The Dragon King is Born!

After 2 long years, today is my

BOOK BIRTHDAY!!

Check out my baby in all its glory!!

Please help me celebrate by spreading the word that the Dragon King has been born!

Also, there is a Facebook party going on between 2PM and 10PM EST time today. There will be games, trivia, free books and other prizes. Come join me and a host of other YA and NA authors as we celebrate this fantastic day. Just follow the link below.

http://bit.ly/1YnCr0C

Hope to see you there and thank you for being a part of my very special day. I’m so excited I can’t stand it!!!

What does ARTIFACTS by Pete Catalano have in common with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?

Oh my goodness. It has been such a long time since I’ve read a middle-grade book so full of snark, fun, memorable characters and a whopping good Goonies sort of tale of adventure and excitement.

First of all, who doesn’t love this cover? OMGosh!! The colors are so vibrant. The font is perfection! I don’t know who designed the cover but they did an excellent job.

With a cover like that, I suppose a synopsis would be good. Here is what Goodreads has to say:

***

It’s funny how one little letter can change a person’s life. Jax and his friends have been planning the summer of a lifetime at Camp Runamuck. However, when one of them is facing summer at a school desk for failing English, they watch those plans crash and burn!

At the last moment they’re given a way out.

An extra credit assignment to find several fake artifacts for a fairy tale display their teacher is presenting at the local library.

Thinking they’ve hit the easiest-extra-credit-ever jackpot, they begin rummaging through any piles of junk they can find. As they start putting the clues together, they realize that what they’re really searching for is one authentic artifact that can rewrite fairy tales!

Enlisting the aid of the Lost Boys, Jax and his friends battle fairy tale villains to see who can get their hand, or their hook, on it first.

Purchase Links:

My Review:

I have to tell you, I was hooked from the first word. 12-year-old Jax Murphy is a trip, but not as much as his friends Crunch, and the Wahoo brothers. And Jax’s relationship with his sister, Dana, is classic middle-grade humor. I love Jax’s parents in this novel. They are like the coolest parents a middle-schooler could have. and Korie, well, she’s high-spirited and just as eager to join in the mix of guys as the guys are.

I loved the premise behind this story and was delighted to see it take on a Captain Hook and the Lost Boys storyline. I’ve read many upper YA stories based on fairytales, but this one is definitely a romping fun read for the middle-grade boy. What a breath of fresh air!

There were times I felt events unfurled a little too easily just so the kids could get things to go their way, but those parts were covered up by such funny antics and marvelous interaction between the characters that I forgave the conveniences. There was non-stop action and the adventure to find the artifact that would send everyone to Camp Runamuck was crazy fun. I found myself grinning throughout the story and rooting for these bumbling, yet endearing kids. There were twists and turns, evil villains, magic and snappy dialogue. I can’t imagine a middle-grader not eating this story up. Have you got a reluctant middle-grade reader? Give them this book. It’s crazy, insane fun.

I totally give the book 5 stars out of 5. I loved every minute of it and recommend it to anyone who wants to just escape into a funtastical and magical fairytale-esque story. Pete Catalano, I bow to your greatness. Please continue these stories. I could see a whole series of Jax Murphy books, you know, like Goosebumps, just different.

About Pete

Pete Catalano’s books are written for kids of all ages — and adults who secretly never grew up. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his adorably funny wife and two neurotic dogs. Pete was a theater major in college and tries to keep the ‘suspension of disbelief’ in his life as much as he can.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest |Goodreads

GIVEAWAY!

Giveaway Information: Contest ends June 3, 2016

Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Artifacts by Pete Catalano (INT) click Rafflecopter below.

Rafflecopter

Wanna follow more links to the tour to see other reviews? Read interviews? Click on the banner at

top of the page to see the entire tour stop.

What would you do if your son wanted to be a dragonrider?

Today I’m super excited to share with you a mini interview I had with Nicole Conway, author of the amazing Dragonrider Chronicles series of books. The third in the series, TRAITOR, just released in the last week and it is spectacular!!

What’s it about? Read below.

No amount of training has prepared Jaevid Broadfeather for the frontlines of battle. Now facing the true horrors of war, with Luntharda looming on the horizon, Jaevid has begun to question everything he thought about his heritage. The only thing keeping him going is his oath to protect his dragonrider brothers. But in an instant, even that slips through Jaevid’s fingers as he steps from the safety of his dragon’s saddle into the depths of his mother’s wild homeland—the kingdom of the gray elves.

Stranded in Luntharda with his partner, Lieutenant Jace Rordin, Jaevid must finally confront the demons of his own past as he uncovers the truth about a war that began before he was ever born. Armed with a new appreciation for destiny, and flanked by his trusted friends, Jaevid moves to make the final strike against an enemy that has hidden in plain sight for far too long.

One kingdom’s traitor will become the world’s last hope.

I’ve been following Nicole on social media for a while and I love her Instagram pics of her military family, especially her little doodle bug. Being from a military family as well, I jumped at the chance to learn more about how this hectic, crazy lifestyle affected her writing.

Me: Hi Nicole. Thanks for joining me today. I have to know. You have a little one (whom I’ve enjoyed watching grow since he was born, and has captured my heart). You’ve also recently moved to another country with beliefs and traditions quite different from ours. How does being a military wife, a mother and now “world” traveler affect your writing? Do you find you are inspired more to write? Less? Does your husband’s job give you ideas for your stories?

Nicole: I consider myself very blessed and fortunate to get to live in so many different places, including on the opposite side of the globe. It’s not easy. Every time we move we leave behind friends, memories, routines, and are forced to start over somewhere new where we may or may not know anyone at all. But I try to look at each new destination as an opportunity to grow, explore, and learn. It’s all about perspective, and it’s my mission to instill in my son an adventurer’s spirit so that he’ll never be afraid to try something new.

It definitely has an impact on my writing, for the better, I think. There are so many things from different cultures that you simply don’t know until you’ve lived them out in daily life. I think it opens my mind and inspires me to stretch the boundaries of my own imaginary worlds. It’s steeped in tradition, and that is something that definitely heavily influenced THE DRAGONRIDER CHRONICLES.

Me: I have to ask this. In a world where dragonriders were real, would you be okay with it if your own little E chose to become one?

Nicole: If my son wanted to become a dragonrider, I’d certainly be proud and let him pursue it. It would be hard letting go of my soft, sweet, smiley little boy knowing he would return to me a steely eyed man. But I think I could find peace about it, especially if I knew he would have a mentor like Sile, Jace, or Prax. I truly believe that there comes a time in a boy’s life when he must learn from men how to become a man himself. Boys need and crave that kind of mentorship from father figures in their lives.

I couldn’t agree more, Nicole!! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to chat. I wish you all the luck in the world with your series and all the stories yet to be told. Keep posting pics of your little bit and enjoy your stay in your new, exciting and adventurous country. From an Army brat to an Air Force family, please relay my thanks from me to your husband for his service to our country. I’m sure many others offer those sentiments as well.

For those who want to learn more about Nicole, please feel free to hit up her social media accounts and her website.

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