New Home for Keira

The bad news is I've written nothing for the past week. The good news is I spent all my writing time building my new web site: keiralea.com! When you have a minute, it would be great if you'd stop by.

In the coming weeks, I'll transition to the new site and close down this blog. I added GFC to keiralea.com (based on WordPress), but my current group of awesome followers doesn't show up on that site. I'm going to try to follow everyone from the other site.

REPLAY BLOG TOUR WINNERS!!!

Is it way too geeky to admit I was eager to wake up this morning to draw winners? First I want thank everyone for spending time with me during the past two weeks. Your excitement and overall "coolivity" made this tour a rockin' success.

It is my great privilege to announce the newly crowned Replay Blog Tour Winners!

Grand Prize: Stephanie (stephbarkerdrew)
Prize: Taneesha (tfreidus)
Prize: Cara (Mikeswife522)
Prize: Kanya (kanyachhet)
Special Prize: Krysykat (Morganlafey86)

Krysykat, I want to give you a special prize for sticking with me throughout the tour. You made me feel loved.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Hugs all around!!! I will contact each of you with information about receiving your prize.

xoxoxo

The Insanely Awesome Giveaway!

Today is the insanely awesome blog tour giveaway! I love to give stuff away, so let's get right to it.

Here's how you enter for a chance to win the grand prize:

1. Comment on this post or send an email to keiraleabooks [at] gmail [dot] com

2. (Optional) Let me know if I may add your email address to my mailing list

That's it! When you enter, be sure to give me a way to contact you.

The giveaway is open until 9:00 a.m. Central Time on Sunday, July 3. I will announce the winner shortly after that time.

Remember, one blog tour follower will win the grand prize:

• Replay ebook
• Nina Perez's The Twin Prophecies: Rebirth ebook
• Courtney Cole's Every Last Kiss: The Bloodstone Saga ebook
• Addison Moore's Ethereal (Celestra Series) ebook
• Sue Owen's The Sword's Journey (Chasing History) ebook
• Melissa Smith's Cloud Nine: A Paranormal Romance of the Guardians of Man ebook
• US$20 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble

But that's not all ... (I've always wanted to use that phrase!) I will draw three more winners out of the hat to receive:

• Replay ebook
• US$5 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Thank you so much for following my blog tour! I also send a special shout-out to all the book bloggers who hosted my tour! Of course, I have to let Bels at The Bookish Snob Promotions know how much I love her. *mwah*

T.G.I. Freakin' F!

It's Canada Day and the Friday before the U.S. Fourth of July! The long weekend is right on time for me. I have to admit I'm a little sad because tomorrow is the last day of my blog tour. I don't want it to end!

I can't be sad for long, though. Tomorrow will be insanely awesome because I love to give stuff away! Remember, the grand prize is the following:

• Replay ebook
• Nina Perez's The Twin Prophecies: Rebirth ebook
• Courtney Cole's Every Last Kiss: The Bloodstone Saga ebook
• Addison Moore's Ethereal (Celestra Series) ebook
• Sue Owen's The Sword's Journey (Chasing History) ebook
• Melissa Smith's Cloud Nine: A Paranormal Romance of the Guardians of Man ebook
• $20 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble

I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait ...

Manic Monday

I have so many awesome places to be on this tour, I can't keep up with myself! My two current stops are Young Readers and We Fancy Books.

Hope your Monday is treating you well. :-)

It's Sunday already?

I think I lost most of the weekend to a Netflix marathon of BONES. I feel a bit smarter, though.

The weekend may be coming to a close, but the fun is just beginning for me. And for you, if you come see me at A Chick Who Reads for today's stop on the REPLAY blog tour. 

Interview With YA Author Sue Owen

As part of the REPLAY Blog Tour festivities, Sue Owen stopped by to answer some questions about her writing life and her book, THE SWORD'S JOURNEY, Book One of the Chasing History series. On July 2, one blog tour follower will win a copy of this ebook as part of the grand prize!

Me: What's the story behind your title and cover?

Sue: When I first thought of this idea, I knew I wanted to do some kind of epic adventure where the good guys had to fight monsters, magic, and each other to either find something or keep something from destroying the world. There are all kinds of books out there like that, so I needed a new spin. I’ve always been a fan of history and time lines and the time vortex theories of relativity and all that so I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if someone just went back in time and stole our national treasures before they were needed? How bad would that mess things up! Chasing History seemed the perfect name for what they were doing.

Me: What was your favorite part of writing your book?

Sue: I don’t know that I had a favorite. I loved writing this book and truth be told if I left in all the parts that I wanted to it would be about 40,000 more words! I tore a ton of stuff out after I got it done to move the story along. Someday, I may make that a book, too!

Me: Do you have a special writing place or routine?

Sue: On days when I get to write, I like to start first thing in the morning. I’ll write for two or three hours, take a break, do housework, walk, whatever, and then go again in the afternoon. I can usually get about 10,000 words in on a good day. Most days, however, work interferes so I don’t get much time to write. Sometimes an idea will strike me and I just have to write it down, so I’ll write a bit in the late evening.

Me: Who has influenced your writing the most?

Sue: The epic writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Anne McCaffrey. Even a story such as Harry Potter, for me, is an epic, and I’m envious of those that can keep story lines straight after writing that many books with the same cast. I’d love to follow in their footsteps.

Me: What were the last five books you read?

YA Author Sue Owen

Sue: This isn’t really a fair question. I do reviewing for my web site Pink Phoenix, so the books I read are ones that I’ve been asked to review and not indicative of the books I would choose for myself. Although the books I read are sometimes great books and ones I would have chosen to read, most are not my typical reading style. That being said, of the last ones I read that I actually liked, they are: THE DARK ONES by Demetrius O. Davis, SYLVIANNA by Keryl Raist, BLOODLINE OF A KANE by Bobby Dennis, and ACROSS THE SEA by Eric Marier … all Indie authors, by the way.

Me: What do you order at your favorite coffee shop?

Sue: White chocolate mocha with caramel … iced in summer, hot in winter.

Me: Please open a dictionary, pick ten random words, and write a sentence using all ten.

Sue: Oh, you want me to work! Okay … I don’t own a dictionary so I just opened a web site and picked some words off that: indubitably, lewd, lovers, pigeon, and gentle. "Indubitably, the lovers were given lewd looks, which they returned with the gentle, forgiving, and understanding eyes of pigeons."

Me: If you could be in your dream critique group, which five authors would you choose?

Sue: Janet Evanovich, Clive Cussler, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gene Roddenberry, and Christopher Paolini. The style I seem to write in is indicative of Tolkien, although I love the history of Cussler and how he weaves that as the story. Evanovich has the ability to add humor like no other, and both Roddenberry and Paolini have the sci fi styles that I love … just enough real life to put you in the story. It would be an honor to see what they thought of my work.

Me: Pick two characters from your book and tell us a little about their lives.

Sue: Remember my remark about the 40,000 more words … most of it was character study. Since this book is mainly Josh, let’s talk about him. Josh is a typical teen. He’s considered handsome by his peers, popular and liked by the ladies. He knows this, but it doesn’t make him arrogant. He lives with his mom and her revolving boyfriends in a run-down trailer park. He’s working as a cook at a local diner to buy a car and get out of "Dodge." He has a girlfriend, but they are barely to the kissing stages yet. He’s full of promise, but life keeps trying to tug him down. He’s on the verge of something, but at the point he enters the story, it isn’t clear which way he is going to go: follow his friend Charlie into a life of crime or follow his dream of leading a normal life.

In contrast to Josh, there’s Digger. Quiet, confident, strong Digger has grown up on the streets, always moving and never trusting anyone or relying on anyone but himself. He’s done some things that wouldn’t be considered mentionable in polite society, but where he comes from, stealing to live is acceptable as long as you don’t get caught. He sees way more than the normal person as he’s honed his observation skills to a fine line. Nothing gets past him. Always a loner, when he’s tossed into this group, it is hard for him to trust, let alone work as a team member.

Me: If you could rewind time, what would you change in your life?

Sue: I would spend less time working and more time with family. I missed watching my kids grow up because I was a single parent and felt I had to work extra in order to meet our family needs. I think some of the needs I should have been meeting were family time. I regret that.

Fabulous Friday on the Blog Tour

It's Friday. I can breathe now. :-)

Today, I'm heading over to Mission to Read to talk about why YA is my thing. Writing YA is very personal for me. When I read or write YA books, I feel like I belong. It's my comfort zone. And I think most writers who write YA feel the same way.

All right, all right, I'm a sappy geek. You knew this about me!

Blog Tour Stop at Books of Love

I'm at Books of Love today! If you're dying to know what I do in my spare time, check out my interview there. Even if you don't care what I do with any of my time, I hope you'll stop by and say hi. :-)

A Mysterious Day on the Tour

I'm super excited to be at the Mysteriousbooks blog with the lovely Mysteriousrose today! I think I'll extend my tour indefinitely because I love waking up in a different place each day. Wait, that doesn't sound quite right ...

Blog Tour Tuesday

I was tired of counting the blog tour days so I switched to days of the week. I generally go for the easiest method for doing anything. Today, I'm lurking around ComaCalm's Corner. I feel the love there, but I could use a little more. I'm lazy and needy. What more could you want in an author?

Here's a shout-out for ComaCalm, Harpreet, and Liz R. for making me feel welcome today!

Monday is my new favorite day!

It's Monday again, and I was feeling a bit droopy until I remembered that I'm at The Bookish Snob today for my blog tour! Bels' site is an awesome place to spend a Monday (or any day, really). You'll see what I mean when you go there. :-)

Blog Tour, Day Five

I'm spending Father's Day at It's All About Books. My dad said it's fine. Sneak away from the family for a few minutes to hang out with me, all right?

Blog Tour, Day Four

It's a super-sunny Saturday here in Dallas, and I'm at the Breathing Books blog today!

I hope it's no secret that REPLAY centers around the ability to manipulate time. Allow me, then, this geek moment. The Science Channel has a series called THROUGH THE WORMHOLE. The June 22 episode is called "Is Time an Illusion?" In writing about the episode's connection to string theory, Craig Haggit from HowStuffWorks.com says, "Ever wish you could go back in time and do something over? Not to worry. Somewhere there's a universe where you got it right." Sound familiar?

Interview With YA Author Julia Crane

As part of the REPLAY Blog Tour festivities, Julia Crane stopped by to answer some questions about her writing life and her new book, COEXIST (KEEGAN'S CHRONICLES). This book has everything: romance, action, and a terrific cover!

Me: COEXIST is an awesome title. What's the story behind it?

Julia: Thank you, it took me a long time to come up with the title. I was originally going to call it Keegan. I thought Coexist was fitting since the elves have evolved to live among humans.

Me: What was your favorite part of writing COEXIST?

Julia: The actual writing process. I would come up with ideas at the oddest times. When I first started the book I was on a plane to Katmandu, of all places, and suddenly I pictured the ending. It drove me crazy to sit on the plane and not be able to get it down on paper. I can tell you what I genuinely dislike about writing is the revision/editing stage that took me much longer than actually writing the book.

Me: Do you have a special writing place or routine?

Julia: I tend to write a lot from my bedroom late at night. I’m one of those people that needs quiet to focus.

Me: Who has influenced your writing the most?

Julia: Hmmm, I don’t think there is one person I could name. As an avid reader, I love so many authors.

Me: What were the last five books you read (besides mine)?

Julia: I did love REPLAY! I have been reading A LOT of indie books lately. I do tend to sneak back to the best sellers and grab the books I’ve been waiting for.

TRANSFECTION by David Gaughran, UNDERNEATH by Heather Marie Adkins, PARADOX by Pattie Roberts. I’ve also recently read THE NAKED EDGE by David Morrell, and EVE by Iris Johansen.

Me: What do you order at your favorite coffee shop?

Julia: English breakfast tea or hot chocolate. I know I’m odd, but I LOVE Folgers instant coffee, which they do not carry in Dubai! I have to have friends and family mail it to me.

Me: Please open a dictionary, pick ten random words, and write a sentence using all ten.

Julia: You're killing me. :) I can’t play this game because my dictionary is online. So instead I will write another sentence: Buy REPLAY written by Keira Lea; it’s a great story!

Me: If you could be in your dream critique group, which five authors would you choose?

Julia: James Patterson, Richard Castle, Iris Johansen, Nelson DeMille, and Ken Follett.

Me: Pick two characters from your book and tell us a little about their lives.

Julia: Thaddeus is one of my favorites. He is Keegan’s younger brother, born with the gift of sight. Only twelve years old, and he has the burden of saving his kind from extinction.

Keegan’s best friend Anna is a fun character. I actually based her on one of my daughter's best friends who is quirky and confident.

Me: If you could rewind time, what would you change in your life?

Julia: I wish I could turn back time and be stuck at the age 28. That’s a great age. You are finally secure in who you are and have yet to get grey hair. That’s not really a change, but I like my life, so I wouldn’t change anything.

Thanks for having me!

Me: Thanks for hanging out with me! It gets lonely around here sometimes.

Blog Tour, Day Three

Happy Friday! I woke up thinking it's Tuesday. I have no idea why. Anyway, I'll be hanging out at Adventures of the Cautionary Tale today. If you have a few minutes, please stop by and leave us a little blog tour love. We will love you back.

I'm trying to cut back on my use of exclamation points. I feel so bland now. I'll have to increase my use of adverbs and random YouTube videos to make myself feel better.

Blog Tour, Day Two

Hey, awesome peeps! If you're looking for me today, I'm over at vvb32 Reads talking about what I would do if I could rewind time. Fascinating stuff (ha ha)!

June 15 is a Beautiful Blog Tour Day!

June 15 is the first day of the REPLAY Blog Tour! The party starts at The Great, The Good and The Bad! (Such a great name for a book blog!)

I've chosen U2's "Beautiful Day" as the official song of the tour. If you've read REPLAY, you know why. If you haven't read it, maybe you'll win a free copy along the way!

Remember, this is the schedule. Please come see us!

June 15 – The Great, The Good and The Bad

June 16 – vvb32 Reads

June 17 – Adventures of the Cautionary Tale

June 18 – Novella Vialli’s Blog

June 19 – It’s All About Books

June 20 – Books By A Mother’s Touch

June 21 – ComaCalm

June 22 – Mysterious Books

June 23 – Books of Love

June 24 – Mission To Read

June 25 – Bookish Delights

June 26 – A Chick Who Reads

June 27 – We Fancy Books

June 28 – Young Readers At Home

June 29 – The Wormhole

June 30 – The Musings of M.D Christie

July 1 – Just Another Book Addict

July 2 – My Blog!

Laurie Halse Anderson - SPEAK Poem

Shooting Sparks

The music I listen to varies so much I often avoid sharing. People say, "You like this and that? That's almost blasphemous!" I couldn't even bring myself to put real examples in that quote. I know, I need to get over this fear of musical ridicule. In the meantime, I'm being brave and letting you know my favorite Katy Perry song is "Firework."

The song's message is simple: Don't be afraid to be who you are. Don't hide. Taking this advice is not always easy, though. It's bizarre how many ways people dream up to show prejudice toward other people. Whether we are growing up, establishing a career, or supporting a family, having someone label us "other" or "inferior" hurts. Constantly defending ourselves saps our energy, making it easier to give up and disappear. The good news? We don't have to change their minds. We just have to know they are wrong about us.

The issues of prejudice, ignorance, and hate are complex. I know these problems are not solved so easily. We can make the situation better for ourselves, though, by working to change how we react. Instead of closing in on ourselves, we can choose to show we believe in ourselves. That's why I love this song.

Besides, what's not to love about a video with fireworks shooting from people's chests?

My Dream Came True

I wanted a book trailer, and now, I have one! I wish that worked with everything I want. I would have a new MacBook Pro (because you can never have too many Macs), an unlimited book budget, a Mini Cooper--what? Oh, sorry. Shiny, new things distract me. Anyway, here's the trailer!

Book Trailer Fever

I'm an obsessive person, and tonight, all my racing thoughts are about book trailers. I want a trailer for REPLAY. I really, really do. Check out this trailer that I scooped from YA Book Shelf. Yes, it's insanely awesome.

Blog Tour: Win Free Books!

At every stop along the blog tour, I will give away a free ebook copy of REPLAY. On the last stop, I'm giving away a "bag" of YA ebooks. (I just love this part!) Here is a sneak preview of some of those books.

EVERY LAST KISS
(THE BLOODSTONE SAGA)
by Courtney Cole

ETHEREAL
(CELESTRA SERIES)
by Addison Moore

CHASING HISTORY:
THE SWORD'S JOURNEY
by Sue Owen

CLOUD NINE:
A PARANORMAL ROMANCE
OF THE GUARDIANS OF MAN
by Melissa Smith

Exciting News!

My first blog tour is scheduled for June 15 through July 2! I'm thrilled! More details on Thursday ...

Such a Character!

My absolute favorite part of writing is creating characters. Every story or novel idea of mine starts with the main character. I build the character's world, and then the events begin to form. Everything stems from the main character's thoughts and actions, which often makes me feel more like an actor than a writer. Maybe that's why I tend to write in the first-person POV.

So, talk to me. When you read, what part of the story is the most important to you? The characters? The plot? The setting? When you write, what is the most enjoyable part?

Serious Case of Cover Envy

I finished Courtney Cole's debut novel EVERY LAST KISS today. I posted my super-serious, writerly review on Amazon, but what I really want to say is YOU MUST JUDGE THIS BOOK BY ITS COVER!

P.S. The book really is as good as its cover.

P.P.S. Yes, a sequel is coming.

Insanely Awesome Book Trailer

I can't stop watching this book trailer for Fisher Amelie's THE UNDERSTOREY. The simple concept has one image that changes throughout the clip. The combination of the image, narrative, and music is perfect. I have no other word for it. You have to see it. Now.

My New Favorite Thing

My new favorite thing is being on an author chat! My first one was tonight, and I loved it. It's way more fun to talk to a bunch of people about books, writing, and random stuff than to post "please buy my book" messages to the faceless Internet. (I always think of those computer learning commercials: "Please try my product.")

The people on the Night Owl Teen chat tonight were made of awesome. Thank you to everyone, especially our moderator Tammie King!

YA Author Chat at Night Owl Teen

I'm very excited to be part of a YA author chat at Night Owl Teen on Friday night!

What: YA Author Chat
Who: You and four YA authors
When: Friday, May 13, at 5pm PST/7pm CST/8pm EST
Where: http://www.nightowlteen.com/nor/Pages/Chat.aspx
Why: We would be oh so lonely without you! And you can win prizes!

Remember, prizes!

Replay on Indie eBooks

REPLAY is featured on Indie eBooks! When you have a minute, please check out my book and many other indie authors' books there.

Excerpt From Replay

Hope you enjoy this excerpt from REPLAY!

Mom is reapplying her lipstick when I open the car door. She startles at the sound and shoves the tube of Tutti Frutti Pink up her nose. I don’t even try to cover my laugh. Really, that could not have worked any better if I’d planned it. I wish I could say this chronic primping started after the divorce, but sadly, no. I wouldn’t be surprised to find dividend checks from all the major cosmetics companies in our mailbox.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she says, examining the mess in the mirror.

“Sorry.” As I slide into the front seat, I move her makeup bag to the armrest and hand her a tissue to wipe the lipstick off her nose. Then I flip open the mirror in the visor to check my own face. Yep, it’s still there behind my geek-chic specs. My glasses are top, but it would be nice if my eyes didn’t have that mopey puppy look. I slam the visor back in place. Aarf.

“Don’t do that to my car,” Mom says, completing her retouch with a mist of Christian Dior Poison, which sticks to the back of my throat. I give a little hairball cough.

“Sorry,” I say again, and then wonder why I’m the one apologizing when she just tried to asphyxiate me with a poison cloud. I hate that the word sorry comes out of my mouth more than any other in my vocabulary when I’m around her. It’s only one of a jillion reasons I’d rather be with my dad. The problem is I haven’t yet come up with a clever plan for bringing Dad back from all his business trips. And it seems like some corporate emergency always interrupts my weekends with him. Not that I would ever admit that to Mom.

I talk to Dad more often when he’s out of town than I do when he’s here. We use that walkie-talkie thing on our cell phones all the time. I give him the lowdown on Mom’s most recent embarrassing moment, and he tells me the latest factoids he picked up from watching CNN in his hotel room. I’ve blocked Mom’s number from mine so that she doesn’t have that same instant access to me; she has to use my phone number like everyone else. What’s funny is she still hasn’t figured out what I did. She keeps calling the company to complain about it, and she even exchanged her phone once. I felt kind of bad after that, but I refuse to unblock her. I have my boundaries.

“So what did you talk about?” Mom says as soon as we pull out of the parking lot.

GRRRR. This is exactly the reason she can’t know about my panic attacks. Not only is she prying, she’s also taking it for granted that I’m going to spill. I open my mouth to deflect her nosiness with some clever bit of sarcasm, but then I feel the first warning: a tightening in my chest.

Oh, come on. Not now.

I close my mouth and try to breathe normally through my nose. If I can keep from hyperventilating, maybe it won’t happen this time. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t being entirely truthful with Dr. Henry. The number of attacks has decreased. What I didn’t share was that the intensity of the ones I do have has increased. Exponentially.

“Kelsee, what did Dr. Henry say?” I hear Mom speaking, but her voice is hollow and it echoes in my ears in a pitch that’s too high, even for her. It amazes me that with all this weirdness going on inside my head, she can’t see that anything is wrong. I try to answer her in an attempt to keep reality in focus, but my jaw locks and a vibration hums through my teeth. The cars in front of us streak away on ribbons of silver, blue, and gold. Buildings and trees fly past our car in a muddy blur as if they’ve turned to liquid and smeared across the windows. Centrifugal force anchors my body in the seat, like I’m at the top of a rollercoaster loop, and the only movement I can manage is closing my eyes.

Oh Gilda, I pray, invoking the spirit of my favorite comedian. Help me now.

Replay

My new book is live on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! I hope you'll take a look ...

Kelsee Lewis has a new school, a prima donna best friend, and one week to write a hit play. Throw in a self-obsessed mom and an absent executive dad, and it’s no wonder she has panic attacks—complete with time-warp special effects. When Kelsee meets comic book maven Quinn, she realizes the attacks give her the ability to rewind time.

Replaying life seems like the best way to erase mistakes. But will second chances leave Kelsee flailing in the orchestra pit alone?