Ok y’all! I’ super psyched because today is my
favorite holliday and one of my dear friends and favorite authors is here today
for her UNHIMGED Blog Tour!!! Yep A.G. Howard the amazing author of SPLINTERED
is here with Jeb (swoons), Alyssa, and Jenara to talk about their Halloween
Memories! Also make sure to check out the TWO awesome giveaways I have going
on!!!!!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN and welcome to stop #10!
Memories play a pivotal role in the Splintered series. Though they are as unique as the people they
belong to, one universal thread binds them all: emotions.
Today, Jeb, Jenara, and Alyssa are sitting at a table and
sharing some past Halloween memories and what they felt while experiencing
them.
*****
*Jenara
flips through a scrapbook and settles on two pictures*
Jenara: Okay, Bro. The directions were to pick a costume that
had an impact on you. I don’t remember it saying anything about choosing two.
Jeb: *frowning*
That’s weird, I just picked the foil mask. I don’t know how that other one
got--
Alyssa: Uh, I chose that one. It impacted me. I bent the rules a little. *twines
red strand of hair around a fingertip*
*Jeb
studies Alyssa, intrigued*
Jenara: Well, I can’t blame you, Al. It was a masterpiece. Even
if I do say so myself. My artistic prowess must’ve imprinted indelibly on your
mind that day.
Alyssa: *snorts*
Pretty sure it imprinted on Jeb’s butt even more than my mind.
Jeb: *scowls at his
sister* No kidding. I hated that
tail. I asked you to make a black devil costume, and you used a feather boa to
skimp on sewing. Nice. *clenches jaw*
I almost got the crap beat out of me for wearing that trick-or-treating. Those
two older guys kept calling me a kitty cat.
Jenara: The way I remember it, the words ‘kitty’ and ‘cat’
never figured into the equation. And you’re the one who had them both pinned to
the ground and wouldn’t let them up until they gave over their candy.
Alyssa: Yep. Shiny black fabric, stretched across straining
muscles in the moonlight. Enough said.
Jeb: *slants a gaze at
Alyssa and grins a sexy smile, hot enough to scald her cheeks* I really am
a kitty cat. If you pet my belly, I purr.
Alyssa: *holds his gaze*
Don’t I know it.
Jenara: *fakes a yawn*
Getting back to the one you picked, Jeb. Fill us in on the deets. The aluminum
foil musketeer. How could you even see out of that thing?
Jeb: *taps a thumb
against the table* I didn’t want to see. Dad had given me a black eye.
Alyssa and Jenara: *silence*
Jeb: I made a mask like the one Leonardo DiCaprio wore in that
movie to cover it up. Kept telling myself that somewhere I had a twin brother
who would take my place so I could take his, even if it was in a dungeon.
*Alyssa
weaves her fingers through Jeb’s*
*Jeb
squeezes her hand back*
Jenara: *gulps and turns
pages* Sorry, Bro. Let’s move on to something happier, okay? Mine and Al’s costumes.
Jeb: *tilts head in
agreement*
Jenara: I chose my Tinkerbelle costume from when I was
thirteen. It was the first one I ever made, and after that I knew I wanted to
be a designer.
Alyssa: And I can’t wait for you to rock the fashion world.
Jenara: *grins*
Thanks, bestie. So, give us the deets on your pink ghost.
Alyssa: It was a popsicle.
Jeb: *wraps an arm around
her waist* Your mom?
Alyssa: *nods*
Jenara: What am I missing?
Jeb: She used to make Al Jello popsicles when she had a sore
throat.
Jenara: Gah. You two are such downers.
Alyssa: *smiling*
It’s not a bad memory. It’s a good one. And pink was her favorite color. That’s
why I wore it that year. To remember her even when she was away. I think I was
eight at the time.
Jenara: * dabbing her
eyes* You guys are going to make me ruin my mascara. Stop it.
*Alyssa
and Jeb exchange smiles*
*Jenara
flips pages*
Jenara: Okay, last, we were supposed to find two memories we
share. The worst and the best of our Halloweens together. I think we can agree
on these. Definitely, those random clowns at that park next to our duplex rate
as the most disturbing memory. Even though later we found out it was a
publicity stunt by that ice cream place … Creamery Carnival.
*Alyssa
shivers*
*Jeb’s
hold tightens around her waist*
Jenara: Dang guys, it was four years ago. You’d think you just
saw it two seconds ago.
Alyssa: For some reason it feels like yesterday. *her eyes meet Jeb’s*
Jeb: *lifts Al’s hand and
kisses it reassuringly* Al doesn’t like clowns. Let’s get to the puppy
picture, J.
Jenara: *brow wrinkling
in confusion* O-o-o-okay. That was the year the local ASPCA had a Halloween
parade pet adoption and Al and me fell in love with the pirate Weiner puppies.
Alyssa: And we sent Jeb to buy them for us while we filled out
the paperwork.
Jenara: But he used our money and bought the dogs for those two
little foster girls instead.
Jeb: *shrugs* You
would’ve done the same thing if they’d looked at you with their sad eyes. Plus,
they were sisters, which meant the puppies got to stay together, too. And you
both loved watching them get their faces licked.
Alyssa: Yeah. I’ll never forget those sweet smiles. *sighs*
Puppy-breath fixes everything.
Jenara: Ain’t it the truth? *smiles*
Jeb: *grinning* They
should bottle the stuff.
(Picture Attributions: Tin foil mask by Clive Brittain; Devil costume by Emmanuelle Bourgue; Fairy costume by Kirsten Skiles; Pink ghost by Thirteen of Clubs; Creeper Clowns
by George F; Pirate
puppies PIO Marietta, GA)
In Unhinged, there’s a memory keeper and a
magical place where lost memories are stored, much like we store our memories
here in scrapbooks or journals to preserve them. In honor of that, today we’re
offering this Alice in Wonderland journal as a prize. Simply enter the
rafflecopter below, and leave one of your favorite Halloween memories in the
comment section.
PLEASE NOTE: Keys not included
*****
Tomorrow, be sure to stop by for tour post number eleven when Morpheus
will share the origins of dressing up at Halloween and the Dos and Don’ts of
entertaining when your guests are of a netherling persuasion. If you have any
costume party plans this weekend, you’ll want to be sure to take notes.
Also, if you haven’t
entered the giveaway for a chance at one of the 12 Unhinged ARCs, check out the
rafflecopter below.
Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.
That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.
As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.
If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.
A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a
school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle
creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she
hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek
out the stories that won her heart as a child.
When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.
When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway
Details:
12 ARC’s of UNHINGED Domestic Only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour
Schedule: All dates have amazing Guest Posts with a shared rafflecopter.
A few stops have an extra contest or a giveaway.
10/21/2013
Pages From My Thoughts
10/22/2013
Fiction Freak
10/23/2013
The White Unicorn
10/24/2013
Icey Books- Character Naming
Contest
10/25/2013
The Cover Contessa
10/26/2013
Book Hounds
Extra Giveaway
10/28/2013
Reading Teen
10/29/2013
Book Haven Extraordaire
Extra Giveaway
10/30/2013
The Lifelong Bookworm
10/31/2013
Two Chicks on Books
Extra Giveaway
11/1/2013
Fiktshun
11/2/2013
I am a Reader Extra
Giveaway
My cousins and I had a sleepover at my place, and we lit up candles, which we placed in little pumpkin shaped candle holders, and shared ghost stories while passing candy around. We had fun dressing up with whatever clothes we had :)
ReplyDeleteIn all honestly, my favorite Halloween is probably this one. Not only is my costume the best it's ever been, Alice Liddell from Alice: Madness Returns, and as accurate as I want it to be (totally worth every cent), but I went to some fun parties, and met some new, awesome friends I have a lot in common with. My favorite part was probably when my friend won 1st place in the costume contest with her Sally Skeleton costume. I squealed and hugged her. We were so excited.
ReplyDeleteI have many great Halloween memories but one of my favs is when I one a costume competition (I was a spider queen0 and I won this awesome Harry Potter watch that I still have!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately here in Australia Halloween isn't all that big so I don't really have all that many great memories to reminisce about :( But i was fun reading about Alyssa, Jenara and Jeb!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
One of my favorite Halloween memories was giving some teens who wanted to scare little kids a scare of their own ;-) I had my two young sons with me (they were 2 & 3 at the time) & we had just gotten to a house where the guy at the end of the driveway said "The candy bowls up there on the table, help yourself." I was instantly suspicious because our neighborhood is insanely busy on Halloween & you can't just give candy away or you'll run out in an hour. I walked up to the candy bowl & stared at the huge pumpkin right behind it for several minutes (until I was sure I could see the eyes of the guy in the pumpkin head mask) and then stuck my hand in the candy bowl. He grabbed my wrist (big no-no for any mom with small children in my book) so I waited until he let go, then I grabbed his middle finger and bent it backward. The entire time I had his finger I was very firmly telling him that you CANNOT grab at small children like that because it scares them. He was very apologetic, my boys got their sweets without being scared silly, & I got to be the big bad Mommy fairy (Amy Brown costume that year LOL.)
ReplyDeleteI think my most memorable about Halloween was when I had it on my birthday. My birthday is actually on Oct 29, but my parents and other parents around the neighborhood decided to celebrate my birthday with a huge trick or treat party on Oct 28. All of us kids back then dressed in our costumes. It might be normal in America but here in the Philippines, it was a rare thing back then. I kinda felt special back then because I never had the chance to play with all of my friends back then :D
ReplyDeleteIt's from a long time ago but when I was little there used to be this neighbor Halloween event where this one street was decorated like crazy for Halloween. They went all out, with moving stuff and everything. And the kids could go trick or treating. All the houses would participate and you could also buy Pumpkin soup to eat there and gin. I loved that. :)
ReplyDeleteWe don't really celebrate Halloween like the whole world does, so I have nothing to tell. No costumes, no trick or treats... But what we do is visit our departed relatives at the cemetery and spend a few hours there.
ReplyDeleteMy best Halloween memory would have to be from last year. It was my sons first halloween. We dressed him up as a skunk and took him around. Even though he was only supposed to take one piece of candy everyone thought his excitment was adorable and just gave into him. He had a wonderful halloween.
ReplyDeleteLet me see I think i can remember being younger and always being made to be the baby vampire in everything me and my friends did ( they were all older then I was) they would make hunted houses and I would be the dead person and get stuck in the dirt or drinking Kool aid out of a bottle…I loved it when I was younger I might have been scared BIG time but ti was FUN and I will never forget them always making me do things I did not want too!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks a million for the giveaway!!! Love the blog as always!!!
I remember when I was little, my mom ran screaming down our street because someone in a scream mask scared the crap outta her by hiding in a ditch and all he had to do was stand up when she got right next to him, he didn't say anything or move, he just stoop up out of the ditch and she took off screaming, my Uncle had put the guy up to it and we all busted out laughing. lol.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite, but one thing I always liked to do was go to my church's Trunk or Treat and go on the hayride around the town and by the old hospital (it was pretty spooky). :)
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was probably 11 I had just started in a new school and I wanted to be something scary for halloween, so I dressed up as this vampire and I used blood capsules you could bite so it would run down my face when the judges came by. I ended up winning scariest costume and that was when I decided I wanted to do Fx Makeup
ReplyDeleteHas to be when it was my sons first Halloween. He was Batman I was Catwoman. We went trick or treating made cookies and we continue to do the same traditions till this day he is 13 now :)
ReplyDeleteIn South Africa, Halloween isn't big either. But I will never forget the haunted house at our school fete every year. We used to recreate the same thing at home because who doesn't like the spooky stuff sometimes, the thrill of being a little bit frightened
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun interview!
ReplyDeleteMy first Halloween with my son. The look of pure excitement as we dressed up and went from house to house. It was a blast!
ReplyDeleteMine was this morning, got to dress my first baby up for her first halloween :)
ReplyDeleteI wished I had a story to tell but we don't celebrate Halloween here, although it does seems like so much! I'd like to be part of that celebration one day.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could tell any but here in India Halloween is not celebrated :(
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween memory was when I was 8 years old. That year our neighbor had a huge tree removed from her yard. The hole was huge and they didn't have time to fill it in. So her husband used it as a graveyard. He put a spotlight inside and had ghosts coming out of the hole. It was fantastic and everyone in our neighborhood loved it.
ReplyDeleteI don't celebrate Halloween, but for me, it's always part of NaNoWriMo, which is my favourite time of the year. I hope this year will be my best NaNo yet. :D
ReplyDeleteI love all of these answers thanks so much for stopping by! My favorite isn't one memory it's a few. I used to work at a charity Haunted House every year and I loved scaring the crap out of people LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't have just one memory either. My mom and aunt would always take my sister, both my cousins, and myself trick or treating together in one car. It was squished but we had so much fun!! Thanks for the awesome post and giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! My favorites memory is dressing up like a 50's girl and my brother dressed up like a greaser and we went to a carnival and he won me a doll, by shooting a basketball into a hop 5 times in a row. I still have that doll to this day. I don't see my brother very much any more, so that Halloween memory at the carnival is really special to me. <3
ReplyDelete-Cali W.
My favourite memory of Halloween is going to my best friends Halloween party a few years ago. We are too old to go trick or treating but it was still an awesome time! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager I was getting ready for a party and I had gotten this really scary mask that was quite large and I put on black clothes to go with it and painted my arms to match the mask. When I was walking out of the house I caught some trick or treaters when they were walking up to my house and They got scared screamed and ran away. Let's just say the mask worked.
ReplyDeleteThis Halloween is probably my favorite. It's the first time we took our son trick-or-treating, but it's also the first time *I* went trick-or-treating!
ReplyDeleteMine might've been from last year. I planned this big old Halloween party and went all out on the treats and decorations. I invited like.. 12-13 friends who all were able to come and we hung out at my house! There weren't a whole lot of actual games or fun party games going on until towards the end, but it was still so much fun because I had all my friends together with me on my favorite holiday all in one place! That like.. never happens! It was such an amazing time :)
ReplyDeleteWhen my parents took me trick or treating when I was little and going to my Grandma's house. Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween!
My favorite Halloween memory... that's a hard one.
ReplyDeleteProbably when my mom took me to the mall with my brother and we found a really obscure store in the corner that gave as a whole load of chocolate, brownies, and cookies. :D
My best Halloween memory was a few years ago when I met my husband. I was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and he was Pinhead from Hellraiser. We went to a concert on Halloween and had the best time together. We always look back at that being one of our best memories together
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful giveaway!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Halloween Memory was last year when my sister and I went trick or treating (yes, we're both adults). She was Snow White and I was the evil queen from Once Upon A Time. :)
The husband and I dressed up a few years ago. I went as the Queen of Hearts since it was relevant because Alice in Wonderland had just been released. I even had a pink flamingo purse. My husband went as Hunter S Thompson (Fear & Loathing). Everyone, EVERYONE knew who he was and no one knew who I was. *shrug* These things are odd, but memorable :)
ReplyDeleteTrick or treating as a fairy princess
ReplyDeleteI can't pick just one favorite memory! Halloween is my favorite time of year!
ReplyDeleteAHAHAHAHAHA
ReplyDeleteNot my favorite memory, but sort of funny. One Halloween half of my "treats" were pretzels.
My favorite Halloween was dressing up with two friends as the characters from Blair Witch Project. We had jeans/flannels/hats (perfect for the cold weather) and a fake video camera. This was right after the film came out, so everyone "got" it.
ReplyDeleteWe actually don't celebrate Halloween. It's all about the books that come out for me.
ReplyDeleteHalloween isn't traditionally celebrated here but my Dad used to make jack-o-lanterns with me when I was little. My favourite moment was always when we put in the candle and turned the lights out and saw the full effect of the face we'd carved.
ReplyDeleteSilvia
I live in Illinois and my favorite Halloween memory is walking through several feet of snow all bundled up and not seeing hardly anyone's costume due to the cold weather. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI need this!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite Halloween memories is dressing as a bloodied cheerleader and my brother was the madman with the axe. :)
ReplyDeleteexcited about this :)
ReplyDelete