pick up a copy now and enjoy a 30% discount during our Leap Books Spring Special** anytime between 3-20-10 and 5-1-10. Just type in the special code: SPR30 when you check out!

Here's the link for Freaksville, but you can order our other titles, too, including the soon-to-be-released Under My Skin by Judith Graves. If you love all things paranormal, these are not to be missed.

**NOTE: Coupon not valid with any other discounts, including booksellers discounts.

TaleBlazers Festival

Author Judith Graves will be part of the Young Alberta Book Society's TaleBlazers Festival, which runs from October 4-29, 2010. Schools and libraries can host author visits.

And what better month to have a visit from a paranormal author than October?? Under My Skin is filled with wolven, witches, vamps, and otherworldly beasties, so it's the perfect Halloween treat. 


"Every fall the Taleblazers Festival tours the province giving hundreds of literary presentations to Albertan children in communities large and small, getting them fired up about literacy, sparking their imaginations, and giving them stronger literacy skills for a brighter future." To find out more about TaleBlazers and the Young Alberta Book Society, check out the website: http://www.yabs.ab.ca/TaleBlazers.asp.

Leap Books is proud to have authors who are working hard to promote literacy. If you'd like to host any of our authors, please contact Cathleen Cartwright at marketing@leapbks.com.

Virginia Festival of the Book

Author Bonnie J. Doerr will be speaking at this event, which begins tomorrow (Wed., March 17, 2010) and continues through the weekend.  She's part of a panel of children's and YA authors who will be discussing their path to publication:

Pub Day: Getting Published -- Picture Books to Young Adult

Sat. March 20th, 2010 - 12:00 PM

Laura Rennert (Buying, Training and Caring for Your Dinosaur), Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma), Bonnie Doerr (Island Sting), Emily Ecton (Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments), and Ruth Spiro (Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist) share their stories.

Moderated by: Fran Cannon Slayton

Location:
Omni Hotel
Room: Preston
235 West Main Street
(434)971-5500
 
More exciting events and highlights of the programs can be found here:

http://www.vabook.org/site10/program/view.php

If you love books, this is the place to be this weekend. Be sure to stop by and say "hi" to Bonnie. She'd love to meet you. She'll be autographing copies of her latest release, the eco-mystery,  Island Sting.

Island Sting Charmers Winners and More...

Author Bonnie J. Doerr’s back from the Florida Keys with lots of stories to tell. We’ll be featuring some of them over the next few weeks. But right now, we have an important announcement.

Ta, da… Drum roll please…

The winners of our Island Sting Charmers contest are:

LiLi is the lucky winner of the Key necklace!
Congratulations, LiLi!




And the winners of the Island Sting charms are:

Erica – the lobster charm

Jill of The O.W.L. – the hook


If you contact us at contests@leapbks.com with your mailing addresses, we’ll send these out to you.

For those who didn’t win, don’t despair. We have more contests coming up. Keep an eye on our next debut author, Judith Graves of Under My Skin. She can be seen around the blogosphere all month. Check out the calendar at the Wolfy Chicks website to see where she’s appearing. And watch for the special contests she’s holding. This week she’s been featured on He Followed Me Home and several other blogs. Leave a comment on any of the blog posts for a chance to win. And let us know which post was your fav. Your name will be entered in a drawing for additional Judith Graves swag.

Team Freaksville vs. Team Redgrave: The Interviews

 This is Kasey Maxwell from Freaksville (left) blogging with Eryn McCain from Redgrave, Alberta (below).

K:   So hiya, Eryn, word has it you have a little vampire problem up in the vast North, eh?” [Note I added a little Canadian flavour. I really dig accents. British is my fav, but Canada is a colony of England, isn’t it…] Oops, sorry, back to the question at hand—VAMPS.

E:  Yeah, we have some nasty bloodsuckers in Redgrave, but currently me and my hunter crew—well, it's Alec's crew really (that's part of the guy problem I was telling you about)—are fighting off a pack of werewolves. I hear you have some wolfy issues yourself…as in potential love interest avec fur. I sure hope you’re not allergic, like some people I know…

K:   So what does a hunter do exactly? Do you get to wear cool boots? I love boots, I think every girl, whether she’s kicking butt or not, should have a pair of cool boots.

E:  Um...boots. Yeah, I have some s#^*kickers, but I still cling to my Vancouver-purchased Mary Janes. I'm completely against snow. (Although, I really don't get why there's zero white-stuff action for the Olympics...British Columbia usually has the best ski conditions—if you're into that sort of thing.) Anyway, Redgrave's been quite the shock to my system, in more ways than one.

K:   Err, Canada grows their guys on the hot side… *fans self* I want to know who do you really want Wade or Alec? Come on we’re friends here.

 E:  Yeah, they're mildly attractive (understatement of incredible magnitude). But there's the whole, one guy might kill me, I might kill the other guy thing. Sounds like I'm taking it lightly, right? Believe me...I'm not. I'm just the laugh-at-a-funeral type, you know?

K:   I recently discovered that I’m a paranorm and, well, after that Freakfest, I’m learning to deal with my gifts. What’s been challenging to you?

E:  I've always known what I am, part human/part shapeshifter. But I've never had the chance to explore my paranorm side. You're hearing me, yes? At least your father never plied you with drugs to keep your "talents" at bay....screwing with your paranorm metabolism....turning you into something unknown and dangerous. And I'm supposed to care about passing my physics exam? Good lord.

K:  I heard you actually had a run in with a werewolf...seems he had a little pet shopping on his mind. Poor Thumper, it’s bad enough people wear  cute bunnies as fashion statement—note, I wear faux fur, not Thumpers---but now they have to worry about being werewolf chow, too?  So not fair! Anyway, what were you really thinking when you slipped and fell in the bunny blood? BTW, were those jeans thrashed? I hope they weren’t cute, because bloodstains are tough to get out of denim.

 E:  Kasey, Kasey, Kasey. *shakes head sadly* You'd have a tough time in my world. Why do you think I keep my hair up in these functional (yet funky and cute!) ponytails? I get messy. Hunting is a gory job. Sometimes I shower three times a day. I'm not kidding. Yeah, that werewolf was in a for a little dine-and-dash at the pet shop. But I handled the situation….with some help from an unlikely source.

Hear Kitty Keswick on Blog Talk Radio

Have questions you'd like to ask Kitty? Here's your chance. She'll be appearing on Book Bites for Kids tomorrow, February 11, 2010. If you wonder what inspired her to write Freaksville, or want to hear about her future plans for the series, tune in to Blogtalkradio.com/bookbitesforkids at 2pmCST.

And the following Thursday, February 18, also at 2 pm CST, Bonnie J. Doerr will be a guest on the same show.

If you miss the show, you can check out the archives and listen in later.