Super Middle Grade Mondays: Author Spotlight – Michael Gibney with Giveaway #SuperMGMondays

 

Welcome to this week’s Super Middle Grade Mondays presented by Tantrum Books/Month9books!

Today, we get up close and personal with

Michael Gibney

author of The Three Thorns (The Brotherhood and the Shield #1) from Tantrum Books.

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

 

 

Michael Gibney began working in restaurants at the age of sixteen and assumed his first sous chef position at twenty-two. He ascended to executive sous chef at Tavern on the Green, where he managed an eighty-person staff. He has worked in the kitchens of Morgans Hotel Group, 10 Downing in Manhattan, and Governor in Brooklyn’s DUMBO, among many others. Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to work alongside cooks and chefs from many of the nation’s best restaurants, including Alinea, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Bouley, Ducasse, Corton, wd~50, and Momofuku.

In addition to his experience in the food service industry, Gibney also holds a BFA in painting from Pratt Institute and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Connect with the Author:

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

Would You Rather With Michael Gibney

 

Would you rather never be able to speak again or always have to say everything that is on your mind?

Everything that is on my mind. I value honesty and the power of words, both written and audible. It’s not in my nature to stay silent, especially concerning injustice i.e. Animal Cruelty, etc.

 

Would you rather be able to read or be able to read minds (but be illiterate)?

I can do both. Haha. Read. I’d find reading people’s minds an invasion of their privacy, unless it was to help them.

 

Would you rather be able to speak fluently every language in the world or be the best in the world at something of your choosing?

Be the best in the world at something. Reason being I love the fact that learning another language is a feeling of achievement and an exciting challenge. I wouldn’t want that challenge made easy.

 

Would you rather read only one book over and over for the rest of your life or read as many as you want but never remember what they’re about?

Oh, tough one. Well, if you can’t remember there’s not much point. Seems like a waste of time and effort for nothing, so I’d go for reading one book and that would be J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (aka Peter and Wendy). The best fantasy book ever written in my opinion. So simple but yet such Genius.

 

Would you rather only the first page of a book or the last page?

Last Page. I always have to find out how a story ends.

 

Would you rather read 5 pages per day or 5 books per week?

Five books a week if I could and had the time. Knowledge is power.

 

Would you rather read only one genre forever or never read the same genre more than once?

One genre forever because you’d quickly run out of genres, right? And there’s plenty of amazing books and various sub-genres to be found in the Sci-Fi and Horror genre. Not so much in the romance genre.

 

Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds?

Invisible. Would be so much fun but not if it’s like the Predator or Hollowman/The Invisible Man. That would suck.

 

Would you rather never use the internet again or never watch TV again?

Never watch TV again. There’s too much sad news and superficial reality shows on TV these days and not to mention a cluster of commercials. Yes, give me the Internet, so I can watch the art, music, movies I want and keep in contact with those I love around the world. Much better than a one way street of TV.

 

Would you rather have one wish granted today or three granted in 10 years?

Definitely one wish granted today. Life is unpredictable and short. We’re not guaranteed anything. Also, I hate waiting. Patience is a virtue. Possess it if you can. Seldom in a woman, but never in a man.

 

Would you rather know it all or have it all?

Have it all. I’m a deep enough thinker and have a strong enough imagination as it is and that can be quite exhausting. So, knowing it all would drive me crazy. Plus, one would be viewed as pretentious and arrogant if they had the ability to know it all. And both are not good attributes. =)

 

Three brothers born to a once powerful King were abandoned at birth and cast out into the old world as orphans - alone and unaware of the other's existence or their royal heritage.

In the new world, by order of the false King, three of the most lethal assassins are sent to kill the children before they come of age and avenge their father’s throne.

But when the brothers find one another, Benjamin, Tommy and Sebastian must resist the temptation of magic and power if they are to defeat the unspeakable evil that has threatened them since birth.

The Three Thorns is book one in an exciting children’s fantasy series called The Brotherhood and the Shield from debut author Michael Gibney.

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD | Indiebound | Google Play | BAM | iBooks

 

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

 

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Cover Reveal & Pre-Order: Never Tied Down by Anie Michaels

Title: Never Tied Down

Series: Never Duet #2

Author: Anie Michaels

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: December 29, 2015

I miss him. 

I miss Marcus. 

I miss Riot. 

I miss them. 

Pushing Riot away when Marcus died was an act of desperate self-preservation. I didn’t love him any less, didn’t blame him for Marcus’ death, but I couldn’t be with him and deal with the crushing weight of guilt that tore me down every single day. 

So, I moved on. Or tried to, anyway. 

Life, of course, pushed us back together. 

I still don’t know if I’m strong enough to keep myself away from him. Or if I even want to. 

Besides, something tells me life isn’t done trying to break me.

Anie Michaels is the author of The Never series, The Private Serials, and a stand alone novel, The Space Between Us. She started writing her first novel in June 2013. When she is not working, reading, writing, or spending time with her family, you can find her spending time with her close friends. Anie lives in Portland, Oregon, with her family.

“Let me first say wow just when you don't think it can get any better anie has a way of blowing your mind. I absolutely loved meeting kalli through porter and Ella but reading her book was amazing.”~ Hooked on Books ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Never Standing Still Review

“Anie gets better every time I read her. Three series’ and I am hungering for more. Anie’s descriptions are spot on and pull you into the story. I delight in the twists and turns that she sticks in the story line.”~ Author Taisheena Rayne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Never Standing Still Review

“There is so much emotion that will be pulled and picked at from reading this book. Every time you think you know, like the know it all readers we are, we’re are proven wrong…... I honestly have no idea how or where Anie is going to go with the conclusion of Kalli and Riot’s story and that makes me nervous but I need it like now.” ~Red Cheeks Reads ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Never Standing Still Review

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The Truth Spell by Anita Oh

The Truth Spell (Werewolf High #1)

by Anita Oh

Release Date: 2015

As soon as I stepped onto the grounds of Amaris High, I knew I'd made a big mistake. I could never fit in at such a snobbish school – I was more IT girl than "it girl". But then I saw him.

Sam Spencer. My childhood best friend. But it couldn't be. Sam Spencer had died three years ago, on the night that changed everything. I need to know what happened, why he's suddenly not dead and is hanging out with a bunch of rich kids.

When the school is hit by a truth spell, it seems like the perfect chance to find out what Sam and his creepy new friends are hiding, but the weirder things get, the less I'm sure I want to know. Even for Sam, even for the free food, Amaris High might be more trouble than it's worth.

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The Truth Spell is now on sale for $0.99 on Amazon!

“Take heed!” a voice boomed out.

All of us jumped and spun toward the voice.  Someone had clearly slipped something funny into  

the water supply, because the statue of Professor Amaris had stood up from his Buddha pose and was pointing right at us.  The entire garden was lit with a blue glow.

“Take heed!” he repeated in his booming voice.  “Those of you with secrets in your heart and falsehood on your tongue.  A light has arrived to shine on your darkness, to clear away your shadows.  There will be nowhere for you to hide.”

The blue light grew brighter and brighter, until it was blinding.  It condensed for a moment into a small, impossibly bright ball, then exploded outward, like thousands of tiny blue fireflies.

“Well, that was weird.”

“Nobody speak until we’re back at the house,” Tennyson Wilde said quietly to Sam and the others.  “The commoner is right, something strange is happening.”

Q. How did you come up with the idea for Werewolf High?

I really wanted to create a world that I’d enjoy hanging out in.  When I think about my favourite stories, they’re mostly based in schools – stuff like Harry Potter and Buffy, as the most obvious examples.  I think schools are a great setting because you’re forced into constant contact with all sorts of different people, which mostly sucks in real life but is great for creating dramatic scenarios in a book. Plus, I love werewolves!  So it seemed like a good idea to combine the two.

Q. The series is Werewolf High but the first book is called “The Truth Spell” – that sounds more like witches than wolves!

The werewolf pack is at the heart of the series and the main story focuses on the wolves, but when you throw witchcraft into the mix, there’s no end to the fun stuff that can happen.  When I was first developing the series, I decided I’d like to play around with a different trope in each book, body swaps and soul bonds and so on, and a truth spell was perfect for the first book, when everyone still has something they want to hide.  

Q. Is the main character a werewolf?

Lucy is an ordinary human girl.  She comes from a poor family where she’s had to take responsibility for her younger siblings, so she’s had to be a practical, logical sort of person, and she finds it hard to accept magic and werewolves.  She also struggles being at such an elite boarding school, where people throw money around.  It’s a totally different world for her.

Q. What do you find the hardest part of the writing process?

I have a chronic illness, so everything is hard all the time, but the hardest thing is keeping to a schedule.  Just sitting down to do something every day is really difficult, sometimes impossible, but if you do a little bit and then a little bit more, gradually it builds up.  I’ve spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and making excuses but it gets to the point where if you want to do something, you have to do it.  My sister’s a writer and she said to me, “quit your dillydallying and write your book already, sheesh!”.  Most people I know are like “one day I will do this” or “I’ll do that someday”, but if she wants to do something, she just does it – travel the world or become a writer or whatever.  When someone like that is standing in front of you, it’s hard to make excuses for yourself.

Q. What do you do for fun?

Mostly, I chase my dog around the house while pretending to be T-Rex.  She’s a beagle, so she doesn’t know that the T-Rex has tiny little arms that can’t possibly catch her, so she’s super fast and good at evasive manoeuvres but I will get her one day!

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After several years in the warm, comforting cocoon of fandom, Anita has decided to see what's up with this real world she's heard about.  Judgment is reserved until more information can be gathered.

Anita likes dogs, naps, food, and Japanese idol group Arashi.  Everything else can be improved when combined with these four things.

Anita lives with a grumpy beagle who bosses her around terribly, and won't even snuggle.

Author Links:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

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The Last Orphans Series by N.W. Harris

- Book #1 -

The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris

Genre: YA, post-apocalyptic

Series: The Last Orphans #1

Publication: October 9th, 2014 by Clean Teen Publishing

One horrifying day will change the life of sixteen-year-old Shane Tucker and every other kid in the world.

In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance.

Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead.

A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE!

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

You can sign up for the upcoming blog tour for The Last Orphans by clicking the banner below.

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- Book #2 -

The Harvest by N.W. Harris

Genre: YA, post-apocalyptic

Series: The Last Orphans #2

Publication: April 14th, 2015 by Clean Teen Publishing

In the wake of the apocalypse, nobody is safe.

Shane Tucker and his friends thought they managed to save the world from the destructive machine that killed off most of its adult population. Unfortunately, a war nobody was prepared for has only just begun. Now they find themselves joining ranks with a secret organization that will train them to fight for the right to survive. Taking refuge alongside other teenage survivors in a hidden base set deep within the mountains, they will learn how to repel an imminent attack by an ancient race of aliens.

Determined to safeguard the children under their charge, Shane and his friends compete for the ultimate prize—a suicide mission against the flagship of the alien fleet. While Shane's feelings for Kelly deepen, along with his need to protect her, he finds emotions clouding his judgment. He’ll gladly die for her. But he refuses to die with her. No amount of training can prepare them for what is to come. Everything the brave teenagers have endured thus far will be eclipsed, with the freedom of humanity hanging in the balance.

The Harvest is the heart-pumping sequel to The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris.

Purchase

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

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- Book #3 -

Enslaved by N.W. Harris

Genre: YA, post-apocalyptic

Series: The Last Orphans #3

Publication: Coming December 29th, 2015 by Clean Teen Publishing

If he loses her, he’ll lose his will to fight.

Shane and his friends survive the first major attack against the enemy, destroying the alien ships that came to harvest the children of Earth and turn them all into slaves. However, one ship escaped, and the aliens have captured Kelly. Shane will do whatever it takes to save her, but turning his back on his friends could jeopardize the whole mission.

The enemy invades Kelly’s mind, turning her into a slave soldier. She’ll follow their orders, even if it means murdering her friends, including her little sister and Shane. She is helpless, trapped inside her body while it performs heinous tasks under the direction of her new masters, while her sanity and desire to live fade.

Shane returns home to make a rescue attempt, only to find Kelly commanding an army of human slave soldiers, and she’s determined to make him join her ranks. Will Shane save Kelly before she gets to her sister, or will she help the enemy enslave the rest of humanity?

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