Posted on by susannevalenti · 4 Comments

Cover reveal!

Okay, so this is the worst kept secret in the history of secret keeping not least because I’ve actually gone through two covers 🙈 but this is the final version and though it’s been on goodreads, amazon and been used in several reviews already I haven’t actually done the reveal yet! (I’m going to blame it on my hectic schedule with publishing day looming but I’m also going to blame it on my cat Hugo who distracts me by wanting cuddles all the time)

So here it is, the cover for Chained:

  
 😊 and this is the blurb for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet…

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something… else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won’t let it have her without a fight. 

If you would like to get a copy of Chained, it’s available on Amazon for preorder here the official release day is October 1st

And it’s been getting some reviews on goodreads already if you need help making up your mind 😊

But regardless of all that, how do you like the cover? ☺️ xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 18 Comments

Cover reveal!

Okay, so this is the worst kept secret in the history of secret keeping not least because I’ve actually gone through two covers 🙈 but this is the final version and though it’s been on goodreads, amazon and been used in several reviews already I haven’t actually done the reveal yet! (I’m going to blame it on my hectic schedule with publishing day looming but I’m also going to blame it on my cat Hugo who distracts me by wanting cuddles all the time)

So here it is, the cover for Chained:

  
 😊 and this is the blurb for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet…

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something… else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won’t let it have her without a fight. 

If you would like to get a copy of Chained, it’s available on Amazon for preorder here the official release day is October 1st

And it’s been getting some reviews on goodreads already if you need help making up your mind 😊

But regardless of all that, how do you like the cover? ☺️ xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 18 Comments

Why lighthearted parts of books are so important 😂

I love the drive, drama, passion and mission that make books and characters so great but I always enjoy reading those parts of the story that just emphasise the fun side of our favourite characters. This is a post about some of the lighthearted things which make these stories even better and make me fall in love with the characters a little bit more… *contains mild spoilers for some very popular series*

1. Zip lining in Divergent

  

It was the moment where I really felt that Tris truly became Dauntless and lived up to the name in the best possible way! I would love to do this too 🙈☺️

2. Magnus’ party in City of Bones

  

I loved his party and bits of it had me laughing to myself and wishing I got invited to things like that (I’d avoid the drinks though) 🍹

3.  The baseball game in Twilight

 This was so much fun until it all went to hell! I loved finding out things that the Cullens did with their vampire powers which were purely for the fun of being immortal and better than everyone else at everything! ⚾️

4. Quidditch in Harry Potter

  

So like 99% of the time when Harry was playing quidditch, no one was trying to kill him… Okay maybe like 50% of the time… Or 30%… Either way he was having fun and I felt like we got to know a lot about him and his friends and teammates through it without it having to do with being the chosen one! ⚡️

5. The Hunger games when…

  

Oh right, the games part of the Hunger Games was no fun in the traditional sense of fun 😳 but the interviews were pretty great

6. And in Game of Thrones when…

  

Remember when Ned found out about Cersei’s children and then… No that was no fun… But then there was the time when Drogo and Danerys were really happy and everything was coming together and… Okay maybe not then then… But then Robb and his wife and his mother went to that wedding and weddings are always fun… Well okay nearly always… But Joffrey’s wedding, that one was definitely worth smiling over! 🐲

That’s all of the ones I can think of off the top of my head, can you think of any more? 😊 xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 95 Comments

An offer of ARCs! 

  
On October 1st my book Chained is going on sale and I’m looking for anyone who would be interested in having an advanced copy in return for an honest review (feel free to love it 😍). If you know anyone else who would be interested then please let them know too ☺️

I’m also up for doing cover reveals and interviews and anything else that anyone would like me to do!

I can’t think of a better group of people to read it first and I’m seriously excited whilst simultainiously terrified but that’s okay lol. 

So if you don’t know what Chained is about, here’s the blurb:

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something… else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won’t let it have her without a fight. 

It’s a dystopian ya and the start of my Cage of Lies series. I really hope you like the sound of it and are interested in giving it a go 😊. And feel free to do a favour swap with me if you would like anything done for your own blog! 

Either comment with your email address or email me at susanne3587@hotmail.com if you’re interested and I’ll send your arc over 😊 (let me know if you’d prefer an ePub or PDF) 

Xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 8 Comments

The Real Neat Blog Award 🏆

  
Thank you Laura for nominating me! Check out her blog because it’s awesome ☺️

The Rules:

  1. Put the award logo on your blog
  2. Answer the 7 question set by the person who nominated you and create 7 new ones
  3. Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blog 
  4. Nominate however many people you like, linking to their blogs
  5. Let them know you nominated them

Laura’s questions for me:

 1. Do you read non-fiction books? If so which one is your favourite?

Harry Potter is based on real events right? 😁 If not then my answer is no… I like a bit of escapism so I don’t really read non-fiction but I like some historical fiction which has factual elements to it so maybe that counts!

2. Do you like open endings or not?

I like a bit of both. I do like to have major issues dealt with and if there is a relationship brewing I at least want to see one kiss! But I don’t mind having a few lose ends that leave various options open to the characters – that way I can just make up an ending for them that pleases me lol

3. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be an author! My book is out soon so maybe my dreams will come true 😍

4. Your favourite animal is…

  

Tapirs rock my world! I could explain why but I know you know, just look at how squishy he is 😍

5. Mention 3 book pet peeves (if you have any)

1. Random deaths. I’m not talking deaths in general but if a main character is killed off for no good reason and it doesn’t progress the story or need to happen for any reason it drives me nuts. 2. Characters without a backbone (male or female) in relationships. I want them to stand up for who they are and to be loved for it or not, no sappy puppy eyes for me please! 3. Killing the dog. If there’s a dog IT DOESNT DIE or I’m out and I’m angry 😡

6. Do you play any musical instruments?

I’m very proficient in the art of loudly singing in the car just like Beyoncé 😂

7. How many languages do you speak?

One 😪 I’m in awe of people who can speak multiple languages but sadly I’m not one of them

The questions for my nominees are:

  1. Which book character would you want to meet and why?
  2. Which book do you wish they’d adapt into a movie or TV series?
  3. Who is your favourite author?
  4. Which Disney character would you be?
  5. Do you have any pets and if so what?
  6. Is there any book that you would change the ending of and how if you would?
  7. What’s your idea of a perfect night in/out?

My nominees are:

Tanazmasaba 

Caroline

Amanda

And anyone else who would like to do it 😊xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 23 Comments

The Reading Habits Tag 📚

  
Thanks to giovanna for tagging me! Check out her blog, it’s great! 😊

1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

I’m a bit of a Sheldon  😳 I have a spot on the couch and I don’t even like other people to sit there if I’m not there… I also take books up to bed too.

  
2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

 I used to do random bits of paper but when one of my besties found out I was writing a book she got me a lovely bookmark which I now treasure. It means a lot to me because she believed in me and it always makes me smile when I open a book and find it! 

  
3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop at the end of a chapter / after a certain amount of pages?

I tend to binge read so I’ll be cramming a book into every available moment when I’m into it. That may mean I end up stopping randomly half way through a page and doing the shifty sideways bookmark malarkey! But I prefer to finish a chapter, although if it’s a cliffhanger I’ll read another page or two, or three…

4. Do you eat or drink while reading?

 Much to the detriment of my clothes the answer is yes lol. I tend to hold my book away safely but then I’m not paying enough attention to the fork – mouth ratio and sadly it doesn’t always end well. I know I shouldn’t do it but I can’t always bear to put a book down for something as boring as dinner 🍕

5. Multitasking: music or TV whilst reading?

I always have the TV on. Always. I find one thing alone doesn’t keep me occupied unless it’s really good (walking dead and game of thrones are pretty much the only shows I’ll give my full attention) and if a book sucks me in far enough then I’ll just block the TV out. But generally I can do both simultainiously and know exactly what’s going on in both. Maybe I’m odd but I’m okay with that 😊

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6. One book at a time or several on the go?

One book to rule them all! (Shameless lotr reference) if I’m in then I’m in and I don’t really do dnf. I’ll force my way through regardless and reserve my opinion until the very end. But generally I just get obsessed and zoom through books one after another so quickly that I don’t really consider picking up anything else.

7. Read at home or everywhere?

Everywhere! Home, work, car and if I’ll toss it in my handbag wherever I’m going just in case some free time appears. I actually enjoy waiting rooms lol. 

  
8. Read aloud or silently in your head?

In my head. Reading aloud is just words but in my head there’s a whole world of people and voices and places going on! 

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

Never!!! Sometimes I put my hand over the bottom of the page during something tense so I can’t even skip a few lines. 

  
10. Breaking the spine or keeping it new?

I don’t particularly do either. I don’t bend my books back on themselves but I do open them – I’m not going to squint into the middle just to avoid a crease on the spine. 

11. Do you write in books?

Why would I?

  
Tag, you’re it!

Notanotherfireyredhead

Claudette

Aura

Booksatdawn

Samer

Do it, don’t do it, I don’t mind! If anyone else fancies it then please go ahead and let me know that you did so I can read your answers too! Xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 5 Comments

The freestyle writing challenge 🎉

Thanks to Caroline for nominating me for this cool challenge, I hope I do you proud! Check out her blog if you haven’t already – it’s really great.

So the challenge is as follows:

  1. Open a blank document. 
  2. Set a timer to 5 minutes. I’ve posted a topic at the bottom of this post for you to use as your inspiration but don’t scroll down until the second you’re ready to write! Once you start writing, don’t stop until the alarm sounds. 
  3. Don’t cheat by going back and spell checking or correcting grammar. (The challenge is only meant for you to reflect on your own control of sensible though-flow and for you to reflect on your ability to write with correct spelling and grammar.)
  4. You may or may not pay attention to punctuation or capitals. 
  5. At the end of your post, put down the amount of words you managed to write. 
  6. Copy and paste the entire passage on your blog post with a new topic for your nominees and post these rules too. I’m nominating three bloggers but feel free to choose as many as you’d like. Also no pressure for the people I’ve nominated if you don’t fancy it and feel free to have a go if I didn’t nominate you because I’d love to see what you write from my idea ☺️

This is the freestyle writing challenge I was given by Caroline:

You drop in unexpectedly on a friend to surprise them after returning from a long trip. You find their front door open and decide to go inside. After calling out and receiving no response you move further into the house. On inspecting the lounge you spot a bookcase across the room which has been dragged forward to reveal a door. You cross the room and hear angry voices approaching from behind. What do you do?

And this is my freestyle response, I managed 224 words 😁

The rain pounds down on my umbrella as I race down the street. I suppress a grin as I reach Jenna’s apartment block and let myself in with the code. She’s going to be so psyched to see me. 

I take the steps two at a time, almost tripping on the final one before reaching her floor. 

The smile slips from my face as I see the broken door. 

“Jenna?” I call uncertainly as I take a step towards it. 

A chill runs down my spine. I move closer and peer inside. 

“Jenna?” Her apartment is a mess, furniture flung everywhere and he belongings scattered. Her bookcase is broken on the ground and where it always stood there is a door. 

I’ve spent so much time in this apartment that I can’t count it but I’ve never seen that door. 

“Check inside!” Someone shouts from the stairwell. “Make sure no ones left alive. 

I duck into the apartment, my feet slip on an upturned book but I make it to the door. The handle is warm. I ignore the urge to run and twist it instead. 

Inside the air burns hot as a furnace and I recoil. 

“I’m gunna kill that little cow when I catch up with her,” the voice shouts, closer still. 

I step inside and slam the door, my heart racing. 

My nominations are:

Matt

Wordweheart

S.W.Lothian 

Your challenge is:

You wake up to the sound of a news broadcast. There has been an outbreak of some kind of disease that is sending people crazy. People are panicking. The streets are filled with looters and everyone wants to get out of the city. What are you going to do?

Posted on by susannevalenti · 22 Comments

Happily ever after or end of world disaster?

I have noticed recently that a lot of books don’t have happy ending anymore. Even when they do there is often a bitter-sweet element to them. This got me wondering, what do I prefer? All in all I’d have to say happily ever after (at least for the main characters) I love the struggle and grief that takes place in stories of every kind but in the end I want my main characters to be happy. (And ideally in love). Is it wrong that I feel an ache when finishing a book if I’m leaving my characters unhappy? Personally I can only really make peace with a story if I know that they’re okay. What do you think?

Here are some examples of some of the most popular of each: **spoilers**

   
Harry Potter

So Harry, Ron and Hermione made it and they were pretty happy in the long term ☺️ but boy did I sob when I read the chapter where Harry went to give himself up – I really didn’t trust that she wouldn’t do it for a little while there!

  
Twilight

I actually think the movie gave a more satisfying ending than the book because I always wanted to know what would happen if they took on the volturi but in the end I was just hugely relieved that they all survived! If any one of them had died their soulmate would have been cursed to an eternity spent alone and I couldn’t deal with that!

  
The Hunger Games

The ending of The Hunger Games series did make me really sad when I read it but despite Katniss’ personal journey kinda ending up being for nothing, they did change the world for the better (possibly lol) and even if they didn’t I still enjoyed it (though she should have ended up with Gale in my opinion) 

  
Divergent

Oh wait yes you are Four. I hated the ending to this series. I hate Caleb, he should have died so hard. I personally didn’t even understand why she died, it wasn’t at all necessary. At least then I could have made peace with it. And did I mention that I hate Caleb?

I’d love to know what you prefer 😊 xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 11 Comments

Sisterhood of the world bloggers award 🏆

  
I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been nominated for this award!😀 Thank you to jessylaw for my nomination 😍

The rules are:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their site. 
  2. Put the award logo on your blog. 
  3. Answer the ten questions you were given. 
  4. Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer. 
  5. Nominate ten other blogs. 

Here are my answers:

1. Would you prefer to read a series or stand alone books?

I won’t say no to anything but I love to read a series. I find that you can get to know the characters and their world so much better in multiple books and so I get more from them. 📚

2. Would you rather be a book reviewer or an author?

My dream has always been to be an author. I am addicted to the written word in every form and can’t stop putting pen to page. I don’t think I’d make the best reviewer because I always find something to like in everything and find it hard to criticise things. So all of my reviews would probably be 4 or 5 stars and the difference would be between me really liking it or loving it lol.📝

3. Your house has been robbed and your bookshelf has been raided. What’s the book you really hope is safe?

I’m pretty attached to my Harry Potter books. I’ve had the first three since I was around eleven and then I queued up at midnight to buy each of the others as they were released so the memory of getting each of them and staying awake through the night reading them is pretty special for me. 💫

4. What is the hardest thing about running a blog?

I would go with time management! It can easily take an hour or two for me to put a post together in the way I want it (usually because I spend hours trawling the Internet for the perfect meme lol). And then once it’s been posted the notifications start coming through as people like/comment and I can’t resist responding at once which can mean that it’s taking time from other things I should be getting on with 😓

5. What novel are you looking forward to reading next?

I’m super excited for the new Throne of Glass novel which is out next week 😱😁😆😲. I’m in the middle of reading the Game of Thrones books which I’m really enjoying but I’ll probably put them on pause to find out what happens next for Celeana! (Plus I’ve watched the TV show of Game of Thrones so I already know most of what happens there lol) 👑

6. Do you use an e-reader or paperback books?

I use both! There are some brilliant books available on kindle that you can’t get in paperback and I wouldn’t want to miss out on them even though I do love a solid copy. Plus my hubby built me a huge bookshelf which I instantly filled and there are still nine boxes of books in the loft so he bought me a kindle to help me save on the storage space 📚📚📚

7. Who is your favourite author?

Isn’t that like picking between your children? (I don’t have any children but I imagine it’s the same) I love J K Rowling, Brandon Sanderson, Trudi Canavan, Suzanne Collins, J R R Tolkien… This list could get really long and I can’t pick! 😱

8. If you could be any book character who would you be?

I love Celeana Sardothien from the Throne of Glass books, she’s a kick ass assassin with plenty of attitude and the right amount of vulnerability and she’s pretty damn cool so who wouldn’t wanna be her? 🔪(this is a sword not a kitchen knife 😕)

9. Why did you start blogging?

I’m an upcoming author and I find that in my real life I have very few people who are as passionate about reading and writing as I am so I wanted to find likeminded people to connect with over our crazy obsessive, slightly unhealthy book addictions lol 😸

10. What was the last book you read?

A Game of Thrones (I’m half way into the second book now too). I am addicted to the TV series and had put off reading them so that I didn’t spoil the show for myself (I know I did it backwards this time but it was on my tbr list for so long and the show looked sooo good and I couldn’t resist!) but now that the show has caught up with the books I decided it was high time to educate myself on what really happened! (So far it’s almost exactly the same but I’ve been told there are some difference coming 😬)

My nominees are:

  1. Fiddlerblue
  2. Dash McCallen
  3. Gracedowntherabbithole
  4. 007ravish
  5. Olivia Emily 
  6. Amanda
  7. Notyourmommasbookreviwes
  8. Nerdybirdy
  9. Thewriteedge
  10. Caroline Peckham 

And the questions for you are:

  1. Do you have a TV series addiction and what is it?
  2. Which book character would you secretly like to marry?
  3. What’s the most exciting thing happening to you this September?
  4. Are you a Christmas freak or a Scrooge?
  5. Which book world do wish really existed?
  6. Which book series has you wishing for more?
  7. Would you rather be a vampire or a wizard?
  8. Which magic power would you have?
  9. Happy ending or shocking twist?
  10. What’s the first thing you’d do if the dead started rising?

I hope you have fun with it! ☺️xoxo