Middle Grade Monday| Blog Tour | Guest Post: Jessica Day George

Middle Grade Monday is a feature started right here at Reading Nook. It's a way to share news or reviews of middle grade novels on a blog that doesn't exclusively post middle grade content. Feel free to join any time and link up. 

Today I have the lovely Jessica Day George here to answer a couple of questions in honor of her recent release Wednesdays in the Tower. 

1. What's your favorite story that features a castle? 

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 

2. You write fantasy novels, do you have some other genre stories sitting around your house unfinished? Or are you strictly fantasy?

I have two Regency romance novels on my hard drive that I will one day publish! 

3.What are some differences between writing middle grade and young adult? 

In middle grade I feel less pressure to include a romantic subplot. I also tend to have more action-driven plots in my middle grade, and more character-driven in my YA books. 

4. What is a book you've read recently that you can't stop recommending? 

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? By Maria Semple. A lovely, well, dramedy that’s for adults, but I totally recommend to teens as well. 

5. Describe the Castle Glower series in 5 words. 

Magic castle loves its princess.

Jessica Day George is the author of many novels including the Princess series, Dragon Slippers series and of course the Castle Glower series. 
You can visit her at her website http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com/

This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

(doesn't have to be posted on a Monday)

This or That with Author Malinda Lo

*   Hardcover or paperback  *

Hardcover for books I want to keep. Paperback for books while traveling.
(Although I finally got an iPad so that might cut out paperbacks entirely.)

*   Dogs or cats  *

I used to love the mysterious detachment of cats, but since I got a dog… 

okay my dog will kill me if I don't say:

Look at how cute! Obviously she wins.

*   Handwriting or typing  *

Both have their uses, but I never handwrite my ransom notes.

*   Series or standalone (writing)  *

Series if you want to hit a bestseller list. Standalone if you want to hit an awards list. :)

*   Series or standalone (reading)  *

It depends on the characters. If I love the characters, I want them in a series. Always.

*   Faeries or Fairytales  *

Fairy tales because (1) I argue that "fairy" is the correct spelling (others disagree!); 

(2) fairy tales do not need to include fairies at all, only a preferably vicious twist.

*   Piercings or tattoos  *

Tattoos — but only good ones. 

*   Vegetables or fruits  *

The tomato: the fruit that is often mistaken for a vegetable.

*   Paintings or photographs  *

Art. (The question is: What is art?)

*   Summer or winter  *

September in San Francisco: the warmth of summer with none of the heat waves.

*   eBooks or real books  *

I believe that ebooks are real books. They're just more difficult to pet.

*   Editing or writing  *

No writing succeeds without editing.

*   China or East Coast (U.S.) or England or West Coast (U.S.)  *

My favorite city in the world is San Francisco, which is an incomparable jewel.

Malinda Lo’s first novel, Ash, a retelling of Cinderella with a lesbian twist, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the Lambda Literary Award. Her second novel, Huntress, a companion novel to Ash, is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Her young adult science fiction duology, beginning with Adaptation, was recently published. She lives in Northern California with her partner and their dog.

Interview with Jennifer Brown

1. Your novels are all pretty heavy reads, do you secretly write fluff in between novels for a break? 
While I was writing Hate List, I also wrote a weekly humor column for The Kansas City Star, so there was a time when, yes, I was also writing fluff. Which was nice, by the way, to be forced to lighten up for a day every week. But eventually my workload got to be too much and I quit the column to work on the novels only. So now I don't do any fluff-writing. Not that I wouldn't mind it; I just don't have time.

2. Hate List is about the aftermath of a school shooting as well as other aspects of it. Was this the hardest novel of your current three to write? 
Actually, Bitter End was the hardest novel for me to write. With Hate List, the really horrible stuff (the shooting) had happened before the start of the story, so we were meeting Valerie at her darkest hour and were sort of digging out with her. With Bitter End, I had to start my character, Alex, where everything was good and take her down a road through hell, and that was kind of difficult to do sometimes. 

3. Which book cover for Hate List do you like better?
When the paperback first came out, I preferred the hardcover. But over time I've come to really appreciate the paperback. I like the colors, and the models' faces pop out at me. I think it stands out on a bookshelf better.

4. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were writing/publishing Hate List? How to tie-up plot points, and that if you mention a character in the beginning of the book, you should mention what happens to that character by the end of the book.

5. What are you working on now?
I just finished copyedits on my 4th YA novel, which is called Thousand Words, and is about a sexting scandal. I'm also working on some women's fiction that I just sold.

6. What's a great book you've read recently?
I am absolutely adoring the book that I'm reading right now. It's called Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman. It comes out November 2012. It's seriously cute. Also, I loved Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews.

Make sure you stay up to date with Jennifer by following her blog!

Interview with Brian Katcher

1. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you wrote/published Playing with Matches? 
I wish that I had shown the slightest interest in writing before I was 25. Writing is like playing a sport or a musical instrument, you only get good with practice. Instead of working on honing my skills, I just kind of blundered into writing. 

 2. Your books have a strong beauty within message, why do you think this is such an underplayed message in media? 
Sadly, most cultures focus on what people look like before anything else. If you're beautiful, then life is easier for you, period. Why did people listen to Jenny McCarthy when she told people not to have their children vaccinated? Was she a doctor or a researcher? Nope, just really good looking (I still have that Playboy). Who on earth are the Kardashians? I mean, I know who they are, but why? Television changed the face of politics, Richard Nixon was the last truly ugly man elected to that office, and he previously lost to handsome John Kennedy. Sadly, I don't think people today would listen to Abraham Lincoln or Golda Meir because they look like Abraham Lincoln and Golda Meir. 

3. What is one of your favorite quotes in Playing with Matches?
"The next day I didn't wake up as a millionaire playboy secret agent, so I was forced to return to school." I thought that every day in high school. 

 4. Was Playing with Matches the first story you wrote? >or was there something else that didn't make the cut? 
'Matches' was my first serious attempt at writing and I was shocked when it was published. Sadly, after my first two successes, I now have three unpublished novels. 

5. Are you working on anything new? 
'Everyone Dies in the End, a Romantic Comedy.' See if I can't break into the horror genre. Hey, everyone loves a good mystery/romance/buried alive story. 


6. What book have you read recently that you recommend to everyone? 
'Thou Shalt Not Road Trip,' by my friend Antony John. Hilarious story about a boy whose church camp journal is published and suddenly finds himself as the new messiah. 

7. Anything else you'd like to say? 
If you ever have had the urge to write, do it now. Sometimes it pays off.

Interview with Deb Caletti

1. You write contemporary fiction, have you ever thought of dipping into another genre? 
I write what I like to read, and that’s contemporary fiction. I love that moment in a book, where you’re going along and then suddenly there’s a line where the author just gets you and your life, where they describe something you always felt but never knew there were words for. I read to be understood and to understand, and to me, contemporary fiction provides that. That’s my place, both as a reader and a writer.

2. What do you know now that you wished you knew when you wrote/published Queen of Everything? 
The Queen of Everything was the fifth book I wrote, and the first to be published. When I was writing it, I didn’t know if this dream of mine – to be a writer and a published author – would ever happen. It was a time of great angst for me both personally and professionally. I’d been struggling for years to make the leap over the enormous canyon from unpublished to published, and I was married at the time to a stormy someone who once told me that my writing was a dream that would never amount to anything. I just kept writing and writing, almost afraid to stop, and I had a Nietzsche quote tacked above my desk: “Become who you are.” But then, a crazy-weird and fated thing happened. I finally got “the call” – the thrilling, life-changing call that we got an offer on Queen – just a few weeks after my long, drawn-out divorce was final. What I know now that I didn’t know then was how much a life can shift, even when things feel really dark and impossible. My life is so completely different now that the one I had then doesn’t even seem real. I wish I could have shown that woman who’d been struggling all those years even a tiny glimpse into the future. There was a lot of brightness coming. You never know what great, wondrous things the future has in store, just around that difficult corner. You just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

3. A lot of your stories deal with problems, like a parent dating a married woman, what sort of research do you do? Or do you not have to do any? 
Writing involves a lot of research, from elephant behavior and anxiety (The Nature of Jade) to violin playing and the connection between creativity and madness (Wild Roses). In Stay, I researched obsessive relationships and how a lighthouse works, along with shipwrecks and ghost stories and edible beach plants. But more than research, I rely on my own empathy. I think it’s a writer’s most important tool. For example, I did not research fathers having affairs in Queen. Instead, I imagined what it might be like to feel that things were falling apart all around you.

4. Describe The Queen of Everything in one sentence. 
The Queen of Everything is about a young girl who watches as her normal, everyday father spirals down into a terrible act: committing a crime of passion.

5. What are you working on now? 
I’ve just begun work on my next YA novel (S&S April 2014), which is still untitled. We are also putting the fishing touches on my latest release, an adult novel called He’s Gone (Random House, May 2013).

6. What's a book that you've read recently and loved? 
I finally read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and I loved it. I couldn’t believe the mixed reviews it got. To come up with something so ingenious – right there, I’m in awe.

7. Anything else you'd like to share with everyone? 
If you have a question of your own, or just want to say hi, I’d love to chat more on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DebCaletti Happy reading!

“As Agatha Swanburne Once Said” Blog Tour with Maryrose Wood

“Many are happy to give advice; few are happy to take it.” — The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 3: The Unseen Guest 

Welcome to the last stop on the Incorrigible blog tour! These posts have marked the launch of The Unseen Guest, the third book in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series. In each post I’ve used one of the sayings of Agatha Swanburne as a jumping-off point for some personal musings mixed in with a wee bit of moralizing, plus some tasty tidbits of philosophy sprinkled on top. In other words, they’ve given me a chance to do something I find very hard to resist: give advice.

Does it surprise you to learn that that the person who invented Agatha Swanburne is an inveterate advice-giver? Yes, that’s me, hanging my head in shame. Sometimes I manage to remember that I should keep my mouth shut unless somebody comes right out and asks my opinion. But sometimes I don’t, and the urge to pontificate takes over. Even as a kid I could easily imagine myself as Lucy in the Charlie Brown cartoons, with her five cent fee and “The Doctor is In” sign hanging on the front of her rickety lemonade stand.

My know-it-all-personality has probably annoyed my friends plenty through the years. On the other hand, many of them have gotten some pretty in-depth counsel from me, and I never even bothered to charge the five cents. Truthfully, I don’t have any special qualifications to tell other people what to do, other than a childhood spent reading Ann Landers’ column in the newspaper. Boy, did I learn a lot (I mean, A LOT) from those columns! But I like to think that my writer’s toolkit includes a knack for understanding motivation and subtext (in plain English: why people do what they do, and what they really mean by what they say). That, plus a willingness to listen — that’s worth at least a nickel, don’t you think?

Now that I’m responsible for coining the sayings of Agatha Swanburne, those bossy, advice-giving impulses of mine are finally being put to good use. I wonder what nugget of pithy wisdom the wise old gal will come up with next?

Thanks for joining me on this blog tour! Check www.maryrosewood.com to find out when I’ll be visiting a city near you. To invite me to visit your school or library, send an email to schoolvisits@maryrosewood.com.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever got? How about the worst? And do you prefer to give advice, or to take it? 

Maryrose Wood is the author of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series for middle-grade readers. You can find her online at www.maryrosewood.com, and on Twitter at @Maryrose_Wood.

Check out my reviews of the Incorrigible Children books: The Mysterious Howling, The Hidden Gallery and The Unseen Guest.

Interview with Bree Despain

1. What caused you to write about werewolves out of all the creatures that go bump in the night? 
It was actually my mom's idea. I was telling her about my story idea and how I wanted to have a character who had an inner demon that would occasionally take over his body and manifest as a real physical monster. She looked at me and said, "Like a werewolf?" And I was like, "No! Not like a werewolf. Totally different." But then after a couple of days of thinking about it I realized that werewolves were probably the perfect fit. 

2. How much research did you have to do into werewolf folklore for the Dark Divine novels? 
 After I decided to explore the idea of werewolves, I started doing a lot of research. I watched classic werewolf movies and researched werewolf lore. I came across an old court record of a man in the 16th century who was accused of being a werewolf, and instead of denying it, he told the court that he was indeed werewolf but that they didn't know what a werewolf really was. He claimed that werewolves were created by God to protect humans from demons, and that if the court sentenced him to death, their town would no longer be protected. Needless to say, the court decided to let him go free--just to be on the safe side. I was so fascinated by this very brief account that I decided to run with the idea and created my own mythology around it. In my mythology, werewolves were originally created by God in order to protect humans from demons, however they became prideful of their special powers and began to disdain regular humans, and they eventually became even more evil than the demons they were created to destroy. Did you do less as the series progressed or more? I did less research as the trilogy progressed because now I was working within the framework of my own made up mythology. I did refer back to research every once in awhile when I'm looking for new ideas. 

3. Who is your favorite character in the Dark Divine novels? 
It really depends on the day. My affections waver according to my mood. Today Daniel is my favorite character. I really got to do some awesome stuff with his character in THE SAVAGE GRACE and I'm still a little swooney for him even after the series is over. 

4. Are you a pastor's daughter or why did you decide to make Grace one? 
My dad isn't a pastor, but he his a local religious leader, and I know what it is like to have people in your community watching what you do all the time. I mostly wanted to capture what it is like to be a teenager whose life is centered around questions of faith, religion, and living up to expectations because that was my experience growing up. 

5. Are you working on anything new right now? 
I'm working on a new book that is slated for publication in Fall 2013. It's a book I started several years ago before THE DARK DIVINE was published, and it's really exciting to be working on again. 

6. What is a book that you've read recently that you can't stop recommending? 
EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton. LOVE IT! 

7. Anything else you'd like to mention? 
Thank you so much for the interview. It feels sad, scary, awesome, and exciting to have the trilogy finally finished. I hope everyone enjoys THE SAVAGE GRACE.


Thanks so much to Bree for stopping by and answering some question. Tomorrow I'll have my review for The Savage Grace up, so come and check it out! You can see my reviews of The Dark Divine here and The Lost Saint here. If you haven't started this series yet, you probably should!

Interview with Mariko Tamaki

1. Which character did you enjoy writing more, Emiko or Skim? Which one did you relate to better?

It was a very different writing process for the two characters.  Skim was a character I'd had bouncing around for a while. I'd had this idea to write up a goth character that was a little less dramatic, a little less patent leather and a little more NIN t-shirt, than the goth characters I'd seen.  Also Skim was written in a diary format, so the text is a lot more subtle and also a little more personal.  Emiko Superstar was created specifically for MINX.  With ES it was more about the overall story, of a girl in this Factory performance theatre like setting, although the character certainly evolved throughout the writing process.

2. Both of your YA graphic novels are about girls that are half Asian. Which nationalities are you a mixture of? 

I am Japanese Canadian.  My mother is "white" and my father is Japanese.  I think that has certainly had an influence on the character choices I make, if only because I don't automatically assume them to be white.  Or skinny.  Or anything else really.  That said, I don't think you could say that my works provide any real cultural portrait of Japanese Canadianness.  Which may have something to do with me and my background.  I didn't even realize I was Japanese until I was in Grade 2.

3. Was your writing process any different between working with your cousin and working with Steve Rolston?

Very.  Skim was my first graphic novel.  It was also my co-creator and cousin Jillian Tamaki's first.  So we just sort of did what felt comfortable and familiar.  I had a background in theatre and so the script is very much a theatre script.  It was written in scenes and acts, the actual description of the setting was very minimal.  Mostly to give a sense of where the scene was taking place, with a few cultural references included - mostly My So Called Life and Degrassi.  My focus was really on the narration and the dialogue.  DC Comics, who published Emiko Superstar, had a very formatted version of both their script and editing process.  Their scripts are VERY descriptive, like movie scripts, with each visual described in great detail.  Everything has to be approved, page by page, by several people, which requires a lot of clarification.  So with Steve (Rolston) I sent over some very detailed pages.  I will say that for both comics, though, my focus was never on the final visuals so even with the script I handed Steve there were lots of changes Steve made throughout the editing process.  

4. What's your favorite part in Skim or Emiko Superstar?

Hmmm.  It changes.  I really like the confrontation scenes in the last act of Skim.  Skim's discussion of Romeo and Juliet, and her thoughts on the suicide/love story in that work, were pretty fundamental to the story for me.  Plus I just love the double date scene and how it's drawn.  I mean, I love how the whole book was constructed by Jillian and for some reason that particular scene ALWAYS cracks me up.

Emiko Superstar has a ton of illustrations of performance art type stuff I really enjoy.  One of my favourite exercises in that work involved me dreaming up a crazy costume and getting Steve to bring it to life.  Which he did.  Many times.

5. What is one book you've read recently that you recommend to everyone?

Let's see.  I read Tales from The Goon Squad recently and I absolutely loved it.  I think a lot of people did.  It is truly an incredible book.  Very intricate.  Complicated.  Overall I am always recommending creative non-fiction.  The collection New Kings of Non-Fiction ed by Ira Glass is my personal fav.

6. Do you have anything you're working on right now?

Yes.  I just finished edits on my next Young Adult Novel to be published by Penguin Books Canada.  It's called (You) Set Me on Fire, it's about a girl in her freshman year at college.  Jillian Tamaki and I are working on a new graphic novel with First Second (US) and Groundwood Books (CAN). The book will be called Awago Beach Babies.

7. Anything else you'd like to say to everyone?

Yes.  Follow me on Twitter @marikotamaki and you can also check out my blog at marikotamaki.blogspot.com

If you do those things, you'll see I have lots to say :)

Thanks so much for stopping by Mariko!
Readers, you can click to check out my reviews of Emiko Superstar and Skim. Brief summary...go buy them and read them!

Interview with Jim Rugg

1. So what is it like working on a graphic novel with another author? 
Working with Cecil was great. Our editor, Shelly Bond, set a positive, inclusive tone for us as a team. We would have regular conference calls to talk about the script and to look at the work I was drawing. And the result was a very high-energy, rewarding experience. It probably helped that Cecil wrote a great script. 

2. Do you have an artist that greatly inspires you? 
Not really. I mean, there isn’t just one. I’m inspired by a lot of artists and sometimes it depends on my mood or what I’m working on, in terms of whose work inspires me. Some of my favorite cartoonists include Dan Clowes, Frank Miller, Robert Crumb. I also enjoy a lot of filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, and Tarantino. 

3. Do you have a favorite panel from either of the JANE books? 
Not really. I like certain sequences, like when Main Jane moves to the suburbs in the first book, I liked how those pages turned out. I liked some of the dance sequence in the second book… 

4. Do you have any books you're working on right now? 
Right now I am working on art for a solo show in LA next year, which will likely yield a book or zine or something. I’m going to be doing a fill-in issue on a DC book shortly, and have started blogging about some of my favorite fill-in issues of old comic books to motivate myself. And I’ve been doing a lot of short strips for anthologies like MOME and Smoke Signal and Pood. 

5. Is there a book you've read recently that you can't recommend enough? 
 Jaime Hernandez’s latest, the Love Bunglers, from Love and Rockets, volume 4, was one of the greatest comics I’ve ever read. I’m trying to remember what I’ve read recently, Outliers was a fun read. I’ve been looking at old Image books for a project I’m working on, and Jae Lee’s story from Youngblood: Strikefile 1-3 has surprised me. Tom Neely’s the Wolf is amazing. I read Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo, a three volume manga from Vertical and absolutely loved it. 

6. Anything else you'd like to share? 
The PLAIN Janes volume 1 returns to shelves this November. Volume 1 had sold out, and DC decided to reprint it. So that’s good. If anyone’s interested in the PLAIN Janes, it should be easy to track a copy down through their local comics shop, bookstore, or online. And anyone interested in keeping up with me can sign up for my newsletter, http://eepurl.com/fGTxc or follow me on Twitter, @jimrugg. 

Don't forget you can win a copy of The PLAIN Janes here and see my review here!

Interview with Cecil Castellucci

1. What's the biggest difference between writing a novel and writing a graphic novel?
The basic parts are the same.  After all, a story is a story, so the coming up with an idea part of writing them is the same.  But there is this economy to how you tell the story because there are the images that are such a huge part of the telling.  And there is the fact that there is an amazing possibility for moments of silence.  That is different.  Words here are not the star.  Narrative is.  And I don't draw the book,  I work with an artist.  The collaboration with the artist is key.  And I must say it's nice to have someone else who cares as much about the characters and the way the story is being told as you do.  Writing a novel gets lonely. 
I never though about the moment of silence point. It is really interesting how much emotion can be portrayed with a look instead of a page.

2. What was the process like for the graphic novel? Pictures first? Story first?  
I write the script first.  With the Plain Janes I did a page and panel breakdown.  Then Jim Rugg, the artist, and Shelly Bond, the editor, and I would talk about the script.  Jim and Shelly would make suggestions.  Like Jim would ask if he could open up a scene to be a few more pages or condense panels to tell a scene in fewer pages.  Then he'd thumbnail the pages, which basically means that he'd sort of do quick sketches of what the pages would look like.  We'd take a look at that and then he'd pencil, ink and tone.  And then, when I'd get the inks back, I'd actually adjust the text.  Removing captions or balloons because suddenly words were no longer needed.  I really find that in the scripting, I tend to over write, and I think that's fine because I'm just trying to pack in all the emotional information that's needed.  But then, when you get the images back, it's all there and you can be brave enough to trust the images to do their work by removing the words. That's the beauty of a comic book.  You can trust that the story is being told.  I remember once, someone asked me if I felt that the story was no longer mine the less words there were.  On the contrary!  The bones of the story I wrote is still there. And it's just a glorious blend of art and words that flesh the whole thing out.  

3. Which Jane do you relate the most to?
In The Plain Janes I related more to Main Jane.  Because she is an instigator.  But in Janes in Love I really fell in love with Theater Jane.  She's so sassy and wears her heart on her sleeve.  She breaks my heart in that book.  We never got to finish book three, Janes Go Summer, but I can say with authority that Brain Jane was my fave in that one.   
I hope that maybe someday Janes Go Summer might grace our shelves!

4. Have you done any fun Art in Neighborhood things? 
I've participated in art pieces. I secretly want to be conceptual artist.   And in fact, I'm in the process of doing my first big conceptual art piece called The Literary Diaspora. (http://www.literarydiaspora.com ) It's a mail based art project involving words, art and authors.   It's been totally fun and I'm sure to do more art in the future.  

5. Tell us a little bit about your upcoming novel, First Day on Earth.  
First Day on Earth is just coming out in two weeks!  It's about a boy named Mal who believes that he has been abducted by aliens.  He starts going to an alien abduction support group where he meets a man named Hooper, who may or may not be a traveller from the stars.   I am excited about the book because it's my first book with a boy as the main character.  It's also my first  (maybe it is, maybe it isn't ) science fiction novel.    
Can't wait for this!

6. What's one book you've read recently that you can't stop recommending?  
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. It's this beautiful short story collection of  hopeful, sad, beautiful, fragile fables  about sea creatures, aliens, space ships, animals and human beings dealing with the fantastical and the every day.  I would have loved it as a teenager as much as I love it now.  
 I will have to check this out soon.  

7. Anything else you'd like to share?  
I have a mini comic story in the anthology Dear Bully, which is drawn by my Mom!  And in May 2012, I've got a new half prose/ half graphic novel coming out.  It's called The Year of the Beasts and it's drawn by the amazing Nate Powell.  (You should also check out his new book Any Empire)  my web site is www.misscecil.com

Don't forget I'm giving away a copy of The Plain Janes right here!
Also you can see my thoughts on The Plain Janes and Janes in Love here.

Interview with author Tara Hudson

If you have yet check out my review for Hereafter, you can read it here!


1. Why a ghost story? Do you remember the first one you ever told, or one that you loved telling your friends? 

 Certain places – cemeteries, abandoned buildings, sparsely traveled roadways – always make me feel like someone is watching me. When I began to create HEREAFTER, that “someone” turned out to be Amelia. But although I've always loved ghost stories, Amelia's is the first one I've ever told.

 2. What is a book you've read recently, that you think everyone should read? 

 Strictly in YA, Jen Violi's PUTTING MAKEUP ON DEAD PEOPLE is a funny, raw, incredible book; I finished it in one day.

 3. Could you tell us about your pets? I've heard you had quite a few. 

 I do, and they're all terrible! I have two English Bulldogs: Peaches, the imperious and demanding breeder-dog, and Penny, the total spazzy and nervous rescue dog. Then there is Haruko, my sweet but needy cat. Last year, I lost Baby, a cat with Feline Leukemia, and Gilly, my 21 year old chemically-grown frog. And no, you didn't read that wrong.

 4. Any big plans for your release day?

Release day was awesome – I spent it in Chicago, speaking to a group of high schoolers at a public library, and then signing books at Anderson's. I am incredibly spoiled!

 5. Could you describe your novel in three words?

 A ghostly mystery

 6. Which place on your Dark Days tour are you most excited to go to? 

I was most excited to go to Austin, Texas, because it's so close to my home state of Oklahoma, but Portland ended up being a wonderful surprise. What a gorgeous city!

 7. Is there anything else you'd like to say to everybody? 

 Thanks for being a part of HEREAFTER!

Interview with Amy Plum

If you haven't checked out my review of this book yet (I LOVED IT) you can right here. Also, did you know Amy has a map on her website of Paris and it has little notes on the places that are mentioned in the book? Check it out! 

1. So you've lived in Alabama, Chicago, New York, Paris and London, as well as some other small places. Which was your absolute favorite place to live? 

Paris and New York are my favorite places on earth, both to live and to visit. Since my parents are gone, I don’t really have a “home” to go back to. But when I am in either of those cities, I have this happy bubble inside me that feels like it’s constantly on the verge of bursting. In New York it’s the creativity, the energy, the 24/7 activity, and the fact that no one looks twice when some guy wearing only a Speedo and a leather jacket dances by them on rollerblades. In Paris it’s the ancient history of the city, the millions of ghosts that are everywhere, pulling on the edges of your consciousness, that seduces me. There’s an ambiance of lazy luxury, appreciating life (whether with the food, art, or beautiful people) being at the forefront of its inhabitants’ minds. Paris is a woman: she’s incredibly sexy, sophisticated and cool. New York is a man: he’s artistic, bohemian, and has so much nervous energy that when you’re with him you can’t help but buzz and jump around with his contagious excitement. I love both of them equally! 

2. What is a book you've read recently, that you think everyone should read? 

I know they’re the books on everyone’s favorite list at the moment, but I have to say the Hunger Games series. 

3. How close are the actors in your book trailer to what your characters actually look like? 

The kids they chose are super-cute, but they don’t look anything like Kate and Vincent. 

4. For those wishing to live abroad, what is some advice they must know? 

Don’t judge anything in your new country by the same standards you would back home. Wherever you go, try not to have the attitude “Our way is better”. Try instead for “Our way is different”. And then, even if you come across something you don’t like, attempt to find the charming side in it. You will have a much better experience if you do! 

5. Did you know Kate's story would be paranormal to begin with or did her early draft life start of differently? 

Yes, I approached the idea of the book knowing it would be a paranormal romance. But before I even thought of what paranormal creature I would write about, I tried to figure out what Kate, my human protagonist, was like. The book began when the first sentence (which has since been cut) came to mind: “Ten days after I got my driver’s license, my parents were killed in a car accident.” That defined Kate for me, and everything else grew from that. Once I had her personality down, I tried to think about what kind of supernatural being she would fall for. 

6. Which was your favorite character, if you have one? 

Kate and Vincent are my favorite characters, of course. But after them, I would have to say Jules. Since we don’t see him much in Book 1 the reader doesn’t know this, but he has a very three-dimensional personality in my mind. He has found a way to deal with his fate that I completely understand and empathize with. 

Interview with Tara Altebrando author of Dreamland Social Club

 If you haven't yet, make sure you check out my review of Tara's latest book!

1. How did you spend your release day?
On Coney Island! Looking for shade with a photographer from a local NY
paper so she could take my picture. Fun fact: There is no shade on the
beach at Coney Island. Ever. The Native American inhabitants of the
land that is now Coney Island, the Lenape, called the island
Narrioch—meaning "land without shadows"—because its orientation means
the beach gets sun all day. That night, I had a small book release
party with friends and colleagues at a bar called Angels and Kings. I
just love that name, don't you?

2. Out of the three books you have published thus far, which was
your favorite?
Books are like children, as they say. You love them all! But right now
I do feel like DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB is my favorite in that it feels
like my best work to date. It was also a very long path to publication
for this one, involving at least one entirely massive revision and
re-imagining. So I'm especially proud of this latest offspring, it's
true.

3. Have you ever worked in a carnival or were you close to someone who did?
No. That would have been cool.

4. What is one book you've read recently that you recommend to everyone?
The book I've been pushing the most lately is a picture book, ALL THE
WORLD by Liz Garton Scanlon with illustrations by Marla Frazee. A
friend gave it to my daughter as a gift and told me she cried whenever
she read it and I sort of inwardly rolled my eyes. But WOW. There is
something incredibly powerful about this book. I seriously get choked
up, too, almost every time I read it aloud to my daughter. Try it!
It's like magic! I've also been doing a ton of raving about SHINE by
Lauren Myracle, which is just lovely and heartbreaking.

5. What was the most exciting thing about living in Dublin?
Irish men! No, seriously, it was the music scene there in the early
90s. There were more bands per capita in Ireland at the time than in
any other country in the world, which is a sort of hilariously useless
statistic but it's true. The Cranberries and The Frames were just
coming up then so it was a great time to be there and an especially
great time to be there working for a music magazine like I was.

6. Is there anything you can share about what you are working on
now book-wise?
There is. I am working on another YA novel for Dutton. It takes place
entirely during a senior week scavenger hunt, following a team of high
school underdogs of sorts as they try to have one big night they'll
never forget.

7. Is there anything else you'd like to say to everyone?
Have a great summer! And check out my author video if you want to know
more about Dreamland Social Club and Coney Island.

Interview with Josephine Angelini

1. So for anyone who has read the "About Me" section on your website, we know how you ended up with your first name. Can you tell us a little about your last name, where your family hails from?

My family is from Massachusetts, and most of my relatives still live there. “Angelini” is Italian (shocker) but I’ve never been to Italy and I don’t speak Italian. My dad does, and I’m bummed he never taught us. My husband’s first language was Spanish and I think it’s so awesome whenever he uses it. I wish I was that cool—to just start blabbing away in Italian or something. I got robbed.

2. What is a book you've read recently, that you think everyone should read?

Die For Me by Amy Plum was great. Her main character speaks fluent French and lives in Paris even though she's from Brooklyn. I wish I spoke French. I took it in high school but I was rotten at it. It seems like everyone speaks another language but me!

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, would you stay in LA, move back to Massachusetts, or go somewhere else entirely?

I miss New York a lot. I went to NYU and I still have friends in the city. Every time I go back I want to live there again. But it’s so cold-- and my husband’s Caribbean blood doesn’t do cold.

4. How much do you love your UK book trailer? Is there anything you wished they added?

I think the UK book trailer is AWESOME! I just have one teeny, tiny thing, though. Lucas doesn’t play basketball. He plays (American) football. I don’t mind, though. I’m sure if he played basketball he’d be fantastic at it.

5. You have eight siblings, what was it like being the youngest?

Humbling. See, all my elder siblings were super-talented and smart. My eldest sister was a gifted pianist. My second eldest sister danced with the Boston Ballet. My brother was a high school track star that lettered in everything by the time he was a sophomore. I even have sisters that were especially good at Hell-raising, so I couldn’t even be the rebel of the family. By the time I came around, all the good “parts” were already taken. Even my teachers in school would forget my name and call me one of my sisters. My algebra teacher used to call me Jerry—that’s my brother’s name—instead of Josie. He didn’t even get my gender right, for crying out loud. So, yeah. Humbling is a really good description of what it was like.

The upside? When you are the baby you get TONS of love, so I guess I lucked out, too.

6. So far it looks like Starcrossed is to be a trilogy, which one of the three books do you think will be your favorite, either to write, or just overall?

Tough question! So far the second book, Dreamless, has been my favorite, but I haven’t finished the third yet, so I could easily change my mind. Not that I don’t love Starcrossed. Wait, maybe I like that one best. You know what? I have no idea.

7. Is there anything else you'd like to say to everyone?

I love the spread that Macmillan did for me on My Kinda Book. You should all check it out. They put the book trailer inside the book cover—so cool.

Interview with author Christine Schulze

Today, Christine was kind enough to drop by and answer a few questions.


1. How did you come up with the different types of dragons? What sort of research was involved?

 I'll be the first to admit that I normally despise research. I think that's one reason I find it difficult to write anything besides fantasy, because I feel that in writing realistic fantasy, my imagination is stifled.

However, I'd never done a dragon piece and needed a starting place. So I found this website: http://www.mythcreatures.co.uk/

It listed different kinds of dragons, their appearances, special powers, and personalities. I chose four kinds to represent my four dynasties and created both the dragon and human races from there. 

I wanted each dragon dynasty to be unique, not just in appearance, powers, and abilities, but especially in personality. Crisilin learns something new from each dynasty. The dragons of Zale are wise and peaceful. The dragons of Gauthier are strong and stubborn, though even one of their leaders understand what it is to be oppressed. The dragons of Varden are clever but not easily swayed. The dragons of Tynan are a strong race, once wise, but now misguided into a terrible ritual.

2. How did you decide on one year for the Quelda to rule? Also, why did they have to be sacrificed?

The sacrifice of Tynan did not start as such. In each dynasty, the dragons protect the humans, and in turn, the humans offer a yearly tribute. This treaty of peace was set up because there used to be much bloodshed and warring amongst the human and dragon races.

So, Tynan's tribute was only meant to involve gold, not bloodshed. At first, the dragons of Tynan grew greedy for more gold, placing a strain on their relationship with their humans. Over time though, they came to desire more...

The book doesn't clearly explain how things degenerate to the point they do. That is something readers must imagine for themselves. However, what readers do come to understand is that the dragons somehow became misguided; they didn't mean harm, but they came to believe that sacrificing a young, pure couple could actually bless their dynasty with prosperity. Sort of like a religion gone wrong; they believed they were doing the right thing but were really just hurting their people. Over time, they were blinded to the point of no longer seeing the truth.

As far as giving the Quelda and her husband a year to live, this is to see if they produce a child. If so, the child is sacrificed along with the couple, again part of some cleansing ritual the dragons hold to. If there is no sign of a child, the couple may be sacrificed earlier, and a new Quelda appointed then.

3. Have you done a lot of traveling? 

No; as many new authors, I am currently undiscovered and poor. However, I hope to be able to travel all over the world someday, as evident in Bloodmaiden. ^_^

4. If you could be any mythological creature, which one would you choose to be and why?

That's actually a terrible question--if only because there are so many wonderful mythological creatures! I would definitely want to be something like an elf so I could live a very long time, not get sick hardly at all, and devote all my time to writing and marketing books! Being a vampire would be convenient if I was the kind that doesn't need sleep, but I don't think being a vampire would quite be me, nor would I fancy the blood-drinking. Perhaps if I was a Stregoni Benefici from my novel, Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress...but that's an entirely different story!

I might also enjoy being a fairy as they are very elegant--the life-sized kind, not the Tinker Bell sort. I might even fancy being a Monku just so I know what it's like to have fur. The Monku are a race I created which have cat-like bodies by night and are completely human by day. 

If all else failed, I could always just be a unicorn. Who doesn't like unicorns?

5. How did you come up with the riddles? Are you a master riddler or did you adapt ones you already knew to fit your story?

There were a few I came up with on my own, the one about the spinnet, for example. That one needed to be very specific. For others, I looked up riddles online and tweaked them to fit what I needed. Other readers have said they love the riddling passages, but I can't take too much credit; I'm generally not good with riddles myself, so many were those I looked up and modified. 

6. What are some of your favorite fantasy novels?

Some of my favorites include classics like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I also love quirky writers like Diana Wynne Jones, J.K. Rowling, and Neil Gaiman. Some favorite Christian fantasy pieces include Quest for Celestia, and, of course, The Chronicles of Narnia. A novel which helped subconsciously inspire Bloodmaiden is one I read a while back and really liked called Chains of Gold by Nancy Springer, so it too made its way to the "favorites" list.


Thank you Christine!
If you have a moment and would love to help Christine get some more publicity for her novels, please click here and vote for her story Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress.


Guest Post by Christine Schulze
Review: Bloodmaiden - Christine Schulze

Interview with author Jody Gehrman

So today, we have a special guest. She is the author of Confession of a Triple Shot Betty, Triple Shot Bettys in Love and the soon to be  released Babe in Boyland. Jody Gehrman. *Applause*  

The lovely Jody has agreed to do an interview and a...giveaway. So today I bring you the interview. Enjoy!

Have you ever worked as a barista? 
No, I've never worked as a barista. My efforts in the food service industry have been very ill fated, for the most part. I did work as a cocktail waitress in a casino one summer. It was a kind of horrible job, but I thought it would give me lots of material to write about.

What is your favorite caffeinated beverage? 
Mmm, I love so many! At the moment I'm on a vanilla soy latte kick, though I love me a mocha on a cold, rainy day with lots of whipped cream.

Who, if anyone, were you named after?
Ah, bit of a long story. I was actually born with the name Jenny Jo, though neither of my parents liked it much and they always called me Jody (bizarre, right?) They officially changed my name to Jody Elizabeth when I was about four. Jody is for my father's middle name Joseph, and Elizabeth was my grandmother's middle name. At the time, though, I thought Elizabeth came from my favorite preschool teacher. Incidentally, this same preschool teacher recently took a class from me at the college where I teach English! I was very intimidated and honored to instruct her, since I idolized her as a child. 

Who do you wish you were named after?
I guess my preschool teacher! Though also it would be great to be named after an eccentric and brave literary character, like Portia maybe, or Antigone.

Have you ever had to go undercover (even a little)?
Ooh, that's a good question. When I was traveling in Europe with my best friend after college, we used to pretend to be various people; we'd make up elaborate personal histories. For some reason we often posed as flight attendants, though I can't recall why we chose that as our cover. My usual name during those operations was Jondi. I guess that was kind of like going undercover, even if it was just for our own entertainment.
 
Did you write for your high school newspaper?
No, I didn't. I was more into writing fiction than nonfiction, even back then. I was also into theatre. Later, though, in my twenties, I freelanced for some different publications in San Francisco--entertainment rags and magazines, mostly.
 
Who is your favorite character in your current books? Who is your least favorite?
Well, I do admire Natalie, just as I admired Geena in the Triple Shot Betty series. They're both plucky and resourceful. They're good friends, too, which I admire. I guess it will come as no surprise that their enemies are kind of my enemies; girls like Summer Sheers in Babe in Boyland, who is Natalie's rival and just generally loathsome. I have to say I do really enjoy writing these frenemy characters, though. There's something strangely exhilarating about gathering up the characteristics of people I've disliked over the years and packing them into one thoroughly detestable character.

Are you working on anything right now?
I'm toying with historical fiction and elements of magic. It's all new to me, but I'm excited about venturing into new territory.