Authorpalooza!!!

Check out all the amazing YA authors (including moi) that will be at Authorpalooza this Saturday!!!

Ava Jae
Bethany Neal
Heather Meloche
Cori McCarthy
Amy Rose Capetta
E.M. Olson
Melissa Grunow
Barbara J. Rebbeck
MG Buehrlen
Darcy Woods
Erica Chapman
Patrick Flores-Scott
Judy Steele 



Come to the Rochester Hills Barnes & Noble Saturday, March 25 12-3pm to hang out, get your books signed & snag some writing advice. Plus, there's a Beauty & the Beast event happening the same day. You could meet Belle! And Belle loves nothing more than books...just sayin'.

See you there!
B*

B-Fest is this Weekend!

Barnes & Nobel is hosting their first ever weekend long book teen festival B-Fest is this weekend! Festivities begin this Friday, June 10 and run through Sunday, June 12.

Barnes & Nobel stores nationwide will be holding super fun YA events, giveaways, trivia, games & sneak peeks books that won't be out until the fall. So B-Sure to check out their site for full details.

Want to meet me & some other truly awesome Michigan authors AND celebrate My Last Kiss's publication anniversary on June 10th? Here's my B-Fest itinerary:

Friday @ 7pm for Author Panel & Signing

w/Andrea Hannah, Corey McCarthy, Amy Rose Capetta & Erica M. Chapman
Barnes & Noble

2800 S. Rochester Rd. 

Rochester Hills, MI 48307

Saturday @ 2pm for Bookish Games, including Pictionary, Spelling Showdown & more!

w/ John C. Ford & Amy Goldman Koss
Barnes & Noble  

17111 Haggerty Hwy.

Northville, MI 48168 

Saturday @ 6pm Author Panel & Signing 
w/Aimee Carter
Barnes & Noble  

3120 Fairlane Dr.

Allen Park, MI 48101
 

Sunday @ 2pm for Writing Workshop:

w/ Erica M. Chapman &  Barbara Rebbeck
Barnes & Noble

2800 S. Rochester Rd. 

Rochester Hills, MI 48307

XO

B*

Con-Troll YA is This Weekend!

Just a quick announcement that Con-Troll YA is baaack! I'll be at the Adrian Public Library with an incredibly fabulous lineup of YA authors including Tracy Bilen, Kate Bassett, Courtney Allison Moulton, Eric Priuska, and *insert drum roll here* NYT bestselling author Ellen frickin' Hopkins!!!! (Yes, "frickin'" in Ellen's legal middle name.)

In case you've been living under a book tent--which, more power to ya!--Con-Troll YA is a young adult lit conference featuring author panels, a writing workshop (that I'm leading this year), and book signings. Stop by to make all your dreams come true...or at least get some swag.

See you there!
B*

Books & Cherries!

Tomorrow the Gryffindorrific Kate Bassett and I will be at Brilliant Books from 2-4pm signing books and probably eating copious amounts of cherry-flavored goodies during the world-famous Traverse City Cherry Festival up in Traverse City, Michigan. Come up and see us be authorly and silly. We're super good at both!

Here are the Deets:
When
Saturday, July 11, 2015
2-4pm
Where
Brilliant Books
118 E. Front Street
Traverse City, MI
Call for more info: 231-946-2665

Special props go to the booklicious Sara G. of The Hiding Spot blog. Northern Michigan can thank (or blame depending on how much sugar Kate and I ingest) her for puttin' the YA in Cherry Festival! What? Those letters are totally in there! 

See ya up north,
B*

My Last Playlist

To celebrate the My Last Kiss paperback hitting shelves today (with some super fun extras if I may say so myself!), the Fierce Reads crew at Macmillan has posted the My Last Kiss Playlist on their Tumblr!

As you may already know, music is a huge inspiration for everything I write. I get most of my ideas from song lyrics and use the playlists I compile for my novels to push through the congestion of [uninvited] Writer's Block Parties. Music is magical in the way it evokes emotion and inspires. That same magic lives on every page of every book you love, which is why I'm so excited to share these songs with you. They're a tiny peek inside Cassidy's world and the friends (and frenemies) that made her afterlife...ish so thrilling to write about. And hopefully, for you, to read about.

You'll hear some of my favorite bands like Metric, Eisley, Dashboard Confessional, Radiohead and so many more. If you like what you hear, thank the artists by buying your favorites.

I'd love to hear which songs you like best and any new tunes that make you think of Cassidy's journey or Ethan's dreamy eyes and even Caleb's adorable skater hair. Let the song swapping begin!

B*

Paperback Giveaway!

June brings more than just sunny weather and an excuse to wear crop tops 24-7. On June 16th the paperback edition of My Last Kiss will hit bookshelves, and I am absolutely thrilled about some fun extras my publisher and I have planned for you guys.

The first is a super generous Goodreads giveaway that runs through the end of the month. Click below to enter, and stay tuned for more details on other paperback-tastic extras!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

My Last Kiss

by Bethany Neal

Giveaway ends June 30, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to Win

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MY LAST KISS-able Giveaway

No sweetheart this Valentine's Day? No problem! Cuddle up with a signed copy of My Last Kiss instead. Besides, everyone knows book boyfriends are way better than real boys. Sorry, guys. Sometimes the truth hurts. Just remember: there's always chocolate.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

My Last Kiss

by Bethany Neal

Giveaway ends February 14, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Good luck!
B*

Booktober Author Events

Booktober has arrived! Which means I'm getting ready for the following:

1) Exclusively reading horror novels the entire month (sorry The Fever. You'll have to wait till November Wyclef-style).
2) Eating my weight in fun size Twix.
3) Watching Hocus Pocus on ABC Family approximately 37 times.
4) Transforming into my true form a.k.a. Maleficent on the 31st (pictures to follow).
5) Not one, not two, but THREE upcoming author events!!!

That's right, kiddies. I will be attending three crazy exciting multi-YA author events this month!

Check out where I'll be on the list below. I can't wait to meet all of you and sign your copies of My Last Kiss...and show off my obligatory spooky manicures.

OCTOBER EVENTS

Books by the Banks

When
Saturday, October 11, 2014
10:00am - 4:00pm
Where
Duke Energy Convention Center 
525 Elm Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 
Details
Click here for more info and a list of all the authors attending this massive event!

Con-troll, YA! (Young Adult Lit Conference)

When
Saturday, October 18, 2014
10:30am - 2:00pm  
Where Adrian Public Library
143 E. Maumee St.
Adrian, MI 49221  
Details
Visit Con-Troll, YA's Tumblr for details on this FREE event!

YA Author Panel & Signing

When
Saturday, October 25, 2014
7:00pm
Where

Barnes & Noble

2800 S. Rochester Rd. 

Rochester Hills, MI 48307

Details  
Seven local Michigan authors will be signings their newest books, and discussing Teen topics and books at the Barnes & Noble on Rochester Road in Michigan.

Andrea Hannah - Of Scars and Stardust
Bethany Neal - My Last Kiss
Rebekah Purdy - The Winter People
Kate Bassett - Words and Their Meanings
David James - Between the Stars and Sky
M.G. Buehrlen - The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare
Carrie Harris - Demon Derby

This will be a perfect event for teens and adults alike, though the event itself will be geared for the teen audience with writerly questions about the writing process and books. If you're a teacher, bring your class!

B*

Live Chat + Giveaway Today!

Quick update/awesomeness alert: I'll be live chatting about My Last Kiss, writing, and possibly Pretty Little Liars if you're lucky today at 6pm with Rachel Silberman of the YouTube channel RayKayBooks!

Tweet your questions with #BethanyLiveChat and click here  at 6 o'clock tonight to hear/watch me gush about R.L. Stine, Degrassi, Ben Affleck...and other more relevant things like my book and stuff. Can't wait to answer all your questions!

B*

UPDATE: Watch my live chat on YouTube right now and find out how to enter to win a signed copy of My Last Kiss! Click here and enjoy. Contest ends October 3rd.

If I Swoon

Still recovering from ODing on the feels after watching the supremely swoony movie adaptation of rockstar author Gayle Forman's If I Stay? Well, I've got just the medicine for you in the form of 25 YA Books For Fans Of IF I STAY (including My Last Kiss!!!) that will strum your heart strings as exquisitely as Mia plays that cello. 

Which book (besides mine, of course) is your favorite?

Happy swooning!
B*

Signings & Swag & Marvel

Hello, hello my lovelies! With summer (sadly) winding down, I'm sending July out the breezy porch door with a bang and not one but two crazy-cool-fun ways for you to see moi and get your copies of My Last Kiss signed.

First up, the newest most fabulous indie in downtown Ann Arbor, MI Literati Bookstore is hosting their first ever Teen Book Club this coming Monday, July 28th at 7pm! And since they're reading my book and all, I thought I'd drop by to chat and fangirl a little with everyone. There will be a short Q & A with me followed by a discussion where you get to debate Team Ethan vs Team Caleb.

Click here to register and get your copy of MLK at 15% off!

Get your Wolverine claws ready for this next one. Saturday, August 2nd at 3pm I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Saginaw, MI as part of their nationwide "Get Pop-Cultured" event celebrating "Marvel Day" with a reading/signing for My Last Kiss. Come help me crash this fanboy fest with fangirl YAness!

Bonus: Anyone dressed in Marvel gear will be entered to win a huge swag bag including sweets and My Last Kiss-themed goodies. So paint yourself blue like Mystique (or wear a Spidey tee like us shy folk) and get thee to Marvel Day! Click here for more details and info on other GPC events. 

Where to meet me
Stop #1: Monday, July 28 at 7pm
Literati Bookstore
124 E. Washington St.
Ann Arbor, MI 40104

Stop #2: Saturday, August 2 at 3pm
Barnes & Noble
3311 Tittabawassee Rd.
Saginaw, MI 48604


Hope to see you all there!
B*

Guest Post on Jessica Brody's Unremembered Monday

We all have days we wish we could erase from our memories, right? Well, the fabulous Jessica Brody (author of Unremembered trilogy) has made a hobby out of collecting these cringe-worthy moments from other authors and posting them on her blog. And today is my turn.

Click here to see what I would choose to unremember if I could. (Get how that plays off Jessica's book title? She's so clever!)

Also fresh today, be sure to check out my interview at YA Series Insiders. I talk spin-off stories and Sour Patch Kids, naturally.
B*

Guest Post on Lauren Oliver's Blog

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!!! 

In honor of this spooky day, I've written a guest blog post about the Ghosts of Future Past for the fabulously generous and super talented author Lauren Oliver's (Before I Fall, Delirium trilogy) site.

Since My Last Kiss is about a ghost and Lauren has an adult novel titled Rooms coming out soon that's about several ghosts, I thought it appropriate--and fun!--to write on the topic of being haunted, not only by creepy crawlies in horror movies, but by the choices we make. (Kinda like Cassidy is literally haunted by her bad choices in MLK. Get the connection? Real cleaver, right?)

Check out the full post here!
B*

Guest Post on Brittany Geragotelis's Blog

The MY LAST KISS blog tour may be over (*tear*), but the guest posts bonanza keeps on a rollin'. Today the Book Slayer herself, YA author Brittany Geragotelis, graciously hosts me on her site where I discuss why we love to hate Fictional Frenemies oh so much.

From Pretty Little Liars to Mean Girls, pop culture is choked full of backstabbing besties, and I get down to the bottom (or attempt to) of our obsession with them.

Read the post here! And make sure to check out Brittany's witchy series Life's A Witch and her newest novel Kiss & Tell!

B*

Guest Post on Jay Asher's Blog

In case you missed it yesterday, for my first ever Guest Post on another author's blog, I "bump into" NYT Bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why Jay Asher for an unnecessarily silly/awesome Q & A.

(Oh, look, there's Jay now!)

Click here to join in the laughs! 

B*

MY LAST KISS RELEASE DAY!!!

Well, dear readers, the day has finally come. MY LAST KISS has been released into the wild of bookstores everywhere! Let us take this time to raise a glass to all the super fabulous, beyond dedicated people at my publisher, FSG Books for Young Readers/Macmillan, for being rockstars to work with (minus the hotel trashing aspect...as far as I know).

To Janine O'Malley, Ksenia Winnicki, Stephanie McKinley, Angie Chen, Elizabeth Clark, and all the other wonderful people that I didn't get the pleasure to know by name thank you from the very bottom (and top and middle!) of my heart.

And to my lovely agent Stacey Glick for being the Ari Gold to my Vinny Chase.

And to the newest members of my team (I can't help feeling like a celeb when I say that even though I'm writing this in my PJs!) the phenomenally hard working and creative ladies at BookSparksPR. You are my Shauna. (Pardon the back-to-back Entourage references.)

On the MLK Blog Tour I will be celebrating with a straight up hilarious Q & A on NYT Bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why Jay Asher's website. No big deal except that I did this when I found out.

The next stop on tour today is The Best Books Ever where I reveal the Origin Story of where I got the idea for my debut novel. I'm also taking over the Macteen Books blog today with a post about Finding Out Who You Are By Finding Out Who You Aren't.

After you're done reading all these amazing blog posts, I implore thee to get thyself to the bookstore to buy My Last Kiss.This isn't a threat or anything, but I know some guys with lightsabers if you need some persuading...

But seriously, if you do buy your copy this week, email/message me and I'll mail you a signed bookmark! Thank you all for your support and come back tomorrow for the next stop on the blog tour.

Read full posts here, here, and here respectively.
B*

P.S. There's also a sweet Goodreads Giveaway going on now through June 17th. Click here for you chance to win a FREE copy of MLK!

MY LAST KISS Blog Tour: Day 15

Sweet mother of all that is bookly, there is only 1 day until My Last Kiss officially hits books shelves (though they've already been spotted at Barnes & Noble stores)! Let's all take a moment to...

FREAK OUT WITH JOY!!!!!!!!!!!

And we're back. Today on the MY LAST KISS Blog Tour I divulge my Top 10 Fictional Crushes at YA Sisterhood. Then I reveal details about my Road to Publication and more with Literary Rambles. Literary Rambles is also giving away a signed copy of MLK in addition to the mondo giveaway for the tour, so make sure to enter here.

Read both full posts here and here.

B*

MY LAST KISS Blog Tour: Day 14

Well, today is Day 14 of the MY LAST KISS Blog Tour and the book will officially be out in 2 days (!!!!!), BUT last night I happened upon a stack of them on the Teen shelves at Barnes & Noble, which means each and every one of you can go buy your copy right now (if you so choose, of course. No pressure or anything)!!!

*Insert squealy celebration here*

Okay, after you're done doing a Snoopy dance with me, the tour stops today include a super fun Podcast Interview with the fabulous ladies at Girls in the Stacks and I reveal Character Theme Songs for the cast of My Last Kiss over at Proud Book Nerd.

Read (and listen to!) both posts here and here.

B*

MY LAST KISS Blog Tour: Day 13

Lots going on on lucky Day 13 of the MY LAST KISS Blog Tour including a shiny new giveaway in addition to the big fantastic tour giveaway!

First, I will be chatting with Books as You Know It (as myself) and then with The Book Rat as a medium of sorts for Cassidy, My Last Kiss's leading ghost-lady, in an extremely awkward/hilarious Character Interview. Don't miss this one guys!

Finally, Free Book Friday (which is my new obsession because they literally give away free books every Friday. I know, right!) is giving away 3 autographed copies of My Last Kiss! The winners will be announce on (lucky) Friday, June 13th, so click here to enter to win now!

Read full interview posts here and here.
B*

MY LAST KISS Blog Tour: Day 12

Once your eyes recover from the 126 minute The Fault in Our Stars movie-induced crying jag, prepare yourself for the biggest stop yet on the MY LAST KISS Blog Tour. I am (finally!) revealing the My Last Kiss Playlist!!! (Note: If you are still suffering from Augustus Cryialus, scroll down and let your ears to the work for you.)

Music is such a huge part of my writing process. Song lyrics are notorious for triggering ideas for my next book and for helping set the right mood for the scene I'm working on or to get into the head of a character and connect with his/her emotions.

Before I roll out the playlist, I must encourage you all to BUY THE MUSIC!!! I've included a playlist widget so you can enjoy the songs here on my site, but I can't stress enough that if you love the songs please please slap down the $1.25 on iTunes for the real deal.

I've also included links to music videos for each song. I decided upon the most obscured, sometimes acoustic, versions to highlight how talented the musicians are (which is why you should buy their music!) and how powerful the songs are.

Okay, without further ado, I give you...
The My Last Kiss Playlist



Metric - Help, I'm Alive link
The Band Perry - If I Die Young link
Biffy Clyro - Many of Horror (Ethan's theme song) link
Eisley - Ambulance link
All-American Rejects - The Cigarette Song link
Ingrid Michaelson - Ghost link
Broken Social Scene - Love Will Tear Us Apart link
Orelia - Suggestions (Cassidy & Caleb) link
Tonight Alive - Amelia link
Regina Spektor - Eet link
Imperial Mammoth - Requiem on Water link
Dashboard Confessionals - Ghost of a Good Thing link
The Wealthy West - Give Me Resurrection link
Taylor Swift - Last Kiss link
Radiohead - Videotape (Cassidy & Ethan's song) link

Enjoy the jams!
B*