Athena's Books

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:40:00 +0000

I am no longer updating this blog! Please come follow me at Fictionally Yours Siempre -- (http://minervavasquez.blogspot.com.)

Heir to the Lamp Will Soon Be Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Totally YA Tuesday

"A few days ago, I thought I knew all there was to know about how I came to be here…in this place…in this family…but now there’s the lamp and the Grimms, and I don’t know anything for sure anymore."

From Heir to the Lamp

Today I am doing something here on my blog that I have not done for a long time...A Blog Tour Stop featuring the YA novel Heir to the Lamp by author Michelle Lowery Combs, and I am very excited to be part of her blog tour and even more excited that she is gracing my blog with a guest post on the oldest inspiration for many writers--the stories, the myths, the fables, and fairytales of our youth.

I am not a complete LOTR or Star Wars Geek, but my favorite stories are the sagas of extraordinary worlds and fantastical creatures, and one day I will finish one of the many fantasy/sci-fi stories I have floating around in my head along with the the thoughts of wet laundry still sitting in my washing machine and Frank's parvo (Frank is the rat terrier mix pup who miracuosly survived after a 1,000 medical bill because we couldn't just wait around and see him die).

Until then, I will keep blogging and social media-ing!

Up first...Michelle Lowery Combs!

Did I mention a giveaway? I do not have the details yet, but I would leave a comment :)

Summary of Heir to the Lamp (from Author Website):

Gifted with a mysterious lamp and the missing pieces from her adoption story, Ginn tries to discover who…or what…she really is. That should be strange enough, but to top it off Ginn’s being hunted by the Order of the Grimoire, a secret society who’ll stop at nothing to harness the power of a real genie. Ginn struggles to stay one step ahead of the Grimms with the help of Rashmere, Guardian of the lamp and the most loyal friend a girl never knew she had. The Grimms are being helped, too—but by whom? As much as she doesn’t want to, Ginn’s beginning to question the motives of her long-time crush Caleb Scott and his connection to her newest, most dangerous enemy.

Guest Post by Michelle Lowery Combs

On Discovering Real Magic

What if magic were real? It’s a potent fantasy, one that captures the minds of many young readers and sticks with them forever. As an adult, I’m always on the lookout for everyday magic around me: a perfect sunset, the smiles of a sleeping baby, the flow of a perfect piece of prose; but I also enjoy, thanks to some favorite fairytale and fantasy stories of my youth, contemplating the possibilities of cloaks of invisibility, talking animals, and parallel universes that can open themselves up to someone simply waiting at a train station.

When I began planning Heir to the Lamp, my first young adult fantasy novel about a teenage genie, I knew that the story would include more than a little magic. I set out to research genie folklore, which would set me on new paths of discovery that paralleled, crisscrossed, and intersected one another until they would have looked like a road map if plotted out in black and white.

There was so much to explore. I’d never imagined the roots of so many mythical and fairytale creatures could be traced back to the genie, or djinni as it’s called in one of the oldest traditions. Angels, demons, ghouls, sprites, faeries and leprechauns—all thought by some to be genies by another name. And then there were the magical objects associated with the versatile djinn—everything from the Arabian Nights style brass lamp to mirrors and polished scrying glasses used to imprison genies at the will of their masters. The possibilities for Heir to the Lamp seemed endless, and I had a great deal of fun turning the idea of the genie’s lamp, a traditionally unbearably cramped prison for unfortunate djinn, on its head.

In my favorite fantasies from childhood, it was most often a character’s experience with an enchanted object that lay at the heart of his or her story: The Hobbit and his ring tricked from a Golem, Snow White and her stepmother’s sinister talking mirror. In Heir to the Lamp readers will discover how a seemingly ordinary oil lamp turns out to be anything but and connects a teenage girl to a 3,000 year-old genie.

I have never ceased to wonder at the countless examples of real and ordinary magic all around us as we go about our day to day lives, nor will I ever grow too old to imagine the possibilities of mermaid combs, seven league boots, or a brass oil lamp that contains an entire ocean and private island waiting to be explored.

I hope you enjoy Heir to the Lamp!

Author Bio from World Weaver Press:

Michelle Lowery Combs is an award-winning writer and book blogger living in rural Alabama with her husband, one cat, and too many children to count. She spends her spare time commanding armies of basketball and soccer munchkins for the Parks & Recreation departments of two cities. When not in the presence of throngs of toddlers, tweens and teens, Michelle can be found neglecting her roots and dreaming up the next best seller. She is a member of the Alabama Writers’ Conclave, Jacksonville State University’s Writers’ Club and her local Aspiring Authors group.

Publisher Website: http://worldweaverpress.com/books/heir-to-the-lamp/

Author Website: http://michellelowerycombs.com/

Author Blog: http://www.michelle-lowery-combs.blogspot.com/

Death, Dickenson, and Frenchie in Orlando

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:10:00 +0000

Monday Mini (Minnie) Review :)

Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just finished this book last week (and in one sitting), and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, one of the most refreshing things was just simply reading about a character named Frenchie Garcia and whose last name was not a deciding factor in the types of experiences she went through. Don't get me wrong because I surely agree with adding the personal experience, and I usually always do in my own writing. I see all writing as somehow being influenced by the writer's past whether it be actual experiences or something he or she is familiar with based on activities, reading, or viewing.

But, the number one thing I wanted to see growing up was some type of TV show where people had a last name like me, but who lived like a regular teenager and whose parents didn't work in the factory or who didn't have an accent (even though that was my family). But, it wasn't me, or so I thought, because I loved Madonna and Prince and wore neon colors and loved the mall and got straight A's and didn't really know how to speak anything other than English, and saw myself on the same playing field as anybody who is an American and/or White.

So, here is this Frenchie girl from Orlando who wears black and likes punk and who never says one Spanish word in the entire novel. I think it would have been interesting to see some of her more "Garcia" side, but then we would be talking about a different book here. Nonetheless, if you read about the author, Jenny Sanchez Torres, you find that Frenchie indeed has been created out of the author's experiences. I wanted the "regular" story when I was growing up, and here I am twenty years later reading the book I would have loved back then. Talk about making some ground here with contemporary Latina writers! (I hope to join Jenny's ranks one day soon :)

As for the book itself, the premise as suggested by the title is not completely original in that I have read a lot of books wherein the main character has a connection to some literary work or writer, but who gets tired of that? Not me. So, just to offer a summary of sort, Frenchie has loved this certain guy all her high school life and doesn't believe she will ever be able to love anyone else. But, when she "relives" a night that changed her world, well, her world changes again in an unexpected way. And, of course Emily Dickenson is there throughout to help her cope and make sense of all the craziness. Enjoy!

Brief Excerpt from Chapter 20, "Tonight" (Frenchie talking to Colin, a guy she initally told off in the worst way):

"How are you so sure?" I ask him, shaking my head. "I mean, don't you think that on some level there are these paths to your life, already mapped, that your follow?"

He thinks about this for a minute. "I don't know, that just seems so final. I mean, I honestly think of life like this big wilderness. And maybe your're on the path, but I alwasys thinks you have a choice. To tay on theat path, or to venture out into the wilderness and make different paths."

"Oh . . ." is all I can say. His answer has made my head feel full.

View all my reviews

The Great Gatsby Goes to Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:21:00 +0000

Manic Monday: Having Babies, Reliability, and The Great Gatsby

Today, my family and I celebrate my son's 15th birthday. He is my firstborn,and I can tell you for sure that I was freaking out right about this time 15 years ago.

I can't tell you the whole chronology of events, and if I tried, I would have to go back and tell you things as I rememeber them, but not necessarily in order. The only thing I can say for sure is that I was freaking out! I was like "What the heck did I get myself into?" Everything else is a blur. Period.

I could tell you about the whole event and finish saying all I remember, and even then I would forget something and have to go back and tell you about it. Talk about an unreliable narrator! Which brings to mind Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby.

I was discussing this novel with my students today and trying to help them see and understand the novel as an example of early 20th century modernism. Well, one of the defining elements of modernism is a rearrangement of time and plotting to the point that events are a bit confusining and somewhat vague to readers. For what purpose? To recount a story as a first person narrator really would, with a mixed up sense of timing and a reliance on flashback.

I can't even completely and fully tell you anything about any of my own true stories, and if I do tell you anything then it is colored by my experiences and views. Just like Nick. He wants to tell us the story, but he is involved in the story, and he is not telling it to us as it happened either. Deep stuff here!

Which all goes connected to this...the "The Great Gatsby" on the big screen! May 10th! My students are ready, I'm ready, and you too can be ready! Watch the trailer! And, if you havent' read it, well, the plot is not a happy one, but novel is considered an American classic (or should we say an American tragedy?) by many readers. And, like other book-to-movie adaptations, you don't have to actually read it to enjoy all the movie magic of the 21st century. 21st Century Technology for a 20th century text. Now there is another topic.

City of Bones New Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:30:00 +0000

Totally YA Tuesday

So, this trailer has to be on practically every YA blog out there today, no? I'm talking about Trailer #2 for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. But, I had to post.

If you've never read this book, then you haven't read as much YA as you think. Premise of novel is spectacular, as is Trailer #1 and Trailer #2. I love tough, weapon-wielding angels!

Summary for Movie by Sony:

"Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series."

And just in case...here is the book summary in my own words:

Shadowhunters and Clary Use Ferocious Fighting Swag Against Downworld Villians.

Here is a longer version from Shadowhunters.com:

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know..."

The Fault in Our Stars is Always Best

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:47:00 +0000

Have any of you heard of The Children's Choice Book Awards, "the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by children and teens of all ages"?

I got a voting link to this on my email about 2 weeks ago. Check it out! I was even able to add the voting widget here to save you all some time and encourage you to vote on the spot.

Voting opened on the 19th of March and it seems to still be available. As soon as I post this, I am voting right here and right now, and from the choices provided, I have to say my vote goes to...

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Why? Well, I am in love with the authentic YA voice, and that coupled with some of the best writing YA has to offer, ala the greatness of all that is John Green, is what brilliant contemporary YA is all about. It's YA with heartbreak, with happy and tragic, with awful and beautiful. Not to mention, the obvious allusion to so many things Shakespeare, in particular to "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves" from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

How funny that in my last post I made reference to this same Shakespearean tragedy, and here I am referencing it again. We English teachers just can not get away from Shakespeare. I mean, I got this allusion on the first glimpse of the title way back when it came out about a year ago or more. But you know, the title and all its implications, though, bring to mind another Shakespearean tragedy instead. You know, the one about star crossed lovers... I guess it's in the word stars.

I feel sad already :(

I know many, many of you have already read this novel, so I feel like I am too many months late for a review, but here is a brief summary from Goodreads. And, if you haven't read it, then you are missing out. It's like me asking "And you, Reader?" (Just like "Et tu, Brute?" from Julius Caesar, meaning, that you are betraying the YA genre by not having read The Fault in Our Stars.)

"Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind."
NOW VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE!

In the Shadow of the Lions, I Will Not Fear

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:20:00 +0000

Friends,Writers,Blogosphere, lend me your ears;

I come to renew my blog, and shamelessly praise it.

The evil I do (by not posting) will not live with me;

And the good I now do (by posting)will not be buried.

(adapted from Mark Antony's eulogy in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar)

So, that last line above, well, I couldn't make it fit very well with the original Shakespearean wording. But, I think I did a fairly good job at telling you all that I still love my blog and readers, and because of this, I feel bad about not posting in such a long time.

It seems that I keep making vows to myself to keep blogging on a regular basis (just as I do with dieting and exercise and writing and the list goes on). Well, here I am making the vow again, and this time I will stick to it. So, Welcome Back!

Here is my Thursday Trailer feature for In the Shadow of the Lion by Kimberly M. Jane:

"Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Gallant is on an archaeological adventure at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya when she unearths the grave of an ancient woman known as Njeri. The natives are horrified by this discovery; Njeri is so infamous that no local will even speak her name. They fear the discovery of Njeri's corpse will bring about pestilence and disease upon their tribe. The legend of Njeri goes back to the mystical Mchanga and Misitu War. This war was fought long ago, and historians are still unsure of how it ended. It seems the soldiers from this war apparently disappeared. Now news of local villagers either gone missing and even some found dead are worrying her friends, but Kathleen feels strangely drawn to the story of Njeri; she begins to have nightmares and visions of a past life and a battle of wills. Someone is taking over Kathleen's young mind-someone who wants revenge. With the help of her new friends Sekani and Okechuku, Kathleen discovers the ancient war never really ended. Under the influence of Njeri, she learns more about the past than she ever expected to-and realizes she may become the weapon through which Njeri exacts her revenge."

-summary from back cover

I am so intrigued with this novel! And, the music is so eerie and spookie that I almost got goosebumps just thinking about what this girl did with her demon-possessed, soulless black eyes and ancient, rusty dagger. A definate must read just from the premise! Also, to be honest, it reminds me of my own unpublished novel--the one where my main character, 17 year old Alex de Luna, merges with the spirit of 16th century Aztec girl. But, Alex's eyes don't turn black, and she doesn't get all "hood" crazy either.

Chapter 1, "The Guardians," (love this title, by the way) starts off with the near mauling of a boy by a sneering hyena. Apparently, the lions of the book title are not the ones to be feared in this chapter.

Now, I seriously need to go read it! The writing is really, really good from the beginning, and this is one way that I judge the quality of a novel and whether I want to keep reading it. Works everytime.

By the way, the trailer gets 5 Stars and the cover art gets 5 Stars...these are bonus factors to me.

Frozen...in a Historical Drama

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:54:00 +0000

Being that this is the first week of October and the official start of the fall season, don't you just feel like wrapping yourself up with a cozy Snuggie, a mug of cocoa, and a can't-put-down-until-3AM YA book? I suppose in my part of the world, I can just turn down the AC thermostat to below 70 and sit right in front of the air vent. We are still in the 90's down here, folks.

But, actual fall weather or not, Frozen by Mary Casanova is a great book to wrap around your hands during the midnight reading zone. Let me throw some words out there...1920's, Rainy Lake,a mysterious death, a snowbank, a historical drama, a lost voice, buried memories, corruption, secrets, a lost identity, a love story. If this is not enough to make you want to get your hands on Frozen like tonight, then I don't know what you want to read. Please don't tell me you want some dark, poorly written book, that follows all the conventions of poorly written books such as undeveloped characters, superficial writing, and overdone plot elements. Please tell me you want smart historical YA by a notable writer!

Summary (from the author's website):

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Rose hasn’t said a word in eleven years—ever since the day she was found lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her mother and what happened that night were frozen. Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful, wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada, Frozen tells the intriguing story of Sadie Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn’t know her last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother—and the conflicting knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.

One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half-dozen faded, scandalous photographs—pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at last into the heart of her own life’s great mystery: who was her mother, and how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel—did she have a choice? What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Wow, I am definately out of loop of YA. I have a stack of books to read at home, but not enough time in the day, especially since I have a new job.

Yes, I have a new job at PSJA High School in San Juan, Texas! This is a really huge change for me because I left my job of 10 years at a magnet school about 5 miles from my house for an enormous 5A high school 20 minutes away. This means going from a school of 800 students to a school with about 3000 students. But, I love it! I especially love that I am teaching English once again, and dual credit English at that! Finally, I am using my MFA for something other than something to back up my pursuit of a writing career. No more world history!

So, my YA reading is nill, my YA writing is zip, my teaching life is sort of crazy and unfamiliar, but soon all will make sense.

Good news, though, one of my short stories is being published this month...in a real book...an anthology of "Border" writing. Will share more later!
More good news...my review of Choke by Diana Lopez was published in the summer edition of 2 literary review journals!
More good news...another one of my short stories will be published in an anthology for classroom use that is focused on Latina/o youth!
And...my novel-Always Near You-is in the hands of Latino YA writer, Rene Saldana, Jr.!

But, what you guys want is some of sort review, right? Be patient, my young Padowans. They are coming.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:14:00 +0000

So I am messing around with Wordles today during a teacher inservice training...how fun is that?

Hint: A Wordle for a passage from one of my new favorite novels from like 2 or 3 posts ago!

Answer: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I know...it is tiny. I haven't figured out how to make it larger!

New July YA...Choke

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 20:45:00 +0000

So, I promised a review for Her and Me and You...and I'm late with it, as well. My full review will have to wait, although I did finish reading the novel and will admit briefly that I wasn't all crazy for it like the way I was with The Daughter of Smoke and Bone or Why We Broke Up. Nonetheless, I will write the review this weekend. For now, I am excited to say that I just finished writing my review of Choke by Diana Lopez which will be published in Southwestern American Literature and Texas Books in Review. This is like mega-happy-dance-time!

Here is a preview:

Based on cover art and title, Diana López’s YA debut Choke is sure to captivate a large following of teens who gravitate to the edgier voice of the genre. Choke follows the story of eighth grade student Windy Soto who finds herself participating in a high risk teen behavior, the choking game, in order to find acceptance as a “breath sister” with the new popular girl at her school, Nina Díaz. López, a Texas native and a former middle school teacher, was inspired to write Choke after witnessing the harrowing, drug-like effects of the choking game on some of her own students.

As López explains in a letter to her readers at the end of her novel, she hopes to not only bring awareness to the dangers of the choking game, but to also thwart other teens from participating. Besides providing insight on a dangerous behavior, Choke also follows along the line of other successful YA novels with sophisticated marketing design and provocative, one word titles prevalent in the genre beginning with the powerhouse books of contemporary YA such as Speak, Twilight, and Crank. Now Choke is added to the list of more recent YA releases including those with Latina female leads such as Illegal by Bettina Restrepo and Luminous by Dawn Metcalf.

The opening page does not disappoint either with a free verse piece describing the dangerous and sometimes fatal game played by teens seeking a thrill, an escape, or acceptance by a peer group:

knockout game, airplaning,

rocket ride, sleeper hold,

pass-out game, wall hit,

cloud nine, gasp,

American dream game,

necktie challenge, blackout game,

trip to heaven, flatliner,

hyperventilating,

suffocation roulette

choke

This is only one small excerpt from my review, but hopefully I can share more of it after it is published.

Now I need to get a hold of Diana Lopez soon and invite her to write a guest blog for Fictionally Yours! I will keep you up to date and keep this blog up to date as best as possible...

Manic Monday Rambles

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:05:00 +0000

The May end-of-the-school-year craziness is gone, and I've only got 6 more days of summer school! But my students have been awesome, and we have spent so much time on things I don't get to focus on during the regular school year, such the legacy of the Latin American conquest, Latina/o art and literature, local Valley history,the political and social changes in African culture, Things Fall Apart, Nigerian oil and government, and a Great Depression/New Deal media project...pretty good for two week semesters and pretty good for getting lots of learning done!

So, starting today I'm ready to blog at least once or twice a week.

First...some exciting news! Cinco Punto Press requested a full manuscript of my YA Latina verse novel, Always Near You. Unfortunatly, they passed on my novel, but I got a long email reply from one of the editors which is almost unheard of the publishing world. They found my novel relevant and enjoyed the writing, but wanted to see a bit more plot in some parts rather than focusing on the verse. Plus, they want me to send more queries over other stories once I am ready.

Meanwhile, Rene Saldana, YA Latino writer, wants to read my novel! It's a long story, but basically I sent him a short story, "September Lagoon" for a YA anthology he is editting focusing on writers from the Rio Grande Valley writing about teens living along the border. Hopefully, he will accept my story and also enjoy my novel. He also sent me a very long email with insight into publishing and advice on how to proceed with my novel.

Also, I am writing a review for a new novel by Diana Lopez, Choke, and it is going to be published in Texas Books in Review and also in Southwestern American Literature. Amazing! Of course, I will post snippets here and take out some of the formality. But I am so honored! Basically, my former thesis professor recommended my name to both journals and they agreed even without ever having read anything I've written. My review will be published in late summer. I can't wait!

I also plan to contact Diana Lopez, and hopefully she can visit with us either through a guest post or interview questions or something else. I really admire her for doing something that I think is extraordinary...she is writing YA with Latina/o characters who break stereotypes. Her characters are the every day teenagers with Spanish last names. We dominate in South Texas, especially in deep South Texas where all schools are about 90% Hispanic. I'm not joking. So, for her to write Confetti Girl and Choke? Both of these novels are so relevant. We see ourselves in her novels. and we see how she portrays us the way we see ourselves--regular Americans who like to eat breakfast tacos and who are able to enjoy middle class lifestyles. For instance, in Choke, the main character's mother is a nurse and her father is a radio weather forecaster. She understands the Spanish phrases her parent use once in a while and shows an appreciation for her ethnicity without focusing on her ethnicity. That's what I want to do!

Be back later this week. I will have a review of Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone...Beckons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:04:00 +0000

Seriously? April 20?

Anyways...

All I can say is WOW! Not wow for April 20 but WOW for the book I just started reading.

I don't even have to finish reading it to give 5 stars or to know I am going to devour it this weekend and say this is what I want. I want, I want, I want...to be this book. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

That's it. That's my review. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Done.

By the way, you are seeing the German cover art and Zwischen den Welten means Between the Worlds. I love it!

Excerpt 1:

So it was in slum alleys and dark courtyards in Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, San Francisco, Paris. Beautiful men and women with distorted shadows came and scorched their handprints onto a door before vanishing skyward, drafts of heat billowing behind them with the whumph of unseen wings. Here and there, feathers fell, and they were like rufts of white fire, disintegrating to ash as soon as they touched the ground. In Delhi, a Sister of Mercy reached out and caught one on her palm like a raindrop, but unlike a raindrop it burned, and left the perfect outline of a feather seared into her flesh.

Excerpt 2:

Was there another life she was meant to be living? At times she felt a keen certainty that there was--a phantom life, taunting her from just out of reach. A sense would come over her while she was drawing or walking, and once when she was dancing close with Kaz, that she was supposed to be doing something else with ther hands, with her legs, with her body. Something else. Something else. Something else.

But what?

I am generally not the fan of a YA book without the complete, first person POV. But I am a fan of this one. The language is lovely, indulgent, like a rich chocolate dessert (I suppose an indulgent chocolate torte with a drizzle of raspberry sauce) matching the old world atmosphere of Prague and the older than time conflict of the spiritual realm.

I am on page 82 of The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and I must stop my mini-review...because my 3rd period class is about to end, and I want to read before I get bombarded with chapter notes my students are anxious to turn in all nice and complete and in legible handwriting.

Happy Reading to you all this weekend! The Daughter of Smoke and Bone is sleeping next to me on my nightstand ;)

Winter Town...During Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:02:00 +0000

Mini-Review of Winter Town by Stephen Emond

Here is a neat little, quirky, contemporay book that probably some of you haven't heard about. I'm all for reading anything out the ordinary that doesn't have to do with the overdone paranormal romance...basically all I see anytime I skim through the Target YA book aisle.

What I absolutely love about this book first and foremost is the blending of genre--contemporary fiction, picture book, and graphic novel. What else? The pop cultural references are relevent and any young person or young person at heart will get these references and appreciate them. Also, don't you just love dual-point of view books where characters take turns spilling their take on a situation? I absolutely do. I feel like I get a better sense of the whole experience. The whole story is funny, endearing, and relatable. That's a good book for me any day!

My favorite part: The running comic strip throughout the novel featuring the two main characters, Evan and Lucy ...chronicles their quest in the made-up and mythical realm of Aelysthia. Too cute! Also, how Evan is trying to figure Lucy out and how we figure her out sooner and more than he does because we get to read her point of view.

Brief summary: Future Ivy Leaguer Doesn't Know What to Make of His Old BFF When She Returns as a Goth And He Wants the Old Version Back.

From Author Website: Stephen Emond

Every winter, straight-laced, Ivy League bound Evan looks forward to a visit from Lucy, a childhood pal who moved away after her parent’s divorce. But when Lucy arrives this year, she’s changed. The former “girl next door” now has chopped dyed black hair, a nose stud, and a scowl. But Evan knows that somewhere beneath the Goth, “Old Lucy” still exists, and he’s determined to find her… even if it means pissing her off.

Can opposites attract? Or does growing up mean having to grow apart?

Told from two perspectives, this funny and honest novel by Stephen Emond is a unique combination of text, comic strips, and art. It’s an indie movie in a book, perfect for the inner outcast and lovelorn nerd in all of us.

Stick...It Out in Stark Circumstances

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:46:00 +0000

Stick by Andrew Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book. The voice, the struggle, the realness, the risk, the hope of Stark McClellan, the 13 year old hero of this book.

He does not give up on his brother even though Stark has often given up himself as ugly, as freak, as unwanted. He and his brother, Boston, have only known one life, a grim, prison-like life of abuse by their mother and father.

Until California. Where they get a chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity to visit their aunt during Easter week. Staying with her opens a new sense of hope and possibility for Stark and Bosten, if only for a few days. However, REALITY--their personal reality of hell, awaits for them in Washington.

By the end of the book, lets just say Stark starts a list of new words and new experiences to describe himself, and the list does not include ugly as number one. He is changed. He is someone's hero even though he may not fully realize it yet.

But warning...this is not for middle school readers. This is beyond PG-13 reading because of the subject matter and the frank look at a teen boy's life. But is is more PG-13 than other YA books out there, for sure, that lean more towards the R rated. But, I am a big fan of this book. Just understand it is for older teens and adults.

Like I've said, I love this book, and I would use it in the classroom, and if I were using this book in the classroom, I would focus on the beginning chapters because the stylistic choices are exceptional. I could spend like an entire period helping students dissect the whole first chapter to see what the writer is doing and how he is doing it through a 13 year old boy with significant issues.

The best part is the narrative risk taken by the author...he has cut it up, rearranged it...and I love it! Andrew Smith gets you to hear what Stark hears when others speak and what he hears when he is by himself. Brilliance!

View all my reviews

This is what I mean: (This is from the first page before chapter 1 gets going.)

What would you hear

if my words could make

sounds?

And if they

did,

what music would I

write fore you?

What is going on? Well, dear readers, all the white space and breaks makes you stop your reading--it slows down the flow and brings in silent gaps. Well, this is how Stark hears the world from one side of his head, the side of his head missing an ear. He was born this way, and Stark tells you right off the bat. He doesn't hold back what he is, what he thinks he is, and what happens at his house. He also tells you his 13. He also tells you he is a stick.
Don't get all freaked out by the excerpt above! Stick is in regular novel form, with chapters and paragraphs and words, but the author takes the liberty to let us see and hear the world from Stark's perspective throughout the entire book. Trust me...it is lovely!

I Love Scriptwriting and Little Bit of Self-Study

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:24:00 +0000

Why is this blog so hard for me to keep up with? Because I have to work. In a state where the state sucks the life out of teaching with crazy testing requirements. Because I can't devote every waking hour to what I really want to do and that is write, write, write, plan, plan, plan, and be a great mother and wife. I have to work, do lesson plans, stand up and teach and be engaging and grade and "teach the test" (which is what we are not supposed to do, but still do because we as teachers are judged based on student scores-which no one will admit, and if the students don't know what the test looks like and practice answering those questions, then there is no hope for many of them since this is a new test year and everyone is freaking out over what exactly it will be like, the grading scale, etc. because the state is keeping everything under lid...) Just ranting a bit.

But, I did find this today...Read up below! Especially all you getting ready for script-frenzy this April. I love scriptwriting and playwriting! I almost focused on that for my graduate thesis. I will probably do script-frenzy as well and then use my script as a basis for a novel which is what I did with my first novel. I had the 100 page script then I transformed the whole thing to a verse novel...formerly titled Awake but now titled Always Near You. And there you go...something I actually completed! But chapter 3 below is for any good story whether script, novella, short story, verse novel, novel...whatever you want to write and master!

Chapter 3: Fictional and Dramatic Elements

I've been thinking a lot about plotting and 3 act structure since I started my second novel. I'm in the planning/initial writing stage. As you know, I am the queen of getting started.

So, I found this online, and lo and behold, it had the "embed" button. Perfect for my un-updated blog and about the only thing I can post because I've been concentrating on a lot of other stuff...house, work, housework, spring break, studying, planning, querying, and sometimes feeling bummed because I have a work of art on my flashdrive and so far no one is grabbing it up. The industry says it wants "multicultural" but I think it wants watered-down multicultural. Just how I feel. But I will keep going and someone's gotta pick it up. As I said in a previous blog post...haters gonna hate. The opposite is also true...lovers gotta love.

A Changed Man...Needs More Change

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:33:00 +0000

A Changed Man by Francine Prose

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Obviously, it is about a "changed man," and really it is the whole premise of the book that reeled me in (based on the book jacket).

By the way, it is not YA...

Short Summary(spoilers)

A recovering neo-Nazi finds himself in a suburban home with a ready made family of a forty-something divorced mother of two boys after he promises to be a spokesperson for an anti-hate organiziation with the hope he can prevent other guys like him from becoming guys like him.

First off, the neo-Nazi is named Vincent which in my mind just doesn't go together. The divorced mother is named Bonnie which also doesn't go well together since she lacks the spunk and confidence of a bubbly woman. Think putty colored business suits, sensible pumps, limp blonde ponytail, and no-nonsense right-hand-arm of the anti-hate organization for which she works.

So, how does Vincent end up here? Well, he was never really into the white supremacist scene. He has the anger issues, the idea that the media/goverenment has some huge conspiracy against the working man, and demeaning thoughts about women in general. Bonnie's boss, a Holocaust survivor and founder of World Brotherhood Watch (whose last name is Maslow...reminds me of that whole humanistic approach from psychology...you know, the hierarchy of needs) thinks Vincent is harmless when it comes to being a serial rapist or anything of that sort and convinces Bonnie he should stay at her house until other living arrangements are made.

So, his initial conversion is not completely genuine (it was based on a drug high). He is just hoping world Brotherhood Watch will take him in and protect him from his crazy skinhead cousin, Raymond, from which he stole a truck, 1500 dollars, and a caseload of drugs. Then he ends up kicking back in front of a TV with Bonnie's son, Danny, and causing a specatuclar sensation for World Brotherhood Watch at fancy dinner parties and a Maury-like talk show where the former skinhead and the Holocause surviver are now brothers.

What I Think:

The big problem for me is that I just didn't really see how or when Vincent changed. I also don't see how he fell for Bonnie since they never really had one of those huge connecting moments. She took off her glasses once for him, they kissed briefly, and he thought about how it would be really easy to take advantage of her since she practically through herself at him. Oh, but wait...he is a changed man! He didn't even steal Bonnie's son's stash of drugs when he left town. What a changed guy! Then he gets to speak at a graduation ceremony because he is the reformed face of white supremacy.

I usually love everything written by Francine Prose, but I just wasn't crazy about this one. She definately got the right voice down for a semi-neo-Nazi and a bland suburban divorcee, but she just didn't make their voices come together. She just didn't create enought change in Vincent to warrant his golden ticket at the end of it all. The novel is described as darkly comic by the publisher, and I suppose that is why he is named Vincent and why he gets to be the keynote speaker and why a bunch of other stuff is included. But, it is not darkly comic enough for me. Or maybe it's that I am so used to reading first person YA that I just can't get too involved with darkly comic adult fiction.

But, I still want to read My New American Life, which also promises to be darkly comic. Maybe I'll get it better this time.

View all my reviews

Haters Gonna Hate

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:17:00 +0000

So I found a new blog I love-The Writer's Advocate by Chris Kepner, agent at Victoria Sanders & Associates.

Judging from the title alone, you know this is a good one...who doesn't want someone in their corner saying Hey You Can Do This and When You Think You Can't Do This, Then Don't be Dismayed because I Have the Insight You Need!

The only thing is, though, that it was last updated about 9 months ago. But, his last post from May 2011 is just what I needed today. The post is an interview with Michael Sonala who has been on both sides of the fence, meaning on the writer side and the publisher side, and it's all about queries, rejections...and motivation to keep on keepin' on.

I already know the query letter is extremely important in getting me out of the slushpile, and I believe I have the strongest possible query I can write. I actually modified it a bit in the last 2 weeks to make it stronger for the 2 agents I was targetting, but it won't hurt to revisit again and see what sort of Wow Factor I can still add and send out to new agents this week.

Here's a snippet from Michael Solona's response over the importance of The Query Letter:

"Your query letter is important. I mean, it’s really important. Actually, consider how important you believe it is — seriously, right now, take a second and think about it. Now multiply that by like a factor of ten. If I’ve learned anything while working in this industry, and pitching this industry, it’s this: there’s a lot of noise out there and not a lot of signal. Editors and agents have been conditioned, simply for experience, to expect a majority of work in their inboxes that ranges from terrible to legitimately insane. You may think that means you have an edge. You’re probably thinking, as I once did, well, score! I’m not a crazy person! My stuff’s at least good. It will stand out, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, what actually tends to happen is your work, regardless of quality, is assumed guilty of bad, simply for being in the slush pile, before the first word of your query is read. So you need to make that first word shine. You need to write the best paragraph of your entire life and show it to me and make me think my God, if I don’t read this right now someone else will and it will be amazing and I will lose this project and I can’t do that because HOLY CRAP! LOOK AT THIS! You need to write as if your life depended on it because trust me, the deck is stacked against you and this is not your first impression. This is your only impression. No one’s reading through your first twenty or thirty pages to see if things get better. If you work isn’t immediately, self-evidently great it’s assumed that it will never be. That’s an almost impossible judgment to recover from."

What about rejections? They are overrated, just as I have been trying to convince myself on a semi-successful level. I've actually only had one agency compliment my writing and give a small piece of reason as to why they might have passed it over. Because of their more personal response, I have been able to reoranize my opening chapters/poems in a way that brings out character voice and development in a stronger sense. Also, I added a spontaneous, grab-your-interest-fast poem I wrote in about 5 minutes as my new opening poem. I had not added anything to my novel since I finished it. Of course, I've done revision and editting, but not any new writing.

Here's what Michael Solana has to say about rejections:

"Look to the few really thoughtful letters you receive. There are going to be agents and editors who liked your characters, or your story, or maybe just the quality of your writing, and these are the people whose advice you should take to heart. Force your friends and coworkers to read your stuff. Join a writing group. Let the real-life-actual people you’re surrounded by tell you what worked and what didn’t work for them because they’re your audience, and their opinion is just as important as mine. It’s more important, actually.

But what is the role of rejection in an author’s life? This is pretty subjective, I guess. For me, rejection used to matter a lot. The letters said something about me. They were my only real ties to the publishing world and so I cared about them a great deal. But lately I couldn’t care less, and my life is better because of it. The letters are white noise. I hardly even read them anymore. I just kind of skim to get the gist, and I move on, because every moment you spend worrying about not being published is a moment you’ve just stolen from your writing, and from immediately sending your work back out to be rejected, rejected, re – hey! Success!

In the seminal words of 3LW, 'haters gonna hate.'"

Valentine's Story 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:43:00 +0000

Been a month! But here is one of the last stories/prologues, etc. I have written. Needs more work, but hope you enjoy my YA Valentine's Day Story...of course it starts off as a verse novel! And if I had a playlist it would include "Take on Me"by A-Ha (is that how you spell it?) and "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles.

WristKiss

Sometimes I miss the taste of burnt toast.

The kind served up by my mom's old toaster oven

whenever she left it unattended, thinking

she had a good five minutes to fix her hair

before the timer signaled breakfast was ready.

Sometimes I miss the smell of wet sand, beach.

Corpus Christi seagulls gliding low over sea

wall, surf seeping into skin. In those parts you can't reach,

but those same parts that fuse you to this world.

Figment of self. Someday leading you home.

Sometimes it's the scuff marks, dark like wolf eyes,

on waxed floors at my old school, Caroll High.

Sometimes, the peeling paint, moss green at Grandpa's shed.

Sometimes, that can't-stay-awake-any-longer feeling, knowing

you'll be awake for another half hour.

Sometimes, the picture of Dad,

the one where he’s holding a trophy fish

by the bay. The most recent photo I had

of him before lung cancer took him away.

Sometimes, just cake.

But mostly, it's Jacob.

He used to sit right in front of me in Senior English.

Lizabeth to the left, Luis to the right, me right behind.

Trying to inhale the smell of leather bomber jacket,

trying to imagine how it must feel to have it draped

over my body on a November night. In the back

of his truck, a canopy of ancient suns right above.

Not that this ever happened.

Only one conversation my entire life.

     I remember it was a Thursday night and my life threatening problem of the day was a rip in my nude shimmer tights. The shimmer I could fake with make-up and body glitter, but unshaven legs would be disastrous for Dance Team. As would razor burn on my thighs.

    “Mom, I need my legs Naired tonight. Can you go buy me some?” If I couldn’t get hairless by 8:20 AM tomorrow, I figured I might as well pretend severe nausea and miss school altogether.

     “It's 10:30 at night. That means driving across town to Walmart.”

     “Mom, I really need it. If you don’t want to go, fine. Just let me go then.”

     “Nope. The parking lot lighting there is horrible.” Just like Mom to always think the worst and come up with some excuse for not venturing out of the house past 7:00 PM. “If you really need it, I'll go in the morning.”
     “Mom, it's still going to be across town, and it’s still going to be dark.”

     “I said morning or not.”

     I needed to change tactics. I needed to appeal to both of our desires, knowing if I spun things around a little differently there would be no way she‘d say no. “What if we both go? Coffee? Donut shop?”

     Mom softened her shoulders a bit, so I did what my sensible four year old self would’ve done. I squeezed her tight until she said ok.

     She gave a fake surrender and said, “You’re going to owe me big for this.”

     “Think of it as quality girl time. With a cinnamon mocha donut. And boy dreaming.”

     “Just remember, when I’m 82 and on my death bed—”

     “But what about the nursing home I promised you?”

     “Sorry, girlie, but you are stuck with me forever.”

     “What if you remarry?”

     “Won't happen. My shoulders are like the only thing not sagging.”

     “Mom! Don’t say that. You are beautiful.”

     “Ok, ok. Stop. Now you be daughter and I be mother.” She stopped smiling and just looked at me. She placed both hands on my cheeks and then wrapped herself around me.

     Though I was about four inches taller, she seemed so much more, I don’t know. Just so much more. Like a planetary system.

     What she whispered next, I’ll never forget. It’s something I still feel, hear, touch, hold on to. “I want you to know you are the best part of me. I see the sun in you. You’re going to melt some young man’s heart. Just make sure he deserves you, ok?”

     Mom let go.

     She wiped her eyes. Pulled me down to kiss my forehead. “You know what? Just go. The keys are on the kitchen counter.”

     I stood there, giving her my What? look, but knowing what she meant.

     “Go. I mean it. And, bring me back a cinnamon mocha or maple.”

     And that was that. I hugged her, ran down the hall to get my bag, grabbed the keys, and walked out the backdoor to the old Jeep that used to belong to Dad, and drove away from the only home I’ve ever known. Only a wave and a glance back to my Mom as she smiled at me from the kitchen window.
Not knowing this was the last time.

     The Jeep sputtered goodbye.

     But none of this penetrated my mind. Not by a long shot. Instead, I thought about Jacob and how I knew he worked nights at the donut shop. Maybe this would be the day I’d have the nerve to say something rather than just sit behind him in class and pass my paper up to the front of the row. My name mixed in with everybody else’s. A wink in my dotted i’s meant just for him.

     With palms already clammy, I parked, took a deep breath, and forced myself to conquer the donut shop with my best smile.

     Well, not my best smile since my mind was going crazy with questions like Who’s going to speak first? I guess me? Since I‘m the one ordering? But he has to take the order first. So, then he has to ask, right?

     Then before I knew it, he was there. Behind the counter with the best donuts in the world.

     “You’re Sam, right?” He looked at me briefly and then scanned different areas of the shop, probably hyper aware that his ears were turning red. “I mean, sorry. I know you’re Sam. Of course, you’re Sam.”

     “Yes, Samantha. I mean, no. Sam. That’s me.” This was nothing like those meant-to-be-together-forever chance meetings you read about. Or, the last scene from Sixteen Candles where Molly Ringwald gets picked up by that hot guy.

     “Ok. I guess I should ask what you want and stuff, right?”

     “A cinnamon mocha and a chocolate filled.” Wow, my mouth worked.

     “What kind of chocolate filled? The regular glazed or chocolate?"

     “Just glazed.” All of this while I looked everywhere else but behind the counter, at Jacob's hands grabbing donuts for my mouth. Maybe the closest thing to a kiss I’d ever share with him.

     I had two choices. Get my donuts and leave like Jacob was just some boy from class that I never daydreamed about. Or say something. Anything and not sound completely stupid.

     So, the most obvious question. “How long have you worked here?”

     “Since about September.”

     “Really?”

     “Yeah, I do the closing every night. It’s not bad, really.”

     “My mom would never let me get a job. Especially not a job where I work nights.”

     “She’s probably just overprotective and stuff with you being pretty and all.”

     I couldn´t speak after that revelation. My stomach was all wrapped up around pretty. He said I was pretty. Actually, pretty and all. And all what? All what? Or was the all just like a suffix?

     “Hello? Are you ok?”

     Somehow I managed a smile. “You said I was pretty and all.”

     “Yeah. Yeah. Sorry I never got to say. Before today.” Now he smiled. He more than smiled. He leaned over into my customer space. “Wow, that came out way better than I intended.”

     “You couldn’t help it. I mean, the natural born poet that you are and all.”

     “Plus running a cash register at the same time. Takes talent, you know? Should impress a girl.”

     Oh. My. God. Jacob. The guy who had a birthmark on the left hand corner of his lower neck was actually flirting with me.

     “Are you? Impressed?"

     Ok, how do I keep this going? I can't possibly say yes, can I?

     “Here.” He grabbed a pen and scribbled on my bag of donut heaven. “Secret to the universe.”

     The best poetry ever! His phone number. This meant I was supposed to give him mine, right? I grabbed the pen from his hand, and wrote my own number poem on the palm of his hand.

     “Well, then here’s the secret of relativity.”

     He really gave me a Wow look then. Grabbed my wrist and brought me to my knees when he kissed between the veins.

     Soft, quick. Let go.

     I walked out the donut shop with a stupid grin on my face, thinking about what I might buy him for Christmas, if the sun, moon, and earth all aligned themselves together and by chance made him mine. Thinking about prom and lights and--

Never saw it coming.

Just sound of wheels

spiraling out of control.

Right at me. Red. Metal.

Heat. Black. Then a dome

of light, wings calling out

my name, soft, quiet. Unknown

calm.

Where I was meant to be.

HERE it’s forever 1992. A figment of Jacob lingering like thousand year old sand.

Bitter End...Comes to Closure

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lots of spoilers!

Jennifer Brown's Bitter End is a complete success at showcasing the mentality of a young woman who finds herself in an abusive situation without realizing when or how it happened. Alex falls for the new, goodlooking jock transfer from another highschool when he washes her with a zealous amount of boyfriend sweetness. But Cole soon turns into a monster, and it turns out he has been a monster for quite somewhile due to the awesome role model dad he has at home who keeps Cole's mother as an annoying pet he can control. Bitter End shows the ugly truth of an abusive relationship spiraling out of control and going way beyond a "bitter end."

Bitter End is very well written in regards to pacing of events and overall realism, but I found myself getting bored with some the scenes between Alex and her BFF's, Bethany and Zack. By bored I mean skimming through them really quickly because their relationship and behavior did not seem genuine. My opinion though...

I would have liked more realistic dialogue between them, and I would have liked some more intervention from her friends who knew her since childhood. They are too passive for Alex, and I know that sometimes people will not listen to their friends' advice or opinions, but so what? Get angry, shake some sense into her, don't just be all sad for her and all angry against the guy who beats up his girlfriend. If she doesn't listen after trying to repeatedly get her to see and admit the truth, then I guess there comes a time when you have to let her go. This does not happen in the book. I even could have done without Bethany in the picture. Zack would have been enough, as well as Georgia, the mother-figure she finds in one of her co-workers at The Bread Bowl. I also wanted a big emotional scene with her father.

What I do like...Alex is a very believable character. She knows the situation she is in but neither wants to be known as the victim or wants to be the victim. This is true not just for her realtionship with Cole but for her lost relationship with her mother who died in a car accident when Alex was a child. Although nothing pretty to read about, the abuse scenes are spectacular--specific, graphic, realistic. And Alex's reaction to these specific instances of abuse are spot on. Any reader can empathize with Alex, hurt with Alex, and understand why she repeatedly goes back to Cole. Any reader can also grasp her need to search for her mother and for closure in the mountains of Colorado. Cole even threatens to ruin this--he does not even want to share her with her mother's memory because this is a bond threatening his own power and control over her.

Sorry for all the spoilers here. And last, I will add this book to the "Books I Wished I Had Written."

EXCERPT:

“Just like that, my anger was shaken right out of me. Suddenly it didn’t seem like such a huge deal to be called a slut. Suddenly all that mattered was the ringing in my ears and the fact that my eye felt like jelly and my knees wanted to buckled right out from underneath me.

“Okay,” I cried, my voice rasping past his tight grip on my throat. I brought my hand to my face, because I couldn’t think of anything else to say or do other than cover and agree to whatever he said. Whatever it would take to make him stop. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, I’m sorry,” I cried, tears pouring out of my eye in rivers, even though I had it squeezed shut. My stomach lurched, and I had to clench my teeth to keep the vomit back.
He let go of my neck and I crumpled to the floor, holding my face and sobbing. Too afraid to run. Too surprised to stand. Too hurt to be brave or indignant or anything other than broken. “I’m sorry,” I whimpered, curling up over my knees and pressing my forehead into the carpet, willing my eye to stop watering. Willing my face and neck to stop hurting. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry…” (p. 238)

View all my reviews

Happy 2012 With Nicholas Sparks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:20:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Obviously I missed my annual 12 Days of Christmas book reviews, but...

Ok, I have no excuse, but I do know I actually only got 8 school days off this Christmas vacation! What cruelty! And up until last night (Sunday, Jan 1) I thought I wasn't going back to work until Tuesday.

Well, I went back today...on Monday...talk about a bummer Manic Monday.

On to real blog stuff.

If you love Nicholas Sparks and/or love to write and/or love to get inside writers' minds, then check out the video interview below!

I really like how he differentiates between a romance and a love story, and he is right on when he says Pretty Woman is a romance while Ghost is a love story...the kind that wrings your heart out. Nicholas Sparks is the king of the love story. Think about it. A Walk to Remember? The Notebook? Dear John? All love stories without the Cinderella ending.

The other day my 12 year old daughter told her grandma about how she loves reading romance novels! Doesn't sound right! Makes me think of those formulaic Harlequin novels I used to read as a teen when YA didn't have any sizzle or appeal in my mind. I'm 38 now so you can do the math.

Well, now she can say she loves reading books with a love story. That I'm ok with. No Fabio allowed here. Also, a love story does not have to be about a sweeping, epic, romantic relationship. A love story can be about siblings, friends, family, any people we love in life.

Here is my list of some of the best love stories I have ever read. Though my list could be different tomorrow! You will notice, though, that when it comes to my list, a majority of them are love stories with the romantic kind of love. I can't help it.

In no particular order...but probably Eva Underground as number one today:

Eva Underground (love story set in the midsts of Eastern European political chaos)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth (love story set a couple of centuries after The Zombie Apocolapse)
Dear John (love story spanning over 9/11 and the Iraq War and bittersweet ending and my favorite Sparks novel)
North of Beautiful (love story of self with spectular setting in China)
A Certain Slant of Light (love story between ancient souls in modern time)
The Comeback Season (love story with baseball and bittersweet ending)
After Summer (love story in Australia from a male POV)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (love story with family and romance)
The Truth About Forever (first YA love story I really loved)
Delirium (latest YA love story I really love)

I probably have some type of review or post about each one these. Just look over at the sidebar and enjoy! Or try the search box.

Aloposted from Bloggeroid

November Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:16:00 +0000

Happy December!

The last post I made was a pre-Thanksgiving post...wow, where does the time go? I will tell you. It goes on lots of eating, lots of napping, and lots of shopping, and lots of query writing. I sent out a small batch of them out the day before Thanksgiving. I sent another small batch the week right after Thanksgiving. A grand total of 11 or 12, including two I had sent out in late October. And officially, my query has been rejected by about 5 or 6 agents. A few of them were nice enough to respond back with the official rejection and a couple just thought it best to give no response.

You know, if they would just give it a chance...I mean seriously, anybody who actually holds an MFA in writing is not just some chump off the street. The query letters are strong, my writing sample is strong, so what do they want? Is my novel too "literary" (and of course take that with a grain of salt...isn't everything literary?)? Is my novel too "Latina" or too "multi-cultural" (and what about the fact that the largest minority group in the U.S. is Latino and a bunch of Latino teens probably would like more stuff representing them)? Is nobody that much into verse novels (and I don't think this is the case because every time I have recommended one to someone, they end up loving it)?

I know, I am ranting. But this is what consumes my mind...

Other things...

I finished reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver! Love it, but not the ending :(! I feel a book review coming soon.

I am hooked on AMC's The Walking Dead, and just feel completely empty now that they aren't showing it again until February.

I am holding on to The X-Factor only as a way to keep me ready for American Idol.

I love The Hunger Games Trailer and really think the Katniss actress looks like a Katniss.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, but leaning to the side :(

We got a cold blast way down here in deep South Texas! Yay!

And 1st semester is coming to an end...my kids just doing a project "final" guaranteed to give them a higher average if they will simply come through and do it decently well. They are making time-capsules over civilizations. Lots of library time, and guess what? The library is my all time favorite place on campus!

One more thing, I submitted an application at the local university to teach freshmen writing...keeping my fingers crossed. I am ready for change.

Imagine if all this change came during 2012? A new job focused on teaching writing, an agent who says yes...wow! 2012 would be one of the grandest, but never beating the year I got engaged and married, and the years in which my kids were born.

Till tomorrow! Hopefully, I will start my 12 Days of December YA Books posts!

Epic Wishes and Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:23:00 +0000

What Susane Colasanti has to say today on her blog:

"If you’ve read any of my books or you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m all about dreaming big. Simply put, I would not be here today without dreaming big. And by “here” I mean here in the West Village working at home on a blog post for you. None of those things would be reality today if I had given up...
Which is why I’m psyched that today is 11.11.11.

Today is the day for us to make the most epic wish ever.

At 11:11 (both a.m. and p.m. for emphasis), I’m wishing for the three things I want to see the most in 2012."

If you want to read her entire post follow this link: http://susanecolasanti.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/most-epic-wish-ever/#comment-5303

So, here are my 3 wish-prayers...because if you direct your wishes to God and pray that His will come through in your life, then aren't wishes really just prayers for good things to happen?

1. A year of health and prosperity for my little family! Which basically will be a continuation of the last 16 years!

2. A phone call or email by some agent out there in the world who wants to represent my first YA novel.

3. A year of inspired writing ideas.

4. And since I'm in my late 30's, I think I deserve and extra wish. That my children continue to walk the straight and narrow in this second decade of the 2000's. Wow...2012...amazing!

Returning to Goodreads

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0000

Well, I sumbitted another flash piece to a Figment contest. You can read it here: The Outfield

And please, pretty please, can you please "heart" it? Isn't my plea so pathetic? Well, I got to say Figment is turning into a popularity contest and not so great as I thought.

This is for the Junot Diaz contest...all about voice and some guy's dream girl, and baseball. Basically, the contest was give voice and personality to a character withouth giving descriptions, age, or name. Think I did pretty good...

What I like about Figment so far is the fact that it has helped me get back into writing a little better. I've been enjoying the contest writing prompts and they give me a sort of writing goal to fulfill.

Here's what I don't like. So, Junot Diaz is going to be reading the most "hearted" stories. The same is true for Nicholas Sparks and the love story writing contest.

Basically, this means a popularity contest because Figment members with the most friends and followers will get the most hears. Also, depending on when you submit your piece, your story may be hiding like on page 29 of the contest section where no one is going to read it.

It's great that these significant authors are involved with Figment, but what's the point of entering contests if there is no way your work will be read by the significant authors unless you have like 35 hearts because you have about 150 followers on figment. And not to be snobby and such, I've read some of the 35 heart stories, and really, there is nothing special about them. And some of the other ones with only 3 hearts or 0 hearts are really the ones that should be finalists. I'm not talking about my stories, but other stories I have read so far.

Another thing...where are the adults on Figment? Every group I want to join on Figment is moderated by a teenager. I love teens and all, but I want a writing social media site with a balanced number.

So, what is my overall assessment of Figment? Really liked at first, but not so crazy about it now. I like the contest writing prompts and will continue to use them for my own writing goals and development and the fact that Figment is bringing in all these spectacular published writers, but overall Figment dissapoints two weeks after signing up. Think I'll just post my stories here now, and if you want to read them, then read them.

Goodreads is so much better. I'm going use Fiment only for the writing pormpts and occasional featured published writers. I'm going to focus on Goodreads instead and all the author blogs I follow from Goodreads. Goodreads is one of the original book and writing social media sites and they deserve abou 365 hearts.

But I will still take some Figment hearts for Wrist Kiss and The Outfield over at Figment.

Go Vote for Wrist Kiss

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:14:00 +0000

Hey, all! Hear of Figment? It's a social media site all about writing...

Go check it out and join if you love writing or just reading original, fresh stories!

And read my entry for the Nicholas Sparks contest...Wrist Kiss.

Here's the link: http://figment.com/books/168583-Wrist-Kiss

All you have to do is heart it!