Teaser Tuesdays (28): POSSESSION and Giveaway

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title, and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



THIS WEEK'S TEASER IS:

TITLE: POSSESSION
AUTHOR: Elana Johnson
PUBLICATION DATE: 7 June 2011


"It's not really mind control. My voice..."


His voice? His damn voice?


He'd put me to sleep.
He'd told me he was a great liar.
He'd told me I could touch him.
He'd told me lots of things.

"Oh man, Jag. You're dead." I took a step away from him so I could swing with more force.*

*Quote taken from ARC of POSSESSION and is subject to change at publication.

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POSSESSION cover art courtesy of GOODREADS.

I received an ARC of POSSESSION from the publisher SIMON PULSE.

Click HERE to purchase POSSESSION from The Book Depository.

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WIN AN ARC OF POSSESSION! Just comment below and include your email address to be entered. Contest open internationally until 21 July 2011. One entry per person. You do not have to be a follower of my blog to enter, but one extra entry per person will be given to all followers.

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Guest Post: Elana Johnson (POSSESSION)

AUTHOR BIO:
Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) on June 7, 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog and WriteOnCon, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

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Let’s Hear It For The Boys!

Okay, so now that I’ve got that amazing 80s song stuck in your head, let’s see where we can go today.

We’re nearing the end of the POSSESSION blog tour, and we’ve talked about everything from marketing, to tech, to world-building, to music that inspired the book. There have been some amazing giveaways, and some FUNtastic reviews.

Some of the reviews have mentioned the two male MCs in POSSESSION, Jag Barque and Zenn Bower, but I’ve noticed that we’ve spent a lot of time talking about Vi Schoenfeld (she is the MC after all).

So I wanted to explore the boys a little more. From the jacket copy, I think it’s pretty clear that there’s a love triangle in POSSESSION. (Sorry if that’s a spoiler for you!)

We meet Zenn in chapter one, and I have to admit that I really like Zenn a lot. He’s like the silent pillar in the background of Vi’s life. He’s always been there for her, even before they were matched.

We meet Jag in chapter two, and I’ll admit that he tends to steal the scene sometimes. He has a lot to say, but doesn’t always say it. He’s there for Vi in very different ways, but he wants her as much as Zenn.

But they both want her for different reasons—and not all of them are good.

When I was writing POSSESSION, I knew I needed two very different characters for Vi to interact with. This worked out quite well, because Jag was loud and, at times, overbearing in my head. He just wouldn’t shut. up. Ever.

Vi is a lot like him in some ways. Not sure if that’s good or bad, but there it is.

Zenn is still a mystery to me on many levels. He was much quieter, tending to fade into the background of both my mind, and the book. But he was always there, subtly reminding me that “Hey, I’m still here if you need me.”

Vi craves that steadiness in her life. Not sure if that’s good or bad, either, but there you go.

I didn’t set out to write two guys so that readers could pick teams. In fact, the feedback I’ve heard indicates that one of the teams will be non-existent. But I do think that most of us probably know a guy like Zenn and a guy like Jag. They both have value. They’re both strong.

Maybe after you read POSSESSION you’ll be able to see why choosing just one is hard for Vi.

So. Let’s hear it for the boys! If you haven’t read POSSESSION yet, who are some of your favorite literary males? What do you like about them?

Thank you so much, Elana for visiting today!

Bio and images provided by the author, ELANA JOHNSON.

I received an ARC of POSSESSION from the publisher SIMON AND SCHUSTER.


For more information on Elana Johnson and POSSESSION, check out these websites,

Sampler WEBSITE
Regal Literary YA Summer GIVEAWAY
Sneak peek at POSSESSION
Elana's BLOG

Author Sighting: Lunch with Elana Johnson (POSSESSION)

Elana Johnson (r) and Me

I've been meaning to put together this post for about two weeks, but came down with a virus, followed by a head cold, so I am just getting around to posting.

About three weeks ago, I received an email from Dawn Ryan at Simon and Schuster with an invite to attend an exclusive lunch with author Elana Johnson and several other bloggers on 14 May. I don't think I can describe how excited I was! Even though I live in Philly and the event was being held in New York City, I was not going to turn down such a great opportunity.

I met Damaris from Good Choice Reading, another blogger who was attending, in New Jersey where she lives and we drove the rest of the way to NYC together. After fighting city traffic (and a Passover parade), we finally made it to Bill's Bar and Burger in Rockefeller Center.

Left to right: Damaris, Rachel, Elana and Me

Once there, I met Elana Johnson, Dawn Ryan and two other ladies from Simon and Schuster, as well as Rachel from Bookshelf Lust. I had a great time, tasting various milkshakes (my favorite was the Thin Mint, of course) and discussing POSSESSION, the dystopian genre, favorite reads (so far) of 2011, and Elana's path to publication.

I am so happy I got the opportunity to meet everyone, especially since I made some new blogger friends!

I am also very excited to be participating in Elana Johnson's Pre Launch Blog Tour of POSSESSION, so make sure you stop back by on May 25th.  I'll be holding a contest for an ARC of POSSESSION, posting my review and other fun stuff! Don't miss it!

For more information on Elana Johnson, POSSESSION and the Pre Launch Blog Tour, visit the POSSESSION WEBSITE and FACEBOOK page.

Click HERE to pre-order POSSESSION from The Book Depository.