This app is craftily pulled together – keeping up with elements from the TV show and incorporating a mix of interactive action and mini-games which include collecting evidence, examining results in a lab, staking out suspects, and doing autopsies!
My favorite part is getting to bring in the “bad guys” for questioning. But I have to go with gut instinct – sometimes being too aggressive with my questioning scares the guys into not giving up the right info.
This is a “must have” game app for any NCIS superfan like myself. But it's just as fun for crime solving fanatics or anyone who's looking for something new and engaging … Grab it today!
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"I defy anyone who doesn't fall in love with [Pillow Talk]."
-Glamour
For all they do for us all year long, our moms surely deserve a few perks now and then. Today’s Free Fridays selection, Pillow Talk by Freya North, is a lighthearted and fun contemporary love story that’s a perfect Mother’s Day read.
This charming story of love lost and regained follows the unlikely path of two weary people who thought that their chance at love had passed them by. As teenagers, Arlo and Petra knew they had chemistry, but eventually went their separate ways. Fast-forward 17 years, and Arlo’s a reformed rocker who’s chosen the quiet life, and Petra’s a talented jeweler with a loser boyfriend. Each is struggling to put a troubled past behind them. By chance they meet again and are confronted with a choice: fall back on all their old excuses, or throw caution to the wind and give true love one more chance.
Once you’re enchanted by Freya North’s storytelling, be sure to explore Secrets, available now for NOOK.
And if you’re a mom who’s expecting to receive your first NOOK this Sunday, you can set up your BN.com account now and download Pillow Talk—as soon as you register your NOOK, you’ll be able to access your Free Fridays book right away.
Free Fridays Recommends
Each week, we ask our featured author to recommend a book or author that you may want to check out. Since authors are such passionate readers themselves, we thought you might like to find out what they love to read, too! Here’s what Freya recommends:
Laurie Graham is a superb writer who seamlessly blends fact and fiction in novels that are as sensitive and fascinating as they are warm and witty. Two of my favourites are the gloriously titled Gone with the Windsors (the story of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII told in diary form by a make-believe American in London) and The Importance of Being Kennedy - the clan's history recounted by a fictitious nanny to all nine Kennedy offspring. Miss Graham has the most wonderful turn-of-phrase and her novels are pacey, warm and incredibly funny. I learn something new with every one of her books. Seek her out - and enjoy.NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Freya North” to download her irresistible books.
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Toni Morrison is one of those rare authors for whom no amount of superlatives is enough. She’s received a Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and, most recently, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Thus any new Toni Morrison publication is an important event—and the release of her newest novel, Home, is yet another milestone publication in an unparalleled literary career.
Home is a compact novel that nevertheless packs a mighty punch. The Washington Post writes, “This scarily quiet tale packs all the thundering themes Morrison has explored before. She's never been more concise, though, and that restraint demonstrates the full range of her power.” Never one to shy away from big, complex themes, in Home, Morrison brings to life the struggles of Frank, an African-American Korean War veteran returning to his racist hometown. He risked his life for his country on the battlefield, but has gained no more respect from his fellow countrymen than when he left for war.
Frank soon channels his frustration and anger into tracking down his troubled younger sister to bring her home. The weight of the world may be too much for one man to bear, but when love and family obligation come into play, Frank is able to muster the courage he needs to make things right.
A free sample excerpt from this book is available for download on the product page now!
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Toni Morrison” to download her many award-winning books.
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Bill Bradley has led a diverse and fascinating life–winning two NBA championships and an Olympic gold medal, and serving as a United States Senator for 18 years. In his new book, We Can All Do Better, Bradley offers a no-holds-barred prescription on subjects including job creation, deficit reduction, education, and immigration. He champions the power of individual Americans to organize, speak out, and bridge divisions, and he calls on the media to assume a more responsible role in our national life.
We asked Bill Bradley to offer a list of must-read NOOK Books that readers should explore before the 2012 elections to stay informed on the issues at hand. Here are his recommendations:
"Through the years these books have helped shape my views and understanding about the essence of America. So now given our current difficult economic circumstances, it’s time to redouble our effort and to realize the promise of a pluralistic democracy that takes everyone to higher economic ground."
- Bill Bradley
by Gretchen Morgenson
by Michael Lewis
by David McCullough
American Experiment Vol 1-3 by James MacGregor Burns
Click here for a list of Bill Bradley's upcoming Barnes & Noble appearances.
A Free sample excerpt from Bill Bradley's book is available for download on the product page now!
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Bill Bradley” to download his informative and impassioned new book.
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"Carriger debuts brilliantly with a blend of Victorian romance, screwball comedy of manners and alternate history."
- Publishers Weekly
Our newest $0.99 Spotlight offer features Soulless, the first book in Gail Carriger's fresh and inventive Parasol Protectorate series.
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
A free sample excerpt from this book is available for download on the product page now!
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Gail Carriger” to download her appealingly inventive books.
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May the 4th Be With You!
If you're not a Star Wars fan, you may be scratching your head...but if you live and breathe the Force, you already know that today is Star Wars Day.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, we invited three writers who were instrumental in creating the Expanded Universe found in the dozens of popular Star Wars books, to contribute a NOOK Blog post.
Aaron Allston, Christie Golden and Troy Denning have teamed up to write the bestselling Fate of the Jedi series, which explores the Jedi world beyond the plots of the Star Wars films. In today’s blog post, they explain the process of collaborating on a wide-ranging book series. As Troy explains, the process is “more a group marathon than a relay race.”
Now I'll turn this post over to Aaron Allston, the writer of the first book in the series, Outcast.
Aaron Allston: Since 2002, I’ve written for the three multi-author Star Wars novel series, and had the honor of writing the first novels for two of them — Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi. But this is not just an honor — starting a major new series presents challenges to the writer not found in standalone books.
You have to introduce, or at least hint at, themes that will be present throughout the series. With Fate of the Jedi, some of those themes included:
- Anxiety about the future of the Jedi Order in an unfriendly political environment and in the face of a new, unknown enemy
- A return to an adventuresome feel after the grimness of Legacy of the Force
- Political turmoil that oculd could ultimately change the nature of the Galactic Alliance and the Empire
- Coming of age — the Jedi Order having to function without its father figure, Luke Skywalker, and Ben transitioning from hyper-competent teenager to young man
So with Outcast, the first novel in the series, after collaborative plotting sessions with my fellow writers, I introduced several plots and subplots. Madness afflicts some of the Jedi, an insanity that somehow relates to fallen Jedi Jacen Solo, who is now dead. Luke Skywalker, for alleged failures during the LotF series, accepts a years-long exile, meaning that the Jedi must have new leadership. Luke resolves to retrace the years-ago earlier travels of Jacen Solo to see if that can help solve the mystery of the Jedi madness, and his son Ben elects to go along with him — setting in motion the Odyssey-inspired, visiting-exotic-worlds subplot that would run through the first half of the series. Luke and Ben visit the world of Dorin, one of Jacen’s stops, and become involved with a sort of underworldly Force cult. On Kessel, Han and Leia discover caverns filled with ancient technology related to that of the destroyed Centerpoint Station; that discovery, and other events, relate to the presence of a creepy, powerful being in the nearby Maw Cluster.
At the end of the book, the problematic underworld cult on Dorin is straightened out and the Jedi achieve a minor victory in their new struggles with the government. That’s two subplots put to bed, but all the others are still in play.
Another task of the first novel in the series involves introducing or reintroducing characters who will be important to the series. I caught a break there: While I did need to reintroduce many characters, most of them were familiar to Expanded Universe readers and didn’t require much updating. And Troy, Christie and I had previously agreed that three of the most important new characters/groups — Vestara, Abeloth, and the Lost Tribe of the Sith — should be introduced in later novels. So I merely hinted at Abeloth and didn’t have to do a lick of work with Vestara or the Sith.
So Outcast set the ball in motion — or perhaps “avalanche” would be a better analogy. And the avalanche headed straight for Christie Golden.
Christie Golden: The avalanche had been preceded by the very interesting fact that this was my first experience EVER writing for Star Wars. (Well, other than the story I wrote when I was 15, and Luke fell in love with the Emperor’s daughter, whom he turned to the light side…I was years ahead of Mara Jade!). So let’s take a moment to imagine that your first Star Wars writing project is not a story or a stand-alone novel, but three major titles, a third of an enormous storyline, in a world you’re really not all that familiar with (well, other than knowing the first three movies pretty much line by line) and co-written with two relative strangers.
Thank goodness I was bracketed by two of the best writers in the field, who are now far from strangers, and thank goodness for Shelly Shapiro, my editor, Sue Rostini over at Lucasfilms, and Leland Chee, the keeper Keeper of the Holocron. Everyone made me feel very welcome, was enthusiastic about my participation, and was more than eager to help when I needed information.
Being “the one in the middle” had pluses and minuses. On the plus side, I was able to ask Aaron to set up some things for me to tackle in my books, and I could tell Troy where I was thinking of going when I handed the “baton” off to him. On the negative side, I never had the option of getting to start something completely on my own, or finish it on my own. Hmm, I wonder if Aaron and Troy think having to start and finish a major series was a plus or a minus!
I was the very lucky one who got to introduce an entire Sith culture to the world of Star Wars, with the Lost Tribe, and particularly Vestara Khai. While all three authors had agreed earlier that we wanted to have Ben involved with a Sith girl, I got to really shape her personality and appearance, and the curiously cooperative nature of the Lost Tribe. I also got to introduce Wynn Dorvan. Fun fact and an example of the back and forth that went on: Dorvan was created solely as a throwaway character. Troy had requested that I give Daala’s “assistant” a pair of chitliks. So I did—and I am sure there is or will be a story behind why Dorvan now only has one of those chitliks, Pocket. And of course, readers know that Dorvan really took on a life and character of his own. I’m surprised and pleased that he became a fan favorite. On the journalist side, I created both sleemo Javis Tyrr and gutsy, honest journalist Madhi Vaandt.
I gave Troy a little present with Allana’s nexu. Troy said quite plainly, “You can’t give Allana a nexu cub in one book and not have me run with it in mine!” I enjoyed seeing the development of Anji throughout the series, as I did with Vestara and Dorvan.
I found it challenging to write a book that A) pleased readers, B) felt like a solid continuation of what Aaron had done before and C) also felt like something had been started and completed within the covers of each book. I did my best to continue threads Aaron introduced, but often had to choose what would work within the parameters of each of mine as well. Readers will notice that one thread introduced in Outcast was not really addressed at all in Omen, but got a great deal of screen time (and was wrapped up) in Ascension. The reason for that was because it fit well in one place, and not so well in another.
While a lot of threads got wrapped up in appropriate places during the series, and many of them in Ascension, Troy did have the rather daunting task of finishing up the whole thing, and I purposefully left him some juicy storylines to wrap up . . .
Troy Denning: A series like this takes an incredible amount of coordination and creative collaboration. I’ve often heard people speak of it as a relay — of passing the “baton” — as though Writer One completes his book before Writer Two begins hers. But that’s not how it works — not even close.
I’ve worked on three multi-author Star Wars series, two of them from the initial concept, and it’s fair to say they’re more a group marathon than a relay race. We start with a big planning session, where the authors, editors, and various marketing, continuity, and management people from Del Rey and Lucasfilm Licensing gather to hash out a story- arc for the series. That’s really just a big, fun brainstorming session where we develop ideas and lay out a skeleton of plot-points for each book in the series. The important thing to understand about the planning session is that it’s a free- wheeling affair, with everyone feeding ideas into the hopper. Although we know the order of the authors’ rotation at this stage — that’s usually dictated by schedule or marketing concerns — no one is seriously concerned about staking claim to particular ideas. Writer One may suggest a plot point that ends up in Writer Two’s book, or a marketing director may toss out an idea that an editor puts in Writer Three’s book. By the time we end the meeting, we have a list of plot points for each book, and it would be very surprising if anyone could remember who generated which ideas. I would be even more surprised if any of us cared. By that point, the story arc has become a group child, and there’s a little bit of everyone in it.
After the planning session, the writers return home with their list of plot points and write outlines for the first three books. And — because one of the goals for a series like this is to publish in three years instead of nine — we do this simultaneously. So, yes, while Aaron was writing the outline for Outcast, Christie was writing the outline for Omen, and I was writing the outline for Abyss. We were able to do this because we were relatively fresh from that face-to-face planning session and are very much on the same page. But, of course, there are always subtle differences of interpretation that grow apparent once the outline is finished, and new (and better) ideas that occur to each writer as they work.
The outlines are submitted to the editors and circulated among the writers. Everyone makes comments, looking for inconsistencies and opportunities to improve the story, and just generally trying to make sure that we’re all still on the same page. Then the outlines are revised, and the writers start writing our books.
And this is where the rotation begins to grow challenging. There’s an amazing amount of back and forth as we write — literally thousands of emails of “what-ifs” and “can you foreshadow this” and “wouldn’t it be neat ifs?” To a great extent, all of the writers work back and forth to accommodate each other, adjusting scenes, tweaking characters, sometimes even adding or deleting whole chapters or subplots. But, eventually, the deadlines arrive, the manuscripts start coming in, and things get interesting.
No matter how carefully we plan, no matter how often the writers communicate, the simple fact remains that our minds work differently — and it shows in our writing. A manuscript will arrive that does exactly what the author proposed in his/her outline, and which has been adjusted in exactly the ways discussed in subsequent emails, and it will still be full of surprises — just subtle differences of interpretation, or little-but-great ideas, or even subplots the writer thought would be self-contained, but which actually need to be stretched over two -or -three books.
Often, a lot of these little surprises can be cleaned- up in manuscript revision, and they are. But some can’t be — at least not in time to get the book into production. Besides, more often than not, a lot of these surprises are good surprises. They’re little gems you want to keep and polish, and it becomes the job of the next writer down the line to set them in the rest of the story. Obviously, there are going to be a few more of these for the third writer in the rotation than for the second or first, and coming last can begin to feel like you’ve got an avalanche of great ideas tumbling down on you.
Fortunately, the avalanche doesn’t build unabated throughout the whole series. Each time we outline a new trio of books, we need to take a “virtual breath” and evaluate. If we’re lucky, that happens when the writers and editors are at a convention together, and we can do it around a conference table. But even if we can’t, it occurs naturally as each writer begins his/her next outline; the process itself gives us a chance to regroup. The avalanche may still be building as we move into the next trio of books, but at least it feels like it’s under control.
Still, by the time Writer Three is drafting the last book in the series, that avalanche has grown larger than ever. It’s coming fast and heavy, and by then it’s unclear whether he’s riding the avalanche or getting run over by it. In addition to the normal surprises, he’s trying to wrap up all of the subplots in this series — subplots that have sometimes drifted in marvelous but unexpected directions. He has to to bring the primary plot — a plot that has been building for eight books — to a satisfying, action-packed, epic conclusion.
And then there’s the final challenge: this isn’t just the end of a nine-book series. This is Star Wars, so this book needs to do more than close the door on one era of the Expanded Universe. It needs to draw readers through that door and leave them standing on a whole new threshold, looking out on a galaxy filled with the potential for dozens of new kinds of story.
Honestly, I can't wait to see where the Expanded Universe goes from here.
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Today’s Free Fridays selection—The Billionaire's Curse with Bonus Material by Richard Newsome—is aimed especially at young (and young-at-heart) readers. (NOTE: There are two editions of The Billionaire's Curse available--only the Bonus Edition is free).
What kid wouldn’t be overjoyed to inherit a fortune from a long-lost aunt? Think of all the candy and video games you can buy with that kind of scratch! But when 13-year old Gerald Wilkins lucks into a gigantic inheritance, he quickly learns that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
It turns out that there are some pretty substantial strings attached to this unlikely windfall—including a letter implying that Gerald’s aunt was murdered, and imploring him to track down the killer. Even more disturbing is Gerald’s realization that the killer may actually be tracking him.
Now this Australian teenager is off to England for the adventure of a lifetime. And as the investigation gets more dangerous at every turn, Gerald’s just hoping he’ll live long enough to enjoy life as a newly-minted billionaire.
Two more adventures await new fans in the action-packed Archer Legacy adventure series, including the soon-to-be-released The Mask of Destiny. Get a sneak peek at excerpts from both books in today's special free edition.
Free Fridays Recommends
Each week, we ask our featured author to recommend a book or author that you may want to check out. Since authors are such passionate readers themselves, we thought you might like to find out what they love to read, too! Here’s what Richard recommends:
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
The tale of Bilbo Baggins and his journey there and back again is a yarn that covers so many aspects of great story-telling. It is a quest, a memoir, an adventure, a tale of temptation and bravery, a fish-out-of-water saga of a stout fellow who only discovers his inner-strength when faced with great challenges. It is a book that rewards re-reading several times through life, as there are new treasures to be found in the prose each time it is visited.
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Richard Newsome” to download his exciting adventures.
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While a considerable amount of time and attention is, deservedly, spent on discussing the best ways for parents to raise empowered and successful daughters, there are many parents of boys who are struggling as well. A poor economy, the media’s glamorization of the ‘thug’ lifestyle, and a lack of positive role models have contributed to a downward spiral for young males.
In Swagger, New York Times-bestselling author Lisa Bloom tackles these issues head-on. If you or someone you know is raising a young man, you’ll be impressed by Bloom’s direct approach to finding solutions to the many forces that are conspiring to keep boys down. Her ten no-nonsense steps for keeping boys on the right path are a practical and actionable way to raise healthy sons today.
A free sample excerpt from this book is available for download on the product page now!
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Lisa Bloom” to download her helpful and informative books.
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Few historical characters are as enchanting as Anne Boleyn—the controversial queen whose exploits inspired dozens of fictional explorations.
Now Hilary Mantel—winner of the Booker Prize for Wolf Hall (available for $4.99 for a limited time)—turns her considerable talents to revisiting the end of Boleyn’s life in the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, available for pre-order now. When King Henry VIII threw aside his queen in order to marry Boleyn, the scandal set in motion one of the most tumultuous periods of English history. So when the irascible Henry becomes disenchanted with Boleyn, her own life turns chaotic. Soon she’s facing a trial for adultery and treason, and her powerful family joins her in a fight for her life—a pivotal event that would help set the English Reformation in motion.
Fans of the fascinating history of Tudor England will delight in Mantel’s lush and evocative fictionalization.
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Hilary Mantel” to download her impressive historical novels.
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