Interview with Amy Brecount White!

Amy Brecount White is the author of Forget-Her-Nots, which is a story about a girl with a special kind of magic when it comes to flowers. You can click here to read my review. Below is a short interview with Amy!

TCR: What got you interested in writing a book in which the meanings of flowers played an integral role?

ABW: When I was freelancing for newspapers and magazines, I was always on the lookout for original stories. So when I found out about the language through a beautiful book, I knew I had something. Plus, I’m a big time gardener. Flowers are so hopeful, too. They can brighten a room or someone’s face.

TCR: In Forget-Her-Nots, the love of flowers is passed down from generation to generation in Laurel's family. Is your interest in flowers something you share with any of your family members?

ABW: Definitely. My mom, both my sisters, and I all love gardening. We visit gardens and conservatories together. We share ideas about what to plant and what looks amazing in our own gardens. And we’re trying to pass that love on to our kids, too.

TCR: What sort of research did you do for your book?

ABW: I read lots of language of flowers books and online sites – there are many versions – and I even read a few academic books about the Victorians. I spent a day at the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC reading about Shakespeare’s use of flowers. (Yes, that was my cell phone that they confiscated.) And anywhere I go, I check out the flowers and see if they have a scent. I do stop and smell the roses. Every season, I try out new flowers in my own garden too.

TCR: What was the hardest part about writing Forget-Her-Nots?

ABW: One of the hardest parts of writing a novel is getting the plot and pacing right, especially with YA novels. Adult readers are a little more tolerant of slow openings and digressions. YA writers have to draw readers right in and keep their attention. It’s a lot of work and revision.

TCR: The easiest?

ABW: I really enjoy writing descriptive passages and dialogue. And I loved being in the world of FHN whenever I wrote. I hope to revisit the world of Avondale in a companion novel one of these days.

TCR: Do you have a favorite flower (or flowers)?

ABW: I really do love all flowers – pansies, gardenias, lilies, and dogwood trees, especially. It’s so amazing for me to await the unfolding of each bloom. In my own garden, I try to have something blooming from February through November. Sometimes my camellia blooms in the winter, too, which makes me smile.

Thanks so much, Amy!

Now, keeping up with Amy's contest, I give you all purple tulips--they mean "royalty", so see what you can do with that! I chose them because I have a vase of purple tulips sitting on a bookshelf, and they are so pretty--they embody Spring!

Good luck!

Facelift

Allow me to state the obvious and say...I got a new blog layout. This is the first time in three (!!!) years that I've changed the blog in such a drastic way, though I've been wanting to do it for a very long time.

But, what I suppose really matters is what YOU think of it. Do you like it? Is there anything that really bugs you, or looks funky? Please let me know!

ETA: I was a little surprised by your comments, but I really appreciate everyone's honesty. I'm not loving this one as well, but I was tired of the dots. Please keep the comments coming! I'm looking into getting something a little more personalized done (cost is a big issue), so if you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them!

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood

When Miss Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, goes to Ashton Place to be interviewed for the position of governess to three young children, she's certain that she's found the ideal job. A knowledgeable governess who loves animals is being sought after, and Penelope is perfect for the task. But what she doesn't expect are the children's animal-like tendencies, a direct result of being raised by wolves. Rather than flee Ashton Place, Penelope is determined to stay on and teach the children all she can. But it is rather difficult to do so when she must first teach them proper hygiene and etiquette in preparation for the holiday ball to please their benefactors, all the while wondering where on earth the children came from and why certain people are perhaps too interested in them.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is a charming and unconventional tale. It's told in an authentic and highly entertaining voice that lends itself to the setting of the novel, sophisticated and proper, yet very entertaining and accessible to younger readers (for example, when discussing a tableaux vivant, the narrator says, "No doubt this will sound dull to the modern viewer whose tastes have been shaped by more advanced forms of entertainment featuring zombies and so forth..."). These little references to more modern items are a bit surpsing at first, but they are few and far between. The characters are of course eccentric, from the three Incorrigibles Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia and their quirky, canine, and squirrel-chasing tendencies, all the way to the lord and lady of Ashton Place. In the middle of it all, Penelope is a clever and resourceful heroine with gumption and smarts who isn't easily cowed.

The mysteries interwoven in the novel are also quite fascinating, for they concern not just Ashton Place and the Incorrigibles, but their plucky governess and her past as well. Though not many answers are revealed, the book is never predictable nor boring, and by the time you are through, you will be in love with the Incorrigibles and Penelope. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is a genuinely fun and engaging Gothic book that may be tilted at kids, but anyone will enjoy it.

Cover Comments: I don't normally like a mostly brown color scheme, but this one is cute! It accurately shows that the book is historical fiction, but it isn't boring. Very nice.

ARC received from publisher.

Morpheus Right: The Light by D.J. MacHale

Marshall Seaver is looking forward to a summer of fun and relaxation, but it's not off to a great start. His widowed father has left him home alone while he travels to Las Vegas on business, and he got into a fight with his best (and only) friend Cooper right before Cooper left to go with his family to their lake house. So at first, the strange occurrences in his house late at night just freak Marsh out. But when he is faced with Gravedigger--a character Marsh created in his drawings--who is alive, real, and intent on killing him while mumbling about Morpheus Road, Marsh heads straight to Cooper, with the help of Coop's older sister Sydney. But by the time Marsh gets to the lake house, Cooper is missing, and it's becoming clear that nowhere is safe for Marsh, Sydney, and anyone else that knows about Gravedigger and the mysterious Morpheus Road.

D.J. MacHale's The Light, the first book in the Morpheus Road trilogy, is a bit slow to start, but full of near-death action sequences and plenty of sleuthing. The book starts off with the main character, Marsh, talking rather ambiguously about the events of the previous week, which he then details as the book starts, which will grab your attention and cause you to start asking questions right away. However, Marsh has a tendency to ramble as he is trying to figure out the many mysterious supernatural forces at work, which might lose more reluctant readers. As far as plots go, this one is complicated and asks many questions without divulging many questions (for example, it is never revealed what Morpheus Road is exactly), and The Light reads like a horror film, with the threat of death around every corner and countless spooky and perilous scenes, one right after another. The ending has a bit of a twist, and concludes with many questions and an epilogue from Cooper's point of view, a taste of what is to come in the sequel. Overall, this is a thrilling horror read that will have you on edge.

Cover Comments: The cover definitely matches the book's content: chilling and freaky. Exactly what I would expect to see on a movie poster for a horror movie. It's very fitting.

The Light will be available on April 20th, 2010.

ARC received from publisher.

Cover Talk: Jealousy Cover Revealed

I have been a big, big fan of the covers of the first two books in the Strange Angels series (Strange Angels and Betrayals)...here is the cover for the third book, Jealousy, which will hit stores June 29th, 2010:

So...I'm going to be blunt here. I hate it. Is this the same series? Or did I accidentally stumble upon a Gossip Girl cover outtake?

What bugs me the most: the girl on the cover. She's pretty and preppy-looking with her perfect makeup and nice hair (is that a Bump-It??). This is not Dru. The guy (who I assuming is Christophe) doesn't bug me that much, I suppose. And the embrace...well, the book IS called Jealousy, and there IS a bit of a love triangle, so I'll allow it.

But what happened to the kick-butt cover trend? In all honesty, the covers of the first two Strange Angels books were the only ones any of my seventeen and eighteen-year-old guy friends could actually tolerate. (I believe their actual words were, "That's a solid cover." High praise from guys who mercilessly mock anything else.) Not that I'm saying these books need to pass the teen guy approval test, but do you get what I'm saying?

Bring that glower back!

Nonetheless, I'm still beyond excited for this book to be released!

Classics with a Bite

What with the vampire and supernatural craze that has only seemed to become more and more frenzied since Twilight's release five years ago, and the many, many unauthorized sequels to famous works floating around out there, is it really any wonder that someone put two and two together and came up with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

If you remember, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is published by Quirk Books, a small publishing house, and everyone was a bit surprised at the enthusiasm shown for this book...it was even revealed that an unnamed and much larger publishing house tried to buy the book from Quirk for a very tidy sum.

So, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was crazy, funny, off-the-wall. I liked it. And it has opened the floodgates for even MORE paranormals spoofs...like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Little Women and Werewolves, Android Karenina, Emma and the Vampires, Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Jane Slayre (ha, get it?), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...plus, there is a sequel to the one that started it all, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, AND I've heard rumors of Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter.

So, pretty much every paranormal thing you can think of has been covered and stuffed into a classic.

But, not to be outdone, HarperTeen is launching a few new books written especially for teen readers, and the first, which will hit stores on May 4th, is Little Vampire Women. Pretty self-explanatory, right? The next is Romeo and Juliet and Vampires.

Just...wow.

So, I guess what I want to know now is...do you all think this is as funny as I think it is? I will admit, I've only read two of the aforementioned books (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Mr. Darcy, Vampyre Slayer) and I own one other (Little Vampire Women), so I can't exactly vouch for them and recommend if they are all worth your time. Personally, I thought P&P&Z was really funny (my male classmates said about this one, after seeing the pictures, "Whoa, I might actually want to read this!"), and the Mr. Darcy spoof mediocre.

It's quite a funny trend, but it seems as if you can't really get in on the joke without having read the true classic. Plus, I can't help but wonder how Shakespeare, Austen, Bronte, Tolstoy, Alcott, Lincoln, and Queen Victoria would feel about these quirky (and more than a bit irreverent) works. I think they are hilarious, even if I don't feel the urge to read every single one, but many people I have spoken with express strong displeasure at seeing these classics violated with things that go bump in the night.

I want to hear your thoughts, so here is your chance to weigh in: Are these paranormal parodies funny, ridiculous, or maddening? Why do you believe so? Do you think this trend will last? And if you have read any of them, what are your thoughts?

Betrayals by Lili St. Crow

Dru Anderson and her werewulf friend Graves have found themselves at the Schola, a special school for djamphir and weres, protected from the nosferatu in this sequel to Strange Angels. Christophe promised Dru that she would be safe there, but Dru is beginning to discover that that sentiment is far from the truth. There is a traitor in their midst, one who is continually betraying Dru's location. Then when she learns the truth about Christophe's past, Dru must trust her instincts and decide her next move--because despite what everyone has been telling her, the Schola might not be the best place for her.

Like in the previous novel, Strange Angels, there is plenty of action and danger in Betrayals that will please fans. Most of the story takes place at the Schola, where St. Crow steadily builds up suspense, playing off of Dru's frustration at the lack of training and information she is receiving, her conflicting memories and feelings about her past, and her feelings of alienation and loneliness as the only girl in a school where Graves is becoming popular and strong. Sporadic visits with Christophe and Dru's solidarity with Graves add some romantic tension in the mix as well, leaving Dru even more confused, but through them, both Christophe and Graves grow as characters. But despite her numerous troubles and the odd and terrifying events throughout Betrayals, Dru remains stubborn and strong and continues to be a heroine readers can admire. St. Crow (whose action scenes have improved since Strange Angels) will answer a few questions in this quick-moving sequel, and ask a few more, adding some political intrigue on top of the supernatural mysteries at work. Readers, once finished, will eagerly look for the third book in this series, Jealousy.

Cover Comments: I like the red in this cover, and how the model on the front looks very similar to the one on the Strange Angels cover (I'm not certain, but they might be the same girl). I also like Christophe and Graves in the background. Once again, I am a big fan of the title font, and how it is slightly cut off at the edges. It's very nice and unique!

Review copy purchased.

The Body Finder Swag Contest

Okay, in order to enter, just comment below! The contest will run until March 31st, 2010! And be sure to buy The Body Finder on March 16th!

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Sydelle has always lived in a small village in the desert, where it hasn't rained in nearly ten years and not much changes. When Palmarta's king dies and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death incites a war, Sydelle's village is threatened, and she is rescued by Wayland North, a young wizard. Sydelle's talent for weaving and her quick mind catches his interest, and he needs her help if he's stop the war and the dangerous, vindictive wizard behind it.

Brightly Woven is a rousing, humorous, and adventurous book that fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore can enjoy. This is a clever novel, seamlessly combining the art of weaving and the art of magic to form a story full of intrigue and suspense. Bracken's characters are well-portrayed and complicated, especially Wayland North. His own story is rather unexpected and fascinating, and he has a few twists and surprises about him, some foreseen and some not, and his personal struggles make for a very interesting subplot.

The story moves quickly, keeping you on edge, and Bracken packs a lot of action and travel into her pages. Sydelle's and North's journey takes them all across Palmarta and further, showing the breadth of Bracken's fantasy world, though at times it would have been nice to have a few more details and for certain situations to be fleshed out a bit more to avoid some confusion. However, the story is entertaining and rounds off nicely, with a very satisfying resolution. It's a relief to have have a solid fantasy novel that doesn't leave you longing for a sequel, or require a whole slew of companion novels to resolve the conflict. Brightly Woven is a nice, lightly romantic and adventurous read with depth and danger.

Cover Comments: This cover is really pretty! I like the scrolling on the side and the background a lot. The contrast in the dark blue backdrop and the girl's white skin is nice. I don't think this is the best cover I've ever ever seen on a fantasy book, but it's really nice.

Brightly Woven will be released from Egmont USA on March 23rd, 2010.

ARC received from publisher.

Penguin and the iPad

Below is a short video about some really cool things that Penguin is planning to do with Apple's newest device, the iPad. All of these things center around kids' books and learning (which in interesting, because if I had kids, I don't know if I'd let my three-year-old play with an iPad...I'd be the annoying, hovering parent, worried that the kid was going to abuse the device). But, about one minute and forty some seconds in is a Vampire Academy platform that looks interesting--it allows you to read the books, watch author videos, and participate in discussions with other readers. It's like a combination of a book, author website, and social network. Check it out:

I think the Vampire Academy section is especially interesting. Honestly, it never occurred to me that these are the types of things that can be done with all of this new technology. It's thrilling to think about. For the price of a book, you can get so much more than a novel, but all of these web extras that you would normally have to go hunting for on your computer. Granted, you would sacrifice the actual, physical book, but that is an entirely different discussion.

Authors and readers, what do you think about this? Would you be more inclined to get and use an iPad if more books and series had a bunch of special features like the Vampire Academy example in the video? I am definitely thinking it would make it a bit easier to sell books and learn more about authors if with many e-books, you could also instantly access info about the author, their other books, and read excerpts and news and watch videos. It's making me get a bit more excited about eReaders, that's for sure!

Beautiful, Perturbing, and Awesome News

Three major items on today's agenda:

First off, for you fans of Beautiful Creatures by the amazing duo of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, you will be happy to hear that there is now officially a title for BC 2--Beautiful Darkness! Exciting! You can check out this Beautiful Creatures Ning page for more things BC, and stop by next Friday, on March 19th, for the official reveal of the Beautiful Darkness cover!

Second, this interesting article popped up on the "Huffington Post" website yesterday...it seems that Hillary Duff is now going to add YA author to her list of accomplishments with her new YA series beginning with Elixir. I don't know much else about it, except that Simon and Schuster will publish it in October. Now, I don't want to be a downer, but I can't help but wonder and this...and be slightly perturbed by it. Is HD a good writer? Or will her book join ranks with Lauren Conrad's, hitting the New York Times Bestseller list when in reality, it's just not that good? Who knows. Only time will tell.

ETA: There is more about the series of EW's Shelf Life this morning. "Duff’s protagonist is a globe-trotting photojournalist who is attempting to unravel the mystery of her father’s disappearance." And the publisher says it will "[combine] the overpowering allure of a dangerous love triangle with thrilling international adventure.”

And finally, check out this awesome blog post where you can have the chance to win a $25 Barnes and Noble giftcard by answering a question about Julia Hoban's book, Willow (which is now out in paperback!). And while you are at it, listen to her radio interview!

Happy Wednesday!

Mockingjay Countdown!

For all of you out there waiting anxiously for Mockingjay (which is pretty much everyone, right?), here is a cool countdown widget!

I am so excited for this book, it's crazy! It's quite likely I will be referring back to this many, many times in the coming weeks!

Also, for some more Hunger Games fun and downloads, click here!

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Gaia has always lived her life outside the walls of the Enclave, where the privileged live in content and wealth. The people outside the wall are poor, but Gaia has always been happy with her parents, and enjoyed her training as a midwife, advancing babies to the Enclave with her mother as is required of them by the Enclave. But then her parents are taken by the Enclave and imprisoned, and Gaia begins to question everything she knows about the Enclave and the reasons for advancing babies. In order to find the truth, she will have to risk everything to sneak into the Enclave and hunt down answers.

Birthmarked is a surprising, smart and excellent read that is the perfect mixture of heartpounding suspense, mystery, and intrigue, with just the right amount of romance thrown in for good measure. The majority of the novel centers around Gaia as she is confronted with the choice of doing what is right and what is easy, and as she learns to become an independent thinker and not a blind follower of the Enclave. The conflict at the heart of the matter is quite complicated, though at first it appears quite simple: babies are being taken away from their mothers and families. But as you delve deeper into O'Brien's even and tense prose, you come to realize that there is a lot more at stake than previously realized. The use of scientific terms and ideas are just enough to make Birthmarked all the more convincing, and they certainly don't overwhelm or confuse the reader one bit.

Though the ending is frustrating with its open end, there is a certain amount of closure that comes with it that will keep you wondering. Fascinating and intense, this smart, complex, and code-riddled page-turner filled with questions of politics and morality is sure to catch the attention of adults and teens alike.

Cover Comments: I love this cover! The gray and stormy background fits entirely with the content of the book, and I like how the girl's hair is blowing around. The colored ribbons also add just the right amount of color, and I think they hint at the scientific roots of the novel's dilemma without being too overwhelming. This cover is foreboding and intense and perfect!

Birthmarked will be released on March 30th, 2010.

ARC received from publisher.

Rules of Attraction Trailer!

Okay, so here is yet another excellent trailer (you authors and publishers are really stepping it up with these! I'm liking it!) that I found. It's for Simone Elkeles' newest book, Rules of Attraction, second in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy. Now, some of you may remember the Perfect Chemistry rap trailer, which was hysterical, but the Rules of Attraction trailer is nothing like it. Anyways, dive in:



I've been longing for a really romantic book lately, so I think I need to read this one ASAP! I'm moving it up the TBR list!