It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Dragonflies, the 2015 Golden Heart® Finalists. Each Wednesday I'll introduce you to the finalists in each category. Be sure to keep up with these ladies' names because you will want to be reading their books as they come out.
Meet the Young Adult Flight of Dragonflies:
A born-and-bred Texan, Julie grew up reading
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Judy Blume, and every Nancy Drew book she could get her hands on. She is represented by Louise Fury of The Bent Agency. She is a 2015 Golden Heart finalist with her novel, Sharing Hunter.
Book Blurb:
When best friends Rachel and Chloe decide to share a boyfriend their senior year, they risk ridicule, romance, and a rivalry that could destroy their friendship.
Website: www.julieglover.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/julie_
Diana Munoz Stewart’s award-winning young adult and adult romantic fiction includes paranormal, science fiction, and contemporary stories. No matter the genre or whether her characters face death, danger, or the daunting trials of everyday life, readers are guaranteed a fast-paced story along with all the tingly temptations of a swoon-worthy romance.
In addition to writing multi-genre fiction, Diana runs her own company providing web content on health, writing, and family. She earned her Master’s degree in Creative Writing from University of Southern Maine and is an active member of RWA and SCBWI. When not writing, she can be found off-roading in her Jeep—easy to spot by the license plate WRITE ME—or behind her lakeside home, kayaking and hiking with her kids and the man who’s had her heart since they were teens.
Diana is represented by the wonderful Michelle Grajkowski of Three Seas Literary Agency.
Book Blurb:
A time traveling teen struggles to save the world from her future self.
Sixteen-year-old Able McKinney just wants a normal life. Finding out aliens hijacked her future brain in order to carry out their evil plans—so not helping. She should probably give up and tattoo fatalistic poetry all over her face. Except, she’d rather fight back.
Allied with Rainer, present secret crush and future commando heartthrob, Able travels through her own mind and into her future body to wage a war through time. Her desperate actions could reverse the alien plague devastating her world, but could also separate her from the boy she loves forever.
Websites:
Mary SullivanMary teaches anthropology at a small college while incorporating her first career, archaeology, into her stories. She is currently seeking representation. The Jade Quest is her 2015 Golden Heart novel.
Forever
optimistic and easily amused, T.L. Sumner is the author of magical
stories about strong, athletic heroines chasing their dreams on and off the
playing field. She holds both a B.S. and M.S. in business from Villanova
University where she ran cross country and track on a full athletic scholarship.
When not hiding in her writing cave, T.L. works in healthcare information
technology, enjoys running, and being the number one fan for her kids’ sporting
events. Her work has garnered several awards, including being named a 2015
Golden Heart® finalist for her YA novel THE CULLODEN IMMORTALS. Sometimes
you can find her hanging out on Twitter or in TL’sDreamworld. She is
currently seeking representation.
THE CULLODEN IMMORTALS:
Focused on getting a full ride to run track in college,
seventeen-year old Kyra Siefert doesn’t have time for distractions like the
daymares tormenting her since she was mugged; or Aidan MacGregor, the über
chivalrous guy who sits next to her in Calc.
As Kyra and Aidan spend more time together, a romance between them
quickly develops. But bound by a strict
code of honor, Aidan hides
a powerful secret from Kyra; he is the son of Scottish immortals, guardians of
ancient Templar treasure.
In this Romeo and Juliet
meets Highlander, Kyra becomes the
pawn for one rogue immortal pursuing a sacred artifact and another seeking to
settle a centuries-old blood feud. Aidan
must betray his family to protect the girl he’s forbidden to love; but haunted
by visions of Aidan's death, Kyra's secret may cost her everything – including
the boy she loves.
Twitter: @tlwrites
Website/Blog: http://tlsumner.com
Stephanie Winkelhake
Stephanie is a young adult and middle grade writer represented by Kate McKean of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. She is a 2012, 2014 and 2015 Golden Heart Finalist who loves historical fashion, comic con, and all things Star Wars. She is a double finalist this year with her novels When I Wake and Our Souls to Keep.
What a lovely post, Heather. I can't wait to see all of these books in print one day!
ReplyDeleteHopefully one day soon, Sharon!
DeleteWay to go, ladies!! Can't wait to meet you all in person!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to meeting you too, Caroline!
DeleteCan't wait to read all these ladies!
ReplyDeleteRight back at you!
DeleteLove reading about this first flight of dragonflies! All these books sound super interesting. Can't wait to add them to my GIGANTIC YA library. Thanks, Heather for introducing us to the YA group.
ReplyDeleteHa, Kimberly, we have to exchange reading lists!
DeleteFantastic post, Heather, introducing the YA writers. Loved learning about each and every one of them. So much talent here!! And I love the sparkly Dragonfly image. Excellent!!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, ladies. Can't wait to see you at RWA!!!
Looking forward to seeing you too, Arlene! Thanks for the shout out!
DeleteWell, I thought I posted, but it's not showing up. So let's try this again!
ReplyDeleteLove celebrating my GH 2015 Dragonfly sisters!
I'm looking forward to years of camaraderie, support and success for us all!
Hugs,
Pris
Thanks, Pris! This has been such an amazing experience. The best part for sure is getting to know wonderful Dragonflies like you!
DeleteSometimes google makes me crazy. Okay sometimes technology makes me crazy except that without it I'd have missed this post. Happy that I didn't and I cannot wait to read all of these books. Love the GH 2015 Dragonfly sisters.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to have quite the reading list, Maria!
DeleteApparently Pris isn't the only one that had trouble posting a comment. Looking forward to reading these books in the future and meeting all of you in New York.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all much success!
Laurie Benson
Thank you, Laurie! NYC here we come!
DeleteWoohoo! Congratulations to all the finalists. Special shout out to Diana!
ReplyDeleteStories all sound great and I can't wait to celebrate them being published and giving me the chance to read them. Congrats to you all. Keep writing more awesome stories!
ReplyDeleteStories all sound great and I can't wait to celebrate them being published and giving me the chance to read them. Congrats to you all. Keep writing more awesome stories!
ReplyDeleteLovely introduction to the YA Dragonflies - thanks, Heather! Looking forward to meeting the YA girls who are coming to NYC in July and reading these books when they enter the publishing world!
ReplyDeleteYay!! The YA category is close to my heart. I'm super excited for all of you and these books sound amazing. :) Can't wait to see you guys in NYC!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing group of YA Dragonflies! Can't wait to read your books. Hugs to all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great write up! Hopefully I can meet these ladies in NYC for Nationals!
ReplyDeleteThese stories sound great. Looking forward to reading them once they are published.
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone for dropping by to meet the first flight of Dragonflies! Next week we will meet the Contemporary Romance Dragonflies. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have contact information for Mary Sullivan? Email. blog, twitter, anything? I'm with YARWA and wanted to see whether she and the other nominees are attending our Evening of YA event so we can acknowledge their nomination. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for featuring us! I'm among a fabulous group of writers. Cheers to us! :)
ReplyDeleteYay for YA! I'm so honored to be a part of this talented group of young adult writers. I'm already making room on a shelf just for books by all of the GH 2015 Dragonflies. Can't wait to meet everyone in NY. Thanks for the post Heather!
ReplyDeleteLove reading about all the YA authors! Look forward to learning more about the group. Thanks Heather for introducing everyone!
ReplyDelete