Personally, when I love an author’s work, I tend to think they have generally pretty good taste.  Sure, being in the industry can create a certain amount of bias.  Some authors don’t read in the genre they write in, while others immerse themselves in it.  I’ve found that I love to read reviews from those authors who do read works similar to those they write, or I like to keep my ear out for those author friendships.  For example, when I went to see Susanna Kearsley having not read her books, I immediately knew I was in the right place when she referred to her friends Lauren [Willig] (The Pink Carnation series) and Deanna [Raybourn] (Lady Julia series). Clearly if that’s the writer crowd you hang out with–and I do believe that great minds think alike–I’m going to love your work.

But back to reviews specifically.  At BEA, Janice and I were speaking, and she told me about how Aussie author, Shirley Marr (Preloved) used to review on Goodreads, but stopped reviewing under her author profile after receiving negative pressure from users.  This left me somewhat baffled and disappointed.  Why?  Why is it inappropriate for authors to express their opinions on other authors’ work?  Should authors only post positive reviews?  Why are their reviews held to different standards than bloggers?  Though, I suppose, there are many out there who would love bloggers to only post positive reviews as well (let’s hearken back to Thea’s words at Blogger Con about the very important distinction between critical and negative, shall we?).

The fact of the matter is, for the most part, authors I follow who review do only post positive reviews–and these are very weighted for me!  When I respect an author and their work, I respect how their mind ticks, and I know that I’m likely to love the same things they do.  So, who are some of my favorite author reviewers on Goodreads?

Patrick Rothfuss Profile Pic from Goodreads

Patrick Rothfuss–I love this man.  Unabashedly.  Rothfuss doesn’t have a huge social networking presence, he’s quite busy with touring, awesome Kickstarters, organizing massive charity events, and you know–WRITING ABOUT KVOTHE, and this keeps him from things like Twitter. But, the man does review on Goodreads, and he reads a lot.  A lot of SF/F, and graphic novels in particular.  As a graphic novel reader surrounded by bookish friends who don’t always read a ton in this medium, I find his thoughts quite valuable.

Rachel Neumeier Profile Pic from Goodreads

Rachel Neumeier–Rachel and I have so much overlap in our reading tastes that I can’t help but be excited every time she puts a new book or author on my radar.  Well, except for the fact that that means there’s another book on my radar. (I so don’t need a bigger TBR.)  She reads and reviews a lot of SciFi and Fantasy, and makes excellent recommendations for both older and recent titles that she’s enjoyed.  She’s fantastic about engaging other readers about speculative fiction, and I really enjoy swapping recommendations with her.

Phoebe North Profile Pic from Goodreads

Phoebe North–While I haven’t read Phoebe’s debut, Starglass (yet!), I totally bonded with her over our childhood love of Pern and the fact that we may or may not have both been active in Pern-based fan-fiction clubs at some point.  Needless to say, she reads a lot of speculative fiction, and is extremely active as a Goodreads user, including full reviews and status updates.  Like Rachel, she likes to use Goodreads to interact with other readers, not merely as a platform for her own work.  Honestly, this just makes me more excited to read her stuff.

You can follow these authors and their reviews on Goodreads, but all three of them have excellent blogs as well!  Here is Patrick’s, Rachel’s, and Phoebe’s.  And of course, this is just a quick list–there are many more (like Andrea K. Höst who reads and reviews a lot of mystery)!

Authors reviewing their own books:

Okay, I’ll admit, this is where I draw my line on where it is and is not appropriate for authors to review on Goodreads.  Something about an author posting a 5-Star review for their own work really turns me off as a reader.  I know you think it’s good, you wouldn’t have written it otherwise, do you really need to advertise yourself in that way?

What I do like, is when authors post about their books in the review section without giving themselves a star rating.  For example, last week Phoebe North posted the story of her story in her review of Starbreak (the upcoming second book in her series), which was really touching.  Again, Andrea K. Höst also posts these types of explanatory updates on her books, which is a great way for us fans of her self-pubed work to stay in the know as to what she’s working on and when it will be available.  And then there’s Patrick Rothfuss’ review of the The Doors of Stone, the final book in his Kingkiller Chronicles, which is currently being written.  This review left me in fits of giggles, and is one of my favorite things ever. A definite must read, particularly for Doctor Who fans.

So that’s my two cents.  I understand why many authors don’t review books–there’s a lot of diplomacy and politics I didn’t go into here that authors inevitably have to face–but I personally really enjoy those who do.

Do you follow any author’s reviews? If so–who? Do you have any particular feelings about authors reviewing others’ work or their own?

If you liked that you might like this:

• You’re More Than Just a Book to Me: Susanna Kearsley Event Recap
• YAckers Yack: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
• Happy Mother’s Day! Amazing Moms in Fiction (and Real Life)

Title:

It’s the 1920s, and Bo was headed for an Alaska orphanage when she won the hearts of two tough gold miners who set out to raise her, enthusiastically helped by all the kind people of the nearby Eskimo village.

Bo learns Eskimo along with English, helps in the cookshack, learns to polka, and rides along with Big Annie and her dog team. There’s always some kind of excitement: Bo sees her first airplane, has a run-in with a bear, and meets a mysterious lost little boy.

Here is an unforgettable story of a little girl growing up in the exhilarating time after the big Alaska gold rushes.

Some books are like coming home, and for me reading Bo at Ballard Creek was like being wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket by a parent as I snuggled up for the evening.  It’s quite unusual for a book I’ve never read before to give me that feeling, but when something manages to be so utterly in the vein of my childhood love of Little House, while very obviously doing its own thing, I can’t help but enjoy.  

Bo at Ballard Creek is a juvenile title aimed at readers younger than the middle grade titles I usually pick up, but again it called my name from the moment I saw its cover.  Filled with the aptly charming illustrations of LeUyen Pham, Bo’s life in a small mining town in 1929 Alaska will leap off of the page and into your heart.  Obviously the illustrations below are unfinished and from the ARC, however, I thought you readers might love to see several of my personal favorites from this book: Bo getting her hair done up in curls (which she despises), and Bo helping out at the sluicing.

Bo is a young girl whose parenting has been taken on by two men in the mining camp, Jack and Arvid, who work as cook and blacksmith, respectively.  The relationship is very ‘My Two Dads’ in a community where the only women around are either “good time” girls or the women of native Eskimo families, and also reflect diversity in Jack being an African American hailing from Louisiana and Arvid coming from Sweden.  Bo’s world is one of community, friendship, and the wild, and through Kirkpatrick Hill’s words I was transported back to a time before great change came to the remote communities of Alaska.

In Ballard Creek, despite the year, there are no automobiles or movie theaters–though tales of such things from the “city” of Fairbanks are well known.  Mail is carried by boat in the summer and dogsled team in the winter, and the visit of an airplane marks a momentous occasion in all of the locals’ lives.  Bo at Ballard Creek is the wonderful and informative kind of historical fiction that emmerses young readers in the everyday tasks of a lilihood no longer with us, here bringing us into gold mining practices, one-room school houses, and Eskimo traditions.  While the small community is almost unrealistically open-armed and generous, this book also acknowledges some of the world’s harsh realities of the time and place, such as child abandonment, wilderness safety, and the need to pick up and move one’s livelihood when a claim was exhausted.

Bo herself is quite the Pollyanna, but in the most charming Hayley Mills sense as opposed to the somewhat derogatory/annoying sense.  She is a child who spends her life brightening the existence of those around her, be it her pappas, her Eskimo friends, the miners, or us readers.  Through her ever-shining outlook this world that could so easily seem quaint or wrote is instead full of wonder.  I particularly loved her visits with the miner who has adopted a slew of animals and her experience with jealousy and sisterhood through an orphaned boy who comes to town.

Again, I realize Bo at Ballard Creek is a bit young for what many of us read, but I assure you that if you’re looking for that comfort read that takes you back to childhood, it’s an excellent choice.  Definitely recommended for readers of all ages who enjoy historical fiction and life on the frontier.

Likelihood that I’ll be back for more:  I’m not sure since Hill’s books seem largely to be younger than those I tend to read, however, I’ll certainly be recommending her work and perusing it more in the future.

Recommended for:  Any kid (or adult) you know who loves the Little House books and wants more.

If you liked that you might like this:

• Audio Review: The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy
• Audio Review: The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
• Review: Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Salute Your Shorts is a regular feature here at Bunbury in the Stacks highlighting and reviewing short stories and novellas.

Title: Retribution Clause in Hex Appeal [Goodreads]
Author: Ilona Andrews (anthology ed. by P.N. Elrond) [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Kate Daniels 5.6
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: June 5th, 2012 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Format: Paperback; 356 pages. Retribution Clause is 37 pages.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Spoilers!: Surprisingly, you can read this short story without any prior knowledge of the Kate Daniels universe.  No spoilers involved!

Have you ever experienced that crushing moment of confusion and disappointment when you open a story expecting a beloved character name to jump out at you and receive something completely different?  Thus was my reaction to the first paragraphs of Retribution Clause by Ilona Andrews.  Adam?  Color me confused, particularly since I’ve been reading Mercy Thompson as of late and firmly have that particular UF Adam down as the UF Adam in my mind.  But…but!  All initial deflating was quickly brushed aside for a fast-paced and incredibly engrossing short that gave me an entirely new and unexpected glimpse into the post-shift world of magic and technology.

Retribution Clause is a story that takes place in the Kate Daniels world we’ve come to know, but has nothing to do with the Pack, the People, or even Atlanta.  It’s all about life insurance in Phily.  Specifically, Adam and his partner Siroun work for an insurance firm doing some of their more interesting work.  Interesting because people can now add a “retribution clause” to their life insurance policy assuring that if they are murdered, their murderer will be hunted down and killed, and it’s Adam and Siroun’s job to pull the trigger.

If you don’t feel an almost instant twinge of recognition and affection for Adam, you must not be a fan of some of Kate’s…skeezier friends.  That’s right, this hulking brute is connected to our plot by none other than Saimon, his more-powerful cousin.  And of course Siroun’s her own particular brand of BAMF as well.  Will this pair have any place in the rest of the main Kate Daniels series?  I have no idea.  But I’d certainly welcome them to the party if they at any time decide to head south.

How this mind boggling writing duo manages to pack in this much sexual tension, heart-pumping action, and real emotion into 37 pages, and still have time to highlight their ever-present themes like protecting children, I honest to goodness have no idea.  I can only say that I certainly didn’t leave disappointed, Kate or no Kate (but thank goodness it’s less than two months to more Kate).

Not an absolute must read, but probably my favorite of the Kate short stories (which I’m counting separate from novellas); recommended if you love this world and want some more Ilona Andrews to tide you over.

I’ve also reviewed:

A Questionable Client (Kate Daniels .5)
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels 1)
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels 2)
Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels 3)
Magic Mourns (Kate Daniels 3.5)
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels 4)
Magic Dreams (Kate Daniels 4.5)
Magic Slays (Kate Daniels 5)
Magic Tests (Kate Daniels 5.3)
Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels 5.4)
Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels 5.5/Kate Daniels World 1)

On the Edge (The Edge 1)
Bayou Moon (The Edge 2)

If you liked that you might like this:

• Salute Your Shorts: Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews
• Salute Your Shorts: Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews
• Salute Your Shorts: The Star of David by Patricia Briggs

If you have kids, and want to put a book into their hands that will totally get them, look no further than Otis Dooda: Strange but True.  I reviewed Otis Dooda last week, now I am so happy to say that Ellen Potter and David Heatley have stopped by today to answer some of my questions about the book and what it was like to write it.  First up, however, I highly recommend watching this quick interview to give you a taste of who Ellen, David, and Otis are!

Ellen, Otis Dooda is a big departure from your past middle grade books. It’s aimed at a younger audience, but also has a completely different tone–one that focuses on humor and everyday adventure. I’d love to know if this transition was easy and natural because of your inspiration, or if you struggled.

There were definitely some challenges in writing for a younger reader. I constantly had to stop myself from making the storyline too complicated. The pacing had to be extra snappy. No dawdling over sumptuous description. If you’ve ever had to entertain a bunch of 7-year-old boys for a day, you know that the operative words are go, go GO!

Still, slipping into Otis’ world was pretty easy. Right from the start, I heard his voice in my ear, loud and clear. The other characters started chiming in soon after and before long I found myself laughing at my own scenes as I wrote them. That might be because my baseline maturity level is not very high, but let’s be honest—who doesn’t find a farting miniature horse funny?

(I totally found the flatulent “French Gerbil Hound” funny.)

Speaking of inspiration, please tell us all about your research process that involved eating in a cafeteria with 7-8 year old boys, and how many of Otis’s adventures were directly inspired by your son and his merry band of hellraisers?

You haven’t really lived until you have broken bread with a table full of 7-year-olds in the school cafeteria. Sometimes I felt like I was in a Fellini movie—strange conversations erupted then morphed into contests over who could shove the largest food item up his nose. There was a boy who preferred to eat “floor food.” He would surreptitiously drop his lunch on the floor, then pick it up and eat it. He said it tasted better that way. There were arguments over who had the better scabs and if you could get a disease that would make your head explode. After lunch, I would run home and scribble it all down. It was pure gold.

While there were some details that I borrowed from this research, Otis’ adventures—Potted Plant Guy, subway zombies, the Grim Fugles—all came from my own brain. Which might be cause for concern.

Otis Dooda is a master when it comes to Lego construction, and I hear your son is too. What is the coolest, craziest, or most complex thing your son has ever built out of Legos?

He once built a tiny replica of a urinal, complete with the little blue deodorizer.

I cannot express to you how hard this made me laugh.  Amazing.

I just have to confirm this: you really knew a guy growing up who dyed his poodles pink and blue?!

Cross my heart. He had them dyed like Easter eggs.

David, You didn’t just do the art for Otis Dooda, you’ve played a huge role in some of its more unique and interactive features. Namely, you created a soundtrack! I love that you worked the sound of each song around a certain part of the book, from country to R&B, to Indie and punk; though I think the subway zombies song is going to traumatize a few young New Yorkers (or um…me). I’d love to hear how this soundtrack came about.

Thanks for saying that. It’s a mystery to me, really. Sometimes work just pours through you without you really trying. That was definitely the case for the Otis soundtrack. I just found myself compelled, as if in a trance, to sing write songs. I had spent so much time with the book and the characters and had so much affection for them, that when the illustration job was up, I couldn’t let go. I told Ellen from the start that I was going to approach the project with everything I had and really be a partner in bringing the book to life. I can’t write prose like Ellen can (actually very few people in the world can as far as I’m concerned!), so my “voice” came through in the drawings, but when I was done, the “voice” in me had a lot more to say! I wanted to add to the story and deepen certain parts. Songs can do that. Lucky for me, Ellen was really enthusiastic about the idea once I realized I had enough song ideas for a whole album. I’m sure it sounds pretentious, but it really did feel like the songs kind of wrote themselves. I recorded them at my art studio, often in the middle of the night. That’s why Subway Zombies and Cave of Doom sound as creepy as they do… it was the dead of winter at 3am in an industrial part of Queens when I tracked those!

Okay David, I know you enjoy playing with Legos too. So same questions, what is the coolest, craziest, or most complex thing you have ever built out of Legos?

I’m not a builder of big, showy things and never really have been. But I can say that I think they’re basically a perfect toy. Really beyond a toy. They’re a tool, an art material, a Montessori experiment all rolled into one. When I’m sitting anywhere near Legos, I find it much harder to NOT play with them than to play with them. My favorite game to play is to reach into a huge vat of Legos with all kinds of mixed up pieces and grab a handful. Whatever I grab I have to use every piece in whatever I’m building. It makes for some really wild inventions. I’ve gotten my kids and their friends into the game now, too. Totally fun.

Smoochie the Rat Illustration by David Heatley

I love the art in this book because it is somewhat kid-like and fun. Personally, I find it hilarious that 9 times out of 10 Otis’s mouth is making some sort of manic expression, be it nervous or elated. But, I think my favorite piece of art in the book has to be the rat, Smoochie, parachuting using a Frito Lays bag. Or maybe Otis trying to lick his elbow (because who among us didn’t do that at some point in our lives?). What was your favorite part of the book to illustrate?

Yeah, Otis is just a bundle of emotions. Kind of tightly wound and it all leaks out through his facial expressions. I get that from Charles Schulz, really. He was just a master of conveying any kind of emotion with a few squiggly lines. I’d say my favorite illustration, hands down was Cat’s Room. I want to live in that room! Drawing that picture was part of what made me see that this world Ellen has created is vast. Endless, really. There’s so many nooks and crannies of the building waiting to be explored, let alone the neighborhood, let alone the rest of New York City… And we haven’t scratched the surface of Hog’s Head yet! I’ve got some pretty clear pictures in my head of what that town must be like.

Cat’s Room Illustration by David Heatley–Yes, it’s hanging and you climb a ladder to get there.
It IS awesome.

Ellen and David, there’s no arguing that you two were true partners in this venture as Otis Dooda would be a completely different experience without David’s art. There’s at least one illustration for every two page spread in Otis Dooda. So I want to know, what took longer? The art or the words?

David: I did all the artwork in a few months. I’m guessing the writing took longer, but I’ll ask Ellen. I’ve done some comic strips where I’ve written as well as illustrated them and can say that the ratio of writing to art is about 70% / 30%. The story is the most important thing! It’s like the architectural plan for a building. If it’s not solid, the whole thing falls down. Too many illustrated books consist of people slapping overwrought decoration on a shoddily constructed story that doesn’t hold up to one reading, let alone dozens the way Ellen’s books do.

Ellen: It took me about a year to write Otis Dooda, but right from the start I knew that the words were, quite literally, only half the story. So much depended upon the artwork. When I take my son into bookstores or libraries and he is trying to decide on which book to choose, it’s the illustrations that decide it for him almost every time. Now before I met David, I found that fact a little unnerving. Authors don’t choose their illustrators, and typically we rarely have any interaction with them. There’s always that scary email you get from your publisher saying, “I’m attaching the first illustrations for your book.” When I opened that attachment and saw David’s illustrations, I couldn’t stop smiling. And laughing. He had imagined Otis’s world so perfectly! His drawings made my words even funnier. Plus, he added a new layer to Otis. Otis emoted more. He was by turns baffled, outraged and disgusted by all the things going on around him. David made him more vulnerable too. I can’t even begin to describe the delight of seeing the images in your own brain interpreted so beautifully on paper.

I love that there are a number of books for young readers out there really working to engage the audience beyond the page. Not only is there a web page and a soundtrack, but characters from the book have Twitter accounts! What is it like to connect with readers in these ‘new’ ways?

Ellen: These innovative ways of connecting have been David’s brainchild. What I’ve learned from David is that creativity doesn’t have to end when you have finished the book. His Otis Dooda soundtrack added a whole new dimension to the experience of reading. It gets under your skin and lets you experience the story in a more visceral way. Plus, for kids who may not naturally gravitate toward the written word, it offers them another way of relating to a book. One of the other things that I am really loving about this new way of connecting is the chance to shine the spotlight on our readers. We have a Best Builders Blog on the Otis Dooda web site, which features kids and their Lego creations: http://www.otisdooda.com/blog.php

David: It’s so new that we’re just seeing now. I’m hoping we get more interactions going. Pretty fun to watch Otis navigate the waters of the real-life Lego nerd bloggers and tweeters out there! Cat’s a little lazy about her Twitter account. Maybe some part of her thinks she’s too cool for it. But I have a feeling she’ll step it up this summer once school’s out.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly), Ellen, were your son and his friends happy with Otis Dooda?

That was the real test. While I was writing my first draft, I would read sections to my son and wait for his laughter. If it didn’t come when it was supposed to, I’d scratch the scene. And yes, in the end my son and his friends loved the book. Honestly, though, I think it was David’s illustrations that really clinched the deal for them. They were riveted by those drawings. And when David created the soundtrack . . . holy moley, those kids were singing Otis Dooda songs in school, at our house, in the backseat of the car! The soundtrack turned Otis and his pals into celebrities.

____________________________________

Thanks so much to author Ellen Potter and illustrator (+ music extraordinaire) David Heatley for joining us today!  Doesn’t elementary lunchtime sound amazing?

You can check out the Otis Dooda webpage here, and definitely don’t forget to rock out to the soundtrack so that you too might develop a healthy fear of subway zombies.

HARDY-HAR-HAR!

Meet Otis Dooda. Yes, that’s his name. Go on and have a good laugh. He’s heard it all before. He’s been called things like Otis Poopy Stink and Otis Toilet Twinkie. That’s right, yuck it up and get it out of your system. We’ll wait.

All right then. This is the story of Otis and the Dooda family (including their rat named Smoochie) moving to New York City, and the incredibly strange, but true, things that happened to them. It all started with Otis getting cursed by a guy in a potted plant in their apartment building lobby, and then meeting a bunch of their neighbors, including a farting pony named Peaches who was disguised as a dog. And that was just the first day.

Giveaway

Thanks to the generosity of Ellen Potter, I have a copy of Otis Dooda to share with one lucky reader (or for you to share with your kids!).

• Giveaway is US and Canada only.
• Winner will have 24 hours to respond to my e-mail before another winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you liked that you might like this:

• Review: Otis Dooda: Strange But True by Ellen Potter
• The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle Blog Tour & Giveaway
• Q&A and Giveaway: Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong

Susanna Kearsley with Sara Humphreys at the Valley Stream Public Library

I consider myself very fortunate to be near enough to NYC to commute in for book events on a regular basis, but it’s a fairly rare and exciting event when authors choose to visit somewhere out on Long Island.  Thankfully, Sourcebooks had fans vote and was kind enough to send Canadian author Susanna Kearsley to the top 5 stores and bookstores across the nation–and the Valley Stream Public Library was one of those 5!  While I haven’t yet read any of Susanna’s work myself, she does come with this stamp of approval:

‘Nough said?  (This stamp of awesomeness brought to you by Laura in honor of Angie.  Susanna Kearsley is also highly recommended by Holly, Michelle, Amy, and more bookish friends I completely trust!)

You guys, I loved this event!  Because it was such a small setting, us readers really got to chat and connect with Susanna in a way that felt like sitting down with a friend.  Susanna Kearsley’s friend, Long Island author Sara Humphreys, was there to moderate, but given the relaxed atmosphere moderation wasn’t really needed (though it was lovely to have Sara there to chat as well!), we all just jumped in and asked questions whenever it felt natural.  In fact, Susanna stated that she loves visiting schools and libraries so that people have the opportunity to realize that being an author for a living is really an option!

The Writing Process:

• Susanna is one of those authors whose characters speak to her, and she lets them surprise her on a regular basis.  For example, her newly released Firebird wasn’t planned, but she couldn’t get the characters out of her head.  
• She’s a total pantser.  In fact, she never worked with a deadline until she sold The Shadowy Horses +1, and then she had to deal with the stress of what that +1 was going to be.  Now she’s gone back to writing a book before selling it.
• Because she writes historical fiction, she does have major events she wants to hit in that history, but everything from point A to point B is a bit of a mystery till she gets there.
• She likes to write books that stand on their own because she feels that this makes it so much easier on the reader not to have to read things in a certain order to understand what’s going on.  I love this!
• She studied political science at University, which largely manifests in the political maneuverings that occur in her books.
• Susanna usually pulls her titles from poems (The Shadowy Horses is from Yeats).  When the paperback copy of The Winter Sea came out in Great Britain, they insisted on changing the title because they were convinced a book with the word ‘winter’ in the title wouldn’t sell in the summer.
• She doesn’t read a lot of reviews, but she does look at her star count.  She’s very much of the opinion that once a book is published it’s the readers’ book, and up to them to decide how they feel about it.
• She kickstarted her career with Mariana, which was published after she won a contest with it.  In fact, it sounds like she’s sold every book she’s ever written, which is pretty damn successful! 
  

Research:

• She only spent 11 days in Scotland for The Winter Sea. 
• She went back to Scotland and to St. Petersburg for Firebird.  She travels with her editorial mom, who is wonderful, and doesn’t mind hanging out when Susanna spends half an hour taking notes/pictures on the sidewalk.
• She doesn’t like to write about places she hasn’t personally traveled to, and most often lets the historical events that inspire her determine her setting.

Family History:

• Her family hails from Long Island back to colonial times, and she wants to write a story set here (please do!).
• Her mother’s family history was easy to trace because they came from money…up until one of the sons had an upstairs-downstairs romance that ended up with the maid pregnant and her forefather disinherited.
• She had 5 ancestors on the Mayflower.
• One of her forefathers fought the first duel on American soil.
• Susanna uses a lot of her family names in her books, like Kerry (which I’ve likely misspelled) in The Winter Sea.

If you could go back to any time in history, when would you go?

Susanna said she’d either like to go to the early 1800′s to track down her family, or she was extremely fond of the early-mid 1700′s.  She stated that the clothing in that period was surprisingly not that bad, and that there were a lot of women of independent thought and action in that time.  She pointed out that any time you go back to a period of rational thought, you’re likely to find people you relate to.  I think this is a fantastic observation, and something I never thought about as a reason I connect well with a lot of historical fiction.

Susanna also described having this gorgeous 1700′s period dress made by a woman who produces stuff for the History Channel.  It really sounded much better than a corset.

Do you read while you write, and if so, what?

I asked this question, because I always love to know what authors are reading.  Susanna doesn’t read historical fiction at all while she’s writing, but tends to read romance or mystery instead (she likes puzzle mysteries more than the darker serial killer type stuff that has been popular as of late).  Though she’s met and is friendly with Diana Gabaldon, she’s only read 3/4 of Outlander and will never finish it.  I think we all know by now that this made me laugh as I emphatically disliked Outlander, in fact, my first reaction when I read the blurb for The Winter Sea was “It sounds like a good version of Outlander!”  We shall see.

That was pretty much it!  Susanna hung out for some time letting all of us get our books signed (see my lovely new stack above–I love these covers!).  I was so happy to see some young enthusiastic readers there, particularly one boy who I would guess was around 14-15 and obviously a huge fan.  Again, I just have to stress that she was so lovely and personable.  If you ever have the chance to see her in person, I really recommend you take it.  I found her both fascinating and humorous, and am certainly convinced that I am going to love her work.

If you liked that you might like this:

• Audio Review: The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
• Review: My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt
• Event Recap: Newberry Winning Authors at Books of Wonder

Title:

Sixteen-year-old Canny Mochrie’s vacation takes a turn when she stumbles upon a mysterious and enchanting valley, occupied almost entirely by children who can perform a special type of magic that tells things how to be stronger and better than they already are. As Canny studies the magic more carefully, she realizes that she not only understands it–she can perform the magic, too, so well that it feels like it has always been a part of her. With the help of an alluring seventeen-year-old boy who is held hostage by a spell that is now more powerful than the people who first placed it, Canny figures out the secrets of this valley and of her own past.

I won’t lie, I picked up Mortal Fire for shallow reasons.  One, because the cover is stunningly gorgeous with a typeface that makes my eyes sore and my head spin (and, as it turns out, is incredibly fitting to the story–I do love that kind of detail), two, because Elizabeth Knox is a former Printz Honoree, and I’m almost always willing to give Printz authors a go, and three, it was blurbed by Holly Black whom I adore.  Yes, FSG marketing crowd, these things work on suckers like me.

I opened Canny’s story, and I fell into it.  Taking place in a fictional South Pacific island nation, Southland, Mortal Fire embraces a setting that so few fantasy novels take on (which is always surprising to me given all the wonders the jungles have to offer).  Knox builds her world organically, with no info dumping beyond the stories that would naturally be told in context of the tale.  I was easily led by the nose into the valley of the Zarenes on a research trip that became so much more to one 17 year old girl.  I also have to admit, having an anthropology student along for the trip, even as a side character, didn’t hurt my interest as someone with a degree in the subject as well.  Set in the late 1950s, Mortal Fire approaches a generation that remembers when WWII touched their lives clashing with a changing world.

Knox’s magical structure, performed in an ideogramatical language of symbols invisible to most people was unique and odd and captivating.  Canny has an instinctual understanding of how the magic works, and a surprising ability to manipulate it, one that sets her apart from the people of the valley.  

While I was greatly enjoying the thoughtful world building and construction of this tale, I’m afraid it wasn’t enough to hold my interest throughout.  When Canny finally meets another who is able to accept her instinctual knowledge of the magic and help her learn its inner workings, an insta-love romance develops out of nowhere that left me confused and disheartened.  I wanted to feel some emotion for Canny, this girl who everyone seemed to say was broken, the daughter of a national heroine, but her inexplicable attachment to the man trapped in a seventeen year old’s body was disturbing and underdeveloped.  It’s not only that I have personally come to loath the somewhat-immortal falling for the real teen trope (once again, let me refer you to John Green’s review of Twilight), it’s that I’m afraid Knox had me as convinced as the bulk of her world that Canny was largely unfeeling.  She didn’t make me believe in the connection that Canny felt, which despite its lack of development drove the tale from there on in, and thus I felt no investment in the story’s ongoing plot.

Deciding not to finish Mortal Fire was an uncomfortable experience for me.  I DNF books often, but usually after no more than 50 pages, and I tend not to review these as I consider them snap judgements of whether or not they are for me.  With Mortal Fire I read around 300 pages before I acknowledged that the story didn’t really seem to be building up to anything I couldn’t predict.  This was a hard realization as I felt truly engrossed in the first half of this book–I loved the world and the background of Canny and her family, I loved uncovering what was going on in the valley of the Zarenes.  I flipped to the last chapter and found that the entire thing seemed to be an exposition explaining everything Canny had figured out in the course of the story.  While this gave me the satisfaction of knowing what I missed in that last 100 pages, it also filled me with disappointment.  I always feel that if you have to have a big monologue section at the end of a story to explain things, the story wasn’t told quite right to begin with.  And so, I leave Mortal Fire a bit sad.  Too much of it felt like a build up, and not enough seemed to be actually playing out what it was building up to.  I do think some readers will fall into this beautifully strange world and not let the lack of emotion stymie them, unfortunately, I was unable to work beyond it.

Likelihood that I’ll be back for more:  Unsure. There’s always a good possibility of me going back and checking out former Printz winners, and the Dreamhunter duology would fit the bill, but I’m not really sure it’s for me.

Recommended for: My favorite thing about Mortal Fire was the setting and the world building–if you’re intrigued by the tropical fantasy I recommend this as well as Frances Hardinge’s The Lost Conspiracy.

Real life repercussions of reading this book: I’m curious, do you stop reading books when you’re more than halfway through?  Do you feel like it’s a waste of time invested not to finish the story, or a bigger waste to keep going?

Get a second opinion:
Bibliophilic Monologues - “This book is strange and wonderful. And so deliciously different.”

If you liked that you might like this:

• Audio Review: The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
• Review: Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
• Review: Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

It’s that lovely time of the month where we YAckers get together to chat about our latest read, this time it’s If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch.

We quite nicely and politely ripped this book a new one, before pronouncing it complete fail for lack of our ability to cast Richard Armitage.  Go forth and enjoy the carnage!

Then, if you want more, you’re welcome to recall my review of the audiobook here.

Then, if you still want more, I’m giving away my copy of the book here.  Obvs, this one wasn’t for me, but believe it or not after all of that, we YAckers are the overwhelming minority on this one–many readers are loving it.  If you think you might be one of them, please take my book away and give it a good home!

If you liked that you might like this:

• Audio Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
• Review: Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy
• Review: My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt

About the Book

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Reader Reactions

Like I said, this one wasn’t for me, but tons of bloggers I totes respect loved it!  Here’s what some of them had to say:

Even if somehow If You Find Me doesn’t get all the literary awards it deserves, I’ll always picture this cover covered in medals. — Maja at The Nocturnal Library

This story is amazing. It’s raw and gripping and emotional and heartbreaking, but for all of that – for all of that heaviness – there is so much HOPE and GOOD and even JOY in these pages. – Asheley at Into the Hall of Books

My heart broke into a million little pieces multiple times for teenage Carey and her little sister Jenessa, but then there were moments that stitched it back together. – April at Good Books and Good Wine

Giveaway

• Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
• US residents only (sorry, I’m poor and shipping’s pricey).
• Winner will have 24 hours to respond to my e-mail before another winner will be chosen.

Good luck, and enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you liked that you might like this:

• Q&A and Giveaway: Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong
• Giveaway: Signed bookmarks from Terra Elan McVoy!
• Being Friends With Boys Tour Stop and Giveaway

Yes, yes, I realize that we’re a week into June and I’m just now getting my With Bated Breath post up, but I was a tad bit busy last week what with the BEA and all, and it just didn’t happen.  Some of my most anticipated reads of the year come out this month, particularly my number one: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman!  We’ll see if I read it right away, or put it off so as to really savor it.

Trailers this month aren’t stunning, but if you watch one of these videos, make it the interview for The Wig in the Window.  It’s fantastic on the parts of the kids and the author.

Also want to say yay for Random House for listening to complaints about whitewashing for Zettel’s American Fairy series (book 2, Golden Girl, releases this month).  The paperback of book 1, Dust Girl, uses a new cover model who is definitely of a proper ethnicity for the main character who is half black/half white.  It looks like the same model for the paperback was used for the cover of book two.  This was the sort of mistake that should never have been made in the first place, but the fact that the publisher has worked to remedy it is an important step towards erradicating this practice.

June 1st/4th

Wildlife by Fiona Wood
When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
The Wall by William Sutcliffe
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Order of Darkness by Philippa Gregory
Shapeshifted by Cassie Alexander
Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
Outcast by Adrienne Kress
The Pirate’s Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It ed. by Sigrid Ellis and Michael Damian Thompson
The Apprentices by Maile Meloy
Tides by Betsy Cornwell
Otis Dooda: Strange But True by Ellen Potter | My Review

June 6th/8th/11th

The Oathbreaker’s Shadow by Amy McCulloch
Insomnia by J.R. Johansson
Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
Ghost Time by Courtney Eldridge

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown
Plague in the Mirror by Deborah Noyes
Linked by Imogen Howson
Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox

One by Leigh Ann Kopans
Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
Rush by Eve Silver
Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

June 11th/13th

Burning by Elana K. Arnold
Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance
The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman
The Hostage Prince by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

June 18th

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Defy the Dark ed. by Saundra Mitchell
Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood
Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler

June 18th/25th

Bo at Ballard Creek by Kirkpatrick Hill
The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher
Tarnish by Katherine Longshore
Golden Girl by Sarah Zettel

Sidekicked by John David Anderson
Weather Witch by Shannon Delany
A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury
Ink by Amanda Sun

Cold Steel by Kate Elliott
The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton
In the After by Demitria Lunetta

My Top 5 Most Anticipated June Reads

What June releases are you most looking forward to?

If you liked that you might like this:

• With Bated Breath: May New Releases
• With Bated Breath: April Events and New Releases
• With Bated Breath: March New Releases

Title:

HARDY-HAR-HAR!

Meet Otis Dooda. Yes, that’s his name. Go on and have a good laugh. He’s heard it all before. He’s been called things like Otis Poopy Stink and Otis Toilet Twinkie. That’s right, yuck it up and get it out of your system. We’ll wait.

All right then. This is the story of Otis and the Dooda family (including their rat named Smoochie) moving to New York City, and the incredibly strange, but true, things that happened to them. It all started with Otis getting cursed by a guy in a potted plant in their apartment building lobby, and then meeting a bunch of their neighbors, including a farting pony named Peaches who was disguised as a dog. And that was just the first day.

It’s a fairly well established fact that I am a lover of middle grade and that most of the middle grade I read transcends age with ease, but every so often when presented with a book that is unequivocally for kids, I can’t say no.  Ellen Potter made my day by remembering how much I’d loved her previous book, The Humming Room (a fantabulous contemporary retelling of The Secret Garden which I highly recommend), and approached me with her newest book, Otis Dooda: Strange But True.  She admitted up front that it was a bit of a departure from her usual middle grade novels, but that it was so because she sought to challenge herself to write a book that her 8-year-old son and “his merry band of hellraisers” (as she called them) would love.  I was intrigued.  I don’t usually read books for children that young, but as someone who’s continually keeping an eye out for good “boy” books (I love that all these young boys in my life love reading their non-fiction, but I like to see them read fiction too!), of course I wanted to read it.

Okay, so strait up, Otis Dooda is a book for kids.  It’s not really a book for adults and kids to read together (although you totally could), but a book to be squirrled away and laughed at by kids in that way we all do when a book gets us and we know nobody else in the room would possibly understand.  Because Ellen Potter well and truly does get kids–it’s a book so utterly ridiculous and full of that crude weird humor that is really at its height around 8 years old.  It’s full of farting, and annoying siblings, and (attempted) elbow licking, legos, capers, and crazy neighbors.  It’s inspired me to start saying “Well, butter my buns!” when I do anything particularly like the country bumpkin that I occasionally am in NYC.

No, there isn’t a great deal of depth or emotion in this short book, but sometimes we all need to just kick back and have a little fun.  When Otis moves to NYC with his family in the summer, that’s precisely what he does!  He makes friends with his neighbors, walks a French Gerbil Hound (that may or may not really be a miniature pony), shoots out of a cannon into marshmallow fluff, is most definitely be cursed.  Okay…well the cursed part isn’t so much fun (for him), but I suppose it’s safe to say that things aren’t always what they seem.

Illustrated by David Heatley, I believe there isn’t a two-page spread throughout the entire book that lacks embellishment.  All of the illustrations capture the feeling of the book and its characters perfectly, and I really think they’ll make what could be an intimidating book for some reluctant readers fly by.

Otis Dooda: Strange But True isn’t one I’ll be insisting the adults in my life pick up, but I do very much recommend it for the trouble-making 7-9 year-old kids in your life.  It’s a book about an average kid having the sort of adventures any average kid out there could have.  It is more than a little bit strange, but the humor and feeling are certainly true.

Except for my name, I’m pretty “sort of.” I’m sort of skinny and sort of short.  I’m sort of good at soccer and sort of bad at math.  In other words, I’m sort of average.  I lived a sort of average life, too.  But then, this summer, my father started a new job, which meant we all had to move to New York City.  That’s when my life became sort of crazy.

Everything I’m about to tell you is true.

Strange but true.

Likelihood that I’ll be back for more:  I still need to read Potter’s The Kneebone Boy!! And very much want to. Of course, I’ll also try to keep up with any new releases she comes up with in the meantime. An auto-read MG author for me.

Recommended for: This is a great pairing for Kim Baker’s Pickle!  It’s another fun one for this age group that will appeal to both boys and girls, that has extra goodies–for example Otis has his own Twitter account!  Here’s the website, and check out the trailer:

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  I honestly read Otis Dooda when I was having a really crappy day.  Long story short, I was sick, I’d just gotten out of a 13 hour work day, and my car battery was dead.  I was so happy to have Otis to keep me company (and keep my spirits up) while we resuscitated my poor vehicle.  A happy result from always keeping a book in my bag!

I’ve also reviewed:
The Humming Room by Ellen Potter

If you liked that you might like this:

• Audio Review: Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani
• Q&A and Giveaway: Ellen Potter and David Heatley of Otis Dooda: Strange But True
• Review: One + One = Blue by MJ Auch