NA & YA Authors Share How They Break the Rules

In honor of release week for Breaking the Rules, we're back with more authors sharing how they BREAK THE RULES. Today I'm sharing my fave YA & NA authors.

STBende, Author of Elsker

How do I break the rules? I don't. I'm a notorious rule follower. Occasionally I add more than the recommended amount of Mexican Vanilla to my baking, but that's the extent of it. I'm the girl who cried when I got a parking ticket because I was "in trouble". So lame, right?

How has your character broken the rules? Elsker's Kristia inherited that trait from me. She's read Emily Post cover to cover and she follows rules to the letter... until the day she falls in love with the Norse God of Winter. Because while god-mortal relationships are strictly forbidden, there's no denying the force between Asgard's most lethal assassin and the small town girl who captures his heart. After all, sometimes finding your destiny means doing the exact opposite of what The Fates have in store. 

http://stbende.blogspot.com 

Kara Leigh Miller, Author of The Georgia Corbins

How do you / did you break the rules?

I've never really been much of a rule breaker. All through high school and even now, I've always followed the rules because I was afraid of getting into trouble--not so much with my parents because they rarely punished me, but with the high school principal or teachers....the law! lol. When I used to go to my friend's houses, we'd sneak out and go meet boys. They were usually older boys; boys with cars we knew our parents wouldn't let us see. I think that was the only time I ever really broke the rules.

How has your character broken the rules? 

Ali Philips from The Georgia Corbins is always breaking the rules. When her parents leave her home alone (which happens a lot), she has specific instructions: No boys in the house. Yeah, she doesn't listen. Levi and Tucker are always coming over--sometimes they'll even sneak into her room when her parents are home. She skips classes, gets into fights, sneaks out of her window to go hang out with the Corbin boys; she stole her daddy's pick-up truck once. Oh, and she did the typical teenager, "I'm going to my friend's house to spend the night" when in reality she went camping with a group of people and slept in a tent with a boy!  

http://www.entrancedpublishing.com/imprints/blush/the-georgia-corbins/

Georgann Swiger, Author of Adorned

How have you broken the rules?

I’m usually not a rule breaker. I tried to play by the rules when I was looking to publisher my YA manuscript ADORNED. The first thing I did was query agents. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right? After sending query after query and getting nowhere, I decided to go directly to a publisher by taking a shot at a twitter pitch contest with Entranced Publishing. In one tweet, I had to sell my manuscript to an editor. Somehow, that single sentence did what a query letter couldn’t; it caught someone’s attention. When I got an offer from the publisher at Entranced, I couldn’t believe it.  And I did it without the help of an agent or the query letter I spent months writing. Today, I’m glad I broke the rules that say you need to write a query, get an agent, and then find a publisher. If I hadn’t, I might still be dreaming of having my book published instead of making plans for its November release.

How have your characters broken the rules?

Micah, the love interest of my main character Anya in ADORNED, is an angel who always tries to do what’s right, but ends up teetering on the edge of breaking the rules. The first rule he breaks is when he performs a miracle. Even though that mistake’s forgiven, he’s blindsided by romantic feelings for Anya. While struggling to stay committed to his duty to Heaven, the temptation of forbidden love is overwhelming. But who expects to fall in love? Like Anya says, “You don’t choose these feelings, these feelings choose you.” And one kiss is all it will take for him to break the one rule that can land him in Hell.

ADORNED is scheduled for release in November. Between Heaven and Hell is forbidden love.

http://www.georgeannswiger.com/

Louise D. Gornall, Author of In Stone

How have you broken the rules? 

Okay, so when I was a teen I broke the cardinal rule of dating and hooked up with my best friend. He was so cute & sweet & we got on so well. Obviously we were destined to have the greatest relationship since time began. Suffice it to say that turned sour quicker than milk left under a heat lamp...

How has your character broken the rules? 

Gargoyle Jack breaks every rule. He's like the love child of James Bond & Skatey McSkater Boy. He's cocky & confident and his need to protect the humans overshadows the voice of authority, every-single-time. 

What Makes a Hero in YA? In Stone by Louise D. Gornall

It's a real pleasure to have one of my favorite persons at my blog today. Welcome, Louise D. Gornall and her release, In Stone, a young adult novel with a twist of paranormal and greatness! If you haven't heard about the #gargoyleinvasion (known as Jack) you HAVE to read this!

Title: In Stone

Author: Louise D. Gornall

Publisher and Imprint: Entranced Publishing, Blush

Genre: YA paranormal romance

Release Date: July 1

Length: 120 pages

Blurb:

Beau Bailey is suffering from a post-break-up meltdown when she happens across a knife in her local park and takes it home. Less than a week later, the new boy in school has her trapped in an alley; he’s sprouted horns and is going to kill Beau unless she hands over the knife.

Until Eighteenth-century gargoyle, Jack, shows up to save her.

Jack has woken from a century-long slumber to tell Beau that she’s unwittingly been drafted into a power struggle between two immortal races: Demons and Gargoyles. The knife is the only one in existence capable of killing immortals and they’ll tear the world apart to get it back. To draw the warring immortals away from her home, Beau goes with Jack in search of the mind-bending realm known as the Underworld, a place where they’ll hopefully be able to destroy the knife and prevent all hell from breaking loose. That is, provided they can outrun the demons chasing them

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/In-Stone-ebook/dp/B00DPWS2ZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372619224&sr=8-1&keywords=in+stone+louise+d+gornall

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-stone-louise-d-gornall/1115883166?ean=2940016657608

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/In-Stone/book-x70XQPDrdUmZlb-0thEl_g/page1.html?s=K7ERgO9lIU6XGznC2_hQOA&r=1

Add to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17663217-in-stone

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1_shhtTZI

As a general rule, nobody walks the Switch on account of the overgrown nettle bushes, a pungent aroma of foot infection, and a collective fear of encountering something feral. However, the Switch shaves at least ten minutes off my journey, and lately I don’t trust the dark. I blame my encounter with the almost-corpse, two nights ago. Before then the dark was just a natural progression; something to be slept in, a different color in the sky. Now, shadows make me jump, and the dark carries a silence that makes me think of funerals. It breathes life into creatures that had always been safely contained behind a TV screen. I make my way down the Switch, striding over vicious flora and trying to ignore the occasional nip that sinks straight through my jeans.

“Hey, Beau!” A voice from behind startles me. When I turn, Gray is jogging in my direction, thwarting thorn bushes with his bare hands. “I was looking for you.”

The hairs on the back of my neck bristle. My hand is in my pocket, and my fingers are wrapped around a slender cylinder of pepper spray as he reaches me.

“Well you found me. What’s up?”

“There’s something I need to ask you,” he says sheepishly. He hammers his toe against the ground, grinding it nervously into the dirt and crushing several stems of dandelion into gold dust. He giggles; it’s a soft, sweet sound that suffocates my hostility. He reminds me of Mark moments before he’d asked me out on our first date. Maybe this guy could be the one to liberate me from my social network sabbatical. Maybe my slightly-too-heavy eyeliner and my reputation as the mortician’s daughter hasn’t freaked him out.

“Really?” Surprise raises my pitch. “What’s that?” The pepper spray is abandoned in my pocket.

“Where’s the knife?” he replies, snatching my throat and slamming my back up against the concrete wall. It’s so forceful, so hard, that my spine ripples. Red flashes across my vision. The muscles in my neck go slack, and my head flops forward. He stabs his thumb up under my chin, forcing me to look him in the eye. His eyes are like the moon; cold, giant circles of icy-silver. But a change in his eye color is nothing in comparison to the change happening on either side of his head. I don’t understand it. It makes me wonder, briefly, if what I’m seeing is a side effect of the migraine pills Leah slipped me at lunch. Gray is growing horns. Giant grey horns that slide out of the side of his skull and then curl like springs around his ears. They’re animal.

Review Snippets:

“Straight away I was drawn in by the story and Louise's fantastic writing style, and I really struggled to put it down.”

“If a story can have me so invested that it brings out those kind of emotions in me - whether happy or sad - then I know I've found another to add to my favourites, and In Stone was one of those books.”

“The plot was perfectly executed and delivers a thrilling ride filled with adventure, trails and an unexpected end.”

What Makes a Hero in YA?

When I first saw this question I was all like, a hero should have a rockin’ bod, a smile that melts muscle into mush, hair that would cut it in a L’Oreal commercial...BUT then my brain kicked into gear and a shallow siren started sounding in my ears. I’m not shallow. Honest. It’s just when I imagine a hero -- in that split-second after hearing the word -- a devastatingly chiseled guy is the first picture that pops into my head. Then I started thinking about Jack. Jack is a gargoyle, and when he has his tail out, or he’s using bulbous fingers to scale buildings, or he has horns protruding from the side of his head, he doesn’t slip so seamlessly into the category of gorgeous. But that doesn’t stop him from being a hero.

It doesn’t matter how grotesque Jack gets, he’s still brave and selfless. He still cares and wants to protect.  He’s considerate and kind. Fearless and funny. These are the things that make Jack a hero.

I think a hero is the kind of guy who’s standing by, ready to save you, but doesn’t assume that because you have a couple of  X chromosomes, you’re incapable of saving yourself. Emotionally and physically. He’s not the guy that’s always flouncing in first; junk thrust forward, hands on hips, exclaiming Ta-dah! Beau, my female MC, would eat that kind of guy for breakfast, and then pick her teeth with the flaccid remains of his manly-manness! Seriously, Beau is independent. She very rarely needs Jack to save her, and when she tells him she’s got a situation under control, he doesn’t second guess her. He just stands back and lets her do her thang. He never considers her inferior. She’s always his equal. That’s sexy, right?

Even before I gave Jack twinkly blue eyes and a face that belonged on billboards I decided I wanted to make him funny. I’m just sat here, going through my ex-boyfriend inventory, and it would appear that funny guys are my favorite. If I was to compare the guys that I’ve crushed on in the past, the only similarity between them would be a sense of humor. So I guess a great hero for me is a guy that doesn’t take himself too seriously. Brooding guys make great heroes, sure, but after spending six months inside Jack’s head I prefer a guy that can still smile when he’s been to hell and back. I also love how cool Jack remains in a crisis, and I love that Beau can’t help but get sucked into that state of mind when she’s around him.

Oh! And my heroes have to be smart. Brawn is lush, but I don’t think heroes necessarily need it to help get them out of a tricky situation. Jack uses his brain more than he uses his fists.

That’s pretty much my hero checklist. At least that’s what I think. I guess everyone has a different opinion on what makes a good hero though. So if there’s something missing off my list, that you love to see in YA heroes, feel free to let me know in the comments below.

About the Author:

Louise is a graduate of Garstang Community Academy. She is currently studying for a BA (Hons) in English language and literature with special emphasis on creative writing. YA aficionado. Brit bird. Film nerd. Identical twin. Junk food enthusiast. Rumored pink Power Ranger. Zombie apocalypse 2012 survivor. She is also an avid collector of book boyfriends.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Louise-D-Gornall/111420465709804?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rock_andor_roll

Website: http://bookishblurb.com/

This giveaway is open only to residents in the US, UK, Australia and Canada.

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[Release Day Blitz] In Stone by Louise D. Gornall

It's a pleasure to host a Release Day Blitz for fellow Entranced Publishing author and friend, Louise D. Gornall. It's a #gargoyleinvasion with In Stone.

Title: In Stone

Author: Louise D. Gornall

Publisher and Imprint: Entranced Publishing, Blush

Genre: YA paranormal romance

Release Date: July 1

Length: 120 pages

Blurb:

Beau Bailey is suffering from a post-break-up meltdown when she happens across a knife in her local park and takes it home. Less than a week later, the new boy in school has her trapped in an alley; he’s sprouted horns and is going to kill Beau unless she hands over the knife.

Until Eighteenth-century gargoyle, Jack, shows up to save her.

Jack has woken from a century-long slumber to tell Beau that she’s unwittingly been drafted into a power struggle between two immortal races: Demons and Gargoyles. The knife is the only one in existence capable of killing immortals and they’ll tear the world apart to get it back. To draw the warring immortals away from her home, Beau goes with Jack in search of the mind-bending realm known as the Underworld, a place where they’ll hopefully be able to destroy the knife and prevent all hell from breaking loose. That is, provided they can outrun the demons chasing them

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/In-Stone-ebook/dp/B00DPWS2ZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372619224&sr=8-1&keywords=in+stone+louise+d+gornall

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-stone-louise-d-gornall/1115883166?ean=2940016657608

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/In-Stone/book-x70XQPDrdUmZlb-0thEl_g/page1.html?s=K7ERgO9lIU6XGznC2_hQOA&r=1

Add to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17663217-in-stone

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1_shhtTZI

As a general rule, nobody walks the Switch on account of the overgrown nettle bushes, a pungent aroma of foot infection, and a collective fear of encountering something feral. However, the Switch shaves at least ten minutes off my journey, and lately I don’t trust the dark. I blame my encounter with the almost-corpse, two nights ago. Before then the dark was just a natural progression; something to be slept in, a different color in the sky. Now, shadows make me jump, and the dark carries a silence that makes me think of funerals. It breathes life into creatures that had always been safely contained behind a TV screen. I make my way down the Switch, striding over vicious flora and trying to ignore the occasional nip that sinks straight through my jeans.

“Hey, Beau!” A voice from behind startles me. When I turn, Gray is jogging in my direction, thwarting thorn bushes with his bare hands. “I was looking for you.”

The hairs on the back of my neck bristle. My hand is in my pocket, and my fingers are wrapped around a slender cylinder of pepper spray as he reaches me.

“Well you found me. What’s up?”

“There’s something I need to ask you,” he says sheepishly. He hammers his toe against the ground, grinding it nervously into the dirt and crushing several stems of dandelion into gold dust. He giggles; it’s a soft, sweet sound that suffocates my hostility. He reminds me of Mark moments before he’d asked me out on our first date. Maybe this guy could be the one to liberate me from my social network sabbatical. Maybe my slightly-too-heavy eyeliner and my reputation as the mortician’s daughter hasn’t freaked him out.

“Really?” Surprise raises my pitch. “What’s that?” The pepper spray is abandoned in my pocket.

“Where’s the knife?” he replies, snatching my throat and slamming my back up against the concrete wall. It’s so forceful, so hard, that my spine ripples. Red flashes across my vision. The muscles in my neck go slack, and my head flops forward. He stabs his thumb up under my chin, forcing me to look him in the eye. His eyes are like the moon; cold, giant circles of icy-silver. But a change in his eye color is nothing in comparison to the change happening on either side of his head. I don’t understand it. It makes me wonder, briefly, if what I’m seeing is a side effect of the migraine pills Leah slipped me at lunch. Gray is growing horns. Giant grey horns that slide out of the side of his skull and then curl like springs around his ears. They’re animal.

Review Snippets:

“Straight away I was drawn in by the story and Louise's fantastic writing style, and I really struggled to put it down.”

“If a story can have me so invested that it brings out those kind of emotions in me - whether happy or sad - then I know I've found another to add to my favourites, and In Stone was one of those books.”

About the Author:

Louise is a graduate of Garstang Community Academy. She is currently studying for a BA (Hons) in English language and literature with special emphasis on creative writing. YA aficionado. Brit bird. Film nerd. Identical twin. Junk food enthusiast. Rumored pink Power Ranger. Zombie apocalypse 2012 survivor. She is also an avid collector of book boyfriends.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Louise-D-Gornall/111420465709804?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rock_andor_roll

Website: http://bookishblurb.com/

Open only to residents in the US, UK, Australia and Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Stone by Louise D. Gornall - Kindle Giveaway

Title: In Stone

Author: Louise D. Gornall

IN STONE will be available July 29!

Beau Bailey is suffering from a post break-up meltdown when she happens across a knife in her local park and takes it home. Less than a week later the new boy in school has her trapped in an alley; he’s sprouted horns and is going to kill Beau unless she hands over the knife.

Until Eighteenth century gargoyle, Jack, shows up and saves her.

Jack has woken from a century long slumber to tell Beau that she’s accidentally been drafted into a power struggle between two immortal races; Demons and Gargoyles. The knife she picked up is the only one in existence capable of killing immortals and they’ll tear the world apart to get it back. To draw the warring immortals away from her home, Beau decides to go with Jack to Bulgaria in search of the mind-bending realm known as the Underworld, a place where they’ll hopefully be able to destroy the knife and prevent all hell from breaking loose. That is providing they can outrun the demons that are chasing them.

About the Author

Louise is a graduate of Garstang Community Academy, currently studying for a BA (Hons) in English language and literature with special emphasis on creative writing. YA aficionado. Brit bird. Film nerd. Identical twin. Junk food enthusiast. Rumoured pink Power Ranger. Zombie apocalypse 2012 survivor. Avid collector of book boyfriends.

Blog: www.bookishblurb.wordpress.com  

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Rock_andor_roll

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Louise-D-Gornall/111420465709804

Giveaway – Open Internationally

To celebrate her upcoming release, Louise is giving away an ecopy of IN STONE and a Kindle Fire to one lucky reader! One runner-up will also win an ecopy of IN STONE. UK and US residents are eligible to win the Kindle Fire. If you live outside the UK or US and your name is drawn, you will receive an Amazon gift card valued at £160 (GBP) instead. The winners will be announced July 29. Good luck!

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