MAILBOX MONDAY AND WINNER OF MISTRESS OF ROME CONTEST!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. 

I have not posted a MM in about 4 weeks, so I do have a few to share! 

A HUGE thank you to Paul over at Source Books for review copies of:

(Blurb from Source Books)
Picture the Dead is written by two-time National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin with illustrations throughout by Lisa Brown, who pens an “illustrated, two-panel book review” in the San Francisco Chronicle (she’s also married to Lemony Snickett)! This book has received glowing reviews from Michael Chabon (The Adventures of Cavalier and Klay), Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabaret), Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), and Judy Blundell (National Book Award Winner for Best YA Novel in 2009!)—all New York Times Best Sellers. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, this richly illustrated paranormal mystery is reminiscent of a Cold Mountain for the Young Adult audience. To find out more, or to read the first chapters, check out the landing page on TeenFire (http://teenfire.ning.com/group/PictureTheDead) or visit www.PictureTheDead.com!

We Hear the Dead is written by Dianne K. Salerni who previously self-published this novel under the title High Spirits. Her efforts in self-publishing proved so successful that shortly after its release, she had sold the book to Sourcebooks and had optioned the movie rights! Roughly 160 years ago, Kate & Maggie Fox started making creepy rapping noises to convince an aunt that their home was haunted—in the hopes that she’d move out. Two years later, after news of their powers spread across the country, the Fox sisters hit New York city—“communing with spirits” in front of sold-out crowds and notable celebrities like Horace Greeley, James Fennimore Cooper and George Bancroft. Told from the first person perspective of each sister, this novel is a peak inside the lives of two of the most famous Spiritualists to ever live. We Hear the Dead reveals the secrets of the Fox sisters’ séances and their struggle to find themselves amid their deceit. For more info, check out the landing page on TeenFire (http://teenfire.ning.com/group/WeHearTheDead) or go to http://www.wehearthedead.com/

 
Thank you so much to TLC Tours for sending me this book!
Meet the Ames Girls: eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child’s illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group. Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls from Ames is a testament to the deep bonds of women as they experience life’s joys and challenges — and the power of friendship to triumph over heartbreak and unexpected tragedy.




 
 
WINNER OF MISTRESS OF ROME BY KATE QUINN!!!
 
CONGRATULATIONS:  ddufek!  I have emailed the winner and they have until Wednesday May 5th to respond, if they do not then I will be redrawing.  Thank you so much to all  who entered!!! 

YA ASPIRING AUTHORS COULD WIN A CHANCE TO GET DISCOVERED!

This is SUPER EXCITING news!!!    In honor of the annual writing competition, Nanwrimo, some of the biggest names in publishing (Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Source Books, and Penguin) has teamed up with  New Yorks' extremely popluar Gotham Writers' Worshop,  to bring you the YA Author contest that just might be your big break!

Here are the details (from the official Press Release provided by Source Books):

 Get in front of TOP YA Editors and Agents with ONLY the first 250 words of your YA novel!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win both exposure to editors, and a one-on-one chat with one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.

Regina Brooks is the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Brooks has been instrumental at establishing and building the careers of many YA writers, including three-time National Book Award Honoree and Michael Printz Honoree Marilyn Nelson, as well as Sundee Frazier—a Coretta Scott King Award winner, an Oprah Book Pick and an Al Roker book club selection. As an agent, she is known for her ability to turn raw talent into successful authors.

ADDITIONALLY: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary. ONE Grand Prize Winner will win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET),

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

So apply now! http://bit.ly/1PYGaN

JUDGING

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.