The Best Reader:
stacey kade

1. Your bio says you love vampires, werewolves, magick, and all things creepy. Can you tell us what creature of the night you would choose to be and why?
I’d likely be a shapeshifter and hopefully not one tied to a single form… this way you could fly, crawl, slither, run with wolves, swim with sharks, get the skinny on any creature you could imagine – from THEIR point of view. Cool.

2. The first book in the Skinned series, Under My Skin, has been out for a few months now. What has been the most surprising part of this experience?
That people I’ve never met have read it, but those I work with every day haven’t.; )
3. Where do you think your passion for the paranormal came from?
I blame my mother and her love of horror films… hmmm… but then there’s my dad and his love of sci-fi and Star Trek. Let’s just say I’ve been doomed since birth.
4. What would you like potential readers to know about the Skinned series?

If you’re looking for a slightly skewed take on paranormal fiction, something that mixes lore and urban fantasy with dry sarcasm, you might want to try the Skinned series.
5. Book 2, Second Skin, is set to come out in 2011. Do you know how far this series will go, and do you have any other book plans in the works?
There are three books planned for the series, Second Skin will be out in 2011 and the final book, Skin of My Teeth, will be out in 2012. I have other projects, more YA paranormals and an edgy YA contemporary.

Under My Skin by Judith Graves Publisher: Leap Books (March 27th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 328 pages Series: Skinned, book #1 All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life…

Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal.

But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart.

A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.

Find Judith Graves Judith Graves / Goodreads / Twitter
Purchase Under My Skin Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

1. What is one of your favorite lines from Body & Soul?

I can tell you that when I started the book, I had one line in my head that I was writing to.

“That bitch is haunting me, and I can’t get rid of her.” Misty, talking about being haunted by Alona’s ghost. (Or so she thinks).

It just tickled me, the idea that Misty would think she was being haunted by Alona and Alona being right THERE and not able to correct her misconception.

2. What can you tell us about The Rules?

The Rules is the first book in a new series called Project Paper Doll. It’s about a girl, Ariane, who was created in a lab as a genetic experiment, an alien/human hybrid. She escapes when she’s little and now lives, hiding in plain sight, among the humans in her small town in Wisconsin. But there’s always the danger that the corporation that created her will find her and try to take her back.

So, in addition to dealing with all the normal high school stuff (mean girls, pranks, homework, etc.), Ariane also has to be very careful about letting people get to know her. She can’t afford to get close to someone.

That’s why she has The Rules:
1. Never trust anyone.
2. Remember they are always searching.
3. Don’t get involved.
4. Keep your head down.
5. Don’t fall in love.

Which is all well and good until she’s tempted to break those rules for someone.

You can check out the official (and more detailed) description as well as the cover on my site: http://www.staceykade.com/books/

3. Can you give us 3 words that would best describe Ariane and Zane?

Ariane: quiet, fierce, torn
Zane: broken, loyal, lost

4. Do you have any fun Halloween traditions?

I usually man the door on Halloween night to hand out candy. I love seeing all the costumes!

Body & Soul by Stacey Kade
Publisher: Hyperion (May 1st, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 316 pages
Series: The Ghost and the Goth, #3
The final book in The Ghost and the Goth Trilogy!

The Ghost
I’ve been trapped in the body of Lily “Ally” Turner for a month now. Talk about a fashion crisis on an epic scale. What worries me more, though, is sometimes I catch Will looking at me like he thinks I’m Lily… or that he wishes I were. Without the good looks of my former self, I don’t know who I am, or if who that is is good enough. I need out of this mess. Now.

Will and I have been looking for a solution, one that would separate me from Lily without killing her. But it’s not going well. Then, when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, we run into Misty, my former best friend and boyfriend-stealer extraordinaire, who claims she’s being haunted… by me. Seriously?

I’m determined to get to the bottom of who’s pretending to be the spirit of Alona Dare (while I’m pretending to be someone else) and then get the heck out of this body. Or die trying…

The Goth
I’ll admit it. It’s really weird to look at Alona but see Lily. I do know the difference, though, contrary to what Alona might be saying. And Alona is more than a pretty face to me, not that she would believe that.

Our one lead for some help in this messed up situation might be a page torn from the yellow pages-—the “Psychics” section-—I found in my dad’s stuff. One of the “fakes” seems a bit more real-—and odd-—than the others. Before I can investigate further, though, Alona is off and chasing a ghost that’s probably nothing more than a figment of Misty’s guilty imagination. Now Lily’s family is freaking out because she didn’t come home, my mom is ordering me to stay out of it, and something is definitely wrong with the person formerly known as Lily “Ally” Turner…

Website | Twitter | Blog | Goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

HOW THE TOUR WORKS Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.
Answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.
The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS!

1. You wrote stories even as a child. Can you tell us some of your earliest ideas? Do you think you will ever take some of those ideas and turn them into your next novel?

I don’t think I’d ever revisit those ideas because there are so many new ones to explore, but never say never!
2. What has surprised you the most as a debut author?

3. The Ghost and the Goth has such a fun cover! What did you think when you saw it? Is that how you pictured Alona and Will? I LOVE the cover. It’s bright and conveys the fun tone of the book, in my opinion. And Will and Alona look exactly like I imagined, to the point where I think it might unnerve me a little if I were ever to meet the models.
4. In The Ghost and the Goth, Will has to deal with being able to see ghosts, how would you deal with having that ability?
Oh, I think that would be so difficult. In high school, I probably would have begged to be homeschooled to avoid all those interfering ghosts! But as an adult, I don’t know… I think I would try to find a way to help people and still have a life, you know?
5. Do you have any projects you are currently working on, or books coming soon?
Queen of the Dead, the second book in the series, will be out in June 2011. But ARCs should be ready in the next couple of months, and I’m super excited to see the cover! I’m working now on the third book in the series.

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (June 29th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 281 pages Series: Ghost and the Goth, book #1 After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck here in spirit form with no sign of the big, bright light coming to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser/outcast type who hates the social elite. He alone can see and hear her, but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High.

Can they get over their mutual distrust—and this weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?

Find Stacey Kade Stacey Kade / Twitter / Journal / Goodreads
Purchase The Ghost and the Goth Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository