The Landfill Blog Tour: Ten Things You Might Not Know About Kevin Hopson & Excerpt

The Landfill by Kevin Hopson

Release Date: April 2nd 2014
Publisher:  MuseItUp Publishing
Format: Kindle
Pages: 53
Genre: Young Adult – Dark Fiction/Horror
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Billy, a high school senior, has lost a lot in the past year, including his younger sister, Sara. Billy lacks excitement and purpose in life until his curiosity takes him and his best friend, Connor, to an old, abandoned landfill along the river. Connor would rather forget the experience, but Billy can’t help but feel invigorated by their findings. Taking it upon himself to uncover the mystery, Billy finds his life coming full circle – but is that a good or bad thing?

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Kevin Hopson

1. I have allergies to beef and milk. If you do the math (think about cheese and all of the possible dairy products), you’ll realize how lame my choices can be when it comes to food. That being said, I live a healthier life as a result of it.

2. My mother saved my life when I was a kid. I was choking on a hot dog, and she managed to pry it out of my mouth in time. She also suffered permanent kidney damage during my birth and still deals with it to this day. Talk about sacrifice. Thanks, Mom!

3. I lost my first son to stillbirth on August 28, 2010. He watches over his little brother now.

4. Prior to my writing career, I managed my own business on three different occasions. I worked as an investment consultant, a personal chef, and a sports scout. My background (college degree) is actually in finance.

5. I donate all of my book proceeds to charity. St Jude’s is a favorite of mine.

6. I nearly flunked out of college after my first year. I eventually got my act together, took some classes at a community college, and then graduated from a four-year university (Virginia Commonwealth University) with honors.

7. I have a male Chihuahua named Paco. He is nine years old and has dozens of nicknames.

8. I have a room filled with vintage 80’s toys and cartoon/comic art. I’m a geek.

9. My favorite show of all time is Seinfeld.

10. I have probably watched Top Gun more than any other movie in my 39 years. I realize they were in the Navy, but I wanted to join the Air National Guard after first seeing it.

Excerpt:

“You feel like being adventurous?” A rare burst of energy came over Billy.

“Maybe,” Connor replied with a drawn-out voice. “What are you thinking?”

“Take a left up here on River Road.”

 Connor perked up, slowing the vehicle and making a left onto the road. “You actually want to hang out at the river?”

“Not quite.”

“Then where are we going?” Connor turned to look at him. Billy could tell his friend was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “Wait. We’re not going to that landfill, are we?”

“Yeah. Why not?” Even with what his father had told him, Billy was captivated at the thought of checking it out. “Let’s do it,” he said with excitement.

“We don’t even know how to get there.”

“This road runs parallel with the river,” Billy commented, “and it can’t be more than a couple miles.”

“All right,” Connor said. “I’m only doing this for you, though.”

A few minutes passed and Billy continued to watch with eagerness, waiting for a sign as to which direction to go. He noticed a light making its way through a small forest of evergreens to their left. The source of illumination came from an elevated position, possibly atop the nearby hill. Billy scanned the area in front of them as well as the trees off to the side.

“Slow down,” Billy demanded.

Connor brought the SUV to a crawl.

“It has to be over there.” Billy pointed to his left where the light shined through the tops of the trees. “Do you see a road that goes up there?”

Connor stopped the vehicle. “I don’t see anything but woods.”

“Do you have a flashlight?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m going to get out and take a look,” Billy said.

“In the glove compartment,” Connor noted.

Billy snatched the mini flashlight from the glove compartment and stepped out of the vehicle. He left the door open, making Connor visible inside. Shining the light along the edge of the pavement, Billy spotted a crude road. Made primarily of dirt, it curved through the forest like a serpentine and didn’t appear to have any guardrails.

“Put your brights on,” Billy said, easing back into the vehicle.

Connor pulled a lever on the side of the steering wheel, enhancing the view in front of them.

“There’s a dirt road up here on the left.”

“You sure this is a good idea?” Connor asked.

“You’ve got four-wheel drive, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We should be fine then,” Billy said.

{About the Author}

Prior to hitting the fiction scene in 2009, Kevin Hopson was a freelance writer for several years, covering everything from finance to sports. His debut work, World of Ash, was released by MuseItUp Publishing in the fall of 2010. Kevin has released several other books through MuseItUp since then, and he has also been published in various magazines and anthology books. Kevin's writing covers many genres, including dark fiction and horror, science fiction, and crime fiction.

The Landfill Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2014/04/17/pump-up-your-book-presents-the-landfill-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Excerpt of Bleak Devotion by Gemma Drazin

Bleak Devotion by Gemma Drazin

Release Date: March 31st 2014
Genre: Young Adult – Futuristic Dark Fantasy
Author: Website | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Jessica doesn't know how long it's been, only that it seems like forever since she's allowed her feelings to show. Ever since they attacked her city. Monsters which appear human but are void of any expression, and seem bent on destroying all signs of sentiment in others. Their lethal blades shred anyone who shows even the slightest emotion.

After her only remaining friend is killed, Jessica flees the city hoping to find a place where emotions aren't fatal. A place to grieve those she lost and live out her meager existence. When she discovers the world of the emotionless creatures isn't what she believes, the love it leads her to may also be the path to her own death.

{Excerpt}

Jessica clamped her teeth together and took a deep breath. “I can stay calm if he can.”

Zach shook his head. “I don't think—”

“Let her speak with me.” A deep male voice resonated through the crowded hallway.

Throwing on an emotionless mask, Jessica slowly shifted her body toward the voice. A tall male, whom she could only assume was the monster they called Blade, had managed to sneak down the stairs and stood mere inches from her. If she reached out, she would be able to touch him. The thought disturbed her and she struggled to maintain her composure.

The only thing she wanted to do was run screaming at this monster who had ruined her life. Every emotion that she'd been forced to hold in since the invasion begged to be launched at him. Grief. Torture. Outrage. Terror. All of it, she wanted him to feel. She wanted the rage to coat him inside and out, no matter what it would do to him.

{About Gemma Drazin}

Gemma Drazin is the author of short stories and Young Adult Fantasies, sometimes mixing in a love story. She has a great love for cute shoes and can often be found outside with a book and a treat. When she’s not reading or writing she can be found enjoying time with her husband and children.

{Giveaway}

10 ebook copies of Bleak Devotion

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Wonderland inspired Book Blitz: Insanity by Cameron Jace

Insanity by Cameron Jace

Release Date: December 20th 2013
Publisher: Jawigi Publishing
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal, Fantasy
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll's paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland's real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.

{Chapter 1 Excerpt}

The writing on the wall says it's January 14^th. I am not sure what year. I haven't been sure of many things lately, but I’m wondering if it’s my handwriting I’m looking at.

There is an strange key drawn underneath the date. It's carved with a sharp object, probably a broken mirror. I couldn’t have written this. I'm terrified of mirrors. They love to call it Catoptrophobia around here.

Unlike regular patients in the asylum, my room is windowless, stripped down to a single mattress in the middle, a sink, and bucket for peeing--or puking--when necessary. The tiles on the floor are black-and-white squares, like a chessboard. I never step on black. Always white. Again, I'm not sure why.

The walls are smeared with a greasy pale green everywhere. I wonder if it's the previous patient's brains spattered all over from shock therapy. In the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, politely known as the Warneford hospital, the doctors have a sweet spot for shock therapy. They love watching patients with bulging eyes and shivering limbs begging for relief from the electricity. It makes me question who is really mad in here.

It's been a while since I was sent to shock therapy myself. Dr. Tom Truckle, my supervising physician, said I don't need it anymore, particularly after I stopped mentioning Wonderland. He told me that I used to talk about it all the time; a dangerous place I claim I have been whisked away to when my elder sister lost me at the age of seven.

Truth is, I don't remember this Wonderland they are talking about. I don't even know why I am here. My oldest vivid memory is from a week ago. Before that, it's all a purple haze.

I have only one friend in this asylum. It's not a doctor or a nurse. And it's not a human. It doesn't hate, envy, or point a finger at you. My friend is an orange flower I keep in a pot; a Tiger Lily I can't live without. I keep it safe next to a small crack in the wall where a single sun ray sneaks through for only ten minutes a day. It might not be enough light to grow a flower, but my Tiger Lily is a tough girl.

Each day, I save half of the water they give me for my flower. As for me, better thirsty than mad.

My orange flower is also my personal rain check for my sanity. If I talk to her and she doesn't reply, I know I am not hallucinating. If it talks back to me, all kinds of nonsense starts to happen. Insanity prevails. There must be a reason why I am here. It doesn’t mean I will easily give in to such a fate.

"Alice Pleasance Wonder. Are you ready?" the nurse knocks with her electric prod on my steel door. Her name is Waltraud Wagner. She is German. Everything she says sounds like a threat and smells like smoke. My fellow mad people say she is a Nazi; that she used to kill her own patients back in Germany. "Get avay vrom za dor. I an coming in," she demands.

Listening to the rattling of her large keychain, my heart pounds in my chest. The turn of the key makes me want to swallow. When the door opens, all I can think of is choking her before she begins to hurt me. Sadly, her neck is too thick for my nimble hands. I stare at her almost-square figure for a moment. Everything about her is four sizes too big, all except her feet, which are as small as mine. My sympathies, little feet.

"Time for your daily ten-minute break," she approaches me with a straitjacket, a devilish grin on her face. I never get out. My ward is underground, and I take my break in another empty ward upstairs, where patients love to play soccer with a hedgehog’s head.

A big muscled warden stands behind Watlraud. Thomas Ogier. He is bald, has an angry-red face and a silver tooth he likes to flash whenever he sees me. His biceps are the size of my head. I have a hard time believing he has ever been a 4-pound baby.

"Slide your arms into the jacket," Waltraud demands in her German accent, a cigarette puckered between her lips. "Slow and easy, Alice," she nods at warden Ogier, in case I misbehave.

I comply obediently and stretch out my arms for her to do whatever she wants. Waltraud twists my right arm slightly and checks the tattoo on my arm. It’s the only tattoo I have. It’s a handwritten sentence that looks like a thin arm band from afar. Waltraud feels the need to read it allowed, “’I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’” I was told I have written it myself while still believing in Wonderland. “That Alice in Wonderland has really messed with your head.” She puffs smoke into my face as she mocks me.

The tattoo and Waltraud’s mocking is the least of my concerns right now. I let her tie me, and while she does, I close my eyes. I imagine I am a sixteenth century princess, some kind of a lucky Cinderella, being squeezed into a corset by my chain smoking servant in a fairy tale castle above ground, just about to go meet my Prince Charming. Such imagery always helps me breathe. I once heard that it was hope that saves the day, not sanity. I need to cool down before I begin my grand escape. 

{Author Interview}

Q: Is insanity an Alice in Wonderland retelling where fact and fiction intermingle like in your previous series the Grimm Diaries?

A: It’s not quite a retelling of Alice in Wonderland as much as inspired by it. It has all the whimsical and nonsensical wonderland fantasy parts, but it’s more grounded to reality because it happens in our time. Fact and fiction do walk side by side in this book. For instance, Lewis Carroll is present as character himself.

Q: Why did you call it Insanity?

 A: Well, insanity is the main theme of the book. All what Alice has seen could be interpreted as madness in many ways. Also, when you read the book, it’s insane. I mean like really insane. You will either love or hate it. I don’t think there is a middle zone.

Q: Is the story told from many point of views like the Grimm Diaries?

A: Just a few, but most of the story is Alice’s personal journey.

Q: The Grimm Diaries was filled with research, how much did you put in Insanity?

A: I think the research in Insanity is even greater than the Grimm Diaries. The book is also more action oriented. Alice travels from Oxford, London, Vatican City then Belgium in a couple of days. Each city had to be researches and connected with Lewis Carroll and his books.

Q: The blurb says Alice’s sanity can only be proved through Lewis Carroll’s photography and writing. We thought this is about Wonderland.

A: It’s about Wonderland. The idea is that all puzzles, action scenes, and even romance have a Lewis Carroll background to them. The main reason why this book came to my mind is my fascination with both Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll himself. If you learn the reasons behind each character and location in his book, you will love Alice in Wonderland even more. It’s no coincidence that we all relate to the book. It’s a masterpiece.

Q: You said Insanity is more of a TV pilot. How so?

A: I did write it as a novel but also as TV pilot. The reason is that once you get the idea of the book, the possibilities are infinite, and incredibly amusing. When outlining my plot, I found out it would take books and books to write it. So I wrote one story with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s satisfying on its own, but if I succeeded in peaking your interest you should like to read the next books. The beauty of it is that once you read one book, each other book will be a story of its own. It’s very much like a TV series.

Q: Anything you want to add?

A: I wish everyone and awesome Christmas and a Fantabulous new yearJ And if I messed with you childhood memories of Alice in Wonderland a bit, don’t hate me. Lol.

{Giveaway}

Both giveaways are International! You can enter both my giveaway and the blitz wide giveaway. Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{About the Author}

Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monsters      I write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV - it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales.  I live in San Francisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.