This is W.A.R.: Who Would You Cast...

Lisa and Laura Roecker have recently published a new book and in celebration of their new books they are having a TOUR!! 

For this stop on the tour Lisa and Laura have cast their character Rose: Selena Gomez 

What the authors said about their pick: [Rose would be played by Selena Gomez. Rose is exotic, with dark hair and eyes. She doesn't yet understand the power of her beauty and hasn't learned to embrace it. She’s uncomfortable in her skin and self-deprecating. While one day she will grow and learn and exude confidence,for now she’s still learning.]

Author Bio

Lisa and Laura Roecker are sisters-turned-writing partners with a passion for good books, pop culture, and Bravo programming. Not necessarily in that order. A prepubescent obsession with Lois Duncan and their mother's insistence that they read Men Are Just Desserts inspired This is WAR. The sisters live in Cleveland, Ohio, in separate residences. Their husbands wouldn't agree to a duplex. Cyberstalking is always encouraged at lisa-laura.blogspot.com and @landlroecker on Twitter.

Twitter: @LandLRoecker Book site: http://www.thisiswarbook.com/

This Means War by Lisa and Laura Roecker

This is not a story of forgiveness... The mystery of their best friend's murder drives four girls to destroy the Gregory family. Emily Thorne would be proud.

Everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club saw Willa Ames-Rowan climb into a boat with James Gregory, the Club’s heir apparent.And everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club watched him return. Alone.They all know he killed her. But none of them will say a word. The Gregory family is very, very good at making problems go away. Enter the W.A.R.—the war to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan. Four girls. Four very different motives for justice and revenge, and only one rule: destroy the Gregory family at any cost.

Authors are Rockstars: Jody Gehrman

I was recently approached about participating in the Authors are Rockstars tour hostted by Fiktshun and Two Chicks on Books and of course I accepted. I was literally honored to get to present my author!! The amazing Jody Gehrman is here to talk about magic and her new book!

Author of:

Babe in Boyland

Description: When high school junior Natalie-or Dr. Aphrodite, as she calls herself when writing the relationship column for her school paper-is accused of knowing nothing about guys and giving girls bad relationship advice, she decides to investigate what guys really think and want. But the guys in her class won't give her straight or serious answers. The only solution? Disguising herself as a guy and spending a week at Underwood Academy, the private all-boy boarding school in town. There she learns a lot about guys and girls in ways she never expected-especially when she falls for her dreamy roommate, Emilio. How can she show him she likes him without blowing her cover?

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft (this is her new book!!)

Description: Falling in Love, baking a magical cake, fighting an evil necromancer—it’s all in a day’s work for Audrey Oliver, seventeen-year-old witch-in-training. When her mother goes missing and her twenty-one-year-old witchy cousin shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

Not convinced of it's complete and total awesomeness? Listen to the first two chapters here!!

Top Five Reasons Why Jody Gehrman is a Rockstar

1. She is intolerably funny. I admit she made me snort quite a bit. 
2. I am not a re-reader yet somehow she tangled me so far into Babe in Boyland  that I had to re-read it or die. Or at least it would lead to my eventual death. 
3. She writes about characters that you can't help but love.
4. She is one of my writer idols, I pretty much want to be her when I grow up.
5. She knows the teenage mind. Perhaps it's mind reading...

Money Spells for Mere Mortals by Jody Gehrman:

I've always been a wannabe witch. Unlike my main character in AUDREY'S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT, though, I have no magical powers (alas). I can't absorb emotions or weather and channel them into a powerful weapon like Audrey. I can't communicate with any living thing like Audrey's mentor Sadie. And I'm definitely not a necromancer like Audrey's nemesis, Cormack (actually, I'm quite glad about this last bit. Controlling the dead sounds very...stinky).

In my teens and twenties, though, I did dabble in witchcraft. I grew up in Northern California in the eighties, so my adolescence was steeped in new age mysticism. I stayed on the lighter side of the magic spectrum, favoring love spells over voodoo dolls, goddess worship over satanic rites. Even as a child I felt a spiritual power flowing through the trees and the creeks and the rainstorms. As I got older, extending those pagan instincts to spells and rituals seemed quite natural.

One day when I was nineteen I decided to try a prosperity spell. I was in college, flirting with the idea of financial responsibility, but I'd never been very thrifty and my bank account had dwindled to nothing. Rather than rush out and get a job, I bought a green candle, burned prosperity-enhancing incense, and prayed to the gods of plenty.

The next morning I went to my local ATM machine and discovered an extra thousand dollars in my bank account.

Cool! I thought. This is sooo easy! I'll never have to get a job!

Before you go out and try this for yourself, I should probably mention this is a cautionary tale, not a how-to guide. A few days later, after I'd gone out and blown my gift-from-the-gods on shoes and handbags and a large quantity of moneymaking incense, my bank informed me that they had accidentally credited my account with an extra thousand dollars. They were very sorry for any inconvenience this had caused me, and by the way my account was now a thousand dollars overdrawn.

So magic doesn't solve everything. Most of the time I have to work for a living, like other mere mortals. I'm still a dreamer, though; I'm not above trying a spell to ensure you'll all go out after reading this and slavishly devour my books!

Thanks for stopping by Jody!!

adieu, 

-Kare

Through the Ears of Andy Gavin

Today let’s welcome Andy Gavin!

I’m a very eclectic music listener: 70s and 80s rock. Some new stuff (including as off my demographic — 40 something guy — as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry). Lots of classic Jazz (like Miles Davis), lots of classical. All sorts of weird stuff from Ottoman court music to Tibetan monastic chants to medieval Spanish tunes.

Lyrics interfere with serious writing or editing so trance techno is one of my favorite genres for that. Or something spacy like jazz or Tangerine Dream if I don’t want to pound.

If I was picking the soundtrack to the film version of the book I’d use mostly period music. Scenes with the villains might be different. Al-Nasir begs for a remix of Nasirid court music, or sufi music, both are  pretty weird and exotic sounding. Instrumental when he’s in normal mode, then blending to an amped up electronic remix when he gets “aggressive.” Parris might have as his tune something like Loreena McKennitt’s “The Mystic’s Dream.” Which if I had to pick a single song that typified the mood of the book, would be it.

Thank you for stopping by Andy! Connect with Andy here: Blog - Twitter - Goodreads: Author Page/Book - Facebook

just sayin,
-Kare

Author Guest Post: Lou Aronica

Today

A letter to myself at 17

Dear Lou,

First off, let’s get a few things out of the way:

•          Emerson, Lake & Palmer aren’t nearly as significant as you think they are. That Springsteen guy, though – he’s the real deal.

•          Relax about the Yankees; they’re about to go to three straight World Series.

•          Yes, Asian food is fabulous and you’re always going to love it, but don’t trivialize great Italian food just because you get it at home all the time. Decades from now, your friends are still going to be envious that Dad and Mom were both such excellent cooks.

•          No, she’s not worth it.

Now to some more significant matters. I should probably tell you right now that nothing turns out the way you thought it was going to. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In some cases, it’s a great thing. For instance, you only think you don’t want to have kids. Instead, they’re going to become the most consistently magical part of your life. You don’t need to believe me now. I didn’t believe it until I held our daughter for the first time.

You will definitely find True Love. The only issue is that you’re going to have to deal with a fair amount of Equivocal Love first. Yeah, I wish we’d handled our approach to that entire thing differently. Growing up romantic isn’t necessarily a blessing, though it’ll lead to some fabulous four-month stretches.

You’re going to spend far more time in suits than you think you’re going to. Don’t let this make you crazy; you look good in suits, as long as you avoid olive. Wearing a suit doesn’t mean that you need to leave your independent spirit in the closet. The reality is that the suit and the independent spirit is the look that works for you. Never forget that. Anyway, at some point you’ll get to go to work in jeans. It’s going to take a while, though.

Do you know how much you hate where you live? That doesn’t really get better. However, Manhattan is calling. Yes, I know, but it’s going to turn out to be one of the safest big cities in America, and the way it awakens from its slumber is going to be remarkable to witness. After that, you’ll fall in love with Connecticut. No one saw that coming.

I could tell you more, but you’re probably better off experiencing the rest it without any idea of the outcome (though when someone mentions “Google” to you for the first time, think, “investment opportunity.” Man, I wish I’d done that). I’ll only say that the key to everything – love, family, career, the best places to go for ice cream – is keeping your heart open. You’re going to have endless opportunities to close off your heart. Resist. Make sure that life always matters to you. This isn’t the safest approach, but I’m convinced that it’s the only one that will make you want to keep getting up every morning.

Enjoy the ride. And remember to floss.

With love and compassion,

Lou

Thanks SO much for stopping by Lou! 

Stop by tomorrow for my review of Blue!!

just sayin, 

-Kare