Our first party guest has arrived! It's Melissa Walker, author of the Violet Series. VIOLET IN PRIVATE, the third book in the series, was just released last month. It's another must, must, must read, according to the Tyra website! Many of you regulars know that Melissa is ultra-fabulous. And check this out - she's joining us via vlog. How cool is that?
Check it out! Kelly Parra is in the house! Kelly is the author of Graffiti Girl and the MTV Books October 2008 release Invisible Touch. Now listen to this... Kelly will be hosting the Secret Fates Extravaganza in just a few weeks to celebrate the launch, so be sure to watch the Secret Fates blog secretfates.blogspot.com. The Extravaganza will run throughout the entire month of October.Thanks to Linda for letting me be apart of her latest cyber launch for Death by Latte! Please leave a comment below to win a copy of my October release, Invisible Touch. :)
In the acknowledgments in my latest novel INVISIBLE TOUCH, you might read a small note at the end that goes something like...
"I'm sorry for the dent in the Chevelle. It was accident, I swear."
Some readers might wander what the heck I'm talking about and many won't care, but it all started with a lie...a with holding of the truth so to speak.
It’s high school and I’m 16. I’m one of those girls who has more guy friends than girl friends. I grew up with a brother and a bunch of boy cousins and this is the way it worked for me. One of my friends drives this really cool 1976 Chevelle. Black paint, black interior, and a big block engine. Being the cool guy that he is, he picks us up from school, takes us to lunch, and just hangs out.
One thing you should know is that this Chevelle is his prize possession. He's even been known to street race a time or two and win. (shhhh.) One day at a friend's house, I have to get something out of my backpack that’s in the backseat. I lean in over the open passenger window and my little knee pushes into the passenger door and dents it. Seriously dents it right smack in the middle!
I gasp.
My gut clenches.
I'm totally speechless.
He's going to kill me! Okay, not literally, but yikes, I'm scared big time. He LOVES this car! Oh man. What do I do?
I walk back into the house, nervous, wondering how I'm going to break the news. I really don't know what to do. I always have to think things through before I make a decision. So I don't say anything, but time passes and a group of us heads back outside.
One of the guys says, "Look at your car, man!" And EVERYONE rushes over to see this huge dent in the passenger door! Holy crap! I'm too scared to speak. He is so ticked off! Right away they start asking questions and making comments:
Was it there earlier? Who could of done it? We're gonna kick his *ss.
*gulp*
The next day, he gets it fixed. He has to take the inside panel off and pop it back out, but no damage. *whew*
Still, this guy isn’t exactly sweet and I'm still too scared to tell him. Time passes and it’s never brought up. Forgotten even. Not by me, of course, and he lays low for a while.
Years pass—yes, years!—and after graduation, I start hanging out with the Chevelle guy again. The Chevelle is history. He's got a sporty Camaro now, and things start to spark between us. I start dating him. Soon we're together, and I guess I decide I trust him and I confess the lie.
I tell him, I was the one who dented the Chevelle a few years ago.
He is shocked and I'm laughing with embarrassment, but my conscience is finally clear. The secret is revealed.
Years later, we’re married and he still holds it over my head. Who could blame him really?
So I did the ultimate. I wrote his prized Chevelle into Invisible Touch as my character Anthony Garcia's ride. And I apologized one final time in the acknowledgments so the world would know just how sorry I am for keeping that secret for so long. *sigh*
Do you think he finally forgave me? :)
To learn more about Kelly and her secrets visit www.KellyParra.com and the Secret Fates blog secretfates.blogspot.com.
Next, give it up for Teri Brown, author of READ MY LIPS that was just released this summer. If you haven't read it yet, you really should. And here's your chance!
See, lying usually doesn't work out so hot. I can never remember exactly what the lie was and it always comes out. So I learned a long time ago that sticking to the truth is safer. And that's the truth.
To be entered to win a copy of READ MY LIPS, leave a reply and tell us about a desperate lie you've told. Come on, fess up!
How's this for fabulousness? Amanda Ashby, author of YOU HAD ME AT HALO is here to party with us all the way from New Zealand! When Linda said the theme of her blog party was lying I knew I had a problem because, well, I don’t lie. Not that I’ve got anything against lying you understand, it’s just that I’m spectacularly bad at it. As in large flashing neon signs sitting above my head to let everyone in a twelve mile radius know that I’m about to attempt to fudge the truth.
And if that’s not bad enough, my characters aren’t big on lying either (well, part from the occasional white lie such as forgetting to tell their mom that they’ve turned the entire school into zombies).
So you can understand my problem.
However, then I remembered that while I’m not big on the lying front, my parents on the other hand had no such scruples.
I first discovered my mother was a liar when I caught her eating chocolates in her bedroom. The same chocolates that I had asked her about half an hour earlier and she had denied all knowledge of. I was eight at the time and was pretty shocked. If she lied about chocolate what else could she lie about?
As it goes quite a lot.
For a start, that whole Santa thing turned out to be a big bust and don’t even get me started on the tooth fairy. Though, if I’m fair, I can’t blame my mother for that one, my father was the guilty party thanks to his inability to throw anything away – including a collection of teeth.
But it didn’t stop there. Oh no, after they finally decided to stop perpetuating the existence of fictional characters they moved onto greener pastures. We’re talking about those famous lines: your school years are the best years of your life.
Oh, really. Well, I would beg to differ.
My school years were most definitely not the best years of my life. They weren’t even the best seconds of it. In fact, all I can remember is that they were filled with homework, pimples, the inability to say anything intelligent in front of cute guys, not to mention all the worry and self-doubt.
If anything my school years were a complete waste and I only wished I knew then what I know now (especially when it comes to wearing leg warmers because truly, there is just no excuse for them. Ever.)
So, now it’s your turn. What is the worst lie your parents ever told you?
Up for grabs are some famous Australian cookies called Tim Tams and the best bit is that whenever people send you chocolate-coated cookies from another country they have absolutely no calories in them (and would I lie to you about something like that?)
STARTS TOMORROW!!! Yeah!
It's almost here! Six days 'till Party time!
Marlene Perez
Heather Brewer
Stephanie Hale
Teri Brown
Amanda Ashby
Micol Ostow
SaraHantz
Stephanie Kuehnert
KC Dyer
Laurie Stolarz
Melissa Walker
Alyson Noel
Wendy Toliver
Kate Coombs
Claire Mysko
Jennifer Echols
Marley Gibson
Keri Mikulski
Paula Chase
OK, let me just start out by saying you guys are the best! Thanks for helping me get the word out about DEATH BY LATTE. Next week's party is going to be a just for you! We've added two more authors to the lineup, even! Lots of books and prizes to be given away. I'm psyched!
OK, the contest below is still valid and open, but I have some other PARTY information for you!
You guys are too cool! Thanks so much for the posts and the referrals. This is gearing up to be the best launch party ever! (Tomorrow I'll reveal more cyber-celebration details, including the names of the very cool guest authors who are coming to party with us and give away books!)
