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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

"When I'm not writing..." with Gina Damico + giveaway!

Gina Damico

Today's guest is Gina Damico, author of CROAK and SCORCH, YA novels about a teenage reaper named Lex Bartleby. She's currently doing a real life blog tour around the eastern half of the United States (!) but she's graciously made time to join us in the virtual world to tell us what she does when she's not working on her next story.

Do you want to know what Gina does when she's not writing? Well then, you better stick around! And don't forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of SCORCH!

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When I'm not writing, I'm keeping busy somehow or other, no matter what. If I'm not being productive in some way, I feel like a useless lump, and then I get cranky, and then I yell at my cat, and then the entire situation devolves into a feline staredown, and there's just no way I'm winning that.

So, productive it is. Here is a list of ways that I keep busy:

1. I market. Writing is fun and all, and I wish I could do it all the time, but these books have got to sell, sell, sell, baby. Or get checked out of the library, checked out of the library, checked out of the library, baby. However they're read, people aren't just going to wake up one day with the idea that they should read this book they've never heard of, and so it's (partially) my job to get the word out there about it. So I blog, I make swag, I do these lovely blog interviews. One of these days I'll get a sandwich board made and take to the streets.

2. I crochet or knit. Yes, I'm one of these nerds. I knit garments, and I crochet all sorts of things - including this little grim and other kinds of monsters and freaks of nature. You should see my yarn stash. It's embarrassing.

3. I travel. I'm writing this from a hotel room in Chicago, where I have stopped on my big Slapdash Road Trip Book Tour. I'm driving from Boston, MA to Austin, TX and then back again - in part to accomplish a bit of #1 - but mostly because I realized I'd never been on a road trip before and wanted to see some more of the country through the windows of a poo-colored rental car. So far I have determined that Ohio has a lot of farmland, Indiana has a lot of Amish, and hotels have a lot of crappy coffee that I will suck down regardless of their taste or ability to perk up.

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4. I watch TV. A lot of it. Less than I used to, but still enough for me to feel guilty that I'm wasting my life away.

5. I deal with the puppy. My husband and I rescued a dog a few months ago, and he was only three months at the time, and HOO BOY puppies are a lot of work. I do a fair amount of following him around the house, hoping and praying that he's not going to start peeing everywhere. This, one might argue, is the least productive thing of anything on this list, and that would be correct. I can't tell you how many times this summer I've had to stop working on my third book just to get up, drag the dog outside, and lovingly coax some bodily fluid out him. Quite a talent, that.

Thanks for having me, and happy reaping reading!

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Thanks for visiting, Gina, and good luck on the book tour!

For more information about Gina and her books, check out her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Here's the scoop on SCORCH (coming October 25):

Gina Damico ScorchSixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to Damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home. To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex. Her best chance at escape would be to stop Zara once and for all—but how can she do that from DeMyse, where the Grims seem mysteriously oblivious to Zara’s killing spree?

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

You should also check out CROAK, the first book in the series:

Gina Damico CroakSixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

Christine's thoughts

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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giveaway

Gina is generously offering one (1) lucky reader a signed copy of SCORCH!

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

US only

Ends Monday, October 8, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Do you guys have suggestions for who you’d like to see featured on the blog? If so, you can make your suggestions on this page. No guarantees that your favorite authors will be able to participate but we’ll try!

Authors, would you like to visit and share with us? Please email me at jennblogs (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll set it up!

Jenn

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.

26 People left their mark' :

  1. I very much loved Scorch! <3 Gina was nice enough to send me a signed copy and it was amazing. This was a really awesome post!

    thanks Jenn!

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  2. I'm pretty excited for this release. I heard Gina's coming to my town this week. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the book signing!

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  3. Hi Gina. Your books sound good. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  4. Well, this book looks really interesting.
    Grim Reapers? Yes, please. A kick-ass heroine? Yes, please.
    I will be adding this book to my TBR pile RIGHT NOW.
    I wish the giveaway was international but no way I am passing this book.
    LOVED your review, Jenn
    Your constant blog reader,
    http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/

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  5. Very cool to do an in-person blog tour!! Didn't even realize that was possible. I'd love to have a copy of Scorch. I have Croak but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'm very much looking forward to it, though! Thanks for the giveway :)

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  6. These sound interesting. I think I saw some good reviews on CROAK a while back. Thank you.
    vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. Cannot wait to read your books. They sound like wonderful reads!

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  8. I loved Croak and cannot wait to read Scorch! Lexi made me laugh, cry and smile all in the same book.

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  9. I thought Croak was Amazing! Gina is such a great writer, and I cannot wait to read Scorch!

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  10. I haven't read Croak yet, though I did buy it recently and it's currently sitting on one of my book piles waiting to be read. And yea you and your husband for rescuing a dog!

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  11. That is so entirely awesome that you're doing a road trip around the US!!! I recommend it to everyone I talk to (well, okay, not quite everyone!) But I've driven from Ohio to Cali and then Cali to Maine (all on moves) and I loved every second of it!! All by myself!! There's awesome places and people to meet out there. And yes, Ohio is farmland but so is Indiana!!! And we have Amish, too - Just defending home turf :)

    I have Croak but I'm embarrassed to say I haven't gotten to it yet *hangs head in shame* BUT I used a free book giveaway to ask for it! So, yeah, that counts as a sale!!

    Thanks for the awesome giveaway!!!

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  12. I love road trips, especially when you have time to get off the interstates and travel the two lane highways. What a great idea to do your book tour that way, although it is probably taking a lot more time LOL.

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  13. Both books look amazing, I'd be honored to win!

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  14. Croak is definitively on my to read list! Just haven't had the chance to get to it yet.

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  15. This book looks so good! Thanks for the giveaway. :)

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  16. Sounds like a fun and interesting series would love to read it! Thank you for the giveaway.

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  17. Thanks for a great post and congrats to Gina on the new release! It sounds fabulous :)

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  18. your books look really good and i cant wait to read them

    kmichellec87(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  19. Hi Gina! It's always nice to meet a fellow yarn geek! I knit and crochet, too, and pretty soon I'm going to have to move because I swear my yarn stash multiplies when I'm not watching it! I can't wait to read this series because it just sounds that good! Thanks for the awesome guest post and letting us get to know you a little better :)

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  20. The books sound interesting.

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  21. I would love to read both of these. They have been on my wishlist forever. I tried knitting I couldn't seem to do it properly. Maybe I need more practice. =)

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  22. Your road trip sounds like a lot of fun! I recently moved to South Dakota from Washington so twice a year I get to have my own 2000+ mile road trip, its nice to see the countryside but having a pet with you is difficult, I can only imagine what it would be like with a puppy (thankfully I have cats)!

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  23. I've heard great things about your books! I'm really interested in reading them!

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  24. I LOVED Croak! Such a fabulous book! Cannot wait to read Scorch!

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  25. Thanks for the great giveaway!

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  26. This looks like such an awesome read, I can't wait to get my hands on it!

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