A publishing journey: "Three Ghosts for Anastasia" by Alexandra Perchanidou. Where I rave and cry happy tears!


This post is going to be one of the happy ones. I don't usually trouble you with my life outside the blogspere but today the occasion demands it.

On 2011, when I still was a uni student, I began writing my first attempt on a trilogy. I still haven't began blogging and the Greek bookish market still raved over the Paranormal genre. Add in my love for History, mythology and my birth city, Thessaloniki, and voila! The first draft of "Three Ghosts for Anastasia" was born.


Fast forward to 2015. After learning how to blog, following authors, reading advice and watching videos about formatting, editing and character/world building development, I began editing the WHOLE trilogy!

At the same time, I researched agents, publishing houses and mostly the trends on genres on the market. And truthfully, it was a little depressing. Not many want to read nowadays ghosts stories as they did 6 years ago and to be frank, I am one of them too. But the trilogy, along with the rest of my works on Wattpad, became a part of me and I love all of my characters.



So, I decided to query my trilogy. I had the honor to have my query critiqued by Lauren James, author of "The Next Together" series and of the upcoming book "The Loneliest Girl in the Universe". It was the first time someone else from my family believed in me and my writing and for that I'm eternally grateful to you Lauren! *sending virtual hugs*



So, after 45 query requests to agents, 8 query requests to publishing houses and after participating on 5 Twitter Pitch contests, the result was...zero. No interest in the trilogy, which was jarring at first but also made me realize that nothing is easy and you must never give up. J.K. Rowling's example of rejected queries from publishing houses kept me from crying too.


And then, on April, I got an email. Tapas Media, a company in San Francisco, was interested on publishing my trilogy on their app. The premise was very innovative, the site also hosts Sarah's Scribbles, who is one of the funniest comic creators I've ever read, and they were very co-operative with my time schedule and the cover production.

The result was for the first book to be published today in the Tapas app, and as I sit here writing this post, I couldn't be happier. Maybe a little teary too!


So, as a book reviewer to a book reviewer, I implore you to try and read my story. And if you like it, leave some love here too!


Follow the link and:







Cover Reveal: "Most Valuable Playboy" by Lauren Blakely

   

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely comes a sexy, new standalone sports romance releasing September 1st, MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY! Told from the guy’s POV, MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY will hit retailers just in time to celebrate the start of fall and football season! The audiobook is slated for a simultaneous release and will be narrated by Zachary Webber! Don’t miss the amazing cover and blurb below!



 
Cover Design by Helen Williams with Photography by Scott Hoover Photography
 
About MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY:
Hands down, my favorite thing in the world is to score. Touchdowns. 
Don’t let the fact that I’m the leading pick in the Most Valuable Playboy charity auction fool you. These days, I’m only a player on the field. I’ve kept my pants zipped all season long — and it has been long — because nothing’s more important than leading my team to victory every week. Except maybe escaping from the owner’s handsy-as-hell sister who seems dead set on winning more than a date with me at the auction. 
Enter Violet and a well-placed Hail Mary.
She’s my best friend’s sister with a smile as sweet as cherry pie and a mind that runs quicker than the 40-yard-dash. After Violet saves the day with the highest bid, I don’t even give her a two-minute warning before I kiss her in front of the whole crowd and then announce that she’s my girlfriend. Which would be fine except my agent tells me the next day that we’ve got to keep up the act while he’s negotiating my contract. Violet says she’ll take one for the team and pretend to be mine, but our boyfriend-girlfriend scrimmage quickly turns into a full contact sport. And soon enough, I want this game with her to go into overtime. The problem is — I’ve been riding the bench for years.
How can a guy like me, who finally has a chance to prove his worth on the field, convince the girl she’s most valuable to his heart?

*MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY is a brand new standalone sports romance written in the guy’s POV!*
PREORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

✦ iBooks ➜ (Releasing TWO days early on August 30st!) ✦ Barnes & Noble ✦ Kobo ✦ Amazon ✦ Kindle Preorder alert (via Lauren's newsletter) ✦ Goodreads

   

Can’t wait to get your hands on this smoking hot MVP?

MOST VALUABLE PLAYBOY will release two days early on iBooks! If you’re an iBooks user, you can enjoy this sports romance on August 30st!

     


    About Lauren Blakely: A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 80 times, and she's sold more than 2 million books. In June she'll release THE KNOCKED UP PLAN, a standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter  





                                            

Review: "A Court of Wings and Ruin" (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas


A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary from GoodReads

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places. 

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.


BUY ON



REVIEW

The most anticipating finale of 2017 came with A Court of Wigs and Ruin! It was a thrilling ride, which may have been the ending of Feyre's and Rhysand's story but not for the rest of the characters.
Feyre is a spy in the Spring Court, trying to stop in any way she can Hybern's incoming invasion. Tamlin and Ianthe work together while Lucien is the only one who has realized Feyre's true intentions. I can't begin saying how much I loved these first chapters! Feyre gave them hell!



From there we have a ride against time to rally allies, make deadly deals while all the members of the Inner Circle have their own tiny story arc. The beauty of this book was not only the plot, the amazing descriptions or the battles. It was the character development, not only for Feyre but also for Rhys, the Acheron sisters as also for Amren, Mor, Cassian and Azriel. Lucien too.

Many parts of the world building also gave me the impression that Sarah J. Maas was inspired by the Mongolean history, the russian folklore not to mention that some particular High Lord transformations and battle scenes have their origin in known films and movies!





As for the characters? I can't begin describing how wonderful it was to see the humor even in the dire circumstances, how amazing it was to see all the High Lords together, especially to learn the backstory of some. Make note that Kallias and Viviane also are the best couple in the High Lords, second to Rhys and Feyre! And Helion! I didn't expect the relevations about him, which I hope they will be mentioned in the upcoming books.

Tamlin and Jurian also have their stories but in the end, I was never interested. Tamlin's arc may have undergone some developments here, but after the events on ACOMAF, it's hard for me to forgive him. I liked seeing again the Summer Court, especially Varian. And you are in for a surprise about him!

What's more, I never expected Mor's true feelings to surface. I was very sad for her but also...angry for a reason. Yes, she suffered, but she should have been more honest about herself mostly, then to Azriel and the rest of the Court. I can only hope that she'll have her own book too.



There's also a ton of monsters here, old as time itself which make their appearance and you would never want to get on their bad side. Well, you wouldn't want to get on Nesta's bad side either! :)

The ending was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Sweet and with an open path, paving the way for the next ACOTAR books/novellas.

Here're the pairs/characters I'd love to see in the next books:

Lucien & Elain
Cassian & Nesta
Mor
Azriel
Varian & Amren
And I want a novella dedicated to Kallias and Viviane!

A Court of Wings and Ruin is by far the best book Sarah J. Maas has written so far. I don't know wht will happen on September with "Tower of Dawn" (Chaol's book) but this beauty was a gorgeous read!






A Court of Thorns and Roses series













About the author:

Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series and A Court of Thorns and Roses series, as well as a USA Today and international bestselling author. Sarah wrote the first incarnation of the Throne of Glass series when she was just sixteen, and it has now sold in thirty-five languages. A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog. Empire of Storms, the fifth Throne of Glass novel,is available now.
She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hamilton College in 2008 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Religious Studies.






Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Bookish Moms


This meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week’s topic is Top Ten Tuesday #109: In celebration of Mother's Day here's my top 10 choices for the best Mothers you can find in YA and NA.


10: Divergent by Veronica Roth: The Prior Mom (whose name I've forgotten). You left us early but you were the best kickass mom I saw in movies.





9: Room by Emma Donoghue: Emotional, raw and too real this Mom does everything save her boy. I also loved the movie.



8: Wonder by R.J. Palacio: Lovely story. The parents may have had the best motives for little Auggie, since he was homeschooled and they were afraid for him, but they were open on his new adventures as a young student.



7: Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons: I note the second book for Tania's enormous emotional capacity as a Mom after everything she's been through. Also I love the second book despite having most of it being told by Alexander's POV.



6: Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen: Mrs Shipley is a force to be reckoned. She takes in a former felon-druggie and tries to help him. She loves her farm and deals with of her hot-headed children.



5: The Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh: Sara Haziz is the Guild Hunter Leader by day and mom by night. Her daughter Zoe is a sweet little thing, in the first books where we see her, and Sara is fiercely loyal over Helena. 



4: The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood #14) by J.R. Ward: This is dedicated to Mary, Rhage's shellan, who loves children yet and can't have her own. The story between the couple and Bitty was sweet, maybe the best part of the book.



3: The Firebird Trilogy by Claudia Gray: I mention these books not only for the protagonists but also for Marguerite's parents. They alsways find each other in the multi-verse, no matter the different lives they have and they are pretty cool for scientists. Her Mom is funny, supportive and always worries for her daughter. Marguerite's Dad especially flirts with her Mom, mentioning their next project (after all the trouble the first one got them into): time travel!





2: The Forgotten Tale by J.M. Frey: Because Lucy Piper is not only a good mom but also a career woman, wanting to hunt down knowledge and rage over the injustice in literacy. Not to mention that Forsyth (my sweet one!) is an amazing stay-in-home dad! 



1: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: No one messes with Mrs. Weasley! Best Mom, cook, and witch. She loved Harry from the start and holds no qualms on protecting her family, both by blood and not.





What are your favorite bookish moms?

FLYLēF's 2nd anniversary Friendship Tour & Giveaway: Top 5 Friendship/Love books



FLYLēF turns 2! To celebrate, an amazing group of bloggers and I have planned posts for you to enjoy, all centered around the theme...

FRIENDSHIP



Please make sure to visit them, and perhaps make a new friend along the way. And don't miss the chance to enter the giveaway below!

 FRIENDSHIP 

In which I discuss about the top 5 book friendships! I may also include some friendship-to love books!


What's more important than the love interest in a book? It's the friends the character makes or already have in the beginning. A friend can help the character grow mentally and  emotionally and even sometimes they can fall in love. 

Other times, friendships don't last, but that doesn't mean that you can't make new ones! Here's some fine examples of books where I celebrate friendship!


Friendship blooms into Paris but can it also turn into love? It's a sweet story with a great group of characters!


A book with diversity, music and romance, this one is maybe Colleen's best book ever! The lyrics inside have also been adapted into songs by Griffin Peterson.


If you count in the Greek mythology and the best storyline I've seen, Percy's story is also a very enjoyable one! Not to mention the friends he makes!


This is the fine example where friendship matters even more than romance. And maybe the only love triangle in my reading history which I've forgiven, as also can't decide who is better. But in the matter of friendship between all chatacters, Cassandra Clare outdid herself with this one!



Did you think I wouldn't also add this series? The award for the best friends goes to Harry, Hermione and Ron!





  ABOUT FLYLēF  


Lonna Yen is the creative mind behind FLYLēF (pronounced like flyleaf) who enjoys spending every free moment satisfying her insatiable addiction of mostly young adult and adult novels: romance, fantasy, and paranormal.
She is also the host of FLYTIP and Book of Choice Giveaway Hop, and co-host of The Comment Challenge.
Find Lonna @ FLYLēF: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Newsletter



  GIVEAWAY  


A one-month subscription box to Owl Crate, or $35 Amazon gift card for an international winner,




a Rafflecopter giveaway







  TOUR SCHEDULE  

❖ May 15th - Bookfever: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 15th - A Reader Writer: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 16th - Milky Way of Books: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 16th - Lisa Loves Literature: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 20th - A Kernel of Nonsense: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 21th - SUSANLOVESBOOKS: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 23th - fallxnrobins: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 27th - Utopia State of Mind: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 28th - Book Briefs: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ May 30th - Foxes & Fairy Tales: Spotlight / Giveaway
❖ June 1st - The Caramel Files: Spotlight / Giveaway

Unboxing Review: The ACOWAR box by YA Chronicles!


I was very excited for the chance to get one of the most anticipated subscription boxes of May! YA Chronicles, a subscription box site, based on Australia, decided to honor the release of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas by essembling a special box, which included many different kinds of bookish goodies!

Here's my review of what the box contained.


The box arrived in my city's post office in a good package, but it was a little roughed on it edges. But everything inside it were secured.



Everything was covered with thin paper as seen above and after unfolding it, here's what the box contained.


Here's the netire collection! Aren't they pretty! This is my very first boox and I was glad to choose this one! Here's below the items in small groups.


My paperback copy of ACOWAR (YA Chronicles also gave the opportunity to choose either the paperback or the hardback or BOTH editions of the book) and a special note by YA Chronicles, mentioning everything above.



Three bookmarks, the one on the left made by an artist. The amazing fanart by Charlie Bowater! And also a sticker with Rhys and cats made by Tara Tjah!



A candle with the scent of "The High Lady of the Night Court"! A tote bag, handmade necklace charm and a quote by ACOWAR, all made by different artists.



This is an amzing box and I would love to see something similar happening for the next Throne of Glass book too!
So off I go to hole myself in the reading cave and enjoy the book! Thank you YA Chronicles for the amazing goodies!






A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
(A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)

Summary from GoodReads

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places. 

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.


BUY ON


And don't miss the chance to get the first two books of this amazing series!




BUY ON 


   





BUY ON 


                                                                                              

About the author:


Sarah J. Maas is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series (Queen of Shadows, Book 4, will be out in September 2015), as well as the A Court of Thorns and Roses series (out 5/5/15).

Sarah lives in Bucks County, PA, and over the years, she has developed an unhealthy appreciation for Disney movies and bad pop music. She adores fairy tales and ballet, drinks too much tea, and watches an ungodly amount of TV. When she's not busy writing, she can be found exploring the historic and beautiful Pennsylvania countryside with her husband and canine companion.