stacey rourke – Author Bryna Butler

Stuff I know this week: Loftis & Hunter’s pretty new covers, OUAB Awards finalists announced, and the return of Ember

Crazy week, right?

For those of us in Ohio, coronavirus concern exploded this week with the announcement that schools are dismissed for the next three weeks–four with spring break–and a ban on events of 100 persons or more. This news was followed by today’s restriction of restaurants to carry-out/delivery only and a warning that daycare facilities would be closed soon.

At this point, I welcome a little distraction from the world around me. So, here we go with the things I know…

The second book in the newest duology by the incomparable Casey Bond hit shelves on Friday. And before the end of the first day, The Omen of Stones, reached the #1 spot in Amazon YA Royalty Fairy Tales and Folklore category.

Quinn Loftis revealed a beautiful new cover for Luna of Mine. I have to admin, this one is my favorite of the Grey Wolves redesigns.

Chanda Hahn announced that Of Sea and Song, book 3 in her Daughters of Eville fairy tales series, will be releasing June 16. We talked about Book 1, Of Beast and Beauty on the Halloween episode of On the Same Page.

Yesterday, L.L. Hunter revealed the cover for Reign of Secrets, an epic YA fantasy romance which drops June 30.

On Wednesday, the fabulous Stacey Rourke announced finalists for this year’s Once Upon A Book Awards. It’s stiff competition for Author of the Year with Tish Thawer, Kelly Martin, Heather Hildenbrand, and Karen Lynch! More category finalists on the fan page.

What I’m fangirling over…

I’ve watched The Magicians on Syfy since the beginning, but it’s only been the last few seasons that I’ve become a real fan. Season Three’s key quest reeled me in, and I’m still hooked.

Currently in its Fifth and final season, writers have kept the surprises rolling, starting with a new foe gloriously played by Sean Maguire, who also portrayed Robin Hood on Once Upon A Time.

Season Five has already had such fun moments as a 300-year jump in Fillory, psycho Dean Fogg, Penny as dean, Eliot and Margot body switch, the crew MOVING the moon, Julia with an unexpected “development”, and Finn with knives. Oh, I so love Finn.

And this week, I was already geeking out over seeing Penny 40 again, but then the trailer for next week popped up with Ember! Ember!! I am freaking out, guys.

Last season’s goodbye episode is a permanent staple on my DVR, and I’ll be watching these last few episodes with wonder. If you watch too, send me your thoughts.

Until next time, Happy Reading and stay healthy!!

Bryna

Anthology, Mothman Mysteries, Random Ramblings

Storm, Gals, cable access, and The Roanoke Star

So many things to catch up on. The past few months have been wonderful chaos.

Wrong Side of the Storm, the second in the Mothman Mysteries, is coming out April 8th. My plan for these mysteries is that they will be standalones that can be read in any order. So, if you didn’t pick up Wrong Side of the Grave, no worries.

In Storm, Eric a.k.a. Mothman and his human best friend, Bridget, are separated during an attack on the men in black’s base. The attack, in the form of a constantly-shifting, lethal storm, forces the base into lockdown with a countdown to self-destruction.

For a long while, I wrote it under the working title of Rock Me Like a Hurricane, (which gave author Terry Maggert a chuckle when I mentioned it to him), but I ultimately decided to stick with the Wrong Side of the … naming convention.

Though a standalone, those who delved into Grave will have a tad more backstory. Get your first look at Duey as human and Miranda North as a … well, I don’t want to give any spoilers. You can pre-order now.

Brave New Girls: Adventures of Gals & Gizmos, coming this summer, is a clean YA/middle grade sci-fi anthology that will include my original short story, Let the Numbers Show Truth. The story follows Stella Purser, the youngest intern ever hired by the First Intergalactic Bank and Trust, located safely below the waters of Lake Erie not far from the ruins of Cleveland.

Stella’s gift for figuring probabilities in seconds got her the job, but when a bomb goes off in the moon pool, all predictions go out the window. What are the chances Stella will survive her first day?

Brave New Girls is a benefit anthology with profits going to The Society of Women Engineers earmarked for college scholarships for girls choosing careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

On the Same Page debuted on YouTube and cable access stations throughout Ohio in March. I co-host this bookish talk show with fellow author, Casey Bond. Each month, we talk about one book we read together and several more we love, plus books we’re looking forward to.

Want to see it live? Catch the livestream at 11 am eastern on the first Wednesday of every month on the Rio Grande Cable Access channel on YouTube. In Episode 1, we covered Wake the Dead by Stacey Rourke, The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King by Holly Black, Small Kingdoms… by Charlaine Harris, and more.

Roanoke Author Invasion is just under one week away as of the date of this post. Join me on Saturday at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood and meet the dozens of authors in person who make this annual trek for one of the best run signing events in the nation. Find out more at roanokeauthorinvasion.com.

Lastly, over the last month, I’ve made some changes to the old website. Be sure poke around a bit before you leave.

See you in Roanoke!

Bryna

YA Storytellers

Summer Lovin’ Story Event

Thrilled to be a preferred author for the Summer Lovin’ Story Event hosted by The Society of YA Storytellers. It’s a really cool giveaway where the winner will get a YA summer romance flash fiction story written just for them from their choice of the preferred authors.

I imagine there might be a few jabs over the next month between us as we compete to try to gain the attention of the future winner. Pick me! Pick me! Keep tabs on Facebook and Twitter and don’t forget to enter the event by clicking the ENTER button below.

Get more details on the Summer Lovin’ Story Event & catch other giveaways from The Society at http://yastorytellers.com/giveaways/

Top 10 Lists, YA Storytellers

Frozen Reads: 5 Books to Curl Up with on a Cold Day

Yipee! It’s Fun Friday again which means, time to chime in on a topic with my fellow members of The Society of YA Storytellers. This Fun Friday topic is Frozen Reads and we’re posting our top 5 recommendations for reads to curl up with on these frozen winter days. And in honor of Of Sun & Moon‘s #1 placing in two sub-categories of free Kindle reads on Amazon, most of these reads (all but one) are also free. Continue reading “Frozen Reads: 5 Books to Curl Up with on a Cold Day” →

Cover Love, YA Storytellers

Fun Friday: Cover Love

I’ve spent the entire week revealing the cover for the upcoming 5th book in the Midnight Guardian series, Book of the Lost. See Oct. 31 post for full view. How fitting that we end the week with “Cover Love”.

Most of you know by now that I’ve joined a new collaborative called The Society of YA Storytellers. The Society is a group of novelists writing in the young adult genre. The stories are well-written and engrossing, but the covers…wow!

Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order…

Suzy Turner’s Morgan Sisters series are wrapped in spooky chic covers. She even re-released her Raven Saga with new covers featuring the same artist. Love the look.

Patti Larsen’s Haven novels have very consistent covers. This is one of my favorites. I love the font and detail.

I really like the newly released covers for Melissa Pearl’s Elements Trilogy. All three book covers feature this model who looks intense and strong. The color palette is beautiful. Love the harmony between the covers within the trilogy.

The first time I saw the cover for Stacey Rourke’s Sacrifice, my eyes did a double take. A cover that demands a second look is definitely a good one.

Heather Hildenbrand’s Blood Rule cover practically drips with drama.

LM Preston’s Thundering Luv cover is romantically beautiful. I love the scrollwork on this one.

Like the redesigned magical green of Heather Sutherlin’s Seen. She also redesigned her website in this theme and it looks fantastic.

Love the use of tattoo marks (a central part of the story) as watermarks on the covers of the Grey Wolves novels from Quinn Loftis.

The cover for Liz Long’s Witch Hearts is so simple yet so creepy, I just had to read it.

All of Christy Sloat’s covers have mesmerizing color palettes, but I adore this one in particular. I also think the handwritten font adds just the right touch.

I’ve loved this cover from the moment I first saw it. I often see twenty-somethings on the cover of teen books. It was nice to see an early teen model featured.

And last (only because I wanted to give it a shameless plug) is the brand new release by K.C. Blake, HUNTER. Hunter is the follow-up to BAIT. Nick on the cover…whoa, baby! You can get it on Smashwords now. Coming soon to Amazon.

To see more COVER LOVE posts for Fun Friday, go to http://yastorytellers.com/fun-fridays/