Mini Me Corner Review: Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb by Ally Malinenko

So today, I have a great review for you.  I read this book with Samantha and can't wait to tell you all about it.  Below  you will find our review and our rating as well.  

MEET LIZZY SPEARE… …a normal twelve year old girl with a talent for writing, who has a very not normal family secret. And when Lizzy’s father vanishes, that secret will change her life in ways unimagined. (Spoiler Alert! It turns out that Lizzy, or Elizabeth S. Speare, is the last living descendant of William Shakespeare. Shhh! Don’t tell anybody!) Then Lizzy and her best friend Sammy are kidnapped, awakening in the faraway land of Manhattan. Their host is Jonathan Muse, whose job is to protect Lizzy from becoming the latest victim in a family feud nearly five hundred years old. Could that be why the mysterious, eye patch-wearing Dmitri Marlowe is after her? (Spoiler Alert 2—he’s the last living descendant of Christopher Marlowe, a friend and rival of Shakespeare’s. But keep it to yourself!) Is Marlowe after Lizzy’s family fortune rumored to be kept in Shakespeare’s tomb? Does he seek artistic immortality? Or Revenge (with a capital R) for a death long, long ago? In a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, Lizzy and Sammy are thrust into the realm of the mythical and fantastic—from satyrs and Cyclopses to Middle Eastern cab drivers and Brooklyn hipsters—in what is truly “an improbable fiction” as the Bard himself once wrote.

Guest Post: Day in the Life of author Ally Malinenko

So as you all know, Day in the Life is a Author Feature here on Ali's Bookshelf and today I have author Ally Malinenko to share with you what her day is like.  Enjoy!

The alarm goes off at 5 am. No wait, that’s not right. It’s before 5 am. My husband nudges me and I murmur five more minutes, please, just five more minutes burying my head under the blanket. Then June, the tabby cat, starts crying. And not your usual meows – these are ear splitting, I’m-dying-give-me-food-now-you-puny-humans sort of cries. Really intense End of the World Ragnarok sort of stuff.

            We stumble up and out of bed. Coffee on. Teapot on. Cat fed. Pee. Computer on. Radio on to classical station. Teapot whistles – oh teapot why must you be so loud! Out damned teapot! Out!

            Then I sit in my closet (literally) and write. Sometimes I write poems or stories, provided I managed to think of an idea since yesterday morning. Most times I go back to the current novel. I read through yesterday’s writing. June comes in. She climbs into the empty comic book box on the floor and curls up to sleep. Good. This lasts seventeen seconds. Then she’s trying to climb into my lap. I give in, reading through yesterday’s writing. She stands on my lap and meows at me. I bend my arms around her to rewrite stuff and wonder how one person can switch tenses that quickly. I catch typos. I fix them. 

Blog Tour: Bewitched by Mark Harris Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have so many great posts for you.  So let's get to the next tour and giveaway.  Below you will find a great guest post and giveaway for the book Bewitched by Mark Harris.  Enjoy. 

When it comes to creative writing, I always start with a premise of some sort.  For example, I like to kick off the creative process with a “what if…” scenario. What if a Genie appeared to someone who was both deaf and blind? What would happen?  What if a vampire develops an allergy to certain blood types resulting in temporary amnesia?  What does he do when he finds himself covered in blood with a dead body on the ground?  And as much as possible, I hope to come up with a premise that has never been done before.

Currently, it seems like Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Wizards, and Mutants stories are saturating the market. Everyone wants to write a paranormal story using one of these standard twists. I can’t blame them; they add an element of excitement, and fear that can really super-charge a story. My book, BEWITCHED, for example is about…well, right, witches. But, like I tell my kids (who also want to be authors), there are no new stories, only new ways to tell them.

Blog Tour: The Beginning of the End Spotlight/Excerpt and Giveaway

So today I have two great books to tell you about.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy! 

Blurb Chemical Warfare has turned most of the world’s population into flesh eating Zombies. These are the accounts of two survivors. Kylee and Jade are on their way from one author convention to another. After saying goodbye to all their friends, they never dreamed the plane would land with them fighting for their lives. Jade Warwick has been preparing for the end of the world for years, but she never thought the world would end with zombies. The only thing salvaging her almost lost sanity is the fact that she is with her best friend, Kylee . With their first mission being to find their families, will the girls manage to save their families while trying to save each other?

Teaser Tuesday #32

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 & author, too, so that other  participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

With each labored breath he took, Aster's chest rose and fell. He stared at the figurative disaster of his life.

So there is a little teaser of what I'm reading, what about you? What are you reading? How about a little tease.