Traced blog tour: "When I'm not writing..." with Megan Squires + giveaway!

Today, Megan Squires is joining us for our "When I'm not writing..." feature. Megan is on tour promoting the release of TRACED, the first book in her new Outlier Chronicles, a series about three teenagers who live in a world where the government, a.k.a. the Hub, choose and recruits students for various positions during their final semester of high school. Those three students are outliers who don't fit society's prescribed templates.

Keep reading to see what Megan does when she's not building this scary world and make sure to stick around for the giveaway because it's a good one!

I love creating something out of nothing. I think that’s why I love to write—to physically make and hold something that didn’t exist before is such a rush. I’m so lucky that I get to do that in other areas of my life, too.

When I’m not writing, I’m running my newborn and senior photography studio based out of Sacramento, California. I have the best job in the world, getting to snuggle brand new babies for hours, and then hand them back and get a full night’s sleep of my own. It’s something I love doing—just as much as writing—and I feel so blessed that I get to do both.

I’m also a chauffeur, driving my two kiddos around to basketball, cheer, tap, and drum practice. Both my photography and writing careers allow for flexibility in my life, and I am so grateful that I’m able to prioritize to make sure my children always come first. They are my inspiration and my little muses and have given me numerous plot suggestions and have even named a few of my characters.

Any other free time I might have is spent sleeping. I’m a serious night owl—often writing until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning—and spend any extra time I might have curled up under the covers.

With two young kiddos, a busy photography business, and dream to write I don’t have much free time, but what time I do have belongs to my family. They are my biggest fans and supporters and I know I couldn’t do any of this without them.

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Thanks for stopping by, Megan! Your photos are gorgeous!

For more information about Megan and her books, check out her website or follow her on Facebook or Twitter. There's also a special website for the Outlier Chronicles.

You can also check out the other stops on Megan's tour:

Monday, February 11th - A Book and a Latte
Tuesday, February 12th - Coffee, Books and Me
Wednesday, February 13th - The Cozy Reader
Thursday, February 14th - The Book Whisperer
Friday, February 15th - Ticket to Anywhere

Monday, February 18th - Sara in Bookland
Tuesday, February 19th - Tynga's Reviews
Wednesday, February 20th - Imagine a World
Thursday, February 21st - Oops I Read a Book Again
Friday, February 22nd - Jenuine Cupcakes

Monday, February 25th - Ruby Reads
Tuesday, February 26th - My Neurotic Book Affair
Wednesday, February 27th - The Book Faery Reviews
Thursday, February 28th - Rants N Scribbles
Friday, March 1st - The Book Hookup

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Here's the scoop on TRACED:

Tessa can’t sleep.

But when your parents are dead and the government directs your path in life, sleep shouldn’t come easily. Lately, Tessa’s fitful nights are growing even more predictable, almost like déjà vu. And she’s beginning to think that something greater is at work—something her society has taken drastic measures to keep hidden.

Caught between self-discovery and government conformity, she’ll have to choose either the boy who can help her reveal this new truth or the one that can provide her with the security of familiarity.

Tessa’s faced with a weighty decision. And she’s going to need more than a good night’s sleep to make it.

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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One (1) lucky winner will receive a Traced bookmark and an eCopy of Traced to one lucky winner.

To sweeten the deal: All entries into the daily give away count towards the grand prize give-away of a Kindle Paperwhite skinned in the Traced cover art!

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

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!

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Posted by jenn at 06:00

 giveaway, Megan Squires, When I'm not writing  3 People left their mark

Traced by Megan Squires

Traced by Megan Squires

Book stats:
Reading level: Young adult
Trade paperback: 332 pages
Genre: Dystopian
Publisher: Self-published
Release date: September 15, 2012

Series: Outlier Chronicles #1

Source: Review copy from Kismet Book Touring

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Tessa can’t sleep.

But when your parents are dead and the government directs your path in life, sleep shouldn’t come easily. Lately, Tessa’s fitful nights are growing even more predictable, almost like déjà vu. And she’s beginning to think that something greater is at work—something her society has taken drastic measures to keep hidden.

Caught between self-discovery and government conformity, she’ll have to choose either the boy who can help her reveal this new truth or the one that can provide her with the security of familiarity.

Tessa’s faced with a weighty decision. And she’s going to need more than a good night’s sleep to make it.

I hadn't heard of TRACED before I signed up for the Kismet's tour. There are so many YA dystopian books out there right now that this one got lost in the crowd for me. I'm pleased to have discovered it, though, because TRACED is the beginning of a promising new series. It's not a perfect book but Megan Squires has created an interesting world that I'd like to explore more.

Let's start off with the good stuff. I really dig the setting. It's a near-future America where democracy has been replaced by the Hub and its Sectors. Children grow up knowing that they'll be chosen by a Sector when they turn eighteen. They don't really have aspirations because the Sector that picks them is supposed to be the perfect fit. People also don't have real choices: those who choose not to accept the Sector that picks them and instead choose their own path are Discarded, socially frowned upon outliers that don't belong in this highly structured world. TRACED is the first book in a proposed trilogy exploring what it means to be an outlier in this regimented world.

The protagonist of TRACED, Tessa, a high school junior with no major aspirations. She'll go with whichever Sector she gets placed in. She hasn't really been engaging with life since her parents died two years ago and she's fine with continuing to coast through life. She does what she's supposed to and that's okay. But things start to change as she learns more about her dad's past and wanting things for herself. It's dangerous to speak out against the Hub but Tessa goes from fearing the Hub to embracing herself, which is a neat journey. The title of the novel comes from an ability that Tessa discovers she has: the ability to "trace" events. I won't talk too much about it so that you can learn what it means along with Tessa but it's an interesting power with lots of potential ramifications. It made me wonder what other special abilities might be present in the population.

TRACED also contains a love triangle. Tessa is torn between two boys: Joel, her cousin's best friend and star of their high school, and Liam, the new kid in town whose family just bought Tessa's family's ranch. I know there are a lot of folks out there who don't care for love triangles, and I don't like them if they're poorly executed or there needlessly, but the Joel-Tessa-Liam one is really effective and well written. You can see why Tessa is drawn to both of them and why they both like her and I'm honestly not sure who I'd rather see her with. I have a slight preference for Liam but it could change. I was 100% Team Gale when I read THE HUNGER GAMES but I really didn't like him by the time I was through with MOCKINGJAY, for example. I hope future books will show us more of what these guys are made of, and I'm really looking forward to that.

The negative: TRACED reads very much like Part One and didn't feel like a complete story to me. There are so many threads left dangling and a pivotal event is introduced in the last few chapters. I really wasn't thrilled with how things ended. I got to the "About the Author" page and thought, "Seriously? That's where it's stopping?" I can only assume it was logical from the author's point of view but I don't feel like TRACED offered a complete story arc. We got most of the way through and then we got a little bump towards the next story without giving me the strong final ending I was looking for.

Overall, though, I liked TRACED. It lays a solid foundation for what could be a great near-future YA dystopian series. I look forward to seeing what happens to Tessa next in RECRUITED.

Read an excerpt

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Posted by jenn at 05:38

 Dystopian, Megan Squires, Review, young adult  Leave your mark