The Secret of Spruce Knoll Giveaways

There currently three giveaways of Heather McCorkle's young adult urban fantasy novel, The Secret of Spruce Knoll occurring. That's right, three separate chances to win a copy from people who have already fallen in love with the book!

The first opportunity is from DNA Writers in honor of banned books week, because Heather's novel was unfortunately banned from her local bookstore due to an 'intense' scene in it that the bookseller felt was too much. No worries though, it still garners a PG-13 rating, the scene is just something parents may want to discuss with their kids after they read the novel.

The second opportunity to win is from Brenda Drake over at Brenda Drake Writes, also in honor of banned books week.

The third opportunity is from author Elle Strauss in celebration of her debut week. Elle will also be giving away four other fantastic books!

Enjoy, best of luck, and happy reading!

Review of The Secret of Spruce Knoll

An in-depth review from book blogger and reviewer Debbie of I Heart YA Books has come in for The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle. Here is a bit about the novel first:

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with her aunt. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands. 

Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Now, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad.

And now for Debbie's review:

***** 5 stars!

I've wanted The Secret of Spruce Knoll since I participated in a live chat with the author, Heather McCorkle. So I dove right into it when I received it in my mailbox. My intuitions about this novel didn't mislead me. McCorkle has penned an incredibly awesome story with amazing characters. McCorkle is a beautiful writer, by that I mean her writing flows with depth and strength and clarity. From the first page, I knew I was in for an intriguing fantasy with Eren and Aiden's story within the world of the Channelers. I also must salute McCorkle for her bravery—showing the reality of what teens face today, and then giving a positive way of dealing with it. 

After the death of her parents, Eren moves to Spruce Knoll to live with an Aunt that she's never met. It doesn't take Eren long to figure out there’s something strange going on, and Eren being the strong-headed girl that she is, is going to find out what Spruce Knoll’s secrets are. Aiden is a drop-dead gorgeous boy that Eren starts to crush on, but she soon knows it’s more than just a crush. Aiden is her forever and her destiny—that together, they have the power to save the Channelers, Humans, and the earth.

Eren and Aiden romance is definitely more than teenage hormones. This is where I have to give praise again to Heather McCorkle. Aiden’s love for Eren is from the heart. He loves her as a person and respects her. Eren and Aiden romance is what I call true swoon and it’s deliciously hot.

I do want to talk about one more character. Fane. I love this fourteen-year-old. He is the fun in this story. He's ready to take on the world and defend Eren's honor. Fane is so protective of Eren even Aiden has to be on his best behavior. I can't wait see more of Fane in the next book, he gave me lots of laughs.

The Secret of Spruce Knoll is beautifully written and has an awesome storyline. I highly recommend as a must read.

Clockwise Blog Tour And Giveaway

To celebrate the release of her novel Clockwise, Elle Strauss is doing a blog tour complete with a fantastic giveaway that you won't want to miss. Here are the details from Elle:


To celebrate, I'm giving away five debut books by authors that you can meet on  blog tour which is happening this week.

Books up for grabs:

LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden
THE CLEARING by Anne Riley
THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL by Heather McCorkle
PERILOUS by Tamara Hart Heiner

THE HATING GAME by Talli Roland 

How to win?  Just sign up for my newsletter. I promise I won't swamp you, I just want to let you know when I have new news and hopefully a few other interesting publishing/writing nuggets.  If you’d like extra entries,  leave a comment on any blog in the tour. The more blogs you visit and comment on the more chances you have to win. 

 And if you want even more chances you can tweet this:  Celebrate the launch of CLOCKWISE by @elle_strauss for a chance to win1/5 Debuting YA books.  #clockwise #winbooks

And Facebook this: Celebrate the launch of CLOCKWISE by Elle Strauss for a chance to win these Debuting YA books; LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden, THE CLEARING by Anne Riley, THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL by Heather McCorkle, PERILOUS by Tamara Hart Heiner and THE HATING GAME by Talli Roland 

Five books, five days, five winners!

Here is the blog tour schedule.

Tuesday: Laurel at Laurel’s Leaves is interviewing me. Find out who I’d choose if I cast the main characters in a movie and more...

Wednesday (we are hopping this day!): I’m guest blogging for Denise Jaden on  Why Writing History is Cool.

Heather at Heather’s Odyssey and Caroline Starr Rose are interviewing me. Find out what inspired CLOCKWISE and what I'm working on next.

If you want to know if CLOCKWISE is worth reading, these lovely ladies all have read an ARC and are giving a review; Laura Pauling, SaraLarson,Tamara Heiner Hart.

Thursday: Hop over to Leigh Moore’s blog where she is reviewing CLOCKWISE and interviewing me--find out why I chose the Boston as my setting.  I’m also being interviewed by ElanaJohnson where I reveal something that most people don't know about me.

And finally on Friday: I’m guest blogging over at TalliRoland’s blog on Chick-lit in YA, plus she’s giving a review. If you want to see me live,  go to Anne Riley’s blog for my very first VLOG (surprising how nerve wracking it is to talk to your own face on your own laptop--PJ's and wild office mess included!) where I teach on structure and talk a bit about CLOCKWISE.

Cyndi Tefft Author Appearance And Giveaway

If you haven't read Between yet then there is a giveaway going on at Goodreads right now that you won't want to miss! Kilts, Scotland, the grim reaper, you just can't go wrong with those elements in a story. So hurry over to Goodreads and enter to win Between before the contest closes on September 29th!

The first weekend in October, the Northwest Bookfest is occurring in Kirkland Washington. Cyndi Tefft will be participating in a panel on writing YA fiction there Saturday from 11:00am ~ 12:00pm. You'll be able to get your copy of Between signed by Cyndi Tefft all day Saturday so don't miss it if you'll be in the area!

What We're About & How To Apply

The Indie Elite is a special organization of independent authors (both with small publishers, and some who are completely independent) who have written outstanding novels. Each member of the Indie Elite has been recognized by critics or their peers, and have achieved respectable sales and/or earned awards or been finalists in recognized contests. Authors belonging to IE have been brought in by special invite or have applied and met the standards of excellence.

If you're looking for a great novel by an independent author then you've come to the right place. Our members currently write in the following genres: young adult, paranormal romance, mystery, thriller, and middle grade. On this site you'll find updates on novels written by the Indie Elite authors, press releases, author appearances, reviews of the novels written by the Indie Elite, and an occasional contest.

New members are welcome! To apply fill out the form below. You're more than welcome to nominate an author for Indie Elite membership, they just have to be aware of the nomination and willing to be a member. Check out the tabs above to learn more about our current members. Members must not only have an excellent book either completely independently published or published with a small press, but also need to contribute blog posts once every two months.