The Valentine Files....Halloween Edition *gulp*

Eeek! It's Halloween! A night full of fright and all things spooky. In honor of the day's creeptastic feel, today we're spilling some scary sekrits about our main characters!!!!

Yup, you read that right. WE'RE SPILLING BOOK SEKRITS.:) HERE. 

RIGHT NOW.

Sekrits that make our characters feel like this:

"Hold me."

Or this:

"AHH!"

Or maybe the sekrit is that our MC would just like to dress like Johnny Depp for Halloween, because Johnny Depp is just THAT awesome.:)  

But don't you want to find out ALL THE SCOOP?

We thought so.:) 

Here we go! *cracks open The Valentine Files*

Two questions. 

One choice. 

Fourteen Answers. 

BOOM.:)

Question #1: What is your main character most afraid of?

Sara L. (DEFY, January 2014)

"Alexa lives in the jungle kingdom of Antion. Though she can acknowledge how beautiful it is, she has a love/hate relationship with the rainforest because of the dangers she knows it harbors, including one of the things that scares her the most: snakes. Alexa hates snakes."

Lynne (NIL, March 2014)

"Tough question, because I actually have TWO main characters, but today I'll pick Charley since NIL opens with her. :) Since Charley lands on Nil, where you have exactly one year to escape or you die, the obvious answer is that she's afraid of dying. But she's also afraid of losing Thad before they've ever had a real chance. And she just might be BFF with Alexa from DEFY because Charley also hates snakes. I can't tell you why...I don't want to spill ALL THE SEKRITS just yet.:)"


Jen (DAUGHTER OF CHAOS, March 2014)

"Darlena is most afraid of being weak. She hides her vulnerability and her true feelings from everyone, but especially her ex, Justin. She can't bear to let him know how she really feels about their break-up!"


Bethany C. (SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS, April 2014)

"Shopping at discount stores. If you can't afford name brand clothes, just stay inside."

Kristi (BURN OUT, April 2014)

"My MC Tora's greatest fear is loving someone else, because everyone she's ever loved or cared about is dead."


Anne (PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, April 2014)

"Gretchen's fears really change throughout the course of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG. In the beginning, she's a Nazi and Adolf Hitler is a close family friend. She's afraid of the people that Hitler has warned her are their biggest enemies--the Jews and the Communists. Once she starts questioning her beliefs, though, she's terrified of something else entirely... And I can't tell you what it is without spoiling the mystery!"

Amy (OF BREAKABLE THINGS, Spring 2014)

"Alex is afraid of being alone. She's always had the Lasalle brothers to protect her from anyone and anything, so after they're gone, she doesn't hold up very well. In a way, that sheltering has made her afraid of life."


Philip (THE BREAKUP ARTIST, April 2014)

"Well, in context with the story, Becca is most afraid of being ditched by her best friend for a guy. But really, she's most afraid of rats because obviously. They're gross and freaky. *shudders*"


Paula (THE ART OF LAINEY, May 2014)

"Lainey is terrified of frogs and has been since she was ten and had her first birthday sleepover party. Her older brother and his friends caught a bunch of frogs out in the backyard and sneaked them into Lainey's sleeping bag while the girls were in the kitchen making microwave popcorn. When they went back downstairs, they were talking and giggling too much to hear the frogs croaking, and Lainey didn't discover them until she crawled into her bag and felt these slick hopping things all over her."

Lindsay (THE MURDER COMPLEX, June 2014)

"My MC is most afraid of dying."

Kristen (TABULA RASA, Fall 2014)

"Finding out who she really is! She's afraid that she might just be a monster and that's why she got herself locked up in a high-security research hospital in the first place."

Sara R. (SNOW LIKE ASHES, Fall 2014)

"For the MC in SNOW LIKE ASHES, Meira, life is not without its share of things to be afraid of -- she's one of the last eight Winterians who escaped enslavement, and the king of the Spring Kingdom would like nothing more than to make the remaining refugees beg for death. And while Meira is afraid of this fate (but she'd never let you know that), the thing she most fears is one of her overarching struggles in the book: not mattering.

She is the youngest Winterian refugee, one of the only girls, and can't even remember what the Kingdom of Winter was like. She's afraid her only role in life is to, as the refugees' leader, Sir, puts it, "exist" -- to stay alive long enough to one day repopulate Winter. But Meira wants to be connected to this kingdom, to matter to it in ways that make her feel like it matters to her. That is the root of her biggest fear -- that, despite how hard she tries to help everyone else save their kingdom, Winter really doesn't mean much to her beyond the mysterious kingdom she hears about in bedtime stories."

Question #2: What would your MC dress up as on Halloween and why?

Bethany H. (LANDRY PARK, February 2014)

"My MC would dress up as Guinevere of Camelot because she loves Arthurian legends and has spent her entire life fantasizing about knights and ladies and castles. Also she would look really great with a crown."

JRo (NO PLACE TO FALL, Fall 2014)

"At the time of Halloween in my book, Amber would probably be grounded (and worse!) and wouldn't get to dress up at all. But she'd for sure help her nephew, Coby, who's two and a half, dress up like a caboose. That's what Amber's daddy has always called her, what with her being the youngest of the family and him working for the railroad. But Amber's ready to pass on that torch because she doesn't want soft words from a man who's treating her mama so hard."

And there you go! The Valentine Files are officially CLOSED. :)  Until next time...

we have treats. :)

SCOOP! GOODIES! LINKS TO GALLEY GOODNESS! 

Here you go...

Read an early review of BURN OUT over at YA Bound! Then be sure to add it to Goodreads as there will soon be an ARC Giveaway of BURN OUT.

Win an ARC of THE BREAKUP ARTIST at Forever 17 books!

Check out the super-sweet cover reveal of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG over at YABC!

Want to join THE ART OF LAINEY street team? Deets here!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from the Valentine crew!