Scarlet and a Never Sky

How much did I love this Robin Hood retelling? I'll gush about it tomorrow, but I just couldn't resist pulling a teaser for Teaser Tuesday from it even though I've already finished reading it.

"Are you thinking of leaving because of Gisbourne?" he asked, his voice soft. He came close to me. His hand rested on the tree by my head, and he were close enough that his body were warmer than the rest of the forest.

I nodded. My pipes felt thick, like I couldn't swallow proper.

"When you're ready, Scarlet, you can trust me..." (page 29)

And here's a teaser from the book I'm actually in the middle of reading, and I picked this one because I love how it explains the title:

"Do the clouds ever clear?" she asked.
"Completely? No. Never."
"What about the Aether? Does that ever go away?"
"Never, Mole. The Aether never leaves."
She looked up. "A world of nevers under a never sky."
She fit in well then, he thought. A girl who never shut up. (page 124)

What'cha reading?

North and South

This week I had the itching to watch North and South again (it's my third time). I love this movie so much and I hope to read the book one day because we all know books are always usually better than their movie counterpart.

So why do I love North and South?

Um, DUH.

 

 

Okay, why do I love North and South ASIDE from Richard Armitage?

 

The time period. It's no secret that I love almost anything historical. When I first watched North and South, I remember googling it because I had to know exactly what time in history it takes place (I had a pretty good guess based on the clothes).

 

Margaret Hale wears this fantabulous green dress at the end of the movie but I couldn't find a decent picture of it. Boo.

 

I love to compare what happens in this novel/movie to what else was going on in the world at the time. North and South was written (or maybe published?) in 1855 and takes place in a fictitious town in England (not to be confused with the miniseries North and South about the American civil war). It's about a family who moves from the idyllic countryside of Helston to the industrial town of Milton where the booming trade is cotton. It deals with rich and poor and the difference between the classes, the relationships between employers and workers, religion, and of course my favorite- ROMANCE. 

 

But this isn't your normal romance. It can be compared to Pride and Prejudice in how Darcy and Elizabeth completely misunderstand each other until they come to know what makes the other person tick. The relationship between Mr. Thornton and Margaret Hale is very similar, except it's surrounded by a backdrop of a smoky town, a dangerous strike, and scandals galore. (Okay, maybe not galore, but there are a few.) 

 

There are so many standout scenes in this movie, but a big fave of mine is when Mr. Thornton is at the window and says, "Look back, look back at me." *swoons, then dies*

 

I seriously just spent the last hour watching fan videos and it was very hard to pick, but I finally decided on this fan-made trailer, mostly because it contained the least amount of spoilers but still a few of the good parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Erm, Robots?

It's Road Trip Wednesday and here is what YA Highway wants to know:

In our Bookmobile selection this month, Debra Driza's MILA 2.0, the main character discovers she's an android trained to obey orders. We want to know: What other human-like robots (or robot-like humans?) have you enjoyed in books, TV, or movies?

I hate to do it, but I'm going to give the obvious answer here, mostly because I'm not that into robots or sci-fi.

And here it is, the OBVS:

Cinder!!! This book was completely unexpected but also very awesome. It's been quite awhile since I read it, and I have a TERRIBLE memory so I can't even say much about it other than it was GOOOOD. Can't wait for the next one!

On the flip-side, I've got a fave robot-like human. Check this out:

 

 

If you haven't watched The Lizzie Bennet diaries on YouTube, then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? Anyway, this episode is right smack dab in the middle, so if you haven't watched it or read Pride and Prejudice, you might not get what's going on. BUT I love Lizzie's robot-impression of Darcy near the end. "Darcy-bot malfunction, Darcy-bot malfunction."

Days of Blood and Starlight

Right now I'm reading Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor- the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I'm about halfway thru and I've got mixed feelings about the book so far. Which is disappointing because I don't want to have mixed feelings. I want to LOVE it like I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone. There's still time for things to change though so I'm holding out hope.

Here's my Teaser for Teaser Tuesday:

"Calm down, Karou," said Ten. "No one wants to kill-"

"Oh, really. No one wants to, or no one will?"

Did she expect Ten to sugarcoat it? "Fine. No one will," said the she-wolf. (page 141)

Anyone else read this book and have thoughts?

Poetry?

When I first read today's Road Trip Wednesday question, hosted by YA Highway, I thought,

Oh crap.

Here's the question:

April is National Poetry Month! Share your favorite poem(s) or poet

I've read some great poetry in the past, but *cough* it's been awhile. Do you think I can remember a fave poem/poet? Um, that would be an obvious no. I know I've read poems that I've totally loved, I studied different poets in school, but nothing sticks and I don't have one book of poetry on my bookshelf. (I feel so ashamed.) I need to go watch Dead Poets Society- I used to love that movie and I'm sure there's a poem or ten in there somewhere that I love.

Anyway, I'm going to totally cheat because I finished Clockwork Princess a few days ago and Cassandra Clare likes to put poems at the beginning of each of her chapters and this is one I particularly liked:

If the past year were offered me again,
And choice of good and ill before me set
Would I accept the pleasure with the pain
Or dare to wish that we had never met?

-Augusta, Lady Gregory "If the Past Year Were Offered Me Again"

And now I'm going to totally mack off what YA Highway did for their song of the week except I've got something better than Benedict Cumberbatch. (What is it about Brits and their totally swoony voices?)

 

Clockwork Princess Pandemonium

I've got two Teasers for you today! Lucky you, right?!

My first is from Clockwork Princess, the conclusion (I hope, but you never know) of The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. She wrapped up the trilogy quite nicely, I LOVED the epilogue, however I do have a tiny complaint that the book was unnecessarily long. I love Clare's books, but the main conflict gets resolved and then you've still got more than 100 pages of reading until the end. There could definitely have been some cuttage going on, in my opinion.

But don't let that stop you from reading it! Okay? Okay! Here's my teaser:

Clare's books have the prettiest covers!

"Tessa is gone, and every moment she is gone is a knife ripping me apart from the inside. She is gone, and they cannot track her, and I have no idea where to go or what to do next, and the only person I can imagine speaking my agony to is the one person who cannot know..." (page 221)

Aaaaand for Teaser #2, I give you, Pandemonium, the sequel to Delirium by Lauren Oliver, also a great book although I don't know how much I like the "Now" and "Then" format. Or maybe I'm just being extra-picky today, who knows.

It occurs to me, then, that people themselves are full of tunnels: winding, dark spaces and caverns; impossible to know all the places inside of them. Impossible even to imagine. (page 276)

So what are you reading this week?

Song Loves

There's been so many great songs that I've fallen in love with lately, that I've got to share today for my Friday Loves post. These songs come on the radio and I immediately crank it and either sing along at the top of my lungs, or get lost in a daydream about I'm not telling because that's none of your beeswax. ;)

Note: Every time I try to attach a YouTube video, I get a lot of "Video player is too small" which really limits what I can post. Boo. Which is why I usually end up with live performances or lyric videos.

I'm actually not a big Maroon 5 fan, but I LOVE this song! (Duh)

 

This song is just so beautiful that I could listen to it over and over. (And if it happens to be about Chris Brown, well I choose to ignore that so it doesn't ruin it for me.)

This is a get up and dance, put you in a good mood kind of song.

 

Beautiful! And I've totally got a story scene built around this song.

 

Mumford & Sons have been popular for awhile I think, but I'm just now getting into them, all thanks to this song.

Money Money Money

I present to you today's Road Trip Wednesday question:

 

The Veronica Mars Kickstarter success makes us wonder, what YA book would you raise $2 million to see a movie version of?

Confession #1: I never watched Veronica Mars

Confession #2: I would never raise money for someone else to make a movie. Why am I so stingy you ask? Well, for one, it's not like I'm rolling in it. I've got four kids and I'm a stay-at-home mom. For two, movie people make SO MUCH MONEY (most of the time) so why should I shell out? You know how much it costs for me and the hubs to get a babysitter and go to a movie just once???
A LOT!!!

Okay, I'm done with the money rant.

Just because I probably wouldn't pay someone to make a movie out of a book I love, doesn't mean there aren't TONS of books that I'd love to see made into movies. In fact, almost every book I read I imagine what it would be like on the big screen.

#1: Anna and the French Kiss. (Wait, I used this answer last week!) Who wouldn't want to see Anna's love story unfold in Paris? Of course, if we have Anna, then we'd have to have Lola too.

Etienne St. Clair? 

Okay, this guy is actually French, not British, and probably too tall... but who the hey cares???

#2. The Leviathan Trilogy. It would be very difficult (maybe even impossible?) to make these books into a movie, but wouldn't they be SO COOL? I would love to see some of the machines and animals come to life on screen.

#3. The Fallen series and The Hush, Hush Saga. We've had vampire movies, zombie movies, witch movies. Where are the angel movies??? Both of these book series would make great movies. And let's not forget the totally hot male leads. Rawr.

#4. Anything by Ally Carter. Wouldn't her Heist Society or Gallagher Girls series be great movies? Ooh, or maybe a TV series! It would be so fun!

Mind Games

I swear, I always seem to finish a book on Monday night so when Teaser Tuesday rolls around, I've got nothing.

No biggie, though right? I just have to watch out that I don't reveal spoilers when I give my teaser. But since I'm a crappy book reviewer (I LOVE books! ALL books!), that's not much of a problem.

I LOVED Mind Games. (See? I LOVE BOOKS SO MUCH!) Kiersten White has now become a fave author. I loved her Paranormalcy trilogy, but I wasn't sure if I'd be as into something different. WELL I DO. Mind Games is BETTER, IMO. It was so fast-paced and yet still feely. The relationship between the sisters is deep and wonderful and awful. Fia was totally believable even when she wasn't relateable. It was awesome. You should put it on your TBR's NOW.

Okay, I'll stop yelling and do my teaser already.

The moment he bends over to help the sorrow-eyed spaniel puppy, I know I won't be able to kill him.

This, of course, ruins my entire day. (page 3)

I could have pulled teasers from every page because this was one of those books that doesn't waste one word. But I'll only do one more.

I don't like my hands anymore. I used to think they were pretty. Now they look like they belong on someone else's body. Someone who kills people. (page 88)

London and Paris

It's already after ten a.m. and I've gotten NOTHING done today. Yikes. But I did have a nice sleep-in this morning so there's that. :)

So today's Road Trip Wednesday question asks:

 If you could visit any country with a fictional character as your guide, who would you pick and where would you go?

 

 

That's easy-peasy. I'd want Harry to show me around London. But not the real London, but the hidden, witch and wizard part of London like Diagon Alley. And he could take me to Hogwarts while he was at it. Then again, if I actually could meet Harry, I'd want to meet everyone else to, so he'd better bring along Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, Malfoy, Dobby... EVERYONE.

If I have to pick a REAL place (although there's a part of my brain that refuses to believe Harry's world isn't real) then I'd probably hijack St. Clair and ask him to show me around Paris. And by hijack, I mean that Anna could not exist, because otherwise, where would the romance be? I would want St. Clair ALL TO MYSELF. (But don't tell my husband I said that.)

The Lucky One x2

My kids are off school this week and I completely forgot to post today! So here's my teaser for Teaser Tuesday way late in the day. It's from The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.

...he tried to figure out his next move. He had no illusions that it was going to be easy. He didn't know much, after all. All he had was a photograph... (page 25)

And because I was just listening to this song in the car and it's the exact same title (though absolutely no relation to each other), here's The Lucky One, by Taylor Swift:

Ah-May-Zing Books

Today's Road Trip Wednesday wants to know:

What's the best book you read in March?

Wouldn't it be nice if I read one great book and then a handful of crappy ones? Then it would make it easier to pick the best book of the month- something I can NEVER EVER do.

What am I saying??? OF COURSE I don't want to read a crappy book! Sheesh.

Of course, that still means I won't be able to pick a "best," especially out of this bunch:

 

I think I made up for my dismal display of reading in February

I mean, geez! These books were all ah-may-zing! They really were. But I can actually name two that kind of take the tops for me.

Stolen, by Lucy Christopher. This was like no book I had ever read before. Even though it wasn't exactly action-packed, I found myself reading on and reading on and reading on because I had to know what would happen. I couldn't let the characters go. And even though it's a book that you just KNOW cannot end happily, I oh so wanted it to. Which of course, it didn't. And I probably would have been disappointed if it did. (Which makes no sense, I know.) The book is basically a letter from a victim to the man who kidnaps her. It is Wow. That's all I'm going to say. And you should read it. Like now.

The Selection, by Kiera Cass. I picked this one up at my library because the cover is pretty (true story) and I've seen it mentioned here and there around the blogosphere. Honestly though, I wasn't expecting much. But I LOVED this book! I think because it's like this Hunger Games/The Bachelor mash-up which is just awesome. Having just finished watching Sean pick Catherine and all the Tierra-induced drama from the latest season of The Bachelor, I couldn't help but love reading about a competition that was very similar but set in a dystopian world. My only complaint is that the book ended without getting to the actual end of the competition (what the crap?!?!), but at least there's no doubt that I'll be picking up The Elite which I think comes out in April (yay!).

So what was the best book you read in March?

The Host

I'm rereading The Host this week in anticipation of the movie coming out on the weekend which I probably won't see until who knows when because April is gonna be a busy month. Hopefully I'll get the chance sometime, because it looks good in the previews. Then again, I've been disappointed before (*cough* Beautiful Creatures *cough*).

So for Teaser Tuesday today, you can have a snippet of The Host by Stephenie Meyer, in case you haven't read it:

Before Melanie could make my fingers touch him, his arm shot out and the back of his hand smashed into the side of my face. The blow was so hard that my feet left the ground before my head slammed into the rock floor...

...Stupid, stupid, I whimpered at her. I told you not to do that! (page 132)

And in case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the preview... I love it for the Imagine Dragons song alone!

Worth It

I had a conversation with my hubs a few nights ago about writer contracts and royalties. I was doing some research and he was wondering about what a writer gets paid. When I told him I thought royalties were around 10% on list price (and if I'm wrong, please let me know), what he said to me was,

It's not worth it.

So I said, but it's not about the money to me.

He went on to argue about how he wasn't talking about the number of copies sold because he knows that isn't usually a whole lot. He was saying that if 10% is all an author gets in the first place, then it's NOT WORTH IT.

My reply: Good thing you're not doing it then.

 

I've thought about it this entire week. This is the first time I've really felt like an "artist." The money has never mattered to me. I don't write because I expect to make a lot of money. I write because I love it. I don't want to get published for the money. I want to get published so that I can BE a writer. So that other people will read and hopefully love my work like I do. And of course there's that dream of walking by a bookstore and seeing MY BOOK on the shelves.

I'm lucky because I'm not the breadwinner in my house. I don't need to earn a lot of money for us to survive, therefore, writing is a perfectly acceptable career-choice for me. My husband looks at it like a math problem: Calculate the number of hours spent researching/writing/revising/etc and then calculate what you might make per book and... yeah, I'm sure the numbers wouldn't come out all that great. If you put it that way, maybe it's not worth it. But I love to write. I would do it no matter what. I keep doing it, despite the rejections, despite the busy-ness of life, despite the occasional (sometimes more frequent) feelings of suckitude. I will always write because it makes me happy. And for that reason alone, it's WORTH IT.

Um... Novellas?

This week's Road Trip Wednesday question asks:

This month's Bookmobile selection, The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd, is inspired by The Island of Doctor Moreau, and its sequel takes inspiration from the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. What other novellas would you like to see inspire YA books?

 

 

Okay, this is an easy one. My answer is none. Because I've never read a novella.

 

Nope, not one. Can't think of any. Maybe there's been one sometime...? Or maybe for school... ?

 

I seriously can't think of one. The only novellas I have on my bookshelf are Daimon and Elixir, both by Jennifer Armentrout, both part of her Covenant series. I'm pretty sure neither of those are based on anything.

 

Wait, wait. Is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens a novella? Because I've read that. That could make an interested YA book, although there's been so many movie versions done it might be a little exhausted.

 

Can anyone recommend some novellas that I absolutely must read? Or maybe when I go through everyone else's answers I'll realize that I've actually read a novella or two sometime in my life.

Delirium

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means...

Bathroom Cleaning Day!!! YAY! In case you didn't catch it, that was sarcasm at its strongest.

What I meant to say was, it's Teaser Tuesday! hosted by Miz B. at Should Be Reading. Right now I'm reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver, which has such an interesting premise: Love is a disease and everyone gets cured as soon as they turn eighteen. Here's my teaser:

As he turns his head I see the unmistakable sign of someone who is cured: the mark of the procedure, a three-pointed scar just behind the left ear, where the scientists insert a special three-pronged needle used exclusively for immobilizing the patient so that the cure can be administered. People show off their scars like badges of honor... (page 60)

Hopefully I can get my bathrooms done quickly so I can read some more!

Bits and Bobs

I've got nothing concrete to post about today, but there are a few things buzzing around in my brain that I think deserve a mention. This is like my own way-less-cool (and way shorter) version of YA Highway's Field Trip Friday. (And seriously, you should check that out every Friday because they provide the best links and news.)

If you've ever wondered about small presses and the advantages/disadvantages of signing with one, Tangled Up In Words dubbed the month of February Small Press 411. There's so much information there, it's a must-read for every author.

Brenda Drake has started another Pitch Madness competition. Check out her blog for details ASAP- the submission window is today only! (Dang, I wish Sway was ready!)

March is a month full of awesome movies coming out on DVD. My poor poor bank account.

Have you heard? Michael Buble is coming out with a new CD! I heart him so much and I love his new song. Here's a sneak peak...

 

 

Happy weekend!

Bad Habits

Here's today's Road Trip Wednesday question hosted by YA Highway:

Spring cleaning! What do you hope to "clean out" from your writing? What habits/tropes/words, etc do you want to eliminate?

Is it Spring already? I wish Alberta would get that memo.

Anyway, if I could clean out my writing, hoo-eee there would be quite a few words I'd eliminate. I know that's what revisions are for, but it would save me lots of time if I'd just stopping using them in the first place. Words like, just, so, well, yeah, really, etc. I also find I've got to revise a lot of things like I saw, I looked, I smelled, I heard, I wondered... When I'm writing a first draft, I'm in a hurry to get the story out, and those words get straight to the point. It's in revisions that I have to stretch and find better, more descriptive ways of saying stuff.

This doesn't have much to do with spring cleaning, but I've decided when I go back to the WIP I started ages ago, I'm going to plot a lot more before I start writing again. Usually I get a basic idea and then just wing it, but this leaves me with rounds and rounds of revisions. I'm hoping I can cut that back at least a teensy bit by digging deeper into the plot and characters before I even get started.

What habits would you like to eliminate? Maybe I can add them to my list.

Stolen

I've gotta dash out of the house in five minutes, so without any adieu whatsoever (bonus points if you know what movie that's from), here's my Teaser Tuesday from the very first paragraph of Stolen by Lucy Christopher:

You saw me before I saw you. In the airport, that day in August, you had that look in your eyes, as though you wanted something from me, as though you'd wanted it for a long time. (page 1)

Let me just say, this book has had me from that very first line. I wish I didn't have other stuff to do and could just sit at home and read read read so I know what happens in the end. Ah! Gotta love great books!

Vloggin' Awesome

Have you seen this? Have you have you? Because it's awesome!

The wonderful Kelsey Macke, who was part of one of Cupid's contests with me, has started a Vlog series. If you haven't seen any of the episodes, you've gotta check them out now, starting with this one because it's so full of TRUTH, hilarious truth.

Trust me, it will make your Friday.