Come Chat with Me!

Hello!

I won't be blogging much, or probably at all, until after Labor Day, so I wanted to give you all a head's up and let you know that on Tuesday August 31st at 6:30pm EST, I will be chatting with Barry Eva on his Blog Talk Radio show, A Book and Chat (Or Across the Pond).

I'll be speaking with Barry via telephone, but there is also a live chat program where you can chat among other listeners, or ask a question. I won't be on my computer, unfortunately, (I might die from this) but I'm sure Barry will relay any questions to me. If you don't have access to the internet for whatever reason, but you still want to listen, just call (347) 237-5398 at 6:30pm EST. There is an option to speak, or just to sit and listen where nobody will hear you.

I should warn you, I do not have a voice that was made for radio and I am super nervous. I don't even like speaking on the phone. Sad to say, the internet has become my major social outlet. *sigh* But Barry is British, so he's fun to listen to and a great host! :-)

I will have some news (possibly the first official news) on a new literary venture I've been fortunate enough to partake in, so make sure you tune in!

Assuming someone actually listens and I'm not talking to the e-crickets. Which might not be a bad thing.

Happy Weekend!

Author Chat!

Hey, guys! Remember that book I just gave away?

On September 1st, you can join Flux books and chat with NYT bestselling author, Simone Elkeles! Simone is the author of RULES OF ATTRACTION, the bestselling Flux novel, LEAVING PARADISE, and the upcoming sequel, RETURN TO PARADISE!

UStream.TV

September 1st

5:00pm

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=142297042473632

Mockingjay Midnight Madness!

As most of you know, MOCKINGJAY, the third and final installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins released at midnight last night!!!! Books of Wonder, an independent bookstore in NYC that you absolutely have to stop at if you've ever out this way, hosted the official release party with Suzanne Collins!

Books of Wonder has been taking preorders for MOCKINGJAY for weeks. The bookstore closed its doors at 7pm, like always, and reopened at 8pm for the party. The line formed out on the street starting at 3 o'clock in the afternoon!!! Suzie Townsend, of Fine Print Literary, and company were at the start of the line.

Those girls are carrying bow and arrows!

Sorry some of these are dark. That's the line all the way down the street.

The bookstore workers were very organized. They had us form two lines--preorders and those who needed to purchase books. I was cursing myself for having not preordered, until I got inside and saw the preorder line wrapping around the building. I stepped up to the counter in the empty buy-your-book-now line, and got ticket #103, meaning I would be person #103 (and I got there about 45 minutes before they reopened!) to get my book stamped by Ms Collins.

Books of Wonder hosted quite a few mega signings, they can handle this sort of event.

It was crowded, extremely, but it was amazing. They had a magician, jugglers, face painting, trivia games, raffles, and with the purchase of MOCKINGJAY plus one other book at a set price or more, they gave you this awesome mug!

On to more pictures!

David Levithan was there to announce Suzanne and just be his awesome self.

This is Mitali (http://www.thealleyofbooks.com/), myself looking freakishly tall next to them, and author of KNIGHTLY ACADEMY, Robin Schneider, AKA Violet Haberdasher.

Beautiful girl in a beautiful dress!

Elizabeth Eulberg (THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB) was there. Elizabeth, how did we not take a picture! And Elizabeth Law, publisher at Egmont USA was also in attendance. Unfortunately, she was on her way out, as I was on my way in and I didn't get the chance to speak with her again.

Suzanne Collins and Beautiful Dress Girl

Suzanne stamping my book!

*Squee!!*

It was a GREAT night! HUGE thanks to Books of Wonder, Suzanne, Scholastic, and all the entertainment! I've been to quite a lot of book signings and events and this was one of the very best, and not just because it was MOCKINGJAY! These folks worked hard to make it a successful night.

Did you attend a launch party last night? Don't forget to check Suzanne's tour dates!

Book Recommendation.

OPEN YOUR EYES

Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she'd made her peace with it. But she can't handle dragging Cabel down with her.




She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He's amazing. And she's a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves--she has to disappear. And it's going to kill them both.

Then a stranger enters her life--and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she'd ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out...

He reaches toward her, his fingers black and bloody, his eyes deranged, unblinking. Janie is paralyzed. His cold hands reach around her neck, squeezing tight, tighter, until Janie has no breath left. She's unable to move, unable to think. As his grasp tightens further around Janie's neck, his face turns sickly alabaster. He strains harder and begins to shake.

Janie is dying.
She has no fight left in her.
It's over.

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; 1 edition (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416979182
• ISBN-13: 978-1416979180

I loved this series. I admit I liked WAKE and GONE a bit more than FADE, but it's definately a series I recommend reading. Each book is told in third person present tense, which is something I haven't seen in too many books and it can be a little weird at first. Lisa's writing and Janie's voice are so seamless and strong that once you get into the book, you don't even notice the tense. These books are a little bit dark, so if you're looking for gentle reading, this probably isn't the series for you.

Blog Mayhem

I just destroyed my blog... Please be patient. I suck at this.

Winner of Return to Paradise ARC!!

Really quickly I'd like to thank all of you for entering!! We had a total of 355 entries into the contest! Some of you are new followers, but most of you are returning, and some of you are my personal friends. I know contests are fun to enter and fun to win, but they're also fun for the host. And *this host* totally appreciates all of you for every single entry!

Out of 355 total entries, the winner is

CARIE SOTO

with 20/355 entries!!!!!!!

Carie, please send me an email to ljb (at) ljboldyrev (dot) com with your mailing address!! Congrats! If you do not contact me by Sunday, I'll have to chose a new winner, so please make sure you email me.

If you didn't win this time, there will be more contests, including a chance to win REBEL MOON signed by me. Thanks again, guys!

No Farms, No Food

Today's post is going to be completely unrelated to writing, just so you know. Randomness will ensue.

I was watching this thing on Planet Green last night, and they were saying that in 2050 the world's population will hit 9 billion people, and there is growing concern over food shortage.

Food shortage!

I grew up around farms. Farmland as far as the eye could see. But now I'm thinking about growing populations, and the human race striving for better technology and higher wages, and blah blah blah ( I'm not the type of person who usually sits around and thinks about this) and it's no wonder food shortage is a possibility! Who wants to be a farmer anymore? Farms are usually family owned, handed down from generation to generation but with the way things are, can a farmer afford to live a comfortable life?

When I was a kid, my family bought milk in glass jugs right from the neighboring dairy farm. Now the FDA is trying to say we can't drink unpasteurized milk (even though more health risks are related to pasteurized than not).

Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout-out to farmers everywhere and say thank you. Without farms, we don't have food. Farmers work from sun-up till sun down, some of them seven days a week. I raise my Elvis coffee mug to you, Mr. Farmer.

Happy Thursday.

On Shorts

I did a guest post on writing short stories over at Adventures in Children's Publishing. Hope over and check it out! Yanno, if you want.

Getting Ahead (of yourself).

As aspiring writers, a lot of us tend to make mistakes when it comes to submissions. We don't follow guidelines, we make spelling errors in our queries, or we submit before we're really ready. I'm not saying all of us do these things, you may never make one mistake. But a lot of new writers jump the gun be it with agents, editors, or even contest entries.

You're eager. You know you need to revise more. But it's written all the way to the end. Your BFF says it's perfect. Your mom says you're the next J.K Rowling. Your palms sweat. You're finger is on the button ready to click "send".

Don't do it!

Because chances are, it's not ready. You're not ready. And you don't want to make an a$$ out of yourself by submitting something that isn't ready. If you win the contest, or if the agent requests pages, then what? You send something half-assed and then ask to revise and resubmit. You've wasted said agent/editor's time and you are EXTREMELY lucky if she/he doesn't tell you to go to someplace not nice.

Trust me. Don't do it.

Breathe. Revise. Rewrite. Repeat.

You'll know when it's ready.

Contest: Signed ARC Return to Paradise

**CONTEST IS CLOSED**

See Winner

No special reason for this one. I was just looking over my book collection and realized I have a few extra copies of some awesome books and ARCS. This month's giveaway will be a signed ARC of RETURN TO PARADISE by Simone Elkeles (Flux books September 1st 2010) and a bookmark!

I apologize for the poor quality photos. My cell doesn't take good pics indoors.

And one of me and Simone in case you doubt me.

The Sequel to LEAVING PARADISE

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of RULES OF ATTRACTION

Caleb Becker left Paradise eight months ago, taking with him the secret he promised to take to his grave. If the truth got out, it would ruin everything.

Maggie Armstrong tried to be strong after Caleb broke her heart and disappeared. Somehow, she managed to move on. She’s determined to make a new life for herself.

But then Caleb and Maggie are forced together on a summer trip. They try ignoring their passion for each other, but buried feelings resurface. Caleb must face the truth about the night of Maggie’s accident, or the secret that destroyed their relationship will forever stand between them.

Praise for Leaving Paradise:

"Elkeles writes convincingly about family tensions, retreating from painful reality, and teens outgrowing their old skins." —School Library Journal

"Elkeles creates raw emotions, dialogue, and high-school ambience that’s just right… [A] delicate, delicious love story."—Booklist

To enter:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. This is not me trying to get a bazillion followers. This is me appreciating those who support this blog. This will get you 1 entry point.

2. For each time you spread the word about THIS giveaway, with a link to where you shared it, +1 entries. (Facebook, myspace, twitter etc)

• Tweet: Giveaway! Signed ARC of RETURN TO PARADISE by Simone Elkeles! @ljboldyrev http://bit.ly/bilOdy

3. A blog post, with a link to your blog will get you +5 entries.

4. For bonus entries, spread the word about REBEL MOON! RM is an anthology of supernatural short stories for young adults, including my first ever published short, PARALLEL (it's got werewolves).

+5 for EACH time you share the following:

• "REBEL MOON, an anthology of supernatural tales, now available http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/bookshop.aspx"

or on twitter

• REBEL MOON, an anthology of supernatural tales: Now available http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/bookshop.aspx @ljboldyrev @rebelbooksllp

on facebook, twitter, myspace --limit one per site. If you want to tweet it a hundred times, that's cool, but to be fair I'll only count one tweet.

+20 entries if you blog using the following info and link me to your post:

Click the cover to grab your copy of REBEL MOON! Includes a supernatural short by L.J. Boldyrev!

Paperback 220 pages

ISBN 13: 978-0-9565035

ISBN 10: 0956503519

REBEL MOON

(An Anthology of supernatural tales)

by Various

Have you ever wondered what Death would look like if he approached you at a bus stop? Or what would happen if a vampire’s chosen victim turned out to be more than they had bargained for?

Rebel Moon is a collection of stories that will whisk you into worlds of vampires, werewolves and witchcraft so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride as sometimes the dead have more of a life than the living and if this book teaches you anything it is to always expect the unexpected!

From the teen witches you wouldn’t want to cross in One Witch Down to the dark comedy of Evil 101, this is a book you won’t want to put down.

Can also be purchased from Amazon, WHSmiths, Waterstones and Book Depository.

And as a bonus, if you've bought or ordered REBEL MOON, I'll add +20 to your entries. Just snap a picture of the receipt, or a picture of you with the book to ljb@ljboldyrev.com or upload the pic and link me to it in the comments.

I am absolutely bad at math, and I hate when I have to add my total entries on a contest, so I won't make you do that. Just fill out the form and I'll do the rest.

Contest will run until August 20th 12pm EST, and it IS international! I'll ship anywhere. Winners will be announced shortly after.

Thank you and good luck!