Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author interview. Show all posts
Bloggers' Choice: Interview with Susan Dennard + Giveaway
More than that, I'm one of the people who REALLY gushed over her debut novel and reveled in all the awesome historical zombieness mish-mash thing going on. Mostly because I fell in love with the characters and I am SUPER invested in the romance--it's kind of ridiculous, actually. (Pssst... Susan promises to torture us thoroughly in that arena.)
Of course, I jumped at the chance to interview Susan! Truth be told--since we're doing a lot of truth saying, after all--I'd been dying to lure her onto the blog, but was trying to think of a clever excuse. Well, ladies and George, YOU'VE HELPED ME find one. I happily bring you, Susan's face. Or she brought her face... Behold.
"We're pretty boring people."
I can't say about your husband--but from the way you were smiling when you even mentioned him, I doubt it--but let me be the judge about boring, Susan. And to that I say, NO WAY. Nuh-uh, I wouldn't believe it even if you smacked it into me. No boring person could write such an awesome story and hold up amazingly witty conversations on Twitter.
You are quite definitely cooler than iced blue Koolaid, I promise. And definitely one of my favorite authors on account of being so well-rounded.
Now, if you haven't read Something Strange and Deadly, I have to inform you that this giveaway won't bring you one step closer in doing so. So, what I suggest is stop being a martyr and END THE TORTURE. With this link, I bring thee the first step to purchasing this book. Because Something Strange and Deadly is in stores now, and you must read it.
Want to win something awesome?
Wai-Wai-WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Susan is sending one lucky fantabulous winner some signed bookplates and character cards for being the cool kids and other that you are when you voted for Something Strange and Deadly. You could enter my Follower Appreciation Giveaway, open to everyone, to possibly buy yourself a copy. Just FYI.
Bloggers' Choice Part II: Interview with Kody Keplinger + US Giveaway
Because you should totally do that!
Now, A Midsummer's Nightmare is Kody's third novel, which is exciting in and of itself, but this one is said to have a pretty special place in her heart. Luckily for all of you, Kody is not only an incredibly cool person but she's also REALLY generous :-D At the end of this post, there will be a few nice goodies offered up for grabs. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I decided to ask a few prodding questions about this new bad boy hitting the market, and Kody sure did deliver. I'm even more anxious to read the book now that I know WESLEY AND BIANCA are to make an appearance. Oops, spoiler alert in that last sentence. But I'm just so darn excited.
I decided to ask a few prodding questions about this new bad boy hitting the market, and Kody sure did deliver. I'm even more anxious to read the book now that I know WESLEY AND BIANCA are to make an appearance. Oops, spoiler alert in that last sentence. But I'm just so darn excited.
Q. In The DUFF, Bianca Piper uses sex as an escape from her problems at home. What’s one negative and one positive outlet you’ve used to get away from reality?
K: My positive outlet is definitely writing. I've always used writing as a distraction from other things going on in my life, ever since I was a little kid. Pushing bigger problems on fictional characters is strangely cathartic! As for negatives . . . eating. Haha. Sometimes when I don't want to do something or deal with something, I just think, "I should eat. I can't do other stuff while I eat." This leads to lots of carb-munching. It's a habit I need to break.
Q. Lissa in Shut Out organizes a sex strike at her school with some of the girlfriends of the guys on the sports teams. Have you ever done anything radical—doesn’t have to be on the same scale—to change the way someone thought or acted? If you could organize a strike without any bad consequences, what would be the goal? And if you could choose any fictional character to help you, who would you choose?
K: Oh, gosh. No, I've never done anything very radical, honestly. Not that I haven't thought about it, but I just never had the time or resources, I guess. If I could strike against anything, though, it would probably be gender and sexual inequality. It breaks my heart to see discrimination against people for their genders and/or sexual orientations. It's not fair. It's not okay. I don't know how I'd organize that sort of strike but my goal would be to change some laws and some minds. Who would I want on my team? That is super hard, but probably Atticus Finch from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. He sticks to his values, even in the hardest of times. He'd be a great person to have on your side.
Q. If you could live the life of any one of the characters from your book, who would it be and why?
K: I'm not really sure I'd want any of their lives, honestly. They're all kind of screwed up! Lissa is clearly dealing with OCD. Whitley has a drinking problem and serious friendship issues. Bianca's family life is pretty unhappy. I'm much happier in my life than I would be in any of theirs. But can I pick a minor character? If so, probably Jessica from THE DUFF. It would be nice to go through life with such a sunny, cheerful disposition.
Q. Whitley from your recently released A Midsummer’s Nightmare, appears to be a bit of a jaded character. Who would she more likely get along with and befriend: Bianca or Lissa?
K: Well, this is kind of a spoiler, but she actually does meet Bianca, and I don't think they're becoming friends any time soon. And I highly doubt she'd like Lissa very much. Lissa's uptight behavior would drive Whitley insane. I think it would be both scary and fascinating to put the three of them in a room together, but I don't think it would lead to good things. At all. Then again, Whitley is a tough girl to become friends with, so that's not shocking!
Q. Do you have any big plans for future books? What can you share with us?
K: I'm working on my fourth book, GOLDFISH, right now. It won't be out until Fall 2013 - so a ways off - and I can't say too much yet, just that it does not take place in Hamilton like my other three books do, and it has a very different tone. But I'm very, very excited for everyone to meet the main character, Paige, and hopefully love her the way I do.
Want to win your very own copy?
Well, Kody is not ONLY offering a SIGNED copy of A Midsummer's Nightmare, but she's also offered to throw in ANOTHER SIGNED copy of Shut Out. Doesn't she just rock your socks!?
Now, unfortunately this IS a US only giveaway, but never fear peeps! There's a US + INTL giveaway going on right now for any one copy of the River of Time series by Lisa T. Bergren. AND tomorrow there's going to be an awesome giveaway in which EVERYONE and their English, Aussie, German, Chinese, Green Alien mothers will be able to enter!
Official Giveaway Info:
- you do NOT have to be a follower
- there are extra entries available
- all entrants must be at least 13 years old or older
- giveaway deadline is July 20, 2012
- giveaway is open to US only*
- read my Contest | Giveaway page, as well as my Privacy Notice
Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.
Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.
Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.
Got something specific in mind? Dare I believe I might NOT have covered something you wish to know? If so, let me know down in the comments section. Don't be shy!
Bloggers' Choice Part I: Fact Fusion with Suzanne Young
Here we go.
We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten...
Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.
But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.
Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.
ANYWAY. Suzanne Young graciously accepted my request for ten of the most oddest or less commonly known THINGS about her. Here's what she had to say:
#1
I have a superhuman sense of smell.
#2
I'm named after a CCR song.
#3
I hate chicken, but often order it anyway.
#4
I love candy corn.
#5
I especially love candy corn while I'm writing.
#6
I'm obsessed with appetizers.
#7
I hate rereading books--especially my own.
#8
On that note, I've never read a finished copy of my book.
#9
I have the sweetest dog on the planet.
#10
If allowed, I would lose myself in writing and never go outside again.
How is that you've never reread your own books, Suzanne? O_O That's so... unexpected.
Almost as unexpected as this:
Didn't see it coming, did ya?
Stay tuned, because later today Kody Keplinger will be stopping by with an interview and some AWESOME surprise STUFF ;-D
After that episode, her life takes a bizarre turn. She’s experiencing unexpected flashes of insight into people’s lives—people she’s never met before. Strangers frighten her with warnings about the approaching Shadows. And although Elise has never had a boyfriend, she suddenly finds herself torn between two handsome but very different young men: Abe, the charming bad boy whose effect on her both seduces and frightens her, and the mysterious Harlin, who’s new to town but with whom Elise feels an urgent, elemental connection—almost as if they are soul mates.
Now Elise begins to question everything about her life. Why do these guys both want her so desperately? What are the Shadows? Why does the name Charlotte inspire a terrifying familiarity? And who is Elise, really?
Got something specific in mind? Dare I believe I might NOT have covered something you wish to know? If so, let me know down in the comments section. Don't be shy!
Character Interview: Noah & Echo (Pushing the Limits) + US Only Giveaway
Ya'll remember when I said Pushing the Limits put my heart through the wringer and I couldn't pull away? That's still true, BUT my love of this book pushed me to yank out some courage and contact the MAGNIFICENT author behind this awesomesauce book. With us today, because of the fabulous Katie McGarry, is Noah and Echo, the two (BEST!) main characters in Pushing the Limits. CHECK IT:
Your first kiss was…
N: Hot.Echo blushes as Noah smiles when he notices her red cheeks.
E: Yeah, it was definitely hot…and sweet.
Noah takes Echo’s hand.
N: It was the first time in years I felt like I was home.
Your favorite person is…
N: My brothers—no question.E: My brother as well—Aires.
Your favorite fantasy is…
N: What is the rating level of this interview?Echo slaps Noah’s arm.
E: G. We’re doing a G rated interview.
N: Let’s see…G rated…holding Echo as she sleeps and seeing that smile on her face when she wakes.
E: That sounds like an awesome fantasy to me.
Your first impression of each other was…
E: I hated him. He made fun of my name.N: That she was stuck up, but damn if she wasn’t fun to mess with.
When you kiss him/her…
N: As I said before, kissing Echo is like coming home. It can be hot and crazy, but always deep down inside I know I’m with the person made for me.E: When I kiss Noah, I forget everything. Sometimes my own name. He has this way of making all the wrongs in the world go away.
Your side of the bed is…
N: Left.E: Right.
You hate when he/she…
N: Focuses on her scars. She’s beautiful and I wish she could always see that.E: Sometimes Noah’s too blunt. It can take a bit to get used to.
You love when he/she…
N: Easy—smiles. Echo has a gorgeous smile.E: Holds me. Noah always makes me feel protected.
When you’re not in school…
N: I work. I’m currently flipping burgers.E: I paint and draw. It’s sort of my obsession.
What was the most momentous occasion in your relationship together?
N: Definitely that day in the hospital. That whole twenty-four hours was messed up.E: Yes, it was, but it brought us together.
You want to visit…
E: Colorado! I want to see snow capped mountains!N: Wherever Echo is or wherever my brothers are. They are everything to me.
When you picture yourselves five or ten years from now…
N: In five years? Graduated from college. Maybe I’ll be an architect like my dad. E: I’d love to be established selling my paintings in five years.
N: And in ten?
Noah glances at Echo.
E: What? Do you have ten year plans?
Noah shrugs and smiles.
N: I’ve got plans.
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
GUESS WHAT YOU COULD WIN
Katie McGarry has generously offered some Pushing the Limits Blue Ribbon Bookmarks to a lucky winner! All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below!
Official Giveaway Info:
- you do NOT have to be a follower
- there are extra entries available
- all entrants must be at least 13 years old or older
- giveaway deadline is July 5, 2012
- giveaway is open to US only*
- read my Contest | Giveaway page, as well as my Privacy Notice
Pushing the Limits is in store July 31 from Harlequin Teen, and I can't wait until I see more people chatting this book up! It's so delicious and heartfelt and I LOVED IT!
Let me know about your thoughts on this awesome couple and what you hope to catch in the book down in the comments section below! Don't be shy!
Are you an international follower bummed about not entering? Don't forget to check out my giveaways for The Earth Painter and any one of the River of Time series books!
Let me know about your thoughts on this awesome couple and what you hope to catch in the book down in the comments section below! Don't be shy!
Are you an international follower bummed about not entering? Don't forget to check out my giveaways for The Earth Painter and any one of the River of Time series books!
Abby's 5-Step Survivor's Guide to Dealing with Abnormal Ordinariness
by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
Hi guys! My name’s Abby Hale, from the book Ordinary Magic. It came out a week ago, and to celebrate Asher has kindly agreed to do a guest post with me!
The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!
Okay, actually, she agreed to do a guest post with Caitlen, who actually wrote the book. But Caitlen asked if I could step in and give my top 5 tips for surviving as an ord in my world. Which we thought would be more interesting and, you know, the book is, kind of, both of ours.
Here goes —
1) Learn how to undo knots when your hands are tied. Ditto for your feet, but your hands are your first priority because once they’re free your feet are so much easier. Here’s the funny thing about being an ord — people are going to tell you all the time how useless you are and how you’re nothing, and then completely other people are going to turn around and tell you how you’re valuable and want to buy you. Sometimes these people don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. The good news is that regular rope, the kind that numbs it’s victims or casts them into complacency, isn’t going to work on you. It’ll just tie you up. If you can possibly help it, when they’re tying you up, get your hands in front of you, not behind your back. This makes everything a lot easier. (Trust me.) If your hands are in front of you, you can just use your teeth to chew at the knots until you loosen them up enough to get free. If they’re behind your back, it’s tougher, but not hopeless. Wriggle your wrists back and forth to loosen the ropes until you can get your hands free, or reach the knots to start picking at them. And remember, don’t give up. It might take a while, but you will get out.
2) Everything comes clean if there’s enough soap and water. Normal people like to think that magic is the only way, but the truth is that you can do just about anything if you put your mind to it and don’t mind it taking a while. Jut because it takes us longer doesn’t mean we can’t do it. At the Green school, if we want something clean, we have to clean it ourselves. Turns out there’s actually a lot you can do with soap and water. First night there, I had to learn how to wash dishes. We also have to do all our own laundry, and everybody’s on rotation for bathroom duty. One thing I’ve noticed is that is basically all takes a combination of soap and hot water. Not too hot — I mean, you want it hot enough to count, but not so hot you hurt yourself, obviously. And scrub. Some things take a lot of scrubbing.
3) Location, location, location. Once you’ve come up ord, you’re going to need to figure out what you’re going to do. And, unfortunately, a lot of this depends on where you are. I’d say we have it best in the Westren Kingdom, but I might be biased, and my friend Naija says that they’re actually pretty mellow and accepting in Majid, too. The trouble comes up if on the Islands, or in Svarga. Neither of them are fun places for ords, though if I had a choice – and I guess you don’t – I’d pick the Islands. They’re really strict, but Svarga is…my brother Gil suggested the word ‘dictatorial.’ Which is pretty apt.
The good news is, if you can get Rothermere, the Molly Green school is the absolute best place for you to be. It’s the big brown brick building on West 53rd. They take walk-ins. Even if you don’t want to stay at the Green school, they will help you find somewhere safe. That’s what it’s there for. To help kids like us. Did I mention the school takes walk-ins?
4) Research. Okay, so I didn’t learn this until after I went to the Green school, but there a lot of things out there that want to eat you. You need to learn about all of these things right away so that you can avoid them if at all possible and fight back if you can’t. Especially look up creatures that tend to hang out wherever it is you’re staying. Red caps tend to hole up in cities, leviathans like the deep water, and White Ladies, well, they’re wherever they can find stragglers and dark nights. Just remember — red caps are vulnerable if you get their hats, with leviathans you go for the eyes, and if it’s a White Lady…just run. Run for wherever there’s light and people, and run as fast as you can.
5) There’s going to be mean people. Now that you’re an ord, people are going to treat you different. After I came up ord, people I knew all my life, that I grew up around, started ignoring me, whispering behind my back, making fun of me. They sent notes to school saying they didn’t want me there infecting their kids, and the kid down the street threw rocks at me. Honestly, I liked the rocks the best. I could deal with them. (I tackled the kid to the ground, only his mom started wailing and called the police. I got lucky, though, because it was Officer Thompson, who’s actually really nice, and also cause Mom brought in muffins for all the officers and they let me off with a warning. Which was that next time Mom would have to bring in one of her strawberry and sour cream cakes.)
Anyway, the point is that a lot of people are going to act like there is something wrong with you just because you’re an ord. These people are wrong. My brother Gil says that some people are just blessedly unencumbered by the weight of intelligence, and that we should feel pity for the less fortunate, but the point is that they have no idea what they’re talking about. It doesn’t make it any easier to hear, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re wrong.
I guess that’s about it. I mean, that’s not it, but those are the five biggest things.
Thanks to everybody who’s been checking out Ordinary Magic — and for you ords out there, I hope I’ll see you soon at the Green School.
Got something specific in mind? Let me know down in the comments section. Don't be shy! And don't forget to check out Ordinary Magic, peeps!
Blog Tour: Guest Post - Shannon Greenland's Relaxed State Has Something To Do With Being Busy...
The opportunity to explore her love of cooking . . .
The freedom to be whoever she wants . . .
This is what seventeen-year-old Em gets when she goes to spend a month at her aunt’s island resort. It’s a dream come true—and exactly the break Em needed from her strict family and their high expectations of her.
But when Em uncovers a long-buried secret about her family, everything changes. And suddenly, Em finds herself making some big choices about her future—choices she never dreamed she’d have the chance to make . . .
Shannon Talks Relaxation!
When I was first asked to write a blog post on Relaxation I thought about all those people who know me and comment, “Jeez, Shannon, you always have way too many balls up in the air!”
The truth is, though, that is my form of relaxation. When I’m idle I tend to get stressed. My mind wanders to all those things I should be doing that I’m not. However, when I’m busy I feel productive and I’m checking off that proverbial list we all know we have. Granted “busy” to me can be everything from working out to travelling to writing.
That mentality bleeds over into my novels. You’ll never find one of my characters sitting filing her nails and watching TV (she’ll get killed off pretty quick—LOL). In my Specialists series my characters are saving the world, breaking into mansions, scoping out terrorists, hiking never before hiked terrain, hacking into top secret systems, and kissing boys they shouldn’t be kissing (hm . . .).
In my upcoming novel The Summer My Life Began, my heroin EM thinks she’s getting away for the summer to relax and in turn does absolutely everything she never thought she would, including uncovering long buried family secrets and kissing a boy she shouldn’t be kissing (hm . . .).
Tonight, though, for relaxation I’m planning on watching the UK version of Being Human. I won’t be filing my nails, though; I’ll be eating ice cream. After all, that is a way more productive activity!
- Shannon
What are your tips for relaxing? Do you consider yourself a relaxed person?
I pretend to be chill, but I'm actually pretty stressed for your average angsty teenager. The only time I feel even remotely relaxed is when I'm gettin' down with a book. How about you? What do you do to relax?
The Summer My Life Began is out since May 10, 2012! Pick up a copy of this cute summer romance with an embedded mystery!
Got something specific in mind? Let me know down in the comments section. Don't be shy!
Fact Fusion with Jennifer Shaw Wolf + Giveaway of Breaking Beautiful (US only)
Jennifer Shaw Wolf grew up on a farm in the tiny town of St. Anthony, Idaho. She spent cold Idaho mornings milking cows in the dark and attended a school where Hunter’s Education was part of the sixth grade curriculum. She’s always been a writer, whether it was sewing together books to read to her little brothers or starting an underground newspaper in sixth grade. She met the love of her life at Ricks College, (now BYU Idaho), after he dropped her on her head. She graduated from Ricks and then Brigham Young University, Provo with a degree in Broadcast Communications. Now she lives in beautiful, green, (rainy) Lacey, Washington with her husband and four kids. She loves to produce videos, ski, ride horses, and read, but really all she has time for is chasing kids and writing.
Written by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
#1
My family isn’t on the best terms with the Union Pacific Railroad company. When I was 17 I was in a car accident in which I ran into one of their trains. (It was a DARK night, the train was parked across the road, and I really didn’t expect it to be there.) Two years later my sister was hit by a train during a blizzard. (She’s fine now.) About a hundred years before that, on the exact same day (December 29th) one of my great-great grandfathers was killed when he was crushed by a train car. Ironically, my author photo was taken on a train track.
#2
I like to drink hot water and lemon juice all the time.
#3
I took Hunter’s Education as part of my 6th grade curriculum.
#4
I met my husband when he dropped my on my head during a college volleyball game.
#5
I can’t stand to sleep uncovered, even if it’s really hot. Maybe it’s a security thing?
#6
I hate anything that ruins a surprise. I can’t stand it when my kids (or my husband) snoops into their Christmas presents, and I have a hard time giving away the ending to anything I write, even to my editor.
#7
The worst grade I ever got in high school was in band. That was the semester I decided to switch to a journalism class.
#8
After I finished (and passed) the AP English test, one of my best friends and I went bridge jumping (see my website if you don’t know what this is) to celebrate, even though it was November and we lived in Idaho. COLD!
#9
I wrote a long series of notes back and forth with my best friends in high school (pre-texting days) and I saved most of them even though we usually wrote “burn this” at the end. My nieces recently discovered my stash of notes. They laughed themselves silly over what I was like in high school. I’ve asked my mom to send me the whole pile. I need them for research. (Sorry Katy, Evelyn, Becky, and Mitzi.)
#10
I have a scar on my eyelid from getting it caught in the car window when I was three or four.
#11
My house was completely washed away by the Teton Dam Flood in 1976. I was two. My family was homeless and soon after my younger brother and I both got the measles.
#12
We had a measles epidemic in high school because the batch of the vaccine my little town got was bad. We were all lined up like cattle at the high school and given the vaccine, even me because I had no proof that I had already had the measles. (See above post.) That year, the state high school rodeo finals (yes there is such a thing) was held in my town. You had to show proof of immunization to get in.
#13
I got my driver’s license when I was fourteen. I was one of the last kids to get it at that age in Idaho before the law was changed to 16.
#14
When I was 16 I was about 2 points away from losing my license because I had so many tickets.
#15
I got to put a wreath on the “Tomb of the Unknowns” in Arlington National Cemetery when I was a junior in high school. The spirit of reverence and patriotism at that spot is unmatched anywhere in the country.
Thanks so much, Jennifer, for stopping by the blog and divulging pockets of yourself people wouldn't normally discover!! I know I enjoyed Breaking Beautiful tons! Be sure to check my review out later!
Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.
When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour: Initiation Character Interview + Giveaway
Hi! I am Imogen Rose and I am based in New Jersey. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamt stories. Stories that can and do continue from night to night, from dream to dream. So, going to bed was never an issue, even as a child, just an anticipation of the story to come.
I was born in a small town in Sweden and moved to London in my twenties. After obtaining a PhD in immunology from Imperial College, I moved with my family to New Jersey, where I have been based for the past ten years. Although storytelling is my real passion, I have only now decided to share my stories by publishing my first work of fiction, PORTAL.
I was born in a small town in Sweden and moved to London in my twenties. After obtaining a PhD in immunology from Imperial College, I moved with my family to New Jersey, where I have been based for the past ten years. Although storytelling is my real passion, I have only now decided to share my stories by publishing my first work of fiction, PORTAL.
I'm currently reading Initiation and it is interesting. Please give a warm welcome to one of Rose's characters, Octavia, since she will be taking part in the following interview thanks to Sue Bernstein!Octavia is the law student at the Academy who represents Cordelia at the Student Council trial. Like all my characters, she was born in my imagination, this time inspired by my awesome friend and editor, Sue Bernstein, who is also a lawyer. During the editing process, something odd happened. Sue adopted Octavia into her own imagination, and Octavia seemed to become a manifestation of Sue’s personality. It was a weird, but wonderful thing, and a total hoot. For the first time, my story had a character, who seemed to have taken over a life of her own outside my own imagination. So it was only natural to ask Sue my questions for Octavia.
Q. Where did you attend to law school?
From the time I was a kid growing up in the mid-western U.S., I always wanted to live in New York. So I applied to only one law school - a prestigious school in Manhattan that shall remain nameless - and got in! I spent three blissful years in Manhattan before being turned.
Q. When were you turned into a vampire? How old were you?
That’s a day I'll never forget. I was turned on graduation day. What began as the happiest day of my life, graduation from law school, ended with fangs in my neck and me undead forever. I was… am twenty-six years old.
Q. I am guessing you were turned by someone eminent, hence you being sent here to the Academy. Are you able to share who that was?
While I am not at liberty to divulge the name, suffice it to say that he was one of my law professors, who told me he had very big plans for me. No kidding! Big plans! When not teaching evening classes in New York, he teaches an introduction to paranormal jurisprudence class at Bonfire Academy.
Q. What were the circumstances in which you were turned?
The professor who turned me was my mentor. I trusted him and worked with him for three years. At least he waited for me to graduate before he turned me, but studying for the NY Bar Exam while trying to control my brand new powers was a bit hairy!
Q. What will you do once your time at the Academy is over?
My mentor/professor/attacker still has big plans for me. Once my enrichment year is over, I am going to go into practice with him and also teach part-time at the Academy.
Q. What do you think of Jagger?
For a winter, that faery is definitely H-O-T!
Q. How close to you feel to him after letting him drink your blood? Do you feel he belongs to you in any way?
As trite as this sounds, faeries belong to no one. That said, however, Jagger and I have a very close bond. Mmmmm.
Q. Do you like Cordelia?
Like is such an odd word for a vampire to use. Cordelia was my client, and I respect her. You didn't think you'd pin down a lawyer; did you?
Q. What do you think is up between her and Jagger?
Oh, goodness! Something for sure. I can sense it in my blood.
Q. Are you coming back to school next year, during Faustine’s Integration year?
Yes! But on the teaching staff.
Q. Finally, friend Allirea wants to know if you can make her into a faery, or does she have to be born as one?
Allirea, dear one, I can turn you into a vampire. So why would you want to be a faery? Yum!
Thanks so much, Octavia and Sue!
Thanks so much, Octavia/Imogen, for stopping by the blog and giving us some awesome insight to one of your characters! .
Welcome to Bonfire Academy. Set in the foothills of the alpine mountains in St.Moritz, this exclusive private school caters to a special kind of student. Enter at your own risk... but if you are human, you may not want to enter at all.
This is part one of the prequel series (Bonfire Academy) in the Bonfire Chronicles. Book two, INTEGRATION, will be released summer 2012.
Guest Post:
Jessica Shirvington + Giveaway
Jessica Shirvington is the author of THE VIOLET EDEN CHAPTERS also known as THE EMBRACE SERIES. An entrepreneur, author, and mother living in Sydney, Australia, Jessica is also a 2011 finalist for Cosmopolitan’s annual Fun, Fearless Female Award. She’s also one of the lucky few who met the love of her life at age seventeen: Matt Shirvington, a former Olympian and current sports broadcaster for FOXTEL and Sky News. (Read More)
I just finished Embrace yesterday and it was a lot of fun to read! Lincoln 4 life, bby! I'm glad to have Jessica Shirvington stopping by the blog today as part of the Are You Ready to Embrace? blog tour. Please give her a warm smile and a nice little wave! Be excited, because Jessica is here today to discuss her reasons for creating the setting of Embrace.
Where Are You From?
By Jessica Shirvington
By Jessica Shirvington
In my first draft of EMBRACE (there were eight!), I didn’t set the city. I was in two minds the entire time. I suppose I was drawing on all the places I have been around the world. Although I now live in Sydney, when I started to write EMBRACE, my family and I had just moved back from six years living in London. And prior to that, I’d spent quite a lot of time travelling to many cities around the world – so much so, that when I was writing scenes in EMBRACE, I found myself thinking of different cities around the world and never being able to truly decided which one most suited Violet’s world.
In my second and third and fourth drafts, I chose different cities (I’ll never tell) from around the world and set Violet’s story there. But each time, it felt forced.
I wanted her to live in a city, as opposed to some small town where all these major apocalyptic events just miraculously found her. To be believable she had to be in a metropolitan environment, but which one?
In the end, the answer was … any of them, and none of them. It wasn’t that the cities I chose didn’t work; it was that in my mind I’d amalgamated them into what I needed for her story to work for me. So I made the decision to give that option to all of my readers and simply called her city, the City.
It isn’t the ‘done thing’ usually, but I believe for this story, it works. I want readers to be able to put this story where they know. If they live in a city, it can be there, if they live in a rural area, then it isn’t a stretch for them to imagine a city nearby. It is an element of control that I wanted to give to the reader.
That said, I like a little control myself … and I discovered that by giving this open setting for Violet’s hometown, it also opened up the possibility to use other locations around the world that would really pop off the page.
In ENTICED (the sequel, out in September!), Violet and her friends find themselves travelling to Jordan – on a quest to the place of Moses’ death – Mount Nebo. In EMBLAZE (book 3, out March 2013) they travel to the island of Santorini in Greece, which is small and stunning, and holds terrors that none of them are prepared for.
Each book I take the characters somewhere new and as I write the series, I have discovered how very important this is to me. I want my characters to go to the world, to find the problems and be part of the solution, rather than the fight always, and too conveniently, finding them.
Thanks so much, Jessica, for stopping by the blog and giving us some awesome deets about your story! Be sure to read my review of the book.
It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”
Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.
Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.
A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…
Guest Post: Cath Crowley + Giveaway
Author of A Little Wanting Song (Chasing Charlie Duskin), Graffiti Moon and the Gracie series. Cath lives in Melbourne, Australia and is writing her next book. You can also find her at cathcrowley.com.au.
I'm currently reading Graffiti Moon and it is beautiful so far; oh gosh, THE WRITING. I'm so happy to have Cath Crowley here today for Valentine's Day. Please give her a spectacularly warm welcome!CC: I get up early in the morning to make new characters. I like to write in dream-slicked skin, before I’m fully awake. My computer faces the window and I can’t see anything but shapes of plants in darkness.
What do you love? I ask them over and over but they don’t tell me.
The click of words, loud sun, shade, figs, trees with branchy armpits, mystery novels, romances, birds, shadows, flight, sun? What, what, what?
It takes all day before I get an answer that I think might be true.
‘Corners,’ a boy says. ‘I love the corners.’
I write it down and wait for something else. I eat quite a bit of chocolate while I’m waiting. They won’t even tell me if they like chocolate.
Who doesn’t like chocolate? I write for something to write.
‘Me,’ one of them says. It’s a girl. Both of them are seventeen, I’m sure of it. I think she has a bit of an attitude. I’m not sure she likes me.
Do you know each other?
‘Yes.’
Have you kissed?
‘No.’
Do you want to?
No answer.
I give up and go to bed.
I get up in the dream-slick and try again.
Today, before the sun, I pull one memory out of the girl.
She’s lying on the grass shining a torch tunnel at the sky. Looking for words in the stars, I think, but I’m not sure. She has a light blue dress with a white bird sewn onto the corner and a dog with three legs lying next to her. He’s called Fat Harvey. She loves Harvey but he’s dying. He’s got the wise look of a dog that’s close to the other side. She swings the light around and makes the stars look like they’re something she can control but she knows she can’t.
I’m writing a lot of Valentine’s Day posts this week so I ask her about love because it’s on my mind. Because I think it might be on her mind too.
She moves the torch around and tells me about a boy she kissed at a party last night. She snuck out her window and cut through the trees and arrived at the same time as her friend. ‘It was a coincidence,’ she tells me.
They went inside.
She skips the house that the party is in. She doesn’t tell me who is holding it.
She takes me out to the back yard where there’s a clothesline and a boy underneath. I can see the stars and the shape of shirts and trousers hanging.
She tells me he is the best-looking boy in the class and I can see that. He plays sport but I don’t know what. His hair is black and his eyes are green, I think. The moon isn’t bright enough to see.
She kissed him that night and thought of another boy, an ugly boy. He’s crooked and strange and no one at school talks to him except her. She talks to him in secret, though. His voice is honeyed gravel.
‘I imagined,’ she tells me, ‘that while we kissed that I could taste honey.’ She imagined that she was in a corner, kissing someone else. The crooked boy. She calls him Crow.
Somewhere, Crow is hiding in the corners. I have the start of him though.
I have the start of them both.
And in the quiet of the mornings I know that if I am patient, I will find them.
This post was absolutely beautiful, Cath! Thank you so much! And Cath continues to be amazing by offering up a copy of her book!
Be sure to to catch my review for Graffiti Moon later.
Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.
Author Insider: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.
I'm so stoked to have Jennifer Armentrout on the blog today! She wrote the AMAZING Lux and Covenant series, with way more awesome books on the way. I'm a huge fan! Please give her a warm welcome on the blog today, as she answers some questions I've been dying to know the truth about!
I find it totally amazing that there are so many fans of your books. I certainly am one! A BIG ONE. Were you ever expecting this kind of response toward your Lux/Covenant series? A. Thanks! I don’t know. Honestly, when I started writing (any book really), I just hoped people liked them. Anytime I get an email from a fan or something in the mail, I’m always blown away. Like I can’t believe people want my signature. It’s really cool and awe-inspiring.
Which story were you inspired to write first? How did you begin to write it? Which came to you instantly, the characters, the setting, or the events of the plot? A. I wrote Half-Blood first. I began to write that in late 2007 and finished in 2008. The characters came first and then the plot. The setting changed a couple of times until I discovered Bald Head Island in NC.
From aliens to figures in Greek mythology, both are on completely different ends of the YA paranormal spectrum. Why aliens? And was Greek mythology something you always wanted to write about? A. I know. Totally bizarre, right? I’ve always been obsessed with Greek mythology, but didn’t want to retell a myth, so I created my own. The aliens were actually one of my editor’s ideas. At first I laughed and told down the offer to write about aliens, because seriously, aliens? But then I thought about it and decided to give it a go.
They just re-released the cover of Obsidian, and it’s a personal favorite of mine. What was your initial reaction to the first version? And now, with this gorgeous newer version? A. I really liked the first version, too. It was so different than what you typically see on the YA shelves, so I’m thrilled they kept the 2nd cover unique and I love the new background.
Can you tell us how many books will be in either series?A. There is four books in the Covenant Series and at this time, three books in Lux series plus a novella.
Do you have a favorite character you love writing for? Are there any surprising twists we can expect to head this character’s way?A. I love writing all the characters, and oh yes, you can expects lots and lots of twists.
I hear you just landed another book deal. Congratulations! With Cursed releasing in September (oh, I’m so excited!) and now with talk of Don’t Look Back, this must be an exciting time for you. What can fans expect from either of these new novels? Is there anything you can reveal for us fans?A. Thank you! There isn’t much I can say about Don’t Look Back yet other than it’s a contemporary mystery/thriller. Cursed is also very different from Obsidian and Half-Blood and I think people will really connect with Ember.
Okay. We’ve looked at the positives. But what are some of the worst aspects of having so many stories circulating at once? Is there any frustration or pressure going on? What’s something you do to take your mind off of the stress?A. Sometimes it feels like my head is going to implode. The bad side is when a lot of things come do at one time and you have to be really careful about your time management.
So you like bad zombie movies. What are some of your favorites? Do you have a favorite good zombie movie/show? Are any zombie story ideas cooking in the brain for future books?A. Oh, man, do I love crappy zombie movies. I like the old school zombie flicks, not that they are bad, but they are totally different. The Walking Dead is awesome. And I don’t know if I’d ever write about zombies. They’ve gotten a lot of attention right now and it would be super hard to stand out.
I had such a fangirl moment when you agreed to stop by the blog, Jennifer! I can't wait for ALL your upcoming books!
Be sure to read my review for Obsidian and my mini review of Half-Blood.
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.
Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.
Fact Fusion: Marie Landry + Giveaway
Marie Landry has always been a daydreamer. She has created imaginary worlds for as long as she can remember, so it only seemed natural that she would become a writer. With a passion for words that started in early childhood, Marie has written a varied range of works, and has been freelance writing since 2009. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, or having grand adventures with her two precious nephews.
Although Marie Landry's Blue Sky Days isn't one of my favorite books, I still liked the story. And today, as part two to my blog tour stop, I'm welcoming the author behind the story, Marie Landry, and I hope you enjoy learning more about her!Here's what you don't know:
Written by Marie Landry
#1
I share a birthday with Jane Austen and Beethoven, which I always thought was ironic because two of my greatest passions are writing and music.
#2
I’m obsessed with Ireland. My ancestors on my mum’s side are all from Ireland, and it’s my top wish list destination pick. I love Irish music, Irish folklore…Irish boys with Irish accents. ;-)
#3
I always eat pizza, pie, and sandwiches crust first.
#4
No matter where I am or what I’m doing, if I hear the theme song for Friends, you can guarantee I will stop what I’m doing and clap during that part of the song.
#5
I love Ryan Gosling. I’m almost beginning to think he’s my muse, because it was while watching The Notebook (three times in the theatre) that the idea for Nicholas from Blue Sky Days fully formed in my mind, and it was while watching him in Crazy Stupid Love just a few days before the BSD launch that I got the idea for my next novel.
#6
When I was 17, my best friend and I went to France together on a school trip. We were surprised (and amazed and excited) to find out that we pretty much had free reign when we weren’t doing group activities. Those were definitely the best 10 days of my life.
#7
My guilty pleasure is crazy, dramatic reality TV. I try to stay away from drama in real life, but when it comes to TV, the more drama the better. I’m obsessed with the Real Housewives shows. Those women tend to have more money than brains, get in fights over the stupidest things, and I get so mad at them, but I’m completely addicted.
#8
I’ve been a house-sitter, a house-cleaner, a nanny, a preschool teacher, an editor, a graphic designer, and a whole bunch of other little odd jobs.
#9
I think I have my mum just about convinced that I am the reincarnated spirit of her Gran, who died a decade and a half before I was born.
#10
When I was 22, I traveled across part of the States with someone I met online and hardly knew. We hit nine States in about as many days. Someday I’d like to write a road trip book. I know there are a lot of them, but I love them, and I want to do all the research first-hand.
Thanks so much, Marie, for stopping by the blog and letting us all know a little bit more about you! Be sure to read my review of the book.
A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.
When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.
Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.
Official Giveaway Info:
- you do NOT have to be a follower
- there are extra entries available
- all entrants must be at least 13 years old or older
- giveaway deadline is March 1, 2012
- giveaway is open to Everyone*
- read my Contest | Giveaway page, as well as my Privacy Notice
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