Author: DelSheree

DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn't speak a single word for the first three months of preschool. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting it before having it published. Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her family spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family. When not writing novels, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing, and working with other authors. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series and has hit the USA Today Bestseller list twice as part of box sets. DelSheree also has contemporary romance, cozy mystery, and paranormal new adult series. Her writing is as varied as her reading interests.

Character Interview: Zadie Stonebrook (My Sister’s Reaper by Dorothy Dreyer)

Today we’re chatting with Zadie Stonebrook from MY SISTER’S REAPER (written by Dorothy Dreyer). Let’s get to know her.
Hello, Zadie! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Are you sure you want to know? I’d hate to scare you off. Well, I’ll start with the not-so-scary stuff: I’m sixteen. I have an older sister named Mara. My mom’s never around, but I don’t want to say why. My dad’s a workaholic. And, well, yeah, the rest is a little hard to believe. Like the strange things I can make happen. And the dark shadows following me around.

And do you have a boyfriend?
Well, there’s this guy at school. His name is Gavin. He’s not exactly my boyfriend, but I do like him a lot.
I heard you told him you could do something magical.

That was a total accident! I didn’t mean to let it slip. But I got so lost in Gavin’s gorgeous blue eyes and the slight upward curve of his lips. And maybe a part of me thought he might understand. I should really learn to be more careful.

What’s this I hear about a Reaper’s Rite. What is it?

I don’t really know, exactly. It has something to do with a pact made between a Reaper and a witch. I have no idea how I got involved … except it might have something to do with bringing my sister back to life.
What!? How did you do that?
Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was doing. At first I was just winging it, going along with something my best friend Naomi started. But then—I don’t know—something came over me. Something I couldn’t control. Something that shook in the core of my body and took over my actions. I hope I didn’t do something I wasn’t supposed to.

It must have been weird seeing your sister, Mara, after you brought her back to life. Were the two of you close? Before she died, I mean.

We were close when we were little, but then she became popular and got a boyfriend and stuff. We kind of drifted apart after that. Then she had her accident and I thought I’d lost her forever. But now that she’s back … well, I can’t even say that it’s her. She’s so strange now. It’s like it’s someone else in there behind those vacant eyes.

Oh my, look at the time. Well, I gotta go. Good luck with all you … problems. Hope to see you around. *speedily exits*

Author Bio
Dorothy Dreyer has always believed in magic. She loves reading, writing, movies, takeout, chocolate, and spending time with her family and friends. Half-American and half-Filipino, Dorothy lives in Germany with her husband and two teens.
Links
Author Website: http://dorothydreyer.com

Meet the Characters Kickoff!

Welcome to the Meet the Characters Blogfest!

Readers, get ready for a whole month of some of the most interesting, hottest, attention grabbing characters in today’s YA, NA, Romance, Horror, and Paranormal fiction! 

All month long I’ll be introducing readers to amazing characters through character bios, artwork, interviews, and contests. Check out the schedule below from what you’ll find each day this month. 

That’s Not All…

We’ll be having some fabulous contests, each of which has it’s own giveaway. Readers will get to vote on the characters, and one lucky voter in each contest will win a copy of the book the Winning Character comes from. The character giveaways will include: 

Hottest Guy Contest (10/4)
Feistiest Girl Contest (10/11)
Cutest Couple Contest (10/18)
Steamiest Couple Contest (10/25)

There will also be one MAIN GIVEAWAY starting today where 1 LUCKY WINNER will win a prize pack of 40 books from some of today’s hottest new authors. Additional winners will be chosen to receive runner-up prize packs as well. Scroll down and enter below! 

SO, WHAT CAN YOU FIND EACH DAY?

10/2 — Character interviews with Zadie Stonebrook (My Sister’s Reaper – Dorothy                      Dreyer), Tizzy Donovan (Laid out and Candle Lit – Ann Everett), Kristi Becker (A              Plain Wish – Cyndi Lord), Zander Roth (Wicked Hunger – DelSheree Gladden), 
10/3 — Character Bios from Kristi Becker (A Plain Wish – Cyndi Lord), Bryan Sullivan                    (Arcadia’s Gift – Jesi Lea Ryan), Brandon James (Love and Other Games – Aria                  Kane
10/4 — Hottest Guy Contest (Stop by and vote for your favorite!)

10/7 — Character Surprise Posts from authors RH Ramsey and DelSheree Gladden
10/8 — Character Artwork from The Other F Word (Susan Stec) and Wicked Hunger                    (DelSheree Gladden), The Grateful Undead (Susan Stec)
10/9 — Character interviews with Kate Everett (A Slight Change of Plan – Dee Ernst),                  Jean (In Polester Pajamas – Catherine Dougherty), Ben (Twenty-Five – Rachel                    Hamm), Vanessa Roth (Wicked Hunger – DelSheree Gladden)
10/10 — Character Bios from Kassia (Ice Magic), Maze (The Ballerina and the Fighter –                    Ursula Sinclair), Lucien (Smoke, Wings, and Stone – Marijon Bradley)
10/11 — Feistiest Girl Contest (Stop by and vote for your favorite!)

10/14 — Character Surprise Posts from authors Kara Leigh Miller, Sharon Kleve, Linda                  Budzinski 
10/15 — Character Artwork from On a Wing and a Dare (Linda Ulleseit), Invisible                            (DelSheree Gladden)
10/16 — Character interviews with David Corbin and Jon Reyes (Sign of the Throne –                    Melissa Eskue Ousley), Rosie (In Polyester Pajamas – Catherine Dougherty),                        Ketchup (Wicked Hunger – DelSheree Gladden)
10/17 — Character Bios from Nadia (love and Other Games – Melinda Dozier), (Karin Rita                      Gastreich), (HL Carpenter)
10/18 — Cutest Couple Contest (Stop by and vote for your favorite!)

10/21 — Character Surprise Posts from authors Stephanie Wardrop, Lucy Crowe, Ana                    Blaze
10/22 — Character Artwork from Haunting Joy (Lena Goldfinch) and The Destroyer                        Trilogy (DelSheree Gladden)
10/23 — Character interviews with Rachel Blackstone (The Reluctant Medium – GG                        Collins), Nell (The King Series – Tawdra Kandle), Arcadia ( Arcadia’s Gift – Jesi                  Lea Ryan), Olivia & Mason (Invisible – DelSheree Gladden)
10/24 — Character Bios from (Karin Rita Gastreich), Sam and Cole (Fate War: Alliance – EM                    Havens)
10/25 — Steamiest Couple Contest (Stop by and vote for your favorite!)

10/28 — Character Surprise Posts from authors Susan Stec, Shauna Roberts, Lisa                          Cresswell
10/29 — Character Artwork from My Sister’s Reaper (Dorothy Dreyer), Twin Souls                            (DelSheree Gladden)
10/30 — Character interviews with Nathan Shaw (Reflection – Kim Cresswell), Nia (In the              Winds of Danger – Linda Ulleseit), Jayden or Marsh (dark Night of the Soul – EM                Havens)
10/31 — Winner’s Announcements!!!

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FAN MAIL!!

INVISIBLE is having a great time on Wattpad right now!

It’s up to just over 300,000 reads, which is awesome!

I’ve had so much fun getting to interact with the Wattpad readers and hearing what they think of Mason and Olivia’s story. What a great group of readers!

One of those fabulous readers, Jayne (Wattpad tag @TheLonelyDarkness) created this fan cover for INVISIBLE and I wanted to share it with every one!

If you want to check out INVISIBLE for yourself, stop by Wattpad today!

Invisible


Olivia’s best friend is not imaginary. He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason. He is, however, invisible. When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned. Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car begins showing up everywhere. The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus. 

Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader and Book Hounds, I am giving away a Kindle copy of George Orwell’s 1984. 

Out of all the banned and challenged books, I chose 1984 for the giveaway because it was the first classic I read as a teen that really shocked me and made me think about how different life could be and what living in such a society could do to a person. 

So…what is banned books week? 

“Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.” 

Find out more at http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek

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FAN MAIL!!!

One of my current projects, INVISIBLE, is currently being featured on Wattpad! 

In the first week, INVISIBLE has received over 60,000 reads from the amazing Wattpad members and lots of great comments and messages. One of those fabulous comments was from BruisedDreams, who created this unique banner for Invisible. 

This is how BruisedDreams pictured Olivia and Mason at five years old when they first found each other…when Olivia spotted him crying on her front porch…when no one believed her that he was real because she was the only one that could see him. He wasn’t her imaginary friend, he was her best friend, and still is. 

I love the banner, BruisedDreams! Thank you so much!

My Crazy Corner: Introducing Delsheree Gladden, author of Wicked Hu…

My Crazy Corner: Introducing Delsheree Gladden, author of Wicked Hu…: What kind of teen wants to feed on pain and suffering? Definitely not your average high school crowd. The Roth siblings, however, have spe…

Stop and get to know the characters of Wicked Hunger a little better and enter to win a copy of Wicked Hunger!

Distractions…

“I use Grammarly for english proofreading because me and commas are not friends.”

When you’re an author, sometimes multitasking isn’t a good thing

In between graduating with my degree in Dental Hygiene and staring my new job, I had the summer to spend time with my family and get caught up on a few projects. Well, I planned to get caught up on a few projects anyway. 


With my To Do list looking something like this…
And my reading list looking something like this…

I didn’t get quite as much done as I thought I would. 

But, the real reason I didn’t finish as many projects as I would have liked was because I kept starting new ones! 

My main goal this summer as far as writing went was to learn a ton about promoting my new book, Wicked Hunger, and finish writing the sequel, Wicked Power. I did spend a lot of time figuring out how to market my book (the jury is still out on how effective it was) and got a lot done, but I made only about 12,000 words of progress on Wicked Power. 

Why? 

Because I wrote a completely different book instead and almost finished another one besides that. I thought taking a break from Wicked Power would help me work through a few plot issues I was struggling with. Instead, I got completely distracted. Sorry readers! I know you’re waiting for Wicked Power, and I promise I will get it done over the next few months. 

So what got me so distracted? 

My very first published novel, Escaping Fate, has been falling behind my series lately. As a standalone book, it just wasn’t grabbing as much attention. So, I decided to turn it into a series. Soul Stone is the second book in the series and follows Arrabella as she begins to realize her connection with Aztec gods has left her with an ability she’d rather not have and a new curse to figure out before someone gets hurt. Soul Stone is now going through beta readers and is planned to be published in early 2014. A third book, still unnamed, will complete the series, but will likely not be ready until 2015. Anyone who’d like to take a peek at Escaping Fate in preparation for Soul Stone can check it out Amazon, ibooks, and most major ebook retailers. 


The other project that stole my time away from Wicked Power was a story about an Invisible boy named Mason. After watching his family murdered in front of him, Masons tries to get help, but realizes no one can see him…except for Olivia. They become best friends instantly, but now as teenagers they begin to realize their feelings go beyond friendship. In the midst of trying to figure out the logistics of falling in love when one of them is invisible, Mason and Olivia become aware that a group of killers is hunting Mason, and if they find him, they have no intention of letting him live. The book is temporarily titled “Invisible” but I’m working on coming up with something better suited to the story. You can check out Invisible now on Wattpad! 
One last project to share, even though this one didn’t take up much time this summer since it was already written. You can check out my YA post-apocalytptic novel, Child of Destruction, right now on Swoon Reads for FREE! Swoon Reads is a new pilot project from Macmillan Publishing where readers and editors get to vote and comment on the novel uploaded to their site. The novels that garner the most attention may just be published by Macmillan! So stop by Swoon Reads today and check out Child of Destruction. 

Meet the Characters Blogfest

Get ready to meet some fascinating, fun, steamy, and scary characters!

This coming October I’m hosting the Meet the Characters Blogfest! 

Readers will get the chance to meet the characters in some of the hottest new YA, NA, Romance, Horror, and Paranormal books. 

Authors get to share there characters with readers who are hungry to find a great new author and characters they can get caught up in! 

Readers…mark your calendars for a month long party!

You’ll get to know characters through character interviews. Find out the answers to questions about your favorite characters! Want to know what your favorite character looks like? We’ll have character artwork revealed! Want all the details about that swoon-worthy character you can’t get out of your head? Check out character bios! 

Authors, get out your pencils and laptops and start writing!

Sign up to share your characters through interviews, bios, artwork, and more. Get creative! That’s what authors are good at right? If you have a guest post that will highlight your characters, my readers would love to see it! 

Let readers get to know the stars of your book. Make them fall in love with your characters so they can’t help but run out and grab their story! Making a personal connection with readers is the best way to spread the word about your books, so sign up today to participate!

CONTESTS!!!

Because everyone loves winning great prizes, I’ll be hosting several fun contests during the blogfest where readers will have the chance to win paperbacks, ebooks, and loads of swag. 

Meet the Characters Blogfest Main Giveaway

Enter to win a prize pack of great books! Rafflecopter entries will be available every day, so stop by as often as you can to earn more entries. 

Hottest Guy Contest
Feistiest Girl Contest
Cutest Couple Contest
Steamiest Couple Contest

Vote on which character participating in the blogfest should earn the title! Your vote enters you to win fabulous book swag and a copy of the book the winning character stars in. 

Where do you sign up to be a part of the Meet the Characters Blogfest? 

Click here to visit the SignUp Genius page. 

Wicked Hunger Official Tour

Book Title:  Wicked Hunger
Series:  SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes
Author:  DelSheree Gladden
Genre:  YA Urban Fantasy
Length: 95,000 words/240 pages
Publisher:  GMTA Publishing LLC
Presented by:  As You Wish Tours

Setting, Setting, Setting
We’ve all heard that in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. How true is that in writing?
Where you set your story can have a big impact on the rest of the book.  Knowing how to choose the right setting, and knowing how a setting will affect not only the development of the plot, but how the reader perceives the characters and book as a whole is very important to a book’s success. People who grow up in small, rural towns may view the world a little differently than life-long city dwellers. Renters have a different outlook on a broken faucet than someone who owns their home. Someone who grew up in the mountains may have different day to day activities than one who grew up near the beach. The setting can impact so many aspects of a story that it is very important that the right one be chosen.
The first step in choosing a setting is knowing what types of settings you are prepared to write about. In other words, what settings to you know enough about to accurately recreate? Don’t write about living on a farm if you’re never so much as touched an animal that wasn’t a house pet. Readers who know about feeding pigs or mucking stalls are going to know that you have never done either. This doesn’t, however, mean that you can never write about a farm just because you’re a city kid. It means that you need to get to work researching, reading, and most importantly talking to people who have firsthand experience. An interview might seem daunting, but most people are happy to share their expertise.
What type of setting does your story require? It may be challenging to write a complex spy thriller with lots of action in a town of 100 people living in rural Iowa. Think about what events are going to take place in your novel and find a setting that is appropriate for traditional high tea, bird watching, corporate espionage, or whatever you plan to write about.
Another aspect to consider is how do you want your characters to be affected by the setting? Are they overwhelmed by moving to a big city for the first time? Are they about to be swept up into high class or political intrigue? Also, consider how familiar you want your character to be with the setting. They may be an old pro, or a newbie struggling to tread water. Is the environment hostile or restive? Create a setting that will impact your characters in a way that helps you further the storyline.
Just like a poor real estate selection, a setting that doesn’t meld with the characters and plot can significantly hurt the readability. Consider every aspect of how a setting will impact the characters, plot, atmosphere, and pacing. And don’t forget to do your research and make it as realistic as possible. Don’t give readers an excuse to put your book down.

SYNOPSIS
Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. They have to be when they are hiding a deadly secret. Day after day, they struggle to rein in their uncontrollable hunger for pain and suffering in order to live normal lives. Things only get worse when Ivy Guerra appears with her pink-striped hair and secrets. The vicious hunger Ivy inspires is frightening, not to mention suspicious.
Vanessa’s instincts are rarely wrong, so when they tell her that Ivy’s appearance is a sign of bad things to come, she listens.  She becomes determined to expose Ivy’s secrets. Vanessa tries to warn her brother, but Zander is too enamored with Ivy to pay attention to her conspiracy theories.
One of them is right about Ivy … but if they lose control of their hunger, it won’t matter who is right and who is wrong. One little slip, and they’ll all be dead.
AUTHOR RECOMMENDATIONS
Delsheree Gladden’s first book in her new YA series SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes is a riveting story of uncontrollable bloodlust that turns dealing with family, friendships, trust, devotion and love into a WICKED HUNGER~~~Susan Stec, author of Dead Girls Never Shut Up and The Grateful Undead Series.
AUTHOR BIO
DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually teaching yoga, coaching gymnastics, reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, and The Destroyer Trilogy. DelSheree’s newest series, The SomeOne Wicked This Way Come series, follows Vanessa and Zander Roth, siblings with an uncontrollable hunger for pain and suffering that will either gain them limitless power or lead them to their deaths.
AUTHOR LINKS
DelSheree’s Blog
DelSheree’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Wattpad
Amazon
BOOK LINKS
Amazon Kindle US
Amazon Paperback US
Amazon Kindle UK
Amazon Paperback UK
B&N
Kobo
Goodreads
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