Battle Unicorns are here! Introducing Warrior Beautiful

My awesomely prolific friend, Wendy Knight, has ANOTHER book out. I know, I know. You're thinking "What? Another one? Isn't this, like, her debut year? And isn't this her fourth book?" And being the informative soul I am, I'll tell you that you're partially right. One of the Feudlings books was actually a novella, so we can pretend that didn't count... but she also published another book as a pseudonym. So, depending on how you count, she either published five books or four and a half books. In. One. Year. Also, they're fantastic. Which isn't fair, but how can you hate her when you're too busy wanting her to write another one?

Also, the girl has amazing covers. Behold!

As one of her privileged besties, I remember when she came up with the idea for this book (earlier this year, naturally). For the longest time, she kept going on and on about battle unicorns... and how she needed to find a plot for them. I think she did a great job with a really fun concept, and I think you will, too.

Wendy has been kind enough to provide me with a short explanation about why she is drawn to the YA Fantasy genre. Since I'm similarly drawn to it, and we get along famously (yes, it's fun to flaunt my friendships with amazing authors, thanks for asking), this comes as no surprise:

Hi there! I’ve been asked to write about why I write in Young Adult Fantasy—what it is about these genres I love so much.

SO.

I love the Young Adult genre because there is still so much potential at that age. Life’s decisions haven’t been made. Young adults still have their entire future before them, and I love that. Me, for example, I have three kids. I write. That’s my life and while there might be some changes in the future, it isn’t wide open and beckoning like it was when I was a teenager (I thought I was going to live in Africa and study lions. Never mind that I hate bugs and the sun and don’t like to watch things die).  Teenagers can save the world, and I love that.

My reason for loving the Fantasy genre is pretty much the same—there are no limits. I can make up entire worlds, new words, new animals, new everything! There isn’t anything that can stop me but my own imagination! That being said, I do prefer writing urban fantasies—which is magic set in our world. I love the idea that there might be magic right in front of me and I don’t even know it. In Warrior Beautiful, there are unicorns protecting us, but we can’t see them. I LOVE that sort of thinking.

I started writing Young Adult Urban Fantasy because that’s what I love to read. Yeah, I’m in my thirties and I have children and I’m married and stuff, but still—those are my favorite kinds of books! In fact, getting me to read anything else is sort of…difficult. I’ll do it, but I may or may not be pouting the entire time. This genre makes my head spin with possibilities. So many things can happen, so many different directions to take it. It’s just so much fun!

 She's so cool, right? So here's the deets on her book:

Warrior Beautiful (Riders of Paradesos, #1)

Author: Wendy Knight

Check out on Goodreads!

Purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Synopsis: Working with the ex you secretly love to save the souls of the innocent is almost as bad as working with a mighty battle unicorn who would be thrilled to watch you plummet to your death.

Scout is used to pain. Her body has been broken, her heart has been broken, and the only thing keeping her together is her relationship with her younger sister. Lil Bit be-lieves in unicorns and terrifying monsters she calls soul stealers. But unicorns and monsters aren’t real…are they?

When Lil Bit falls prey to the mysterious disease sweeping the country, Scout has two options – believe the doctors who say it’s a pandemic or believe Lil Bit, who says it’s the soul stealers. She chooses her sister and goes looking for the unicorns who are supposed to save them. What she finds aren’t the cute pastel mythical creatures she expects. Battle unicorns are big and tough and full of attitude. Who knew?

Unicorns are real and so are the monsters. Soul stealers are reaping the souls of the innocent, and the unicorns are fighting to stop them. But to save the world, they need the help of humans – the enemy they’re dying to protect. And first to sign up for the fight is the ex-boyfriend Scout’s heart won’t stop loving, no matter how determined she is to hate him.

GIVEAWAY

**Must be 13 or older**

**Opened to U.S. Only**

**Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen**

**Winner will win: an ecopy of Warrior International, a Warrior Beautiful key chain & a signed bookmark**

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Love it, right? Have you also harbored a love of flying unicorns?

Also, this was supposed to have a top ten list on it, but Wendy didn't send that, and I'm NaNo-fried and can't possibly think of one myself. Instead, I want you to tell me the one or two things that SHOULD be in a Top Ten Best Things About Befriending Authors List. Go!

Returning with a Vengeance

This last year has been rough for me. Wild, crazy, with a lot of good stuff and a lot of really, really bad stuff. My few regular readers who followed me here from my old blog know what I'm talking about. For the rest of you, know that the day the world shifted on its axis was November 30, 2012. I'd finished NaNo. I'd WON NaNo. Then my whole life fell apart. Just. Like. That.

And, whew, it's been a bumpy ride.

In trying to save life-as-I-knew-it, I made a promise to NEVER again participate in the time-suck known as NaNo. Turns out that wouldn't have saved anything, but that's largely moot at this point. As is my foolish promise.

Still, this year has been too full of adjustment and single-mothering to leave room for such sanity-saving trifles as writing and blogging. I've read about half my normal quota of books, which pains me more than I can express. (Susan is getting ahead!) My NaNo 2012 book has been completely neglected since I crossed the finish line. I hope to someday go back to it, but maybe after I figure out what the villain(s) really want. I've been working a little bit on a new-shiny, but I've hardly been able to call myself a writer all year ('cause writers WRITE, and I haven't been).

So here we are on November 1, 2013. Well, I guess, since it's after midnight, it's technically November 2. I'm gearing up to do NaNo again. This is my third year, though I registered under my shiny old name, so NaNo won't acknowledge that I'm a veteran. I'm scared, I'm nervous, I'm wondering how I'm ever going to pull off 1667 words a day all month when I've barely been able to manage 100 words a month--and that's if you count writing-related Facebook posts.

All day, the world has been conspiring to keep me from writing. I had 161 words--half of which had to be re-rewritten (my tablet neglected to save my brilliant changes before I could transfer them to the desktop)--when I finally started sprinting at around 10:30.

By 11:55, I had 1,739.

I'm back.

I'm a: