A Little Taste of Poison, and a Legacy of Love and Laughter

During the week of March 11th, book lovers all over the blogasphere are banding together to get the word out about a delightful YA debut and the talented young author who left a legacy of laughter for her readers, yet isn't here to harvest the fruits of her labor of love.

In tribute to her first and last novel, authors were invited to talk about their momentus firsts, so I'll direct you to this link where I originally announced my first book contract.

  

The rest of this post is all about Bridget Zinn, the vivacious and lovely young author, daughter, woman, and wife, who poured humor, heart, and soul into an endearing and magical story called Poison, all while battling the very real and merciless monster of colon cancer.
 
About Bridget:

 

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died.

Her last tweet was: "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

About Poison:

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she's the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom's future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king's army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she's not alone. She's armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can't stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she's certainly no damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Purchase your copy:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• IndieBound
• iTunes Bookstore
• Powell's Books

Links about Bridget:

• Bridget's Web site
• A remembrance of Bridget written by her agent (with a video of Bridget that shows how vibrant and funny she was)
• Bridget's path to publication - in her own words.
• A post in which Bridget shares her Sneaky Tips for writing

 Help get the word out and make Bridget's launch a success so she can leave behind a legacy for her family, friends, and fans:

• Everything you need to know about helping spread the word (lots of links and info about Bridget and her book)
• Please tweet this post, Poison's GoodReads page, or any of the above purchase or informational links using the hashtag #Poison.

Thank you, and please take something away from this for yourself. Treasure every moment like Bridget did! Live life to the fullest every day. Considering all I've read about her, I believe she'd want that above anything else.