Thursday, June 16, 2011

Debut of the Month - All About Winter's Shadow + Giveaway

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Book Profile


Debut - Winter's Shadow ( Goodreads )
Author - M.J. Hearle
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Release Date - June 1st 2011
Available - The Nile

Blake Duchamp... He's all that Winter Adams can think of. Ever since their fateful meeting at Pilgrim's Lament. Ever since he looked at her with those emerald eyes.

Ever since he saved her life. But Blake isn't all that he seems. There is a strangeness about him, something dark and otherworldly. Something dangerous. In his attic is a secret he would kill to defend, but Winter seems to have a special ability to make him forget his duty. And he is her only protection against the gathering darkness.

The only problem is, to protect Winter, Blake must risk exposing her to an even greater danger. Himself

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The Insiders Scoop

1) Writing Winter’s Shadow from the perspective of a teenage girl was quite the challenge. Though I have known many I, unfortunately, have never been a teenage girl. Luckily, I found as there weren’t many difference’s between a shy, imaginative teenage boy and a shy, imaginative teenage girl. The devil’s in the details, so they say. For example, at one point I had Winter going to bed with rollers in her hair, her face slathered in a beauty mask. I thought this is something all girls do until it was kindly pointed out to me by my mum that I might have been getting modern teenage girls confused with housewives from the 1950’s. So, thanks Mum!



2) It was my publishers suggestion I use the initials ‘M. J.’ rather than ‘Michael James’. The strategic thinking being that young women might be less likely to pick up a paranormal romance written by a man, and M. J. is gender neutral. I don’t mind. I enjoy the mystery of it all. Who is M. J. Hearle? (If anybody finds out please let me know!)


3) The book was originally called SHADE, unfortunately that title was already taken by another YA paranormal, so we had to come up with something else. Titles like BREATHLESS and HAUNTED were bandied about but I felt they were a little generic. In the first draft the lead character was called Elodie Winters (in part as an homage to Buffy Summers) so I thought why not call the novel, Winter’s Shadow? The sequel could be called Winter’s Light, the third book Winter’s Fall etc. My publisher was the one who suggested we change Elodie’s first name to Winter and I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner. This goes to show just how valuable a good publisher is to the creative process.




5) Creating the Dead Lands was an incredible challenge. Originally I kept everything very vague and abstract hoping that the readers imagination would fill in the gaps. One of the reasons I did this was because I’m lazy. Shameful to admit, but true. The other reason was creating an entirely new world and monsters, while fun, is also very, very hard. There’s a reason so many authors fall back on the ever reliable vampire or werewolf. After struggling to answer questions about this new mythology of mine – from my agent, publisher, friends, pretty much anyone who read the book – I realised I had to sit down and figure it all out. I bounced ideas off my Dad, my Mum, and my girlfriend until I had established all the rules of my new supernatural mythology and was able to write a kind of Winter’s Shadow bible. This bible has been invaluable while I’ve been writing the sequel.

~Giveaway~

Okay, the giveaway! Pan Macmillan have kindly donated FOUR (4) copies of Winter's Shadow for you lucky readers! I'm will be personally shipping them out so let's make it International! Commenting is NOT required but it would be greatly appreciated since I'm putting in my own money to ship these beauties out, M.J. worked hard to get these posts in and Pan Mac for donating the books!

Rules of Entry - ( Please read carefully)

- International
- FOUR (4) Winners
- NOT required to comment but it will get you extra entries and it's GREATLY appreciated
- +1 Entry If You Comment on My Review ( Here )
- MUST be 13
- MUST fill out this FORM
- Ends 7/5

Badass Bookie xx

78 comments:

  1. Interesting title, beautuful cover,...
    Thans for the giveaway!

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  2. Oh, I would love to see what comes you of YA paranormal written by a man. Btw "housewives from the 1950’s" made me laugh so hard :D what do the boys think of us girls? A cucumber has never even touched my face, and I hope it never will ;)

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  3. I look forward to reading this title!

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  4. I look at the cover and it makes me wanna read the book. I love it :) Thanks for the giveaway and the post :)

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  5. Winter is such a lovely name for a character. You hear Summer all the time, but rarely, Winter.
    Hugs on the cover are rare in YAs, too. I love the look and sound of Winter's Shadow.

    Oh, I had a ball reading this ;)

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  6. Not entering, considering I have already been lucky enough to read them. Seriously I hope lots of people enter this because it's really a series I think that can go a long way (same with Michael).

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  7. I love the cover of this book, and it definately sounds interesting. I can't wait to read it!

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  8. Love the cover! Thanks for opening this internationally!

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  9. Awesome giveaway! Especially since I can't get this in the US yet. I've read the first 80 pages on Hearle's website, and I was hooked!

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  10. I SO want to read this one!! Awesomeness!

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  11. I love the title and changing the name to Winter. The cover is gorgeous. The book sounds really good! Thanks for the giveaway.

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  12. Sounds really good. Loved your idea of modern teenagers. Sometimes early-developed (albeit out-dated) thoughts just stay with you. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  13. Thanks so much for the scoop! I've had this on my wishlist for such a long time. It sounds fresh and fantastic!

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  14. -I love the name Winter! It's unusually to read about a character with that name! Plus, this book sounds interesting by itself. Thanks for the insider scoop!

    x
    Sierra

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  15. I agree, love the cover! It definitely grabbed my attention. I'm looking forward to reading this one :)

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  16. Thank you for posting and for making the giveaway international. This book looks good!

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  17. I have been hearing so many good things about this book and it's hard to find. This is the first contest that I have entered! Eeek! I read your blog all of the time....loves it! Keep up the great work and the wonderful recommendations!

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  18. That is a gorgeous cover! And more giggle moments! I like these little insights, they've made me want to read the book that much more! Thanks for the giveaway!!

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  19. And I still yet to have picked it up so I’m entering all these giveaways in hopes of getting a copy to devour. I think Pan Macmillan are waiting for that ‘boy’ title to come around for me heh!

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  20. Thanks for the giveaway and especially for opening it to worldwide entries.

    I know shipping overseas is not very cheap these days and you are really very kind to offer to do that at your own cost.

    I have entered via the form.

    Carol T

    buddytho {at} gmail DOT com

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  21. Thanks for the giveaway and for making it INTERNATIONAL!! Thnk u vry much!! :)) I want to win this and read it!

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  22. I love hearing about the writing and editing process of novels. Thanks for sharing this! :)

    And thank you for such a wonderful giveaway!

    Carina

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  23. I've been hearing great things about this novel. Thanks for holding the giveaway!

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  24. Thanks for the giveaway! Really looking forward to this :)

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  25. Great giveaway!! Thanks so much :o)

    Mickey @ imabookshark.blogspot.com

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  26. Great giveaway!!! And thanks a lot for making it international!!! Big hug,

    Alexandra
    alexandra.roxana.garcia@gmail.com

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  27. It is nice to know all thing behind the books. I have seen the cover around. I hope I can get the chance to read it as well

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  28. Thank you so much! That cover is simply gorgeous.

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  29. I have heard the book before and I long to read it! It's an aussie YA, and unfortunately, not avaliable here. But now is the chance! Thank you for the giveaway! :D

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  30. Thanks for the giveaway. this book is on my wish list.

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  31. Thanks for the giveaway!! I want to read this so bad (: LOVE the cover!

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  32. So I started to make some headway on the first 80 pages that are up on the authors website but I decided to stop because I would rather read it from the actual book. Then today I was in Big W and I picked it up... and relised I was out of money :( So I'm really hoping I win.

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  33. It's quite some time since I spotted this book and want badly to read it.Thanks for the giveaway and for making it international.

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  34. It's not often we can read a YA romance written by a man :) I like those books because it's not the same sensibility (in my opinion) and it's interesting to read!

    Thank you for the giveaway!

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  35. I agree with Pisinat, it's always interesting to see romance written by a male author. The book sounds awesome! :)

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  36. I lover the cover! It sounds like a really good romance

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  37. Ah, I've been wanting to read this book for a while now! :) Thanks so much for hosting the giveaway. Fingers have been crossed!

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  38. I'm looking forward to this one. It has a great cover and sounds like a great read.

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  39. This looks really interesting.

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  40. The cover is amazing - love her hair!
    Thanks for this great giveaway.

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  41. I now need to dye my hair. Thank you xDD

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  42. I'm looking forward to reading this book!
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  43. This cover is gorgeous!!! and the story looks absolutely fab...need. a. COPY!! thanks for the amazing giveaway :D

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  44. Oh, I've wanted to read this book from the minute I heard of it & the cover it's just stunning!!! BTW good call on the change of title ;)

    Thanks Pan Macmillan for the donation and to you BB for generously make it International!! yay!

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  45. I love the cover! It's so beautiful!

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  46. This novel sounds very interesting. I do think it's too bad authors (and movie stars) hyphenate their names to make it more catchy, but at the same time I can understand. I also love the new title - I think the other ones would not have caught the essence as much.

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  47. This sounds really good. I have it on my to-read list at Goodreads but haven't been able to find it on Amazon US. Hope it's available there soon if I don't win!

    Thank you for the chance to win!

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  48. The cover truly is beautiful, i've just went ahead and added it to my to-read list *crossing my fingers* hopefully I win.

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  49. Thanks for the giveaway :) cover is awesome!

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  50. Thanks so much for making this international! I love the cover!

    Margaret
    singitm@hotmail.com

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  51. Thank you so much for the giveaway. The book seems really interesting and it has really beautiful cover! :)

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  52. This is a new title to me and it sounds like a really good read. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway opportunity.

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  53. How the author came up with the title sounds really interesting. I love how the cover looks!

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  54. It was so much fun to read this Insider's Scoop! I love learning how Winter's Shadow came to be what it is today. (And I'm so glad that the title Shade was already taken because I LOVE the current title!) I also love hearing how the world and Winter's character developed. Winter is a beautiful name. I'm looking forward to reading this book! :)

    Please publish Winter's Shadow in the US soon!!! I know lots of people who want to read this :D

    Kris

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  55. I really wanted to be your 1,000th follower, but when I pressed "follow" I realized I was already a follower. Drats! haha

    Thanks for the giveaway :)

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  56. I already commented on your review but I will reiterate that I really, really want to read this book now! Thanks for the great review and the equally great giveaway :)
    jwitt33 at live dot com

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  57. the cover photo intrigues me... sounds interesting, thanks for the giveaway =)

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  58. Thank for the giveaway! It's awesome!

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  59. Sounds great! Thanks for the giveaway :D

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  60. The title is very interesting and I love the cover. The story sound great.
    Thanks for the giveaway! :D

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  61. LOL at the hair rollers and face mask, that's so cute!!

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  62. I've been seeing this book around quite a bit! I want to read it because it's by an Aussie author and I think it's about time, and great too, that there's some Aussie authors getting out there with this sort of genre.

    I also want to read it for the story... Of course...

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  63. Interesting book!!!
    Thanks for the giveaway!!
    xX

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  64. Thanks for the giveaway!!!
    Very interesting book :D

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  65. Thanks for an opportunity to win it!!! We appreciate this.

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  66. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this book, it definitely has my attention as well as the author. I hadn't heard of it before, but as soon as I saw the cover and read the summary, I knew that i'd instantly fall in love with it. :)

    Suz @ A Soul Unsung
    susanhaugland@att.net

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  67. Thanks for the giveaway!
    I've been wanting to get this book but The Book Depo. doesn't have it in stock. :(

    darkangel231988(at)gmail(dot)com
    Memrie

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  68. Thanks for the giveaway! I love this beautiful cover and the story sounds so intriguing I cant wait to read it!

    seeingnightreviews@gmail.com

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  69. Thanks for a great giveaway! I really love the cover of this book, and I will admit, I am often swayed by covers!

    jwitt33 at live dot com

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  70. I really want this book so much! I'm frustrated because it's from Australia and I can't get my hands on it. I really appreciate this giveaway.

    Thank you so much for the giveaway!

    Jennie
    un3xpectedfate[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  71. Can I just say that I kind of love how Michael (MJ) thought teen girls went to sleep with rollers in their hair. That is hilarious! The extra bits of info on the Dead Lands really makes me want to read this, so thank you for the giveaway! *Runs to fill out the form*

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  72. What a great giveaway thank you so much for the chance!

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  73. Love the cover and the story! Thanks for this giveaway!

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  74. Sounds great. Thanks for sharing!!

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  75. the book cover makes me stop & give a second look, then you said it is an Aussie book so I like to put in on my radar list but when I found out it is a YA paranormal written by a male author I am sold. I now want to read this. Thanks for sharing!

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  76. Gorgeous cover! Thanks for the giveaway! It sounds great.

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  77. The wonderful cover is one of the reasons why I would love to read this book! Thanks for the international giveaway!

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