Jackson Pearce Trifecta

I love horse races. Shiny coats tautly gleaming over powerful muscle, thundering hooves eating up the track and raw beauty. Horses awe me with their power--and even more so with their gentle nature despite their brute strength. I grew up on horses and love watching them race.

I do not, however, like gambling. I hate parting with my hard-earned money and pretending there's a science behind the victory. Sometimes luck has a hand in who wins and who loses. Sometimes history, experience and breeding do. Yet picking a winner is a gamble.

Obviously.

Picking the trifecta--now that is akin to separating a single raindrop from the ocean. It's why I don't bet.

Yet this weekend, I bet big and won. It started with a kind of skulky need to read something I wanted to read. With speech just wrapping up, I'd read a lot of what other people wanted me to read. This was my chance to read something for my own pleasure, a much  needed break after a demanding speech season.

Years ago, I'd read Jackson Pearce's Sisters Red and loved it. What I didn't love was the idea of reading the second novel in her fairytale retellings--Sweetly. The story of Hansel and Gretel had never intrigued me and so I had been turned off by the idea of even picking up this companion novel.

Grudgingly, I decided to give it a try, as no other prospects jumped out at me.

Without belaboring my point, I'll just say that I hit the Jackson Pearce trifecta. On Saturday--between curling hair and painting nails for my daughter's prom--I started reading Sweetly. On Sunday, I finished it and started Fathomless after cleaning up the backyard and putting out the patio furniture. This morning, after reading to the end of Pearce's Little Mermaid rewrite, I was like a crack addict waiting for her next hit. I picked up yet another Pearce novel and finished her contemporary novel, Purity, just before shuttling my boys to baseball.

My favorite of the three: Sweetly. Yeah, I know. And I was a snob about reading it for years. My loss. Suffice it to say, I LOVED the characters. Sophia broke my heart, while Samuel captured it. Gretchen was courageous and loving, while her brother Ansel was selfless and sweet. I hated the ending because Ms. Pearce made it hurt. I have half a mind to read it again, just to see if I can will the ending to change. To see if I can somehow wish this beloved, rag-tag family the happiness they deserve.

The most evocative: Fathomless. This dark novel is nothing like Disney's mermaid we all know and love. Lo is torn between two worlds and two souls as she tries to live in the present, remember her past and embrace her future. She is utterly tragic and beautiful in her quest to do right. And while I am not always a huge fan of stories told from different perspectives, Ms. Pearce did a masterful job of using it to create emotionally robust characters, rather than as a cheat to impart information the audience needed but otherwise wouldn't know.

Most relevant: Purity. I have a sixteen year-old daughter who is a big daddy's girl and the thought of those purity ceremonies and vows has always kind of creeped me out. Ms. Pearce handles it with humor and dignity. This novel took me about three hours to read, and even though the subject matter is heavy--death, sex, religion and integrity--the author doesn't weigh it down by getting all preachy. Instead, Shelby is a very real teen with very real teen concerns.

All in all, the most respectful thing I can say about Jackson Pearce's writing is that she writes realistic characters I care about and puts them into difficult situations where they have to act and react in ways that truly matter. Not to mention, her prose is down-right lyrical.

And the best thing: her fourth fairytale Cold Spell will be out soon. You can bet I'll be snapping that up the minute it gets published!

In fact, I think Jackson Pearce just may rounding the corner and taking over the lead as one of my favorite authors. To learn more about her or to check out her novels, please hop over to her website and get reacquainted with some of your favorite fairy tales.

Going Too Far: Irrational Fears and a Book Review

Once upon a time, my big sister told me that if I stepped on a railroad track after a train went by, I would burn up and die. I am not proud to say I believed her. Even more difficult to admit is that I still cannot step directly on a railroad track.

Yeah, I know. Irrational to the point of ridiculous.

My adult mind knows--knows--that this can't possibly happen, yet I can't seem to override the ingrained fear my dear sis planted years ago. Suffice it to say, she went too far with her little prank.

Fears. Where do they come from and how do we overcome them?

In going too far by Jennifer Echols, Meg is terrified of being restrained in any way--even as she's a dare devil in other aspects of her life.

Both Meg and Officer John After are drawn to the train bridge. Both for very different reasons. Meg sees the bridge as a way to feel alive, while John views the bridge as sure death. In the beginning, the bridge draws them together. In the end, it tears them apart.

I am not one to read romance novels as a general rule. However, while searching for speech material for next year, my daughter and I came across this book and thought it might be usable. Unfortunately, it's not. Fortunately, it's still a great book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in going too far. Meg was lovable in her imperfections and completely drew me in, while John was the perfect balance of steel-tough exterior and silk-soft vulnerability.

going too far was a quick, but fun read. Ms. Echols handled the fears of her main characters in a realistic and compassionate way--without bogging down the story by writing a pity party. I highly recommend this novel for anyone looking to perk up their spring with great characters and a well-written plot.

Name This Rump!

I love contests, especially ones where I can win yummy prizes. Okay, maybe not literally tasty but literary tasty. As in, yummy for the brain. And since I can't enter a certain Name This Rump contest, I'm passing the details along to you. In hopes, of course, that you will agree the prizes are, in fact, brain yummy and warrant your entry in the contest.

 

So here goes: Name This Rump, hosted by Elephant's Bookshelf Press.

 

 

But before I get to the details: are you at all curious why I can't enter this contest? Three reasons:

1. I am an author at EBP. My short story, SOLAR FLARE, was published by them in The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse.
2. My short story SKIN WRITER, has been accepted for publication by EBP in the summer anthology coming out June of 2013.
3. I am one of the prizes you can select if you participate in the contest and WIN. Not me personally, but my YA novel Whispering Minds.

And that's all sorts of yummy, even if it keeps me from naming the backside of EBP's mascot.

 

NAME THIS RUMP RULES

1. Hop on over to Elephant's Bookshelf Press and leave your suggested name for their little pachyderm in the comments section on the Contests page by April 15th.
2. Check back on April 30th for a Top Ten list and vote for your favorite name.
3. If your name wins, collect one of the following for your prize: copy of the summer anthology (June 2013); copy of Whispering Minds (Fall 2013); or for the kidlets, a personalized postcard by yours truly--er the elephant--and a copy of either above mentioned book for your parent or teacher who helps you suggest a name.
4. (If you don't win, you can still enjoy any of EBP's books at this time or in the future. Seriously, elephants need to eat and this little guy likes his peanuts.)
5. While this isn't technically a rule, I know the big guy pressing the books up there would like a wide range of names to pick from, so please pass along info on this fun and completely frivolous contest. 

I don't know about you, but I'd hate to see him named Archibald by default.

 

 



SPLINTERED: get it, read it, love it!

I fell into the rabbit hole last week, and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I didn't love the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, though I can't give any specific reasons why. I can't pinpoint them myself.

On the other hand, A.G. Howard's contemporary spin on Alice's adventures left me breathless.

For starters, look at this fantabulous cover. The details are exquisite.

 

An electric blue moth you will come to love and hate and love again. (FYI, Morpheus is one side of a love triangle that will have your panties in a knot as you waffle between the moth man and the delectable human, Jeb.)

 

The rest of the insects--yeah, that's right, peek closely and you'll see them hiding everywhere. They are very important, my reader friends. Important, intriguing and only a little creepy. Okay, one is a lot creepy, but even she didn't make my spine tingle like the twisted White Rabbit did. 

 

Then there's Alyssa, herself. A stunning beauty filled with mysticism, spunk and charm. She's delicate on the outside--almost pixie like--while courage radiates from within.

 

Lewis Carroll's Wonderland goes dark, dangerous and utterly delightful in Splintered.

 

I pre-ordered it for my Kindle, devoured it in a day and added the hardcover to my shrine of goodness. It stands among other greats such as The Hunger Games; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; The Bartimaeus Trilogy and Unwind. It has been added to my perennial list and will be read with love each and every year.

 

Especially since Ms. Howard masterfully completed the entire story and left me wanting more. She didn't do this with a cliff-hanger that forces me to read the next book in a trilogy (a ploy that only ticks me off and turns me away). Instead, she whetted my appetite by writing one of the most incredible retellings of a fairy tale that I have ever read.

 

Kudos, Ms. Howard. Splintered rocked my world.

 

I hope, dear readers, it will rock yours as well.



 

Hurricane Sandy Delays the Apocalypse!

The Fall has arrived--though delayed ever so slightly by the storm that battered the East Coast and my favorite indie publisher, Elephant's Bookshelf Press.

Find The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse on Amazon.

The cover is beautiful and the writing spectacular. Some of the stories made me cry. Others chilled me to the bone. Still others had me laughing out loud. Whether you read post-apocalyptic stories out of sheer habit or this is your first foray into the end of the world, I promise, The Fall has a little bit of something for everyone!

It also has a short YA from me title Solar Flare.

The Next Big Thing: Week 21

Last week, the lovely and talented Mindy McGinnis posted her Next Big Writing Project on her blog, Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire. Mindy's debut novel, Not a Drop to Drink, is scheduled to release in the fall of 2013. It promises to be an amazing tale--trust me, on this, as I've critiqued Mindy's work in the past and she's a phenomenal writer.

This week, I get to share a few writers whom I've had the pleasure to work with over the past few years. Each of the writers have extraordinary talents, and I won't be surprised if their names grace book covers in the near future. In fact, a few of them have already published short stories in the YA arena and one has published several YA novels. Their Next Big Things will be posted on October 31st.

But first, a few words about mine.

1- What is the working title of your book? Bryn

2- Where did the idea come from for the book? I have a background in psychology and am fascinated by the inner workings of the mind. While teaching my preschool class, I noted that some of my kids were nose pickers, some tippy-toe walkers and others compulsive liars. It made me wonder just how much of our behavior is set in stone and how much of it is molded by our life experiences. More importantly, what is our responsibility in knowing the genetic potential of certain traits?

3- What genre does your book fall under? It's a YA psychological thriller with a twist of steamy romance.

4- Which actor would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? To answer this question implies that I actually watch television/movies and would have a clue who the current actors and actresses are. Seriously, I haven't turned a television on in a half dozen years.

5- What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? If you knew that certain behaviors were genetic, would you allow the scum to be born?

6- Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I'd love agency representation. Better yet, I'd love a publishing contract!

7- How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I plan on thirty days. I'm outlining now and will start writing on November first for NaNoWriMo. Whispering Minds took twenty-six days, so maybe I can reach my goal!

8- What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I think it would be a wonderful shelf-mate to Neil Shusterman's Unwind. They both touch on the ethical issues surrounding the sanctity of life. But if Neil won't have me, I would love to see it placed beside Sarah Darer Littman's Want to Go Private?. She's my writing crush, as I love how unafraid she is to tackle tough issues. She doesn't sugar coat the dirty and writes thought-provoking and relevant novels.

9- Who or what inspired you to write this book? It did. It's such a compelling topic that it hasn't let go of me in over two years. When I read Pat Brown's How to Save Your Daughter's Life, I felt like the timing was right.

10- What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? Sex, love, ethics, abortion and death. Ultimately, it's about balancing the good of all against the life of one.

And now for more awesome writers...
Aaron Bradford Starr
Amy Trueblood
Jennie Bozic (not new to writing, very new to blogging)
Khaula Mazhar
S.Q. Eries
T.K. Richardson


Mindy, thanks for the wonderful invite!


***
Rules:
Answer the above ten questions.
Name five(ish) new and amazing authors/writers

Teen Tuesday Book Plug: SLIDE by Jill Hathaway

I attended a writer's conference this past weekend and had the distinct pleasure of meeting debut novelist, Jill Hathaway. She's smart, funny and cute as a button. And if she teaches English the same way she presented at the conference, her students are some of the luckiest in the world.

Out of professional courtesy, I bought a copy of Slide. After opening to the first page, professional courtesy went out the window. I was hooked by the premise and the voice.

Vee Bell has the unfortunate ability to slide into the body of another person--an uncontrollable and unpredictable quirk that literally puts her behind the eyes of a killer.

When she awakens holding a dripping knife, she can't tear her gaze from the body of her sister's best friend. Nor can she tell anyone the suicide was a murder without revealing her secret.

Yet for Vee, learning secrets is a by-product of her ability, and her suspect list grows as she slides more and more frequently due to sleep deprivation and worry for the cheerleaders who seemingly have been targeted by a cold-blooded murderer.

As the body count piles up, Vee must learn to use her ability to scratch names off her suspect list before her cheerleading sis is scratched off by the killer.

The things I loved most about this novel are the relationships that populated Vee's life. She has a little sister she's raising, a work-aholic father, a distant best friend and a budding romance. In my opinion, these four main relationships were well-fleshed out and realistic. I felt connected to each of them as they grew and changed over the course of the book.

The thing that surprised me most about this novel was that I had figured out the who-dunnit long before the big reveal. That said, I cut my teeth on mysteries and I rarely get surprised by the end "Aha!" in most novels, so take this comment as you will.

Over all, I think it would have been a bit more satisfying to have fewer issues introduced in one novel. While Jill Hathaway hits nearly all the major issues teens face today, there isn't enough time in a single novel to really tackle them at a deeply relevant level.

The pace was great, the writing was clean and easy to read, and the premise intriguing. Slide was a quick, fun read that I enjoyed immensely for the break it provided me from reality.

I give Slide by Jill Hathaway a smidgen shy of four onion blooms.

*As an aside, I would have loved more info on sliding. Specifically, how/why does one come back from a slide?