Blog Tour: Anna Dressed in Blood

Kendare Blake

Books:

• Anna Dressed in Blood

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Buy the Book

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Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story…

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

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I enjoy being freaked out. And I’ve always had a fondness for gore, and things with a nice creep factor. My favorite writer as a kid was Stephen King. Anne Rice and Bret Easton Ellis were to follow. There’s something primal about horror, some twisted fascination with people in evil situations. I love it when you learn the reason behind all the killing, like the backstory behind the Native American burial ground in Pet Sematary or even the made up history of The Amityville Horror. It’s so unreal. So entertaining. Escapism at its finest, because when you shut off the TV or leave the theater, when you close the book, your own life seems so sane by comparison. Sure, my boss yelled at me, but at least she didn’t spew pea soup in my face and twist her head around, you know?

Truthfully though, the scariest horror stories are the ones without any reason. Nothing more terrifying than a lack of reason.

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Kendare Blake lives and writes in Washington state, with cats and a husband who critique the work. Her first literary novel, Sleepwalk Society, recently won a 2011 Indie Excellence Award for crossover fiction. Her second novel, Anna Dressed in Blood, is YA horror, and will be released August 30, 2011, with a sequel to follow in 2012.

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Who is about to take on Anna next? In the first week, we met the ghost hunters. In the second week, we saw their replies. This week, we found out who actually makes it to Anna’s door!

Each day this week, a final clue was given for each of the three ghost hunters who accepted Anna’s challenge to come to Thunder Bay. If you’ve followed the tour, you should know now who among the five ghost hunters originally challenged by Anna is the one who will enter Anna’s house!

If you’re just joining the tour now, don’t fret! For a list of all the tour dates, including the first week’s dates where the ghost hunters were introduced, click here.

Ready to enter??? Select the ghost hunter’s name in the form below for 15 entries into the contest to win a Anna Dressed In Blood skinned and loaded Kindle 3! Open US/Canada. Winner will be announced on Kendare’s blog on Tuesday, October 4th!

For an extra points in the meantime, you can gain +1 point a day by tweeting the following:
Who will make it to Thunder Bay? Join the contest to best Anna and win an Anna Dressed In Blood Kindle! Follow #ADIBtour @KendareBlake

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Check out the complete tour!

Monday, September 12th – Rachel, Parajunkee

Tuesday, September 13th – Stacey, A Reader’s Record

Wednesday, September 14th – Alyssa, Teens Read and Write

Thursday, September 15th – Heather, Buried In Books

Friday, September 16th – Jenny, Supernatural Snark

Monday, September 19th – Melissa, I Swim For Oceans

Tuesday, September 20th – Tawni, The Book Worms

Wednesday, September 21st – Alice, Alice Marvels

Thursday, September 22nd – Julie, That’s Swell

Friday, September 23rd – Angela, The Reading Angel

Monday, September 26th – Julia, Rex Robot Reviews

Tuesday, September 27th – Ashley, Smash Attack Reads!

Wednesday, September 28th – Britta, I Like These Books

Thursday, September 29th – We Fancy Books

Friday, September 30th (Anna’s 1 month birthday!) – Kristi, The Story Siren

Tuesday, October 4th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Kendare’s Site!

Author Vlog: Jocelyn Davies

In continuing with my Dark Days celebration. I have Jocelyn Davies back this week for a video talking about “writing best friends!” As always The Dark Days of Supernatural Tour is presented by Harper Teen! If you’re interested in some awesome giveaways and fun content, check out the Dark Days of Supernatural on Facebook!

There is also a digital essentials page for Dark Days goodies! Like countdown widgets, chapter excerpts, ebook samplers and images! If you are a blogger and want to grab some widgets, that is the place to go!

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Check out the official Dark Days video:

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Brace yourself for the DARK DAYS ahead! Meet HarperTeen authors Claudia Gray (FATEFUL), Kiersten White (SUPERNATURALLY), Amy Garvey (COLD KISS), Anna Carey, (EVE), and Jocelyn Davies (A BEAUTIFUL DARK) as they visit the follow cities:

Wednesday, October 12th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway
*Lynnwood, WA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Thursday, October 13th
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Avenue
*Huntington Beach, CA*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Anna Carey

Friday, October 14th
7:00 PM
Tattered Cover
9315 Dorchester Street
*Highlands Ranch, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Saturday, October 15th
1:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
2999 Pearl Street
*Boulder, CO*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

Sunday, October 16th
2:00 PM
Anderson’s
123 West Jefferson
*Naperville, IL*
with Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, Amy Garvey, and Jocelyn Davies

For UK fans of Maureen Johnson!

The Most AWESOME Contest ever…. (wish I could go!)

To celebrate the publication of Maureen Johnsons new YA thriller The Name of the Star, HarperCollins Children’s Books is offering 10 lucky readers the opportunity to accompany Maureen Johnson on a private Jack the Ripper walk in London on Thursday, 13th October 2011.

The walk begins at 5:00 PM and will carry-on for two hours into the night! Visit the haunting sites of Jack the Ripper and hear first-hand from Maureen how they inspired her new book The Name of the Star.

To enter, simply email nameofthestar@harpercollins.co.uk for a chance to attend the event with a friend.

Disclaimer: Entrants must be 13 or over. Please ensure that you are available to attend the event on Thursday, 13th October from 5.00pm to 7.00pm before entering. Winners will be informed on Friday, 7th October, and will be provided with further instructions then.

About the Book:

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Release Date: June 14, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Age Group: Young Adult
Shelfability: Covet/Acquire
Pages: 357
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: Third party publicity
Interest: Series
Other Titles in the Series: Raised by Wolves
Challenge: None
Buy the Book:Amazon

There can only be one alpha.

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were. With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

This series just keeps getting better. Barnes has written a beautifully complex and entertaining story. This is one of the best if not the best werewolf series that I’ve ever read!

The characters, this story, it’s simply amazing. It’s addicting.

Bryn continues to be a character that I admire. I thought that the girl had guts in the first novel, but now that she’s alpha there are new characteristics that began to shine through in the second installment. That impulsive girl in book one is now responsible for an entire pack, a family and she takes her responsibility very serious. As with the first book, I felt like I was there with Bryn. Agonizing with her in her internal struggles and not always knowing the right answer but trying her best to benefit her family. This character amazes me!

Trail by Fire isn’t the action packed story that Raised by Wolves was. This story is more of a puzzle a mind game that the characters are playing, especially Bryn. One piece falling in to place at a time. Barnes absolutely threw me for a loop. I was so distracted by other elements of the story that I never saw it coming.

The conversation with Callum was definitely one I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon. I’m VERY interested to see how that plays out in this series.

This is a great series, even if you don’t like werewolves, these are characters and a story that will more than make up for it!

You might like Trail by Fire if you like: Jeri Smith-Ready & Andrea Cremer.

Giveaway: Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz

After their beautiful yet brief bonding ceremony in Italy, Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force are forced to separate. To fulfill the Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler travels to Alexandria to search for Catherine of Siena and the Gate of Promise. But Schuyler quickly discovers that everything she believed about the Gate to be wrong. Meanwhile, Jack makes the difficult decision to return to New York to face his twin and former bondmate, Mimi. But instead of a bitter reunion, he is faced with a choice for which there is no good option.

Mimi, with a most unexpected travel companion in Oliver Hazard-Perry, jets off to Egypt, too, to search for Kingsley Martin, her long lost love. With all roads leading to Hell, Mimi learns that not all love stories have happy endings. But she’ll have to put her own feelings aside if she’s going to save her crumbling Coven.

Official Contest information:

• to enter, please fill out the form below
• entrants must be 13 years of age or older
• contest deadline is October 12, 2011
• contest open to US*
• ONE ENTRY PER PERSON!
• check out my Contest Policy/Privacy Policy