Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Release Date: September 5th, 2011

Amazon Says:
Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.


I say:
Kody Keplinger is awesome. She did an interview with me last year and is incredibly cool. Her agent is awesome, she has a great blog, and she's really young.
That said, I'm not sure how much I loved The Duff. It was a good, easy read, but not necessarily my favorite sort of book.
Shut Out, however?
Totally my favorite kind of book.
The characters seem real. Lissa is accessible to many girls for a myriad of reasons. She connected with me on way more levels than the characters in The Duff. She has issues with her friends, issues with her family, and most of all, is really confused on the whole 'relationship' thing. Her world gets way too tangled up in that relationship. You watch her compromise elements of herself and of her life for her relationship before she finally just gets fed up and decides that something needs to change.
The plot was really enjoyable, twisting and turning without being predictable or unnecessarily confusing. It was a great, fast read and one that I can definitely see myself picking up again. Plus, you know, there are cute boys.
Boys aside, though, Shut Out addresses bigger elements. It  points at the many issues of high school dating and brings solidarity to a lot of different types of girls. Relationships in high school are aggravating, hard, heart wrenching and way too tricky to deal with alone. Kody Keplinger's new book makes sure that girls don't have to.
Plus -- seriously, people. There are some very cute boys.
More later.

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Release Date: June 11, 2011 (Sorry, guys...)
Amazon Says:

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there; swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. 

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past. 

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened? 

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

I say:
Guys, I have a confession. I pretty much want to be Myra McEntire.
She helped to found Do The Write Thing For Nashville. She has one of my favorite blogs. She put up an amazing post when Speak was banned. She even did an interview with me, late last year. When my awesome librarian asked for requests from ALA, I asked for Hourglass. (It wasn't out yet. However, Sarah is magic and got it somehow anyway. Moment of Sarah love entered here.)
So I wanted to like this book, and I was scared to read this book, because I didn't want to be disappointed.
Yeah.
Well.
I brought it to school. By second hour, my teacher had to pretty much take the book away. (It was math. Who needs math when you have fantastic books?)
And Hourglass is literally fantastic. It's full of sparkles (seriously, the cover is going to sparkle) and has magic and science and yumminess  boys and I am going to marry it.
It's paranormal without being truly paranormal. It's the first 'magic' book I've read in a while that felt new.
It's got a boy that I really, really liked. Actually, it had two boys that I really, really liked -- but I also really liked that Emerson, the MC, was pretty dang solid in which one she wanted. It made me like her that much more.
Plus, Hourglass surprised me. The novel isn't predictable; in fact, several times I sat there blinking and going 'Wait, whaaaaat?' (Which, seriously, dude -- it's an attractive face to pull in the middle of a crowded classroom.)
I love her family. It was a real unit, a family that had problems and issues and still managed to be one that you'd be happy to join. I cracked up through the entire book. I liked how the reader gets to watch Emerson grow. That said, I enjoyed how flawed Emerson is; she was easy to relate to. She has a great best friend. And the connotations that are set up for Book Two? Yeah, I'm excited.
I liked how I was reminded of A Wrinkle In Time but at the same time, felt like I was reading something totally new.
Basically, I just loved it. I handed it over to my mother, and plan on going to rant at my librarian about how much I liked it, and probably am going to send Maggie a long rambly email later about it. It didn't just live up to my expectations; it exceeded them in the best way.
Anyway. This is turning into a love letter, and I am resolutely against love letters. Unless they are written to me from very pretty boys, and even then, they'd better be more articulate than I usually am.
 More later, folks!

Holly Schindler Guest post!

Guys, I know an author. Yeah. Be jealous. Her name is Holly Schindler. She's awesome and wrote an awesome book, AND she lives near me. Missouri is awesome like that.
Holly did an interview with me last year and wrote A Blue So Dark, which was reviewed here. Her new book is coming out March 8, and I am kind of insanely bouncy and hyper active waiting for it.
Seriously. You have no idea. One of my best friends read Blue and ended up calling me at 2 in the morning to inform me that she wanted to marry the novel. Playing Hurt is described below.

Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown.  But everything changed senior year, when she took ahorrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea ’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort.  There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past.  As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home.  Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

Seriously. Doesn't it sound good?

And, without further ado, Holly, talking about something very close to my own heart!

HOW THE OZARKS INSPIRE MY WRITING

Did you ever try to study in a section of your school that’s really high traffic?  Say, maybe a student convocation center?  The kind of place where you feel completely self-conscious?  Or did you ever grab a chair in the library in order to catch up on those last few chapters of Bio reading, at the same time hoping you’d accidentally “bump into” your crush, who just happens to work in the library after school?  Ever try to do your math homework on the bus, while dreading the fact that you’re going home because you had a horrendous fight with your parents or sibling over breakfast that morning?

Yeah.  Doesn’t work, does it?  If your mind is occupied, the words in the textbook in front of you blur, don’t they? 

Let me ask you something else: Have you ever tried to write a term paper in a room without any heat?  Have you ever tried to read a novel for English sitting in the rain?  Have you ever tried doing a science experiment wearing a lab coat so small that it cinched you in like a corset, and you couldn’t breathe?

Now you’re shaking your head.  “That’s dumb,” you’re saying.  “I’d never try to do that.”

And the reason you’d never try it is because it’d be impossible.  Nobody can work when they’re uncomfortable.  Nobody.

Writing’s a lot like schoolwork, in that it takes an inordinate amount of mental alertness and focus.  And with any mental task, you have to be comfortable to be productive.  Period.

Comfort, in my book, can be either physical or mental.  The physical stuff’s fairly easy to remedy, most times.  Too cold?  Put on another pair of socks.  Hungry?  Grab a granola bar.  The mental comfort is a bit trickier to obtain.  Going back to my original examples, when your mindis elsewhere—on what others might think of you, or your crush, or a previous fight—you can’t focus on the task at hand.  If you’re plagued by chronic worries, you’re not comfortable—and worry really isn’t something you can just turn off. 

But for me, the Ozarks really are comfortable.  The Ozarks give me peace of mind and peace of being…Stuff you can’t easily obtain just anywhere.  Springfield ’s like that old pair of favorite jeans you always gravitate toward.  My mind is quiet here, so I get to work full-bore…and that’s why, for me, the Ozarks can be such a fantastic place to write in. 

--Sam again! I know. I'm boring. Sadness.
But anyway, Holly is so right. The Ozarks are amazing and beautiful--and comfortable. Holly put together a video about the Ozarks, which is below. So, basically, you can see what my home looks like.

And because Holly is increasingly awesome, she's holding a contest. Local Missouri bloggers are posting about Playing Hurt -- me, Maggie, Sarah, and Another Book Junkie --and whoever gets the most comments receives a copy of Playing Hurt. So comment away! The entry form thinger-ma-bob is here.
More later, guys. And go buy A Blue So Dark/pre-order Playing Hurt. You will not regret it. 

Life is Good

So, after one of the best weekends of the year, here I am to blog. Mostly, though, because I wanted to post this.

Myra McEntire got her cover! -claps- I did an interview with Ms. McEntire here, and she's kind of awesomely wonderful, guys. I'm totally loving on the cover, too, and my excitement to read Hourglass is crazy, y'all.

I have math homework, however, so a longer blog post will have to wait. However, I got trophy this weekend, so that has kind of made me bouncy and crazy-happy (it was HARD. I like winning when it was hard to do.) Maybe the happy will rub off on the math homework.

(Probably not....)

Well, wish me luck.

Interview with Daisy Whitney!

YOU GUYS. Bounce and cheer and clap with me, because I have an interview for you today that is kind of fantabulous. Seriously. 

Ms. Daisy Whitney has been so awesomely nice to do an interview! Just so you know, I bounced -- a lot -- when I got her 'yes' in my inbox. Seriously, you guys, The Mockingbirds is gonna be BIG. If you can get a hold of it, read it. You won't regret it. Plus, Daisy is incredibly, totally ninja and wrote a wonderful amazing and super duper fantastic book (which you can read about and pre-order here) but also has like a jillion other awesome sounding jobs like Reporter and other fun kind of intimidating stuff.  And because she's way more entertaining than I am, I'm gonna let her talk now! 

Without further ado, Ms. Daisy Whitney!

The Mockingbirds deals with a subject that is close to a lot of girls. Do you have any advice to someone who's going through what Alex did -- who has experienced rape?

For starters, please know that you aren’t alone. It’s sad and alarming how prevalent date rape is among teens. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), 1 in 6 women will be a victim of sexual assault during her lifetime and girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. Also, half of the reported date rapes occur among teenagers, according to the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Knowing that, I would tell girls that there is always someone there to listen. Please talk to your parents. Or talk to a teacher. Or talk to an adult who will listen to you and stand by you. At the very least, talk to a friend. Rape is a horrible thing to experience — you will need support and there is healing in talking about it, even with a close friend.

What was your road to publication like?

 I wrote three chick lit novels that were repped but never sold. When I switched to writing for teens, I finally broke through and landed a book deal! But suffice to say, it was a long road paved with many rejections and I have the stack of rejection letters to prove it. But I am a big believer in perseverance so I kept writing and I view those first 300,000-plus unpublished words as writing school in a way. 

You have awesome characters. Every one of them have so many facets, and they just kind of leap of the page. Do you have any tricks for making them so three dimensional?

Thank you! When I develop a new character I often first ask myself “What is his or her passion?” I believe that interesting characters always have some core, deep passion and by tapping into what this might be as the writer, we can better understand and build out the character. In The Mockingbirds, the characters’ passions are so tied to elements of the story and how the secret society works that it was essential to find a key passion for each character. And I think finding that also helped flesh each one out.

There's some awesome music in The Mockingbirds. Any suggestions on bands or songs?

Like Alex, I do love Beethoven! Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony is a pretty rocking piece of music. In fact, it was the song I walked down the aisle to at my wedding. I also adore Arcade Fire. I am in mad love with that band! I also like Coldplay, David Ford, Adam Pascal, Matt  Nathanson and Pearl Jam. And I should also mention that my first musical love is and remain Broadway show tunes! I love the soundtracks to Rent, Chess, 42nd Street, Billy Elliot, Les Mis and others.

What advice do you have a teenager who wants to be writer?

Write, write and then write some more! Writing is a discipline and like exercise; it’s best when done daily.

Thank you so much Daisy!

Interview with Myra McEntire!!

I have an interview for you today. Now, I want you to look at that sentence and appreciate the maturity. You should totally revel in it. Because now? Yeah, the maturity is going to die. Because...

It's an interview with Myra McEntire!

Seriously. I have more love for her than the Russian cover of Catching Fire. And that, dear friends, is a lot of love. So much love that I'm starting to feel creepy.

Ahem.

Her book isn't out yet, but Ms. McEntire has one of the best blogs in the entire world. Just saying. You should check it out, now. She does some of the coolest interviews, with some of the coolest authors, and she manages to completely crack me up. But at the same time, Ms. McEntire manages to support some amazing causes. She helped organize Do The Write Thing For Nashville during the awful floods earlier this year, and she's helping her friend adopt a baby now. So yeah, basically, I want to be her when I'm all awesome and grown up.

-blinks- I'm being creepy again, aren't I?
Okay, so her book, Hourglass, is being published by Egmont in 2011. I can't WAIT. But I need to stop talking. Because...Now...THE INTERVIEW!

(I'm sorry. I really am freakishly excited. I'll try and calm some.)

Okay, first off,  it's the question authors must get so sick of answering, but I'm asking it anyway--Will you tell us about your book?

Emerson Cole has moved back to her tiny Tennessee hometown after being away at boarding school for a few years. She's about to face some things from her past she'd rather not, because she thinks those things make her crazy. But she soon learns that crazy is relative. Also, there are cute boys. And maybe ghosts.

What was your road to publication like?
I really and truly always wanted to be a writer. But I was discouraged by a lot of people who thought I should pursue a more suitable life path - one where eating was an option.


Did you ever feel like you weren't going to get published? How did you cope?
Luckily, my submission process with publishers went really fast. Even so, it was nerve wracking, and involved a lot of rocking back and forth and playing Diner Dash on my iPhone!


What's the scariest part of going through the editing process?
That it's not just you and the page anymore. You have to please others who are counting on you to produce a quality story.


So, you have one of the most awesome blogs I've ever read. Do you plan out the posts, or just kinda go with the flow?
I love you for this. I write my blog posts like I write my books - while flying by the seat of my pants.

You've mentioned mascots before on your blog--boy mascots, in particular (I'm talking about the Fort interviews).Will there be a boy for readers to swoon over in your up coming novel? 
THERE ARE TWO BOYS. Actually there are a FEW. One looks a lot like the love child of Kellan Lutz and Channing Tatum. Another looks like a younger version of Alcide from True Blood, Joe Manganiello. With a lot less facial hair.


What are some of your favorite books/book characters?
I love books by J.K. Rowling, Cassie Clare, Maggie Stiefvater, Suzanne Collins, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Saundra Mitchell, Kami Garcia, Margie Stohl, Kimberly Pauley, L.Frank Baum, Janet Evanovich, Gail Carriger - there's really not much I don't like. And I don't talk about it if I don't.

When did you first start writing? 
The day Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out. :)

And finally, like the first question, it's the question authors must get so, so sick of. But, like the first, I'm still going to ask. What advice do you have for young writers?
NEVER STOP WRITING. Do what it takes to pay the bills, but instead of playing video games or watching reruns of The Nanny, write. Every day. Thirty minutes. And don't let anyone tell you you can't, or that you're too young, or that you'll never make it. I know twenty-year-olds with six figure book deals. They didn't get those by giving up, playing Sims and eating Cheetos. (I love Sims and Cheetos, but there's a time and a place for everything.)


----
Isn't she amazing?
Don't you want to be her? Or read her book? (ZOMG CHANNING TATUM AND KELLAN LUTZ'S LOVE CHILD. WANT NEED NOW.)
I'm going to go sit and grin stupidly now. Thank you, Myra!
Cheers, all!

Interview with Brenna Yovanoff!

You guys. Guess what?
(And you don't get to answer if you read the post title. So, actually, just don't answer. I'll do it for you.)
I got an interview with Brenna Yovanoff. Do you know how loud I squealed when she said yes? No? Well, good. You might be under the impression I still have some dignity. 
I don't think you can describe how awesome her book looks, and because I don't want to mess it up, I'm going to let Amazon do it for me. 

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

-swoons- Just look at that cover!

Okay, and because I'm a freak and now can't say anything more coherent (other than YAY I'M SO EXCITED) I'm just going to put the interview. I, ahem, got a little carried away with the amount of questions. 


If you had to pick five words to describe The Replacement, what would they be?

Sweet, Strange, Dark, Gruesome, Rainy. 

What was the road from the first time you started to write The Replacement to the publishing contract like?

Well, the journey was a long one, for sure!  I wrote three drafts of a manuscript I was calling FE, which I thought was massively clever (iron, faeries—what? I like puns.).  The only problem was, no one knew what the title meant or how to pronounce it.  Well, not the *only* problem.  There were plenty of issues with that manuscript aside from the title, but I was fortunate enough to snag an agent despite the fact that the book needed work.  Basically my agent, Sarah Davies, is an editorial powerhouse.  She saw something she liked and thought we could probably salvage a story out of it.

Right after accepting representation, I plunged into a pretty significant rewrite, which was probably the scariest part of the whole process, knowing that I had a lot of work ahead of me, but that nothing was guaranteed.  I was actually kind of shocked when I got to the end of this big revision and Sarah was like, well this looks good, let's send it out!  I'd done so much work on it and gotten so used to constantly being in the middle of it that I was caught by surprise when the actual publishing contract happened fairly quickly.

What's the scariest part of getting published? The most amazing, fantabulous, squee worthy thing?

The scariest thing is definitely knowing that once the book is out there . . . it's out there.  Strangers are going to be reading it and judging it and even if something isn't quite right, too late to fix it now!  There are a lot of squee-worthy things, but I have to say the one that never gets old or loses its glamor is my cover.  I love that eerie blue forest and its creepy little baby carriage like you wouldn't believe and I get a euphoric feeling every time I see it.

During the time you were getting ready for publication, did you ever fall into a dark spot and think that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't work? How would suggest getting through that?

So far, I'd say that I've hit snags, but no pitfalls.  When I was in the middle of the what was basically a top-down rewrite for my agent, I worried a lot that the new version might still not be right, but there was nothing I could do except push forward and do the best I could.  Writing involves a huge amount of uncertainty and sometimes it's really hard to just be okay with that.  I try to focus on the task at hand and not think too far past that, because once you start thinking about exactly how much work is still ahead of you, it can be kind of paralyzing.

You co-author the blog the Merry Sisters of Fate with Maggie Stiefvater and Tessa Gratton. Can you tell us about that?

Oh wow, you have no idea how unassailably cool it is to have people ask about that!  We've been blogging at Merry Fates for about two years now, and it started as this fun thing we did together to chart our progress as writers and to let readers in on the process.

When we started, Maggie was under contract, but the book wasn't out yet, and neither Tess nor I had agents, but we'd kind of banded together as this critique group and one day, Maggie challenged us to start a fiction blog with her.  Back then, we each posted new stories every week, but with all of us working on novels pretty much all the time now, it seemed wise to scale it back.  Now we stick to new content once a week, whether it's a story, a contest, or one of our round-table chats. 

Okay, so you have some pretty amazzzinng critique partners in those two (Maggie Stiefvater and Tessa Gratton). What's the importance of having partners like the two of them? 

They talk about blood with me and never act like I might be dangerous? (Except sometimes.)  Seriously, I can't imagine going through the publishing process without them.  They make me work hard, and they restore my sanity, and when we get together in real life, we stay up late into the night, laughing like crazy people.

Writing can be long, lonely work and I think it's so important to have people to share the experience with—and it definitely helps if they have similar senses of humor and mutual love of each other's styles.

You've got a really, really cool cover. Did you have any say about it? 

Not anything coherent, certainly.  Any time people ask, I think I mostly sound like, HOLY BLEEP, I LOVE MY COVER!  When I met him in person, my editor, Ben Schrank at Razorbill, absolutely made my day by drawing cover concepts on the whiteboard.  As soon as he put marker to dry-erase board, I just knew that the final cover was going to be magnificent! 

What's your best memory from high school?

This is going to sound unbearably sappy, but . . . my friends, definitely.  I'm very lucky in the fact I'm still friends with a lot of the same people I was friends with in high school.  Even though we don't always see each other that often, it's great to be able to hang out with people you've known almost half your life and still just really enjoy—I wouldn't give them up for anything.

Someone sticks you on a deserted island and, because they freakishly cruel, they are only going to let you bring three books. (They gave you water and food and stuff too, though, so I guess they aren't all evil.) What three books do you bring?

Hmm, this is a tough one.  Because three is not that many.   I would bring the LITTLE FRIEND by Donna Tartt, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke, and IT by Stephen King.  This is not to say that these books are my all-time absolute favorites.  But I enjoy them and reread them often.  The things they have in common are length, large casts of interesting characters, and consistent reread value. I think these things are important if they're the only things you'll be reading for the rest of your life.

What advice would you give to a teenager who wants to be a writer? 

Write.  All the time.  Don't second-guess yourself and don't worry about whether you'll sound stupid, because sometimes you *will* sound stupid, but other times, you'll hit on something totally wonderful and surprising.  Also, learn to revise.  Writing is not perfect in its original form—it just isn't.  There's always a better way to say something, but it takes time to get good at seeing that in your own work.

Basically, if you want to write something publishable, don't worry too much about publishing at first—it will only slow you down.  Instead, keep reading, keep writing, and try new things.  Keep everything you write.  Sometimes it's hard to know exactly how much you've improved, but nothing makes improvement seem more obvious than looking at old work. 

Okay, I'm done harassing you. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I just want to say thanks for having me, Sam—and for asking such great questions! 

***

So, I'm pretty sure that was one of my favorite interviews like, ever. Including the ones I haven't done. And none of it is one me -- thank you Brenna, SO MUCH for this! 

You can look more at the Replacements here. (And pre-order it.) 

Okay, I'm done. 

More later!

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

We are all aware that I like Kody Keplinger. She was awesome enough to do an interview with me here and I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the Duff because I have an awesome librarian. 

And without further ado, my review. And also, in case you are wondering, I am now also a poet.

Release Date: September 7th 2010

Amazon Description:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

My Review:

Um, Wesley was hot.

Oh, wait. You want an actual review.

-ponders-

Okay, fine. The Duff was honest. Bianca is cynical and a tad crazy and totally hard core, but she's also flawed and going through a ton of bad stuff with her family. So she turns to Wesley.

I mentioned he's hot, right?

Yeah, well, he's also kind of an a$$hole. For one thing, I immediately had an issue with him calling Bianca a Duff. Why, I wonder, is the author doing this? There is no way I'm gonna like this guy. It's just not gonna happen. I was wrong. I did end up liking Wesley. As his character developed, and actually, as you got to see him through the eyes of his family, I started to like him more and more. 

Kody Keplinger does not shy away from language or sex. So, um, if you have a problem with either, this may not be the book for you. But it is honest. I mean, kids curse. -GASP I KNOW OMG- And Bianca's voice is great. If I'd brought this book to school, there would have been a problem. Math teacher say what? I'm sorry, teacher, I was too busy reading about hot guys ummm the dangers of bubble gum. Yeah. That.

(Not a joke. You should have heard the excuse for Hunger Games.) 

So, yeah, that's high praise. 

The only issue I actually had was with the politics -- literally -- in the book. Not because I disagreed with Bianca's political views -- actually, she has the same ones I possess -- but because I know several friends that would get kinda pissy should I recommend it. Not because of the cursing or the sex, but the politics. (Dude, I know. How weird is that? I live in the bible belt though; politics are way touchier around here.) 

However, it really isn't that big of a deal. Most people I know could rise above it. The Duff was funny and cute and kind of left me with an Awwwww feeling at the end. 

It was a fast read (it took me about an hour and a half total) but definitely worth the time. Seriously, as soon as it comes out, go grab it.

I promise you, it's worth it. Wesley really is pretty cute.

Lisa and Laura Roecker Interview!

With the speed of super ninjas, Lisa and Laura Roecker have answered the interview questions! (Dude. They have the coolest website.)
They also have an awesome blog. Seriously, I break out laughing pretty much every time I read it.
I kind of have an author crush on both of them.
Anyway. Ahem. Without further ado....

First, the question every author gets...Tell us about your upcoming book, please!

LIAR SOCIETY is about a girl named Kate Lowry who receives an email from her dead best friend on the anniversary of her death. She launches an investigation to discover what really happened to Grace. Along the way, she finds friendship, love and uncovers lots of secrets lurking within the halls of her private school.

Liar Society is your debut. What's it like, knowing that you've made it--that your book is coming out, that people are cyber stalking you now, and that something you've written will be read by tons of people?

Very, very surreal. We haven't quite wrapped our minds around the fact that next year we'll be able to hold up our book and people will (hopefully) be talking about it. It's exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my sister, but half the time, I'd be totally willing to ship her off to the circus, especially if it was concerning something as opinionistic as writing. Do you ever just want to kill eachother?

Shockingly, we rarely screen each other's calls (we're habitual screeners, sorry Mom) and we've never really gotten in a fight over anything (writing related. Don't ask about that time in 8th grade when Lisa refused to let me wear her stinky clogs on my birthday). The hardest time for us is when we're building our outline. Laura asks annoying questions in an attempt to poke holes in Lisa's perfect plot. She hates it.

It was mentioned on your blog that you follow a pretty rigorous schedule--6 chapters a week? How long does it take you to finish a book at that pace?

The first book took around 3 months to complete--not sure how much sleeping we were doing during that time. But that doesn't take into consideration all the revisions. The latest draft of the manuscript is almost unrecognizable from the first draft we wrote last winter. Book 2 is going a bit slower, which is why we gave ourselves a strict deadline. We would love to have a draft finished by June.

What keeps you motivated to write so much?

I think having a writing partner is motivating. Whenever I read Lisa's chapters, I want to write immediately (and hopefully she feels the same after my chapters). We would never give up on eachother, which is helpful in staying focused.

You have a fantabulous agent. (Yes. I agent stalk. Ahem. Don't judge, please.) What was the process like to getting her?

Catherine was our dream agent from the very beginning. We had heard so much about Inkwell and they represent so many authors we respect, so she was definitely in our top ten. She actually requested a partial of the first (doomed) book we wrote and we were over the moon. Sadly, three days later we got the big R. The second time around, instead of getting an email, we got a phone call. It was incredible. She wanted to express her interest over the phone, from Australia! Needless to say, we did a whole lot of dancing and screaming after that phone call.

What happens if you disagree on something? How do you compromise?

It's not all that hard to compromise. If one of us feels strongly enough, the other one usually gives a little. Sometimes we meet in the middle, sometimes we surrendor. But really, the person who has the document last gets the final say. Muhahaha.

You two must be pretty close to be able to write together. Has it always been that way?

Yes, we've always been very close. Even throughout high school when we claimed to hate eachother, we were actually pretty close. Lisa always looked out for me and she still does. We also have a younger sister and we're all best friends.

What's the best thing about writing together? The worst?

The best part about writing together is getting the document back. I always get super-excited to read what Lisa added to my chapter and to read the chapter she wrote. It's like being a reader and a writer all at the same time. And that NEVER gets old. The worst part about writing together is creating the outline. It's always annoying not to have the plot figured out perfectly. We feel much better once we have a map.

And then...Is there anything else you would like to add?

I can't really think of anything! Thank you so, so much for having us!


---
Thank you to both sisters for the interview, so very much! I cannot WAIT for Liar Society, and in the meantime, I'm going to continue to cyber stalk--Ahem.
Follow. I'm going to continue to follow their blog.
Obsessively.

More later.

Yes, yes, I know

I know I said I'd stop asking about author interviews. However. I got another one, and there's something different about this author.
Or, should I say, authors.
That's right. They're sisters, and they write together. At one point on their blog, they mentioned that they write six chapters a week.
Lisa and Laura Roecker have agreed for an interview.
I know a lot of people are interested about writing in pairs, so I figured I'd open it up to see if anyone had questions. -shrugs-
And now, because I've been wanting to post this for a while...

Isn't it awesome? Hilary Wagner got her cover quite a while ago and I realized I hadn't posted it.
I can't wait for Nightshade City...Rick Riordan blurbed it, and the author is pretty dang fantabulous.
Anyway, that's about it for now.
More later!

A Blue So Dark

Remember back in January, when I first got up the guts to do an author interview? The smileyitis, the nervousness, all of that? And remember how Holly Schindler gave an absolutely amazing interview?
Well, I had the chance to meet her yesterday, and I was lucky enough to get a copy of her book, which officially comes out this coming Saturday. It was a truly awesome experience meeting Holly--I had to keep from squealing and clapping.
Anyway, I finished the book last night.


Now, I'll be the first to admit--I was predisposed to liking this book. For one thing, Holly was the first author to give me an interview. For another, the fabulously beautiful cover appeals to my shallow side. Yet another, I got to actually MEET the author, and for a fourth, she signed it to me personally. I'm pretty sure it's the best early birthday gift I could have gotten.
So, yeah. I'm sure that I was set out to be biased.
But I've got to tell you--that doesn't matter. Not at all. Because this book?
It was amazing. Aura, the main character, is dealing with one of the most terrifying situations in the world--a mentally ill family member. She's got a best friend who seemed utterly real, and another family member (I don't want to say who in case of spoilers) that I would love to be related to. There's poetry inside the pages, too--both literal poems and some of the prettiest writing I've ever read.
The book was real, honest, at points horribly sad, and at others, uplifting. I couldn't believe it was her debut book, and I don't think you'll be able to either. In a way, her style of writing reminds me of Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver--it's the same rich, really beautiful way of weaving words together.
Seriously, go read it. Check out her blog--it's linked up above. Check out the interview, also linked, if you like.
That's about it for now. Maggie, though, is doing an author interview, and is taking questions over at her blog. She's interviewing Kiersten White. I suggest going over there. I mean, come on--just look at what happens after the interview comes out. :P
More later.

Grow up, please!

All right, so I've been fed books since the first grade. That was about the time my mother tricked me into reading the first Harry Potter book, and I've been reading--A LOT--since then.

That means that I've read a lot of series. Some of them, like the awesome, fantabulous, utterly amazing Harry Potter series have nothing wrong with them. (Well, there's probably something, but I guess I'm a tad biased. -coughs-)
But here's the thing with series. When you grow up with a character, isn't it nice when . . . well, when they grow up too?
I mean, look at Harry. I started reading about him when I was six and finished at like . . . thirteen? Every year, he got older. A little more mature. So did I--it was great. Granted, that isn't true with everyone--at least not in the similarity--but it is nice to watch a character change. You aren't the exact same person with every book you read, especially when the series spans years. It's weird when the character is.
Just look at the Percy Jackson series.

Percy starts off as a scared little kid. By the end of the series, he's a kick butt teenager. It's part of what makes the books great--watching the characters grow.
It sets up dedication, too. If I had to sum up my childhood in a book, I would name Harry Potter. Not because I was a Witch

(if only)
but because I grew up with them. I don't think it matters the literal element to that, though I'm sure it makes my devotion stronger. Any amount of watching the character change makes you like them more. It makes you empathize, and even grow to love them. I mean, it would be kinda creepy if Hermione had looked like this for 7 years.

Yes, she's adorable. But unless she had taken a dip in the fountain of eternal youth, or even just stepped into Never Never Land, it's not practical to look like that forever.
What set off this rant?
The book I'm reading now is part of a series. I've been reading it for YEARS. I've seen dozens off new covers, and a maybe movie in the works, and guess what?
When I started reading, I was younger than the main character.
I'm now older.
It's kind of annoying, actually. In a one or two book series, fine, that's okay. Even in a trilogy, I suppose. But in a --six? seven?--book series? It's getting kind of annoying. I'm reading about the same character that I loved a long time ago--but I'm different. Why the heck isn't she?
I mean, I started reading when I had bad hair and a strong attachment to pink. I think it might have been pre braces. The character at the time seemed like this in my mind.



(Okay, not really, but she's cute.)
Anyway, five years have passed. She shouldn't look like that anymore. I don't care if it's two years or three, but more than six or seven months should have passed. She should be resembling this, now.

Or something similar. For one thing, she's learning how to solemnly pose and offer a great brooding look. That alone deserves major kudos.
And the romantic interest? Yeah, he definitely shouldn't be staying young. It's one thing if you're a vampire.

Emmet Cullen allowed to look like that forever. In fact, I approve.
But otherwise? Come on. The characters just need to grow up.

--note--
Myra McEntire interview soon! If I don't get more questions, I'm just going off of what I want to know. That seems to generally work.
Comment if that seems okay, please.