Now on to my giveaways! There will be two winners here! One winner will receive Dead and Gone (Autographed by Charlaine Harris) and the second winner will receive one of my top YA book picks so far this year, Hex Hall. Just follow my blog and leave a comment with your email so I can contact you if you win (US ONLY--Sorry) and that's it. Number randomizer will choose the two lucky winners after the close of blogfest. Since your here, go head and sign up for the other giveaways I have going on as well!! Good Luck!!!
Just Follow my blog, leave a comment with your e-mail address, and you are entered (US ONLY, please)!!
Don't forget about the massive BlogFest 2010 grand giveaway! Head on over to http://ajourneyofbooks.halfzero.net/ and click on the Tracking Site link to head to our own exclusive tracking site. Once there you can register with a valid email address (to be used solely for the purpose of contacting the winner). This site will allow you to track your progress through BlogFest 2010! You can log on from anywhere at any time and continue where you left off. The best part is that every blog that you visit and mark off through this tracking site will give you one entry into the massive giveaway! We have a great collection of books, goodies and other swag that is looking for a new home!
Author Jennifer Solow's novel the Aristobrats hits shelves today (CONGRATS JENNIFER!!) and she has taken time out to stop by for a quick chat with me here at Reading, Writing and Waiting, so here we go:
Where are you from?
I’m from Pittsburgh, PA. My parents still live there. I went to a girls’ private school, Winchester-Thurston. I began writing this story there (and when I say “began writing” I mean four notebooks of emo scribble-babble started and abandoned when I was in high school).
When and why did you begin writing?
I was running an advertising agency in San Francisco. I had flown to New York and was sitting in a business meeting in downtown Manhattan on the morning of 9/11 (the 9/11). I’d always made excuses for why I didn’t write: I’ll wait until I have an office in my house. I’ll wait until the kids are older. I’ll wait until I retire. By the end of that day, in the ashes of the World Trade Center, I truly understood why I couldn’t wait to make my life everything I imagined it could be. In less than a month, I had left my job (and my paycheck) behind and enrolled in my first writing class. An assignment I began in that class went on to become a national bestseller.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
The first summer of the year I began the writing class I had applied to Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, one of the most prestigious writer’s conferences in the country. I found out (on my birthday, no less) that I had not been accepted. It was no big surprise – I didn’t expect to be accepted. But a few days later I got a call from Noreen Cargill. She said that someone had dropped out and there was one space available – did I want it? Did I want it? Hello!? I was the very last person who’d been accepted into the conference, the bottom of the totem pole, but on that day I felt like a writer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Perfume. Namely, Vetiver Parfum by Annick Goutal. I imagined a girl who might wear that perfume: what she might be like, what she might think, what her dark secrets might be. Three years (and a lot of pots of coffee) later, I had a novel.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I think other people might be better at answering this question than I am. Here’s what I know: my mother read a lot of Dr. Suess to me as a child. The rhythm of those sentences stuck with me. So I think I have a very specific rhythm style – Dr. Suessian, if there is such a thing. I also think I have a sense of dark humor and that realistic dialogue is a part of me. I went to art school and have a background as a visual artist so my settings are vivid and detailed. I like happy endings, or at least satisfying endings and I’m an extremely impatient reader so I like to get someone hooked into a story within just a few pages. Is that style? I dunno.
How did you come up with the title?
Like all good ideas, The Aristobrats, popped out of nowhere and had nothing to do with my own conscious thought. I had a list a really comatastic ideas for a title (example, “The Inner Circle” ….zzzzzzz) but I felt like there was something great out there somewhere and that I had to let it come to me. I think I was picking up my daughter from school when it kind of landed at me. It was an “aha” moment.
How did you come up with the names of your characters? Do they carry any significance?
I spent a lot of time studying my favorite fictional group of friends: the Sex and the City girls. “Parker” is named after Sarah Jessica Parker so I’d always remember what I was trying to aspire to. I’d named a character “Ikea” in an earlier work that was never published. I just thought it was really funny and wouldn’t quite let it go. Plum gets some of her cues from a character I adore: Violet in The Incredibles. Kiki is just “Kiki”. She already had her name when she walked through my door.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Mostly I wanted a book that I would be proud to have my own daughter read. There are lots of messages layered into the book about not being afraid to make mistakes, about living life to the fullest because our time here is short. But I think the most important message is that is doesn’t matter how many Facebook Friends you have – it’s the real friends who count. These are lessons for me more than anyone – the important things I need to remember.
How much of the book is realistic?
Wallingford Academy has a lot of similarities to my alma mater, Winchester-Thurston. I also have lifelong friends, not unlike the four friends in the Aristobrats. My mother is the headmistress of a private school, but she’s nothing like Miss Hotchkiss, “The Terminator.” Hmm…at least not that I’m aware.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Ikea is based on an amalgamation of a few of the African American girls I went to school with. I always imagined how hard it must have been to go to a school where 95% of the students were white. Ikea is an homage to those old friends. There are a number of scenes nearly lifted from my time in eighth grade. It was fun to relive them without actually having to be there. Or blow dry my hair.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I would choose the two people who have been my writing mentors: 1. Alison Lurie. She changed my life over a bagel and coffee and a few wise words. She admired my work when I felt like a nobody – she’s the fairy godmother of my writing career. 2. Screenwriter, Greg Blatman. Remember these words: when you need help with a story, call on a screenwriter. They understand story structure inside and out. Greg would be like, “Isn’t it obvious, Jennifer? She lost her wallet at the drugstore so she doesn’t have her ID and that’s why she lands in jail.” And I would be like, “Ohhhhh. Yeahhhh. Right! Thanks!”
What book are you reading now?
I’m reading Color Blind by my friend, Precious Williams. Precious and I met when I was researching an entirely different Precious Williams, an eccentric collector of Haute Couture, for a short story I was writing. I Googled my Precious and got a new Precious, who is now a friend. I also do most of my writing at a table by the cookbooks in my library. So I read a dozen cookbooks at a time.
If you had to choose one book to read the rest of your life, and nothing else, what book would it be and why?
It’s actually a play, but I’d read Hamlet. I think there are so many ways of reading that story so that it’s completely different every time. I’d never get bored – I’d just imagine new settings, new actors, and new interpretations each time I read it.
Do you have something you are working on at the moment that you’d like to share with us?
I’m working on the follow-up to The Aristobrats.
Who designed the covers?
The cover design in my experience is an intense collaboration between the design team and me. In the case of The Aristobrats, I sent over dozens of images that represented the über-preppy world I had in my mind. They took the bits of inspiration I sent and created their own vision for it.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The hardest part of writing is writing. It takes an immense amount of stamina to get to “The End.” I’m constantly fighting with this little evil dude who sits on my should all day saying, “You can’t do this! You’re not a writer! Who do you think you are?” I have to flick that evil dude off my shoulder ten to twenty times a day.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I have too much advice for other writers. You can read two of my most popular blog entries: “How to Write a Surefire Query Letter” and “The Surefire Way to Get a Literary Agent.” This have some very practical how-to tips. But before that, you have to write a great book – I define what I mean by that in those entries as well.
If you could mirror the career of any other author, who would it be and why?
This doesn’t answer your question in the slightest, but I have a painting that hangs over my writing desk. It says, “Sometimes I just have to ask myself, what would Cher do?” This is my little reminder to have fun, be outrageous, don’t be afraid to be ridiculous, and always get dressed up for the party.
(If writing is your main occupation) If you had to choose something besides writing, what career would you choose and why?
Okay---it may sound shocking but I’d be a farmer. I have a summerhouse that’s set up to be a farm someday. I have a tractor and I grow my own vegetables, bake bread, make goat cheese, have an apple orchard. I’d like to have ducks, horses and maybe a pig or two. I’d like to chop wood, have a windmill and live off the grid.
Do you have a muse? (a person, type of music, location you love)
Starbucks, my local library, my son, Griffin, and my daughter, Tallulah, my husband, Tommy, the butcher at Mill Valley Market, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Soho, Paris, perfume stores, Christian Laboutin, Jacob’s Pillow, pick-up/drop-off zone at Mill Valley Middle School, Winchester-Thurston, my friend, Sharon, my friend, Juditta, my mother, Nan, her mother Adelaide.
What is the most interesting thing about you?
I’m not sure if this is interesting, but I own about 50 wigs and they all have names and personalities. My family won’t let me wear “Foxy” anymore. Also, I have no middle name. I don’t own a television – I’ve never seen a reality show.
Aristobrats Book Trailer
Congrats Jennifer and good luck with all your future works!
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
My Thoughts:
Bianca is a strong female protagonist, who I feel, is very honest character and has an authentic feel. The author, Kody Keplinger, was only seventeen when she wrote this novel, which only validates the organic nature of this novel. A lot of people will think, why would a hot guy have a fling with the Duff (Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend), the answer is simple. All girls feel like the Duff sometimes, even though they really aren't, which, I think, is truly the lesson in this story. The relationship between Wesley and Bianca feels so real, and the dialog you can practically hear in your head, which always makes for a great read.
I enjoyed the grittiness of this story and how Kody wasn't afraid to write sex scenes in a YA novel that might make people's jaw drop. I had the pleasure of getting to know Kody while she was in process of getting her agent and working on this novel as well as her upcoming novel, A Midsummer's Nightmare, which, I know will be just as great. Kody does an excellent job of creating snarky female protagonist who worm their way into your heart. I could seriously read this one again and again.
So if you like YA contemp, heavy, and I do mean HEAVY, in the romance category, snarky female main characters and hot boys, this ones for you!
Title: The Candidates (Delcroix Academy) Author: Inara Scott
Hardcover, 293 pages
Published August 24th 2010 by Hyperion Book CH
Special Notes: SeriesDelcroix Academy #1---ARC review
Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, believing this way she can suppress her powers and keep them hidden.
But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome.
And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.
My Thoughts:
Anyone who knows me, knows I looooooove Kelley Armstrong's Young Adult Darkest Powers series. Why is that important to know for this review you might ask. Well, because THE CANDIDATES has that same feel of excitement to it as Ms. Armstrong's series, which is AWESOME. The main character (MC) for this novel is a young, comparatively speaking, protagonist compared to most Young Adult series novels. This MC is a freshman, so she definitely has room to grow as a character and really take us on detailed journey.
Danica is so believable. She has such a big heart, and expresses that by caring for her grandmother and helping Jack, a boy everyone thinks is bad news. Together Danica and Jack show a lot of curiosity about what is truly going on at the Delcroix Academy, and Jack seems determined to figure it out. Jack drew me in immediately, just like he did Danica. Seriously, you can't help but to like him. He's totally got the bad boy thing working for him.
There is another guy, an older guy, Cam, who is also interested in our MC. He's the "it" guy around Delcroix that all the girls swoon for. And I'll admit it, he is totally gah-gah worthy. Cam is smooth, and even thought Danica feels like she's a nobody, he still pursues her, which adds mystery to the story.
So if you like Young Adult Novels with superpowers, love trifectas, and a lovable MC, this one's for you.
Title: TRANCE Author: Linda Gerber
Genre: YA
Paperback, 308 pages
Published October 14th 2010 by Speak (first published 2010)
Special Note: ARC review
It begins with a subtle vibration, a tingling.
There is time to take only one breath.
The trance begins.
When it is through, Ashlyn is certain of two things:
Someone she knows is about to die.
And she is powerless to stop it.
My Thoughts:
I'll admit first off I found myself partial to this novel from the beginning, mainly because the setting is in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, so by page one I was hooked. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I got into Ashlyn's story to discover she is a really complex character with tons of emotional turmoil, which always makes for a great read. Ashlyn has an overwhelming amount of guilt about her mother's death and a perceived addiction to presciption medications. There's also two boys in this book. One named Jake, my pick, *sigh* rides a motorcycle and plays the guitar....I know, right!!! He's totally swoonable and Ms. Gerber has done a great job in creating realistic teen dialog, making Jake leap off the pages.
Also, I like how Ashyln's trances create a series of numbers, which she must learn to decode in order to gain power in stopping deaths. It's a nice spin in the Urban Fantasy Young Adult department.
So if you like MCs with lots of issues, hot-motorcycle-riding-guitar-playing boys, and mystery in UFs--this one's for you!!
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."
Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Diggory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.
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