Posts Tagged: PT Michelle

Monday, September 10, 2012

Blogoversary Celebration Day 2: Now & Then

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Welcome to day 2 of my blogoversary celebration. Since yesterday was just the launch/announcement, today is the first actual post and it’s going to be about what kind of year I had; where I’ve been, what happened, what changed.

Then
This adventure all started on September 9th, 2011 when I started Xpresso Reads and posted for the very first time *sniff*. It’s safe to say I had no idea what it all entailed. I had been reviewing on Goodreads for a year, and before that I was using some lame Facebook App for a couple years. So I wasn’t new to reviewing, but blogging was a whole new world for me. I had heard of book bloggers but I didn’t know much about what it was like to have a book blog; let’s just say I had to learn fast. I loved every minute of it! Tomorrow I have a FAQ post where I will be going in more details about how I put myself out there, but I had a ton of fun going around and making friends. A lot of you guys will be my friends for life and this was worth it if only for that one reason!
Where was I this year?
-Interviewed at The Teen Book Guru
 -Interviewed at Reading A Little Bit of Everything
-Interviewed at One a Day YA
-Guest posted for Zombies vs Unicorns month at YA Bookmark
-Guest posted for My Reading Spot at Bewitched Bookworms 
      Firsts:

      -My first review on Xpresso Reads: Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
      -My first WoW: Lola and the Boy Next Door (Eep I still haven’t read it O_O)
      -My first book haul post: IMM (1)
      -My first Netgalley approval: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (And by the time I got to it it had expired 🙁 See! Learning experience! >.<)
      -My first print ARC: Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones (From St. Martin’s Press)
      -My first review request & first interview: Michelle Madow for Remembrance (loved it!)
      -My first Fresh Batch post: Sept 25th – Oct 1st 2011 

      -My first sidebar tour banner: Touch by Jus Accardo
      -My first commenter: Amy from Following the Reading (and I still talk to this girl! She rocks!)

        Now

        Yep, my blog has had quite the makeover à la Parajunkee. She did an amazing job and I highly recommend her if you’re looking for a makeover. Aside from the design, I have grown quite a lot as a reviewer and a blogger. It was a big learning curve and I’m happy to have gotten so many supporters – some of you I have known from my very first week! I will be mentioning a few awesome people later this week! 😉 I hope there will be many more years to come, and a lot more friends to meet!

        I’m sure most of you have heard by now, but new very recently is the launch of Xpresso Design where you can purchase banners and buttons for any type of use or event. Find more details here! I absolutely love working on my sidebar banners and event buttons, so after several requests, emails, and friend suggesting it, I decided to start this little design venture and we’ll see where it goes from there.

        Where do I stand after this year?
        -308,000 Page views
        -135,000 Unique visitors
        -2,900 RSS Subscribers
        -20,002 Total comments
        -526 Posts
        -238 Reviews
          Yup, it was quite the wicked year!

          Stop by tomorrow for a FAQ post where I will go into more details by answering frequent questions I get about followers, comments, ARCs & more.
          Now, to fit today’s theme, you can win two of the earliest books I ever received for review on the blog, and two of the most recent.

          Giveaway

          Then

          Jus Accardo and PT Michelle both wrote two of my earliest reviewed books on Xpresso Reads. For this event, they have very generously offered up copies of these pretties for giveaway (click on the covers for my reviews).

                   

          -One print re-release copy of  Touch (with the extra Kale scenes) by Jus Accardo + a swag pack
          -One ebook copy of Brightest Kind of Darkness by PT Michelle

            Now

            Helen Keeble and Darynda Jones both wrote two of the most recent books I received for review on Xpresso Reads. They have very generously offered up copies of these pretties for giveaway (click on the covers for my reviews – note: My review of Death and the Girl Next Door will be posted later today!)

                

            -One signed copy of Fang Girl by Helen Keeble
            -One signed copy of Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones


              Giveaway details:
              There will be TWO winners: first winner wins the “Then” books, the second winner wins the “Now” books. A very big thank you to these four wonderful authors for this giveaway opportunity!

              Both open Internationally
              Giveaway ends September 24th, 2012
              Use the Rafflecopter below to enter

              a Rafflecopter giveaway


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              Waiting on Wednesday (21) + Cover Reveal

              Posted by on 02/01/2012 • 45 Comments

              Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week:

              PODs                                     Michelle Pickett                                     Release date: June 1st, 2013 by Spencer Hill Press Add it to your Goodread

              Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it’s in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it’s a balm for the broken…

              Review: Brightest Kind of Darkness by PT Michelle

              Posted by on 11/17/2011 • 44 Comments

              Brightest Kind of DarknessP.T. MichelleReleased June 27th, 2011

              Goodreads / Purchase

              Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate- until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

              After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

              Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about…