Pure

I took three books on my trip to Florida and only finished... one. I guess I was just too busy to read. Anyway, I've barely cracked Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout, but here's a teaser for Teaser Tuesday anyway:

...well, his eyes told me he wasn't doing so great with the whole pretending-we-hadn't-almost-hooked-up charade. [He] still thought about it; hell, he was thinking about it right now. Maybe he imagined what would've happened if Leon hadn't interrupted-- maybe even as much as I did. Maybe he'd lie awake and remember how our bodies felt together.

I know I did. (page 9)

Oooh, steamy! And a good remedy for the dirt-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Bean I just ate. Blech.

I Heart Harry

It's so nice to go on vacation and so hard to get back into the swing of normal life. But I had a great time in Florida. The weather was perfect, the restaurants tasty, the pool was warm, and the best part? I got to go here:

I never thought I'd get to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was so fun to go and feel like I was actually in Hogsmeade. My only complaint is how busy it was (surprise surprise). I'd love to go back again when my kids are older and once the expansion is done.

 Okay, this is ridiculous, but my pics look normal when I go to attach them, but I can't get them to face up! Grr.

Where Did The Time Go?

Yep, still in Florida. But I am so completely on the ball that I've got YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday question already answered. Here it is:

What are some non-writing blogs/Tumblrs/Twitters/Pinterests/Instagrams, etc., that you follow and get inspired by?

Ummm... non-writing blogs? Pinterest? Tumblr?

Yeah, no. There are none. I'm not on Pinterest, Tumblr, or Instagram. The only blogs I read are writing ones. I just don't have TIME. There's barely enough time in the day for me to do all the stuff I HAVE to do. I find Twitter alone could eat up my day like a piranha if I let it.

Okay, so I'm sort of lying though. There has been the rare occasion that I have visited a certain Tumblr or other. But it's not really for inspiration. I'll go if someone's linked something or I'm searching for something and then sometimes I'll look at the clock and go, where'd the time go??? because I've been reading/looking at their Tumblr for the last hour (which just happened because I was going to link to a couple of tumblrs I've visited recently and then got totally caught up and holycrap I've gotta STOP!).

I'm interested to see other people's answers though because I never say no to inspiration!

Half-Blood

Right now, at this very moment, I am somewhere in Florida doing who knows what. Maybe lazing on the beach or shopping at Honeyduke's at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Eeek, so excited!)

BUT, that will not stop me from posting a teaser from a book that I am most likely reading while lazing on said beach.

A small smile appeared on his lips. It should've served as a warning, but I found myself staring at those lips in place of paying attention to him. Suddenly, he crouched in front of me at eye level.

"Then I should be relieved to know what I was told just an hour ago is false. It wasn't you who yanked a girl- by her hair- out of a chair in the common lounge area." (page 42)

Introduuuuucing Megan and Bitter Angel!

I've never done an author interview on my blog and I'm psyched that for my very first one I get to have the awesome and talented Megan Hand!!!

At twelve, Megan decided to write a novel. A month later, she quit. A reading junkie by nature, she started writing again in her twenties as a way to get the voices out, because who wouldn't want to create a Real Living Person out of thin air? Megan also plays the piano and sings. She teaches little kids and takes pictures of pretty butterflies. She eats way too much chocolate, is sort of a mad scientist with her blender, and spends an unhealthy amount of time LOLing on Facebook and Twitter. She lives in Ohio with her husband and very smiley son. Bitter Angel is her first published novel.


So, you wanna know more about Bitter Angel, right? You should, because I've already read it and it's a fast-paced nail-biter of a book that I couldn't put down.

Torn between two realities.
A choice that will mean life or death.
But she won’t know anything… until she wakes up.

College sophomore, Lila Spencer lived Friday night twice. She doesn’t know how or why, just that she did. As if she split in half and went in two different directions.

Out clubbing with her friends, Heather and Nilah, the girls rock it out and party hard. What begins as an innocent night will lead to a deadly fight for their lives, and Lila might be their only chance for survival.

In bed with her boyfriend, Jay, Lila is safe and warm as she drifts to sleep in the arms of the man she loves. Until she is sucked into a horrifying nightmare of her friends' deaths.

As the sunlight warms her face on Saturday morning, the two scenarios collide. But there can be only one outcome. Will she wake up in her warm bed with Jay by her side, devastated and grieving for her friends? Or was she there to save them?
So I had like a bazillion questions I wanted to ask her, but I narrowed it down to a few that I REALLY wanted to know.

ME: First, tell us why you wanted to be an author in the first place?

 MH: I read and wrote as a kid, but both got sort of swept under the busyness of adulthood and marriage. This is going to sound so cliche, but in my mid-twenties, I read Stephanie Meyer's The Host and fell in love. Next came the Twilight books which spurred my new reading obsession. I started to tell my sister that I've also had stories locked up in my head for a long time. She said "Whoa, Megan, you should write one of these." I tinkered with the idea, finally sat down and started writing one day. Four months later, I had my first novel. What. A. Blast!
ME: What has your experience been like self-publishing?

MH: So far, it's been great! I've had fun getting to know some of the readers, a TON of authors, and getting my feet wet. The great thing about self-publishing is, there is always time for anything. Meaning, I could publish, not publish. Set my own dates. Write as many or as little books in a year. But I also have to work on my own toward these goals. It's not totally alone. I have a great network of people backing me, and I have to say the people have it made it worth everything.
ME: What made you want to write New Adult?

MH: I started the New Adult adventure because I 1.) Have a severe case of Peter Pan Syndrome and would literally live in college if I could, and 2.) I saw a desperate lack of stories in that age category. There were a bazillion books about kids in high school, not so much in college. At the time (several years ago) it was taboo. Authors have since broken down those taboo walls big time. Now there is so much NA, we are swimming in it, which is just fine by me :)
ME: Where did the inspiration come from for Lila's story?

MH: Lila's story came to me as all of my stories too, in a half-awakened dream. It usually happens when I'm first waking up and a real dream becomes a scene, which usually later becomes a story. Lila's story was originally supposed to be a short story. She lives the two days, she wakes up, and she gets her answer. But I could not stop it there. You'll have to read to find out why!
ME: What was the hardest part about writing Bitter Angel?

MH: The hardest part was letting Lila get herself into certain situations. I was screaming at her, banging on the walls of my conscience, and she couldn't hear me. I admit writing the antagonists was fun but also hard. It's not often I get to write someone as evil as some of the characters in Lila's story, and I struggled with that at times. Because while Lila didn't have to be in their head, I sort of did. It was difficult. 

ME: What part did you love the most?
MH: The part I loved the most was all the action. Bitter Angel is a very plot-driven story, whereas most of my stories are character-driven. Writing the constant action was really fun, and of course seeing where Lila took me. There were a couple twists that even took me by surprise, and that is one of my favorite parts of writing any book.

ME: What project/s are you working on now?

MH: I'm working on an NA contemporary romance, very emotional and I'm super excited about it. This book has been a labor of love for a number of years, and I'm absolutely giddy to get it finished this final time.

ME: Because I always like to know... What are you reading right now?

MH: Sigh... I am reading nothing right now. Well, that's not totally true. I am helping a friend edit/beta her contemporary country romance that is super HOT and great! Other than this one exception, I am taking a break from reading to really concentrate and put my heart and soul into this next book. I'm buckling down and can't seem to fit the books in the seat with me, so I'm setting them aside for a short period of time. I am planning a catch up party for the summer. I have a feeling my summer reading list is going to be as thick as a novel ;)

Thanks so much for having me, Melanie!!

And a SUPER MASSIVE thank you to Megan for stopping by and answering my questions. You can find her at Megan Hand Writes and you can find Bitter Angel on Goodreads or just go ahead and buy it at Amazon or B&N. You should. Like right now. Because it's awesome.

Saying Goodbye

Oh gosh... I don't even want to write this post. It makes me sad just thinking about it and my Friday posts are supposed to be about what I love... Well, I do love this, I've just reached the end.

I've made no secret that I had a Revise and Resubmit request on Daze and Knights and last weekend I heard back.

It was a pass.

This makes me infinitely sad. Daze was something I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into for the last three years. THREE YEARS. It's my first love. I'll never forget my first love. But it has to be shelved.

More than anything, I'm frustrated with myself for not being able to do this story justice, for not being able to tell it properly. It's nobody's fault but my own that my poor story is now just a file on the computer and nothing more.

But it's time to move on. I'll never forget my first love, and maybe one day- one day far off from now- I'll revisit it again. I'll give it another shot. But for now, I've got new loves to pour my blood, sweat, and tears into. Thank goodness for that or I might have just quit. I wrote on Twitter earlier this week that I just can't get off the darn rollercoaster, even though sometimes I may want to. That's writing for me. I may get a break from the ride, but I'll always get back on.

I was totally going to post about how I'd found a new actor that would make an awesome Lord Alric (the love interest from Daze). It seems silly to post about it now, but I'll leave you with the movie preview anyway, because it looks like a good one.

The guy who plays Romeo could totally be Lord Alric, except with a different haircut. :)

Reeeeead Me

April is over and it's been... an iffy month. On the upside, I read A LOT of books and YA Highway wants to know:

 

What was the best book you read in April?

I've got to pick from this lot???

Actually, for once, it's EASY. Because I pick Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen, HANDS DOWN. (BTW, the rest of these books were awesome, except one or two that I had issues with but I don't want to talk about those.)

Here's the blurb from Goodreads to entice you to reeeeead it:

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

I LOVE me some Robin Hood. Anything from the Kevin Costner version I grew up on, to the ridiculously silly Men-In-Tights, to the BBC version who has yep, I'm showing his picture again this guy as Guy of Gisbourne:

Is this where the term GUYLINER comes from?!

I thought it was awesome how the author intertwined different versions of Robin Hood in her own way so everything was familiar but yet also new. The tension triangle between Scarlet, Little John, and Robin was fabulous. Scarlet was strong, yet vulnerable, great with her knives but not great at being a girl. I easily guessed what her secret was, but it didn't detract from the story, only made me more excited when I discovered I was right. If you're a Robin Hood fan, you should definitely read this.

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!