Reality TV--Yes!

So...in case you didn't know, I love me some good reality TV. Every now and then I may skip a season but I'm pretty faithful. Big Brother---Yes! Real World---Yep! The Voice---Uh-huh! Dancing With the Stars---Totally! And I just finished Halloween Wars on The Food Network, that was fun.

Right now, I am totally hooked on Dancing with the Stars! It has drama, humor, and entertaining dances! Anybody else watching?

So the dancers in the lead are JR Martinez and Ricki Lake (Totally watched her show everyday after high school). Of course, I love them.

I have to say, the celebs I look forward to watching are Rob Kardashian and David Arquette. They've been improving each week and you never know what to expect from them.

Do I have some reality TV friends out there?

Our Halloween Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to all who shared their favorite candies with us this weekend in our Halloween Easy-Peasy Giveaway!

Our randomly chosen winner, with the answer of "anything chocolate" is:

ELAINE!

So Elaine, if you would contact me at admin@tinaferraro.com, I will make sure that $10 gift card to Amazon.com will get soaring to you on spooky bat wings to add a little something special to your Halloween holiday.

Our Halloween Easy-Peasy Giveaway

It’s been a few years since I’ve escorted trick-or-treaters through the darkened streets for goodies, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a fun time every October 31st. I’ve come to realize that being on the inside of the door is a great time, too, getting to see the costumes, hear the chatter and giggles...and of course, the collective: “Trick or Treat!”

Generally, I let the trick-or-treaters reach their hands into my candy bowl and pick a couple of their favorites, since I’m never really sure what kids like. Back in my day, we were all about the chocolate candy bars like Snickers and Almond Joys and Baby Ruths, but my kids were of the age, they loved the brightly colored candies like Sour Patch Kids and Skittles and Mike and Ike.


In anticipation of Halloween, I thought I’d give a $10 Amazon.gift card to be used toward a costume, candy, or if you’re like me, a good book to keep you company in between doorbell rings. All you have to do to be entered is leave us a comment telling us a favorite candy. Like I said, easy-peasy! And check back on Monday to learn the winner’s name, which will be drawn at random.

Our Winner!

I used my random number generator again to pick the winner of this weekend's contest for a copy of MY SOUL TO STEAL by Rachel Vincent. And that winner is:

LIEDER MADCHEN!

Congrats to Lieder Madchen, and thanks to all for the wonderful choices on which books you would love to be able to read again for the first time!

Lieder Madchen, please contact me at admin@tinaferraro.com to get the book in the mail to you.

Giveaway: To Re-Read For the First Time...

Every now and then as I am passing by my bookshelf, a title will leap out at me. Often it’s a favorite (which is why I kept it!) and often I find myself remembering what I’d loved so much about it...and wishing I could read it again for the first time. That I was back edge of my seat, spellbound, wondering What. Would. Happen. Next.

Like when I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Split by Swati Avashthi, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, and so many others.

How about you? Tell us in the comments the name of a favorite book you wish you could experience (again) for the first time, and be entered to win a copy of Rachel Vincent’s My Soul to Steal!


The winner will be drawn randomly and announced on Monday!

What's Fresh Kristina Springer's Just Your Average Princess

 Jamie Edwards has loved everything about growing up on a pumpkin patch, but ever since her cousin Milan Woods arrived, things have really stunk. Jamie can’t imagine it was easy for Milan to leave her life back in Los Angeles and move to Average, Illinois, population one thousand. But it’s kind of hard to feel sorry for her since (a) Milan’s drop-dead gorgeous; (b) she’s the daughter of two of Hollywood’s hottest film stars; (c) she’s captured the attention of everyone in town, including Danny, Jamie’s crush since forever; and (d) she’s about to steal the title of Pumpkin Princess right out from underneath Jamie!

Hello Kristina! It is great to have you back again on YA Fresh. Please tell us about your latest novel, Just Your Average Princess, and what we can expect from your characters.

Kristina: Just Your Average Princess (FSG, 10/11/11) is about a girl who has spent her life on her parent’s pumpkin patch, always dreaming of one day being the Pumpkin Princess at the town’s Fall festival. Her cousin from Hollywood, and daughter of two A-list movie stars, gets dropped off to spend pumpkin season with them and pretty much turns the main character’s world upside down.

Sounds like an entertaining read! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Kristina: Right now my newest YA book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT, is on submission. This was a super fun book to write and I think any tabloid loving teen will love it.

Good luck with that! Thanks again for sharing, Kristina, have another Writing tip for our readers?

Kristina: Don’t give up.

Kristina Springer is the author of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, and the forthcoming JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS (fall 2011). She has a Masters in Writing from DePaul University and she resides in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and children. Visit her website www.kristinaspringer.com.

Code Name Verity!

I recently came upon this blurb for a February 2012 Egmont young adult release, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein:

Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat, one an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot, the other a wireless operator with the WAAF. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted friends.

But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. Almost immediately she is arrested by the Gestapo, and it seems her mission may be over before it's even begun. The story begins in "Verity's" own words, as she writes her account for her captors...

I love a good action/adventure story, and admit to a real bias for British dramas about the 20th century, some of my favorite programming of late being The King’s Speech and the BBC series, Downton Abbey.

I believe some ARCs (advanced reader copies) are out and about. Has anyone read this or heard good things about it?

Or are there are any upcoming releases you are eagerly anticipating?