Winner, Winner!

Thank you everyone for stopping by our Special Event, Urban Fantasy Boxing!  We got to read an excerpt of the novella Blooded by the kind and talented Amanda Carlson.  (if you are curious, please follow the link over)  I do hope everyone takes time to pick up this novella and check it out.  I do think you all will enjoy this one and Jessica as well.  If you aren't able to read an ebook, please keep an eye out for the full length first novel in September, Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson.

And we have our 5 winners from the giveaway!

The winners are:

StephanieD (claimed)

Tore (claimed)

Leannessf (claimed)

Melissa (Books & Things) (claimed)

Van Pham (claimed)

The winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email, from June 17, 2012 at 6:15pm EST.

Special Event and GIVEAWAY!

*****GIVEAWAY CLOSED*****

Today at My World we are stinging up the ropes and hosting a special event, a boxing event. More than just words and pages are flying around here.

I’m curious to see who you think will come out at the end. Okay, I kind of already know who comes out at the end, and how it works out. But most of you don’t. So, please welcome referee (and author) Amanda Carlson as she gives us the lowdown on the contenders today.  (please take a moment to visit Amanda's site after you enter the giveaway, to learn more of the books Amanda has coming out way)

Amanda take the mic away...

In one corner we have human, born to wolves, Jessica McClain, the challenger. 5’8” tall, weight a lean 123 lbs, quick with a snarky comment. Determined to prove herself in a world of wolves, desperate for a life of her own off Compound.

In the other, Mitch Jacobson, werewolf fighting in human form, the challenged. 6’3” tall, weight 233 lbs in human form, full werewolf. Determined to rid the were-world of an abomination.

***Ding, ding***

A snippet from BLOODED:

With every ounce of strength I had, I forced my head up, arching my neck and shoulders. I managed to gain a little space between me and the mat. His hand was like iron, unforgiving and hard, but I was leaking fluids. I used the slipperiness to my advantage, and in the small space I’d won, I twisted my body to the side in his grasp, but just barely. I brought my leg up and pressed it into his shoulder, and with gargantuan effort, pushed him back less than an inch.


It was all I needed.


“You’re not getting away,” Mitch snarled. “I’ve waited to do this for too many years. I’m not letting you bring our race down, Daughter of Cain. It’s time for you to go back to your Maker.” He grabbed a fistful of my hair, which had come loose from its bindings, and yanked. My head wrenched to the side at an impossible angle—vanity payback for keeping my hair long when I should’ve cut it. “No help is coming for you now, Jessica, so it looks like I win.”


“And,” I gurgled out of my distorted throat, “it looks like you have…my heel”—I smashed the back of my perfectly positioned foot into his face as hard as I could—“in your fucking eye.”


A satisfying crack sounded and Mitch sprang back, staggering away from me, cupping the wound, blood flowing freely between his fingers. “Goddammit!”


I gulped in a few breaths, compensating for the lost oxygen. Sticky blood streamed down my back in hot rivulets, but I couldn’t let it distract me. I had to find a way to erase it from my mind—and taunting Mitch sounded like the best place to start. “What’s the matter? Did that hurt?”


Mitch snarled fiercely.


I scuttled back out of his reach. Even though I’d likely shattered both his frontal and maxillary bones, it would take him only a few moments to recover. Stupid werewolf healing. And even though he was a wolf, he still felt pain, which always worked in my favor.


After a moment, Mitch dropped his hand, fury roiling across his features in churning waves of hate. Blood coated his face, red leaking slowly out of the still-healing wound, dripping onto his formerly white T-shirt, making it look like a horror-soaked tie-dye. As I watched, the fractured bones began to set themselves in real time. It was completely unnerving, even though I’d seen live-action healing many times before. It was straight out of a sci-fi movie on the FX Channel—only this was the real thing.


Mitchy was going to be good as new in less than a minute…

Tell us who you are rooting for, to enter to win one of 5 Kindle e-copies, gifted by the author, of the Jessica McClain Novella: BLOODED. (This is only open to US entries because digital world rights are not live.)

That's right!

Amanda Carlson has graciously offered

5 Kindle e-copies of Blooded

for the taking.

Rules

Giveaway Ends:  June 15, 2012 11:59 pm EST

US only.  (sorry, as Amanda noted the digital world rights are not live.)

What To Do:

+3 ~~~ All you have to do, Tell us who you are rooting for.  Jessica or Mitch?  

Let us know in the comments.
Must leave a way to contact you if you win, email addy would be the best.

Extra Entries? 

You do not have to do these, but please help spread the word of this amazing giveaway, author and story.

+4 ~~~ Tweet, Blog, Facebook, or share this giveaway with everyone.  MUST leave a link to verify, or I won't know you did it.

+2 ~~~ Follow the wonderful and kind Amanda Carlson on Twitter.  Must leave a twitter handle to verify.

+2 ~~~ Follow My World...in words and pages openly with Google Connect.  Not a must, but I love having new friends.  MUST leave Google name to verify.

And awwway we go!  Round one is up and going!

Please stop by Amanda's site to learn about Full Blooded, her full length novel coming to us, as well.

Interview with Author Amanda Carlson

I'm so thrilled to have a new author with us today, Amanda Carlson.  Amanda is making quite a start with her series with the amazing Novella, Blooded.  (I loved this, and if you are curious about it, please check out my review!)

Please give a warm welcome for Amanda...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

M:  Welcome to the blog Amanda!


So glad you can join us today.  Congratulations on your new novella! You have to be excited to be making your debut into the booking world.


You are going to start us off with a Novella, to get to meet your main character, Jessica, and the world she lives in, then a Novel coming out in September. I think this is a wonderful idea to start us out with a novella then to the novels. Was this your plan for the series?

AC:  Originally no! I sold FULL BLOODED, along with the next two books in the series, to Orbit last summer, without thinking about a novella. But very quickly, especially as a debut author, I felt it was necessary to get a sample of my voice out there. My books are coming out in trade size, so giving readers a glimpse into my world, in a short story format, was an excellent way to get that without a big monetary commitment upfront. It was an absolute blast to write!! I’m so glad I did it. It really helped me flesh out Jessica’s past and get a deeper glimpse of where she came from. I’m so hoping readers connect with her and her story. It became a big, fun, juicy prologue to the series! So when the novel begins, it starts off with a BANG. (BTW, with the novella, you also get the first chapter of the novel included, so you get a sneak peak!)

M:  Can you tell us a little about the novella. I’ll have to have you back when your novel comes out, in September, to chat on it.

AC:  Sure! The novella starts out seven years prior to the books, in the only way it can—with Jessica fighting for her life. Jessica McClain is born the only female in an all male race. The only problem is, she’s not born a wolf. My wolves are a superstitious in the extreme, and issues begin to emerge immediately after her birth. A myth names Jessica something evil and generates years of fear and unease, making her a target her entire life. Once she turns eighteen, the wolves decide she is finally fair game. The scrapping gets dirty, so she’s forced to challenge her first wolf in a very public way. By making it a challenge, she defies her father and ultimately forces him to make a decision. She has decided she wants a life of her own off Compound—or no life at all.

M:  Jessica has to be one tough chick to live with all those men this long. Is there one thing Jessica enjoys doing?

AC:  Jessica enjoys surviving! Other than that, we don’t see much of her hobbies in this snippet of her life. But life on Compound has made her funny, sarcastic and someone who doesn’t take everything too seriously. I love that about her. Things start to move quickly in the beginning of FULL BLOODED, but what happens to her isn’t automatic. She’s as rattled as you would be and the reader gets to take the trip with her, experience it as she does. It’s a fun, action-packed ride.

M:  Okay, Some fun questions for you Amanda…

One question I ask all visitors… If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?

AC:  Oooo, that’s a great question! I love traveling more than anything. My husband and I have a huge bucket list with places we want to visit all over the world. One place for sure: Bora Bora. Seriously, if I don’t get to stay in one of those rooms above the crystal clear water, I don’t think it will count this as a full life! But, honestly, I can only hope I’ll be so lucky someday. In addition, for all you travelers out there, one of my favorite destinations in the entire world is La Ropa Beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. It’s a slice of heaven. If you can get there, you won’t be sorry.

M:  Tea or Coffee?

AC:  Coffee! Three cups in the morning (because that’s what’s left after hubby leaves), with a little bit of sweet and little bit of cream. I don’t do tea, except for an occasional Chai. I do love Chai, but maybe because it resembles flavored coffee?

M:  Favorite Color?

AC:  That’s a tough one. That’s also something my son is always asking. He is the king of “What’s your favorite…(fill in the blank)?” I think I’d have to say green. But not any green—a cool sagey kind of green. Kelly green is too shocking and lime green is just irritating, but there’s definitely something about green that always puts me in a good mood.

M:  Favorite Childhood Fictional Creature?

AC:  Not sure if you mean literary fictional creatures or just in general? There are so many! When I was young I loved Judy Blume & Paula Danziger, but graduated to Anne Rice pretty quickly. I loved Lestat and his tortured soul, so early on it was vampires. Anne Rice was my first hook into the genre, like many of you, and I couldn’t get enough. My earliest memories of enjoying fictional creatures, not in a book, was Saturday morning cartoons. I’m going to date myself here and give a shout out to the Krofft Supershow! Land of the Lost and the Sleezstaks were awesome. I have a shout to the Sleezstaks in another project I’m working on. They gave me a visceral reaction as a young child. Nothing better.

M:  Now as an adult what’s your Favorite Fictional Creature?

AC:  I’d have to say in general my favorite “creature” would be werewolves, which explains why I write about them. The ability to shift into something else—to become something else is exhilarating to me. Plus, they’re strong, hot blooded and attractive! That’s a perfect trifecta to me.

M:  Favorite word? (any word at all)

AC:  Kickass. A totally made up word by all accounts, but it’s in my style sheet as an official word, and every time I type it I smile. Can’t beat that.

M:  Amanda, thank you kindly for stopping by the blog. We really need to get together again when your novel is making its appearance in the world as well.

AC:  I look forward to stopping back by in September! And I hope you all enjoy the novella.

Thank you Amanda for joining us today!  I do wish you all the best with the Short Story, and your Novel to come.  (I CAN'T WAIT! for the novel after reading the Novella).  Here's wishing you all the best in words and pages!

And if you are curious as to how much I loved this novella, you can catch my review as well.

Would you like to purchase a copy of the Novella?  Is is available for the small price of $2.99, and so worth every penny and more.  You can find any format you need at Orbit Short Fiction.

Do make sure to check into Amanda, and say hello to her on different venues:

   Website: http://www.amandacarlson.com/
   Twitter: @amandaCCarlson
   Facebook: www.facebook.com/authoramandacarlson
   Goodreads:  Amanda Carlson

Book Review: Jessica McClain: Blooded

Blooded: A Jessica McClain Novella

By:  Amanda Carlson

Publisher:  Orbit Short Stories

Publish Date:  April 11, 2012

Format:  Arc, eNovella

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  Prequel to Jessica McClain series

Recommendation:  Oh YES!  You like kick butt, strong characters?  They can't come any stronger than Jessica!  Great werewolf world created, with action and complete with story.

Synopsis:
Jessica McClain was born the only female in an all male race.  The only problem is - she's no wolf.  Called a curse, a witch and the Daughter of Evil by the superstitious wolves, Jessica decided to fight for her freedom, at age nineteen, the only way she can - in the ring.

When she's brutally attacked right after her fight, is it enough to finally earn her freedom off Compound, or will she be forced to endure the hatred even longer...

First Sentence:
I hit the ropes hard, my body bouncing back into the ring like a shot.

My Thoughts and Summary:
Jessica is tormented and taunted and now it's escalating to more and physical, since her eighteenth birthday.  Now she wants to prove herself, challenging a fight against Pack rules, with Mitch - Alpha-born wolf, but not the strongest.  Problem, she's the Alpha leaders daughter, and along with being female, she's human.  After the bloody battle, Jessica is attacked on the Compound, almost killed by a stronger Alpha-born wolf.  Will her father finally agree to her years of pleas to leave Compound?  Or will he hid her away from all supernaturals with him, there on the Compound?

Wow.  This was only a novella!?!  I can't wait to see what Amanda has in store for us in a full length novel.  This novella was well written and well rounded!  No sway to world building or character building, it is all here.  And Full On Fighting start!  This Novella sets the stage for Jessica's life; past and to come.

Jessica is a strong mouthed and brave woman.  I would say she definitely has Alpha wolf personality.  Shame she's not a wolf.  And I have to say she has some serious strength to take beatings like this, and dish out what she did.

I really liked this start!  Sets the world Jessica tries to survive in and other characters around her.  We get a great amount of the wolf culture and rules here.  We are told there are other supernaturals in this world, ones that Jessica's dad worries about coming after her.  This makes me curious as to what is out there, and what Amanda has in store for us, yet to come.  I REALLY look forward to the future installments!


Want a copy?  You can find any format you need at Orbit Short Fiction.

Want to meet Amanda? You can find her at:

• You can learn more on her site:  Amanda Carlson Urban Fantasy Author
• Twitter:  @amandaccarlson
• Facebook:  Amanda Carlson: Author Page
• Goodreads:  Amanda Carlson

I received a copy of this from the publisher for an honest review.
This review is of my personal opinions and likes.

Cover Release: Blooded

This is a Novella starting out a new series that sounds wonderful!  The Novella will be release through Orbit Books Short Stories April 11, 2012, and the first Novel will be released in September.

Are you ready to see the New Novella to look forward too?

Blooded: A Jessica McClain Novella

By:  Amanda Carlson

Due Out:  April 11, 2012

The Description from Amazon:

Jessica McClain was born the only female in an all male race. The only problem is-she's no wolf. Called a curse, a witch and the Daughter of Evil by the superstitious wolves, Jessica decides to fight for her freedom, at age nineteen, the only way she can-in the ring.

When she's brutally attacked right after her fight, is it enough to finally earn her freedom off Compound, or will she be forced to endure the hatred even longer . . .

Word Count ~ 19,400