Angelhood Archives - Page 3 of 4 - A.J. Cattapan

More reviews, blog tour stops, and giveaways!

May 3, 2015/0 Comments/in Angelhood, Book Reviews, Giveaway, Writing, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

First, thanks to everyone who turned out for the Facebook party and Twitter contest last Thursday night. I had a blast! I’ll be blogging about the experience on the Seekerville blog on Memorial Day, so stop by then to find out a bunch of behind-the-scenes workings of a Facebook party.

In the meantime, the blog tour and giveaways continue! Here’s a roundup:

On April 24, Pegg Thomas wrote this lovely 5-star review of Angelhood on The Sheepish Scribe.
On April 27, Pegg Thomas interviewed me over at the Quid Pro Quills website. Hope you didn’t miss that giveaway!
On April 30, I guest blogged over on Johnnie Alexander’s blog about my collection of angel paraphernalia.
Also on April 30, Rabia Lieber wrote this awesome review of Angelhood on her blog.

Coming up this week:

On May 4, I’ll have an interview and giveaway (paperback if you’re U.S. or ebook if you’re outside U.S.) on Emilie Hendryx’s blog Thinking Thoughts.
On May 5, there will be yet another ebook giveaway of Angelhood on Patti Shene’s Teens of Today and Tomorrow.
On May 6, I’ve got a guest post on Ginger Solomon’s blog.

And still more to come!

Twitter Contest! Let’s fill the Twittersphere with angels! (er . . . #Angelhood)

April 28, 2015/2 Comments/in Angelhood, Giveaway, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

In addition to the Fabulous Facebook Book Launch Party on April 30 (you are coming, aren’t you?), we’ll be holding a Twitter contest that night as well. To be entered to win an autographed copy of my young adult novel Angelhood, simply send out tweets with #Angelhood any time between 6-9 p.m. CDT on Thursday, April 30.

The more tweets you send, the more entries you’ll receive. Let’s see if we can’t get #Angelhood trending Thursday night!

Here are some tweets you can use. Or feel free to make up your own. Just remember the #Angelhood hashtag!

Tweet: Enter to win #YA books, including #Angelhood , right now at the Facebook party for @AJCattapan : http://ctt.ec/6J0uW+

Tweet: Enter to win an autographed copy of #Angelhood by @AJCattapan over at Goodreads: http://ctt.ec/YAO3D+ #yafiction #giveaway #freebooks

Tweet: Join me now at the Facebook launch party for #Angelhood by @AJCattapan Tons of #giveaways: http://ctt.ec/4xr6S+

Tweet: #Angelhood by @AJCattapan is only $1.99 on Kindle right now. Check it out: http://ctt.ec/tPeaV+ #yalit #yafiction #Christianfiction

Tweet: Enter the Twitter contest to win an autographed copy of #Angelhood by @AJCattapan http://ctt.ec/5WzMb+ #yalit #yafiction

Enter to win an autographed copy of my book!

April 21, 2015/0 Comments/in Angelhood, Giveaway, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

For an autographed copy of my book, enter my Goodreads giveaway:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Angelhood

by A.J. Cattapan

Giveaway ends May 01, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to Win

Enter to win an ebook copy of Angelhood during my Facebook party on April 30.

http://tinyurl.com/AngelhoodFacebookParty

WANTED: TEENS WHO LOVE YA BOOKS!

April 11, 2015/2 Comments/in Angelhood, Giveaway, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

Are you a teen who loves to read? Or do you know a teen who’s passionate about YA books?

I’m looking for teens to join my Angelhood Street Team. What’s involved and what do you get by being a member?

To be a member of the Angelhood Street Team, you must . . .

be a teenager (ages 13-19)
follow me on Instagram.
come up with at least two ways you’ll help me spread excitement about my upcoming young adult book Angelhood.

What will you get in return?

Five bookmarks to share with your friends!

five of my awesome bookmarks
entries into special exclusive drawings only for Street Team members (we’re talking autographed books, iTunes gift cards, cool book swag, etc.)
the ability to brag that you were on my original Street Team before I become the next cool young adult author a la J.K. Rowling, Veronica Roth, or Suzanne Collins. 🙂

How do you become a member of the Angelhood Street Team?

Simply contact me and send me your mailing address (so I can mail you the bookmarks) and then tell me at least two (or more!) ways you will help me spread excitement about my book.

Will you . . .

post a pic of you with the Angelhood bookmarks on your Instagram account?
tell all your friends (via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that they must attend my awesome Facebook launch party on April 30?
post a youtube video talking about how excited you are about the book?
read the book and then post reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads?
create a book trailer for Angelhood?
get all your friends to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook?
interview me for your school newspaper?
come up with something even more creative????

And remember, I’m an English teacher, so the more specific you are about exactly what, how, when, and where you will help me build excitement, the better! If your ideas sound really fantastic, I’ll even throw in some extra bookmarks for you. 🙂

Blog Tour for Angelhood

April 10, 2015/0 Comments/in Angelhood, Writing, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

We’re getting really close to the launch of my young adult novel Angelhood, so it’s time to start looking at all the blogs that are taking part in my blog tour.

What’s a blog tour? A chance for an author to “tour” around on different blogs to talk about her upcoming book. Often these include interview questions, guest posts, and behind-the-scenes info about the book. There are also many giveaways, so be sure to check out these blogs in the near future!

April 13, 2015: Book Review on Lemon Drop Pie
April 20, 2015: Interview on Novel Rocket
April 21, 2015: Interview on author H. Schussman’s blog
April 23, 2015: Interview on The Scriblerians
April 23, 2015: Interview, recipe sharing, and ebook giveaway on Peering Through Life’s Window
April 24, 2015: Guest post and giveaway on Let’s Talk
April 27, 2015: Interview on Behind Every Story
April 27, 2015: Interview on Quid Pro Quills
April 30, 2015: Guest blog post on my collection of angels on Johnnie Alexander’s blog
May 4, 2015: Interview and giveaway on Thinking Thoughts
May 4, 2015: Interview on Gretchen E K Engel’s blog
May 5, 2015: Interview and ebook giveaway on Teens of Today and Tomorrow
May 6, 2015: Guest post on Ginger Solomon’s blog
May 8, 2015: Interview and giveaway on Sara Ella’s blog
May 8, 2015: Book Review on MommiFried: A State of Motherhood
May 13, 2015: Four Facts & a Fib on Marissa Shrock’s blog
May 19, 2015: Excerpt Tuesday on Allyson Carter’s blog
May 25, 2015: Guest post on “How to Throw a Launch Party” on Seekerville
July 16, 2015: Guest post and giveaway on Jo Huddleston’s blog

One month until Angelhood releases!

March 31, 2015/1 Comment/in Angelhood, Writing, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

Only one month until my young adult novel, Angelhood, releases from Vinspire Publishing! What’s on the horizon?

Lots of blog tours. I’m lining up a series of blog interviews, guests posts, and even some recipe sharing. I’ll also have some podcast interviews for you to listen to. Many of these will have giveaways attached, so be sure to stay tuned and check them out.

Also, on the official release day (April 30, 2015), we’ll be having an online launch party on Facebook. We’ll have lots of fun games and giveaways!

Then on May 17, we’ll have the in-person launch party. If you’ll be in the Chicago area, you can check out the details for that party here.

Looking forward to sharing all this fun with you!

Spin Cycle: 28 Inspirational Quotes

February 27, 2015/5 Comments/in Angelhood, Spin Cycle, Writing/by AJ Cattapan

For this week’s Spin Cycle, Ginny Marie of Lemon Drop Pie is asking us to list 28 of . . . well, whatever we’d like! We’re just celebrating that the 28-day month of February is almost at an end. (One of my former principals used to call it the “armpit of the school year.”)

For my post, I’ve decided to list 28 inspirational quotes. In the comments, tell me which one was your favorite or if you have a favorite that I didn’t list!

Quotes on Success

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Funny Quote

This one made me laugh. I guess it’s the Spanish version of “If someone hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

7.

8.

Quotes about kindness

9.

10.

11.

12.

Quotes about Hope

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Angel Quotes

Thanks to my book Angelhood coming out in two months, my friends are sending me lots of angel quotes. So here’s a whole set of them.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.
27.

28.

Stop by the Spin Cycle to see what other kinds of lists other bloggers came up with.

***********************************************************

LIMITED TIME ONLY!

Claim your FREE preview copy of Angelhood here.

Save

January Giveaway: Live and In-Person!

January 20, 2015/3 Comments/in Angelhood, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

For the past six months or so, I’ve been doing a monthly giveaway in order to celebrate the release of my upcoming YA book, Angelhood. These giveaways have been run mostly on my Facebook page, but this month, the giveaway will be in person.

On Wednesday, January 21, 2015, I’ll be speaking at St. Emily Church in Mt. Prospect, IL, to the young adult community. All those in their 20s and 30s are welcome. I’ll be giving away my new pens to all who attend!

So if you live in the area, come on out! I’ll be speaking about discovering your God-given creativity.

Spin Cycle: Lost

January 17, 2015/2 Comments/in Angelhood, Middle Grade, Spin Cycle, Writing, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

This week on the Spin Cycle, Ginny Marie is asking us to write a post prompted by the word lost. I have a great fear of getting lost. Many of my childhood nightmares had to do with getting lost. I am a map fiend. If you’re in a car with me and we’re traveling some place new, please give me a map so I can keep track of us at all times.

But for this post, I’d like to talk about a different kind of lost. In the past year, I’ve lost track of a lot of the blogs I used to follow. You see, way back in the early days of my blogging. I followed my favorite blogs through a blog reader called Google Reader, which was extremely popular at the time, but then suddenly disappeared. When that happened, a lot of us hopped over to Feedly. However, I never quite felt comfortable with it, especially after tablets came on the market. I had trouble flipping back and forth between reading my blogs on my laptop and reading them on my iPad. Then to make it worse, I lost my password and couldn’t even get onto Feedly anymore.

Then some friends recommend Bloglovin. So that’s what I’m using now. You can follow me here. The problem is that I lost track of a lot of the blogs I used to follow, so now I’m in the process of getting back to following them via Bloglovin.

For example, for years I used to follow Krista Van Dolzer over at Mother. Write. (Repeat.) She was an aspiring MG/YA author just like me, and she often had great agent interviews posted on her blog to help those of us who were looking for a literary agent. I lost track of her blog there for a while, but I was happy to see when I returned that both she and I will be debut authors this year! Her middle grade book The Sound of Life and Everything comes out a month after my young adult book Angelhood.

And then there’s the author known online simply as the “Authoress,” whose blog Miss Snark’s First Victim is widely known for its writing contests that help match up authors and agents and/or editors. In fact, Angelhood was a contestant there once and got some great feedback. Without that feedback, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to find critique partners, much less seek publication.

So I’ve lost track of a lot of blogs, but I’m trying to gain them back! What have you lost lately?

Shake It Off!

November 18, 2014/4 Comments/in Angelhood, Book Reviews, Spin Cycle, Writing, young adult/by AJ Cattapan

This week on the Spin Cycle, Ginny Marie is giving us free rein to discuss whatever we’d like for her linkup, so I’ve decided to share a funny, little story from last week.

On Thursday, I met with my spiritual director. (If you’ve never heard of a spiritual director, just think of it as an adviser or mentor who helps you in your spiritual life.)

During our session, we started talking about the fears I have regarding my book coming out next year. What if people hate it? What if they read something into it that I didn’t mean to be read there? Oh, I’m sure so-and-so is going to hate it. And what about this other person? Oh, I can just imagine the hate mail and the bad reviews!

My spiritual director responded by saying, “Well, you know someone’s not going to like it because that’s just how things are. There are people out there who are just haters. It’s their mission to put down other people. They’re going to hate simply because that’s what they do.”

And immediately my mind flipped to that Taylor Swift song “Shake It Off.”

‘Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Shake it off, Shake it off

After my brief pop-culture-induced ADD moment, I was able to pull myself back into listening to my spiritual director who had moved on to talking about how Jesus had his haters too. He had been scorned, ridiculed, ambushed–even betrayed by one of his closest friends! We can take comfort in knowing that he dealt with his share of haters, too.

And that’s when I burst out laughing. I held up a hand. “Wait,” I said to my spiritual director. “Wait right there. I just got the funniest picture in my head. First, you mentioned haters having to hate, and I thought of the lyrics ‘haters gonna hate’ from Taylor Swift. Then you mentioned Jesus having haters, and I thought of that passage where Jesus tells his disciples that if they enter a town where the people won’t listen to them, they should just leave and shake the dust of the town off their feet, so now I’m picturing Jesus leaving a town and shaking the dust off his feet, all while singing ‘Shake it off, shake it off.””

Moral of the story: When criticism comes your way (or even when the fear of criticism keeps you from moving forward), just remember the advice of Taylor Swift and Jesus–and shake it off.

Got a random story to share this week? Join the Spin Cycle.