STUNG 2 aka CURED

STUNG 2 has a title (CURED), a release date (Jan 2, 2014), and is on Goodreads! Here's the blurb:

Fiona Tarsis is a legend. Her world was ravaged by a lethal virus, her family separated. Her friends were turned into ferocious beasts by an even deadlier vaccine. Mindless monsters now raid the streets. But Fiona has survived. Jacqui Bloom needs Fiona's help. Two years ago, Jacqui's brother, Dean, left the safety of his home to guide Fiona's mother to a safe haven. He never returned. Jacqui has been hiding away in the family house, disguised as a boy, and hoping Dean will come back. But she can no longer live like this. She has to find him. Even with the two men Fiona loves most by their side, leading Jacqui into the desert will be risky. Raiders are everywhere - they will do anything to prevent the beast-cure her group are carrying from being spread - and knowing who to trust is near impossible. Lone traveller Kevin is sexy and self-assured, and has caught Jacqui's attention, but he is hiding his past. Is he also hiding the truth about what he really wants from them? This dramatic dystopian thriller is the perfect cure for addicts of The Hunger Games.

SQUEEEEE!!! 

STUNG Blog Tour Kickoff

It's time! Time for the STUNG blog tour. So go here if you want to follow the fun!

STUNG Awesomeness

Some STUNG awesomeness!

First, do you want to read the first chapter of STUNG? (The correct answer is yes!) It is being featured on Tor.com.

Also, the trailer is out! The trailer is out! HERE is the link.

Fifteen Days!

Only fifteen days until STUNG comes out! What have I been up to to get ready for this huge event? Here's what:

Blogging (for other people's blogs).

Planning an awesome party complete with tons of fresh-baked bread, flavored honey, and books.

Author interviews.

Making a stamp of the "mark."

Blogging (for other people's blogs). Wait--I already said that.

And, that is about it. Most boring blog post ever? Probably. :)

STUNG Blog Tour

My dear friends, Hannah  and Lisseth from The Book Paparazzi Blog, are hosting a STUNG blog tour! If you want to be a part of the fun, click here!

XOXO, Bethany

Nightmare Inspiration

I can hardly believe it! STUNG comes out in less that three months (April 2). I still remember the day in November 2011 when I found out it wouldn't come out clear until April 2013. And now that is just around the corner! So, I though it would be fun to tell you how the idea for STUNG came about.

Sometime in 2010, at 4:40 a.m., I sat up in bed and gasped. I stumbled to the computer and typed one paragraph. And then I went back to sleep. When I got up at 7:00, I vaguely remembered waking from a horrifying nightmare in the wee hours and typing it up on the computer. When I sat down and read what I'd written, my heart started beating a little faster as I remembered the nightmare. Here it is (though this is not the awkward paragraph I wrote at 4:40 a.m. This is the nightmare with a little more detail).

I was in the house I grew up in, the house house beside the elementary school. But it was all wrong--dilapidated, falling apart, empty. And someone was in the house with me. When I turned to see who it was, I froze, because this person wasn't really a person. He was feral, and looked at me like he wanted to eat me. So I forced myself to unfreeze and ran. But he was fast. As I threw myself through an open window, his nails dug into my skin and tried to pull me back in.

The nightmare jumped. I was in the sewer, watching groups of people huddled together and eating food from cans. They wore rags, spoke in whispers, and had eyes that shifted toward every sound. And then I woke up.

And that is how the idea for STUNG was born.

Here's the blurb from the cover:

There is no cure for being stung.

Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right.

Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.

Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Awesomeness In Threes

This is a pretty awesome day for three reasons. First of all,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELANA JOHNSON!!!

If you don't know Elana Johnson, you should. She is the author of Possession, Surrender, and the upcoming Abandon (Simon Pulse, June 4 2013). She also has one of the best blogs ever!

Next, my cousin's wife, Angela Felsted, has a book coming out! It is called Chaste, and here is the blurb:

When he steps into his physics class on the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner. Regrettably, he has no choice.

Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.

Now, Quinn Walker is not your average boy. He makes cookies. (Side note: my husband makes the best chocolate chip cookies EVER!) So to celebrate the release of Chaste, I am putting my husband's famous cookie recipe on here for you. 

RECIPE

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups Guittard or Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips
• Soften butter in microwave, and then stir it all by hand. That's the secret. ROLL into balls and bake at 375 f for 9 min.
• Third thing, in honor of these two amazing ladies, I am giving away a signed copy of my book, SHIFTING. All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. So, leave a comment, and happy baking/reading/eating!
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