Debut Author Heather McCorkle!!!

We are so honored and proud to be the first of many blogs who will help a fabulous debut author launch her blog tour and contest this month: our very own Heather McCorkle. Whoo Hoo!!!! I wanted balloons and champagne and, especially, noisemakers, but Heather is a dignified author, with an excellent plan. So here we go, into the Tour of Secrets for The Secret of Spruce Knoll. (We'll get to the noisemakers later, never fear.) First, a bit about the book:

Following the death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with her aunt. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with "channelers"—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.


Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Now, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad.

Wow, Heather. I, of course, am one of the privileged few who've seen parts of this wonderful book. I love this story. And I understand that the tour encompasses a number of blogs, all of which will run the contest, with great prizes, that's outlined below. On each blog you will answer one question about one of your very own secrets! So, knowing how you loooove secrets, here's your question from CSC:  What is your secret obsession? 

HM: Oh, that's a fun one to start off the tour with! My secret obsession would have to be traveling. I LOVE it, almost as much as writing and reading. Something about going to new places and meeting new people is so exciting for me. I've been to several states in the US, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Canada, and Japan. Here's a picture of one of my favorite places in the world: Hawaii! I must admit, I love it there so much in part because it's where I first met the Critique Sisters.

Awww, shucks. I know I speak for Karlene as well as myself when I say, right back atcha. That was one great workshop. Nice picture of you, btw. But before we get too goopy, lets talk about the fabulous contest you're running in conjunction with your blog tour. Can you tell us about it?

HM: Absolutely. Here are the rules for the giveaway:

Heather's young adult urban fantasy, The Secret Of Spruce Knoll, is releasing this month! To celebrate its birthday she's doing a blog tour and contest followed by a live chat on YA Bound  August 30th with a separate giveaway. The blog tour and contest begins today and ends August 31st. Here's what you can win:

1st place: 

*$50 gift certificate to B&N (or the Book Depository if you're over seas). 

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Special swag bag

2nd place: 

*Swag bag filled with:

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Spoiled by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

*Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 

*Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 

*A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young 

3rd place: 

*Autographed copy of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll 

*Swag bag

You can earn extra points, but if you don’t want to, you don't have to. You can just be a follower of Heather's Odyssey and leave a comment saying you'd like to enter to win. But if you want extra points/entries here's how you can get them:

+1 for being a follower of Heather's Odyssey and commenting (+1 for each blog participating in the giveaway that you follow and comment on. Winners must follow Heather's Odyssey but aren't required to follow each blog participating, you just get more points if you do!).

+2 for adding The Secret Of Spruce Knoll to your To-Read shelf on Goodreads or Shelfari.
+3 for tweeting or posting on Facebook about the giveway.
+4 for Blogging about The Secret Of Spruce Knoll giveaway.
+5 for placing a link on the sidebar of your blog about the giveaway.

For the stops along the blog tour where you can earn extra entries click on Heather's News/Events page. Don't forget to list in your comment what (if anything) you are doing for extra points. You're welcome to come back at the end of the blog tour and leave your comment then if you'd like so you can hit all the stops and rack up the points.

This is amazing, Heather. Thank you so much for sharing your debut with us. May you get tons of participants in your wonderful contest and launch, and even more readers of The Secret of Spruce Knoll. They will be so happy they got the book. Wishing you the very best of luck. You deserve it!

~Linda