Friday 30 September 2011

The Witches Are Coming..............

This was supposed to be posted on Wednesday but daft blogger decided to post it today. 


Have I teased you enough now? OK, I will tell you what I have planned. On the 31st of October, the witches will land on my blog and take over until they return to their dwellings on the 6th of November. Seven days of witchy merriment.

I decided to have a witch week to celebrate the publication of the following books:

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
Witch Song by Amber Argylle
Witchlanders by Lena Coakley
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab.

During the week of celebration,all of  these lovely authors should be joining me for some posts.

I will also be celebrating one of the first witch books I ever read Witch Child by Celia Rees, who I think was at the forefront of the YA witch scene.  I have read Witch Child, so I will be reviewing the sequel to this book, Sorceress.

All of the above books will be reviewed during that week, as long as some other fun witch related posts. There will even be a post from a real enchantress!

I hope you can join me in a week of fun. If you can promote it on your blog, I will shower you with good luck charms and spells of prosperity!



The Big Break with Dave Cousins


I am extremely happy to welcome Dave Cousins to the blog today. He is the seventh author to join us from The Edge blog. His debut novel 15 Days Without A Head is published in January 2012 with Oxford University Press. Dave was the winner of SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices competition for  2010. If you would like to know more about The Edge blog, then please click here. 


Firstly, can I thank you for joining me today on my blog. 
I’m delighted to be here, Viv, thanks for inviting me.

What did you do for a living before writing became your chosen career?
After finishing art college I played in a band for about ten years. We released a couple of records, toured all over the UK, appeared on TV a few times and were almost famous! When I finally put my leather trousers into retirement, I got a job as a graphic designer.

How long did it take you to write your debut novel ‘Fifteen Days Without A Head’ and where did you write it?
I wrote a first draft quite a long time ago, but wasn’t happy with the result. I put it away and moved on to something else, but the story kept nagging away at me, so I decided to start again from scratch. That was the version that eventually became 15 Days Without a Head.
I wrote it anywhere I could fit in some writing. I was still working full-time and had to find opportunities to write around that and my family. Most of the book was written at my desk in the attic, either early in the morning or late at night, when everyone else was in bed. I also wrote in my lunch breaks, sheltering under a canal bridge when it rained. During revisions I used to mark-up the previous night’s pages while walking to work – in the snow a couple of times!


Where did you get the idea for the book?
An incident I witnessed in a pub one afternoon. A really drunk woman arguing with the people at the next table, much to the embarrassment of her sons. It made me wonder what life was like for those two boys, what would happen when they got home. All my stories grow from a spark like that – a character or situation that affects me in some way and makes me care enough to start writing to find out what happens next.

Was this your first finished manuscript, or are there others hidden away?
My attic is stacked with boxes and envelopes stuffed with finished and abandoned manuscripts. I should probably have a look and see if any of them are any good!

I understand an extract of your book was published as part of the Undiscovered Voices anthology 2010, did that help you find an agent?
Yes, my agent Sarah Manson was one of the judges! Undiscovered Voices had a huge impact on my writing career. I was bowled over by the interest I received from agents and editors when the anthology was published. UV is such a great idea and has been incredibly successful. So far, thirteen of the twenty-four winners have publishing contracts and have been nominated for (and won) an array of literary prizes.

How many times did you have to edit your book before the agent was happy to send it off to publishers?
I did a couple of edits with Sarah, one of which involved re-writing the second half of the book because I wasn’t happy with it. All the time I was writing about Laurence and Jay, I knew I had a responsibility to do justice to their story and tell it properly, which made me very critical of what I wrote.
Once the story was working, we did another draft concentrating on crafting the writing, which is a part I really enjoy. I like chopping sections away, tightening everything up, finding better ways to tell a particular scene. I love playing with words, the rhythm of the language – it’s an excuse to get my Thesauruses out and drool a little.

What was your first reaction when you found out that your book was to be published?
A mixture of delight and amazement. Even though I’d had such a good response from the anthology, with lots of editors saying really nice things, I still didn’t believe it would actually happen. I don’t think it felt real until I received the bound proofs a few months ago and saw 15 Days Without a Head in book form for the first time.

How long has it taken for your book to reach publication after the initial agreement?
It feels like a lifetime – over eighteen months. But all the publishers I met were talking about a January 2012 publication. I’m gradually learning that the industry tends to work to very long lead times.


What was happening to your manuscript during this time? 
Once I’d signed with Oxford, I did another draft with my editor, Jasmine Richards. I also spent some time checking my research. When I wrote the book I wasn’t expecting it to be published so I’d made up names for things – like the supermarket the boys visit and a film Laurence remembers Mum taking him to. I had to check they didn’t already exist, and make up new ones in a couple of cases.
I delivered the book in December of last year, and since then it has been through the various departments at OUP – copy-edit, design, publicity, sales and marketing – on it’s path to publication in January.

How are you keeping yourself occupied as you wait for publication day?
I’m currently writing my next book for OUP

How will you celebrate on publication day?
Ever since I found out that 15 Days was going to be published, my youngest has been talking about going into a bookshop and picking the book off the shelves. So I think we’ll go and buy ourselves a copy on the day it comes out, then maybe go to a cafĂ© for tea and cake to celebrate!

What are you working on next?
I’m currently writing my next book for OUP. It’s called Waiting for Gonzo, but I can’t tell you any more about it than that at the moment.


Do you write full time now?
Yes, and there still aren’t enough hours in the day! It’s not easy making a living as a writer, but it’s what I always wanted to do, so I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to give it a go.

Tell us what a typical writing day would be like?
I get up at seven so I can have breakfast with my family, then make a cup of tea and head up into the attic. I try to be at my desk by eight o’clock. Before I start writing, I check my email and schedule for the day, to make sure there isn’t anything I need to do that I’ve forgotten about! I write until noon, then have a drink and something to eat. I’m back at my desk by one, to do another three hours, by which time my wife and son are normally home. On a good day I’ll write between four and five thousand words. I then do another couple of hours in the evening, though this tends to be all the other related bits of work, rather than actual writing. If I’m behind, or on a tight deadline, I’ll get up earlier and work longer. It’s a solitary occupation, but when I’m writing I hardly notice as my head is full of characters and the things that are happening to them. Though I do find myself talking to the cat more often than is probably healthy.

What advice would you give to aspiring and unpublished authors?
Read a lot and write a lot! The importance of reading is often over-looked, especially by writers who have to make time to write, but as Stephen King once said, “if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” I would also advise finding a regular slot to write each day, even if it’s just for fifteen minutes, so you develop the habit. Keep writing and keep making mistakes, because that’s how you learn and get better. Each word you read makes you a better writer, each word you write, even more so. Lastly, don’t give up and don’t be too impatient – write because you love writing, not purely to be published.

Thanks Dave, for a fabulous interview. Although I still didn't quite catch the name of the band you used to play with!


Fifteen Days Without A Head will be available in January 2012 and I am completely positive you will love it.
If you would like to know more about Dave you can find him below:


Blog: www.davecousins.net
Twitter: DaveCousins9000

Thursday 29 September 2011

Really Random Tuesday on a Thursday


Really Random Tuesday is a meme created by Suko at Suko's Notebook which is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of.

I know, I know, it is the wrong day, but I can't help it, I have too much juicy author and publishing gossip to share with you. 
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            Firstly the amazing UK competition that is being hosted by HarperCollins for the publication of The Name Of The Star by Maureen Johnson. I am desperate to win this!


JACK THE RIPPER FAN WALK
To celebrate the publication of Maureen Johnson's new YA thriller The Name of the Star, HarperCollins Children’s Books is offering 10 lucky readers the opportunity to accompany Maureen Johnson on a private Jack the Ripper walk in London on Thursday, 13th October 2011.

The walk begins at 5:00 PM and will carry-on for two hours into the night! Visit the haunting sites of Jack the Ripper and hear first-hand from Maureen how they inspired her new book The Name of the Star.

To enter, simply email nameofthestar@harpercollins.co.uk for a chance to attend the event with a friend.

Disclaimer: Entrants must be 13 or over. Please ensure that you are available to attend the event on Thursday, 13th October from 5.00pm to 7.00pm before entering. Winners will be informed on Friday, 7th October, and will be provided with further instructions then.

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To celebrate the release of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, I have a competition running exclusively on Facebook. Pop over to the Serendipity Facebook page and press Like, leave a comment on the Daughter of Smoke and Bone thread and your name will be entered into the competition to win a copy. 
**********                                                                                        
Some fabulous news for Lauren Kate fans too.
Random House Children’s Books will publish an original novel by Lauren Kate that is connected to her internationally bestselling series, Fallen. The novel, FALLEN IN LOVE, acquired in the UK by Annie Eaton and Becky Stradwick, will be released in the UK on 2nd February 2012, before the fourth and final title in the series, Rapture, is published. FALLEN IN LOVE is a riveting collection of four intertwined love stories featuring the Fallen characters that fans have grown to know and love: Miles, Shelby, Roland, Arriane, and Luce & Daniel.
Since the publication of the first book, Fallen, in December 2009, Kate’s series has become a bona fide smash hit with close to half a million copies sold in the UK alone. Her story of star-crossed lovers and fallen angels has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers all over the world, with rights sold in 33 countries and counting. All bestsellers in the United States, the novels of the Fallen series: Fallen, Torment, and Passion, have become international sensations, hitting No.1 slots in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The final novel in the series, Rapture, will be released in the UK in June 2012 taking readers on a journey that will close the chapter on Luce & Daniel’s love forever.

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Now many of you know I have been slogging through The Passage by Justin Cronin. Well after much discussion between Elle , Kate and myself, we have decided to abandon the read- along. We are all really struggling with the book and have discovered we no longer enjoy it since it changed to a different period in the future. Out of all the characters,the only one we seemed to love was Brad and he was killed off quite early in the novel. 

It was a hard decision to make, but we felt that it was just too difficult to continue reading it, especially as we no longer enjoyed it all. 

So apologies to anyone who was following The Passage Read-along. I hope you enjoy the book more than we did.  


Also I know I have done a lot of double posting lately and I can only apologise for that too. After next week, things should resume to just one post a day. 
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Last but not least! I thought I would just tease you a little.....

Did I tell you that  - The Witches Are Coming......................

Find out more next Wednesday on the blog!

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That is all for me today.

15 Days Without A Head by Dave Cousins


 Pages - 272
Published by Oxford University Press in 2012

'The front door slams. Mum's back.
It sounds like a dead body hitting the ground as she dumps her stuff in the hall and goes straight to the kitchen. I head the thud of a bottle on the table, the crack of the cap, then the slow glug as liquid spills into a  glass. 
Mum coughs, drags a chair across the floor and sits down.
The smell of cigaretted smoke drifts into the front room, where me and Jay are being quiet. Keeping out of the way until Happy Hour - when the first drink has worked its magic and made her smile again.'

Amazon Summary
Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it's not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he's a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that's when the trouble really starts . . . A compelling thriller filled with some hilarious and surreal moments. Fifteen Days Without a Head is a tender, honest story about family, forgiveness and hope.


**********


On finishing this book, the first question that came to mind was - where the hell has Dave Cousins been hiding?  


This book is fantastic. I loved it from the first word until the last. In fact this book really took me by surprise, because when I first heard about it, I really wasn't sure it would be one for me. How wrong was I? This book made me feel so comfortable and right at home as soon as I entered the Roach household. The story was refreshing and original and kept me entranced all the way through. I found that the  author's writing just sucked me into the story until I felt like an invisible member of the Roach family. 


The story is written in first person from the point of view of Laurence Roach, a lovely teenage boy who is struggling to help his mother with her alcohol addiction and depression. A few pages into the book, she goes AWOL. She had obviously reached the point of no return and disappears without a forwarding address from Laurence's life; leaving him hungry, penniless and in charge of his mischievous little brother, Jay, who has that innocence about him until you upset him  and his feral side is let loose, which will result in a nasty bite! 


This book will play with your emotions. One minute you will be laughing, before tears of sadness sneak up behind you and take your breath away. I honestly didn't know what to expect next as Laurence battled with everyone and everything around him in order to stay at home. I would like to say the ending was magical and happy, but this story is about real life and no one lives like that. 


This is one of the best contemporary novels I have read this year. I would put it up there with My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece.  I want to put this book in every teenager's hand and make them read it, especially the ones who whinge about how their lives suck! Pah! They know nothing. 


I really want to see this made into a TV drama on the BBC! I could just envisage it playing on the screen as I read it. 


My only worry is whether or not Dave Cousins will be able to follow up such a fantastic book. I really hope so! 

Wednesday 28 September 2011

The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin


Pages - 289

Published by Templar in 2010 in the UK
Published by Candlewick Press in the US

'Soranzo is out for your blood, Fausto Corvo.'
The candles in the astrologer's study flickered as he spoke, sending light dancing over a table covered with star charts and calculations. 
'I know, Vito,' said the man with the hooked nose and dark eyes. 'You are the third friend to warn me.'
'I fear for your safety, Fausto. Soranzo is not a man to be toyed with. He did not become one of the most powerful men in Venice without destroying the lives of those blocking his way.'

Goodreads Summary
When Sunni Forrest’s stepbrother accidentally transports himself into a Renaissance painting, she and her friend Blaise set out to bring him back. They find themselves in a strange world of labyrinths, monsters and pirates.

Can they evade their greedy pursuers? And will they ever find their way home?

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From the first chapter,you are sucked straight into the labyrinth and the story sets off on a hearty pace, barely allowing you to catch your breath, let alone calculate your bearings. I literally felt like I had been sucked into the Renaissance painting too. Just by sheer chance, Sunni's step brother, Dean is  transported first into a world that no one knew existed. Luckily Sunni worked out exactly how he had got sucked into the labyrinth and went straight in after him. 

The scenes within the painting were extremely  interesting. I have always imagined what it might be like to step into a painting and Teresa Flavin had described it perfectly.  I love this fascinating idea of transporting into a picture, only to find a magical world of adventure behind it. 

This book reminded me a little of the Narnia adventures, especially The Voyage of the Dawntreader. I think it is the fact that it involves an adventure into another dimension which brought the stories to mind.

The children are desperate to find their way home and the journey becomes quite intense as they battle with time and distractions to reach home again. 

The characters were interesting and quirky in their own ways. The writing well paced, keeping my interest through the story as they raced from one trial to another. The world building was amazing; such an interesting layered world must have taken a lot of construction, so I really was impressed by the detail to which the author went into. 

I only had one niggle and that was  that at one point, I did find myself getting quite confused as to which ship each child was travelling on  as well as which boat was being discussed in the story at a particular moment. The choppy nature of the writing, made me lose my way a little until they left the ships behind, then I found myself back on track with the story. 

Other than that  a most enjoyable read. I look forward to reading the next in the series. 


Winner announced! Helen Moss Competition.

The winner for the competion was chosen by Randomizer which chose Number 1 in the list. 
 So the winner of all SIX books in the Adventure Island series by Helen Moss is:

Sarah Webster from Whispering Words

Congratulations Sarah on winning the competition. An email will be with you shortly for you to provide your address for postage purposes.
Apologies to everyone who did not win. There is still time to enter the Struts and Frets competition which opened yesterday. 

The Passage Readalong - Co hosting with The Book Memoirs



Today it is my turn to host The Passage Read -along. We are on Week 6 of our journey through the book and we are covering Chapters 30 to 41. My partners in crime are Elle and Kate from The Book Memoirs,who will probably put their thoughts up on their blog later.  Please be aware that this post will contain SPOILERS!

I hate to admit it but this section was like pulling teeth without anesthetic! I really really struggled to get through it as I found myself so confused with all that was going on.

Amy's arrival seems to be affecting them all in different ways. Some of them seem to be under the influence of the virus that she must have in her system. Some are falling ill and dreaming the strangest dreams whilst others are not affected in the slightest. I found myself a little lost as to what was actually happening.

Luckily the ending of the section, brought my interest back into the story a little, as the Night of Blades and Stars has begun. Obviously from that I could gather this involves a lot of people getting stabbed, but I am not sure what the significance of the Stars might be. I feel that the lights may go out altogether on their little village, allowing the virals to take over and kill all the humans.

Amy has revealed that she is not a normal human being. They have discovered that she heals a lot quicker than any other human and that she may actually be nearly a hundred years old, yet still looks like a teenager. She only seems to communicate with Peter, where a strong bond has developed. yet all communication is telepathically.

So from this section of just over 100 pages, I learnt that Amy has an affect on everyone in the village and the people are changing within her company. I cannot help but wonder if that could have been compacted a little more as it seemed quite long winded to me and definitely didn't need to be 100 pages long.

On the whole, my interest in this book is dwindling.On one hand,  I find that there are sections where you feel like you are being shot repeatedly with bullets filled with plot twists, and yet on the other hand, there are also sections where you struggle to stay awake and interested. I cannot help but feel this book could have been a lot shorter and more compact.

I will conquer on as I think I am about to return to a good part of the story again, where more information will be revealed.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron

Pages -  287

Published by Abrams and Chronicle on September 1st 2011
Book sent by publisher for an honest review.

Our band was called Tragedy of Reason. Or Tragedy of Wisdom. We hadn't decided yet. I liked 'Reason' because it said how much it sucked to be the only thoughtful person in a crazy world. But our frontman, Joe, liked 'Wisdom' because he said:
'It just sounds cooler!'


Goodreads Summary
Told in a voice that’s honest, urgent, and hilarious, Struts & Frets will resonate not only with teenage musicians but with anyone who ever sat up all night listening to a favorite album, wondering if they’d ever find their place in the world.

Music is in Sammy’s blood. His grandfather was a jazz musician, and Sammy’s indie rock band could be huge one day—if they don’t self-destruct first. Winning the upcoming Battle of the Bands would justify all the band’s compromises and reassure Sammy that his life’s dream could become a reality. But practices are hard to schedule when Sammy’s grandfather is sick and getting worse, his mother is too busy to help either of them, and his best friend may want to be his girlfriend.

When everything in Sammy’s life seems to be headed for major catastrophe, will his music be enough to keep him together?



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Every time I thought about reviewing Struts and Frets, I was reminded of my initial response to the first couple of chapters. I was convinced that this book featured a group of hormonal teenagers who were milder in their tone than the Inbetweeners but still had their attitude. Imagine placing this bunch of teenagers at  a High School Musical party which they are about to gatecrash! Get the picture?

For the first half of the book, this was the way I viewed it. The story line was entertaining as Sammy and the rest of his band, Tragedy of Reason, struggled with school, the band and relationships with girls. Sammy was a nice guy; one you would be happy to take home to meet your mum after a couple of dates. A couple of the other band members, you probably would never introduce to another family member, but Sammy was a safe bet.

As the book moved into the second half of the story, it all became more serious and it began to tug a little on my heart strings. Sammy and his mother struggle to come to terms with the deterioration of his grandad. Although it is never mentioned, it appears that he is suffering from Alzheimer's and becomes a danger not only to himself, but also to his loved ones. That is a big issues for a teenager to deal with and I think Sammy has a sudden maturity growth spurt through out this situation. He finally realises what is important to him and what he wants to achieve in life.

This book tackles homosexuality extremely well. Sammy's best friend, Rick, is just coming to terms with telling people about his sexuality and we watch as all his friends learn to deal with the situation in their own way. The majority of them seemed to know before he did and dealt with it with maturity and grace. Others seem to want to 'out' him in public, which is step he wasn't quite ready to take, however when it happens it makes life a lot easier for him, as he can be himself. With all the issues concerning gay and lesbian characters in YA at the moment, it was lovely to read it handled so beautifully. It is definitely a subject that should be increased with the YA market, as at that age, a lot of teenagers are still coming to terms with their sexuality. 

The book watches the progression of the relationship between Sammy and his mother as she learns to accept his musical abilities and dreams. For many years, she tied her thoughts and emotions with her past experiences with her parents and could not see past their troubles to envisage Sammy as a separate entity. Once she breaks the connection, she is able to see Sammy for whom he really is and believe in his musical abilities.

For me there was a bit of geeky moment in the book, as Sammy's grandmother was named Viv! My name so rarely comes up in a book,that I always get over excited on the rare occasion it does. 

Even though this book is about loud music, it is a quiet story. It develops at a steady pace, as we watch these teenagers deal with the pressures put upon them and learn to cope.  A coming of age story that will remind you of your own school days in one way of another. This book will also prove to you that dreams really do come true, as along as you give them 110% of your time!

A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable read that left me wanting more from Jon Skovron. 


London Calling - Guest Post by Jon Skovron - Struts and Frets Blog Tour

Today, I am pleased to welcome Jon Skovron on to the blog today to talk about his visit to London as a teenager. Jon is the author of Misfit and Struts and Frets. There is a competition at the end of this post, to win a copy of Struts and Frets which I will be reviewing on the blog at 3pm this afternoon. 

London Calling

It was my sophomore year in high school and things were going great. I was doing well in school, playing guitar in an awesome band, dating a hot girl, and hanging out with a bunch of bizarre, creatively-minded friends. I also started doing more theater and had been cast in a couple of lead roles. And to top it all off, I had become edgy and volatile enough that the jocks who had picked on me so much in middle school stopped hassling me and even gave me a nod in the hallway now and then. My reign as angsty artist badboy of St. Charles Preparatory High School was just beginning. Or so I thought.

But the spring school play was a musical and since I couldn’t dance to save my life, I was cast in a tiny part with only one line. Then my band broke up. Then my hot girlfriend cheated on me. Then a bunch of my bizarre creatively-minded friends decided they’d rather go to the arts magnet high school instead of dealing with our strict conservative Catholic school anymore. By the end of sophomore year, I was lonely, miserable, and depressed. My problems felt so big and overwhelming that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to recover from them. It felt like the world was against me. I did a lot of really stupid, self-destructive stuff.

It was tradition for my parents and I to travel for a week or two every summer. Usually we went somewhere in the Western part of the US, like California, Seattle, or Arizona. When I was a kid I loved these vacations because they felt like we were going on adventures. But as I got older, the family vacations got less and less fun until the idea of spending a solid ten days with my parents was something I started to dread. And I’m fairly sure they felt the same. So they decided we should have one last family vacation. This time I could bring a friend, and we would go to the place I had been begging to go to for years. London, England. I’d always been a bit of an Anglophile at heart. Or as much as a boy from the midwestern United States with little cash in a pre-Internet world could be, I suppose. I adored the writings of Douglas Adams, the antics of Monty Python, and the music of the Clash and the Cure.

My parents made us do all the touristy things while we were there, of course. Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Jack the Ripper Walking Tour, an “authentic high tea”, and some museums. But my friend Ryan (one of the defectors to the arts magnet school, curse him!) and I were also given time to ourselves and unlimited ride Tube passes. We roamed the city at will, soaking up the sights, the sounds, and the people. It was the first city I ever fell in love with.

But while I loved London, it also made me feel incredibly vulnerable. It was my first time in another country. It was also my first time staying more than a day or two in a major metropolitan city. By the end of ten days, my world view had expanded dramatically. It was kind of like the Total Perspective Vortex, a fictional torture device that appeared in one of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books by Douglas Adams. It was a machine that showed it’s victim a massive three-dimensional map of the universe. Then, pointing to a tiny speck on a tiny speck of a tiny speck, was an arrow that said, “You are here.” In the book, most people went insane when they had to face just how insignificant they were in relation to the rest of the universe. Me and my life
in a mid-sized midwestern town that could truly be called “mostly harmless” were really small when you compared them to this wider world that I was just beginning to see.

A lot of that trip was a blur, frankly. But there was one thing I remembered with absolute clarity. Ryan and I would sneak out of the hotel at night after my parents went to sleep so that we could smoke cigarettes. We found a small green space nearby called Grosvenor Square. In that square there was a statue of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Every night we sat in the cool evening air and smoked a cigarette beneath that statue. I found it a little funny that FDR was standing. Even I knew that he had been crippled by Polio. But I also found it strangely comforting to be in this strange land under the watchful eye of the man my grandfather, a veteran of World War Two, had called “our greatest president”.

One night as I sat beneath the wise gaze of FDR, and thought about this great big city I realized that it didn’t actually bother me that I had been shown how small and inconsequential I was. Because if I small, that also meant that my problems, which had seemed so massive and overwhelming, were also pretty small. The world wasn’t out to get me. In fact, it probably barely noticed my existence. For some people that might have been a little depressing, but for a single child who’d always been under enormous pressure to be “successful”, it was incredibly liberating. It meant I could fail and life would just keep going. And so would I.

Some stories are big, sprawling things that span time and space and shake the foundations of reality. My novel Misfit is that kind of story. And I love those kinds of stories. But there are other kinds of stories. Small, quiet stories about love, family, friendship, and reaching for your dreams. Struts & Frets is that kind of story. And just because it is smaller and quieter doesn’t actually make it less important. In fact, sometimes these are the stories that sustain us the most. Because they make us feel less alone.

That following year, my junior year in high school, I was cast in lead roles in plays again. I started a new, better band. I got a new girlfriend. I made new friends and figured out how to still spend time with the old ones. Five years later, after graduating from high school and studying theater in an acting conservatory, I returned to London in a touring company as the lead in a Neil Simon play and had many strange adventures. But that’s another kind of story entirely.

London seems to have left quite an impression on Jon, I think. 
Struts and Frets was published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrahms and Chronicle on the 1st of September and is available to buy from all major book stores. The next stop on the tour is Mountains of Instead, stop by tomorrow, for another fab post. 


To celebrate the publication of Struts and Frets, I have one hard backed copy to give away - UK only this time. The closing date is Monday 3rd of October.


Monday 26 September 2011

The Undead Blog Tour - Kirsty McKay's Top Five Zombie Smackdowns

I have let Kirsty McKay loose on my blog as part of her blog tour! Be prepared to be scared or laugh yourself silly!
Kirsty McKay’s Top Five Zombie Smackdowns

Hi, I’m Kirsty McKay, author of UNDEAD, a novel about – amongst other things – zombies. When I was writing the book, lot of folks asked me, why write about zombies? Aren’t they a bit slow, sad and pathetic? Why no, I said. They are as hard as nails, and no mistake. And to prove it – and to celebrate the UK release of UNDEAD - I present my Zombie Smackdown Top Five:

1 Zombie vs Vampires
No messing, let’s dive straight in with the classic smackdown. In truth, I’m not sure it should be a classic, because it seems so obvious that zoms should win. Believe me, I love me a vampire. Not the soppy sort that play baseball in the thunder - I’ve always been more Buffy than Bella – but have you seen this guy?



Doesn’t get much scarier than that. However, scary aside, all vampires do is bite lil’ weenie holes in yer neck. Oh yeah, and glower. Zombies tear chunks of flesh from bone with their gnashers. They rip out guts. They EAT BRAINS. Even vampires can’t defend themselves against that. Granted, vamps are faster and (arguably) stronger, but there’s no time limit on this smackdown. Give zoms a few days, weeks, years, and logically they will just wear the suckers down and chomp the crap out of the vamps until they’re in lots of little demonic pieces.

But anyway, watch this:


OK, so what you don’t see is that afterwards they continue the fight and the Zombie totally wins. I promise. So,

Winners: Zombies

2 Zombie vs Sharks
Two of my favourite scaries in one place! I got so excited when I saw this the first time, I almost did a little pee:


Sharks would win! OK, so zombies don’t need to breathe and they can cope with losing their limbs, but this is basically a chompfest and sharks definitely have the edge when it comes to mouth size.

And, for that matter, appetite. Zoms aren’t known for their love of seafood. Your average zombie would be floating around stupidly, preoccupied with the sand or some random rock formation and how it sparked a cloudy half-memory of a holiday way back when his brain was not so befuddled, and that big ol’ fish would just swim up and crunch his head off.

Winner: Sharks

But either way – you and me, we’re gonna need a bigger boat.

3 Zombies vs Justin Bieber
We’d all like to see this one. (Except for a large number of tween/teen/middle-age-crisis females who were never going to buy UNDEAD anyway, so I think my potential readership/life is reasonably safe.)
And I’m not the only one to have thought about The Biebs in relation to the Undead.



But I reckon Justin’s still toast. And if you don’t believe me, watch this:



There we have it. Conclusive evidence.

Winner: Zombies. (Or Bieber fans, if there are enough of them at any given moment. Which there probably are.)

4 Zombies vs Japanese Children
I would like to make it absolutely clear I did not just pick this one out of the air. It is a THING:


Oh my gosh.

‘I will absolutely destroy you!’

*weeps*

So the only smackdown I’d like to see here is me vs the producers of this show. I’ll show them what to do with the ruddy clingfilm and the Tabasco.

Winner: Me

5 Zombies vs Teletubbies


Again, again, again!

Winner: Teletubbies (When they have shotguns. But unarmed? They can surely irritate the Undead to Undeath. Zombie mass suicide.)

So there we have it. Zombies win, most of the time. They ARE the monstas with the mostest! But if you want to read about the ultimate Zombie Smackdown, pick up a copy of UNDEAD and see how a bunch of kids on a school trip match up to the hordes! You might be surprised…

Much thanks to Viv at Serendipity Reviews for hosting me. Check out my Facebook page, Twitter and website for more about zombies, UNDEAD and me – and come and see me present FRIGHT NIGHT with authors such as Charlie Higson, Darren Shan and William Hussey at Bath Kid’s Literary Festival on Friday September 30th.

Next stop on the tour - the fabulous Readaraptor - go check out Raimy's blog tomorrow.

Links to find out more about Kirsty: 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kirstymckaywriter 
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Kirkybean 
Website http://www.kirstymckay.com/ FRIGHT NIGHT http://www.bathkidslitfest.org.uk/events.aspx?y=2011&d=30092011 ]

Sunday 25 September 2011

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Pages - 298
Published by David Fickling Books in October 2011

We found the monster on a rocky ledge high above the lake. For three days my brother and I had tracked it through the maze of caves to its lair on the mountain's summit. And now we beheld it, curled atop its treasure, its pale fur and scales ablaze with moonlight.

Goodreads Summary
Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures...until the day their adventures turn all too real.

They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only piques Victor's curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. With their friend Elizabeth, Henry and Victor immediately set out to find assistance from a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help create the formula.

Determination and the unthinkable outcome of losing his brother spur Victor on in the quest for the three ingredients that will save Konrad's life. After scaling the highest trees in the Strumwald, diving into the deepest lake caves, and sacrificing one’s own body part, the three fearless friends risk their lives to save another. 

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This book is the first in a duology that looks at the life of Victor Frankenstein before he created his monster. It shows how he became obsessed with creating the monster in the first place. 

This really is a clever book as it has you enticed from the first page. You are convinced that the Frankestein brothers are chasing a monster, but all is not what it seems. The book reeked of Gothic charm set in the beautiful surroundings of Geneva. I don't think I have ever read a book set in Switzerland before and it did create an urge to travel and explore. 

The story is based around twins Konrad and Victor Frankenstein. Now I know in Mary Shelley's Frankestein, Victor never had a twin brother, but that is what these lovely author peeps do, they make things up and what a fabulous addition to the Frankenstein family Konrad makes in this book.  Having twins myself, I always find it interesting to read about other sets and this pair were very competitive. They both loved the same woman, Elizabeth, a distant cousin, who had lived with them since childhood. Konrad seems to have the upper hand in the relationship, as Elizabeth has fallen for his charms. Although Victor is not willing to give up without a fight.  The love triangle between the three was excellent in its intensity, and a brilliant sub plot to the story. 

 As I have discovered in many twin relationships, one is more popular, more studious and more capable than the other, causing a lot of resentment from the latter twin. Victor is quite evil in his ruthlessness against his brother, it is only when Konrad falls seriously ill, does he realise how awful his life would be without his twin.  He becomes like a tormented animal, in his quest to discover the ingredients for the Elixir of Life. The author made it very easy for us to see the pathway that led to Victor's desperate need to create life in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. 

The Frankenstein family were rather modern for that period of time. They liked to cook for their servants once a week, which I can't imagine was a common pas ttime during that era. Elizabeth is also very modern for those times. She is a gutsy and forthright,  and definitely ahead of her peers. 

This is a rather dark yet thrilling tale which may distress the reader during certain scenes. The ending was a complete shock to me and left me reeling. I am now desperate to read the next installment to find out what happens next.

I am extremely excited to discover that this will be made into a film. I can't wait to see how the story plays out on screen.

IMM (14)

In MyMailbox (IMM) is a weekly feature organised by The Story Siren. IMM is a post where you can show which books entered your house and it also gives you a chance to say thank you to the people that kindly sent them. To find out more about how you can join in click here.

Well this vlog turned out to be more of a pain than the first as I forgot to edit it before I embedded it. It is now  done - please excuse me not looking at the screen enough as I keep staring at the video box instead of the green light. Eeep! 

I was going to add links to the books below to Goodreads but I ran out of time, so sorry everyone, you will have to look them up yourself if you are interested in them. 

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Books Mentioned:


How To Do Everything and Be Happy by Peter Jones
Wishcraft by Barbara Sher
Finding Your North Star by Martha Beck
Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling
Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson
15 Days Without A Head by Dave Cousins
The Fever and The Flame by Mary Hooper
Velvet by Mary Hooper
Fracture by Megan Miranda
The Weight In Water by Sarah Crossan
The Darkness by Nick Lake
This Is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Verity Fibbs by Cathy Brett
The House of the Wind by Titania Hardy

Saturday 24 September 2011

Guest Review: The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Today I am happy to welcome Louise Pridige onto the blog for a guest review of The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain. This book was published by MIRA books in June 2011.


“I don’t know how to tell you what I did'.

Summary
 Would you read a letter never meant to be opened? Would you want to know secrets never meant to be told? Or should a woman’s mistakes stay buried?

An unfinished letter was hidden amongst Tara and Emerson’s best friend’s things after her suicide. Noelle was the woman they entrusted to deliver their precious babies into the world, a beloved friend. Her suicide shocked them both. But her legacy could destroy them.

For her letter reveals a terrible secret that challenges everything they thought they knew. Taking them on a journey that will irrevocably change their own lives – and the life of a desperate stranger – forever.
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I had only ever read one other book by Diane Chamberlain, The Lost Daughter so I was looking forward to getting stuck into this one. I wasn’t disappointed at all. Once opened I found myself keep going back in between doing other things! Each chapter was about a different character in the story and dipped back and forward in time so we got all different view points during the story. There was a few touching moments which had me reaching for a tissue! Half way through the story I did find I knew what the ending would be but that may just of been me guessing correctly!!
I don’t really want to give anything away for the people who may want to read it! The only thing I did feel was that it ended rather quickly.  Although it did tie up loose ends, there was still a couple of things which I would have liked to know what happened with. I will definitely be getting down my library and getting some of Diane’s other books!


Thank you Louise for your review. I haven't read any books by Diane Chamberlain yet, but she is definitely an author I hope to read in the future.

On My Wishlist (8)


On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where you can list all the books you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.
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I can only apologise in advance. I have spent too much time on other people's blogs this week!


The fabulously talented author Keris Stainton came across these this week and I knew as soon as I saw the covers that I had to have them.  These two books are omnibus editions featuring the four books in Sarah Mylnowski's Magic In Manhattan series. These covers appeal to me much more than the individual book covers as they are more grown up and I won't feel so guilty reading them on a train!These won't be available until May next year but I am craving them already!


Goodreads Summary of first book in the omnibus - Bras and Broomsticks

What if all your wishes could come true? Blink your eyes, drink a fizzing pink potion, and poof! Life is perfect. That’s Rachel’s situation. Except she’s not the one who suddenly has magical powers. Her younger sister is. And as Rachel would tell you, spell books are wasted on the young!
Yes, yes, of course world peace and cures for horrible diseases are important. But so is dancing without looking like she’s being electrocuted, winning back her best friend, stopping her dad’s wedding, and finding a date for Spring Fling.
Rachel’s not bewitched. Yet. . . .
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Isn't this just a gorgeous cover?
This book is published by Hodder Children's books and is available to buy now. It is aimed at  the 10+ age bracket, but I want it! I found this one in the school magazine my daughters brought home which is produced by Scholastic. I am looking forward to making some book purchases on behalf of my girls. Hehehe!

Goodreads Summary
Midnight: a mist-haunted wood with a bad reputation. A sweet sixteen party, and 13 year old Nell is trying to keep her sister, spoilt birthday-girl Gwen, out of trouble. No chance. Trouble finds Gwen and drags her through the mist. Only Nell guesses who’s behind the kidnap - the boy she hoped was her friend, the cute but mysterious Evan River.

All those fairy stories Nell’s grandmother told her about girls being stolen by fairy folk are true. The Elven are beautiful as starlight, fierce as wolves, and cold as ice. And they want their world back. The fight has been raging for centuries. Nell’s grandmother should know, she’s a Watcher, the ones responsible for imprisoning the Elven in isolated iron-bound camps in Siberia. Only Evan, his fanatical older brother Fen, and a handful of Elven children are still free.

Fen, hellbent on revenge, keeps Gwen in their wolf-guarded stronghold deep in the mist. The price for her safe return? The release of all the Elven – but the Watchers will never agree. Only Nell can save Gwen.

Time is twisted through the mist: if Nell stops longer than a night and day, a hundred years will hit her as soon as she returns and she’ll be old and withered before she’s even lived. The clock is ticking.
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Boarding schools would not normally appeal to me, but I can't help it with this one. I keep thinking of The House of Anubis. I can't remember where I found this one, so apologies if you were blogging about this book this week.  This book is out now and available from Balzer and Bray.

Goodreads Summary
Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar. But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night?
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I found this over at a new blog I found called The Book Addicted Girl. I liked the sound of this one as it is the first YA I have come across that deals with Hurricane Katrina. I don't think this has got an English publisher so I might have to get this on import. 

Goodreads Summary
 Adriana couldn't decide what was worse;that Hurricane Katrina was heading for New Orleans, or that she might not survive her kidnapping to see its potential effects. She had trusted Hayden, even fallen for him, and now he and his brother Luke were taking her deeper and deeper into the Bayou. Why had two of her classmates, the mysterious Boudreaux brothers, kidnapped her? Why had Adriana's dreams started predicting the future? Most importantly, would she make it out of the Bayou alive?

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So there you have the new books added to my wish list. I can't wait to see what you have all added to yours.