I mean. Seriously. Cool. Swag.

Like branded hand sanitizer, a brilliant biohazard-yellow pen, magnet, and bookmark.

But what is THE WAY WE FALL about?

This:

It starts with an itch you just can’t shake.  Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat.  A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends.  Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in. 

And then you’re dead.

When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend leave for school without saying goodbye, she never dreams that she might not see him again.  But then a strange virus begins to sweep through her small island community, infecting young and old alike.  As the dead pile up, the government quarantines the island: no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for the island’s dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?

Yeah. So how freaking awesome does that sound?

FREAKING AWESOME.

And all you have  to do to win THE WAY WE FALL is leave a comment below.

Leaving a comment will give you +1 entries.

How do I get more entries though?

Easy.

Sign into my site via Google Friend Connect for +1 additional entry.

Facebook me for +1 additional entry.

Follow me on Twitter for +1 additional entry.

Follow me on Goodreads for +1 additional entry.

Follow me on Google+ for +1 additional entry.

Re(Tweet) the contest for +1 additional entry.

Anyone who was already a member of Derek Molata Online, a friend on Facebook, following me on Twitter, Goodreads, or Google+ prior to the contest start date will receive 1+(2,3,4,5, or 6) entries when you leave a comment.

And that’s all there is to it. But YOU MUST TALLY YOUR POINTS WHEN COMMENTING so I know how many entries to mark you down for.

The contest will run until Monday February 13th at 12:00pm EST. Once the contest closes I will tally up all entries, add them to a random number generator, and randomly select the winner.

Open globally.

Good luck!

And before you leave… check out the stellar trailer for THE WAY WE FALL:

In an effort to move web servers and finally be on Laughing Squid’s cloud hosting program, I’m going dark for 24-48 hours as I redeploy my website, database, and wait for the DNS records to propagate…

Be safe.

“Yeah, he’s scary.”

(Ha, ha ha. Yes I know. Total cheese. But I couldn’t help myself.)

Instead of some long New Year’s Day post, I’m just going to say I hope you rang in 2012 doing whatever makes you happy–and that the year ahead is kind to you and yours.

Hands down, this was my favourite website discovery of 2011. I can put this on and just relax to the sound of rain any time I want, even when it’s 100C outside and sunny, or -20C and snowing.

Brilliant.

RainyMood.com

A LOT.

Watched it on a whim the other night. Kinda had one of those moments where you can’t really find anything to watch that’s jumping out at you, so you find something like Take Me Home Tonight… it looks fun, but you’re not really sure about it. One of those moments where you know if you don’t watch it then, you probably never will.

And I’m SO glad I did.

In a nutshell, this is Take Me Home Tonight:

Four years after graduation, an awkward high school genius uses his sister’s boyfriend’s Labor Day party as the perfect opportunity to make his move on his high school crush.

It’s pretty much everything you could want in an 80s film–shot more than 20  years after the decade. It really plays on the 80s cult classics like Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Pretty in Pink.

Topher Grace doesn’t disappoint in a role he’s pretty much mastered since That 70s Show. His sister, played by Anna Faris, is well cast, though the real star of the film was the gorgeous–and hauntingly Kristen Stewart-like–Teresa Palmer.

And what a killer soundtrack. They nailed it. From the title track of Eddie Money’s Take Me Home Tonight, to Mötley Crüe’s Kick Start My Heart, to Men Without Hats, Wang Chung, and Duran Duran, it felt like there was a hit song every 5 minutes. Really, I don’t think the soundtrack could have been any better for this film. It fit perfectly.

So really, if you want something fun to watch–and you love the 80s, then you can’t go wrong with this movie.

Totally rad!

One of my favourite bands (tied with Depeche Mode), playing “The Forest” from their 1980 album Seventeen Seconds, at Bestival 2011.  How jealous am I that I couldn’t be at that show? VERY. But this video is the next best thing.

You can also find this track on their new album Bestival Live 2011.

!! Congratulations !!

Erin, email me your contact information and I will get the signed and personalized copy of Karen Amanda Hooper’s Tangled Tides out to you ASAP!

Stay tuned for more book giveaways soon.