Open Minds Sneak Peek (Virtual Launch Party Nov. 1st!)

The Virtual Launch Party is almost here! Once you've trick-or-treated and packed away that Star Trek Godzilla Ghostbusters costume, stop by on November 1st for some virtual confetti and a whole lot of fun!

With over 40 Party Hosts joining the celebration, you'll find:

Posts about #keepingOPENMINDS 

(brightening the blogosphere with stories of tolerance making the world a better place)

Reviews of Open Minds

(from blogger-friends with e-ARCs who have already read the book)

Guest Posts by yours truly

(on things like the Story of Open Minds and Inventing the Future: Mindjacking and a Guest Drawg post that illustrates very clearly why I should never be allowed to draw)

And there will be PRIZES 

(because seriously, what's a party without party favors?)

For Party Hoppers who join the fun, I'll be giving away
Open Books Encourage Open Minds gear

(because opening a book can truly open your mind)

Grand Prize: t-shirt (in the male or female variety)

Not Quite Grand, But Still Cool Prize: mug

Fashionable and Fun Prize(s): 

19 Open Books, Open Minds wrist bands

(so you can flaunt your support of literacy)

(the wristbands support TheLiteracySite and contributed to
the purchase of books for a school in Rwanda. Yay!)

TO WIN THESE PRIZES

1) Stop by on November 1st. I will have links to all the Party Hosts.

2) Pick and choose which posts you'd like to visit. Every comment you leave is an entry for prizes.

3) Tweet or FB about the Virtual Party. Every one of those counts as an entry too.

(Somehow I will keep track of all this.)

AND NOW ... A SNEAK PEEK ....

A zero like me shouldn’t take public transportation.

The hunched driver wrinkled a frown before I even got on the bus. Her attempt to read my mind would get her nothing but the quiet of the street corner where I stood. I kept my face neutral. Nobody trusted a zero to begin with, but scowling back would only make the driver more suspicious. I gripped my backpack and gym bag tighter and climbed the grime-coated steps. The driver’s mental command whooshed the door closed behind me.

Yeah, junior year was off to a fantastic start already.

To read the entire first chapter, click on the tab at the top that says SNEAK PEEK.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has signed up to make the Virtual Party all kinds of fun! I can't wait to Party with ya'll on Tuesday, November 1st!

p.s. no post on Monday as I get ready for Tuesday's Big Party. See you then!

UPDATE: (early reviews)
Joanna Marple's review of Open Minds is awesome and a little mind-bending (you'll see what I mean).
Lisa Gail Green's review of Open Minds has a guest interview that's perfect for Halloween!
In Adam Heine's review, Open Minds gets the ultimate praise: "It's pretty cool." :)

Internet Indie Book Fair

The awesome M.A. Leslie had the grand idea to sponsor an Internet Book Fair! A bumper crop of self-published books have come out this fall from my author-friends. This surge of authors choosing to self-publish (including yours truly) before the holiday season is an interesting phenomenon. Self-publishing seems like the new trendy cool thing, but when lots of people independently decide to give something a try, there must be something to it. 

No doubt, the E-Revolution is part of this crop of indie books. 

Books sales ($M)

FORMAT	2010	2011	CHANGE
Adult Hardcover	692.3	471.1	-17.8%
Adult Trade Paperback	819.5	651.4	-20.5%
Adult Mass Market PB	385.9	275.5	-28.6%
Ebooks	221.7	560.5	+152.8%

AAP figures, courtesy of GalleyCat; Data stolen from David Gaughran (note this does not include Children's/YA).

The novels listed below have been recently released (or will release soon). Many have print versions, but I have only included links for e-books, with links to the authors' websites for more information. I've "shelved" these books to make it easy for you to browse and see if something catches your interest. Low prices are an enticement to try new authors, and just by scanning these books and covers you can see there's quite a lot of variety in this new indie movement.

For Your Browsing Pleasure

Contemporary (Adult)

Build a Man by Talli Roland (Chick Lit) Releases 12-7-11

Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could resist. With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job. Add to Goodreads

The Golden Sky by Elisa Hirsch (Memoir) Releases 11-18-11

The night I met Cade I never would’ve thought that two years later, after we were homeless street musicians in Hawaii, we would have a little girl and another baby on the way.  Our son was born with the type of birth defects that make televangelists cringe. The “death home” gave him a really nice funeral, the kind I’d never wished to attend. We lost it after that, totally cemented in our grief.  Cade got into drugs, joined a rock and roll band, and I kicked him out of the house. That was how I met: Earl (an old man and unlikely best friend), the “big sag” (a middle aged woman who still flashed folks), Todda (the stripper next door), and Chris (a cowboy who fell in love with me). It wasn’t until I killed a rogue skunk, and my daughter nearly choked on a fry, that I gave my husband another chance.  But could our marriage recover from the death of our son? Add to Goodreads

Historical Romance (Adult)

The Lady's Fate by Anne Gallagher (second in The Reluctant Grooms series)

When Lady Violet Flowers becomes governess to the Marquess of Haverlane's daughter, her gentle care and affection for the little girl turn the curmudgeonly Marquess' eye in her direction. However, a woman from his past wants Haverlane and will do anything to get him. Will Fate intervene? 

$2.99 on Amazon

Science Fiction and Fantasy (Adult)

Semper Audacia by M Pax (Science Fiction)

Leda is the last living member of the brigade, the sole defender of her world. War took everyone she knew, leaving her in the company of memories and ghosts. In an aging flyer, she ventures out to meet her world's fate, the last stand.

$0.99 on Amazon   $0.99 on Smashwords

Promise by Kristie Cook (Paranormal Romance)

When Alexis Ames is attacked by creatures that can’t be real, she decides it’s time she learns who she really is, with or without the help of her mother, who guards their family’s secrets closely. After meeting the inhumanly attractive, multi-talented Tristan Knight, however, Alexis retreats behind her façade of normalcy…until she discovers he’s not exactly normal either. Then their secrets begin to unravel. Their union brings hope and promise to her family’s secret society, the Angels’ army, and to the future of mankind. But it also incites a dangerous pursuit by the enemy – Satan’s minions and Tristan’s creators. After all, Alexis and Tristan are a match made in Heaven and in Hell. $2.99 on Amazon   $2.99 at B&N

Between by Cyndi Tefft (Paranormal Romance)

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent. After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates. Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries. $0.99 on Amazon  $0.99 at B&N

Horror/Comedy (Adult)

Scary Dead Things by Rick Gaultieri 

There are reasons we fear the night. He STILL isn’t one of them. Bill Ryder: programmer, gamer, and legendary vampire is back! Six months have passed since a vampire hottie named Sally dragged him kicking and screaming (but mostly screaming) into the supernatural underworld. Since then he’s found himself hounded by enemies and frustrated by his allies. Now one of the most powerful immortals in the world wants him dead and an ancient vampire princess wants him for entirely different purposes. Bill’s only hope is to marshal his friends, master his powers, and muster enough attitude to stare down the very worst monsters the world can throw at him. Can Bill survive and prove once and for all that he’s the scariest dead thing of them all? $2.99 on Amazon

  

  

Literary Fiction

String Bridge by Jessica Bell Available 11-1-11

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage—and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits ... Add to Goodreads ALSO: Soundtrack available 11-1  Music Sample!

Mystery

The Gatsby Game by Anne R. Allen

When Nicky Conway meets Fitzgerald-quoting Alistair at a Princeton mixer in 1969, she falls for his retro, Jazz-Age charm. But she discovers he’s a con man obsessed with his own “Daisy”—British actress Delia Kent. After Alistair manipulates Nicky into nannying for Delia’s daughter on the set of aHollywood film, Delia finds Alistair dead in her motel room. Local police can’t decide if it’s accident, suicide—or murder, in which case, Nicky is the prime suspect. (This novel offers a fictional solution to a real unsolved Hollywood mystery—the death in 1973 of David Whiting during the filming of the Burt Reynolds’ movie, "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing".) $2.99 on Amazon

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank (A Rose Gardner Mystery)

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

$0.99 on Amazon   $0.99 at B&N

  

Young Adult

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn (THAT'S ME) (Paranormal/Science Fiction) Available 11-1-11

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her. Add to Goodreads

Bound by C.K. Bryant (Paranormal Romance) Available 11-11-11

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia,has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive. Add to Goodreads

Become by Ali Cross (YA Urban Fantasy) Available 11-11-11

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she Becomes the evil she despises and the good she always feared. When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her Choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is a reason to want to change—something she’s never had before—a friend. Add to Goodreads

Exiled by Rachelle Workman (YA SF Romance) Available 11-11-11

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become a kelvieri, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family. Now she wants revenge. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate. But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—-her.

Add to Goodreads

Breathe by Melanie McCullough (Contemporary) Available 11-11-11

Life's hard. People make it harder. They tether you to them. Make it difficult to breathe, and damn-near impossible to leave...Seventeen year-old Abby Rhoades knows this all too well. Born to a mother who could never love her and who vacillates between a sloppy drunk and a suicidal maniac, Abby's never had it easy. But Abby can swim. And Abby has a plan--win the state championship, earn a free ride to Penn State, and leave her small town and suffocating mother behind. But then the body of Tom Ford, her mother's latest boyfriend and a man Abby adored, washes up along the shore of the Susquehanna River. His injuries suggest murder and suspicion quickly falls on Abby then on her best friend Garrett Scott, both of whom saw Tom the night he died. They both know what happened that night, but neither one is talking. There's too much at stake and the truth could tear them apart. Add to Goodreads

Pigments of My Imagination by Angela Kulig (Dark Fantasty) Available 11-11-11

From the moment Lucia steps into Bayside Art Academy, she is fed a steady stream of lies, but it’s not until she meets Michael that she begins to question the people she trusts. Unraveling fact from fabrication seems impossible until Lucia finds her first painting, and discovers the dead do not lie--at least not to her. A dozen lifetimes ago, Lucia started a war. Not a war with armies or guns, but a bloody war nonetheless. The path leading Lucia to the truth is hidden within lovely art that spans the ages. In this life, however, Lucia doesn't know where to look. Lost, she turns to the one thing she knows with certainty--she is in love with Leo, and has been before. Add to Goodreads

The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle (Urban Fantasy)

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with an aunt she’s never met. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands. Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Soon, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad though. $7.96 on Amazon   $7.96 on B&N

Clockwise by Elle Strauss (Fantasy)

Casey Donavan doesn't mind life at the bottom of the Cambridge High social ladder, if only she didn’t have this other much bigger problem. Unscheduled trips to the nineteenth century! When Casey gets talked into going to the Fall Dance, she accidentally takes Nate Mackenzie, the cutest boy in the school, back in time. Are those romantic sparks or is it just ‘brotherly’ protectiveness? When they return to the present things go back to the way they were before: Casey at the bottom of the social totem pole and Nate practically the flag flying from the top. Except this time her heart is broken. Plus, her best friend is mad, her parents are split up, and her little brother gets escorted home by the police. The only thing that could make life worse is if, by some strange twist of fate, she took Nate back to the past again. Which, of course, she does. $2.99 on Amazon   $2.99 at B&N

Turning Point by Melissa Luznicky Garrett (Suspense/Thriller)

She recalled her mother’s warning: Bad things always happen to nice girls like you. Convinced a fresh start is all she needs to escape the problems at home, seventeen-year-old Jenna Lyons runs away in the middle of the night. But when her car breaks down on the outskirts of La Grange, Missouri, population less than a thousand, she gets sucked into the small town, and one family in particular. Jenna discovers there’s a liar in La Grange, and he’s deceived everyone. Now she must decide whether to run away from the truth, or blow his secret wide open. $3.99 on Amazon   $3.99 at B&N

Destined by Jessie Harrell (Retelling) Available 11-17-11

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear. As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined. Add to Goodreads

Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller (Paranormal Romance) Available 10-31-11

Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold. As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the darkness that hunts her.  Violently thrust into a magickal realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own. Will love prove thicker than magick? Add to Goodreads   Preorder from author

Anathema by Megg Jensen (Cloud Prophet Trilogy) 

Reychel is a slave girl surrounded by magic, lies and manipulation. Her best friend disappears in the middle of the night leaving Reychel to face her fifteenth birthday, the day her master burns his brand into the back of her bald head, alone. She's sheltered from the outside world and doesn't have any hope for escape, but when people desperate for freedom ask for her help can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

$0.99 on Amazon

How to Date an Alien by Magan Vernon (Science Fiction) Releases Dec. 2011

High school senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at Circe Operations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn't your typical military base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of intergalactic war? Add to Goodreads

Soulkeepers (Book One) by G.P. Ching (Dark Fantasty) 

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. Made a ward of his uncle and thousands of miles from home, a beautiful and mysterious neighbor offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. In exchange, she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a warrior charged with protecting human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him. $2.99 on Amazon

Invisible by Jeanne Bannon (Paranormal) 

Lola’s not pretty. Lola’s not popular. Lola wishes she could disappear … and then one day she does just that... For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, born to funky parents who are more in than she could ever be, Lola’s dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home. Not only is she freakishly tall, Lola’s a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a camp counselor, Lola’s only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish. Soon after, she discovers the roots of her new “ability”. Slowly, Lola learns to control the new super power. The possibilities are endless. Then, when tragedy strikes, Lola must summon her inner strength, both at home and at school. She has to stand up for herself, despite the temptations and possibilities of her newfound super power. $3.99 on Amazon

Solstice by PJ Hoover (Fantasy) 

Where Mythology and Dystopia meet... Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more than he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known. $2.99 on Amazon

The Fairy Godmother Dilemna (Catspell) by Danelle Leafty (Fantasy) 

Sixteen-year-old Breena never thought anything could be worse than being forced to leave the faerie realm. Then she got stuck with a fairy godmother. But if she has to choose between the two, she’d leave the Faerie Realm over getting bossed about by a faerie with a pointed stick any day. Unfortunately, her attempt to evade her fairy godmother gives her growing pains in the form of fur, whiskers, and a tail.Turning into a cat is the least of her worries, though. The potion wasn’t meant to bring out her inner feline, it was meant to put her to sleep. Forever. If Breena wants to make it to her Happily Ever After, she’ll have to accept that sometimes a fairy godmother really does come in handy, after all. $3.99 on Amazon

Getting Sideways (Book Two in the Full Throttle Series) by Lisa Nowak (Contemporary) Available November 2011!

After the speedway wreck that nearly took his uncle’s life, 15-year-old Cody Everett is barely holding it together. He’s making every effort to act like a regular kid—writing for the school paper, searching for the perfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers’ license—but there’s no escaping the memories that haunt him and the nightmares that keep him awake. When he gets a chance to build a car of his own, it seems like the perfect distraction—until he realizes he’ll have to live up to Race’s legendary status at the track. But that’s the least of Cody’s worries, since he doesn’t have his dad’s permission. All he has to do is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing’s safe. Yeah, sure. That’ll be easy. Visit Author's website Add to Goodreads

Rex Rising by Chrystalla Thoma (Dystopian SciFi) 

In a world where parasites create new human races, Elei leads a peaceful life — until a mysterious attack on his boss sends him fleeing with a bullet in his side. Pursued for a secret he does not possess and with the fleet at his heels, he has but one thought: to stay alive. His pursuers aren’t inclined to sit down and talk, although that’s not the end of Elei’s troubles. The two powerful parasites inhabiting his body, at a balance until now, choose this moment to bring him down, leaving Elei with no choice but to trust in people he hardly knows. It won’t be long before he realizes he must find out this deadly secret – a secret that might change the fate of his world and everything he has ever known – or die trying. $0.99 on Amazon

Middle Grade

Born to be a Dragon by Eisley Jacobs (Fantasy)

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup… This is what Lord Edric wants you to believe. He will do anything in his power to see that humans never come in contact with dragons again. However, he doesn't plan for Meia, the foster child who dreams of dragons, believing they are real. Or Deglan, the ten-year-old dragon who bears the ancient mark that threatens everything Lord Edric has worked for. Join these two unlikely friends as they discover the truth behind a legend so extraordinary it will alter each of their lives… forever. $0.99 on Amazon   $0.99 at B&N

Noah Zarc by D. Robert Pease (Science Fiction)

Noah lives for piloting spaceships through time, dodging killer robots and saving Earth’s animals from extinction. Life couldn’t be better. However, the twelve-year-old time traveler soon learns it could be a whole lot worse. His mom is abducted and taken to thirty-first century Mars; his dad becomes stranded in the Ice Age; and Noah is attacked at every turn by a foe bent on destroying a newly habitable, post-apocalyptic Earth. Traveling through time in the family’s immense spaceship, Noah, a paraplegic from birth, must somehow care for the thousands of animals on board, while finding a way to rescue his parents. Along the way, he discovers his mother and father aren’t who he thought they were, and there is strength inside him he didn’t know he had. $0.99 on Amazon   $0.99 at B&N

A Scary Good Book by Anita Laydon Miller

Two words change 12-year-old Hannah Stone’s life forever: Help me. That’s the first message she finds in a library book, but she quickly finds more. She notifies the police, but isn’t taken seriously. So with her best friend, Ollie, she breaks into a library, gets caught in a kidnappers’s web, and is stalked by her own dad’s hit-and-run killer, all to save a life. But will she lose her own? $0.99 on Amazon

Click here to see even more books on the Internet Book Fair!