Countdown to YallFest - An Inteview With Kami Garcia

So...have I convinced anybody to make the trip to Charleston yet?  Come on, you know you want to.  So many fantastic authors together in one place - it will be like Christmas in November :)

Today's interview is with an author I have not read...yet.  But I am familiar with her Beautiful Creatures Novels AND the Unbreakable, the first book in her new series comes out TOMORROW! Both of her series are on my list and I am excited to learn more.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

(from Goodreads)

Kami Garcia is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal & international bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures Novels (Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, Beautiful Chaos & Beautiful Redemption). Beautiful Creatures has been published in 50 countries and translated in 39 languages. The Beautiful Creatures movie released in theaters on February 14, 2013.

Kami is also the author of Unbreakable, the first book her paranormal solo series, THE LEGION (coming October 1, 2013.

Kami grew up outside of Washington DC, wore lots of black, and spent hours writing poetry in spiral notebooks. As a girl with Southern roots, she has always been fascinated by the paranormal and believes in lots of things “normal” people don’t. She’s very superstitious and would never sleep in a room with the number “13″ on the door. When she is not writing, Kami can usually be found watching disaster movies, listening to Soundgarden, or drinking Diet Coke.

Kami has an MA in education, and taught in the Washington DC area until she moved to Los Angeles, where she was a teacher & Reading Specialist for 14 years. In addition to teaching, Kami was a professional artist and led fantasy book groups for children and teens. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, daughter, and their dogs Spike and Oz (named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Q&A:

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

I need three things: my laptop, my headphones, and Diet Coke.

Describe your book in 5 words

Paranormal. Ghost-hunting. Intense. Romance. Secret Societies.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

1. I don’t know how to ride a bike. 

2. I used to be an artist (a painter). 

3. I won’t fly without my huge charm necklace that I believe will keep the plane from crashing. 

4. I believe in ghosts. 

5. Every time I write a book, I worry that everyone will hate it.

What are you working on now?

I am working on the second book in the Legion Series, the sequel to Unbreakable. Like Unbreakable, the sequel is very intense and has plenty of paranormal elements. But I think it’s even more romantic and surprising than the first book.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

My favorite genre to write is definitely urban fantasy/paranormal romance. I love to read paranormal, but I am also a huge fan of horror, crime fiction, high fantasy, and science fiction.

Countdown to YallFest -- An Interview With Veronica Rossi

Six weeks from today I will be on the road.  SIX WEEKS!!!!!  And pretty much, this is me every day. 

Today's Q&A is with author Veronica Rossi, author of the Under the Never Sky series.  The third book in the series comes out in January, so if you haven't read the first 2, you have plenty of time to take care of that in time for the release of  Into the Still Blue.  What are you waiting for?  On a related note, I am lucky enough to have been able to get my hands on an ARC of this book so look for a review on this blog in the near future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Veronica Rossi is the author of post-apocalyptic fiction for young adults. Her debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, is the first in a trilogy. Released in January 2012, it was deemed one of the Best Books of Year by School Library Journal. The second book in the trilogy, THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT, debuted in January on the NY Times and USA Today Best Seller Lists. The final book in the series, INTO THE STILL BLUE, is expected to release January 2014.

Foreign rights to the UNDER THE NEVER SKY trilogy have sold in over twenty-five territories to date and film rights have been optioned by Warner Bros.

She completed undergraduate studies at UCLA and then went on to study fine art at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons. When not writing, she enjoys reading, painting, and counting down the minutes until she can get back to making up stories about imaginary people. 

Q&A

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

Yeah, those.  And all the ones in between!

Best writing tip you ever received?

              

 $5. Just kidding. Um… tip… I think it’s probably to allow yourself to suck when writing early drafts. It takes away a lot of the fear of generating good material. It’s not easy to be creative when you’re judging your work.      

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

1.  In the past year, I've discovered a deep love of Brussel sprouts

2.  I talk to myself.  Heck.  Sometimes I argue with myself.

3.  I'm arguing with myself about including that last point at this very moment.

4. My favorite animals are elephants.

5. Dresses with pockets make me happy. 

 

Where's your favorite place to write?

I usually work in my home office, but I love working in hotel rooms.  No distractions!

What are you working on now?

Something I'm very excited about!  Can't divulge any details yet, but it's an idea that I've been mulling over for years.

Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

So I've been sitting on this review for a few weeks for a couple of reasons.  First, I've been in probably the worst book slump I've had in years and two, I don't read many books with a horror element, so I'm not really sure how to even talk about it.

Except that I found myself really enjoying it, so I feel like I NEED to talk about it.

Coming back to the fact that I don't read many "scary" books, I don't know much about the foundation of this book The Island of Doctor Moreau, but I didn't really find that to be an issue when reading this book.  Back story was included in a way that didn't feel like I was reading a recap and there was enough of it where I was able to read without feeling like I was on the outside of an inside joke.  So on that note, well done Ms. Shepherd.

This story is dark.  Period.  There are twists and turns and some really really scary elements that both fascinated me a little bit and freaked me out at the same time.  The whole "playing God" thing and how it can get out of hand...yeah, I'm not going to get into the real life parallels or anything but I definitely found myself thinking about them long after I finished reading.  I love it when books do that -- when I can be completely sucked in by the plot, imagery and descriptions while reading, but then have the themes and tropes linger into my own introspection and thoughts when I don't even have the book in my hands.

There is a love triangle in this book, but honestly, it didn't really take over the story for me -- but what I did notice is that I really didn't have a "favorite".  I liked Montgomery.  I liked Edward.  I liked that Juliet was conflicted, but not a doormat.  This story was not overrun with swoony moments, and while I'll be the first to admit that I am a sucker for good "swoonage", they would have been out of place with the tone and darkness of this book.  Is "dark swoonage" a thing?  Because maybe it could be called that?  Whatever it was, it worked.

I read this book right before my book rut started...and I think it was a good thing.  It had a little bit of everything.  Historical elements, the creepy factor, some romance, the fantasy...and the WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE ending that makes me really excited for the next book.

I definitely recommend it to anybody who is having an "I can't decide what I want to read moment."

 **On a side note, I had the chance to briefly meet Ms. Shepherd at the BookMarks Festival this month and she is lovely :) 

Countdown to YallFest - An Interview With Ransom Riggs

45 DAYS TO GO!!!!!  

Today's interview is with Ransom Riggs and I am super excited about it.  His book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, is on the top of my to-read list.  The cover fascinates me in both a creepy and an "I can't look away" way.  I think we were meant to be friends.  For real.  I'll let you know how it goes when I tell him this next month :)

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I grew up in Florida, went to Kenyon College in Ohio, then film school at USC in LA, where I still live. I write books and screenplays, blog daily for mentalfloss.com, and make short films.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is my first novel. I'm really excited about it -- it was challenging and rewarding and I hope people like it. If you read that and like the found photographs in it, you might be interested in a book comprised entirely of found photographs that I have coming out January 2012 from HarperCollins. It's called Talking Pictures. You can find sneak peeks by doing a search for "mental floss talking pictures" (I included a number of images in blogs there) and I made a kinda-sorta book trailer for it, which is on my youtube page: youtube.com/ransriggs.

Also, watch out for a Miss Peregrine book trailer, which I'm working on right now! I get to go to Belgium and film inside creepy abandoned chateaus, which I'm *really* looking forward to. 

AUTHOR Q&A

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Silence.  My noice-cancelling headphones have become almost essential.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

The first.  I rewrite and rewrite it a million times.  The last comes easy.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

I'm six foot four.  I lived on a working farm until I was five.  I used to know how to cook Indian food but now I've forgotten.  I love documentaries.  One day, I will conquer the moon.

What are you working on now?

A novel for Little, Brown - the plot of which is SECRET! (Sort of, for now.  But I'm really excited about it.)

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

Oh, definitely YA to write in.  I read everything, lots of YA, lots of adult, nonfiction of all sorts.  I even read poetry when I'm feeling ambitious.  I think it's crucial to have lots of different influences.  If you only read in the genre you write in, your writing will sound like everything else that's already out there.  

Countdown to YallFest -- An Interview With Rainbow Rowell

47 days until YallFest, not that I'm...ok, I'm totally counting :)  Today's interview is with one of my new favorites, Rainbow Rowell - fitting since this is Banned Books Week and one of her books, Eleanor and Park, has recently been banned by a county in Minnesota because of **gasp** profanity. 

(You can read more about that ridiculousness here) 

Anyhoo, on to the good stuff :)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Rainbow Rowell is the author of ATTACHMENTS, ELEANOR & PARK, and FANGIRL.  

Rainbow lives with her husband and two sons in Omaha, Nebraska.  Right at this moment, she is probably arguing with someone about something that doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things -- or trying to figure out how Sherlock faked his death.  

Blog and other stuff and rainbowrowell.com.

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Lip balm.

Describe your book in 5 words.

FANGIRL - Earnest, snowy, swoony, minty bookish

What is the hardest line to write - the first or the last?

The whole first page is a nightmare.  I want people to just skip it.  And I always end up rewriting it.

Best writing tip you ever received?

"Just finish your book." 

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?  Why?

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt.  I think it would have made me feel less alone.              

Where's your favorite place to write?

At coffee shops.  In giant overstuffed chairs.

What are you working on now?

I'm revising my adult novel, Landline, which comes out in Spring 2014, and playing with a romantic/political/tragicomic fantasy.

What is your favorite genre to write?  To read?

I write mostly contemporary.  I read mostly fantasy.

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length
novel?

All of my ideas are full-length novels.  I have a hard time narrowing my scope.