Latest News « luisaplaja.co.uk

National Libraries Day visit to Coombeshead Academy

February 16th, 2012

In honour of National Libraries Day, I spent a great morning in a writing workshop with a Year 7 class at Coombeshead Academy. Find out more about what we worked on in my post at Girls Heart Books, and see me pictured in the Herald Express.

Herald Express article.

Kiss Date Love Hate is out!

February 1st, 2012

Kiss Date Love Hate is now available in WHSmith and Waterstone’s, and it’s shipping from Amazon and The Book Depository. Look out for its pinkness!

The Kindle e-book and all other e-book formats including Kobo e-book are available right now, and the audiobook has just been released on CD.

I’ve been busy writing guest posts and answering interview questions…

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Here’s a roundup of the posts and interviews so far:

Fluttering Butterflies asked me about bad boys, nerdiness and more – read my answers – and enter the giveaway
Bookster Reviews interviewed me – read my answers to Cliona’s great questions here
Daisy Chain Book Reviews – guest post about teen books featuring film and filmmaking
Books For Company – guest post about some of my movie influences – plus a giveaway (closing 19th February – enter here!)
I Want To Read That – guest post about Kiss Date Love Hate’s original title and what it means to me
Book Angel Booktopia – Musical Moments: my playlist for Kiss Date Love Hate
Serendipity Reviews – Fantasy Dinner party post – find out who I’m inviting!
Nayu’s Reading Corner – guest post about magical trees
Page-Turner – Beth interviewed me for her Valentine’s Day Special
Also see Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Book Reviews’ wonderful aqua bead cover characters. (And my daughter’s Hama bead recreations are pictured above!)

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Kiss Date Love Hate reviews:

I Want To Read That – “Another brilliant, funny, sweet and magical story from Luisa Plaja. I completely fell in love with it!” Read the full review at I Want To Read That.”
So Many Books, So Little Time – “Kiss Date Love Hate is funny, fresh and smart…” Read the full review at So Many Books, So Little Time.
The Beaucoup Review – “…this book was amazing.” Read the full review at The Beaucoup Review.
Books, Bonnets and Full-Frontal Blogging – “Romantic comedy + cool sci-fi idea + a touch of seriousness to make you think = about a million thumbs up from me.” Read the review and more at Liz Bankes’s blog.
Jess Hearts Books – “I loved this tale of finding love where you least expect it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who appreciates warm, funny, contemporary romance for teens.” Read the full review at Jess Hearts Books.
Books4Teens “…characters so full of life that I felt like they could start walking off the page and start talking to me…. a fast paced, addictive read…” Read the full review at Books4Teens.
Juniper’s Jungle – “I’m going to be recommending it to anyone who’ll listen.” Read the full review at Juniper’s Jungle.
Book Angel Booktopia – “Luisa has a knack of creating utterly realistic and believable characters…” Read the full review at Book Angel Booktopia.
Cicely Loves Books – “Kiss Date Love Hate was an adorable, slightly nerdy, lovely book full of laughs and love and a properly realistic British teen narrative.” Read the full review at Cicely Loves Books.
Readaraptor – “Kiss, Date, Love, Hate is a book which will make people laugh out loud, shout out loud and love forever…” Read the full review at Readaraptor.
Serendipity Reviews – “…funny, warm and extremely entertaining…” Read the full review at Serendipity Reviews.
Fluttering Butterflies – “I loved every minute I spent with this book and had a huge grin on my face throughout.” Read the full review at Fluttering Butterflies.

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Thank you to all the wonderful people who have hosted me on their blogs and taken the time to read and write about my book, I appreciate it so much!

I’ll be updating this post with more links as they come in. Please check back!

Kiss Date Love Hate - the audiobook

January 25th, 2012

The audiobook of Kiss Date Love Hate is coming out at the same time as the paperback and Kindle version.

It’s published by W H Howes and is available there and at Whole Story Audio, among other places. It’s also available as a download at Audible in the UK and Audible in the USA.

Find out more in the W H Howes catalogue, and listen to an extract below or at Audible.

Kiss Date Love Hate audiobook extract:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The narrator is actress and voice artist Harriet Carmichael, who was in Mamma Mia, among other films and stage productions. Read more in her bio. She also has a blog, and she has posted mentioning Kiss Date Love Hate.

Extract of Kiss Date Love Hate

January 8th, 2012

Kiss Date Love Hate - it's a book!

January 7th, 2012

Here it is… Kiss Date Love Hate – the actual book!

Kiss Date Love Hate on the bookshelf.

Available everywhere from 2nd February 2012.

Hurray!

accents and audiobooks on Girls Heart Books

December 17th, 2011

I’m on Girls Heart Books talking about accents, with samples from the Split by a Kiss and Swapped by a Kiss audiobooks.

Visit Girls Heart Books to read the post.

Booktrust - my tips on book reviewing and blogging

November 30th, 2011

Booktrust have revamped their excellent site to provide even greater resources for readers of all ages, including writing tips for teenagers. They kindly invited me to give tips on book reviewing and blogging, and you can now read these on the site.

Tips for Starting a Book Blog

Tips for Writing Book Reviews

Booktrust main page

Funny words and retro games

November 10th, 2011

I’ve been busy on the joint blogs this week!

I wrote for Girls Heart Books about the time when aliens invaded Planet Earth. Don’t panic – it’s really about retro computer games. Read it at Girls Heart Books.

And today I’m on Read It And Laugh talking about funny words.

Read It And Laugh is a new multi-author blog focusing on the lighter, funnier side of fiction for young adults. It features authors including me, Amanda Ashby, Kimberly Pauley, Niki Burnham, Tom Clempson, Greg R. Fishbone, Ebony McKenna, Shana Norris, Marlene Perez and Janette Rallison, together with guest authors. There’s a great book giveaway running until the end of November 2011 if you’d like to nominate your favourite funny books.

Read It And Laugh.

British Month at Fluttering Butterflies - and a giveaway!

November 8th, 2011

Fluttering Butterflies book blog is running a month celebrating British authors, and today she has reviewed Extreme Kissing and hosted a guest post by me about the British settings of this book and Swapped by a Kiss. There’s also a giveaway of a copy of Extreme Kissing, with a closing date of 30th November 2011.

Read the review of Extreme Kissing.

Enter the giveaway.

Check out Fluttering Butterflies all month (and beyond)!

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Edited to add: Here’s my second post for Fluttering Butterflies British Month: Confessions of a British Word Nerd

Swapped by a Kiss on audio

November 6th, 2011

Swapped by a Kiss is now available as an audiobook on CD, narrated by Penny Rawlins, who also read the Split by a Kiss audiobook. She’s equally brilliant at US and UK accents!

Listen to a sample of Rachel’s story at Whole Story Audio – Swapped by a Kiss, or click below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swapped by a Kiss is also available – and you can hear a free sample – at Audible UK and Audible US.