Lucky Seven!

Hello my preciousi!
Preciouses? Preciousi? What exactly is the plural of precious? 


Moving on.


The tour has started, and I am so pleased that The Kiss Off is getting some super-fab reviews.
I'm def. looking forward to release day on May 15!
But I'm not talking about all that today.


I was tagged in a Lucky Seven post by lovely YA Taste Test author (the sampler with awesome books by awesome authors I'm part of), Melissa Pearl! This is a fun meme where you must post an excerpt from one of your books and this excerpt has to be seven sentences, lines or paragraphs from page 77, seven lines down.


So! Page 77, 7 lines from the top of The Kiss Off in which you find Poppy double-booking herself.


“Bring them to the club! I mean, if you want to.”
“I want to!”
“Really?” he said. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to them, it’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to it.”
When I called Vanya, there was a different opinion. “What happened to girls night?” she asked. “‘Just us three hanging out, no boys allowed’?”
“I know, but-”
“You’re going specifically to see Ty, Poppy. Ty is a boy.”

TAGGING TIME!

I tag:


1. Shirley Marr!
2. Amie Kaufman!
3. Meg Spooner!
4. Edith Cohn!
5. Erin Fry!
6. Angela Townsend!
7. Veronica Blade!


Why do I tag these perfect people? For selfish reasons, really. I want to read their extracts!


What's your weekend looking like? I'm going to the ice hockey! And celebrating the ability to breathe through my nose, a skill which one entirely overlooks until you have a cold and simply can't do it anymore.

The Kiss Off - touring the blogosphere!

It's that time!

Release day is imminent (May 15) so I, and The Kiss Off are going on a working holiday!
We'll be joining lots of fabulous bloggers, so be sure to check out the blogs below on their tour dates to find out what they think of the book, find interviews with yours truly and guest posts on a range of topics including a book review (how much did I love The Statistical Probability of Love at First sight, you ask? Visit I Love YA Fiction to find out!), some top 10 lists, me with my business hat on, talking editing over at the Bookshelf Muse, and more!

BUT WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

By visiting the tour stops below and leaving a comment (or however else that blogger determines prize drawings), you go into the draw to win the complete Sarah Billington ebook pack!


That's this:

Check out my website for book descriptions

TOUR STOPS

Monday, April 23 - ChickLitGirl

Tuesday, April 24 - Readinista

Wednesday, April 25 - The Writer's Republic

Thursday, April 26 - Simplistik

Friday, April 27 - A Word's Worth

Saturday, April 28 - Shweta's Book Journal

Sunday, April 29 - Chocolate Coffee Books

Monday, April 30 - The Secret Life of An Avid Reader

Tuesday, May 1 - Dead Trees and Silver Screens

Wednesday, May 2 - I Love YA Fiction

Thursday, May 3 - The Reader's Antidote

Friday, May 4 - The Life of Fiction

Saturday, May 5 - Crazed Bookie

Sunday, May 6 - Maji Bookshelf

Monday, May 7 - The Magic Attic

Tuesday, May 8 - The Australian Bookshelf

Wednesday, May 9 - Book Briefs & Candice W. Coghill's Blog

Thursday, May 10 - 1001 First Lines

Saturday, May 12 - The Bookshelf Muse

Monday, May 14 - Pages of Forbidden Love

Tuesday, May 15 - The (EPIC) Rat & The Magic Attic

See you there!

FREE DOWNLOAD: Discover Upcoming Young Adult Books!

FREE DOWNLOAD: Discover your new
favourite Young Adult authors!

YA Paranormal and Contemporary Romance Sampler 2012 by Sarah Billington (that's me!), Veronica Blade, CJ Duggan, Laura Eno, Michelle A. Hansen, Nolia McCarty, Melissa Pearl & Brenda Howson, and LM Preston  

This book is a taste test of all things YA Romance. Within these pages you'll find excerpts from a range of contemporary, paranormal and Sci Fi YA stories that have either just been released or are coming out later this year. There is also a brand new full short story from Veronica Blade for you to enjoy. Nine fantastic authors are featured and we are all very excited about sharing our work with you.  

Download from Smashwords  

Available in web-reading, Kindle, ePub, PDF, RTF, LRF and Palm Doc formats 

Don't have a Smashwords account? Download Kindle direct from Sarah Billington.com (and ePub and PDF sometime later today. For some reason they're freezing when I try to add them. Le frustrated sigh).

Lots of variety here, I bet you'll find someone you love!

Blog Tour Announcement

The release of my next book, The Kiss Off is just over a month away and very very soon the blog tour, hosted by the lovely Missy of Missy's Reads & Reviews starts in just 12 days!

I'm so stoked; already bloggers and early reviewers are rating the book on Goodreads (reviews to come during the tour) and it's all 4 or 5 out of 5 stars! I'm so thrilled because I'm REALLY proud of this book.

WIN STUFF!

During the tour, visit as many stops as you like and make sure to leave a comment (or enter via that particular blog's system) and go in the draw to win EVERY SARAH BILLINGTON BOOK TO DATE.

I'll let you know where to visit and when as soon as I have the details!

Check out the first chapter of The Kiss Off for FREE right here!

Adios amigas and amigos!

H is for Having Star Power

One of my favourite movie for kids is Zathura.

It has the awesome of Jumanji but IN SPACE. Yes? Yes.

It is not possible for you to tell me that is in fact NOT awesome,
and for me to believe you.

I already knew this was an awesome flick, but I did NOT realise that it had some serious star power going on.

It's Bella and itty-bitty Peeta! (Okay, not completely itty-bitty, but itty-bitty enough!)

Two of the hottest commodities in YA books-turned-movie franchises on the planet right now.
(You know I'm talking Twilight and The Hunger Games, right?)

Hard to believe through this photo that nowadays they're playing characters that are the same age, right? Ah, movie magic.
Later gators,

G is for Ghosts

I believe in ghosts. Do you?

Actually, let me rephrase that. I WANT to believe in ghosts and I sort of do but I still have that niggling doubt that lingers when it comes to things like this. I don't have 100% faith that ghosts exist.

Nowadays, you can't prove it if you've seen a ghost. Even if you snap a photo of them, or catch them on camera, the technology is so advanced that it's SO EASY to fake your footage.

I'm not saying this is definitely fake, but it could be. Found it here.

1. Paste an image of a person into a photo.
2. Lower the opacity on the image of the person so that they are transparent and voila. You have yourself a genuine ghost.

A (long since passed) aunt of mine could see spirits. And according to my mother, my grandmother (aunt's sister) who very much had her head firmly on her shoulders and didn't believe in this stuff...she saw a ghost too. That followed them when they moved house.

And then at least a decade after he saw them, my uncle (my mum's brother) who didn't believe in ghosts admitted that he saw that same ghost as my grandmother, a little girl in my grandmother's bedroom.

It seems to run in our family. When I was younger, in primary school, I saw things too. I can't call them ghosts, because they were out of the corner of my eye and when I looked properly, they were gone.

But at my primary school, I saw a little girl in an old-fashioned dress, with  ribbons in her hair. But she was gone when I looked properly.

And in class, there was a lady with her hair in a loose bun at the back of her head, walking behind the students, checking our progress. But she was gone when I looked at her properly as she reached me. And she was NOT my teacher.

On a tour of a haunted house in York, England two years ago, we were encouraged to take lots of photos, so my friend and I did.
My friend had the misfortune of somehow deleting ALL the photos of her trip after she got back, but before that happened she showed her sister the photos from that day. Of me, in the house. And her sister spotted, in several photos, a translucent young girl in old-fashioned clothing. I never saw the pictures so I don't know.

But there have been too many stories over the centuries for ghosts NOT to exist, right?

I haven't seen anything like all this in a long time. Maybe I'm not receptive to them anymore.

This all probably explains why I love the show Ghost Hunters so much.

Look what I'm a part of: YA Teaser!

Coming very very soon. FREE eBOOK with sample chapters from new and upcoming titles from some excellent authors...including me!

E is for Edwina Ray!

E should really be for Easter, but I'm not a big Easter celebrator so I'm going to pick something ELSE E should be for. So E is for...Edwina Ray!

It's fairly safe to bet that most people visiting here know that as well as writing contemporary chick lit for middle grade, YA and a little for adults, I also write the gruesome stuff, the thrillers, horrors, supernatural, crime and mysteries under the name Edwina Ray.

Edwina Ray just had a kick-ass weekend giveaway, in which 6,900+ people picked up a free copy of my YA supernatural The Witch's Curse.

I hope you all enjoy it, folks.

The Witch's Curse comes off Kindle Select tomorrow, and what it means for YOU is that it will be available shortly not ONLY on Kindle, but on Smashwords, B&N, ITunes, Sony, Kobo, Diesel et al.

So everyone ELSE can read it too!

Edwina Ray news!

She now has a website
A Facebook Fan Page

and I, Zombie (the first-person zombie short story) has a spanking new cover!

I'm uploading it now. I like it. Kinda eerie, yes?

What do you think?

Have a fabulous long weekend everyone!

D is for Doing Things!

As a student, writer and work-from-home small business owner, I spend a lot of time at home.

Since this became my lifestyle, I have become quite determined, quite passionate about GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE. Plus when it's hot (like it is today. Summer came back for a visit) my office gets too hot to work in so yay for excuses to join the human race!

I went to the Victorian Roller Derby (come on Toxic Avengers! Why are they my favourite team? Because they have the coolest logo)

I bought the tee shirt

It's comedy festival time, baby! I'm going to 4 shows. 2 down, 2 to go!

I'm becoming a semi-regular at the ice hockey, and am definitely looking forward to the season starting up again.

I like to go on Ghost Walks and Tours because they are creepy (and educational!) though I haven't done one of those in awhile...

I have a weekly standing date with a girlfriend to go to the gym and try a different class. I had no idea I would be SO SORE after Body Balance. And I'm looking forward to flailing and jostling and never feeling MORE like a white girl when I try Zumba.

I saw the How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular! which was pretty awesome for the special effects and playing with perspective, but also a bit of a let down because there were so few Vikings they couldn't get even close to filling up the stage area.

But, I mean, it had big shoes to live up to. How to Train Your Dragon is a favourite.

Tomorrow I'm going to Luna Park! 

Not at all creepy-looking, right?

This is pretty much what my day will be like*.

*If this was a goes upside-down rollercoaster then there's
no freaking WAY this is what my day would be like.

And after editing, editing, editing this morning, I'm off to the pub for a writing lunch date with one of my favourite people. Then back for editing, editing, editing some more! (FYI - I don't do liquid lunches, editing clients you need not be worried!)

See you all later!

C is for stand up Comedy

My review of the first show I went to on Sunday night, and my first show of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival season is up and live on The Pun if you're interested.

Mark Thomas - Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall)

Really interesting show. Not at all what I expected. That said, I didn't know anything about Mark or the show. Great mix of comedy and international politics.

http://www.anewleaf.com.au/2012/04/02/mark-thomas-extreme-rambling-walking-the-wall/

AND...

My review of the second show I saw is live now too!

http://www.anewleaf.com.au/2012/04/03/damian-callinan-robinson-crusoe/

Who are your favourite comedians? Be they movie stars or stand up. Share with me!

C is for Craptastic

GROOAAANN.

My workload grows and grows when it has no need to.
I had to do a ten minute presentation yesterday at university, on the literary criticism topic of Structuralism. (I was going to talk about Structuralism in relation to The Hunger Games. It would have been awesome).

Representation of the dyad of poverty and wealth depicted in The Hunger Games.
Without poverty, there is no wealth, and vice versa. See? I know this shit!

So I did the work. Made my presentation. I MADE THE TERRIBLY HORRIBLY HARD DECISION TO SKIP SUE LAWSON'S BOOK LAUNCH YESTERDAY BECAUSE I WAS STRESSING ABOUT THE PRESENTATION.

So yesterday came. My flash drive was corrupted. I hadn't written a speech, it was all in the power point presentation.

So now, to make up for NOT doing the presentation yesterday, I get to write a 1,000 word essay on it instead. On TOP OF the other essay that's due.

Yays.

End whiny vent.

B is for Birthday!

It's my birthday this month! April 19th, to be precise. And I will be turning a very decided SOMETHING in the twenty-something turn of phrase.
I have a friend who, two years ago, gave me a "Happy 80th Birthday" card. Last year he told me "Happy eighty-first birthday." He seems to remember my faux old lady birthday but I don't think he has any idea how old I ACTUALLY am. I must say, I'm curious as to what he'll wish me this year.

Anyhoo. I'm looking forward to my birthday. I'm going to have a Murder Mystery party, methinks. You'll find out more about that later.

Presents are accepted and heartily encouraged.

I discovered this AWESOME SHOP online. So this is what I would like:

Do I seem to want them all? Yes. Yes I do.
These tee shirts and other awesome stuff can be found at Out of Print Clothing. You want them too, don't you.

Yeah, I know you do. Let's be tee shirt buddies!

B is for free BOOK!

The Witch's Curse is FREE right now until April 3 on Amazon!

In this new short supernatural thriller from Amazon Best Selling author Edwina Ray, when fifteen-year-old Alex is caught out in the secluded forest admiring the giant ancient tree set in a moss-covered clearing, she is sure Josh is pulling a prank on her.

Be careful of the witch's curse, he says. The tree has the power to kill you in the most horrible of ways.

Alex didn't believe him.

Maybe she should have.


Get it at Amazon US and Amazon UK


PRAISE FOR EDWINA RAY'S BOOKS

"Great pacing, mood, atmosphere and crisp writing. I love this story." - Shirley Marr, author of Fury and Preloved, Black Dog Books

"The writing is delightful and the tension is set up from beginning to end. It's the kind of psychological mind-f*** that leaves you wondering..." - Heather Marie Adkins, author of Abigail, Underneath and The Temple

"This dark and wonderfully creepy! I love your writing style, very clean, compelling and top-notch" - Heather McCorkle, author of Channeler's Choice and Born of Fire

"I thought that every angle in the zombie genre had been explored. I was wrong, as you have proven in an original and hilarious way" - Vincent Cleghorne

"Edwina Ray's stories keep you guessing until the very end, where there is always an element of surprise. This book `The Witch's Curse' is no exception. It will leave you saying `I didn't see that coming!'" - Vikki Barker

So you can get your copy NOW. Don't have an ereader? You don't need one. Check out the tab up the top about how to read an ebook without an ereading device. There are SO MANY great books out there to choose from. 

A is for Weekend of AWESOME

To bid adieu to March and usher in April, I've had a jam-packed weekend full of excellence.

Yesterday I went and saw this:

OMGSQUEESOAWESOME!!!!11!!!!1!

So faithful to the book which I was INCREDIBLY glad to see. In the books I'm Team Gale 4EVA but the movie...I gotta say it...Peeta was wearing me down. Mind you, Gale will get more time in the spotlight in the next movie WHICH NEEDS TO BE MADE RIGHT NOW.

And I went to my first ever bout of this:

It was fun, though since I don't really know the rules, watching them roll around and around was somewhat repetitive. I need to study up if I'm going to go again.
I bought the Toxic Avengers tee shirt because their logo is awesome.

TODAY I am going to these:

The Book Launch for Sue Lawson's new book - at the Titanic Theatre Restaurant which I have been DYING to go to!

Mark Thomas at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Damian Callinan at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 

I am reviewing the comedy festival shows for the publication The Pun, so you'll be able to check out what I thought of them later this week!

Totally A for AWESOME weekend.

Later gators,

A is for A-Z Challenge!

I am taking part in the A-Z Blogging Challenge!

Yes, I don't know why I do this to myself either.
But I think it'll be fun. I DON'T think I'm going to post 6+ blog posts a day. But I will try to post EVERY SINGLE DAY, so throughout April I feel we're going to get closer, dear readers. You're going to get to know me better.

Every day in April (except Sundays...well...except Sundays that are NOT April 1st) I shall post about the letter of the day. April 1 is A, April 2 is B...you're a smart cookie. You can figure out how it goes.

If you TOO would like to participate, you can sign up here!
I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new bloggers and just readers in general. Let the shenanigans begin!