Character Interview and Giveaway for a Signed Copy of MESMERIZE by Artist Arthur

An Interview With Lindsey Yi

Star of Mesmerize, Book#4 of the Mystyx Series by Artist Arthur

 File Facts

Only child of South Korean parents

“M” birthmark on her right ankle

Has an ongoing compilation of useless facts

power #1 — telepathic (able to read the thoughts and stored information of others)

power #2 — empathic (the ability to share and understand another’s emotions and feelings)

 Lindsey is the daughter of a South Korean diplomat and his adoring wife. As the only child in a very political family Lindsey learned early on how to be personable and charming no matter what her personal circumstances. She’s very intelligent, spending her spare time studying things that others may deem useless but using them in her daily life. As a result, realizing that she could hear the thoughts of others wasn’t so much of a surprise to her. But the horrific train crash that left her parents dead, and her miraculously unscathed, is an anomaly she’s yet to recover from or figure out.

Forced to move to Lincoln with Aurora Hampton, Lindsey is now facing a new town, new friends and an incident that haunts her on a daily basis.

Meeting the Mystyx was no mistake, Lindsey is convinced. There’s a reason she was sent to Lincoln, a reason why the four of them were brought together at this time, in this place, and she’s more than eager to figure that reason out. Until the revelations become too painful and the mind she’s come to pride herself on becomes the very tool that could end the lives of the other Mystyx.

I am the first born and only girl in my family, and six and nine years separate me and my two brothers. Needless to say, I was alone quite a bit. But being alone gave me plenty of time to indulge my imagination in the world of books. One of the first novels I read was a young adult series that traced the lives of two teenagers in high school, Sweet Valley High. Reading those novels I thought I could do better, and so my quest to write entertaining stories began.

Being an introvert, it took me a long time to feel comfortable enough to let others read my work. How long? Well, the first person to read a story I wrote was my husband. Since then, I’ve been writing professionally for almost nine years now. But it was my daughter who encouraged me to write a book for teens—just one of the reasons I love her so dearly.

I live in Maryland with my husband and three children. If you take away the opinionated teenagers, family drama, overflowing bookshelves and DVDs, my life is pretty boring. But don’t take those things away, since they’re my inspiration.

I love to hear from readers and can be contacted at yaby…@yahoo.com.

A: What's it like having powers? 
Lindsey: It’s like living a different life, in a different world. You can’t tell anyone, besides the ones who are like you and you definitely can’t go around showing off the power. I feel like I’m two people stuck in one body.


A: What would you change about your power if you could? 
Lindsey: I would definitely add an on/off switch to my powers. It sucks that I’m bombarded with the thoughts of others on a constant and daily basis. Now, I can wear black and it dulls the chatter a bit. It works a lot better if the other person is wearing black as well, then the thoughts are totally blocked. But since nobody knows I have this power anyway, it’s kind of hard to expect them to walk around wearing black all the time. And…I don’t like wearing black all the time. 


A: Explain your power.
Lindsey: It’s intense when the voice in your head isn’t always your own. As I move past a person in the hallway, I hear their thoughts. It’s a constant chatter that goes on and on until I feel like screaming.  


 A: What’s your biggest regret?
Lindsey: Not having my parents around to share all this with.


A: What’s your wish for this holiday season?
Lindsey: To fall in love. I’ve watched Krystal and Jake tiptoe around their feelings until finally falling so deeply in love they often forget Sasha and I are around. And lately, Sasha and Antoine have been wandering in their own little love bubble. So I feel a little left out. I’d like to take the plunge, join the world of couples for a change instead of constantly being the odd one out.


A: Okay, I’m going to say a word and I want you to say the first thing that comes to your mind.

 A:                                                 Lindsey: 
Ice cream                           chocolate
Colors                        blue and yellow
Music                        pop
Soda                                  Sprite
Fruit                              grapes
Cartoons                        SpongeBob

Want to win a signed copy of MESMERIZE ?
Post your responses to these words in the comments and be registered to win a signed copy of Mesmerize. For Extra entries check out my reviews and leave a comment on the review. Tell me in your comment post here if you commented on the reviews. Link next to book titles.

Mystyx

1. Manifest (2010)
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/2010/08/manifest-by-artist-c-arthur.html
2. Mystify (2011)
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/2011/02/mystify-by-artist-arthur-3-12.html
2.5 Mutiny (2011) E-book
3. Mayhem (2011)
4. Mesmerize (Feb 2012)
5. Majestic (Aug 2012)

FRIDAY FUNNY # 17

Happy New Year 2012 Giveaway Hop

The Happy New Year 2012 Giveaway Hop 
will run from 
Dec. 30th till Jan 3rd. 

Thanks to Babs from Babs Book Bistro and 

Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

for co-hosting.

Contest will be open internationally.

I will be giving away a $10 Amazon/Barnes and Noble Gift card or

I'll let you chose a book from Book Depository

up to $10 and as long as they ship free to you,

you can enter.

Just make sure they ship to you. If not sure,  check here.

I love to win Gift Cards and these are the simplest and the best as far as I'm concerned.
For every 50 brand new followers, I'll give away another $10 Gift card or

book from Book Depository.

To enter:

Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below and answer this question in the comments--

"What was your favorite book from 2011?"

Hope you'll take the time to look around,

make a comment or two.

I am number 44

and Cicis Therories (US)  is in front of me

and Michelle Madow (Int) is behind me.
WOW! There are over 400 blogs participating! How awesome is that!

Click HERE for the full list of participating bloggers on the hop.

This is a great way to meet more bloggers, win books, gift cards and more!

THE BUNS ARE HERE WITH THEIR TOP HATS ON AND THEIR HORNS TO EXPLAIN THE RULES!

Click on the "Read More" to take you to Rafflecopter--

If you have any problem getting Rafflecopter to come up,

generally refreshing the page will fix it.

Read "Click for Instructions" before answering the question!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners! Winners!

WINNERS! WINNERS!

Thanks to Jessie Harrell from Oasis For YA and

 The Daily Harrell and 

Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

for co-hosting.

My question for everyone was

"What is your favorite thing about Mid-Winter?"

My winner #573 was SarahSparrow whose email begins with   captainsarahsparrow@...  and who said

My favorite thing about Mid-Winter is the beauty 
of the snow on the mountains.


Another Winner!

Hosted by

Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and 

Peep from Attack of the Book. Thank you ladies!

My question here was-

What last minute gift, you looked for this year or 

 in years past, was the hardest to find?

My winner is # 688 Jessy B whose email begins with 

jessyisawinner@... and who said

A few years ago it was a Wii for my daughter.


And in case you wondered, the most popular
 response was the Tickle Me Elmo.
 Boy am I glad my kids are grown!


Girls you have 48 hours to respond or 
a new winner will be chosen.
(I heard from the ladies within minutes of sending the emails.
So glad to be able to complete these giveaways in only minutes)

WELLLLL - WE'RE WAITING WEDNESDAY # 20 (Oh! and I'm having another WWWW contest)

What's your WELLLL- WE'RE WAITING book for this week?

Title: Dire Needs
Author: Stephanie Tyler
Genre: Paranormal Romance 
Paperback: 400 pages 
Publisher: Signet (3/6/12) 
ISBN-10: 0451236238



The full moon is their mistress. They are predators of pleasure and pain. Feared by humans, envied by werewolves, the Dire Wolves are immortal shifters, obeying no laws but their own bestial natures. Once they were many, but now only six remain, a dangerous wolfpack forever on the hunt…

Rifter leads the pack, embracing the lifestyle and ethics of an outlaw biker even as he battles an ancient enemy who has become a new, powerful force. But with his Brother Wolf raging inside him, howling to be unleashed, he needs to satisfy his hungers. And when he meets a drop-dead gorgeous blonde drinking alone in a bar that caters to both human and inhuman, Rifter’s primal instinct is to claim her.

Gwen has her own desires, long unfulfilled. She hopes a passionate night with the leather-clad, Harley-riding biker will ease her suffering. The seizures that have wracked her body her entire life are incurable—and they’re killing her.

But none of that will matter if Rifter can’t stop the growing threat to them all–trappers who are determined to enslave humankind and use the Dire wolves as part of their nefarious plan.

Title: Spellbound
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: YA
Hardback: 336  pages 
Publisher: Hyperion Books (3/13/12) 
ISBN-10: 1423121325

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Oh, and one more thing, did I mention that I’m having a contest  and anyone who tells me what their WELLLLL- WE'RE WAITING  book is will be entered in it?  Be sure you have filled out the Rafflecopter form HERE, but each comment you leave each Wednesday with a DIFFERENT WWWW book snags you another entry.

Click on the "Read More" to take you to Rafflecopter--

If you have any problem getting Rafflecopter to come up, 

generally refreshing the page will fix it.

PLEEEEESE!

Read "Click for Instructions" before answering the question!

ENTRY RULES TO BE ANNOUNCED  BY GRANDBUNS
WITH THE HELP OF RAFFLECOPTER

TEASER TUESDAY #16

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 "It's more than just

 darkness. It's a living, 

breathing evil 

and it's coming after 

you and the others 

because it knows

 you're the only ones

 who can stop it."

MAYHEM 

by Artist Arthur

page 42

For a chance at the

 next book in this

 awesome series 

comment and enter

 Artist Arthur's contest for MESMERIZE here.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Mid-Winter's Eve Giveaway Blog Hop Dec 21st-27th

The Mid-Winter's Eve Blog Hop will run from Dec. 21st till 27th. 

Thanks to Jessie Harrell from Oasis For YA and

 The Daily Harrell and 

Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

for co-hosting.

Contest will be open internationally.

I will be giving away a $10 Amazon/Barnes and Noble Gift card or

I'll let you chose a book from Book Depository

up to $10 and as long as they ship free to you,

you can enter.

Just make sure they ship to you. If not sure,  check here.

I love to win Gift Cards and these are the simplest and the best as far as I'm concerned.
For every 50 brand new followers, I'll give away another $10 Gift card or

book from Book Depository.

To enter:
Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below and answer this question in the comments--
"What is your favorite thing about Mid-Winter?"

Hope you'll take the time to look around,

make a comment or two.

I am number 14

and The Mod Podge Bookshelf (US)  is in front of me

and Cuzinlogic (Int) is behind me.
WOW! There are over 400 blogs participating! How awesome is that!

Click HERE for the full list of participating bloggers on the hop.

This is a great way to meet more bloggers, win books, gift cards and more!

Click on the "Read More" to take you to Rafflecopter--

If you have any problem getting Rafflecopter to come up,

generally refreshing the page will fix it.

Read "Click for Instructions" before answering the question!

Merry Christmas! Intl' Giveaway + Short blogging break

Stop by for a end of the year giveaway. One lucky winner = gets four of the most popular Young adult novels of 2011.

Merry Christmas!

Here in Norway we celebrate Christmas on December 24th, Christmas Evening as we call it. If you would like to know a little of our Norwegian Christmas traditions I wrote a post about that last year, just follow this link to read more. Since Nina is living in the US now I reckon she is celebrating with her in-laws today :) I only got one book for Christmas this year but it was a wonderful surprise, Nina gave me Entwined by Heather Dixion. Thank you so much, Nina!

Giveaway:
We're near the end of 2011 and this will be the last contest of the year. I'll be giving away four of the young adult novels voted as best YA in the 2011 Goodreads choice awards to one lucky reader.
Note: I've been given feedback that some of the extra information isn't possible to add in Rafflecopter, just leave a comment and provide the information there :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blogging break:  
We're taking a break from blogging for the rest of the Holiday Season but we'll be back in the begining of Januar sharing some of our favorites from 2011. Take care and enjoy Christmas!

For the Delirium fans! Hana - a short story from Lauren Oliver

For all of us who LOVED Delirium by Lauren Oliver(and are desperately awaiting the release of Pandemonium), I'm super exited to announce that Lauren and her publisher Hodder & Stoughton has a Christmas treat for us! A short story told from Hana(yes, Lena's bff) point of view.

For those of you who's just crept out from under a rock I can tell you that Delirium is a young adult dystopian novel :) I just loved Delirium, check out my Delirium review here btw, I would like to help Lauren promote her short story.

You might have guessed that Hana has some secrets of her own… There's a shocking twist to her tale that will leave you with your heart in your mouth.

The short story is out exclusively in eBook this Christmas - it's available to buy for just 99p for a limited time only over the festive season.

If your anything like me you'll be desperate to order it immediately, but Hodder & Stoughton has a favour to ask all of us. In order for us all to join in to give Lauren the best Christmas present ever: seeing Hana at number one in the eBook charts on Christmas Day, will you wait to order the book until 24th December? If we all do one big Christmas Eve push and buy the Hana on the 24th December, that will propel it up the charts into (hopefully!) the top spot.

If you find the waiting difficult you can read a short extract from Hana here and as an extra bonus you'll get to learn how to make some pretty cool Christmas decoration for your Christmas three.

 

FRIDAY FUNNY # 16

Cover reval: Chosen One's by Tiffany Truitt. First book in a new Young adult dystopian series.

Do you like the cover?

Today I'm super exited to be part of a group of bloggers who has the honor of revealing the pretty cover for a new young adult dystopian called Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt. Check out the intriguing synopsis below:

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?

            Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.

            Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.

            But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

Chosen One's is due out in April 2012 by Entangled publishing, if you liked the synopsis why don't you add the book to your Goodreads shelf?

 

Book Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

My thoughts:

There is so much I loved about this book that I don't even know where to start. First, it's Jay Asher! Thirteen Reasons Why is my all time favorite young adult contemporary, and so I will always pick up any book I see with his name on it. Second, I loved the '90s. I remember the first time I got to use the Internet at our school computer, the first time I signed up for an email account, and even if it was ten years later; signing up for Facebook. But let me get to my review.

I was a little skeptical to the author collaboration as I've never read anything by Carolyn Mackler, but I could honestly not tell who had written what. The chapters alternate between Josh and Emma, and I loved how they each had their own distinct voice. I especially connected to Emma, because I saw so much of myself in her. I am exactly the kind of girl who would obsess about every little detail of both the future and the present, over-analyze every status update, and try hard to change things if I wasn't perfectly happy with them. Josh gave some comic relief to otherwise serious situations, and I just adored the way he changed his behavior after first seeing his Facebook future.

The ending was slightly predictable, but the journey to get there was not. I was just as excited as Josh and Emma to see how their Facebook profiles would change every time they logged on, and the different romances and crushes were so much fun. Yet despite all the normal teenager-y everyday action, what really got to me was the bigger questions. If you knew your future, would you try to change it? Would you obsess over your future to the point that you're no longer living in the present? And why on Earth do we feel the need to share with hundreds of "friends" online what we just had for dinner?

The Future of Us is a great read filled with fun, friendship and thoughts of the future, and if you were a teenager in the '90s I'm sure you'll exclaim "ohmygod, I had/did/read/heard that too!" more than once.

Cover:

Very Internet-ish, but perhaps not the most exciting.

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add The Future of Us to your Goodreads wish list

Follow Jay on Twitter
Follow Carolyn on Twitter

Full disclosure:
Purchased at my local bookstore.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.