Featured Author: Meryl Brown Tobin

Today's Aussie Author is Poet Meryl Brown Tobin.

Tobin is an Australian writer who writes children’s and adults’ fiction and non-fiction, particularly travel, and poetry and makes up puzzles for all ages. Her published work includes 14 books, including a travel book, puzzle books and blackline masters books of educational puzzles, a children’s picture storybook and poetry books.

Hundreds of her poems, puzzles and articles, particularly on travel, scores of short stories, and some cartoons and comic strips have appeared in more than 100 magazines and newspapers in Australia and other countries, including India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and USA. Meryl Brown Tobin's next publication will be a series of three educational puzzle books, Puzzle Fun Yrs 1/2, Puzzle Fun Yrs 3/4 and Puzzle Fun Yrs Yrs 5/6. The series will be published by Five Senses Education Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia in March, 2010.

*****

Poetry Book Review:

Walk in the Forest,

by Meryl Brown Tobin

Reviewed by Chrissie Michaels

A unique collection.

Walk in the Forest is the first solo collection of poems by Meryl Brown Tobin. It brings together poetry that has been anthologised in a diverse range of magazines, broadsheets and journals; some have won awards, others broadcast on radio.

Many poems give voice to the poet’s concerns about world peace and justice. She ensures the reader’s discomfort by questioning morality and the condoning of conflict through silence. Tobin’s message is powerfully evoked through keen irony in ‘Tripping the New Millenium’, where following the ‘Killing, killing, killing’ on a global scale comes the question: ‘How about a trip around Australia?’. Western apathy to the plight of human suffering is evident in ‘East Timor’. ‘Rag Dolls’ is a simple but haunting epiphany of the Kurd slaughters. Tobin always comments with deep compassion about contemporary conflicts, highlighting the permanent scars of war where there are no victors.

Her work equally reflects on the importance of everyday relationships, of achieving personal harmony and a fulfilling existence. Hence sections under ‘People’ and ‘Reflection’ evoke the beauty and gentleness of humanity: ‘I drink riches / from others’ thoughts / pour what I have to share / Open to the world’. Inspiring words from ‘Cup’.

In her concern for the environment, Tobin’s poetry brings to mind the phrase ‘Take only photographs, leave only footprints’. She teases readers with the mysteries of Big Cats and Thylacines (‘Sestina: Striped Mystery’) and impresses on us the need to be responsible caretakers of nature: ‘We return as hordes surge in / a babble in a multitude of tongues / St. Kilda Beach transposed / … / Katatjuta’s sunset approaches/’.

Perhaps her three-lined poem ‘Principle of Life’ best sums up the beauty and thoughtfulness, and ultimately uplifting sentiments of this collection: ‘With love and truth your guides / leading through good and evil / take on the world’.

Chrissie Michaels.

*****

Meryl has been kind enough as to share with us one of her poems!

Its tragedy gives us a lot to think about.

Rag Dolls

Square cap on dark hair

long black pants

tiny girl

in Kurd native dress

lies sprawled on ground

where she has fallen

A townsman

moves her body

An older child

perhaps her brother

is lifted by one arm

placed next to her

Chemical bombs leave

buildings unscathed

Meryl Brown Tobin

*****

Thanks to both Chrissie and Meryl for sharing this great review and poem. Sometimes poetry is a really powerful weapon. Depends on who's carrying it.

Visit Chrissie's Site

Visit Meryl's Site

Author Interview: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Today we have two very special visitors here at TCM: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl!
We're less than ten days before BC's released, but several bookstores already have the book for sale, thanks to the amazing Amazon!

Enjoy the interview!
There are some very interesting things to learn about these two!

-------------------------------------

We’re less than a month away from the release of Beautiful Creatures. I’m sure you’re being asked this a lot these days, but, how are you feeling? Nervous?

Kami: The book hit the stores early, which was a total surprise. I think I’m still in shock. I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, but I never imagined seeing my name on a book at the bookstore. And I love seeing pictures of people with the book on Twitter and our Ning.
Margie: The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, but we’ve felt so much support from the YA community. We would be a mess without you guys! And seeing the book on the shelves is still a shock. Signing them is even stranger! I feel like I’m ruining all these books by writing my name in them.

This is something I’m really intrigued by. What was it like to write a book between the two of you? How long have you two known each other? Did this make it easier?

Kami: We met when Margie’s oldest daughter was in my third grade class. And yes, being friends for so long before we were writing partners has made everything easier.
Margie: We really trust each other, which helps. And these are big, sprawling books; I think we’d have gone crazy if we tried this huge project alone.

How important were the Caster Girls in the process of writing BC?

Kami: There wouldn’t be a book without them, so they are pretty important. The Caster Girls are the teens in our lives that inspired us to write Beautiful Creatures.
Margie: Dared us actually. They’re the reason we kept writing.
Kami: We turned in pages to them every week, like serialized fiction. In twelve weeks, we had a book.
Margie: The CGs were also involved in the editing process. They read our drafts, tore them to shreds, and ultimately made them better.

Did they help you put together Ethan’s Playlist? Or you did that by yourselves?

Kami: We made the playlist. We have to have some surprises for the Caster Girls.
Margie: Although Caster Girl 25 has a Music Tuesday feature on www.castergirls.com that is pretty rockin’ in its own right.

What drove you to create a Gatlin for BC?

Kami: Gatlin is not a real city, but it’s situated in a real part of South Carolina.

Margie: But Gatlin’s not so different than many small towns, in and out of the South. Both of our grandmothers grew up in small towns, and we wanted to capture the charm and magic and, well, smallness of a town like that. Good and bad.
Kami: We named the town Gatlin after my cousin Anna. It was her maiden name, and she has a lot of spitfire, like Gatln.

Another thing that intrigues me is Lena’s necklace. I’m pretty sure there’s something magical about it. Without giving away too much, could you tell us something about it?

Kami: Without giving away too much…Lena’s necklace is a collection of things that are special to her.
Margie: Everything on her necklace is a memory, something she doesn’t want to forget. Because she’s moved around so much, she keeps her memories with on her person.
Kami: We each have one. We made them after we finished the book. In the BC trailer, by VLC Productions, the “Lena” in the photos is wearing Margie’s necklace.

Kami & Margie
---------------------------

Thanks girls for the awesome interview!

Here are some cool links to keep exploring the wonderful world of Beautiful Creatures:

The Beautiful Creatures Website, you definitely have to check this one out, it's amazing, and purple!,
The BC Blog,
The BC Ning Site, where you'll find some of the coolest BC fans,
Kami's Blog,
Margie's Blog, they're both great bloggers!,
The Caster Girls' Website,
The BC Facebook,
And a lot more at the BC Website, so gogogo!

There's one more thing I wanted to share with y'all before I wrap this up:
K&M are holding some pretty cool contest s over at the BC Blog:
CONTEST #1: CREATE A MUSIC VIDEO FOR “SIXTEEN MOONS"
CONTEST #2: CREATE A CD COVER FOR “SIXTEEN MOONS"

There are very cool prizes for the winners: for the 1st Contest there'll be 4 winners, and for the 2nd, 5 winners!
(And there are several ways of entering in the 1st one).

I'll definitely be entering in the 2nd one, creating a cover for "16 Moons"!
I'll keep you updated ;)

Thanks for reading!
Ella

Author Guest Post: Ron Riekki

Don't miss today's post. It can get a bit long, but it's worth it, trust me.
Especially if you're an aspiring author.

I love today's post, simply because this is an author I really hadn't heard of before,
and I think many of you hadn't either, and I love discovering new authors and books,
especially when the book has meaning.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I give you
Ron Riekki, Author of
U.P.
---------------------------------------------------------

I'm excited to write this guest blog, because Ella is allowing me to do something I've never done before and that's to speak directly to the book bloggers. And I want to say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."

Without the Internet, my book sales would have been almost non-existent, because the corporate world of magazines and newspapers won't cover small press books, even when they're done through high quality indy publishers such as Ghost Road Press. Ghost Road books have won the WILLA Award, Colorado Book Award, American Book Award, Spur Award, and others.
And Ghost Road authors include Rafael Alvarez (writer for HBO's The Wire), Douglas Brinkley (CBS News history commentator), John Bullock (previous University of Virginia Creative Writing Program Henry Hoynes Fellow), and other amazing writers. Matt Davis of Ghost Road signs talented people who operate outside of commercial-leaning corporate publishers. In other words, Davis and Ghost Road take risks. And that's exactly what I love to do as an author.

My debut novel with them, U.P., was turned down by several agents and publishers who loved the book, but said it was "experimental" and so therefore wouldn't "sell". I knew that it would. And I also knew that whatever press had the guts to publish it would reap the benefits. And I believe those benefits now have been plentiful for Ghost Road. The book is in its 33rd week as their bestselling novel. Two producers in L.A. have contacted Davis about turning the novel into a film. And I've done about one hundred interviews where I've constantly plugged Ghost Road as a great press, because they are. They give you a fair percentage for your contract and allow you to write without selling out. They want good writing without the Ethan Hawke, Jewel, celebrity book concerns of the majors. No books about New York and shopping and nannies and vampires. No cheesy endings. I was gabbing with Alvarez one day and he said something along the lines that Matt Davis has more integrity in his pinky than most corporate publishers have in their entire bodies. Davis fights to keep literature alive, gutsy, transgressive, bleeding, unique. Books, not Book$.

And so I highly encourage you to go to www.ghostroadpress.com and poke around at their titles and authors. I'm so happy we live in this post-modern era where Polyester Books in Australia carries my little novel and I'm getting to write on a guest blog in Argentina while living in California. I love the immediate interconnections of the world now where we don't have to be included within the Kafkaesque walls of so many of the major publishing houses.

I tried to get U.P. into Books-A-Million and Borders and I was amazed at how incredibly mean they treated me, how I was talked down to as if I was some pesky fly on the wall. I wanted to tell them that I'd devoted my life to this, that I'd gone through the MFA Program for Playwriting at Brandeis University, the MFA Program for Fiction Writing at the University of Virginia, and the Ph.D. Program for Literature & Creative Writing at Western Michigan University, that I'd worked so many minimum wage jobs to support my writing habit that Charles Bukowski's life looks envious to mine. But I could tell they could care less.

But, oh, this is what I love about 2009, so many, so sooooo many indy bookstores are out there now--The Country Village Bookstore in Ishpeming, The Gnu's Room Bookstore in Auburn, Snowbound Books in Marquette, Falling Rock Cafe & Book Store in Munising, Polyester Books in Victoria, Russo's Books in Bakersfield, and a lot more. And those indy stores that support indy presses with indy authors make it so that we can write and not sell-out. We can create. We can exist.

And the book bloggers, they're a massive part of this new revolution, a little engine that could for authors out there who live to find their audience. And I believe in my novel. And that's because it's gotten such rave reviews, like this one and this other one.

National Book Award winner John Casey nominated U.P. for the prestigious Sewanee Writers' Series. Anne Beattie, included in Best American Short Stories of the Century, called me at my home to tell me how impressed she was by U.P. I know it's a good book, but it would have died without its being embraced by Ghost Road and all those great small bookstores and the wonderful, wonderful blogs who've let me do guest writing or interviews. I've listed ten of them below with my appearances on their sites.

Hopefully you'll check my interviews and guest blogs out to find out more about myself as an author and you'll also keep poking around to check out the rest of their blogs. We're becoming one big intense happy Internet family that has none of the rules of the major corporates. We can talk about what we want to talk about, say whatever we want to say, and let each other know what we love, who we're reading, and why it's important to our lives. I absolutely love it!

Check out:
1) Trisha's Book Blog
2) Hellnotes: Fiction, Movies, and Art Dedicated to the Horror Genre
3) Yooper Steez
4) The First Book
5) SmartAss Radio
6) The Book Girl Reviews
7) Just Your Typical Book Blog
8) Metal Express Radio
9) La Femme Readers
10) My Book, the Movie

Thank you so much to all of the above blogs and to all of your bloggers in general! You're allowing us to be discovered!

Ron Riekki, author of U.P.

-----------------------

U.P.'s Summary (from GhostRoadPress.com):

"From a bold new novelist comes a complex tale of friendship and brutality. Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, U.P. is the story of four teens immersed in an ugly world, one whose threat of violence is always simmering beneath the surface. R.A. Riekki's distinctive characters and their poignant quest for freedom is a swan song to lost youth, redefining the traditional coming-of-age story. Four boys, four distinct narratives that converge into a harrowing and heartbreaking whole."

Author Interview: Becca Fitzpatrick

With only 12 days to the release of Hush, Hush, the awesome Becca Fitzpatrick has answered some questions I dared to ask her a while ago. I was scared that she'd say she couldn't, because she was to busy, but I was really surprised when she said she'd do it. This put a huge smile on my face, and this is how I learned Authors and Bloggers have a special connection, and that we as Book Bloggers mustn't be afraid to reach out to them, the worst that could happen is an Author apologizing for having to much work to answer your Interview. And who are we to stop them from Writing?

So if you've seen Interviews at different Blogs, but are to scared to contact an Author for fear of being turned down, remember this: Authors are very cool people, who love those of us who read their work, and they love reading that people are interested in them. Stuff like Interviews and Guest Blogs are really helpful to them,

because is a different way of promoting their work.

Becca was the first Author I had the nerve to ask for an Interview, and she taught me that we're all equals, there's no need to be afraid of them.
Thanks Becca!

So, without further ado: Becca Fitzpatrick!

-----------------------------------

Hi Becca! Thanks for being here today! I'm very happy to have you here.
Hey, Ella! Thanks so much for inviting me!

We’re very close to the release date of Hush, Hush. Are you excited?
I'm nervous! I think there's quite a bit of excitement beneath all
the layers of nervous anticipation, but the questions foremost on my mind are: Will people like the book? Will they want to read more?
Will I be able to make a career out of writing, or will this book kill
the idea on the spot? There are so many unknowns! But after all
that, yes, I'm incredibly excited!

I read on a blog that you worked on this book for five years and that you have over two thousand pages of deleted scenes to show for it. That’s a lot of dedication. I’m sure you must be happy you kept writing it.
I can laugh about those five years now, but it was
definitely one of the most frustrating periods of my life. It was
such a roller coaster. When an agent would ask to see pages, or even offer to read a rewrite, I would be way up on cloud nine. When the rejections rolled in, I'd feel a mix of despair and renewed conviction
to keep writing until I got the story right. I still have most of
those many, many pages, but I haven't looked at them in over a year.
I'm afraid the sight of them might make me throw up! But the one
thing I can say for sure is it's the things we work hardest for in
life that bring the most satisfaction and joy. To writers out there
who're feeling discouraged: keep at it. Persistence is key.

They’re calling your book dark, sexy and mysterious. Did any of this words come to mind when writing it?
That's a great question. I don't really remember any of those particular adjectives coming to mind, but I do remember trying to maintain a sinister and suspenseful tone.

Also, people who’ve read it and reviewed it claim that there are several scenes in the book that reminded them of Twilight. What do you think of this?
I can see where people would get that. After all, in
both stories the biology classroom is an important part of the
setting, and both have otherworldly heroes. I remember at one point
while I was submitting to agents, one of them asked if I'd be willing
to rewrite the opening scene to take place in a health class, because
biology was just too similar to Twilight. I had to laugh, because
this comment didn't come until 2007, when Twilight was big. Nobody
seemed to have a problem with setting the story in biology before
that! On an interesting side note, when I submitted Hush, Hush to
agents starting in 2003, the book's title was Eclipsed. I think
sometimes similarities are nothing more than unexpected coincidences.
That said, I enjoyed Twilight very much and I'm looking forward to
reading the rest of the series.

Team Bunny or Team Unicorn?
Team Unicorn!

Favourites of this year?
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, The Monstrumologist
by Rick Yancey, The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

I saw the playlist for Hush, Hush over at your site, and noticed that you’d put The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”. That is one of my favourite songs. My question is: did you listen to this song while writing, or selected it for the playlist after the book was finished?
I plot my books while exercising, so I actually listened to that song while
running and hashing out Hush, Hush's plot. I love music in the
planning/plotting stage, but when I sit down to do the actual writing,
I need quiet. When I write to music, I find that I think my writing
is better than it actually is. That's the power of good music!

Thank you for stopping by The Clock Monkey! I’m glad you took the time to answer my questions.

Any time! It was a lot of fun! Now I'm super curious how you came up
with the name The Clock Monkey. Tell!

Becca Fitzpatrick.
----------------------------------------------

Someday I'll tell, Becca. Someday...

This was really fun, and I'll always remember you as the First Author I ever Interviewed!

Thanks for being such a sweetheart!

Becca's Upcoming Events:

October 13, 6:30PM
Book launch party!
Readers Cove in Ft. Collins, CO

October 15, 5PM
Educator Reception Night
Loveland, CO B&N

October 16, 7PM
Reading & signing
Fort Collins, CO B&N

Read the first two chapters online at Simon&Schuster.com

Countdown to Hush, Hush's Release!

Find out more about Hush, Hush!

Want this widget? Visit Becca's site and grab it!

Pre-Order Hush, Hush from Amazon/B&N/Indiebound

Author Guest Post: Megan Crewe (+ giveaway)

The lovely Megan Crewe has written a very clever post
on how she created her ghosts
for her new book:
Give Up The Ghost

Let give her a round of applause, people!
---------------------------------------------------------

Creating a ghost

You can find stories about ghosts going back thousands of years. So when I
started writing GIVE UP THE GHOST, I had to decide which bits of ghostly
mythology I might use, and how I would shape them to fit my story and make my
ghosts unique.

Here are a few of the things that define my ghosts:

1. My ghosts have a confused sense of time. This was inspired by the stories of
ghosts who seem to be living out or mourning a tragedy over and over, even
though it happened decades or centures ago. In GIVE UP THE GHOST, the ghosts
have strong memories of their lives, and have trouble remembering anything that's
happened afterward. They can recall recent events for a few hours or even days,
depending on how long they've been dead, and then they forget again. The only
things that start to stick are changes that stay the same. For example, when one
ghost's parents first cleared out her old bedroom, she would freak out over it every
few hours when she'd forgotten and was surprised by it again. But after a few
weeks, the change "sank in" (as Cass puts it) and she accepted it as if it'd always
been that way.

2. My ghosts can travel, but they have a relatively small location they feel most
comfortable at. Most ghosts in stories seem to be stuck to a particular place,
often the place where they died. For my ghosts, it's a place where they felt at
home when they were alive. One ghost who had an abusive father hangs out in
the halls at school where he used to meet up with his friends; another, who
dreamed of becoming a ballerina, lingers near the gym where she used to practice.
But because they're more human than many ghosts, they can decide to leave their
comfort place if they want to--they just won't feel totally at ease until they come

back.

3. My ghosts have an individual smell. This wasn't based on anything specific in
ghost mythology--it just seemed to make sense, that wispy and ethereal as ghosts
are, they would carry something wispy and ethereal like a scent. Each ghost's
scent is related to their life: one ghost trails of a whiff of the hair oil he always
used; another travels with the smell of his favorite tea.
All of that added together, I hope, makes for ghosts who seem appropriately
ghost-like, but a little different in their own way, too!

Thanks for hosting me,
Megan
------------------------------------------------

What an interesting post! Really!
I loved having you, Megan!
Come back any time! ;)

Give Up The Ghost hits the shelves TODAY!
*deafening round of applause*

Make sure you go to your nearest book store a snatch a copy of this amazing book!

AND, I'm guessing you'll be needing a bookmark to go with your copy of GUTG.
So, I'm giving away (thanks to Megan, of course)
a bunch of this awesome GUTG bookmarks!

Just leave your e-mail in the comments section, and you're in to win one of this beauties!

There'll be two winners!

(US/Canada addresses only, please, we don't want to leave Megan penniless!)

Ends Sept 22nd!

In the meantime, I'm leaving you with the GUTG Book Trailer (which I love <3). height="315" width="400">

Author Guest Post: Shelly Nicholson

Please join me in welcoming Shelly Nicholson to The Clock Monkey!

Wow! I’ve visited lots of blogs this week on my tour to promote A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake and I’ve had a great time! I wanted to do something fun for Ella’s blog, because she has such a creative blog with her “monkey ratings” and her fresh outlook on books.

So I’ve decided to do a bit of an untraditional self interview…

Do I have any children? I have four children, 3 sons and a daughter! They are 13, 11, 7 and 4. Jacob, my youngest son, was inspiration for my two books Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair and A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake.

What kind of music do I listen to? I listen to a collectic mix; I love classic rock and anything I can dance to especially 80’s :) …I don’t really like country music. :(

What is my favorite movie? My favorite movie is probably the Notebook. I also love Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.

Do I have any fears? I am terrified of mice and rats. Just like “Jake the Snake’s” mom in Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair and A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake.

When I was a kid, did I want to be a writer when I grew up? When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleader when I grew up.

Who is my favorite children’s author? Kevin Henkes. I love his books Chrysanthemum, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, and Julius, the Baby of the World
What was my favorite TV show as a kid? The Brady Bunch

What is my favorite TV show now? Lost!
What is my favorite kid’s show now? iCarly or Drake and Josh

Thank you, Ella, for inviting me to visit your blog!
I am addicted to writing, so being a guest blog poster has been so much fun!
Right now, I think that writing for kids is my favorite pastime.
Partially, I believe, because I am still a kid at heart and imagination. I like to ride my bike with my sons, fly a kite (when I can actually get it to stay up in the air), walk around in moon shoes, sing Hannah Montana with my daughter as we travel down the highway with sunroof open and breeze blowing through our hair, read Harry Potter books, watch Disney movies, comb Barbie’s hair, bake in the Easy Bake Oven (and the real oven too), and just act plain silly.

Through my writing, I can really sink myself into the mind set of my youthful characters! It’s my intention to get early readers hooked on reading through humor and realistic characters. I want kids to be able to laugh-out-loud while they are reading my stories and relate to the situations. But I also want readers to be able to learn a valuable lesson at the end of my stories. I hope that my “Jake the Snake” books provide all of these qualities.
Writing for children is like a fountain of youth to me! :)
So, write, I say! It’s healthy and fun!

Shelly Nicholson
-------------------------------------------------

It's been fun to have you Shelly!
I'd never seen an author do a self-interview before!

You should definitely check this book out, especially if you have little siblings,
cousins, kids in general!

Click here to read my review on A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake

This was part of the Blog Book Tour for A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake

On Author Interviews

I'm sending e-mails right now to several different authors, trying to get them to answer me a few questions to post up here.

Have you ever done this before? If you have, does is take long for the author to get back to you?
I know I won't get an answer right away, authors are busy people, but who do you think could answer my e-mails?

I'll keep my fingers crossed!
I have some interesting questions for some of them. Hopefully I will at least have one of them answering me.

Cross your fingers for me, and you might look forward to some very cool new features!

Thanks,

Help an Author

Rodney Barnes suffered a traumatic brain injury years ago and basically had to learn to live all over again, starting at the beginning. He has written a book about his experience and his recovery and could really use everyone's help in getting the word out about brain injuries and rehabilitation. Any of you folks out there who run review or blog sites, please help spread the word about Rodney and his book by offering reviews or mentions. Thanks for your help!

His book is available in http://www.authorhouse.com/ (lowest price), Amazon, Target, and other online stores have the book at a higher price.

He also started a website, Sharing Miracles, so other people can share their life experiences and miracles.

You can do it Rodney!

xoxo,

Crash into Me by Albert Borris (+Awesome giveaway!)

Look at that. Wouldn't you want to win that? I know I would. That's why I'm entering in the

Beautiful Creatures Book Club Contest: Crash Into Me Hardcover & Swag!

You will win: A hardcover of CRASH INTO ME by Albert Borris, a brown suede journal, purple nail polish, a Nirvana Nevermind CD, blueberry Pop Tarts, Twizzlers, 30 Temporary Tattoos & a Necklace made by Kami & Margie + Beautiful Creatures SWAG
Enter NOW!

This is a very special giveaway, for an even more special book.

About the book:

"Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back."

"In December, Albert Borris suffered a stroke so severe that he almost died. Although he was lucky to be alive, the stroke robbed Borris of more than his health. He lost his ability to express himself. Crash into Me hadn't even been released and Albert Borris, whose mind was as sharp as ever, was fighting to recover his physical abilities. Ellen Hopkins, who is close with the author, wrote to tell me that he is doing well and making great progress. Last week, Liz B posted a press release to help get the word out about Crash Into Me.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be unable to promote the release of my debut novel, let alone to lose my ability to speak and write." Kami Garcia

I couldn't agree more with her.
I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't speak, or write, or even laugh.
That would be a grim life. Certainly not one I'd want to live.
I'm here to spread the word, to help this author get the recognition he deserves.
Now you help me.

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