Vampire Bite Hop: Blessed Blood Cover Reveal

Jolie Du Pre is an author, editor, article writer and blogger is hosting today's Vampire Bite Blog Hop. Now before you moan, "Urgh. More vampires?" I have some exciting news for you all.


In 2010, I wrote my YA novel.  I finished it roughly a little over two years ago.  TWO BLOODY YEARS ago!  I'll never understand how authors can bang out books.  Never.  That said, I edited, revised, had it beta read, critiqued and then repeated that process again and again.  I've since had a serious decision to ponder.  Traditional or Self-Pub?  Well, the sad truth is most agents or publishers aren't interested in vamp novels.  There just not and that's okay since I still believe there's still a market for vampire novels.  My goal is to stay true to myself and capture those readers who still love vamp lit.  

That said, I've been working like a fiend on polishing my story.  I've spent a good chunk of time building my online platform too.  *smiles wickedly*  I suppose nothing is ever perfect, but I've decided to give my young adult urban fantasy novel a shot.  I don't exactly have a timeline yet on a book launch, but I'm shooting for Spring 2013.  Keep your fingers crossed all goes well.

Cover Reveal:  Blessed Blood by Mina Burrows 

Backcover:  Emma Rollins is blessed.  Nobody knows how precious her blood is except for Quinn, the vampire, and he’s dying to claim her.

Aside from graduating college and playing soccer, all Emma wants is to be loved by her opportunist father and forget about the boy who broke her heart.  Since accepting her college soccer scholarship, Emma has been betrayed, beaten, bloodied and bitten.  And it’s only the first semester. 

Before it’s over, Emma must uncover and accept her eternal fate, save her bullying teammates from perilous doom and face the alluring vampire that haunts her.  Oh, and win a National title too.  Yeah, being blessed is more like being cursed.  But for Emma, it’s her only saving grace.

About the artist:  Steven Novak is an amazing designer and writer who designed this cover.  He's so talented and I'm incredibly thankful he worked with me.  If you need wonderful cover art, then Steven's your guy.

So what do you think?  Like my cover?  Excited about my upcoming release?

Hope you have a great Valentine's Day!

Mina B.

2012 Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

Happy Labor Day Weekend, minions.  The Back to the Books Giveaway Hop is here!  Forget about Christmas, back to school is the most wonderful time of the year for me.  With the kids back in school, I can now get down to some serious writing.  Thank the Lords!

There are over 200 blogs participating and I'm # 132.  This hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and co-hosted by  Buried in Books and...it runs from Sept. 1- 7th.  Wahoooo!  Okay, FREE Sh** Fairy...tell us what you have in store for this giveaway.

My Free Sh** Fairy couldn't decide.  Damn her!  But what can you expect when you rely on a fairy AND when the sh** is free!  Anyway, I decided to offer one lucky winner a choice of one (1) the following hot YA paranormal titles:

- Endlessly by Kiersten White (synopsis on Goodreads)
-  Something Strange & Deadly by Susan Dennard, (synopsis on Goodreads)

Let me clarify: One (1) lucky winner can choose between either Endlessly or Something Strange & Deadly.   Sound cool? Great.  That's what we were shooting for.  Want to know how to enter? See below and tell your friends!

To enter

You MUST be a GFC follower of my blog & MUST fill the form.

Extra entries
+2 Subscribe via email to my blog
+2 Like me on Facebook/MinaBurrows
+1 Retweet this Twitter (limit 1 retweet)

Again, the giveaway starts at 12:01 AM EST on Saturday, September 1 and runs through September 7th midnight. Contest is open to International participants.

Want to see who else is participating? Click here and hop on by.

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Book Review: Wynne Channing's What Kills Me

As promised, I'm reviewing award-winning national newspaper reporter and young adult novelist, Wynne Channing debut novel, What Kills Me. What I liked best about this book was its uniqueness for a YA vamp lit tale.  

Written in first person from Axelia's (Zee) perspective, our young female hero, is a 17-year-old who has ventured to Italy to study abroad. She's just like any young female, filled with life and energy; ready to experience all it has to offer.  Her naiveté is not her best asset, especially in a foreign country.  One night she sneaks out from her Italian ward's home to meet a mysterious boy.  With the promise of love on the line, the last thing Zee suspects is her midnight rendezvous would result in her untimely death.  Yes, a clandestine meeting with a vampire can do that to a human girl, but not the way you think.  As Zee's running for her life, she ends up falling into a well filled with sacred blood that turns her into an immortal.  Since climbing out of the well, Zee learns she's the prophesied girl who's destined to extinct the vampire race.  And with a future like that, you can bet every vamp in the country is out for blood...Zee's especially. 

What Kills Me is a fast-paced, thriller that follows Zee as she runs and fights to save her new eternal life! The story delves into vampire royalty, young love, destiny and ancient gods. This book was indeed a page turner. And at the very end, I honestly didn't know how Zee was going to get out of her deadly predicament. Don’t you just love it when books are like that?

I found Zee genuinely likable and a true to form teenager. Despite all odds stacked against her, she was strong, resilient and somehow managed to persevere. Her love interest, Lucas, was intriguing as well so if you're one of those readers that needs your YA sauced with romance, I think this one delivers.

I'm not sure where this young adult vampire series is headed, but I have no doubt with Channing at the helm, it will be one of those series you’ll want to continue to devour. For me, What Kills me was easily a 4. Vamp lovers should snag an e-copy while you can. At just under three bucks, this fanged tale is a total steal. Get your copy here or if you want, check out the first free chapters here.

Stop back by on Friday as I reveal the Summer Reads Giveaway Hop's 5 winners of What Kills Me!

Happy Reading!

Mina B.

Summer Reads Giveaway Hop

Hey, minions! Fresh off the Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop, I'm participating in another hop; the Summer Reads Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and co-hosted by one of my favorite book blogs...Rex Robot Reviews. Woot! Go Julia! Seriously, minions...RR is one the bomb! If you haven't had a chance to check out or follow her blog, please do!

That said, there are over 200 blogs participating so it should be intense with literally hundreds of free book sh** up for grabs. The giveaway runs from July 6th to July 11th (end of day) so you'll have plenty of time to enter. (I'm #69!)  Anyway, this past week, my FREE Sh** Fairy worked tirelessly to find a killer giveaway for you guys. And boy did she pull through!

Award-winning national newspaper reporter and young adult novelist, Wynne Channing recently launched her debut novel, What Kills Me. Check out the synopsis below:


An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race. So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive. How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?
What's so cool about this book is it is the complete package. The cover rocks and so does the novel. For an excerpt read the first FOUR chapters via Channing's website here. Stay tuned as I review What Kills Me in the coming days.

And to keep things interesting Wynne has graciously offered five copies of her ebook for this giveaway!  That's five winners, minions!  I know. I know. Charge up your e-readers, book addicts.  I think you'll need it for this one. Okay, let's review the giveaway, shall we? Five (5) lucky winners can win an e-copy of Wynne Channing's debut YA urban fantasy novel, What Kills Me. Want to know how to enter? See below and tell your friends!

To enter
You MUST be a GFC follower of my blog & MUST fill the form.

Extra entries
+1 Like Wynne on Facebook
+1 Follow Wynne on Twitter
+1 Retweet this Twitter (limit 1 retweet)
+1 Add What Kills Me to your GoodReads Shelf

Again, the giveaway starts at 12:01 AM EST on Friday July 6th and runs through July 11th midnight. Contest is open to International participants.  Want to see who else is participating? Click here and hop on by.  (Note:  The winner for the Freedom Hop will be announced over the weekend. Be sure and stop by.)


UPDATE!
Congrats to the following winnners for the Summer Reads Giveaway Hop!

- Natalie C.
- Kristia M. 

- Giedre S.
- DeeDee B/G.
- StacyT

Note: The winner will be notified via email and will have no more than 72 hours to respond before another winner is drawn. The contest winner was selected by the reputable Random.org.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 


Fridays with Fred
Since this Fred's birthday week, he get's this week off. Lucky dog!
Remember to stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary’s BookHounds too.

Have a great weekend.

Mina B.

A-Z Challenge, Character Feature, Emma Rollins

Okay A-Z Challenge, here's another character feature. "E" is for "Emma" Rollins, my sixteen year old heroine of my urban fantasy YA novel.  I was bored with the stereotypical young females in YA books.  I honestly hadn't read anything (urban fantasy wise) that dealt with a girl playing team sports.  I'm sure they are out there, but...  Anyway, they say to write what you want to read so I did.  And as far as sports, I wanted real honest-to-goodness, sweat-dripping, game-winning, trophy-collecting team sports i.e. basketball, softball, swimming or soccer.  And so, minions....meet Emma Rollins.

Here's an overview of Emma's tale: 

Emma Rollins is blessed. Nobody knows how precious her blood is except for Quinn, the vampire. And he’s dying to claim her. 


Aside from graduating college and playing soccer, all Emma wants is to be loved by her opportunist father and forget about the boy who broke her heart. Since accepting her college soccer scholarship, Emma is back-stabbed, beaten, bloodied and bitten too. And it’s only the first semester.
  
Before it’s over, Emma must uncover and accept her eternal fate, save her bullying teammates from perilous doom and face the alluring vampire that haunts her. Oh, and win a National title too. Yeah, being blessed is more like being cursed. But for Emma, it’s her only saving grace.

And here's a snippet of Emma describing her father:


Bob Rollins, my Dad, was a certifiable sport fanatic and his number-one game of choice was soccer.  He wore everything Adidas. Whether he was playing in a Men’s under forty-five league or eating at a restaurant, the man preferred Adidas to almost anything else. Almost anything, except women. Dad loved women about as much as he loved soccer; which is why he was involved in another no-end relationship with his current girlfriend, Cheryl, a.k.a. bimbo #5.


Dad was a young-looking, physically fit, middle-aged man with jet-black hair and grey eyes with gold flecks. Growing up, I often overheard friend’s mothers, even teachers, quietly gawk at him. I guessed he was cute, but eew gross, he was my Dad! He always used to say how I was a dead ringer for my mother who passed away when I was 5. I never believed him though.  At just over six feet, Dad had a domineering presence, especially when it came to his eyes. They were his calling card.
  
And lucky me, I had a pair just like him.
***
That's it.  I love family drama with characters which was why I put Bob in there.  


Mina B.