Cover Reveal: Little Dead Riding Hood

Another peek today at the creative genius that is the Jolly Fish Press design team! And always game to help out a fellow author. Today's feature is Little Dead Riding Hood, the second instalment in mother-daughter team Amie and Bethanie Borst's Scarily Ever Laughter middle grade series. The first book, Cinderskella, was released in the fall.

A hint about the book:

You know things are going to suck when you’re the new kid. But when you’re the new kid and a vampire… well, it bites!

Unlike most kids, Scarlet Small’s problems go far beyond just trying to fit in. She would settle for a normal life, but being twelve years old for an entire century is a real pain in the neck. Plus, her appetite for security guards, house pets and bloody toms (tomato juice) is out of control. So in order to keep their vampire-secret, her parents, Mort and Drac, resort to moving for the hundredth time, despite Scarlet being dead-set against it. Things couldn’t be worse at her new school, either. Not only does she have a strange skeleton-girl as a classmate, but a smelly werewolf is intent on revealing her secret. When she meets Granny—who fills her with cookies, goodies, and treats, and seems to understand her more than anyone—she’s sure things will be different. But with a fork-stabbing incident, a cherry pie massacre, and a town full of crazy people, Scarlet’s O-positive she’ll never live to see another undead day.

Not even her Vampire Rule Book can save her from the mess she’s in. Why can’t she ever just follow the rules?

About the authors:

Amie Borst is a PAL member of SCBWI. She believes in Unicorns, uses glitter whenever the opportunity arises, accessories in pink and eats too much chocolate. 

Bethanie Borst is a spunky 13 year old who loves archery, long bike rides and studying edible plant-life.

Giveaway!

Yes, Jolly Fish Folk are generous. Another chance to win! To celebrate the cover for Little Dead Riding Hood, Amie is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card! Just hop on over to her blog HERE and fill out the Rafflecopter form at the bottom. Good Luck!

And now for the reveal!

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Love this cover design! 

Want to know more?  You can find Amie and Bethanie on the interwebs here:

*You can find Amie on Twitter (www.twitter.com/AmieBorst) 

*Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/AmieBorst) 

*From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors (www.fromthemixedupfiles.com) 

*Blog (www.amieborst.com). 

*Together they can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AmieAndBethanieBorst).

Looking forward to reading the finished product!

Brenda

Military Monday: Laugh

My husband and I took a cruise in the Mediterranean for our honeymoon a whole lot of years ago. We opted for the shared dining experience in the big dining room, and were fortunate enough to share our table with a family of five from Hamilton. I can't remember their names...only that dad was a lawyer and mom was a nurse and the kids were all in their mid to late teens.

This Hamilton family expanded their space to us and we became part of their unit over the next few days. I remember thinking how nice it was that they were travelling as a family, even though the kids were older. That at a time when most kids wanted nothing to do with their parents, their three almost-grown children wanted to be with their parents. I admired them as a family. Why?

They were having FUN together.

They joked with Dad about the 'real leather vest' (obviously fake) he'd bought off of a pedlar on the street. They giggled about how Dad had danced with the feather-boa clad entertainers on stage. Mom smiled and daughters whispered and son tried to look mature and grown-up, and they teased and joked and giggled and five course meals passed in seconds.

I remember thinking that some day, I wanted a family like that.

This family stuck with me as my husband and I had children of our own over the next few years. And now in the blink of an eye we have teens. (How is that possible? Weren't they just babies yesterday?) Our life is crazy and hectic and with two careers and military life and a farm and a thousand extra-curriculars, I wonder how we can possibly make it to next week, let alone manage stay together as a family. When hubby is on one side of the world and I'm knee deep in assorted excrement (think dog, cat, sheep, chicken, horse...) and I have to somehow get three kids to three different parts of the country by myself, on a day I have to be at work, and I've got writing deadlines and groceries to buy and laundry to do and--oh yes!--did I mention it's posting season and the house has to be spotless because the real estate agents are taking pictures while we're out?

I'll tell you how we manage.

We laugh.

We giggle and we joke and we do silly things and instead of taking things seriously, we take risks.
We  go skiing when it's thirty below zero. We drive to places we've never seen. Dad tells the same silly jokes over and over and when he goes away we eat popcorn for supper and play loud music and dance.

Sometimes it's hard to laugh. When people are sick, when the money is short, when friendships go awry or when bad things happen. When reunions get delayed.  When information doesn't get passed on. When Dad misses a birthday. There will always be a fine line between laughter and tears. There's nothing wrong with tears. Tears are strength in liquid form.

But if at all possible, tip things upward and giggle. Find something in it to laugh about.

Ten years later we'll look back on the difficult times and laugh. We'll wonder what we were so worried about. Because really, laughter is background music for great family memories.

Brenda


"I think laughter may be a form of courage. As humans we sometimes stand tall and look into the sun and laugh, and I think we are never more brave than when we do that."
                   ~Linda Ellerbee

Cover Reveal: SPLINTERS

More Jolly Fish Press cover art...Matt Carter and F.J.R. Titchenell (agent and publisher-mates...)are revealing the cover to the first book of the YA/Horror/Sci Fi series, The Prospero Chronicles! I've read Ms. Titchenell's first novel, Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of), due out May 6th...and it is amazing, so I'm looking forward to Splinters due out this fall.

Giveaway:

Everyone who adds Splinters to their Goodreads to-read list on or before March 7^th will be entered to win a $25 Amazon giftcard. A winner will be selected at random and contacted by Goodreads direct message. Go here: www.goodreads.com/book/show/20860637-splinters and add it to your to-read list for a chance to win!

About the book:

Under ordinary circumstances, Ben and Mina would never have had reason to speak to each other; he's an easy-going people person with a healthy skepticism about the paranormal, and she's a dangerously obsessive monster-hunter with a crippling fear of betrayal. But the small town of Prospero, California, has no ordinary circumstances to offer. In order to uncover a plot set by the seemingly innocent but definitely shapeshifting monsters-that-look-like-friends-family-and-neighbors, the two stark opposites must both find ways to put aside their differences and learn to trust each other.

About the Authors:

F.J.R. Titchenell and Matt Carter met and fell in love in a musical theatre class at Pasadena City College and have been inseparable ever since. Though they have both dreamed of being writers since a very young age, they both truly hit their stride after they met, bouncing ideas off of one another, forcing each other to strive to be better writers, and mingling Matt's lifelong love of monsters with Fiona's equally disturbing inability to forget the tumult of high school. They were married in 2011 in a ceremony that involved kilts, Star Wars music, and a cake topped by figurines of them fighting a zombified wedding party.

Author links:

F.J.R. Titchenell’s blog: http://fjrtitchenell.weebly.com/

Matt Carter’s blog: http://mattcarterauthor.weebly.com/

F.J.R. Titchenell’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/FjrTitchenell

Matt Carter’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/mattcarterauthor

F.J.R. Titchenell’s Twitter: www.twitter.com/FJR_Titchenell

Matt Carter’s Twitter: www.twitter.com/MCarterAuthor

Splinters Goodreads page (again): www.goodreads.com/book/show/20860637-splinters

And now for the REVEAL...

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Creepy...love the green light behind him.  What are your thoughts?

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway above!


Brenda