Free Souls Cover Reveal

Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn

(Book Three of the Mindjack Trilogy) Now Available!

When your mind is a weapon, freedom comes at a price.

Four months have passed since Kira left home to join Julian’s Jacker Freedom Alliance, but the hole in her heart still whistles empty where her boyfriend Raf used to be. She fills it with weapons training, JFA patrols, and an obsessive hunt for FBI agent Kestrel, ignoring Julian’s worries about her safety and repeated attempts to recruit her for his revolutionary chat-casts. When anti-jacker politician Vellus surrounds Jackertown with the National Guard, Kira discovers there’s more to Julian’s concerns than she knew, but she’s forced to take on a mission that neither want and that might be her last: assassinating Senator Vellus before he can snuff out Julian’s revolution and the jackers she’s come to love.

All of the Mindjack stories are available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, and iTunes (Note Free Souls is not yet available on Kobo or iTunes)

Early Praise for Free Souls

“Quinn paints a picture of a not-too-distant America where politicians inflame the hatred of one section of the populace for another—all for their own gain—and you worry that her world is not so far off from our own.”

— Dianne Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead, The Caged Graves, and the forthcoming The Eighth Day

"Free Souls starts with a bang and doesn't let up. Like a mash-up of all your favorite science-fiction adventures from Star Wars to The Legend of Korra, it blends nonstop action, nail-biting escapes, and great romance. I absolutely loved it! A great series conclusion—a must-read."

— Leigh Talbert Moore, author of Rouge and The Truth About Faking

“Susan did it again. Free Souls was WOW! I expected Kira to step up to her role as heroine but not like this. Surprises kept coming until the very end which tied up more loose ends than I knew existed. Warning: Don't start reading until you have time to finish. I didn't want to put Free Souls down for a second. It's that kind of book.”

— Sher A. Hart, Goodreads Review

Interview Susan's over at Amy Saunder's blog today , answering questions about how she came up with the mages' abilities, what kind of mage she would be, and all about her future works. Digital Box Set Since Free Souls is out, there is now a Digital Box Set of the Mindjack Trilogy for those of you who want the whole series!

Available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble

Mindjack Origins Collection Want more Julian? Wondering how Sasha's ability really works? Looking for EXCLUSIVE DELETED SCENES from Free Souls? This collection of novellas, scenes, and other goodies is for those craving a bit more of the characters and drama of the Mindjack series.

Includes: Mindjack Novellas Mind Games (Raf's story) The Handler (Julian's story) The Scribe (Sasha's story) TWO EXCLUSIVE DELETED SCENES from Free Souls (published nowhere else!) PLUS Mindjack flash fiction, an (imaginary) conversation between Raf and Julian, and other goodies for readers who want just a little bit more of Kira, Julian, Raf, and the Mindjack crew.

Available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble

ENTER TO WIN one of FIVE ecopies of the Mindjack Origins Collection

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Surviving Seventh Grade – Glenn K. Currie

Publisher: Snap Screen Press

Pages: 94

Source:  Review copy in exchange for my honest opinion

Genre:  Young Adult Poetry

This book came at just the right time for me.  I am a middle school teacher and we are currently working on poetry.  This book is a sequel to A Boy’s First Diary.

I want to make my opinion of this book clear from the very beginning.  I absolutely love this book!  It is laugh out loud hilarious.  The topics of his poems can be understood by middle school students.  Some of the topics might not be for the sensitive or immature sixth graders.  The poems don’t rhyme which will appeal to students who are trying to learn to write poetry.  They are narratives and read like short stories.

The author writes from the perspective of a teenager.  His principal and teachers have nicknames.  In his poem Pimples, Currie ends  the poem with the following stanza:

“Everything is harder in seventh grade.

You get too many teachers,

A lot of mean kids and too much homework.

And then you get pimples.”

I thought about it and read this one to my sixth graders.  They agreed with the poem and told me that it seemed like once you hit middle school things slid down hill real fast.  I think the author really speaks the language of the middle school student.

The poems are definitely told from a male perspective.  I believe this is one way to get guys to read.  The poems are definitely from a different time period.  In his poem “Talking about Girls”,  he talks about trying to get a date for the dance.  He is referring to a “sock hop”.

For me one of the most hilarious things is when he is talking about a topic, usually “mens truation” and he has asked his dad and others what it is and they don’t tell him and his reply is, I don’t think he knows either”.  He defines parents as getting old and forgetting things when they hit the age of 30.  I can sit back and laugh because I know some of my students  see adults this way.  It is a reminder of the way I used to think about things at that age.  This is definitely a must read book.

For more information about other books the author has written, check out his website:  www.snapscreenpress.com

Kicking Eternity – Ann Lee Miller

Publisher:  CreateSpace

Pages:  318

Source:  Received a copy for review

Genre:  Young Adult/Adult, Realistic Fiction

This is a book that should be read by young adults everywhere.  Christian teens are not immune to the temptations of the world no matter how long they have been Christians.  This is the story of four people who face challenges in their personal lives and their spiritual lives.

Raine decides to teach at a Christian Camp to help earn money to take her to Africa as a missionary.   Cal is the son of a preacher.  His brother runs the camp.  Drew is the camps recreation leader.  Both he and Cal are in love with Raine.  Aly is Raine’s roommate and sees Raine as a goody-goody.  When her father left she felt an empty hole.  She tried to fill that hole with guys who didn’t really care for her.  She sees that both Cal and Drew care for Raine and that sets the stage for more conflict.  In the mix is Raine’s  brother who has a drug problem.  Sometimes it is difficult to see the problem before us.  We tend to cover it up or make excuses until it is almost too late. 

I was able to relate to this particular situation.  For years I made excuses for my youngest sister and her drinking problems that eventually became drug problems as well.  I did this to protect my mother I said.  It almost destroyed not only my sister, but also my family.  This is a book that should be read by everyone.

I believe it can be enjoyed by Christian and Non-Christian alike.