Cover Reveal - Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie

Again, I am breaking my RSM silence. I know, I am REALLY BAD at this! But I was asked if I wanted to be part of the Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie by Jeff Norton and I jumped at it. I know - no will power!

Reason for this: when I was at the Faber's Blogger's Event earlier this year, Jeff read a tiny snippet from this book and everyone in the room was howling with laughter! It's one of those books I knew I needed to read soon - and I HATE zombie books (as you are probably aware!)

So, I have a cover to reveal and, with special thanks from Hannah at Faber, I have a tiny snippet to reveal to you! Also, if you want to read more snippets, a bunch of us are doing this so visit either (deep breath time!): Readaraptor, The Overflowing Library, YA Yeah Yeah, Big Book Little Book, Winged Reviews, Fluttering Butterflies, Luna's Little Library, Wondrous Reads, Books4Teens, We Sat Down, Choose YA, Day Dreamer's Thoughts, Cheezyfeet Books, Bookbabblers, Feeling Fictional, Book Zone and Much Loved Books.

That's right, 18 of us. We're not excited AT ALL!

Anyway, here's the cover and my titbit to get you guys excited!!! Enjoy!!!

1.       Of course, no one had thought to bury me with a set of house keys. When I finally made my way home, with the driest throat ever, I ding-donged the doorbell like I was trick-or-treating at my own house…and waited.

And waited.

It was a balmy Sunday morning. The gentiles were in church, Mom was in the back yard replanting her flowerbeds and Dad was probably on the fourteenth hole.

Ding Dong, I rang again.

Finally, the front door swung open and Mom just froze. She didn’t scream. She didn’t faint. She just stood there. I mean, she was probably expecting to be sold a box of girl guide cookies or sign a petition to put air bags in school buses, not to see her only son back from the dead – 100 per cent zombified.

Or, as I now like to say, zomtastic!

‘Adam, is…it…you?’ she stuttered, wiping the garden dirt on her jeans before reaching for a hug.

I put out my arms to hold her back. ‘oooh, Mom, maybe you should wash your hands properly,’ I said. But because my mouth was so dry, what came out was ‘Aaargh Uuurgh Ooooh.’

Cover Reveal - Come Back To Me

I know. I know I am meant to be on my RSM break. So I shouldn't be blogging. However, the lovely author Mila Gray (aka Sarah Alderson) is releasing a New Adult novel and asked if I wanted to be part of the cover reveal. And as I am slowly reading an e-ARC (I shall be chatting about it when I'm back in blogging mode!).

So, who wants to see the cover? Well, here's the cover, the blurb of the book [I took this from Amazon.co.uk]and I shall see you in June (unless something exciting pops in the meantime)!

Come back to me. That was the very last thing I said to him.

Always. The very last thing he said to me.

Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have.

But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way, and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.

What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first-times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.

When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.

Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart, they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.

Countdown to 5th June - Bea Davenport

I am THRILLED to be part of YA Countdown to 5th June (website and Twitter links ahoy!). It's a great idea so give YA Countdown to 5th June a lot of love and hugs!

Anyway, I am delighted to have Bea Davenport on the blog today. Bea is the author of the new book, The Serpent House, which will be published on (yeah, you guessed it) 5th June! I shall be reviewing this in the first week of June so you don't have to wait long to see my thoughts then decide if you want to rush out and buy it.

Anyway, I quickly thank Jim at YA Countdown to 5th June, Georgia (for being Bea and I go-between) and Bea for taking over today's post over how she came to write The Serpent House. If you want to continue the YA Countdown, tomorrow is at To Another World, where they have Helen Douglas (and if you're curious on who else is on this tour, there is a lovely schedule here for you to look over)

Now, with all that out of the way, I will hand you over to Bea...

*

In some ways, The Serpent House was created out of three very different stories I always wanted to write – and also something I don’t like to think about!

Somewhere beneath the pavements of the village where I live lie the remains of an ancient leper hospital. It takes its name, Spittal, from the word ‘hospital’. Because it was founded as long ago as the thirteenth century and was gone by 1500, not much is known about it, but there are some local legends and tales. That was one of the first things to inspire the story.

Second, I was interested in how my three great-aunts all worked in service in big houses in Newcastle and Cumbria at the turn of the twentieth century. It fascinates me that this Downton Abbey world was just a couple of generations away. I wanted, in a way, to write about the kind of lives they would have led.

Third, because I suffered from alopecia as a child, I thought it would be great to have a heroine who was also suffering from hair loss. I’d never seen a story with a main character who was bald!

The strange fact is that all these strands wove together so easily. I was cleaning my staircase at home and the character of Annie, the Victorian servant girl, came into my head. I’ve always loved time travel books, like Tom’s Midnight Garden and the Green Knowe stories, so slipping Annie back to the past seemed like a good way to get to the grim leper hospital back in the Dark Ages.

Annie is sent on a quest by her ruthless employer, Lady Hexer. But as with all time travel, there are lessons for Annie too. She learns to say no, to rebel and to become her own person.

Once I started researching the history, I was amazed to see how much the Victorians were into the medieval period and also rather morbidly fascinated by sickness and death. The two time periods have a natural link. 

And I was surprised to find that one of the symptoms of leprosy was losing your hair! It seemed that all the three stories I’d wanted to write were quite happy to be sewn together.

I mentioned there was something in the novel that I didn’t like thinking about. That was the snakes! I have a very fierce phobia of all snakes, to the point where I can’t look at a picture of one and I don’t even like typing the word.

So why on earth would I choose to make them such a strong element of the story? I can’t tell you where the urge came from, but I have learned that writing about your fears is a great thing to do. It doesn’t make the research easy, but it certainly gives power to the writing.

I hope readers enjoy The Serpent House and let me know what they think!

RSM 2014

If you followed the blog since last year, I took a blog break throughout May. And, guess what, I fancy doing it again. Sorry for dropping it on you like this! So suddenly. I bet you are all like this: 

But I really think you guys are reacting like this:

So, my reasons. I liked the break I took last year. It was nice to read and not worry about how quickly I needed to write the review for the book. I knew it would be up in June and it didn't matter. Plus, it's my birth month so I want to celebrate it. 

Another reason is things have gone a bit mad at my end in the past few months - mad yet wonderful at the same time. So I wanted to have a tiny break where I didn't stress and I enjoyed it. 

Plus, it means I can spend more time reading and going all:

But you haven't got rid of me just yet. I am posting something tomorrow in aid for Countdown to 5th June and then that's it. You won't see me till June. 

Well, on here anyway. I will still be on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Goodreads. So, if you want to stay in touch, go to one of these. Actually, if all goes to plan, I shall be using my Facebook page to pick my next read so... CHECK IT OUT!!! It'll be something like...

So yes! Come back tomorrow for the guest post and scare my other outlets. So, let's leave you with a stupid gif and ENJOY! 

Books and Their Theme Songs - Volume 23

Hi again! By the time you read this, I should have decided when I am going to post this as I want to take a small blog break but I have no idea if I am going to take the break in May or June. Maybe I should do the last 2 weeks in May and the first 2 weeks of June. Maybe... So, we shall see....

Anyway! BOOKS AND MUSIC TIME!!! ENJOY!!!

ADAPTATION by Malinda Lo
"Beating Heart" by Ellie Goulding


DEAD SILENT by Sharon Jones
"Haunted" by Maya Kern


WHEN THE WORLD WAS FLAT (AND WE WERE IN LOVE) by Ingrid Jonach
"I Won't Let You Go" by Snow Patrol and "Feel Me" by Mecca Kalani

GoodRead - When The World Was Flat (And We Were In Love)

Still doing my NetGalley binge for the month of April (yes, I know I am in May, but this is the last NetGalley story that I read in April so this one counts!), and I chose to read this one as I forgot what this was about and LOOK AT THE COVER!!!

Lillie is having bad dream for the past few months. Each dream is basically the same: a doppelganger of herself is trying to kill her. Sleepless nights for her, and that's the least of her worries. Her friendship between her two best friends are put under sudden pressure and the new guy in school, Tom, makes Lillie feel things that make no sense. And the feeling isn't neutral. Tom would rather watch paint dry than talk to her, and Lillie has a feeling that Tom and her have met in another life...

Ok, I am going to say it. This wasn't my cup of tea. I honestly thought I was going to enjoy this. I loved the idea of Einstein and parallel universes. And it's more sci-fi than I normally read, but I felt I would really enjoy this book.

But I didn't. I never warmed to the characters, the ideas that were put forward or where the story was going. There were times I was skimming the book, just to get to the end. I wanted to just finish it and get to the next read.

I think the problem with this book, if I'm honest with you, is the execution. It just falls short for some reason. I think it's because the story didn't really pick up pace till around half way through. The first 50% was Lillie getting weird dreams and a lot of teen angst from her friends. Which is fine. Expect I picked this up because I wanted to read about parallel universes, not about Lillie and her two friends falling out.

So, sorry. I really wanted to fall for the this, but I just didn't click with it. Interesting idea, poor execution for me. But, like I say most times, this is only my opinion. I have read reviews on Goodreads and it's very mixed - some people love it and some don't (and their reasons are mixed on why). So, if this interests you, go for it! Just not my cup of tea, am afraid.