Guest Post with Emily Murdoch + Giveaway

Today I'm sharing a guest post written by Emily Murdoch. <3 And oh, how I adore Emily. She is amazing! And I loved her first book; If You Find Me so so much. I cannot wait to read her newest YA which is coming out in 2015. I have read all the teasers she has posted on twitter, and it is making me so excited. <3 Emily is one of the kindest persons I know. And she's so adorable to talk to on twitter :) Thank you for being so awesome. <3 Anyway. She wrote this short guest post for me, and I love it. Thank you Emily. And huge thank you to Nina at Orion/Indigo Books for donating a copy of If You Find Me for giveaway. She is awesome! And I hope you will all enter. <3 International. Enjoy the post :)

UPDATE. Giveaway has been updated and I will now be giving away FOUR signed UK paperbacks :D

Dark and Deep by Emily Murdoch

The words are lovely, dark and deep, with pages to go before I sleep ...
 ​

Books. They can set our minds whirring and our hearts afire, steal buckets of our tears, raise our hackles and, if we’re lucky, raise our spirits, our expectations about our lives and the world, and sometimes, just sometimes, raise us.

Words.

When I was young, I fled to my beloved books whenever I felt alone, hurt, misunderstood, hopeless, confused, scared, or lost. Books were like transcendental wings, courage kindlers, light-bulb moments, instruction manuals, and, as a lifelong reader, I can say two of the most important lessons I’ve learned have come from books:

One, that no matter what we experience in life, no matter what we face, we are not alone.

Two, that it’s okay to embrace our personal truth. Where we come from. Who we are, now. Where we’re going. Where we want to go.

Because our hopes and dreams are their own truths, too.

I carry that torch of truth, today. I'm an author who writes dark and deep, with teens like I was, in mind; the kind who already know the world can be a dark place, and need those words, those pages, those books to remind them that bent doesn't have to mean broken, and broken doesn't have to mean forever.

That even at the bottom of the deepest rubble, hope can find a way.

“What seems like adult material for a lucky child has already happened in the life of an unlucky child, and they need the book more than ever.” --Unknown 

Deep down, we never stop yearning for the truth about ourselves and our worlds, no matter how dark. That books can play a part in lighting the way, rock us in their pages, set us bent-to-straight, or grace us with a new or healing perspective, is truly, to quote Carl Sagan, “proof that humans can do magic”.

There are some things you can’t leave behind… 

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

EMILY MURDOCH lives in the Arizona desert with her husband and adopted dogs, spending her days operating a sanctuary for slaughter-rescued horses and burros. At night, she writes furiously by candlelight, capturing the ideas inspired by the day. If You Find Me is Murdoch's first published novel.

If You Find Me: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository
Indiebound - Orion Books - St. Martin's Griffin

Where to find Emily: Website - Blog - Twitter - Goodreads

I'm giving away a UK paperback edition of If You Find Me. <3
The giveaway is open internationally. You must respond to my email within 48 hours.
The book is being shipped from Nina via Orion/Indigo :D She is the best. Thank you Nina. <3

UPDATE: The giveaway is open for two more weeks. As there will now be TWO winners! A second winner will get a signed US edition from Emily. <3 It will ship from me, and I'll ship anywhere. Details here.

UPDATE AGAIN: The amazing Emily just told me she is sending me FOUR Signed UK Paperback editions of If You Find Me that I can send to four winners :D So the giveaway has been updated a bit. There will now be 4 winners. One signed book each. They will ship from me, when I get them. And it is still INTERNATIONAL :) And I'm changing the end date. You can enter until August 14th.

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