Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN page 1 of 11 Table of Contents

Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
page 1 of 11
Table of Contents
Author bio
2
Excerpt from THE BETWEEN
3
Author Q & A
5
Reviews
7
Press release
8
Purchase Venues
9
Author Photograph
10
Book Cover Photograph
11
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Author Bio
LJ Cohen is the writing persona of Lisa Janice Cohen, poet, novelist, blogger, local food
enthusiast, Doctor Who fan, and relentless optimist. Lisa lives just outside of Boston with
her family, two dogs (only one of which actually ever listens to her) and the occasional
international student. In love with words since early childhood, Lisa filled dozens of
notebooks with her scribbles long before there were such a thing as word processors.
After a 25 year hiatus writing professional articles, text book chapters, assessments and
progress notes for her physical therapy practice, Lisa returned to fiction seven years ago.
Her first novel was written to answer her husband's challenge to write something better
than the book he had thrown across the room in disgust. Six novels later, she is still
writing. She also writes the occasional op/ed piece for her local paper and has maintained
the Once in a Blue Muse blog for many years.
Lisa is represented by Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency. When not doing battle with
a stubborn Jack Russell Terrier mix, Lisa is hard at work on her seventh novel, a ghost story.
THE BETWEEN is her publishing debut.
Connect with LJ Online
Homepage: http://www.ljcohen.net/
Blog: http://ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com/
Mailing List: http://www.ljcohen.net/mailinglist/mail.cgi/list/bluemusings
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ljcohen
Twitter: @lisajanicecohen
Tumblr: http://www.ljcohen.tumblr.com
Google+: http://gplus.to/ljcohen
email LJ: lisa@ljcohen.net
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Excerpt from THE BETWEEN
(You can read the first two complete chapters online in a variety of drm-free formats.
http://www.ljcohen.net/downloads.html )
A flare of lightning turned the other kids on the bus into distant silhouettes. Lydia
squeezed her eyes shut against the searing brightness. Thunder roared like a freight train,
rattling windows and leaving her ears ringing. She had never seen a storm hit so hard or so
fast. Tornadoes weren’t common around here, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t happen,
right?
The hair on her arms fanned out and a wave of pressure thrummed against her chest. The
bus skidded to a stop, throwing Lydia against the edge of a seat. Its high back caught her in
the stomach, leaving her gasping for breath.
Screams and shouts competed with the eerie harmonics of the wailing horn, making her
skin crawl. She blinked, trying to clear the afterimages from the lightning strike. Her ears
still buzzed. The bus was complete chaos. Kids were scrambling to get to their feet,
climbing over scattered backpacks and one another, shoving their way toward the door.
It all seemed so far away. Lydia stared out the windshield, her mouth falling open, as a
torrent of water rushed down the street. Flashes of lightning pierced the dark sky. Pain
burned like a stitch in her side, making it hard to breathe. She had to get out. She had to
run. Lydia shivered, pushing her way through her panicked classmates to the front of the
bus.
The driver was slumped over the wheel, blood running from his forehead. Outside, a huge
maple tree lay across the road. It was a miracle they hadn’t hit it.
“Come on!” Clive said. “They’re looking for you.”
“What? Who?” Lydia shuddered, his words like the cold rain lashing the bus. She reached
for the door release.
“Not that way, you fool!” he shouted. “Look!” Clive pivoted her shoulders around toward
the windshield.
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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The next flare burned a nightmare into her memory. The darkness outside was moving,
like a sky full of insects. Each lightning strike erased huge swaths of wriggling blackness.
As she watched, more of the swarm poured in to fill the gaps and ate their way closer to the
bus. Her arms broke out in goose bumps. She couldn’t look away. “What the hell is that?”
The sounds around her faded and all Lydia could hear was a low vibration from outside,
pressing against the skin of the bus.
“Darklings. Let’s go,” Clive said.
“I don’t understand!”
He grabbed her wrist. “Come on, Lydia.”
“Let go of me,” she said, pulling away and cradling her hand.
“I can’t let them find you.”
The kids around her were crying or shouting, but it was as if she were in a sound-proof
bubble. Only Clive’s voice and the buzzing darkness felt real. Some part of her recognized
this sense of floating as shock. Like the time she fell out of the apple tree and fractured her
arm when she was six. She remembered the thump of her body hitting the ground, and the
snap of bone, like a tree branch breaking. The pain had been a distant thing. Lydia frowned
and took a deep breath. Something was happening here. Something important. She took
an uncertain step toward the bus driver, trying to shake off the numbness. “What about
him? We have to call 9-1-1.”
“It’s you they’re after. We have to get you away from here. Now move!” She had never heard
that note of panic in Clive’s smooth voice before.
She looked from the driver to the writhing shadow outside. As she watched, she knew
whatever the darkness was, it saw her. Her mouth dried and she couldn’t swallow.
Something deep inside her was being slowly unwound like a spool of thread.
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Author Q & A
Where did you get the idea for this book?
Nearly all of my stories start with what I call the writer's version of Clue—a game I used to
play often growing up, where you had to figure out who committed a murder, with what
weapon, and in what room. For example, Colonial Mustard, with a candlestick, in the
drawing room.
My stories spring from a character, with a problem, in a specific place. This one emerged
from a writing prompt in a writers group and I discovered I had Lydia, who really wasn't
human, being snatched into Faerie against her will.
What traits and other tidbits do you share with your main character?
I'm stubborn and Lydia definitely shares that trait with me.
Did any of your inspiration for this book originate in your real life experiences?
Yes and no. I was adopted as a 5-day old infant, and while I've always known and never
thought of my family as anything other than my family, I did have the sense that many
adoptees experience of feeling like a changeling. I think a lot of my characters struggle
with issues of identity, and perhaps there is a little of my childhood in that.
What do you love about writing, specifically writing YA stories?
As far back as I can remember, I've been reading, writing, and getting in trouble for letting
my imagination run away with myself. It always seemed easier to express what I was
feeling by writing it in words. Writing novels seemed a natural extention of that early love
of language. Why have I gravitated to YA stories? Well, I'm 48 and I still remember when I
read "A Wrinkle in Time" and 'met' Meg Murray. For the first time, here was a heroine who
I could be like. She wasn't perky or popular or beautiful. She was awkward and unsure of
herself. She got angry. She got in trouble. And she saved her world from darkness, along
the way, rescuing her father and her brother. I was such an awkward, unhappy kid, always
out of step with my peers. The pages of books were my salvation. To this day, I return to YA
books and when I started to write novels 8 years ago, that was the genre that called to me.
What made you decide to self-publish?
I finished the first draft of THE BETWEEN in early 2009. After being revised and edited
several times, it went out on submission via my agent. The editors who read it, praised the
story and the writing, but chose not to buy it for market reasons. It was a great
disappointment to both Nephele and me. Ultimately, I faced the decision to either bury
the story on my hard drive or do the work to release it and let it find its own audience.
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Being your own publisher isn't going it alone; it does mean, however, that the buck stops
with you. Everything becomes your responsibility to organize: the layout, the cover, the
editing, the formatting, the promotion, the distribution. I was fortunate in that I was able
to find skilled and talented individuals to support me in this venture.
Now, with the book about to be published, I feel like this was the right path for this project
at this time. I am proud of the work and can't wait for it to find its readers.
Are there any specific authors whose writing styles or subject matter inspired your book?
Not exactly, though I have been heavily influenced by the work of Madeline L'Engle,
specifically her Time Quartet books. A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book growing up,
and remains an important source of inspiration. Writers of YA material who don't talk
down to their readers and who create strong characters of both genders inspire me.
Tamora Pierce and Jane Yolen are definitely on that list.
Do you have another project in the works? If so, what is it?
Currently, my agent is shopping a YA haunted house story that I describe as A Wrinkle in
Time meets The Shining. I am nearly halfway through the first draft of another YA novel,
this one a ghost story mystery set in and around an abandoned amusement park.
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Praise for THE BETWEEN
The Between is a moving tale of heroism and compassion, from the familiar warmth of a
suburban home to the strangeness of Faerie. Lydia is a young woman utterly unprepared
for the world she's about to enter—but she learns fast. She's a character you'll want to
meet again, from a writer you'll want to read again. Take good note: LJ Cohen is a new voice
to follow.
--Jeffrey A. Carver, author of The Chaos Chronicles
In a sense L.J. Cohen is the reader's Clive; without warning she steals us away from the real
world and transports us to the beautiful and dangerous realms of the Fae. . . . I think L.J.'s
skill with using the magic elements (as well as handling the Shakespearean worldbuilding) comes from her poet side. I kept seeing that lyrical influence throughout the
story, too; from the rhythms of the dialogue and the action to the descriptive passages.
--Lynn Viehl, author of the StarDoc and Darkyn books
In The Between, Cohen blends a strong and fiery female heroine, complex family
relationships and ethereal fantasy world into a delightful read for teens and adults alike.
--Becky Raymond, Book Blogger http://inquisitivehippo.com/
I really don't read much faerie fiction, and wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up loving it .
. . well, actually, I loved it from the beginning. First of all, the story is just amazing. It has so
many intricacies that make the world and characters very rich. . . . Lydia is a great female
lead. . . .
--Jackie Miller, Book Blogger http://www.mytowerofbooks.blogspot.com/
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Press Release
LJ Cohen's debut young adult novel, THE BETWEEN, is a story of finding ordinary
strength in extraordinary circumstances. Lydia Hawthorne's biggest problems include
finishing her college applications, convincing her parents she needs a car, and dodging
Clive Barrow, her personal stalker. When Clive pulls her into the Between, an uneasy space
bordering the worlds of Faerie and her mortal life, everything changes. Fought over by
both Oberon and Titania in their endless war, Lydia struggles to hold onto her stubborn
humanity and return to the only life she has ever known, even as she has to embrace her
Fae power to survive.
Advance praise for THE BETWEEN:
The Between is a moving tale of heroism and compassion, from the familiar warmth of a suburban home
to the strangeness of Faerie. Lydia is a young woman utterly unprepared for the world she's about to
enter—but she learns fast. She's a character you'll want to meet again, from a writer you'll want to read
again. Take good note: LJ Cohen is a new voice to follow.
—Jeffrey A. Carver, author of The Chaos Chronicles
THE BETWEEN is available in both eBook and trade paperback editions, via Amazon,
B&N, iTunes, and Smashwords as of January 13, 2012. Purchase links can be found here,
http://www.ljcohen.net/the-between.html
Read more about LJ on her website: http://www.ljcohen.net. You can read the first 2
chapters of THE BETWEEN here: http://www.ljcohen.net/downloads.html
LJ is represented by Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency and lives in the Boston area
with her family and two shelter dogs.
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
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Purchase Venues for THE BETWEEN
Brick and Mortar:
Newtonville Books http://www.newtonvillebooks.com/
296 Walnut St. - Newtonville, MA - 02460
(Signing/reading on January 26th, 7 pm)
Online:
Amazon
print http://www.amazon.com/Between-LJ-Cohen/dp/0984787011
eBook http://www.amazon.com/The-Between-ebook/dp/B006UVP724
Barnes and Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Between/LJ-Cohen/e/2940013729490
iTunes (link available shortly)
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120583
Signed print copies from the author: contact lisa@ljcohen.net
Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
Author Photograph
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Media Kit: LJ Cohen/THE BETWEEN
Book Cover Image
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