Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Summary:
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

from goodreads

My first review of a book in the new year, and I'm disappointed to say that this novel was everything I thought it was going to be, though I hoped for much much more. Everything about it was quite mundane, and your normal young adult paranormal novel-the craze this days.

The main character, Clara, though we have the same name, I have no sympathy for her or any real connection towards her lifeless being that is just going along with everything. Her character isn't a strong female protagonist, which I know I can't always have, but she was just so ghostly and boring to me anyways. I wanted to believe and fall in love with Clara's love interest, Christian, at the beginning of the story but that did not happen either. To be honest, they way Christian was told, it was like the author was writing about someone who I know it real life, which is also...ghostly, in a sense. But, you do get your tall dark handsome, and charming love interest, which I guess is someone who we all fall for every now in then.

The plot line is quite bland, and I spent most of my time skimming through the words, and finding that I didn't miss anything. Hand writes in a way that isn't entertaining or different from your average fanfiction writer, to be harsh. The dialogue was dull and again had no real life and character behind them. How the characters talked and reacted to each other were all so been there done that, it made it tiring to read without wanting to bash my head into a wall.

As someone who's read her fair share of the paranormal young adult novels, this novel does nothing for me at all. There was an interesting world that sucked me in, or an evil villain that we all secretly loved and thought was bad ass. I'd say, if you wanted to read about angels, go read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor, or if you want your paranormal fix go read the indie series, the House of Slide books by Juliann Whicker. I was not trying to be mean in this review, but I honestly did not like this novel at all, and it's safe to say that I will not continue to read this series. So to one best friend to another, I'd give Unearthly a head shakes vigorously, thumb pointing down, mad face for the waste of my time, and disappointed eyes. (1 out of 5)

Review:Busgirl Blues by BR Myers

Sixteen year old, magazine quiz junkie, Kelsey Sinclair wants to make this summer unforgettable by (hopefully) seducing her secret crush, Blaine Mulder. Armed with romance advice articles, Kelsey tackles true love with scientific precision, including getting a job at the seaside restaurant that overlooks the yacht club where Blaine teaches sailing.

However, visions of rendezvous on the beach are clouded when the new kitchen guy's laid back attitude and smouldering stare quickly get under her skin. With his renegade demeanour and unpredictable stunts, Luke is the opposite to Blaine's golden boy reputation. 

Determined to follow through with her original goal, Kelsey ignores her growing attraction to Luke, certain he's not the guy for her. But when she finally manages to get Blaine's attention, Kelsey worries the magazines are all wrong, and that sometimes the best matches are the ones you least expect.

from BR Myers' Blog

BR Myers is one of the few authors I actually follow on twitter, and blog. So, when I found out about Busgirl Blues going to be on wattpad for free, I had to check it out. This short novel made me sad in a good way. It made me feel embarrass for the main character, delightedly giggle, and was just a feel good book. 

It took me about five or six hours to read the novel. That might sound long for some people, but for me that's a quick read. BTW I read it while it was being published each chapter every few days. There were edge of the seat cliffhangers. Something to be aware of when reading a novel online, whether its on wattpad, or fanfiction.net, or what else, there are going to be grammatical errors. Not the entire novel, but there will be some, and you have to deal with it. I, personally, don't mind it, unless it's in every sentence or so. Anyways, I think Busgirl Blues was well paced, and I just loved how everything kind of weaved itself together. 

I felt like the main character, Kelsey, was a stereotypical teenager. I'm not sure if it's an accurate interpretation completely, but there were some parts of Kelsey that I could see some of my good friends in her. It was difficult to get into Kelsey's mind though, because her doing a plan to kiss a guy she's had a crush on forever is just way too out there, and I guess I've never met anyone that'd actually do that. But, it is fiction after all. Kelsey repeatedly makes mistakes, after mistakes, and it got really annoying after a while, because I know characters are suppose to have mistakes, but Kelsey seems like she makes more mistakes than not, and that's just...wow. I feel very vague, so just go read the book, and you'll know what I mean. Her mistakes aren't things that I'd pass by and forget, and I don't fully understand why Luke does. 

Falling in love, or thinking that you are, is a weird thing. I can't see why Luke is attracted to Kelsey. I do want them to be together through out the book, but that's because there are no other guys that are better than Luke for Kelsey. Though Luke has problems of his own, I wouldn't see how'd he and Kelsey get along, past a summer of fun. But the novel is, just a summer of fun. 

Busgirl Blues is that book you want to bring on the beach during spring break, or just to read during spring break, you don't have to go to the beach. It's that book that I bet most of you can finish in about two hours. It reminds me of a Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins book, but I haven't read any of their books, though I know what they write, and this goes under that category. I say go read it for yourself, it's free, and if you like free things go check it out. I give Busgirl Blues by BR Myers a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Go read BR Myers' new novel Butterflies Don't Lie

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I had the absolute delight to get a signed copy of the novel, through a goodreads giveaway. So, when I started reading the book I had somewhat high standards for it, as a lot of you guys told me how lucky I am to have it signed, and how just amazing the book is. I have to back all of you guys up and say that you are 100% correct. :D

I heard about Libba Bray when I first got into the entire YA books. She's very popular among the YA readers, and I'd like to imagine her, Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Scott Westerfield being the best English teachers and authors anyone could as for. Beauty Queens is not a quick read at all. It took me several sittings to get through the novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel is written in third-person with some epistolary documents sporadically spread about. I just enjoyed the humor of pretty much everything.

Having a bunch of beauty contestants is difficult to remember each and everyone of the characters, but I think because of how the novel is kind of written in pieces of the girl's personality, it showcases them one at a time. Because this novel is pretty much satire of the pageant world, it was like having an argument with my best friend about how stupid and brain-washed those girls are.

One of my favorite things about this novel is, as a teenage girl, you look and see Hollywood starlets looking 'beautiful' because they do this, and do that and look like a certain way, when they aren't nearly as awesome as you are. I guess what I'm trying to say is, not every teenage girl is going to look like a size zero, 5'8 model straight out of the runway, and we as teenage girls should take that in stride, because I don't want to be as skinny as a stick, and be hairless like mole rate, just because the tv says I should be. So this book is pretty much a f*** you, media, and your idea of what makes a girl beautiful.

Uhh...I hope this review made sense, and the weird part is the day I'm writing this review, is the day I got a letter by National American Miss asking me to go to their casting call. Somehow they got my name and address, even though I don't do pageants. If some of you guys have gotten a letter from them too, and you don't do pageants please let me know. I'm really freaked out that they even have me in their database. Oh well, I give Libba Bray's Beauty Queens a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Interview with Missy Fleming Author of Happily Never After

Hi guys! I got a chance to interview a Missy Fleming, and even though I am not interested in her novel, I'm sure some of you are.





Happily Never After


There's no such thing as happy endings.

Savannah, Georgia is rumored to be the most haunted place in America. Quinn Roberts knows it is. She's felt the presence of spirits her entire life, investigating and photographing them with her best friend. Only none of those encounters ever turned violent, until now. The menacing darkness feeding off her stepmother has promised she won't live to see her eighteenth birthday.

After a chance meeting Quinn reluctantly allows actor Jason Preston into her life, which has complications of its own. She's not used to letting people get close. Falling for him while fighting for her life, and her family's legacy, only complicates things more. Jason shows her exactly what she stands to lose, especially when she's being attacked by the mysterious entity. Each attack is more violent and terrifying than the last.

With Jason's help, she dives into the Roberts' family history, searching for a link between a woman who went missing a hundred and fifty years ago and what's happening now. What they find is a brutal murder and that the ghost doesn't just want to hurt Quinn, it wants revenge.

It wants her life.

from goodreads


Did you always want to become an author?

Yes. I started with poetry pretty young, then it morphed into ideas for stories. I have to say it probably took me like five years to finish that first book. Happily Never After is the second novel I ever finished. I began writing thinking I’d do adult romance because it’s what I enjoyed reading. Once I ventured into YA and paranormal, then fantasy, things took off from there. For some reason, it’s easier making worlds up then setting something in reality. Don’t know why that is!

How did Happily Never After start as an idea?

I’m a huge fan of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. I had in my head I wanted to do a ghost story, set in a great historic city like Savannah, and it grew from there. Quinn is an amateur ghost hunter who’s always sensed the presence of spirits, so when building her backstory it somehow picked up more and more aspects of Cinderella. So, I figured, why not? I imagined a southern, gothic Cinderella and I really think I’ve accomplished it. Happily Never After is a special story to me. I have the characters cast, a soundtrack fitting the mood and setting, and launching into the sequel I’m exploring a new frontier.

Advice for inspiring young authors?

That’s easy. Do not give up. And find a critique partner, a fellow writer who is similar to you and who understands your style. So much has changed in the publishing world, making it more important than ever to understand who you are as an author. Are you happy self-publishing? Is it the best you can offer? Don’t write for the market, for what you see selling. Write for yourself. I always said if no one sees my writing, I won’t feel like I’ve failed. I’ll have these stories which mean so much to me and finishing them is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I’d be completely happy with that.

What was the hardest part in writing Happily Never After? Easiest?

I’d say the hardest was capturing the essence of Savannah, Georgia because…wait for it…I’ve never been there. I studied maps and history, immersing myself in it. I’ve been to Georgia, was born there, but never to this fascinating city. It’s hard to bring a place to life when you’ve never walked its streets. I also struggled with mixing in the Cinderella elements. Was there too much similarity? Was there not enough?

The easiest part was Quinn, the main character. Her struggles and her abilities were the center of the story, the part I had in my head from the beginning. I knew where I wanted her to go, the girl I hoped she evolved into. And she’s still evolving. There are big tests coming up for her.



Favorites:

Color?   Black, purple. I also love earthy tones like browns and greens.

Sport?  Football, hands down. LOVE the NFL. Also having roots in the south, NASCAR has always been popular in my house.

TV Show?  I am a huge, huge fan of Lost. Still watch the seasons over. Once Upon a Time has really got me hooked as well, obviously. Others include Big Bang Theory, Scandal, Game of Thrones. And of course Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures.

Movie?  It’s always impossible to pick one. I’m a proud geek so I love stuff like Avengers, Dark Knight, Star Trek, The Hobbit. To be honest, my favorite movie of the last couple years, the one I can watch over and over is the reboot of Star Trek. Gone With the Wind is up there as well. Basically anything J

Book?  Another impossible pick. I reread a lot of books, but the one I read the most is The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Which is strange because I’m not the biggest fan of Twilight. It just pulls an emotional response from me every time. Of course, Pride and Prejudice is another. I LOVED all the Game of Thrones books. The new Bloodlines series by Richelle Read. City of Ashes. There are just too many to list.

Author?  For YA: Richelle Read, Cassandra Clare, Suzanne Collins   For Adult: Nora Roberts, Kristin Higgins, Sherryl Woods, JRR Martin. There is never enough room for me to mention favorite books or authors. I read A LOT.

Where can we find you online?

Right now, only at fireandiceya.com.  I’m still working on getting a website and facebook page. I spent so much time getting the book ready and lost in my others that I’m way behind on the times. I’ll get there, but I can be reached through my publisher’s website for now.

Dissolution Kickstarter

Hi guys, I was emailed about Dissolution by Indi Martin, and thought that I really wanted to help out a new author. Indi Martin is launching a kickstarter, which if you did not know already, it is a way for inspiring creators to get producers without having to ask multi-millionaires to fund their projects. You can donate to the project from anywhere to a dollar to +50,000. Of course, not everyone can donate that many, so every dollar counts. Indi wants to actually make her own comic book, so go please help her out.

I have some links that I hope you check out for more information:

http://thinksbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/dissolution-kickstarter-blast-sign-ups.html

You can read the first few chapters here:
http://dissolutionnovel.blogspot.com/

Blog Tour: The End of the World As We Know It by Iva-Marie Palmer Review and Giveaway

The Breakfast Club meets The War of the Worlds in The End of the World as We Know It, the latest release from Alloy Entertainment (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, 666 Park Avenue, Gossip Girl)

They wanted to party like it was their last night on earth. They just might get their wish….

Meet the four most unlikely heroes ever:

Teena McAuley: Queen Bee, first-class problem solver, resident heartbreaker.

Leo Starnick: UFO conspirator, pizza delivery boy, all-around slacker.

Evan Brighton: Baseball all-star, extreme virgin, Teena-worshipper.

Sarabeth Lewis: Straight-A student, weekend hermit, enemy of the color pink.

When Teena locks Leo, Evan, and Sarabeth in the basement during her biggest party of the year, she doesn’t plan on getting trapped in the Loser Dungeon herself. She can barely imagine a night with these dweebs—let alone a lifetime. But when an alien invasion destroys their entire Midwestern suburb, it looks like these unlikely friends are the last people on earth. Now, it’s up to them to save the world….

from goodreads


I would first like to say I am sorry about this being late for the blog tour. I never meant it to be late, but life happens. 

Moving on, The End of the World as We Know It is definitely on the list that you want to read this coming up year, if you have not already. It is an extremely funny novel, and it was over all a great quick read. 

Iva-Marie Palmer writes like how it is. In my opinion, she nails the characters, and how actual teenagers react and do. It's something that I've heard many authors have trouble doing, and sometimes they are terrible at it, but Palmer does it gracefully. I admire honest writers that don't try to change how real teenagers are to fit their story. 

The thing I love most about this novel is that it has sprinkles of funny everywhere. It really is one of those books where you can get a real laugh out of it in one sitting. While reading other's review on the novel, many people have said it is like The Breakfast Club, and War of the Worlds. I feel ashamed that I have seen neither of the movies, and am unable to give you my full opinion. From what I have heard and know about the movie, it's true enough. 

Something I had trouble with were how the characters were introduced. I'm very picky at things like that, because they were introduced one at a time, right after the other. It is that kind of novel where the four main characters would never really hang out with each other, but I wished there was a different approach to introducing the characters to the read. I knew going into the novel that there were going to be some real issues with the main group of characters. It was all really light, and refreshing to read. Though, the stereotypicalness-yes, I know that's not a real word- of it sometimes threw me off, but I enjoyed it none the less. 

So in the end, I'm going to give my best friend a heads nod, thumbs up, and smiling like there's no tomorrow, if she asked me what I thought about the book. (5 out of 5)

If you want to win this book just leave a comment below, and I will choose someone randomly. :D

New Year Resolutions

I've never made new year resolutions, despite the fact that while in elementary school they make us. It was always something that I didn't have faith that I could do. There are so many people that don't accomplish their new year resolutions. There's nothing bad about that, but I feel like I would be setting myself up for failure.

Last year was one of the best years in my short life so far. I decided that instead of making new year resolutions of specific things I want to accomplish, I want to do more than I did last year. Last year I made seven big accomplishments. I'm not going to name all of them, because some are personal, but I think that it's better to try to out do yourself, instead of having specific goals you have to finish by next year. A counselor would probably yell at me that I'm going at things the wrong way, but this works for me. This year I want to accomplish ten amazing things. I don't know what all of them are yet, but I have some goals that I want to do this year. They aren't new year resolutions, like if I didn't do them I would be a failure, but like if I didn't do them I could accomplish something else.

I heard somewhere that when you tell people you are going to do something, the encouragement you get is enough for you to feel satisfied into you not doing it. That's such a strange thing, because that happens to me sometimes. Though, I want to share with you guys all of some of the things I want to accomplish this year.

• Finish editing my rough draft from nanowrimo
• Learning Italian and Spanish(the basics)
• Completing the European Book Challenge
• Progress some how with the blog
• Finish a novel I'm co-writing with my friend
• Get involved in new activities

Those are just some of the things I want to do this year, and I hope I do more, because that is deffo not ten things. I know I will find other things to do over the course of this year, and I know I'm going to update you guys on my nanowrimo novel, and the European Book Challenge. Happy New Year!!

Love and Hugs
Clara

Losing Your Writing

Thursday was a very scary night for me. I tried to open my novel on Scrivener and it came out as nothing what so ever. My nanowrimo novel was completely gone, and I was devastated. I checked by flash drive for any copies, but they only contained my short stories. I tried to search back in history on my laptop, but I had recently done a system restore on my pc. It was incredibly distraughting, and if you are a writer, you would be too.

I did get my novel back, don't worry, I can still do this series. You ask me how I got my novel back? I found an old email I sent to myself with an attachment of my nanowrimo novel. This .rtf file was readable, and I just opened it up with Scrivener. BTW you should definitely check out scrivener if you are currently writing a large project, or want to write a novel, or nanowrimo, etc.

What I'm trying to get by is, always make copies of your novel. Make irrational copies. For instance, make an epub or Mobi file for ereaders, even though you don't have an ereader. Make .rtf, word documents, pages for macs, what ever. Make as many copies as possible through out your writing, and put them on a flash drive and email them to your friends. Print out each chapter you finish. Find away of keeping your novel by putting it out there, without completely giving away your work.

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend, holiday break, and may your writing be better than ever.

Love and Hugs
Clara

Writing: Character Development

During reading over what and how I wanted to edit the novel I wrote over nanowrimo, I found that I barely knew my main character. Do note that I don't plan when I'm writing a first draft. I find it terribly difficult to stick to it, and things just don't work out for me. Anyways, when I found out that I wasn't super sure of my main character, I decided to look up somethings about character development, and how to go about it.

One of the things I read about was, interviewing your character in the place of them. It literally has gotten me to figure out so many things by just asking my character. That might seem weird, because some characters are in my head and I should just write them down, but like I said before, I don't plan, so I make up my characters on the spot. Georgia-my main character-was a girl I thought up on the spot. She has a difficult past, and while writing Nanowrimo a lot of wholes were left out that could have effected her one way or the other.

I plan on doing that with some of my secondary characters, but my main group of characters seem to be the ones with the least back story, or fully developed. It's frustrating, but it's so much fun interview the characters. It should be easy, and come out naturally. If the answers to the interview don't come out as so, you should rethink the importance of the character in the story.

That's all I want to say this week, and I have some websites that I think will also help with character development:

http://www.pgtelco.com/~slmiller/characterdevelopment.htm

http://lillieammann.com/2009/07/27/creating-fictional-characters%E2%80%94part-8-developing-characters-throughout-your-story/

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474976908598

http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Character-for-a-Story

Of course there are so many more website and books out there, and the best way to learn is to find things on your own. I hope you have a wonderful time writing. :D

Love and Hugs
Clara

Don't Quote Me (#20)

I made the first three quotes last Friday night when I was bored. I wished I could reword this one a bit. 

Who's addicted?

I was feeling extremely down last Wednesday, and could not believe how black and white my future was, so I decided to do something about it. This is just a picture I made to go with the feelings of last Wednesday.

Review: Caught in the Moment by Martin Dukes

Caught in a Moment is the story of Alex Trueman, a teenager who daydreams himself unwittingly into the strange world of Intersticia. This is a world outside of ordinary time, that exists in the slender intervals between instants. From Alex's point of view the world around him freezes into immobility. At first it seems the he alone is free to wander the hushed streets with their motionless cars and people. But he is not alone. Alex soon discovers that he shares the world with others. There are a few dozen fellow daydreamers who share his fate. There is plump, bespectacled Will, pretty brunette Kelly, and the rebellious outcast Paulo. Presiding over them all is the enigmatic Ganymede, and irascible vagrant who distributes food to his dependents and sets them perverse tasks to perform in return.

Alex soon finds that he has rare skills in Intersticia. Most uniquely he can affect the motionless world of 'Statica' around them. He can open doors, help himself to food, and move objects. But this forbidden activity soon sets him on a collision course with Ganymede in which the very existence of Intersticia is put at risk.


from goodreads

When I first read about this story, it was nothing like I had ever heard of. The story had a strange feel when I read it. It was like I as partly dreaming, and partly there. Whatever it was, I liked it. Some background info: this book is published in the UK and there is the occasional saying or word I was unsure of. That does not give away change or disrupt the story at all, and it's the quaint things that I like most about the story.

Martin Dukes is a wonderful writer, and I would think that he would be published by the big publishing houses here in the US. He writes in away that gives you enough information for now just to settle you, but not too much that all the secrets are given away at one time. I love the strong characters that he writes, and the in between worlds fascinate me.

Alex is such a peculiar teenage boy in my opinion. There's that off feeling I felt when the story started to unfold in the beginning. I guess, he never really is 'normal', even before he goes to 'Sticia. He is probably more intelligent than the teenage boys I know, but he has this sensitive spot that is quite prominent and something that I did not expect to show so early in the novel.

I felt like most, if not all, of the characters felt real and tangible. They were easy to grasp a hold of. I think Paulo was my favorite character out of all of them. There's the sense of you know who this character is before the main character has come into contact with, because everyone knows that person that curses like a sailor, and travels like one too.

My favorite part of the novel is that the moral really stands out. It's kind of like, be careful of what you wish for kind of thing. The whole don't take things for granted moral is popular amongst the popular morals, and I think Caught in the Moment is a great example of that. So, when my best friend asked me what I thought about Caught in the Moment, I gave her a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Post First Draft Depression

I want to start off with a little editing series going on on this blog. Since, I did do nanowrimo and won-yeah, I'm awesome-I want to blog about the process of how things are going. At the moment I can't give you a synopsis of the novel, because there is a lot of plot being moved around, and maybe the main problem the main character faces is only a side problem. You know?

Anyways, the first thing that happened when I finished nanowrimo about two weeks ago was that I just wanted to chuck the story out the window and feed it to the coyotes. I suppose many authors feel this way, because we have been so close to this piece of work, that it's too much. I was about to scrap the entire document at one point. Terrible of me for not believing in my own writing, but sometimes you want to kill someone, but instead of someone, many people in your mind.

The other day I got out of this 'depression' stage. Something just clicked in my mind, and I guess with me going back into the community of writers I've found, it motivates me to do something with the story. I have not started actually editing the novel, but I am in the process of reestablishing my characters, and where I want the story to go, and where it should be going. There's a difference. I'm happy with half of the characters I had made up on the spot while writing nanowrimo, but in there are the ugly ducklings. The ones that don't have a personality easy to spot out, or a background that's bland and contains no meat.

So if you are in the post first draft depression state, I beg you to not chuck out your story. You are going to hate yourself if you do, because you will look back at it and think I should not have done that. Especially, if you did nanowrimo and got far ahead. Do not change your mind and free up space on your computer. There is a reason why you started to write the story. Whether you knew what you wanted to come across in your writing or not, it will come across, and you need to edit and think about it to do so.

Great chat with yall today, have an amazing time writing this week. If you have trouble thinking of things to write-which you should be doing everyday-I'm going to start making daily writing prompts on twitter. @Clarareads

Love and hugs
Clara

Blog Tour: Review of Hybrid by Juliann Whicker (Book 2 of The House of Slide series)

Dariana Sanders, daughter of the prestigious House of Slide, has her hands full. The Bloodworker who killed her brother is dead, but it turns out that he's not the only one who wants Dari, or who will do anything to make sure that she's taken care of before she learns to control her powers and becomes a force to be reckoned with. She needs her friends, family, and a reluctant soulmate if she's going to survive.

from goodreads

After reading the first novel of the House of Slide series, I was fangirling since I found out that Hybrid would be coming out at the end of the year. It took me two days to read this book, and possibly one if I didn't have to go to school. I like the compact feel of a book that you can start in the morning, and finish at night, while still giving you the entire experience.

Juliann Whicker is one of my all time favorite authors, mostly because of the world she makes.Also she creates a series that is original, unlike many of the novels that are out on the shelves in the Paranormal Romance section of the bookstore/library. One of my favorite parts of Hybrid, is that the pace is strong, and it never lacks action or suspense. I would be lying if I never laughed out loud, smiled like a fan girl, and have my eyes tear up a bit-not all at the same time of course.

Author Interview: Sahana Epari

Last week, I review Sahana Epari's debut novel, Pure at Heart. I was lucky enough to also have the chance to ask her some questions for an interview:

How did you come up with the concept for Pure at Heart?

I don't really remember. I guess I was just in that phase where I was obsessing over urban fantasy and paranormal novels. I still am :) Anyways, I guess the supernatural being that got to me the most was the werewolf. No matter what book I read, if there was a werewolf in it, the character would automatically be my favorite. As for the plot itself, it took a while to come up with something that I would read myself. Pure at Heart is basically everything I, as a person, would want in a book.


What was the toughest part of writing the novel?

The toughest part would be the conclusion. To be truthful, when I started, I wasn't completely sure I wanted a sequel. I was thinking I could write maybe one of those single novels. Then, I realized that it would be a really big book, because there were so many things I wanted to introduce. The conclusion of Pure at Heart was hard to write because I had to conclude things, but leave a lot of room for questions. I wanted the readers to think, "What happens next?" and want to read the next book.


Is there anything you would want to change about Pure at Heart?

I actually like it the way it is. I elaborated the characters enough, the plot, the setting. Everything is the way I need it to be. If I did have the chance, however, I would want to be a little more descriptive in some scenes.


Who is your favorite author?

Cassandra Clare.

What is your favorite book(s)?

City of Bones, or the Mortal Instruments series.

Many authors tell aspiring young writers to wait until they are older to publish because they haven't lived much and their writing is great for their age, but don't compare to older authors. What do you say about that topic?

I completely disagree. Now that there are self-publishing companies, like CreateSpace, it allows anyone to publish anything they want. Everyone knows that young authors are still growing, and haven't experienced a lot, but that makes it all the better. There's a surprise when you read a really good book, and then discover that it wasn't an adult who wrote it but a young person. Yes, novels written by young authors like myself, shouldn't be compared to books written by older, more experienced, and more educated adults. However, that shouldn't be a restriction to publish something.

What can you tell us about the sequel to Pure at Heart?

It will continue a few days after the end of Pure at Heart. I haven't really decided on the name yet, but it will definitely summarize the novel. I'm hoping to add a big surprise, so hold on. Not sure about the release date as of now.



Where can readers contact you?
  You can go to my blog:

evalineandthepack.blogspot.com

In My Mailbox (#14)

She transformed into an abomination through his touch. Her skin grew scales. Her eyes turned red. She screamed for help, but all who saw her became stone.

Medusa thought she would be alone forever, until the day a man came to kill her and fell in love instead. Now Perseus is running from those who hired him as he continues to love a girl who could kill him with a glance.

from goodreads

The Breakfast Club meets The War of the Worlds in The End of the World as We Know It, the latest release from Alloy Entertainment (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, 666 Park Avenue, Gossip Girl)

They wanted to party like it was their last night on earth. They just might get their wish….

Meet the four most unlikely heroes ever:

Teena McAuley: Queen Bee, first-class problem solver, resident heartbreaker.

Leo Starnick: UFO conspirator, pizza delivery boy, all-around slacker.

Evan Brighton: Baseball all-star, extreme virgin, Teena-worshipper.

Sarabeth Lewis: Straight-A student, weekend hermit, enemy of the color pink.

When Teena locks Leo, Evan, and Sarabeth in the basement during her biggest party of the year, she doesn’t plan on getting trapped in the Loser Dungeon herself. She can barely imagine a night with these dweebs—let alone a lifetime. But when an alien invasion destroys their entire Midwestern suburb, it looks like these unlikely friends are the last people on earth. Now, it’s up to them to save the world….

from goodreads

Review: Pure At Heart by Sahana Epari

Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. They are worse than you think they are.The feeling of something you thought you had but you never did. Your whole train of thought changes direction. Suddenly everything you have lived for becomes a life you never had.
I thought I knew everything.
My name is Evaline Pangborne, and I am a werewolf.
When Eva and the Shadow Clan find out a ground-breaking secret of their life, they seek the only way out of the pain and suffering--an escape route. An escape route they got, but along with that came even more secrets, questions, and betrayal.
The people Eva trusted most, is now someone to despise and hate, and the people Eva never wanted to trust, get closer and closer to her. Living itself seems like a big joke to her. What's the big secret? And why is everyone keeping it from her?

from goodreads


I feel terrible for not reviewing this book earlier, but better late than never, right? Yeah... So, I received this book for review by the author herself, and my first impression was that this was going to be awesome. Then I started reading the first few chapters, and the many punctuation errors got on my nerves.

Sahana Epari is a debut and young author that is one of the few people I know that are published at such a young age. What I love about her writing is that she is aware of her characters. Her characters were the strong leads of the novel, and even though Eva got on my nerves more than once, I could easily distinguish Eva and her attitude towards life. There were many little jokes here and there, none that made me laugh out loud though. The dialogue was a bit stiff, and did not flow like it could be for some characters. Though, some characters talk in a distinctive way, and I liked the mash up.

Eva is arrogant and very naive. Actually, most of the pack is naive in my opinion. They are kids, but I think that because of their role in the world, they could have been more mature. They were very childish and the thought process of Eva wanted me to punch her sometimes.

One character I did love, was Victoria. Victoria reminds me of one of my friends. She is the bad-ass in the back ground that has this mysterious air around her, and I truly feel sorry for her the way she is treated by Eva, but both of them do get each other at their necks.

The paranormal world was built in a way that you slowly discover more of it as Eva does. The world is built in a full extent, but not at all majestic or grand as Divergent, or Daughter of Smoke and Bone. There were the basic werewolf vampire creature fight and it was a simple set up of a story.

I like Pure At Heart because of its simpleness and quick pace. If you are a werewolf fan, I think that you will love this story. So in the end, I will give Sahana Epari's debut novel a head moves back and forth, thumb moving towards the middle or down. (3 out of 5)

NaNoWriMo Tag!

The Questions:
1. Is this your first year doing NaNoWriMo or have you participated before?
This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo and I've learned so much about myself that even if I don't win this year, I'm still going to do it next year. Notice the if, it's crucial.

2. How did you find out about NaNoWriMo?
I can't remember how I found it... actually I found out about it by a youtuber, Kaisa, from MaxieMagyx. Her videos are freaking amazing, and I watched her start it when she did daily vlogging in November last year.

3. Are you in it to win it, or are you just participating to have a bit of fun?
Just for fun. hahaha, yeah right! You're funny sarcastic me. So, yeah, I'm doing it to win.

4. Are you on track with your daily word count?
I am, I'm actually above the daily word count at the minute, and I've been ahead of the game since day 1.

5. Tell the readers a little bit about your novel (genre, title and short summary for example).
I changed what I'm writing about, so if you see my link for nanowrimo, that was a very rough idea what I was doing, and I've completely changed it. I won't tell you what the story is about at the moment, becuase I'm not sure where it is going. I'm one of those people that don't plan what to write, I plan when to write. That's all.

6. Has anything crazy happened yet? Have you been attacked by any plot bunnies?
Eh... not really. I've found that doing NaNoWriMo has been a little strange because my writing seems to work itself out like my dreams do. I mean, in the way that they always have connections that I have over looked, but my subconscious mind saw.

7. Do you have any real life friends who are participating?
My best friend's sister is doing it, and I don't really know her, but besides her, I don't have any "real life" friends who are participating.

8. What is your best tip for getting yourself to write and stop procrastinating?
I don't have a best tip, but I like to bribe myself with candy, or watch youtube videos. Also I usually find that writing right after I eat, is the best time to write. I've gotten so much writing done from the time I finish eating, to that hour and  a half later. So, maybe you should try that if you haven't already.

9. What is your favourite novelling snack?
I can't eat while I write. It's distracting, but on the weekends when I write in the mornings, I usually have tea.

10. Who do you tag?
I tag anyone that wants to do this, and since I think I stole this tag from the booktube community, I'm just letting the tag roam on its own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf1_heEL0_g&feature=g-u-u
The link above is where I found this tag. Go watch her NaNoWriMo vlogs;they are amazing. :D

Quotes: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I forgot to write the quotes I highlighted while reading Wintergirls in my review, and I have a lot so I think I'll just tell you all of them. Some of these quotes might be spoilers, it depends on how you look at them. :)

pg. 14 "We were secret sisters with a plan for world domination, potential bubbling around is like champagne."

pg. 18 "...body found in a motel room, alone..."

pg. 21. "The snow drifts into our zombie mouths crawling with grease and curses and tobacco..."

pg. 31 "The nurse who handed out meds was so fat her skin was stretched tight. If she moved too fast, it would rip open and her yellow stuffing would spill out, ruining her Disney World sweat shirt."

pg. 49 "Her voice is sticky, like lipstick bled on her tongue."

pg. 67 "It screws up the laws of physics for her to occupy the same room as the first wife."

pg. 89 "We held hands when we walked down the gingerbread path into the forest, blood dripping from out fingers. We danced with witches and kissed monsters. We turned us into wintergirls, and when she tried to leave, I pulled her back into the snow because I was afraid to be alone."

pg. 103 "I place the phone itself under the left rear tire and drive back and forth over it thirty-three times."

pg. 143 "I throw off the blanket and stand up. 'This is stupid. You're gong to lecture me and boss me around, I'm going to yell back, it'll be like always. We can't even pretend to get along. I'm out of here.'"

pg. 180 "She wipes a snowflake off my cheek. "You're not dead, but you're not alive either. You're a wintergirl, Lia-Lia, caught in between the worlds. You're a ghost with a beating heart. Soon you'll cross the border and be with me. I'm so stoked. I miss you wicked."

pg. 184 "'Anemia,' she says. 'Plus low blood sugar, low phosphates, low calcium, low T3-don't know what that means-high white blood cells, low platelets. They sewed you up with black threads, thirty-three stitches, isn't that weird? Oh, and you have ketones in your pee. Keep this up and we'll do New Year's together. Stay strong, sweetie."

pg. 194 "I am dying to know how much I weigh. There are no scales here and they wouldn't tell me at the hospital. They stuck so much goo into me, I bet I put on ten pounds. My skin itches from the new fat. It's going to split and peel off me. Melissa gives me skin cream and watches while I rub it on my arms and legs."

pg. 200 "Oh, Go. Oh, God. I am on top of the highest mountain. The icy ground is shaking, an earthquake, the world beneath me opening up with fire, steel arms ready to pull me down.

I have to move. I can't stay here anymore.

I throw myself down the mountain and open my mouth."

pg. 203 "'I believe that you've created a metaphorical universe in which you can express your darkest fears. In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves, and sometimes we do such a good job, we lose track of reality.'"

pg. 204 "One day the wind will carry them off. Nobody will notice."

Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.


from goodreads

I have this strange fascination with eating disorders. Now, before you ask me a bunch or questions or try to get me help, I don't have one. I love food, and I eat everything in moderation. I hope you take my word for that, and please don't bombard me with anything. Secondly, I am a Laurie Halse Anderson fan, I didn't think I was when I was reading the last book from her, The Catalyst, but now I think I'm a true fan.

Laurie Halse Anderson is known for writing Speak, and along with her most award novel many other young adult fiction. Most of her stories are categorized as "tough", because of their themes. Many of her novels have started controversies. I, however, learn from her books about these "tough" themes. I'm not sure how your school system works, but I go to public school, and these themes are lightly touched on, and sometimes teachers aren't allowed to respond to questions. I find that incredibly discouraging. Anyways, I love how every novel she writes, she has this own style for her main characters, because they are in first person. It makes the novel feel more touchable, and relatable. When I read her novels, I always have this uncertainty that this character won't survive. It's quite scary, and I think it gives a personal experience for a reader, that hasn't gone or know anyone that has gone through these "tough" themes.

Lia is the main character in Wintergirls, and she is one of the wintergirls. Her use to be best friends, was found in a motel dead in the beginning of the novel, and that's when you find out the many problems Lia goes through, and the way she thinks and especially reacts to others, and events. Lia is numb. She's the kind of character that you want so bad to help, but you're not sure hoe exactly. I feel very attached to Lia, and even though she did so many things that scared me, and I would probably roll over and die, she's my hero in a way. Lia's story is one of many other girls that all over the world, have experienced, and some aren't as fortunate as her.

Cassie needs a punch in the face, in my opinion. Even at the end, I can't stand her, and I feel thing urge to kill and dead person, that's haunting Lia. Cassie is also anorexic, and is the cause of the wintergirls, and Lia's "struggle". I can't say that I particularly liked many other characters, they were all expected from Laurie Halse Anderson, and some are still a mystery to me. I can see how some characters can have their own story, and I would love to explore.

 The entire novel has this underlying feeling of coldness, and winter. There was always a haze of unsureness, or distress from the reader, or Lia. I think because I read the novel over a period of weeks, that it made the novel bearable. I'm not sure if I could sit down and read the novel in a weekend, especially when I'm in a reading rut, but I think that it is possible. That's why I give Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson a head nods, thumbs up, and smiling like there's no tomorrow. (5 out of 5)

Nanowrimo 2012

Nanowrimo is National November Writing Month. Next month I will try to accomplish writing a 50,000 novel. So that comes out about 1600 something words a day. That is a lot for little ol' me who is obsessive over editing while writing. Usually the most I'd write in a day is 700. Nanowrimo is for me, a way to put the thoughts and plot ideas I have somewhat on paper(Word).

I have never done Nanowrimo. That said, I don't like to be a Debby Downer but there is a HUGE chance that I will not succeed. I haven't found an idea that I'm going to stick with, so everything is up in the air at this point. Also please support me next month and leave any ideas below.

If you've done nanowrimo please comment below, I'd love to hear your experience and if you finished or failed. ;( .