Showing posts with label LM Preston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LM Preston. Show all posts

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Pack Winner


The winner of THE PACK (+ goodies) is...



Gaby from Oh My Books!



Congrats!! I've emailed you already and you have until Sunday, August 29th to email me back. Thanks so much to those that entered. =)
 
 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Pack (international) GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY CLOSED




One lucky commenter will win:
  • Signed copy of THE PACK
  • THE PACK poster & magnet
  • Copy of the next book released by Phenomenal One Press, BANDITS, which will be released in the Spring
To enter simply comment below with an email address (no email address = no entry)


Extra Entries:

+3 for following the blog with Google Friend Connect
+2 for subscribing through email (Located in sidebar)
+2 for following the blog on Facebook. (<---- click the link)
+2 for following on twitter. (provide your twitter @name)
+1 for commenting on the review! (<---click the link)
+1 for commenting on L.M.'s guest post (<---click the link)
+1 share this! -sidebar, blog post, twitter, facebook (links required, each link = +1)



Giveaway ends August 25th and the winner will be announced August 26th. The winner will receive the prizes directly from the publisher. Open internationally!!! (yay)




Good luck!




Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Teaser Tuesday [48] - Starfinder

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:








-Grab your current read
-Let the book fall open to a random page.
-Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
-You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.
-Please avoid spoilers!



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" 'It is mankind's birthright to fly. I've always believed that. I tell you, Captain, we are born to it, like the birds themselves. Why else would God put such a desire in the hearts of men? Children look up at the sky and they want wings. They want to touch the face of God.' " (82)





From the Desk of...

...author L.M. Preston!


















Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog. I'd love to tell you about what I'm working on.

It’s been a busy year for me. My debut, MG novel Explorer X – Alpha hit the shelves in Febuary of this year and The Pack, my YA series about a teenaged blind vigilante comes out this August. My new YA series, Bandits comes out next spring followed by the sequel to Explorer X in the fall. Here’s some tidbits about the exciting new books I have coming out.

The Pack comes out Aug. 1st, 2010.

There were several things that influenced the idea of The Pack. I had originally planned for this character to be a male. I had told my beta team (my kids and husband) about this idea I had about a blind vigilante that organizes a group of misfit kids to fight against a major crime organization on Mars.

My daughter told me that she wanted me to write about a female main character. That it would be cool to have a girl in the role. I smiled and Shamira’s face appeared in my mind’s eye.

I decided that her mission would be to save missing kids, because I wanted to write about missing kids escaping from captivity. Every day at my job, I passed a board of missing children. My heart went out to them, and I always hurt for their loss. Once a former colleague who’d been a police officer told me of a horrible case where he had located missing kids that were captured and being used in despicable ways by their captors who had enslaved them for years before disposing of them. These sad facts were the makings of The Pack.

It is a two-book series that I truly enjoyed writing. It’s aimed at kids 14yrs and up. It has adventure, twist and romance all in one. The true adventure is the building of trust and true friendship that empowers Shamira to become the champion she was meant to be. I’m currently writing the sequel, THE PACK – Retribution due out in 2012.

Bandits, a YA Scifi adventure novel with a twist of romance comes out Spring 2011.

Bandits, the first in a two book series, is about a teenaged boy who was raised as a thief and mercenary by his renowned father. His relationship with his father was strained due to his father’s refusal to continue his role as a leader of the Zukar. With his father’s murder, he discovers that his father snatched, then hid a treasure that is not only worth killing for – but holds a power beyond mortal control. He sets out with his brother and friends to find the treasure before his father’s murderer does. His time is running out as the killer closes in, and the price to stop the inevitable destruction of his world becomes higher than he could ever pay.

My first novel, Explorer X - Alpha, just came out a few months ago and the sequel, Explorer X – Beta, comes out Fall 2011.

Explorer X-Beta is the second book in the Explorer X series and will be full of surprises. The world I created for this book has me excited. This will ultimately be a four book series that will come to a climatic end that is so unpredictable yet powerful. I can’t wait. I’ve outlined the entire series and am finishing up the first draft of Explorer X-Beta, which is scheduled to come out Fall of 2011. In Explorer X-Beta, Aadi realizes that it’s okay to make mistakes, that leaning on your friends make you stronger, and that people are not always what they seem. I’ll give you a hint, he’s on his way to save Dakota and Carter, but in doing so, unveils something about the species in which he and the others were created from. The depth of the deception of TECRC becomes more obvious, and the burgeoning power of each character comes to the surface.

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Thanks so much for stopping by Lanita. I can definitely see why the kids in THE PACK were so strong-willed and independent. Thank you for sharing your inspiration for the story and for letting everyone know what you're working on. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work and getting my hands on a copy of the sequel to THE PACK.
 
Make sure to check out my review if you haven't already!
 
Explorer X- Alpha
 

 
The Pack



***Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of THE PACK along with some other goodies!***

Monday, August 09, 2010

Review: The Pack

The Pack
LM Preston

Series or Stand Alone: The Pack series, book one

Release Date: August 2010

Publisher: Phenomenal One Press

Pages: 315

Author Site: http://www.lmpreston.com/

My Rating: 3.5/5

Source: Received for review from author 

Synopsis:

Shamira is considered an outcast by most, but little do they know that Shamira is on a mission. Kids on Mars are disappearing, but Shamira decides to use the criminals most unlikely weapons against them, the very kids of which they have captured. In order to succeed, she is forced to trust another, something she is afraid to do. However, Valens her connection to the underworld of her enemy, proves to be a useful ally. Time is slipping, and so is her control on the power that resides within her. Yet, in order to save her brother's life she is willing to risk it all.




Review:

L.M. Preston has created an entertaining and action-packed world filled with sci-fi fantasy for the young adult reader. Set on a colonized Mars, children are disappearing and the ones being targeted are not at random. Children of the Security Force Elite are being taken and Shamira feels she’s the only one that can save the missing children. When her beloved younger brother becomes a victim of the kidnappings Shamira sets out to find whoever is responsible and make them pay.

Shamira is blind when she is first introduced in the story. However, she is still a forced to be reckoned with despite her disability. Her being blind isn’t the only thing that sets Shamira apart from the other children on Mars. After a horrible accident when she was a baby Shamira became blind and developed a “power” within her that makes gives her super-human strength and agility. Although Shamira has felt like an outcast her entire life, she has such a fierce and loyal personality. She also hates pity and feels the need to hide her enhanced abilities from the rest of the world, including her parents. Shamira has her downfalls; she’s a proud and independent heroine. But she can be vulnerable and L.M. Preston does a really great job with Shamira’s development and personality.

Having not read L.M. Preston’s writing before, THE PACK was a fast paced read that I really enjoyed. It sends out great messages of family and friendship and even has a touch of romance sprinkled into the story. It was pretty cool that Shamira and the other children she joins forces with are in charge of the story. I think a lot of younger readers will absolutely love that aspect of the story. These children are out to save Mars and bring down Monev. I’m looking forward to continuing on with Shamira and the children of Mars with the second book in series set to be released in 2012.


Sunday, April 04, 2010

Book Arrivals



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Purchased:

Dracula :: Bram Stoker

Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:

New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

Mind Games :: Carolyn Crane
(Book one in the Disillusionists Trilogy)

Mind Games follows the adventures of Justine Jones, a hopeless hypochondriac who longs to be normal. Instead, she is recruited to join a psychological hit squad in a city terrorized by criminals with strange powers…only to fall for her most dangerous target!





Mina: The Dracula Story Continues :: Marie Kiraly

In the haunting sequel to Bram Stoker's classic Dracula, the dark prince's most famous mistress tells her story. On the brink of becoming one of the Undead, Mina Harker was saved by a stake driven through Dracula's heart. Mina tries to return to the mortal world, but after feeling Dracula's undying passion, can she go back to an ordinary marriage?



Impossible :: Nancy Werlin

When seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers her family is under an ancient curse by an evil Elfin Knight, she realizes to break the curse she must perform three impossible tasks before her daughter is born in order to save them both.





An Abundance of Katherines :: John Green

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. He's also a washedup child prodigy with ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a passion for anagrams, and an overweight, Judge Judy-obsessed best friend. Colin's on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which will predict the future of all relationships, transform him from a fading prodigy into a true genius, and finally win him the girl.

Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin's hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere.

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From Paperbackswap.com:

Three to Get Deadly :: Janet Evanovich
(Book three in the Stephanie Plum series)

As readers of Janet Evanovich's two previous books about funny, feisty, family-tied bounty hunter Stephanie Plum already know, she operates in "the burg"--a "comfy residential chunk of Trenton, New Jersey, where houses and minds are proud to be narrow and hearts are generously wide open." On this turf, Plum fights for justice and fashion points--this time in pursuit of a beloved neighborhood candystore owner who seems to be moonlighting as an anti-drug vigilante. Evanovich now lives in New Hampshire, but authentic affection for Trenton energizes her prose. Plums in paperback include One for the Money and Two for the Dough.


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From Contests/Giveaways & Misc:

The Pack :: LM Preston
(Received for review from author)

Shamira is considered an outcast by most, but little do they know that Shamira is on a mission. Kids on Mars are disappearing, but Shamira decides to use the criminals most unlikely weapons against them, the very kids of which they have captured. In order to succeed, she is forced to trust another, something she is afraid to do. However, Valens her connection to the underworld of her enemy, proves to be a useful ally. Time is slipping, and so is her control on the power that resides within her. Yet, in order to save her brother's life she is willing to risk it all.


Token of Darkness :: Amellia Atwater-Rhodes
(Won in a giveaway)

Cooper Blake has everything going for him - until he wakes from a car accident with his football career in ruins and a mysterious, attractive girl by his side. Cooper doesn't know how Samantha got there or why he can see her; all he knows is that she's a ghost, and the shadows that surround her seem intent on destroying her.

No one from Cooper's old life would understand what he can barely grasp himself. . . . But Delilah, the captain of the cheerleading squad, has secrets of her own, like her ability to see beyond the physical world, and her tangled history with Brent, a loner from a neighboring school who can hear strangers' most intimate thoughts. Delilah and Brent know that Cooper is in more trouble than he realizes, and that Samantha may not be as innocent as she has led Cooper to believe. But the only way to figure out where Samantha came from will put them all in more danger than they ever dreamed possible.
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