Tour Interview & Swag Giveaway - Butterfly Kisses by Mia Castile

Butterfly Kisses
by Mia Castile
ebook
Published October 2012 by Entwined Publishing

Premise:

Everything changed for the Baxter sisters last spring. Lacey blew it with Henry her lifelong crush, only to discover a blooming relationship with her best friend, Chase. While he picked her up and put her back together, they grew closer over the summer. Now that school has started, he’s found popularity thanks to his band Cate’s Ashes, and he’s hiding secret phone calls and text messages. Plus, did his ex-girlfriend just appear out of the blue at his show? Forcing Lacey to wonder if he’s over the feelings he pronounced for her at the beginning of summer. Add to the tension, a realization and secret of her own to keep about her worse enemy. Lacey vows to be the bigger person and keep Byron’s revelation, but what will it cost?

Meanwhile, as Lana tries to find herself again after her suicide attempt, she’s befriended by the school’s resident bad girl, Britt, and new chicano boy, Tomas, in the same week. Britt offers unconditional acceptance that Lana didn’t realize she craved, while Tomas brings out the best in her, and makes her feel alive again. Britt is dangerous and daring, while Tomas exudes security and safety. Vices come easily when you are already addicted to something you crave, and Lana muddles through figuring out who she wants to be.

With their parents constantly arguing, and their dad moving into the guest bedroom, the pressure on the girls may explode destroying them all. Is there a place for happiness when their world is crumbling around them?

Welcome back to Colorimetry, Mia Castile!!  I enjoyed reading Becoming a Butterfly and posting last May. Remember that fun interview? With so much swag goodiness? Mia has returned with more swag to share...

Is Butterfly Kisses part of a series? Does it pick up right where Becoming a Butterfly left off?

Butterfly Kisses is the 2nd installment of The Butterfly Chronicles. It picks up when school starts, after the summer from where Becoming a Butterfly leaves off.  

Do you have a favorite scene?

This question is like asking a mom, "Who's your favorite child?" They all are. If there was a gun to my head and I had to choose, it would be Thanksgiving with Chase and Lacey. I wrote that scene before I finished Becoming A Butterfly.

Share something personal!!  Favorite place to write? Favorite food?

I can write anywhere, but usually write in my living room. My home office space is in the designing phase right now. My favorite place to write is with my head phones on in a quiet house.

Favorite food is Italian. and anything sweet. I'm also a peanut butter junkie and when you combine that with chocolate, well I just might love you. 

Thanks for having me on your blog Laura. :)

Lol. I have to laugh, Mia, 'cause I love peanut butter, too. In honor of Halloween and this great book release, I'll throw in some peanut butter cups with the swag... if I don't eat 'em all first!!

Hey... I write in my living room, too!! I think I can say I'm "designing office space", but at my house, it could also be called "clearing the kitchen counter". I hope you can stop by again and show us some pictures when it's finished!

About the Author:  Mia Castile

This is a story about a girl, named Mia. She grew up in suburb of medium sized city. There were cold winters, and hot sticky summers. Mia’s favorite seasons were spring and fall. She enjoyed the mild seasons, but also loved the vibrant colors each possessed. 
Mia loved music. She didn’t just love it, she sat on the floor in front of her Casio stereo for hours at a time, recording songs off the radio. Then she would cue them up and make sure she only got the music as she recorded them on a second tape, without the DJ’s voices on them, just the music. Then she would listen to those songs absorbing the words as she sat in her room and wrote her poetry. 

She wrote her first Poem when she was thirteen. It was called Sands of Time. When she was sixteen and again when she was eighteen she won two state competitions for her poetry. Her Poetry was stories of roses, starry nights, love, loss, and the scars left behind. She found recourse in those private moments filling notebooks of her writings. As she grew so did her inspirations, and when ever it hit her the rest of the world melted away until her verses were written, alive in the world. 

Even today as Mia writes mostly YA fiction, poetry still holds a special place in her heart. Her love for all things words propels her forward in her pursuit of the next great story. Her Debut Novel The Ocean will be released this spring. 

Find & Follow:

MiaCastile.com

Mia's Facebook

Entwined Publishing Facebook

Mia's Twitter

Goodreads

Get Your Copy:

Amazon:

Giveaway:

This is an international giveaway for anyone of age and in possession of a dwelling to receive packages in the mail. There will be 1 Grand Prize Winner who will receive an eBook of Butterfly Kisses, signed swag AND chocolate peanut butter goodness. There will be three additional Winners who will receive Swag -n- Sweets.

If you don't have an eReader and can't enter to win the Grand Prize, do mention that. And do get yourself something to read awesome digital books on. (Just some free advise there. *ahem*)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Interview, Review, Giveaway - Becoming a Butterfly by Mia Castile

Becoming A Butterfly
by Mia Castile
ebook
Expected publication: May 22nd 2012 by Entwined Publishing

Premise:

16 year old Lacey was never the center of attention, unless she was tripping, stammering, or being deposited into a pool by the local popular kids. All she wanted was to fit in, until one night when everything changed.  

Jade and Tasha, her two best friends, helped her create an online personality that was everything she wanted to be - and it was only the beginning. In doing so she attracted the attention of Henry, her lifelong crush and next door neighbor. Unfortunately it was Farrah, her online personality and not herself, he was interested in.  

She also attracted Chase the brooding, quiet, anti-social new kid of Brownsburg High School, who easily figured out her secret and blackmailed her. They forged a friendship that was both unique and complicated.  

Lacey must decide if revealing herself to Henry and her entire school as the cool, charming, and funny Farrah is worth possibly losing him forever, and she finds herself needing to make an even harder decision than she ever thought possible. When did the lines between truth and lies get so blurred? 

Becoming a Butterfly is a story about coming of age and finding yourself when you never knew you were lost.

My Review:

This book is a delight to read.

The main character, Lacey, is a bucket of complicated fun. I love how she's so smart and witty and she has this dry humor. Experiencing high school from her point of view is highly entertaining. Like, she's a wiz on computers, which is partly why she gets herself into so much trouble. But then she's painfully clumsy - not cute clumsy, there's a difference! She has a huge heart and I love how she's always ready to think of other people instead of herself. But then... she's got this forever-long crush that she can't see around. Lacey totally makes this book. She's a hoot.

There are so many other real people surrounding Lacey. Henry's pretty cool. We end up seeing more sides of his character than I imagined would be possible, which made me feel for the guy, but still... he is so lacking, too. I mean, how could he let his friend's sis holler mean things at Lacey every morning?!  He's got a lot to prove to me after lame passivity like that!

Jade & Tasha are fun. More than accomplices and confidences, they have their own unique characters in the long-time threesome friendship. Lacey's sis, Lana, is a multi-faceted character, too, with her own set of challenges. All three make Lacey's life (and this book) more complicated, and yet more satisfying, too.

I save the best for last. Chase is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!  He's brooding & quiet (per the premise) 'cause he transferred from another school... for personal reasons he doesn't care to share with the wide world of high school. He does brooding, quiet & anti-social really, really well. (REALLY well!!) He also does some other things well, artistic-type things. And I'm not just saying that 'cause his dad owns a mechanic shop and they can work on cars (which is a big hit with me!!)  He's smart, too, and matches wits with Lacey, which is squirm-delightful.  I seriously cannot get enough of Chase. It's almost a relief that this is the first book of a series, 'cause there must be more Chase!!!

Let's talk Love Triangles a moment. This is my favorite kind. The girl is obsessin' over one guy and clueless of another. Lacey does not see a triangle, which is why it works so darn well.

There's some poems, too... some beautiful poems that are perfect. There's a level of "cuteness" with contemporary references, like "That 70's Show" or "blond from a bottle". And on occasion Lacey feels wise beyond her years. I don't remember making references to stages I was going through when I was actually going through them: "I wondered when I would grow out of my awkward phase." Overall, though, Becoming a Butterfly is addicting. I can't wait for more Lacey!!


Meet The Author - 

Colorimetry welcomes Mia Castile!!

Thank you for agreeing to answer some questions!! And thank you for sending some beautiful bookmarks & postcards - all signed!! - for Colorimetry readers!

* How did you think of the idea for this book?

Originally I wanted it to be light, comical, about a girl who finds herself in difficult situations, however as the story developed, I realized there was more to the characters, and deeper emotions. This book deals with bully-ing, self esteem, depression, and self harm. The series additionally will deal with sexuality issues, family dynamics, and more secrets and lies. My hope is that readers will be able to relate to the characters and seek help if they find themselves a similar situation of which they've lost control.

I can totally see this, actually. There are layers of secrets that are uncomfortable, but make it hard to look away. I can't wait to see what Lacey's going to do!!

 * What is your favorite part of the story?

My favorite part of this story would have to be the friendships over all, watching the characters bonds and develop, while also maintaining the relationships that are already there. The true test of any friendship is surviving the storms, and coming out stronger for it. Lacey finds herself in some uncomfortable situations through out this story, those were fun to come up with and I actually drew some of it from my own horrifying high school experiences. Yes, I had a teacher who couldn't contain his laughter at me when I embarrassed myself in front of my entire class. 

Ugh. So did I!! 

 * Can you share something personal about you?  Something unique or weird?  :-)

This is a really tough question for me for some strange reason. I could tell you about some of my singing talents, like Meatloaf's Anything for Love in Grover's voice, or Black Eyed Pea's Where is the Love opera style, but I wont. Instead I'm going to say I'm boring and normal. Nothing weird here.


Singing, hey? Anything on YouTube?  :-D

Find & Follow:

MiaCastle.com

Book Tour

Mia's Facebook

Entwined Publishing Facebook

Mia's Twitter

Goodreads

Get your copy:

@ Smashwords for $3.99!!

Giveaway fun!!!

Mia has signed bookmarks and postcards for winners!!  One person will win an E-Copy of her new book + Swag!!  And then I'll draw more winners for the remaining goodies!!!!

See my giveaway rules under About Me - you must be old enough to win. This giveaway is open internationally. Givers are not responsible for the condition of awesome swag upon arrival. Winners chosen randomly via Rafflecopter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway