Guess which book is featured this week over at Dear Reader! Come on, guess! Okay maybe it’s obviously, since I’m blogging about it.
But … The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading is the featured book in the Teen Book club. Do any of you subscribe to Dear Reader? They have a club for just about everything from fiction, to nonfiction to even a pre-published club. It’s a great way to discover books you might not otherwise know about.
Every swan was once an ugly duckling, and this is what BEFORE YOU WERE HOT is about. We’re calling upon our super hot peers — that’s you! — to send us your not-so-hot photos from before you blossomed into the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie clone you are today (bonus points for bad perms or headgear).
This is all in good spirits, like “we were all in this awkward phase together.”
There you have it. Why hide those awkward photos of you in the headgear or that ill advised perm when you can showcase them on the internet for all to see? I know. I’m digging through old year books as we speak.
You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love-after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. This summer, she’s going to focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in-think of all the great advice she’ll get.
But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up while she’s working at Wild Waves water park, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman?
No advice column can prepare Polly for what happens when she goes on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love-and still be herself.
About Sydney
Sydney Salter has never had an ex-boyfriend or worked in a water park, but she did once babysit a bulldog. Sydney now lives in Utah with her first and only boyfriend (now her husband), two daughters, two cats, two dogs, and a pair of tortoises. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and really tall, really twisty water slides.
1. The future has arrived and geeks finally rule the world. You’ve been called before a council to establish your geek cred. What will you tell them?
I prefer glasses to contacts, and when my hair is long enough, I can rock that geek girl glasses with ponytail look; I only wear comfortable shoes; I read two books a week–and always finish books I start; I look up words I don’t know in one of several dictionaries; I keep up on current events; I love documentary films; I adore research–whether it’s for a book, a family vacation, or a new skirt. I prefer museums to malls. When I do go shopping, I rely heavily on help from the sales clerk or buy whatever the mannequin is wearing. A few months ago, a mannequin dresser chased me down after I’d removed the plastic woman’s clothes (she happened to be wearing my size) to ask me why I liked the outfit. I had to admit that I have no real fashion sense and figured that she might.
I could go into the fact that I still get pimples decades after puberty, but I don’t want make anyone too depressed…
2. The Geek Girls are always armed with Nerds and Smarties at public appearances. What type of candy best represents your book?
Rocky Road Chocolate Fudge.
3. It’s mash up time at cheerleading tryouts! What two songs would your main character combine to create the perfect dance performance?
So What by Pink and Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. Let’s just say Polly is confused, and being a closet geek herself, doesn’t know much about putting together a good tryout routine.
~*~
This sounds like a great summer read! Thanks, Sydney, for stopping by!
To celebrate the one year anniversary of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading being in the wild–and still available in many bookstores–we’re teaming up with Stacey Jay to bring you two awesome prize packs.
Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #1:
A tote bag with original artwork inspired by MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of THE GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)
Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #2:
A tote bag with original artwork inspired by UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of The GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)
Leave a comment on this blog post, letting us know: zombies: cool or creepy?
Want an extra entry (or three)?
Post a link to the contest on your blog, Twitter or Facebook account and send us the link (geekgirlx2 @ gmail.com). We’ll give you an extra entry for each location.
Contest runs from May 8,2010 to May 31, 2010. That’s nearly a whole month to get your entries in, so spread the word for some zombie cheerleader swag.
And since this is our one year anniversary, and as a thank you to our readers worldwide, the contest is open to readers everywhere.
A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen’s club.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried–and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she’s vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she’s been missing.
But, to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss-to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston–charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.
If she’s not careful, she’ll break the most important rule of all-the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love . . .
About Sarah:
Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.
She lives and writes in New York City with her husband, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com.
~*~
Ooh, la, la. Picture me, fanning myself. If you enjoyed Sarah’s YA debut, The Season, I have the feeling you’ll like her debut adult romance as well.
Yes, it’s true. Geek Girl has gone where no geek girl has gone before (that we know of):
That’s right! We’re in American Cheerleader Magazine, or more precisely, there’s a review of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading in the May/June 2010 issue (which we haven’t seen yet, but copies are on the way).
Today we’re sending you elsewhere, specifically over to Brittany the Book Slayer’s blog. Brittany is a senior editor at American Cheerleader Magazine and an aspiring YA author.
Why, you may ask, are we chatting with a senior editor from American Cheerleader? All will be revealed soon. As in tomorrow. Pretty much tomorrow is the day.
But in the meantime, enjoy the interview at Brittany the Book Slayer. This interview contains some in-depth information on just how we go about writing as partners.
Just because you don’t have a pulse doesn’t mean you can’t be perky.
One second, freshman Karen Vera’s on top of the most fabulous cheer pyramid ever. The next, she’s lying on the pavement with seriously unflattering cranial damage. Freakishly alive without a pulse, Karen learns that she’s a genetically undead zombie.
Suddenly, Karen’s non-life is an epic disaster. She’s forced to attend a boarding school for the “death-challenged,” her roommate is a hateful wannabe-Goth weirdo, and she’s chowing down on animal brains every day to prevent rot (um, ew?). Even worse, someone is attacking students and harvesting their brains for a forbidden dark ritual. And it might be the hottest guy at DEAD High, the one who makes Karen’s non-beating heart flutter!
Armed with a perky smile and killer fashion sense, it’s up to Karen to track down the brain snatcher and save her fellow students from certain zombie death.
About Stacey:
Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, and a sick sense of humor. She loves creepies, crawlies, and of course, romance. What would a zombie novel–or any novel–be without kisses that make your toes tingle?
Stacey has been a full time writer since 2005 and can’t think of anything she’d rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, and waiter.
* * *
Zombie … cheerleader? How awesome does that sound? We think it sounds pretty darn awesome. So awesome, we’re gearing up for a zombie cheerleader giveaway this May. Stop back later this week for all the details.
Entries (RSS)
and 
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
