Tis the Season...

...to clean out your freezer.

If you live in a hurricane prone area like I do, it's time to make sure you have a solid evacuation plan, keep a full tank of gas, and keep track of your outdoor pets in case y'all have to make a quick getaway.

Are you in the spirit yet? Yeah, me neither.

So, to get us into the spirit of the season, how 'bout a book giveaway?

A book giveaway? That's a great idea. You got it!

Want to win a copy of Paula Morris's Ruined?


Here's the summary:

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her Aunt Claudia, who reads Tarot cards for a living. And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There's just one catch.

Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle. As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend - and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey-she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

Though this book was written for the younger end of the YA spectrum, I think it paints a pretty vivid picture of New Orleans—a New Orleans of high society and Mardi Gras balls that's oh-so-very different from the world my characters inhabit in Evangeline.

Ruined is centered around Lafayette Cemetery Number 1, which is a very important location in my novel. (You may also remember the cemetery from Anne Rice's Witching Hour novels, and the film Interview with the Vampire. The cemetery from Easy Rider is downtown, St. Louis Number 1, where Marie Laveau—the second Marie Laveau—was supposedly buried.)

To enter to win, just comment on this post.
Old followers= +2
New followers= +1
Blog or tweet about the giveaway= an extra +5

Contest will be open until June 16, 9am cst. Before noon on that day, I'll reveal the winner!

Good luck to everyone who enters!