YA Yeah Yeah

Monday Musings: Graphic Novel Review of Superior by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

2013-05-20T14:58:00.001-07:00

Former basketball star Simon Pooni is now in a wheelchair and blind in one eye - at the age of 12. Mutliple sclerosis has left him in this state, prayting for a cure. Then a talking monkey named Orman appears to him and offers him the chance to become a real life version of movie superhero Superior - for a week. But what will happen when the week ends?

There are some superhero comics which stand out from the crowded field by offering a new spin on superheroes. Chief amongst them, of course, are still Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's incredible critique of the genre, and Frank Miller's Dark Night Returns, putting an aged Batman in a bleak future. There are others that stand out by doing similar things to most of the hundreds of superhero stories out there, but just doing them incredibly well. Superior is one of the second type.

There's not that much original about the tale - even the title hero is clearly inspired by Superman, to the point where it's dedicated to Christopher Reeve and director Richard Donner. Fittingly, though, given the name, the writing and art is far superior to nearly anything else I've read in the last few years. Simon is a great hero, the supporting cast is well-portrayed, and if much of the series is fairly easy to predict, there are some shining moments for several characters - one in particular - which took me by surprise and made me smile a lot. Actually, I smiled a lot while reading most of this book, because it's a story told with such warmth that it's really enjoyable to read, while also being thought-provoking. It raises questions about disability, about temptation, and about choices. As good as the writing is, though, it's definitely matched by Leinil Yu's stunning artwork - particularly impressive on some of the jaw-dropping splash pages and the scenes in which Simon tries out his powers for the first time.

In addition, because it's a stand-alone, it's perfect for someone with little to no knowledge of comics to read, compared to trying to get into the sprawling worlds of Marvel and DC. Huge recommendation as one of my favourite graphic novels.

Sunday Spotlight: Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne

2013-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Adamma Okomma, daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, isn't keen on moving to boarding school, even the exclusive Crofton College in Wiltshire. However, after arriving there, she quickly makes friends with the beautiful but unpredictable Scarlett. What seems like a beautiful friendship, though, is torn apart when both girls fall for the same guy. After Scarlett goes missing, can Adamma put their problems behind her?

I enjoyed this, despite finding much of the plot rather easy to guess, because the two main characters of Adamma and Scarlett are really well-portrayed. Adamma is a bright young girl and a loyal friend, while Scarlett is unpredictable and at times annoying, but has such a forceful personality that it's easy to see why Adamma likes her so much. I also thought the adult characters, particularly the policeman who sets out to solve Scarlett's disappearance and the two girls' fathers, were very well-drawn.

The action takes place in two timelines, flicking back and forth between the past - starting wtih Adamma's arrival at the school - and the present, just after Scarlett goes missing. The constant changes, letting us see the growth and then decline of Adamma and Scarlett's friendship and the effect Scarlett's disapperance has on the school, build the tension well. The relationships between the girls generally – not just Scarlett and Adamma – are also well-portrayed and believable. As mentioned earlier, I found the mystery predictable, but was still glued to the book to see if I was right.

It’s a dark and atmospheric read, in the same vein as Byrne’s superb debut Heart-Shaped Bruise. If I’m honest, I didn’t think it was quite as good as her first book – not a major criticism, as that was one of the best YA contemporary books of last year for me. However it’s an easy recommendation and confirms Tanya Byrne as a definite name to watch out for. I’m already looking forward to her next novel!

Friday Feature: Author Interview with Katie McGarry

2013-05-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

I loved Katie McGarry's Pushing The Limits last year, and Dare You To - her upcoming companion novel to that book - was another really good read. I was incredibly pleased when she agreed to an interview with me.

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, what do you see?

I see a lot of different people. I see teenagers, both male and females. I see people in their young twenties and those who are my age. What I also see is a friend of my grandmother’s, who is in her nineties, who wrote me a note to tell me how much she loved Pushing the Limits.

2. You've created four very different narrators in your two books so far - who was your favourite to write for?

That’s like asking which of my children I love more. J

I loved writing Echo’s innocence and sarcasm.

I loved writing Noah’s intense love for his brothers and Echo.

I loved writing Beth’s heart break and tough façade.

I loved writing the poet that is Ryan.

3. I'm really looking forward to reading Crossing The Line, your upcoming novella (released since I asked this question!) featuring Echo's best friend Lila. Can we expect more short stories or novellas from you in the future?

I wouldn’t rule it out! Writing Lila’s story has given me a taste for short fiction and now I’m a little addicted.

4. Isaiah was one of my favorite characters in Pushing The Limits and Dare You To, so I'm really looking forward to reading his story in Crash Into You! You mentioned to me a while ago that you had plans to write more stories in the Pushing The Limits universe - will Isaiah's be the last? If not (I hope not!), could you give us a clue as to who you'd be focusing on next?

I’m glad you love Isaiah as much as I do! For now I’m focused on his book. But I fall a little in love with every secondary character who shows up on the pages of my novels, so it’s entirely likely that one of them will demand their own story at some point down the line.

5. In Dare You To, Ryan and his friends are somewhat obsessed with dares - what's the craziest dare you've ever done?

I’m afraid I’m no fun with this answer. It’s not that I haven’t been dared to do anything, but I’m a little like Beth in that I wouldn’t be sucked into a game I didn’t want to play. Of course, Beth does become sucked into Ryan’s dares, but only because it serves her purpose.

6. Ryan and his brother are both excellent athletes in different sports. Do you have any sporting talents yourself?

I played tennis in high school and advanced to the state tournament my Junior and Senior years. I even played in USTA Kentucky junior tournaments. While I enjoyed it, I have to admit that I haven’t picked up a racket since the end of my Senior year.

7. If you could ask any author any question, what would you ask and who would you ask it to?

I’d ask S.E. Hinton what happened to Pony Boy (The Outsiders) as he got older.

8. What are you reading at the moment?

I’m rereading Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

9. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what's the soundtrack for Dare You To?

I listen to a playlist while I do everything else other than write. I typically write in silence. I’ll be adding DARE YOU TO’s playlist to my website as it gets closer to the release date. P!nk’s F**kin’ Perfect and Rod Stewart’s Broken Arrow are two of my favorite songs from the playlist.

10. What's next for Katie McGarry?

I’m currently working on revisions for Isaiah’s story, CRASH INTO YOU. I can’t wait to share his story with the world!

Thanks so much for talking to me, Katie!

You can find more from Katie at her website and on Twitter.

Monday Musings: Comic Book Review of Green Lantern v1: Sinestro (The New 52)

2013-05-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I've never been a Green Lantern fan - I've tried the series a couple of times in the past but seem to have picked bad times to give it a go. However, I've heard some good things about DC Comics recently so wanted to try a few of the New 52 books, which relaunched all of the publisher's ongoing monthlies, and this caught my eye.

First things first - this is something of a 'soft' relaunch, in comparison with a few others which served as origin stories. This plunges us right into the action, with the Guardians, creators of the Green Lanterns, giving back a power ring to Sinestro. For those even more unfamiliar with the series than I am, the Guardians are immortals from another planet, while the Green Lanterns are chosen from across the universe by these immortals and given rings which turn them into superheroes. The two main characters in this book are Sinestro - Green Lantern turned supervillain turned Green Lantern again - and Hal Jordan, former Green Lantern turned normal guy. At least until Sinestro, his bitter rival, turns up and makes him an offer...

Geoff Johns is generally acknowledged as one of the best at writing Green Lantern, and this definitely doesn't disappoint! We get some fabulous action, wonderful humorous exchanges between Sinestro and Jordan, and intriguing hints being laid down for future issues. There's a good mix of the aforementioned action with slower stuff - the comedy early on as Jordan tries to adjust to life after being a Lantern is really well-written, as is the romance element. I think it's a good starting point for new readers - everything you need to know is easy enough to pick up from the first 12 pages or so.

In addition, I loved the art - by Doug Mahnke on the first five issues and guest artist Mike Choi in the sixth. Both have brilliant, although very different, styles. Mahnke's work is some of comics' finest, especially when it comes to some stunning action scenes and beautiful full page spreads. Choi's is more realistic but equally great to look at. All in all, it's an extremely visually appealing comic.

Highly recommended as a great book for readers new to DC in general, or Green Lantern in particular.

Sunday Spotlight: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

2013-05-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

After finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her with a girl he met online, Mallory decides that the best way to make her life less complicated is to get rid of the boy, and of the new technology that's the cause of her woes. Finding a list her grandmother wrote as a teen in the Sixties, she decides to go vintage, and live as her grandmother did. Will she find the answer to her modern-day problems in the past?

This is a fun, fairly light, read which I didn't think was quite as good as Leavitt's previous teen novel, the wonderful Sean Griswold's Head, but was still a cut above most contemporary YA books. Mallory is a great narrator, and her younger sister Ginnie and their grandmother are fabulous supporting characters, while the relationships between the three of them, and Ginnie and Mallory's parents, are the strongest part of the book. The dynamics, as Ginnie becomes frustrated with Mallory's attempt to 'go vintage', and both girls have to cope with their grandmother moving into a retirement community and their parents arguing, are definitely believable and worked well. (Although I have to say, I found their mother to be incredibly annoying!) I thought the romance was perhaps slightly less successful, although that may be because I was expecting too much as Sean and Payton in Sean Griswold's Head were one of my favourite recent couples. For me, the love interest in this book wasn't quite as engaging as Sean was, although I still liked him.

Leavitt's writing style is still fresh, easy to read, and she keeps the plot moving at a rapid pace here. I'd happily recommend this to anyone looking for a teen contemporary with a strong narrator, and am looking forward to reading her future books!

(Oh, and one more thing - aren't both covers gorgeous? First is the UK one, second is US - both fabulous!)

Saturday Special: Interview with Will Hill

2013-05-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

As readers may know, one of my very favourite current series is Department 19, by Will Hill. I was absolutely thrilled when I managed to get an interview lined up with him - huge thank you to The Bookbag for arranging it!

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

Will Hill: People who like a good story, who don't mind being scared, and who have strong stomachs!

To be honest, I don't see a particular person when I wonder about who reads D19 – I see lots of them. Some of the marketing has positioned them as books for boys, which is understandable given the action and the military stuff, but I've never thought of them that way, and the emails and tweets and Facebook messages I've received suggest that they are read by both boys and girls, and by men and women, of various ages. Which is awesome, obviously.

2. Department 19 is inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, while Frankenstein is perhaps the most intriguing character. (For now - I'll have changed my mind by question 7!) Are there any other classic novels that you'd like to see inspire modern teen novels?

WH: It's an interesting thought – I've had D19 fans ask whether I'm going to bring in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man, and many others! Beyond the horror genre, Rick Riordan is doing a fine job of integrating the classic myths and legends into his various series, and there have been lots of re-imaginings of Austen, Dickens, Brontë, etc. I think looking to the classics can be a great way to inspire new stories, as long as the author's ambition is to build on them and create something new, rather than just go over the same ground and try to associate themselves with something iconic.

3. I loved the animated comic strip, with stunning illustrations from Tom Percival, posted on your website a few weeks ago, and am looking forward to seeing the others. Is there any chance the main series will get a graphic novel adaptation?

WH: You never know! I'm a huge comic book fan, so that would be something I would be delighted to see happen, but any type of adaptation is incredibly hard to get off the ground. I had a lot of fun writing the animated comics that we produced for the release of Battle Lines, and what Tom has done with them is absolutely incredible – they've been getting a great response, so I would think they'll be something we would seriously consider doing again in the future.

4. Speaking of adaptations, would you like to see Department 19 filmed? Any thoughts on who could play any of the parts, if that was to happen?

WH: I get this question a lot, and to be honest, I'm always in two minds about a film adaptation. On one hand it would be amazing to see the physical side of D19 realised – the technology, the locations, the uniforms, and the world of the vampires – and watch actors playing characters I made up. On the other, it would be very weird, as I can be a tiny bit of a control freak :) One of the best things about writing novels is the lack of compromise that is required, in terms of scale and scope. The budget is essentially unlimited – I can do anything I want as what I'm describing only takes shape in the imagination of the reader. A film version of D19 would need to be very, very expensive to do it justice – there would be digital effects in almost every frame. We've had a lot of meetings with interested parties, and I suspect that at some point someone will try to make it happen, but I won't be holding my breath…

As far as casting is concerned, there are a few people I've always seen in my head when I'm writing certain characters: Paddy Considine as Julian Carpenter, Gary Oldman as Henry Seward, Rachel Weisz as Marie Carpenter. The one that usually surprises people is Colin Firth as Frankenstein.

Some great picks there - I think Firth as Frankenstein would be amazing!

5. I was thrilled to see the amazing Department 19: Battle Lines display in the window of Foyles when I visited London last week! Did you ever imagine the series would be as successful as it's turned out to be?

WH: It's all very weird. I don't really know how successful it is, as I tend to stay away from the sales numbers – my view tends to be that as long as my publishers are happy, then I'm happy. But when I was writing it, I never had any idea whether it would ever even see the light of day, let alone whether anyone would ever read it. So if it's selling well, that's awesome. But what's far more awesome, and endlessly humbling, is realising that there are people out there actually spending their money and time on something I wrote. Interacting with fans of the series is the best part of the whole thing – reading their thoughts, answering their questions, enjoying their theories – and it's been lovely to hear how many of them were eagerly awaiting the publication of Battle Lines.

6. In addition to the three superb novels so far released in the Department 19 series, you recently released the Department 19 Files, 3 e-books set in the Department 19 universe between 1917 and 1919. I've read, and really enjoyed the first one, and am about to read the others - and am looking forward to more in the future, hopefully! Do you think the internet and the growth of e-readers has led to more opportunities for authors to write short stories like this?

WH: Definitely – before the rise of ebooks, the only places I could have put the D19 Files would have either been in the backs of the novels, or in their own collection once I had written enough of them to warrant the printing costs. I love printed books, so I’d still love to do that one day, but for now, releasing them digitally allows me to put them out there quickly, and lets readers pick the ones they think they might be interested in.

7. And speaking of short stories, you also wrote one for World Book Day, featuring Larissa, perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in the series. (Apologies to Frankenstein; I did say I'd have changed my mind by now though!) How did you get involved in writing something for World Book Day?

WH: I don't know exactly how it came about – World Book Day are in contact with publishers all through the year, so the first I knew of it was when my editor asked me if I had a story that would work for the YA app that they were going to be doing for the second time this year. I was delighted, even though it was going to need writing in the same period as we were finishing the edit of the third D19 – I actually wrote it in a six-hour blitz the day after Battle Lines was sent off to be typeset.

Larissa is one of my favourite characters, and I'm delighted she seems to be so popular with the D19 audience. When I was thinking about what to do for WBD, a story about her on her own, without Jamie or Kate or Matt, quickly presented itself, and by the time I came to write it I was desperate to get on with it.

8. I love the way your books cut between so many different situations and plot threads, but it seems like it must be incredibly hard for you to keep track of them all as an author! How much planning do you do before you start to write your first draft?

WH: When I started writing Department 19 I knew how it started and how it ended, but basically nothing else. I just trusted that the story would unfold itself as I was writing it, and luckily (after a few detours and wrong turns!) it did so – the historical sections appeared pretty much fully formed, and the narrative gradually fell into place. But about halfway through, I realised that I was going to have to work out the history, all the family trees, and the organisation of the Department, so I stopped in the middle for about a month and did the bulk of the research and planning.

For The Rising, I planned a bit more, particularly with reference to the story elements I left open at the end of the first book, and for Battle Lines I did even more – the series has well over a hundred named characters now, along with all the history, all the geographical range, and all the different threads that will eventually all need bringing back together. But even now, as I'm starting book four, I'm still reluctant to plan everything too tightly – I have a long list of everything that is active from the earlier books, where all the characters are and what they are doing, and I know what the main narrative threads are going to be. But I'll be very disappointed if I don't come up with some new (and hopefully better) ideas as I write it – I like to make sure I have room to change things.

9. If fans of Department 19 have read the entire series so far and all of the short stories, what should they seek out to tide them over until book four is out?

WH: Off the top of my head, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, the Mortal Engines quartet by Philip Reeve, the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (when it comes out!), The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer (as well as the entire Artemis Fowl series, obviously!), In Darkness and Hostage 3 by Nick Lake, Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, the Gone series by Michael Grant, and everything by Roald Dahl – I don't care if you've read them all before, read them again :)

10. What's next for Will Hill?

WH: Right now, D19 book four – that'll occupy me through the spring and summer, then I'll normally get a couple of months to work on other projects while we're editing and polishing. I signed a new contract with HarperCollins last year which is for the last two D19s and something else afterwards, so I'm working on a few ideas for what I might do after the D19 series is wrapped up. One thing is for sure – it will be a standalone, rather than the first in a new series :)

Can't wait for those books, Will! Thanks so much for the interview.

Thursday Thoughts: Book Review of I'm Dougal Trump - Where's My Tarantula by Dougal Trump

2013-05-09T23:54:00.001-07:00

Note: I was given a copy of this book by the publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Warning: Some minor spoilers for I'm Dougal Trump And It's Not My Fault in this review.

Sybil has gone missing! Not Dougal Trump's sister Sibble - he'd be quite glad to lose her - but his beautiful Goliath birdeater spider! The fact that her tank's disappeared as well suggest this isn't just a spider making a break for freedom - and this is quickly confirmed when Dougal gets a ransom demand, telling him to follow instructions or receive Sybil back one leg at a time!

I really enjoyed the first in this series despite it being aimed at a younger age range than most books I review - it stood out thanks to a clever plot and Dougal's really strong voice, along with a great cast of supporting characters. This books continues in the same vein, with a really entertaining story and a great mixture of the narrative with Dougal's blog posts and his friends' comments on them - I particularly loved his recipes, especially when others tried to follow them with predictably disastrous results! I think the blog parts work especially well because they make what's in some ways a timeless story - Dougal is the kind of boy you could imagine fitting in with William Brown's Outlaws perfectly - feel fresh and up to date.

Stealing the show from the human characters in some ways though, are a bunch of animals - starting with Sybil and if anything getting more exotic - who are introduced as the book goes along. All of them are great to read about and Dougal gives readers some interesting facts on each one. In addition to the excellent writing, we also get some really good doodles as illustrations, which definitely added to my enjoyment of the book. (Actually, thinking about it, they don't quite steal the show from ALL of the human characters - there's one scene involving Dougal's blind neighbour which is simply brilliant.)

Highly recommended, and I'll definitely be hoping for a book 3!

Monday Musings: The Right Voice

2013-05-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post about six months ago called The Ingredients of a Great Book, where I tried working out what the really important things were in the books I loved most. At that point, I plumped for character as the most important with voice a close second, but the more I think about it, the more I'm veering towards voice.

I'm thinking about the books which have stayed with me the longest, and almost all of the ones I can remember have incredibly strong narrative voices. For the most case, they're in first person - tragic Tessa in Jenny Downham's Before I Die and Lennie, grieving for her sister, in Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere being two who immediately sprang to mind.

Interestingly, some of my very favourite narrators have actually been hard to warm to. I nearly put down Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now three or four times in the first seventy pages because I felt out of breath trying to keep up with Daisy's frantic, hyperactive prose, but at some point there it absolutely clicked for me and I was completely hooked. Similarly, the first quarter of Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan had me wondering what all the fuss was about because Dash's super-snarky voice was grating - but once I'd got into it, I loved it so much I bought my sister a copy as part of her Christmas present.

That's not to say, of course, that all my favourite narrators have initially annoyed me. Disfigured Jenna and Ryan, suffering from prejudice against travellers, hooked me from the opening chapters of Laura Jarratt's Skin Deep. Similar dual narratives - a particular favourite type for me - which have pulled me in right from the beginning are Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry, with the stunning chemistry between damaged teens Echo and Noah, and Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon, with similarly wonderful chemistry between feisty Lucy and artistic Ed. Then, there's Maddie and Verity in Elizabeth Wein's breathtaking Code Name Verity. (Regular readers KNOW why I don't say anything about CNV except "Buy it now!")

Moving to single narrators, Hayley Long's Lottie Biggs, struggling to cope with some rather serious mental health problems, is one I absolutely loved, as are Sam, in comin 2 gt u by Simon Packham, terrified of the person or people who are bullying him, Chris in Silenced, by Simon Packham, talking to his dead friend but nobody else, and Jess, in Firewallers, by... oh, yeah, Simon Packham. (I'm saying little about Firewallers as it's not out yet, but it's a must read!) As impressive as Packham's ability to write completely convincing voices for new characters in each novel is, though, Daniela Sacerdoti does this several times in the course of the same novel. Dreams and Tide, the first two in the Sarah Midnight series, are mainly in third person but bounce us into the heads of various characters for first person segments. It's a fascinating style which pays off because she voices them all, particularly the two love interests for Sarah, so brilliantly.

Speaking of fascinating styles, the most fascinating of all is surely Jaclyn Moriarty's, whose characters in her Ashbury/Brookfield series communicate with the reader using everything from letters to diary entries to exam transcripts. Her Feeling Sorry For Celia, Finding Cassie Crazy, and Dreaming of Amelia are three of my very favourite contemporary YA novels of recent years.

Of course, not every writer I think has a stunning voice is writing in first person. when it comes to third person, I have a real weakness for the less serious stuff. The Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars series both hooked me with their deliciously acidic narration, while one of the most bizarrely brilliant books I've read so far this year is Yelena Black's Dance of Shadows, of which the last six chapters are incredibly quotable. Then there's the books where the narrator is indescribable, for whatever reason - Natasha Farrant's fabulous The Things We Did For Love being the one which springs to mind right now.

Which books, or authors, stand out to you as having truly superb voices? Leave me a comment, I'd love to know!

Sunday Spotlight: Don't Look Back by SB Hayes

2013-05-05T15:16:00.001-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Ever since they were children, Sinead has been taunted by her older brother Patrick. Always their mother's favourite, he constantly plays games with her, trying to force her to follow him. When he goes missing, it seems to be his most sinister game yet - as he leaves a trail of clues which lead to Benedict House, a strange place where time seems to stand still.

I started reading SB Hayes' latest book at about half past ten one Sunday evening, and put it down at about twenty five to eleven. That's not because of any lack of quality, though - rather, it was just that the eerie atmosphere of the opening pages reminded me that after finishing her debut novel, Poison Heart at around midnight on a Sunday, I was too scared to sleep for at least 3 hours! On picking it up again on Monday morning, I found I'd definitely made the right decision - if Poison Heart was fairly frightening, this is absolutely chilling, scaring me more than any teen novel I've read before - and more than anything since my days of reading horror by John Saul and James Herbert.

In addition to the extremely atmospheric writing, Hayes really captures the characters well in this one, particularly the bizarre - but still believable - family dynamic between time-obsessed Sinead, manipulative Patrick and their mother. I'll even forgive her for including two boys competing for Sinead's attention, as despite my feelings on love triangles, the pair are both interesting characters and the romance definitely doesn't overshadow the main plot of the novel. I found the plotting to be well done, and the ending left me stunned.

Strongly recommended - but let me stress, it's definitely not one to read late at night!

Friday Feature: Author Interview with Andy Robb

2013-05-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

Really pleased to present an interview with the brilliant Andy Robb, author of the Geekhood series, highly recommended reads if you enjoy reading about teenage boys navigating the perils of love and LARP. (If you don't know what LARP is, check out yesterday's review of Geekhood: Mission Improbable!)

Jim very kindly asked me to do this interview, saying that he finished writing the questions “late at night , so they might be slightly surreal” and that I was to “ignore anything too out there!” Personally, I like a challenge…

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

My brain operates in 2-D, hand-drawn animation, so I tend to visualise people as cartoon characters. I’d never actually imagined my readers until that question was asked, so I had a go. For some reason, I got a picture of a crowd of cartoon people sitting in cinema seats, with the lights up, each reading a copy of Geekhood. But, I’m going to interpret the question another way to give a less-weird answer: I kind of hope that the people who the books speak to are young adults, probably around 13, who might be having problems of their own. I know Geekhood is supposed to be a funny book, but I hope there are little messages in there for the people who need them.

2. You really bring the role-playing games the characters play to life. Do you play RPGs yourself?

Not as much as I used to. I started out on D&D which, I think, is still the best. But my interest in painting miniatures soon took me in other directions and I ended up playing Middle Earth, Judge Dredd and – my favourite of that lot – Paranoia. I liked Paranoia because each character had a specific hidden (and often ludicrous) agenda, which could turn a game upside down. As much as RPGs are about adventuring and telling stories, I also think they’re for people who like people; people who like to understand how other people think and work out the mechanics of creating and investing in a character. It’s like making a movie, but without the cameras. Or huge pay-packet.

3. Clare and Archie's fake relationship is brilliant! Who would be your ideal fake girlfriend?

If you’re going to lie, go big. I’d plump for someone completely and utterly out of my league and who would have no interest in me whatsoever. Oh, hang on… that rules out a lot of people! I’ll say Diana Troy out of Next Generation because, as an empath, she could let me know what the girl I really liked was actually feeling about me.

4. I really like the shop The Hovel, which caters for all of the boys' gaming needs. What's your own favourite place to shop?

I do like a Games Workshop, but I also love Forbidden Planet. I’ll take either for a lazy browse.

5. I always like seeing well-drawn adult characters in YA novels, and thought the relationship between Archie, his parents, and their new partners was really well done. Who are your favourite fictional parents or guardians?

That’s a tough one! But I do think Bilbo Baggins did a good job as Frodo’s adoptive father. Not only did he have a cool home, but he also discovered the joy and horror of adventures. Plus, he proved he was fallible – which I think is important; I’m forever telling my lad that grown-ups get it wrong, we’re just terrible at admitting it. As a parent, I sometimes feel like a very old-looking child.

6. You've appeared as an actor in some massive films and TV programmes, with Coronation Street and two Discworld adaptations being perhaps the most impressive (at least to me!) Where would you rather live, Weatherfield or Ankh-Morpork?

I’d have to go for Ank-Morpork. I think I’d fit in with the dress-code a lot better.

7. As if I wasn't jealous enough that I couldn't make it to the Geekhood: Mission Improbable launch (thanks for the invite, though!) I've just seen the awesome superhero cupcakes. If you were a cake, what type of cake would you be?

It’s a toss-up between a Battenburg and a home-cooked fruit cake. I think I’d go for the fruit cake, because home-cooked ones always have burnt currants on the surface and I think that’s a bit like my personality. But no candied orange – can’t stand the stuff.

8. I know you do school visits from time to time - what's the best thing about them?

Most of the time, the students I talk to have never heard of the book. So, to help them understand a bit about it, I tell stories about my teens – generally embarrassing ones about asking girls out – just to give them an idea where I’m coming from. But I do talk about more serious stuff; things like divorce. The best bits for me are when something I’ve said has struck a chord and a student hangs about to talk to me about it. I’ve seen poems and I’ve mopped up tears; it can be very emotional, but it’s incredibly humbling to think that you
might be helping someone to articulate the problems they’re going through.

9. Luke Skywalker had Darth Vader. Frodo Baggins had Sauron. Archie has Jason Humphries. And you have Cethan Leahy. How did this literary rivalry start?

Every Holmes must have his Moriarty. Where other heroes have adversaries who are often far cleverer or stronger than they are, I decided to hedge my bets and go for someone obviously inferior on every level. If he’s a master of anything, it’s mediocrity. Actually, it was Cethan who started it – he was on Twitter, bemoaning the fact that he didn’t have a Literary Rival, so I applied for the job. And, in seriousness, I’m delighted to cross swords with him: he’s funny, articulate and a talented artist and it makes Twitter a fun place to be. But don’t tell him I said that.

10. What's next for Andy Robb?

Immediately, a cuppa. Long term – it’s a bit more fuzzy. I’m waiting for Stripes to confirm or deny the possibility of a third Geekhood, but that’s some weeks away. Fingers crossed. If it doesn’t work out, I’ve got another idea bubbling away – something very different. But I don’t want to start on it, until I know
what’s happening to Archie, as I’ve already got the plot in my head and the opening paragraph. For the time being, I’m doing a few events: Southampton Recon, the Hay Festival and Edinburgh. In the meantime, I’ll just keep on keeping on.

Thanks for the questions, Jim – it’s really nice to answer something a bit
different/surreal/insane.

Thanks for the great answers, Andy - I'll keep my fingers crossed for a Geekhood 3!

Thursday Thoughts: Review of Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb

2013-05-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Warning: The below review contains spoilers for Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind.

Despite his efforts with Sarah at the start of term, fourteen-year-old Archie is still as geeky and as clueless about girls as ever. Then he meets Clare, a sixteen-year-old who has relationship problems of her own, and they create a fake relationship to try and get their crushes to notice them. What could possibly go wrong?

Archie's voice - split between the main narrative of the book and frequent interjections from his Interior Monologue, which tends to sarcastically put him down, and his Exterior Monologue, is fantastic. The two monologues are the kind of thing that could easily have come across as gimmicky, but in both books, Robb has really nailed them - they fit Archie's character perfectly, and make it a fun, fast paced read.

In addition to the superb voice, Geekhood has a good cast of characters - I particularly like Beggsy, who can carry on entire conversations with the use of the word ''Dude!'', and Archie's relationship with both his parents and their new partners is really realistically handled. (His mum is absolutely adorable, while the other three are all frustrating to varying degrees but clearly care about him a lot.) In addition, Archie and his friends become involved with live action role-playing, which makes this seriously unique; it's rare enough to read about tabletop roleplaying, but Andy Robb makes the idea of LARP sound completely fascinating. While not everyone will be as keen as I was after reading it to try and find some LARP to do, I'm pretty sure that everyone will be able to relate to Archie's romantic problems, and sympathise with him as he struggles with what to do about his fake girlfriend and the girl he actually likes.

There are lots of authors out there at the moment writing wonderful contemporary books about teen boys navigating the perils of growing up - I wish I'd had anywhere near this much of a choice of books to read when I was a teen myself! - and Andy Robb is one of the best of them. If you're a fan of Tom Clempson, Don calame, Larry Doyle or Jesse Andrews, you should definitely check out the Geekhood series.

March in Review

2013-04-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

Total books read: 15

The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch
Ladies And Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning by Jonathan Mahler
One Seriously Messed Up Weekend In the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson
One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson
What The Spell by Brittany Geragotelis

Requiem by Lauren Oliver
Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb
Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Socks Are Not Enough by Mark Lowery

Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J Bick
Elephant of Surprise by Brent Hartinger
Dept 19 Battle Lines by Will Hill
Titanic Thompson by Kevin Cook
Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Random Thoughts

Despite a few disappointments - notably Rebecca Stead's Newbery Medal winning When You Reach Me, which was okay but didn't live up to my expectations, and Amy McCulloch's The Oathbreaker's Shadow, in which I liked the plot and setting but disliked almost all the characters - March was a strong month overall. I finally got round to reading books by Andy Robb, Tom Clempson, Siobhan Curham and Brent Hartinger, all of whom have been on my 'to read' list for ages, and all lived up to high expectations. In addition, I read a couple of brilliant non-fiction books - both Kevin Cook's biography of legendary gambler Titanic Thompson, and Jonathan Mahler's stunning Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning, an account of New York City in 1977, were superb.

Book of the Month

Very tough call for third, but Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham just holds off both Jack Samsonite books, the first Geekhood, and Going Vintage on the strength of a wonderful narrator and the really believable relationships she has with her family.

2nd place goes to the stunning conclusion of the Delirium trilogy, Requiem by Lauren Oliver - I loved the ending, and found the entire book to be the best of the three, and one of the best dystopians I've read.

1st, though, was a strong contender for book of the year so far, Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill. Every time I read another book in this fantastic series, I'm filled with mixed emotions - joy at having read such a great novel, and despair at having to wait another year to find out what happens next. Thankfully, Will has released three short stories, set between 1917 and 1919, in the Department 19 universe to keep us going!

Sunday Spotlight: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

2013-04-28T11:45:00.002-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Vanessa is just one of many new students at the New York Ballet Academy - but while they're all trying to become the best dancer, she has her own reasons for being there. Three years ago her older sister disappeared from the school, and she's determined to find out what happened to Margaret. Can she find out? And will the two boys taking an interest in her, charismatic Zeppelin and incredibly intense Justin, help or hinder her search?

I’m not even sure how to start reviewing this one, because my head’s still spinning after reading it. I’ve gone back and forth on whether to mention that it’s paranormal – because apart from a prologue which I initially thought might be a dream sequence, it only becomes obviously paranormal fairly late on – but I think I have to, because if you’re not interested in that genre then the last quarter or so will be well out of your comfort zone as things get increasingly magical.

So, if you’re looking for anything remotely realistic, don’t go near this. If you’re on board for a breathtakingly, rather brilliantly, bonkers read, grab a copy and I doubt you’ll be able to put it down. It’s thrill-a-minute stuff, with mysterious characters, a ballet academy with a sinister history, and a complete lack of any sense of restraint which is to be commended – if this plot had been toned down to be even vaguely sensible it would probably have collapsed, but the sheer insanity keeps it going.

Also, despite the crazy plot, Black’s writing style is excellent – at least, it works perfectly for this book. Reading my favourite bits out loud to my dad while he was watching a football match on TV, I nearly lost my voice – virtually the entire last half a dozen chapters deserve to be quoted, and it contains a really strong contender for ‘best made-up word of the year’. (Sorry, telling you what that is would be too spoilery even for this review.)

The characters are slightly sketchy, to be honest, but while this is normally a major problem for me, I was far too busy trying (and failing miserably) to guess what on earth would happen next to worry about that.

I have no idea where on earth Yelena Black will take the series with the already-announced second book – but I’m definitely looking forward to finding out. Recommended if you’re looking for an incredibly entertaining and really unusual read.

Saturday Special: Review of Tide by Daniela Sacerdoti

2013-04-27T16:36:00.001-07:00

My thanks to the lovely people at Black & White Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Warning – major spoilers below for book 1 of this trilogy, Dreams by Daniela Sacerdoti.

After her parents' deaths at the hands of the demons they fought against, Sarah Midnight was left reeling again by the revelation towards the end of book 1 that her 'cousin' Harry Midnight was actually Harry's friend Sean Hannay. Unable to trust Sean following his lies, Sarah turns to Nicholas, new on the scene. But Nicholas has dark secrets of his own - has Sarah placed her faith in the wrong person? And will she find out the truth about the Midnight legacy before the demons attack again?

One of the most ambitious paranormal trilogies out there, like the first book, this is told mainly in third-person following Sarah, but switches to first person from the perspective of other characters at times. It works well as Daniela Sacerdoti’s voice for each character – particularly love interests Sean and Nicholas – is very strong.

It’s also got my favourite love triangle in any current YA series. The romantic tension between Sarah herself, Sean – who she hasn’t forgiven for lying to her about his identity – and the tormented Nicholas works really well and actually adds a lot of depth to the novel. Also adding depth is the slow revelations about the history of the Midnights, who are a far cry from a 'standard' heroic fantasy family - indeed, there were times when I thought that they were arguably more to blame for Sarah's problems than the villains were! Sarah's discovery of her family's past The world-building, a strong point of the Dreams, continues to be good, and it benefits from an ending which seems to tie up more than the first book did.

If there is a criticism to be made, I think that it's arguably a little too long - it doesn't feel quite like it's a story that needs 350 plus pages to be told - but that's a fairly minor complaint. Overall, this is well worth reading and I'm certainly looking forward to the conclusion of Sarah's story.

Phil Earle Talks About The HEROIC Cover

2013-04-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

Awesome author Phil Earle's new book HEROIC comes out today, and I'm just a little bit thrilled to be presenting this guest post from him about the cover of the novel!

I’ve learnt that I should have absolutely nothing to do with the covers for my books. As a ridiculous control freak, it’s been a difficult lesson to learn, but finally, three books in, I’ve accepted it.

And my covers are better for it.

Every author daydreams about how their precious story will finally look on the shelf, the number of finishes it’ll have, the amount of foil or embossing that will make it pop and leap off the bookshop table and into the arms of an adoring reader.

I spent far too much time thinking about it, at the expense of writing whatever came next. I knew exactly how the jacket should look in my head, but it had become such a fantasy or an ideal, that I was buggered if I could describe it properly to any of the good folk at Puffin.

I tried though, through a series of waffly emails that probably had them tutting and scratching their heads, until they kindly came up with this concept.

I really liked it.

It felt more dynamic than Billy or Daisy, had intrigue and movement that might attract new readers looking for something faster-paced.

Job done. Or so I thought.

However, the cover didn’t go down well with retailers.

And that’s the thing you see, it’s not just about the author and publisher back-slapping each other over another glorious cover. The bookshops have to love it too, because if they don’t, they don’t put it in their shops.

And if they don’t put it in their shops?

Enough already…you get the drift.

So we were stuck, as our cover’s reception was lukewarm at best, which sent me into a head-spin.

I had no idea how else it could possibly look, or how it could do the content justice if it was different.

But obviously, clearly, I was wrong and this is where my lesson was learnt.

Authors, generally, don’t know what’s best for their covers. They can advise and prompt and be generally irritating to their publishers, plus, every author should have a cover they can be proud of. But they should NEVER design them, or try to be involved as much as I was, as I had no objectivity whatsoever.

When the final, magnificent cover for HEROIC dropped into my inbox, I had no idea whatsoever what was on it. There was a moment, as the jpeg threatened to open, that the fear nibbled at me, but that was soon replaced and forgotten. What we ended up with, to me, looks iconic and intriguing, without appealing solely to any gender or particular age.

I hope it’s universal in its appeal, but know for sure, that it’s better than the words that follow inside. And for that, I am very grateful indeed…

And I'm very grateful to you,. Phil, for such a fascinating look into part of the book publishing process that I've never really thought of before! I like both covers, but think the final one is definitely better and am sure it will draw lots of readers in. I hope HEROIC is hugely successful.

Sunday Spotlight: One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend: In the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson

2013-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Slight spoilers for One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite, although I think I've done a better than usual job of avoiding them. Anything I refer to here was given away in the first page of that book, so you can probably read this review even if you haven't read it. (Although really, if you're planning on reading the book, you should definitely check out that one first!)

Two years after the messed-up week described in the first Jack Samsonite book, things aren't all that different for our hero. He's still trying to get together with a girl - despite having ended book 1 in bed with someone, things didn't go as he would have wanted after that. He's also struggling at school again, and it's even more important than his attempts to pass his GCSEs were. This time, he needs to get into film school. He has a weekend to make a film, and he needs a girl to kiss, and at least one enemy to fight.

On the plus side, he's not struggling for enemies...

I read this one straight after reading Tom Clempson's debut novel, the first in the Jack Samsonite series, and it's another funny, crude, but ultimately warm-hearted slice of life for a reasonably typical teenager. Jack himself is the main strength of the series. He's sweet (well, as sweet as seventeen-year-old boys generally get), good-natured, and if his overactive sex drive and a tendency to insert his foot neatly into his mouth gets him into some sticky situations, he's normally got his heart in the right place. It's clear from his narration that the three girls who are potential love interests here are, in his opinion at least, way out of his league, but it's easy to see what they see in him - even if some of his appeal is clearly more in a 'little boy lost' way than the 'sex god' status he's hoping for! In addition to the girls, who are each well-described with their own personality (and a lot more common sense than the title character!) it's great to see the change in Jack's friend James in the two-year gap between the books, and the changed dynamic of their friendship is interesting reading.

Being completely honest, I didn't think it was quite as enjoyable as the first in the series, perhaps because that felt so wonderfully fresh and it's always going to be hard to recapture that originality in a follow-up. The sheer amount of toilet humour, especially when Jack, who struggles to use public toilets, has to leave home in the morning without getting a chance to use the bathroom properly, might also put some people off. It's still a definite recommendation though, thanks to Clempson's easy to read writing style, the wonderful central character, and a clever, unpredictable plot with lots of twists and turns. Oh, a warning - this series isn't one to be read on public transport, as I found out to my cost after numerous fits of giggling!

Friday Feature: Interview With Lauren Oliver

2013-04-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Lauren Oliver's Requiem was a stunning conclusion to her excellent Delirium trilogy. I jumped at the chance to interview her - huge thanks to The Bookbag for arranging it! (This interview originally ran there.)

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

Lauren Oliver: An adorably enthusiastic teen girl...and her mom. :)

2. Readers of my reviews will know that ever since Delirium, Lena has been one of my favourite lead characters. Which lead characters in other authors' books are your own favourites?

LO: I love Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice; I'm still resentful of the fact that my sister is named after her. I love Matilda in Matilda, Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, and Lyra in the His Dark Materials Trilogy. And plenty, plenty more.

3. As well as the Delirium trilogy and your debut Before I Fall, you've written two acclaimed books for younger readers, Liesl & Po and The Spindlers. Do you approach writing for younger readers differently than writing for teens, and if so, how?

LO: Not really. Much of writing is unconscious, intuitive, and fluid. When a young narrator starts speaking to me, I try and listen, as I do when an older narrator begins to speak.

4. As well as writing, you're a co-founder of Paper Lantern Lit, a literary development company. How much day-to-day involvement do you have with Paper Lantern, and what's the best thing about working with authors who write for Paper Lantern?

LO: I'm definitely involved day-to-day; editing and developing stories for Paper Lantern Lit takes up sixty percent of my daily work time at least. And the best part of working with the authors is watching their skill sets grow over time. It's extremely gratifying.

5. If you could host a literary dinner party, which six authors or characters would you invite?

LO: That's so hard! I'll pick authors, living and dead: Agatha Christie, Ian McEwan, JK Rowling, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Dr. Seuss.

6. I thought the ending to the trilogy was absolutely amazing, but it seems to have split reviewers somewhat so far - many loving it like I did, with others being not so keen. Did you always plan on ending it like that, or did you ever consider tying up more loose ends?

LO: I always intended for the book to end exactly as it did. I don't really think that there are very many loose ends. The Delirium trilogy is simply a window into a world; I like the idea that the world exists beyond what is written on the page.

7. A pilot for the Delirium TV series has been announced - I can't wait! How excited are you, and how involved have you been in creating it?

LO: I am extremely excited. I wasn't responsible for the script, and of course generating enough material for a TV series from a 3-book trilogy necessitates a lot of changes. But I'm in touch with the producers, the writer, and even the actors. I'm thrilled.

8. You've written several novellas set in the world of Delirium, letting us see other characters as well as Lena and Hana. Can we expect to see some non-Delirium related novellas from you in the future?

LO: It's possible! I loved writing the short story spin-offs; it was such a fun way to explore ancillary characters.

9. What are you reading at the moment?

LO: Doll Bones, by Holly Black; the Madman's Daughter, by Megan Shepherd; and Half a Life, by Darin Strauss.

10. What's next for Lauren Oliver?

LO: Next up, I have a standalone YA called Panic. It's a realistic book about a very small town and a very dangerous game that is played there every summer.

Really looking forward to that, Lauren! Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview.

Sunday Spotlight: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

2013-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Warning: Spoilers for Delirium and Pandemonium below!

Out in the Wilds, Lena is now trying to cope with the return of her first love Alex along with her feelings for Julian, but these relationship issues take a backseat as life becomes very dangerous for her, and everyone else. Back in Portland, her friend Hana is set to marry the man who will become Mayor - a perfect pairing, surely? While both girls have changed a lot since the start of book one, the biggest changes are still to come...

The strongest parts of the Delirium series, for me, have always been Oliver's gorgeous writing style and the character development of narrator Lena. With that in mind, I was initially surprised when I realised Lena's old friend Hana - who played a big part in Delirium but wasn't involved much in the second book - was narrating part of it. While it seemed a bizarre idea to switch from one narrator to two at this point in the series, it actually works stunningly well, giving us an insight into the life of someone who's been 'cured'. The main reason it works so well it that, like Lena, Hana has an exceptionally strong voice, and I was completely captivated by both of their stories.

We also get a memorably nasty villain here, evil enough to make your skin crawl, and a staggering amount of action in what's a comparatively short novel, at least in contrast to series like Twilight where every new book got longer and longer. This is a relatively quick, and completely engrossing, read which I didn't put down once between starting and finishing it. Oh, and as well as the main novel, there's a bonus story told from Alex's point of view, which is well worth reading.

What we don't get - thankfully, from my point of view! - is much of the love triangle which I'd been expecting to take centre stage. While both Alex and Julian play a part, and Lena still has feelings for them, rather than concentrating on the romance the book spends far more time on the action, and we see Lena complete her transformation from the meek girl desperate to receive the cure for love who we saw at the start of the first book into a seriously awesome heroine. It's a massive shift from the priorities of book one, but it really does pay off.

As for the ending... wow! I can see this one really dividing people - it's an open ending which definitely leaves a fair bit to the imagination, but for me it was perfect. It ended on just the right note, wrapped up enough to be truly satisfying, and the last few paragraphs, in particular, were completely heartbreakingly beautiful. Massively recommended, and overall this trilogy go from being a fairly strong recommendation to a huge one, as one of my favourite teen trilogies of recent years, on the strength of this concluding volume.

Sunday Spotlight: Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

2013-04-07T09:16:00.001-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Kat wants revenge on her ex-best friend, who now taunts her whenever they cross paths. Lillia wants revenge on the boy who's started treating her little sister as more than a friend. Mary wants revenge on the boy whose cruelty led to her leaving Jar Island for years, only returning now. Individually, they may not be able to do much - but as a trio, they're sure they can wreak vengeance on those people who've wronged them. Just how far will these three 17-year-olds go?

It took me a while to get into this one - I didn't think Kat, Lillia and Mary really developed their own voices until I'd read a couple of chapters with each as a narrator - but by the time I'd got a third of the way through or so I was really enjoying it. Once they develop their voices properly, the central trio are intriguing characters, while Han and Vivian also do a very good job of turning the people they target for revenge into believable characters, raising the question as to whether they deserve everything Kat, Mary and Lillia want to put them through.

It's pacy, cleverly-plotted, and thought-provoking. Having said that, it's also a little confusing at times, and I'll break with my usual practice to provide something of a spoiler here as I think it's probably something that will colour people's views on the book.

There's a paranormal element which is hinted at a couple of times, but only becomes completely apparent towards the end. It didn't put me off, but it certainly took me by surprise.

I also thought the book suffered from a rushed ending which worked well in setting us up for the sequel, but didn't give us a particularly satisfying conclusion to this one. Despite this, I'd still recommend it to people looking for an entertaining read with more depth than first meets the eye, and I'll look forward to the rest of the series.

Saturday Special: Remembering Roger Ebert

2013-04-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Roger Ebert, famed film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, passed away on Thursday. The news affected me perhaps more than any other death of someone I've never met that I can remember - Ebert was a real icon to me, who I admired hugely because of his love of films and his wonderful writing style. I wanted to pay tribute to him, but couldn't find the words. So, here's some of his, which are better than anything I could ever have written myself - twelve of my favourite quotes from his reviews, along with links to the full versions of each one (click on the film title to go to his review.)

I loved Wet Hot American Summer, personally - for camp, trashy, low budget hilarity, it worked perfectly. In my opinion, at least. Ebert disagreed rather strongly, but his scathing review, written to the tune of Allan Sherman's comic song 'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp) is fabulous whether or not you like the film. (So much so, in fact, that it was performed by the writers at the tenth anniversary screening!)
"Don't make me stay,
Oh mudduh faddah--
In this idiotic motion picture."

There seemed to be a lot of reviewers criticising The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for various reasons, some of them unfair. Ebert summed the movie up by saying "Moviegoers who knowingly buy a ticket for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" are going to get exactly what they expect: There is a mummy, a tomb, a dragon and an emperor. And the movie about them is all that it could be. If you think "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" sounds like a waste of time, don't waste yours." Good advice!

The Brown Bunny is another personal favourite of mine, although I'm glad I've never seen the 118-minute version which Roger crucified, leading to a feud between him and director/writer/star Vincent Gallo. After Gallo described him as a 'fat pig', Ebert's response was ''I will one day be thin but Vincent Gallo will always be the director of 'The Brown Bunny.'" Later, though, Roger would say "he is not the director of the same 'Brown Bunny' I saw at Cannes," giving the cut version three stars out of four.

I've never seen Deep Blue Sea, the Samuel L Jackson and Thomas Jane thriller. Somehow, after reading Ebert's review, the highlight of which is "Deep Blue Sea resembles a shark. It moves ceaselessly, and someone gets eaten from time to time." I've never been sure whether the film could live up to that quote, despite the three star review.

Lost And Delirious, Lea Pool's stunning film about two girls in love at a boarding school, inspired a hymn of praise from Ebert which captures as well as any review could this amazing movie. Best of all, is his footnote, slamming the MPAA for the ridiculousness of this movie being released 'unrated'. "The movie is being released 'unrated,' which means it is too poetic, idealistic and healthfully erotic to fit into the sick categories of the flywheels at the MPAA. Mature teens are likely to find it inspirational and moving."

Another favourite review of mine was the one of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, following on from star Rob Schneider's attack on Ebert's fellow critic Patrick Goldstein, "Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers." Ebert's response?
"As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."

I haven't seen Valentine's Day, but the review brought a smile to my face anyway. (Which, by the sound of things, may be more than the film could manage!) "Valentine's Day" is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it's more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date."

Freddy Got Fingered is making most lists of Ebert's best ever reviews, usually with the quote "This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels." As great as that is, I think I prefer the more cutting "The day may come when "Freddy Got Fingered" is seen as a milestone of neo-surrealism. The day may never come when it is seen as funny."

I loved Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused the first time I saw it, but thought that it didn't hold up particularly well for the second viewing. Ebert summed it up wonderfully, saying "The most pathetic character in "Dazed and Confused" is a graduate from a few years back, in his '20s now, who still hangs out with the kids because he senses that the status he had at 17 was his personal high point. This is a good film, but it would not cheer people up much at a high school reunion."

Early Hugh Grant movie The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain wasn't one you'd expect to play particularly well in the USA, but Ebert liked it nearly as much as I did. "Every character in this movie, with the possible exception of the fresh-cheeked local lass Betty of Cardiff (Tara Fitzgerald) is crazy as a bedbug, and none of them know it, and that is why they are so funny."

Perhaps the best movie of the last few years, for me, has been Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle's action comedy The Guard. Summing it up by nearly quoting one of Cheadle's lines, Ebert simply said "'The Guard'" is a pleasure. I can't tell if it's really (bleeping) dumb or really (bleeping) smart, but it's pretty (bleeping) good."

To say I wasn't a fan of The Village would be something of an understatement. However, I think I still liked it more than RE did! "To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes. It's a crummy secret, about one step up the ladder of narrative originality from It Was All a Dream. It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore. And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets."

As I said, I'd love to have written something but couldn't find the words. Tim Grierson, writing for Paste Magazine, paid an eloquent tribute to him, while The Onion - not a site I'm usually a fan of - produced one of the best articles I've ever seen online, with their beautiful piece Roger Ebert Hails Human Existence As 'A Triumph'.

Friday Feature: Author Interview with Laura Jarratt

2013-04-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

After loving Laura Jarratt's superb debut Skin Deep last year, I was thrilled to find her second novel, By Any Other Name, was just as good! It was brilliant to get the chance to interview her - thanks to The Bookbag, where this interview originally ran on Monday, for arranging it!

(And speaking of interviews, just before we start this one, can I direct your attention over to The EDGE blog, where I've been interviewed today! Laura's superb Skin Deep gets a mention or two from me there.)

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

Laura Jarratt: I see the kind of people I work with every day, a whole spectrum of teenage girls. Generally I write with teenage girls in mind though I have got some teenage boy readers too. My adult audience is more varied but I don’t have them in mind when writing YA – I think it’s important to write YA for that specific age group and let any crossover happen naturally.

2. I've loved all three narrators in your first two books - was it easier to write the dual narrative of Skin Deep or Holly's solo narrative in By Any Other Name?

LJ: It was much easier to write the dual narrative in Skin Deep originally but that took way more editing later to keep the voices as distinct and authentic as possible. Holly was harder initially and it took several chapters for me to know her voice, possibly because she doesn’t really know who she is herself any more at the start of the book, but once I had her then she was much easier than writing a dual voiced book.

3. What are you reading at the moment?

LJ: Insurgent by Veronica Roth. After ignoring Divergent for ages, I finally picked it up to read it for an article I was writing and was utterly hooked from the start. I devoured it in two days and then couldn’t wait to get my hands on Insurgent to find out what happens next. Four is currently my current favourite male mc in YA and is going to take some toppling from that pedestal, but I also like Tris a lot. Quite often with two main characters, I find I like one much more than the other so it’s really good to find a book where I think both are great. I don’t mind dystopia in general but I don’t go out of my way to find it, however I’ll read any genre if the characters hook me.

Not a huge dystopia fan - despite loving Lauren Oliver's Delirum books - but one of my students was raving about Roth a few weeks ago, so she's on my list of authors I really need to get round to reading. Sounds like a fab series!

4. Coming from a fairly small village myself, I loved the setting of By Any Other Name and the way you captured the feel of the place, with everyone knowing each other fairly well. Did you grow up in a village yourself?

LJ: No, I grew up in the middle of Salford (next to Manchester) on a massive, sprawling council estate. However I should have been born in the country – I was definitely misplaced and escaped the city as soon as I finished Uni. I’ve lived in villages ever since. I like to be able to see green, open space from my window and I’d never go back to living in a city now.

5. It was fantastic to see your first novel, Skin Deep, get nominated for the Waterstones Children's Book Award. Did you ever dream when you wrote it that it would be as well-received as it has been?

LJ: Usually when I’ve written a book I think it’s very weak, to be honest, so I definitely didn’t expect a good reception! It takes me about a year to be able to see anything good in one of my books at all so it wasn’t until Skin Deep was coming up to publication time that I thought perhaps it wasn’t too bad. Logically I knew the book couldn’t be that poor or I wouldn’t have picked up an agent with it or sold it – I just can’t see the positives myself at first. And when you’re editing you’re always looking for the flaws so that colours your perspective for a long while.

I’m delighted by the response it’s had though, of course, from the very detailed and insightful reviews to the ‘I <3 Ryan’ ones from some of the teens, because, of course, I wrote it for them. And the Waterstones nomination is fantastic because it helps bring the book to a wider audience

6. My favourite character in By Any Other Name (as great as Holly was!) was Holly's autistic sister Katie. Did you have to do a lot of research into autism to portray her so convincingly?

LJ: I did some back-up research but mostly Katie was inspired by an autistic girl I met when I was doing a summer job while at Uni. Katie isn’t based on her in terms of the things Katie obsesses over or her little behavioural peculiarities – those are all Katies’s own – but she is inspired by her. And as I’ve worked a lot with children with special needs, I have got experience of milder autistic spectrum behaviour too.

7. If you could ask any other author any question, what would you ask and who would you ask it to?

LJ: I’d like to ask the late Rosemary Sutcliff where the inspiration for some of her characters came from. I read her autobiography, Blue Remembered Hills, many years ago and would never have realised from the richness of her books that she’d had such a difficult and restricted life in terms of her ill-health. Many of her characters exhibit a very distinctive form of honour, and I’d love to ask if that came from her or was inspired by people she knew. Her characters on several occasions describe the notion of not ‘breaking faith’. They seldom explain what they mean by this, though there is one beautiful example in The Mark of the Horse Lord, but you understand instinctively because she’s painted them so well as characters.

Fab question - RS was a favourite author of mine when I was a teen!

8. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what was the soundtrack to By Any Other Name?

LJ: I sometimes have music on, usually if I want to create a certain mood and am struggling to get into the zone, but then I tend to play a few tracks and switch off to write. I’m happiest writing in a coffee shop actually, with people around me. I prefer them as my soundtrack. Most of By Any Other Name though was written in my now-husband’s flat so the soundtrack was probably his stuff, which really isn’t my taste at all, but for some reason having to block out noise helps me concentrate on writing a first draft. Er, I’d guess there was probably a lot of Skrillex playing while I was writing, much to my disgust!

9. Your two books so far have had two of the most gorgeous covers I've ever seen! Do you get any input as to what's on the covers, or is it a total surprise when you see them?

LJ: I’m glad you like them!

I didn’t get any input at all with Skin Deep, although you get asked if you like it as a courtesy. I did have to slightly change Jenna’s hair colour in the book though to match the model as it wasn’t the same shade and I hate it when the cover art doesn’t match what the character looks like inside. Because of the light used in that photo, it just wouldn’t have looked as good if they’d photoshopped the model’s hair to Jenna’s original colour.

With By Any Other Name, I did ask for a minor tweak which was related to a photographic effect that I thought made it look more contemporary. They sent me several different samples for that one so I could comment on them.

I have a friend who is a cover designer though and she has impressed on me that the cover designer knows best! They have a knowledge of what attracts the target audience in terms of the art work that a writer doesn’t have in the same depth so she’d already primed me to leave the covers to the experts unless there was something really amiss. I showed both to her when I got them and she really liked them too.

10. What's next for Laura Jarratt?

LJ: I’m due to have a baby in the same week that By Any Other Name comes out so one thing that’s next will be a lot of nappy changing!

I’ve been working on two other books over the last year, one YA and one for an older audience (still not happy with that though), and I’m now writing another YA which is the one I’d like to see out on the shelves next. It’s a romance/thriller where one character get sucked into something he never intended to get caught up in with disastrous consequences and I guess it’s also about how some relationships just aren’t good for us, no matter how much we might want them.

Wow - best of luck with ALL of that, Laura!

Thursday Thoughts: Book Review of LIGHT by Michael Grant

2013-04-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Warning: MAJOR spoilers below for the first five books in Michael Grant's excellent GONE series.

The dome has become transparent. The teens, and kids, in the FAYZ, are still trapped inside, but now they can see out - and their parents, and others, can see in. With interviews taking place by primitive methods, the outside world are starting to find out just how violent life has been, and this is just adding to the worries of Sam, Astrid, and the rest. How will the world receive them when they get out - or rather, if they get out? The gaiaphage, having taken human form as Caleb and Diane's rapidly-maturing daughter, is as evil as ever, and with Drake as its servant, is destroying anyone in his path. Can those left alive inside the FAYZ survive?

I always think that by this point in a series, a book is pretty much review-proof, anyway, especially when the quality of the series has been as consistently high as it has in this one. Whatever I said about this one, I'd be unlikely to put anyone off reading it if they'd enjoyed the first five. Thankfully, no need to put that theory to the test - because this is stunning stuff, perhaps Grant's best novel yet in the sequence. It's brutal, as his fans have come to expect by now - nothing quite as horrifying as a couple of the scenes involving Penny earlier in the series, but there are still some terrible deaths, one of which nearly had me throwing my copy at a wall in frustration, despite this being the most expensive book I've actually bought for ages. (I was 2nd in line to borrow it from my local library, but I couldn't wait even a day longer to read it and grabbed it in town a few days ago.)

I think the most impressive thing about the series, as a whole, is just how realistic the characters and their relationships feel. Yes, there's people who can shoot light out of their hands, telekinetics, and healers, but as out of the ordinary as the powers are, the teens wielding them seem utterly believable. As well, I love the way the non-powered teens have played such a big part in the series, and the character development of the entire main cast over the six books.

It's completely unpredictable - I had absolutely no idea how on earth it would end, but Grant brings things to a stunning conclusion.

Huge recommendation, and the series is up there with Department 19 as the very best of recent years for teens.

Spotlight: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

2013-04-01T03:41:00.001-07:00

My new Sunday Spotlight feature (which actually bears a striking similarity to my old Saturday Spotlight feature) will showcase some of my favourite recent books reviewed for the superb Bookbag site.

Etiquette & Espionage is the first in the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger, a spin-off from her Parasol Protectorate adult series. As you can see from the review, I really enjoyed it, and was thrilled when she agreed to an interview with me - check it out here.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is being sent to a finishing school. She's none too happy about it, until she gets there and finds there's rather more to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality than meets the eye. Because while her mother thought she was there to be finished, she's also going to learn just how to finish - anything or anyone who needs finishing.

This is a spin-off from/prequel to Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, which I've never read - I'm not really a huge steampunk fan - but I'm very glad I took a chance on this one. I'm told there are some fun bits in for people who are familiar with that series, but I was able to follow this perfectly well without any prior knowledge. Sophriona is a very likeable heroine - more at home tinkering with machines than learning about proper manners - and the world-building here is fabulous. We get steampunk, mechanimals, vampires, werewolves, the wonderful Finishing Academy, another school, for the education of evil geniuses, and an exploding wicker chicken. And, as one of Carriger's characters says, Who doesn't want an exploding wicker chicken?

As you may be able to guess from that brief list of some of the elements included here, the chief thing to recommend this novel is that it's fun. Really, really good fun. I read it in two sittings - it would have been one, but the pesky day job got in the way - and had a wide smile on my face right through reading it. It's not without flaws, as I thought many of the supporting characters were on the thin side, and the plot seemed to take a while to get going and then end up being rushed at the end, but in terms of sheer light-hearted enjoyment this is pretty hard to beat. Carriger's witty dialogue, which is particularly strong, deserves a special mention also.

Definite recommendation - I'm already looking forward to the next book (especially if we get to see more of the wonderful Captain Niall!) and will be moving out of my comfort zone into adult steampunk fiction to try the Parasol Protectorate series.

Saturday Special: February in Review

2013-03-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Total books read: 14

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt
Smuggler's Kiss by Marie-Louise Jensen
Abyss by Tricia Rayburn
Essential She-Hulk Volume 1 by Stan Lee, David Kraft, John Buscema and Mike Vosberg

Knights of Pendragon: Once And Future by Dan Abnett, John Tomlinson, Gary Erskine & Andy Lanning
Twisted by Sara Shephard
Curse of Kings by Alex Barclay
Joy of X by Steven Strogatz
Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
My Best Friend and Other Enemies by Catherine Wilkins
15 Days Without A Head by Dave Cousins
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer

Random Thoughts

After not reading comics for ages, I picked up a few individual issues that a friend lent me and two TPBs from the library. The good news is that some of the single issues were awesome - Superior Spider-Man has to be one of the strongest opening few issues I've ever seen. Unfortunately, both of the TPBs were pretty dire, with She-Hulk not having aged well and Once and Future being just awful - an interesting ecological message told in a really ham-fisted way.

Finally got book 9 of Pretty Little Liars, and it's as enjoyable as ever. Looking at other series, Rumpole and the Reign of Terror wasn't one of Mortimer's best - being rather too predictable, for a start - but anything starring the charismatic barrister is worth reading, and this was no exception. Tricia Rayburn's Abyss brought a dark YA paranormal series to a decent, if slightly anti-climactic, ending, while Gail Carriger's new series - a YA spin-off from her adult Parasol Protectorate sequence - got off to a good start with fabulous world-building, a great main characters, and a real sense of fun, and Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian combined to kick off their new trilogy with an intriguing story of three girls looking for revenge on people who've wronged them.

Book of the Month

3rd: Smuggler's Kiss by Marie-Louise Jensen - My first experience of the highly-regarded historical novelist showed me exactly why so many people rave about her! Brilliant narrator, fantastic love interest and a really strong setting combine to make this an outstanding read.

2nd: Curse of Kings by Alex Barclay - Wow! Adult crime author Alex Barclay turns her hands to children's fantasy with sensational results. A dark fantasy set in one of the most richly developed worlds I can remember for ages, the first novel in the Trials of Oland Born series has me chomping at the bit for the next book.

1st: By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt - Jarratt follows up her stunning romance Skin Deep with a very different, but equally stunning, contemporary in By Any Other Name. More action-packed than her first book, but looking at just as many difficult issues and with more of the superb characterisation that she showed in Skin Deep, this establishes Jarratt as quite possibly the very best YA contemporary author out there today.

Friday Feature: Author Interview with Gail Carriger

2013-03-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed Etiquette and Espionage, the first YA book by Gail Carriger, despite having not read her adult series The Parasol Protectorate (which E & E is a spin-off from.) I jumped at the chance to talk to Gail - a huge thanks to the wonderful people at The Bookbag who arranged this interview, which originally ran there.

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, what do you see?

The first time I visited the LA area (on tour for my second book, Changeless) I had a reading. I didn't know until that moment that I had actual fans. But as I snuck through to the back of the bookstore, I saw a crowd sitting patiently waiting for me. Patiently, that is, except one small contingent of about a handful of ladies. They were being patient . . . in their way. It's just that "their way" involved amazing hats and costumes, and putting their parasols open and up and bobbing them up and down, giggling madly. When I close my eyes and think about my readers, I always see that scene in my head. At some point that day someone said, "I love Gail's readers, all the women are outrageous and all the men are polite." I love that.

2. You're an established adult author, but this is your first book for teens. How is writing for teenagers different to writing for adults?

I had to work to create a more youthful and accessible voice and characters who would grow and change with the books. Sophronia has a different world view than Alexia. She's private and introverted and must become more self actualized along the way by making new friends and discoveries. Her focus is on her immediate environment, less political, more personal.

3. I loved the world-building in Etiquette and Espionage! If you lived in your world, what do you think you'd like most about it?

The fashion, without a doubt. I take any excuse to dress up. It's one of the reasons I feel so lucky to write in the steampunk genre, there's an a aesthetic component to all steampunk conventions and I get to bring out my favorite costumes.

4. And is there anything you definitely wouldn't like about living in it?

The troublesome hygiene, medical science (or lack there of) and the food. Please, don't get me wrong, I love Victorian food, just not all the time.

5. If you could ask any author any question, what would you ask and who would you ask it to?

Oh that's and easy one, Aeschylus. I'd ask him to tell me all about his lost plays. He is thought to have written some 90 plays of which only 6 survive. One of the great tragedies of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

6. I thought Sophronia was a fantastic main character, clever, resourceful and extremely likeable. Who's your favourite fictional heroine?

I love Tamora Pierce's Kel (Protector of the Small series) and Alanna (the Song of the Lioness series) both tough young women making their way in a man's world. So far as adult books go, I think Mara from the Empire Trilogy (by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts) is brilliant because her ability lies in political manipulation and intelligence rather than physical prowess.

7. I'm guessing that half the people reading the book will wish at least once that they were a pupil at Mademoiselle Geraldine's, or at Bunson & Lacroix's. When you were a teen, which fictional school would you most like to have been a pupil at?

The Herald Collegium in Haven from Mercedes Lackey Valdemar books.

8. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what was the soundtrack to Etiquette and Espionage?

Never. I'm a dancer by training and if music is playing I want to dance, not write. Sometimes I can have classical on (in order to drone out a yappy dog, for example), but silence or the mummer of a cafe better suits my authorial style.

9. The 'How To Ride A Werewolf' step-by-step guide on your website may be my favourite book-related thing of the year so far. As well, your blog is fantastic! How important do you think the internet is to writers today?

For me, two best things about writing in the internet age is the ability to met ones readers online and provide insight into the world that does not fit in the books. I treat my website as a kind of place for the DVD extras, there are sketches of outfits, sources for research into the Victorian era and a whole window into the steampunk social movement. So far as the business side of writing is concerned I would find it nearly impossible to work in this industry without the internet. Apart from everything else it provides me with water cooler venues, places where I can gossip with other authors, or just relax and not thing about writing for a while. Being an author can be terribly isolating without social media.

10. What's next for Gail Carriger?

So far as publications are concerned, the second Finishing School book, Curtsies & Conspiracies, is out in November of this year. Just in time for the holidays! On the European convention front I'll be at Les Etonnants Voyageurs (Saint Malo Festival, France) May 18-20 and Imaginales, (Epinal, France) May 23-26. And hopefully in London for WorldCon in Autumn of 2014. As for writing, right now I'm working on Waistcoats & Weaponry, the third Finishing School book. I have two due this year, so I have to stay disciplined.

New York Times Bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She survived her early years by reading most of her local library and memorizing Greek battles. Eventually, she escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. In pursuit of further finishing, Ms. Carriger traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London.

The Parasol Protectorate books are: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, and Timeless. Soulless won the ALA's Alex Award. Manga versions of the first two books release in 2012 (Soulless Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) and the adaptation of the third is due out Winter 2013. The first in her young adult Finishing School series, Etiquette & Espionage debuted at #9 on NYT. The second in the series, Curtsies & Conspiracies is due out Nov. 2013.