Weekly Digest: October 31

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone was much more creative than I was this year, and at least kind of dressed up.

Yesterday was the Teen Book Festival at the Provo City Library with keynote speaker, Scott Westerfeld.  It was fantastic.  The Provo Library always has fantastic events. I can't wait to see who they have next year.  I got a few things signed by Scott Westerfeld, and also said hello to a few Utah authors. I also did a video taped interview with Scott after the event, and I can't wait to show it to you. He was really awesome.

Here's what I got this week (okay month):

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia (Bought and Signed!)
Uglies and Specials by Scott Westerfeld (Bought and Signed!)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (Signed; Birthday gift from my dad!)
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (Signed!)
Anti-Comet Pills to promote Selling Hope by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

Coming up this week in posts:

Interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Review of Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Interview with Scott Westerfeld
Review of Cate of the Lost Colony by Lisa Klein

Excerpt: Freefall by Anna Levine

Welcome to Anna Levine, author of Freefall which is now available in bookstores. Wondering what Freefall is all about?... Then read the excerpt below.

Without wanting to give anything away, this excerpt is from the epilogue. I’ve chosen it because it mirrors the prologue and yet shows how far Aggie has come from the beginning of her journey to this pivotal moment in her life. (Freefall, page 248-250)

      I am about to jump.

      Feet, knees, hip, back, roll.

      I am about to jump wearing a full load on my back.

      Feet, knees, hip, back, roll.

      Crammed tightly, the pack is stuffed with my anxieties, fears – and the army-issued parachute. Strapped to me it is secured to my chest with strings and clasps. It holds my heart in place, should it try to break free. When the time is right, I will yank the cord.

      At that moment, the pack will open. My fears will rise to the dome of my chute where they will hover. And for a moment, I will be free of them.

      Feet, knees, hip, back, roll. I have been trained to react without thinking. My body knows the drill. I will fall. Drift. Soar. Once my feet make contact with the ground, I will drop to my knees, lean into my hip, flip onto my back and roll.

      Not another rehearsal, this is reality. Am I ready? Yes. I can do this. Really, I am.

      The door is pushed open and a rush of air blasts at me. The noise of the airplane motorswells and crashes inside my head.

      I am sandwiched in. And can’t retreat. We shuffle forward like penguins. Birds without wings forced to fly. My hands clench the rungs. I have been trained for this moment, but nothing can tame the terror in my bones and the fear churning in my stomach.

      “Green!”

      I’m not ready to let go.

      “Jump!”

      The air batters against my chest pressing me back. The engine thunders in my head.

And then my fingers are pried from the rungs.

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      There are moments in life when you have to jump. You throw yourself into the atmosphere hoping you’ll land right, hoping your parachute will open and ease your fall. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a crowd of onlookers waiting on the ground to greet you. Some chutes glide with the wind until landing effortlessly. Others get caught up in turbulence and the ride down to earth is bumpier, the landing harder. The thing is that you never know how it’ll be until you step out and take the chance.

And when you hit the air, before your automatic parachute opens, there are a few seconds in which you are suspended. Skydivers call it freefall. I like to think of it as that fleeting moment in life when you can see everything with unusual clarity.

      As I peer out at the land rising up towards me, I am amazed at how small it all looks as if I could scoop up all the land and cradle it in the palm of my hand. I wonder, as I am watched from below, if I look like a kite that has broken loose from the strings which once held it.

      Feet, knees, hip, back, roll.

      The ground is hard: Feet.

      The impact quick: Knees

      But I am quicker: Hips.

      The sky retreats: Back

      I am home: Roll.

Happy Birthday, and you get the presents

Today is my 24th birthday.

Already it is shaping up to be the best one yet.

I'm one step closer to being able to rent a car by myself.

No one is in the hospital or on cancer treatments. (Three cheers to my husband, the brain cancer survivor!)

And this morning my baby sang me a special song. (as she is wont to do in the wee hours of the morning)

In celebration of all this, I thought it was appropriate to have a little present for all of my dear readers who make my life so special with your kind and thoughtful comments.

On Thursday I went to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's signing in SLC. (Video and pics coming of that next week).  They were very generous with their SWAG, and I got a bunch of bookmarks, key chains, dog tags, and buttons.

I am going to give a swag pack to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment below, making sure I have an email to contact you. (Connecting your email address with blogger is sufficient).  It can be about your favorite birthday, a birthday wish for you, or something unrelated.  I will go ahead and ship internationally on this one. I'll pick a winner at 11:59 pm on Monday.

Oh! And thank you so much for the beautiful birthday cake:

Via cakewrecks.com

You shouldn't have...

The Jumbee by Pamela Keyes: Review

The Jumbee
By: Pamela Keyes

Summary (from Goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Esti Legard spent her childhood in the Shakespearean world of her famous father, and when he died, she knew she could never give up acting. After she and her mother move to a Caribbean island for her senior year, she realizes that nothing at her new school's theater department is quite as it seems. Stunned by the death of a fellow student on her first day of class, Esti is soon surrounded by legends of the wicked jumbees that haunt the West Indies. She finds herself snubbed by the school’s star actress and relegated to a minor part in Romeo and Juliet.

Only her intriguing new friend, the elusive Alan, shares her passion for Shakespeare. Hiding in the dark recesses of the theater, he leads Esti deep into her own soul to explore the limits of her talent. When Esti's childhood best friend moves to the island and back into her life, however, Alan disappears. Rocked by growing accusations of befriending a jumbee, Esti realizes she must find out who – or what – Alan really is. She is soon forced to defy everyone and everything she’s ever believed in, as she plunges into the mysteries of Shakespeare and the legends of the West Indians, discovering shocking truths about her own past that will forever shape her future.

My Review: This book certainly exceeded my expectations.  It was pitched to me as Phantom of the Opera with a modern, tropical twist.  I have seen the Phantom of the Opera movie, and enjoy the soundtrack. (Come on, who doesn't love that soundtracks?)  But, I thought THE JUMBEE could either be very good or very bad.

I've got to give Pamela Keyes some serious kudos for her portrayal of the Cariba island.  I've noticed in novels where the setting is in some exotic place, it seems to be just for the sake of being exotic.  But, it's clear that Keyes knows her stuff, and really brought Cariba to life.  The dialogue was fantastic, and the superstition of the natives was very believable.  It was a lot of fun to read.

I wasn't sold on Esti. Damsel in distress characters just don't do it for me. But, that is my own personal preference.  I actually thought she was quite well done for what she was supposed to be.  She's very dramatic, because well, let's face it, she's an actress.  And, like Christine Daae, she is quite aloof, undecided, and stuck in a dreamland.

Rafe was an interesting twist on Raul.  I must confess that I have not read the novel, and I can't recall the play or movie delving into Raul's past other than he and Christine were childhood sweethearts.  THE JUMBEE makes Raul sort of a playboy that needs a strong woman in his life to keep him in line.  I have to say that I disagree with that idea, however. While Rafe and Esti's romance was steamy and passionate, it's not one that I see as long lasting.  And for any girls out there that think they can reform a bad boy by just being strong enough to keep him in line, better think again.

But, these few flaws were very easily overlooked.  As I sat in my chilly house, listening to the rain hit my window, for a few hours I was in the beautiful West Indies and fully invested in Esti's fate.  Even though I knew the general story arc from the Phantom, I was very curious to see how Keyes would make the story work in a modern setting.  It was handled beautifully.  In my recent memory, I can't remember reading anything quite like this.  It's everything it was billed to be: a fresh, tropical twist on Phantom of the Opera.

My Rating:

Profanity: None
Sexuality: Mild; a few references
Violence: Mild
Alcohol and Drugs: Mild

Interview with Ally Carter and Giveaway

Ally Carter is the author of the best-selling Gallagher Girls series and Heist Society. She loved school so much she kept going...and going...and going...until finally she had to graduate. Now she has degrees from Oklahoma State University and Cornell University and a house and a job and other very grown-up things.

Her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She'd tell you more, but...well...you know...

Website
Twitter

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I absolutely loved the Gallagher Girls series, and was beyond excited to do an interview with Ally Carter.  Welcome to the Reading Room Ally!
 

Is there a spy academy for college-age girls? If so, how do I apply?

Not to my knowledge, no.  Drats!

What has been your biggest challenge in dealing with two series at once?

Time.  Always time.  People frequently ask where authors get their ideas or their character names or their inspiration.  What people forget (or simply don’t know) is that one of the most important ingredients is time.  And when you double the number of books you’ve got to keep up with that just cuts your time in half.  Without a doubt, that’s the hardest thing.

Cammie and the Gallagher Girls series is very clean and innocent. Was it a deliberate decision to make the series this why? If so, why do you feel that it was important to write it that way?

It just came out that way.  I don’t know if I could write “edgier” or “darker” if I tried.  But while it wasn’t a conscious decision, I’m very grateful that it worked out the way it did because there is a subset of the reading public that wants a clean read.  I think a lot of people assume it’s the “gatekeepers” that are really looking for that, but I’ve found that a lot of teens do as well.  It’s a misnomer to think that all teens want to push all barriers at all times.  Are there 12-yr-olds out there looking for gritty, edgy stuff?  Sure.  But there are also 17-yr-olds who enjoy a book with no cussing or adult content.  In publishing we need to have something for everyone.  I’m very happy that my books fit within a very valuable and in-demand niche.

Have you ever thought that maybe a career in writing wasn’t worth it? What do you do when you get discouraged during the publishing process?

Every single day.  This is a hard business—it really is.  The pressure from fans to write faster, the pressure from publishers to deliver, and, most importantly, the pressure from ourselves to make each book better than the one before.  It’s a lot to process some days.  And on the days when the characters and plot just aren’t cooperating it’s very tempting to dream about the day when the series is over and done and you can go back to accounting or whatever it was that paid the bills before starting on this crazy adventure.

What is one thing that you wish people knew about publishing or writing?

It’s a job.  It’s work.  It can sometimes be a very exciting job and very fun work, but it’s an occupation nonetheless, and like most jobs it’s not very glamorous most of the time.  Also, I can’t get anyone a role in any movie.

Name one thing about yourself that people would be surprised to learn.     

I have terrible, awful—I mean truly hideous—handwriting.

Thanks to Ally for joining us today. And, now I have a fantastic giveaway that is going to rock your socks off.  Included in this prize pack is:

Gallagher Girls Tote

Gallagher Girls Hair Pin 

Signed Gallagher Girls 4

Signed Heist Society

Heist Society sunglasses

Holla! All you have to do to enter is fill out the form.  Giveaway ends October 27 at 12:01 am. US Residents 13 and older only.

Weekly Summary: October 10

Why hello everyone! I'm back after an unexpected hiatus.  Everyone needs to unplug every once in awhile, and I really needed to take some time and focus on my job and family.

I have picked winners for the Firelight and Natalie Standiford giveaways, and I'm just waiting for responses back from Cristal and Cari.

I've got some great things coming this week, including an interview and FANTASTIC giveaway from Ally Carter.  We'll also see another Blogger Confidential, and a few reviews.

I also wanted to say that if you live in the Salt Lake City area, you should check out the fantastic events coming up at The King's English. There are some really wonderful YA authors coming this month, including Rick Riordan, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, James Dashner (Tuesday, October 12 at 7 pm), Julie Berry, and Jessica Day George.  I will be going to quite a few of these signings, so if you are going, be sure to say hi!

Anyway, I missed you guys! Give yourselves a big hug from me.