Category Archives: Blog tour

Matilda 25th Anniversary Blog Tour & Contest

Posted on May 22, 2013 by | 4 Comments

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We are excited today to be hosting a stop on the official Matilda 25th Anniversary Blog Tour! Besides talking a bit about Matilda, we’ve also got information on the new Broadway musical AND a pretty awesome giveaway for you!

9780142410370_medium_Matilda copyIt’s hard to believe that Matilda is turning 25 this year (but heck, it’s hard to believe I’m turning *ahem* 30 *ahem* this year). To celebrate this milestone, Penguin is hosting an epic 25-stop blog tour — including this one, right here! Bloggers like myself are sharing our feelings about Matilda, and of course offering up some great prizes.

For this stop, Penguin asked: why is it important for kids to discover books, and how do you try to make that happen with books like Matilda?

The question was originally intended for teachers and librarians, but as I am neither, I will answer as a blogger who is passionate about literacy and encouraging kids (and teens, especially) to read.

For me, the real force behind what I do at Novel Novice, is the desire to help teen readers find The Book. That One Special Book which will be their gateway drug. Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games … these are all popular series that have helped spark a passion for reading in teens. But they aren’t a universal solution.

See, the key to getting kids — teens, especially — excited about reading is to find the book that will hook them. That “one book” is different for everyone, and, let’s be honest, it’s rarely a book from the assigned reading list at school. Yes, I discovered some of my favorites thanks to assigned reading (namely, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye) — but I also detested a good many of the books I was forced to read in school. The books I was truly passionate about were read outside of class. That’s a large part of why I started Novel Novice … to find ways of making required reading more tolerable; to relate the books you’re supposed to read with the books you want to read.

For lots of kids, Matilda is that gateway drug to reading. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a book about a little girl who loves reading. Matilda shoes us that reading is power. It’s an escape, it’s a source of strength, it’s a passion worth celebrating. It’s sort of a rallying cry of, “Book nerds unite!”

Tell us in the comments: What book was THE book for you? What got you hooked?

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9780142425381_medium_Matilda copyDid you know Matilda is now a Tony Award-nominated Broadway Musical? The show opened in April and has already been nominated for 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical!

Since not everyone can go to New York City to see the show in person, Penguin Teen is bringing the show to you with a Matilda the Musical prize pack giveaway!

Complete the entry form HERE to win a copy of the Matilda the Musical soundtrack, a Matilda the Musical poster, and a paperback copy of Matilda by Roald Dahl! You can buy tickets, see pictures, and listen to music from Matilda the Musical on their website.

A few rules & guidelines:

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Roald Dahl PHOTOAbout Roald Dahl:

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to “a wonderful faraway place.” In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children’s books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over. Matilda was published just two years before he died. Quentin Blake, the first Children’s Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl’s children’s books.

About Matilda:

Matilda is a genius. Unfortunately, her family treats her like a dolt. Her crooked car-salesman father and loud, bingo-obsessed mother think Matilda’s only talent is as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in their miserable lives. But it’s not long before the sweet and sensitive child decides to fight back. Faced with practical jokes of sheer brilliance, her parents don’t stand a chance.

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

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Posted in Blog tour, Contests

Hero’s Guide Blog Tour: Meet Ruffian the Blue!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Hero's Guide Blog Tour Banner

Today, we are super excited to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy – which also happens to be our book of the month!

As our part of the blog tour, we are pleased to be sharing one of the villains of the book (or is he????) … Ruffian the Blue! Later in this post, we’ll have more info on the book and other related activities, PLUS details about a pretty nifty contest. But first, let’s meet Ruffian:

Ruffian the Blue

8-ruffian - CroppedOccupation: The Best Bounty Hunter in the Land

Affiliation: Bounty Hunters Guild of the Thirteen Kingdoms, Northwest Division

Kingdom of Origin: Unknown

Current Residence: Somewhere in Avondell

Family: Daughter (whereabouts unknown)

Longtime Rival: Wiley Whitehair, the Oldest Bounty Hunter in the Land

Likes: Not much
Dislikes: Distractions, interruptions, anybody who tells him to cheer up

Signature Move: The Dead-Aim Dagger Toss

Quote: “Life would be so much easier if you people just learned to stop running away when I come to capture you.” (*sigh*)

Little Known Fact: Over the past eight years, has only had his hood down for a cumulative forty-five minutes.

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Check out the other stops on the Hero’s Guide blog tour here!

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CONTEST TIME! Along with our friends at Walden Pond Press, we’re giving away signed copies of The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle – plus a grand prize of a $200 gift card to the bookstore of your choice!

The contest runs through May 26th, and to enter — you must enter the secret code: Prince Charming.

The first three entrants today will received signed copies of The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle and EVERYONE who enters is eligible to win the gift card. Enter the secret code HERE for your chance to win.

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Twitter Chat: Join NYT bestselling author Marissa Meyer (Cinder) and Christopher Healy (Hero’s Guide series) for a Twitter Chat on fractured fairy tales — hosted by ME! The chat will take place Monday, June 3rd at 9pm ET/6pm PT using the hashtag #talesretold. There will be giveaways!

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Posted in Blog tour, Book of the Month

The Loop by Shandy Lawson: Official Blog Tour

Posted on May 10, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Today, we’re excited to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for The Loop by Shandy Lawson — on sale now! Booklist said The Loop is “An unstoppable ride …This light, action-packed read will be particularly good for reluctant readers.” We’ll share more about the book at the bottom of this post, but first, here’s an exclusive guest blog from Shandy:

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Hi! Thanks for having me–– I’ve been poking around a bit, and this is a really cool site.

shandy lawsonSo, I’ve been asked to write a little about the book that most impacted my life, and it’s taken an awful lot of thought to figure out what book that might be. There were a few immediate contenders:

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley – A beautiful book. Shelley wrote it when she was a teenager, and that alone is inspiring. But it’s the depth of the love story, the tragedy of the monster’s self-awareness, and the earthiness of the characters that amaze me. Read it. It had impact because it’s just so good.

The Telephone Book - No, it’s not a novel. Back in the dark ages, when I was a boy, the phone book was how you looked up your friends’ phone numbers. When you became better friends those digits would become memorized, but at first you had to look it up a few times. A new number meant a new friend. And just as important, looking up your own number, and finding it there, was proof positive that you and your family did in fact exist. Very comforting to a weird kid like me.

Only Revolutions, by Mark Z. Danielewski – Revolutions is not my favorite Danielewski book, but I still love it. It would take pages to explain what makes the book so unique, but to summarize, it breaks every boundary that defines the traditional concept of a printed book. It makes the reader realize that text doesn’t need to be limited to black–– adding color to particular words or letters can change the meaning in a slight but important way. And the story is written in such a way that the book itself gets rotated three hundred and sixty degrees every sixteen pages, and by reaching the end of the book, you’ve also literally reached the beginning and can continue reading, forever. Danielewski threw out every rule for what a book is supposed to be and wrote what a book can be. Talk about impact.

Okay, so I appreciate your patience for reading this far; I didn’t mean to go on for so long. But I get chatty when talking about books.

The book that I feel (at least for today) has had the most impact on me is a tiny little thing called The Lilies of the Field, by William Barrett. You can read it in one sitting, so you have no excuse: go find a copy, read it, and come back. I’ll wait.

It never impacted me the way the books above did, at least not in a way that made me put the book down and say whoa… but it’s an important one to me because it is a role model. It tells a complex tale in very few pages. Barrett’s economy of verse is, to me, like Hemingway’s: there are no words on the page that aren’t there by necessity. Every letter counts and nothing is wasted. If my book, The Loop, moves at a rapid pace and the story never slows down, it’s because of my lesson in economy of verse taken from Lilies of the Field.

The language in Lilies is beautiful. The characters too, even the least likable ones, are all beautiful. The setting is desolate and alienating and stark and perfectly drawn. The story itself is both classic and new. There are lessons the reader can, and should, have learned by the end without even realizing it.

It’s a book that, as a writer, I can aspire to but know I’ll never match. When I’m not pleased with what I’ve written, a quick re-reading of Lilies will put me back on track, and I’ll have been reminded to simplify. Fancy words don’t tell a story, and neither does cleverly couched metaphor. The story is really all that counts, and without a good story, you’re just looking at words.

(Thanks for reading all the way to the end!)

All best,
Shandy

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Here’s more about Shandy’s book, The Loop:

loopBen and Maggie have met, fallen in love, and died together countless times. Over the course of two pivotal days—both the best and worst of their lives—they struggle again and again to resist the pull of fate and the force of time itself. With each failure, they return to the beginning of their end, a wild road trip that brings them to the scene of their own murders and into the hands of the man who is destined to kill them.

As time circles back on itself, events become more deeply ingrained, more inescapable for the two kids trapped inside the loop. The closer they come to breaking out, the tighter fate’s clutches seem to grip them. They devise a desperate plan to break free and survive the days ahead, but what if Ben and Maggie’s only shot at not dying is surviving apart?

A fascinating, high-concept premise with hints of Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Loop is a fast-paced and action-packed story that will keep readers guessing.

More information about THE LOOP and Shandy can be found online at ShandyLawson.com. You can also find him on Twitter @shandylawson and Facebook.

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Book Review: Icons by Margaret Stohl

Posted on April 23, 2013 by | 13 Comments

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Today, we are thrilled to be kicking off the official blog tour for Icons by Margaret Stohl, the first solo novel from the co-author of Beautiful Creatures. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a link to the entire blog tour, plus your chance to win a copy of the book. But first, here’s our review:

Icons_officialIcons is an action-packed, science fiction adventure loaded with romantic tension and plot twists at every turn.

Stohl leaves behind the Southern Gothic setting of Beautiful Creatures for a futuristic landscape, in which four teens could be the key to humanity’s survival against an oppressive alien regime.

Interweaving artifact-like transcripts and articles with prose, Stohl masterfully crafts a story rich with action and tension. And though the plot may be a far cry from the quiet streets of Gatlin, Stohl’s characters are just as strong as the cast of Beautiful Creatures.

And here’s another reason fans of Beautiful Creatures should take note of Icons: while this book ventures away from the paranormal genre and dives head-first into science fiction, there is still plenty of romance and plenty of magic to satisfy fans longing for Ethan and Lena.

Icons is in stores May 7th.

Enter to win one of TWO copies of Icons by checking out this Rafflecopter entry form here!

Check out the entire Icons blog tour here.

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Posted in Blog tour, Book Review

Guest Blog: Literary Influences in Naturals by Tiffany Truitt

Posted on April 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Today, I am so excited to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for Naturals by Tiffany Truitt, the sequel to Chosen Ones. Tiffany is a long-time friend of Novel Novice (and the founder of our original sister site, Novel Novice Twilight). We’re delighted to be spotlighting her second book today!

Naturals Official Blog TourKeep reading for Tiffany’s guest post about the literary influences in Naturals, and details on an exciting contest!

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I am so honored to once again be hosted by Novel Novice during my blog tour for The Lost Souls Series. I have known Sara for quite a bit, and I am still convinced her site is one of the best around!

Today, I will be talking about the literary influences of Naturals, the second book in my series. Book two continues in the tradition of referencing and paying homage to other literary works. In a world where books are outlawed by an all-consuming government, the characters in the novels crave the forbidden literary fruits of knowledge.

Book One of The Lost Souls Series was primarily inspired by two literary works: Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Book Two was inspired by the following works:

William Shakespeare’s – The Merchant of Venice

This wonderful play by the Bard explores ideas of identity and race. In fact, it attempts to answer an important question during Shakespeare’s time: how do we define other-ness? Throughout the novel, both chosen ones and naturals attempt to define the other. What makes one human? Tess uses the play during a key conflict in the novel.

Thomas Hardy’s –Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Early in the first novel, James tells Tess that she is named after the main character in this novel. When Tess inquires more about the book, James tells her she is not ready. And she wasn’t. Book two sees Tess enter a whole new world, a world where she must finally learn to speak for herself—something Tess of the D’Urbervilles found difficult to do. Throughout the novel, Tess reads the story of the other Tess, hoping she can avoid her mistakes. Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a cautionary tale about female identity and sexuality, and these are two themes focused on throughout the series.

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naturalsAbout Naturals:

Ripped away from those she loves most, Tess is heartbroken as her small band of travelers reaches the Isolationist camp in the mysterious and barren Middlelands. Desperate to be reunited with James, the forbidden chosen one who stole her heart, she wants nothing to do with the rough Isolationists, who are without allegiance in the war between the Westerners and Easterners. But having their protection, especially for someone as powerful as Tess, may come at a cost.

When James returns, Tess’s world once again feels complete—until she discovers her sister, Louisa, has taken up her old post at Templeton, the dangerous chosen ones training center and the site of Tess’s loss of innocence. Tess will do anything to protect her loved ones—but will the price be more than she can give?

This second book in Tiffany Truitt’s dystopian series is a thought-provoking, thrilling story that asks who the true enemy really is—the chosen ones who are different, or the naturals…who are just like us.

Buy the book here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

About Tiffany Truitt:

Tiffany TruittTiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner. She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of  one McDonalds and Banana Rats (don’t ask), she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).

Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”

Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. Tiffany is proud to call herself an educator and Young Adult author.

Enter here to win a paperback of Naturals

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A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty: Author Interview & Blog Tour Contest

Posted on March 22, 2013 by | 24 Comments

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Today, I am so thrilled to be sharing an exclusive interview with Jaclyn Moriarty, author of A Corner of White, the first book in a lovely whimsical new series. We’re also giving away an awesome prize pack as part of the Colors of Madeleine Blog Tour! Today, The Colors of Madeleine tour also stops by Forever Young Adult to feature “Begging for Blues”!

ColorsofMadeleineBadgeSo check out our interview below, then scroll down for contest details.

Color, in various forms, plays an important part in A CORNER OF WHITE. What color(s) are you drawn to? How do they inspire you, influence you?

I think about colours all the time. I worked as a lawyer for a few years and everything was white, black or blue—the suits, the documents, the folders in which we filed the documents. Strange how colourful childhood is, and how drastically we reduce the palette of our world when we grow up. Now I take coloured markers with me to cafes each day, and plan my next chapter by scribbling ideas in as many different colours as I can. I tell myself that this opens up new dimensions of imaginative possibility. Who knows if that’s actually true, but it’s fun, and I like the way other people in the cafe stare.

I’m drawn to almost every colour with the possible exception of green. I mean, I’m very happy for leaves and grass and hedges to be green. In fact, I think they should embrace the colour—it really works for them. But otherwise I want nothing to do with it.

(I’ve felt this way since I was young. On my 10th birthday, my parents gave me a green dress, matching green shoes, and a green handbag. I will never forget my growing sense of despair—panic, even—as I opened these. I realised I should have told my family how I felt about the colour: but it had seemed so obvious to me.)

jaclyn moriarty1Have you ever exchanged letters with someone from another world? (Or maybe just another part of our world?)

When I was fifteen a friend of mine switched to a different school. The school was in the next suburb, and my friend still lived just ten minutes away, but for some reason we decided to keep in touch by writing letters. Over the next several years we wrote long letters to each other every other week, telling each other all our secrets and trying to make each other laugh. My friend wanted to be an artist, and she used to decorate her envelopes and sometimes send me little paintings. This led to two things: (1) a lifelong obsession with the honesty, intimacy and possibility of correspondence (my first novel, Feeling Sorry for Celia, was about a letter-writing exchange between schools, and all of my books so far have been at least partly epistolary), and (2) one of my closest friendships (the highschool friend is now an internationally-acclaimed artist, and has a six-year-old son who enjoys sword-fights etc with my six-year-old son.)

Why Isaac Newton?

Well, when I was first planning my trilogy about the Kingdom of Cello I decided that the ’monsters’ in Cello were colours that have taken on material form. So I started to resarch the science of colour. This led me to Isaac Newton’s work on colour—in particular, the story of Isaac buying a glass prism in a marketplace, and using it to discover the key to colours and light. The more I read about Isaac Newton the more intriguing I found him as a character, so he found his way into the book.

As a huge fan of Philip Pullman, I loved that you referenced the His Dark Materials trilogy. That makes me wonder – what influenced you when writing A CORNER OF WHITE? Other books? Science? Isaac Newton himself?

I also love Philip Pullman, along with other fantasy authors like Joan Aiken, Diana Wynne Jones, Madeleine L’Engle, Garth Nix, Jonathan Stroud and many others whose names I will remember in the middle of the night tonight. Other influences include science (almost everything I read about Isaac Newton sent my plot in a new directions), music and chocolate.

And finally, since we began this interview with a question about colors … what is your favorite color?

Yellow. What’s yours?

Normally I’d say blue, but as I am ten months from my wedding, for which I’ve chosen a color palette of yellow and gray, I’d have to say yellow as well. Readers: what is YOUR favorite color? Tell us in the comments below!

In fact … tell us your favorite color in the comments below to enter this awesome contest:

Enter to win a Colors of Madeleine Prize Pack

In the comments below, tell us your favorite color – then fill out the Colors of Madeleine + Novel Novice Contest Entry Form for your chance to win a great prize pack.

PrizePack-BlueThe Prize:

One (1) winner will receive a prize pack containing:

  • Moleskine journal
  • Pen
  • Coffee mug
  • Copy of A Corner of White

The Rules:

  • One entry per person
  • U.S. only
  • Comment below AND use the entry form

The Deadline:

All entries are due by midnight (PT) on Friday, March 29th.

Learn more about A Corner of White here:

A Corner of White About A Corner of White

A tale of two worlds, told in brilliant color.

Readers have loved bestselling author Jaclyn Moriarty since The Year of Secret Assignments. Now she gives them A Corner of White, the first in a suspenseful, funny, genre-busting trilogy that brings her fantastic characters, laugh-out-loud descriptions, and brilliant plotting to a fantasy setting.

Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge, England (in our world).

In another world, in the Kingdom of Cello, Elliot is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle Jon was found dead. The talk in the town is that Elliot’s dad may have killed Jon and run away with the physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.

As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds — through an accidental gap that hasn’t appeared in centuries. On both sides of the gap, even greater mysteries are unfolding — with more than one life at stake.

About the Author

Jaclyn Moriarty is the prize-winning, best-selling author of novels for young adults and adults including Feeling Sorry for Celia and The Year of Secret Assignments. Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, lived in England, the US, and Canada, and now lives in Sydney again. She is very fond of chocolate, blueberries, and sleep.

Check out the rest of The Colors of Madeleine tour:

Monday, March 18th: Jaclyn is stopping by Ex Libris Kate and Hobbitsies is featuring “Require-These Reds” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Wednesday, March 20th: Jaclyn is stopping by My Friend Amy’s Blog and Presenting Lenore is “Yearning For Yellows” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Friday, March 22nd: Novel Novice is interviewing Jaclyn Moriarty and Forever Young Adult is “Begging for Blues” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Tuesday, March 26th: Jaclyn is stopping by The Book Cellar and Mundie Moms is featuring “Gotta-Have Greens” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Thursday, March 28th: Jaclyn is stopping by The Readventurer and Alexa Loves Books is featuring “Oblige Me With Oranges” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Monday, April 1st: Jaclyn is stopping by Angie-ville and Gone With The Words is featuring “Wish-List Whites” on The Colors of Madeleine Tour!

Wednesday, April 3rd: Jaclyn is stopping by The Book Smugglers and Perpetual Page Turner is “Pining for Purples” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

Friday, April 5th: Pure Imagination Blog is interviewing Jaclyn Moriarty and I Read Banned Books is “Greedy for Grays” on The Colors of Madeleine tour!

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Posted in Author Q&A, Blog tour, Contests

When We Wake by Karen Healy: Character Interview & Blog Tour Contest

Posted on March 4, 2013 by | 7 Comments

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Today, we are excited to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for When We Wake by Karen Healey. We’re offering up a copy of the book for giveaway, AND we’ve got an exclusive interview with Bethari, one of the characters from When We Wake.

when we wakeBut first, here’s a bit more about the book:

My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027–she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies–and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity–even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn’t all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

Don’t miss Karen’s “Live at the Lounge” author video chat on March 23rd with Malinda Lo.

Here’s our interview with “Bethari,” in which we discuss the media & communications in When We Wake:

In our time, it’s all about social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest. What’s the biggest media trend in 2128?

‘Casting, definitely – putting moving visual images on the tubes, usually accompanied with commentary.

I think in your time you used to call this vidding? Youblogging? Sorry, I’m not as good with historical terms as I should be! It’s more sophisticated now – better editing apps, and of course bumblecams have intuitive motion that means they can get great shots with much more ease. Everyone does it – restaurant ‘casts, fashion ‘casts, political ‘casts – and then there’s people like me, who do a bit of everything, but with more journalistic rigor.

Cell phones? Communicators? Telepathy? How do teens in 2128 stay connected with each other?

Oh wow, telepathy, can you imagine? I don’t even want to hear the things some people have to say, much less the things they think! So horrible! For voice-to-voice communication, we mostly use EarRings – like cellphones, I suppose? But smaller. And on your ear.

Also, everyone has their computer and can use that for communication. Our computers are very light, by your standards. And you can’t roll your computers into tight balls or stretch them out, or make them as rigid or floppy as you like, right? That must be really hard. I don’t know what I’d do without a flexible computer!

Everyone here in the 21st century keeps saying “print is dead” — and they’ve been saying it for years. In 2128, is it true? Or do some things still come printed onto paper? (Like, say, books?)

Oh, sure, lots of art books are still printed on paper. And publishers do small print runs for collectors, and libraries do displays of old books. My school, Eliza M, has some print books in the collection. We’re not allowed to take them out of the library, but we can read them in there. I’ve done that a couple of times – it feels strange, having to move so much just to hold a book up and turn a page. But they’re nice to touch. And you can smell the paper, and that’s nice too – computers mostly just smell of your hands.

These days, most people in Australia do read through their computers. I mean, it’s part of the Constitution of the Republic: you get a computer when you turn six and start going to school. And even though the government issue computers are completely horrible and 40 tech-generations out of date, and you only get a new one every two years, they all have reader apps, and they all have library access.

Of course, knowing what I know now, the government issue computers are probably full of spyware.  The tradeoff for getting access to all that reading material is that the government watches what you actually read.

How do you get your news?

On the tubes. Not just the licensed journalists, though – there’s a lot of underground stuff if you know where to look. Unlicensed journalists using pseudonyms and amateurs (like me!) are often sources for the most interesting information – especially the information some people don’t want you to have.

The media in 2128: can’t live with it or can’t live without it?

Got to live with it! No choice, really. I mean, you can invoke the privacy laws, but then how would anyone know what you had to say?

And now, here’s your chance to win a copy of When We Wake, in stores tomorrow.

Fill out the Novel Novice + When We Wake Contest Entry form and you’ll be entered in a random drawing.

  • U.S. only
  • One entry per person only, please.

All entries are due by midnight (PT) on Friday, March 8th.

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Posted in Blog tour, Character Interview, Contests

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith – Valentine’s Day Blog Tour

Posted on February 14, 2013 by | 34 Comments
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Today we are SO delighted to be hosting a special Valentine’s Day blog tour stop for Jennifer E. Smith’s upcoming new YA novel, This is What Happy Looks Like — on sale April 2nd, but you can pre-order it now. You may also know Jennifer already from her first book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – now in paperback.

Today, Jennifer stops by for a special guest blog — and then we have a really fun contest for you! Details below Jennifer’s guest blog.

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this is what happy looks likeThis Is What Happy Looks Like takes place in a fictional town in Maine, where a film production arrives for part of the summer – bringing with it Graham Larkin, the star. So when I first started writing it, in addition to worrying about the usual aspects of a setting – creating a town that hopefully comes to life and feels realistic – I needed to learn a bit more about what a movie set would entail.

I’m lucky enough to live in New York City, where film productions are pretty much everywhere. It sounds crazy, but I think it’s rare to go a week without seeing one – the trailers lined up on the street, the huge lights, the police barriers, the Craft service tables. Whether it’s for a commercial or a television show or a movie, they seem to pop up all over the city. But after a couple of jennifer e smithmonths of lurking whenever I happened to stumble across one, I finally found someone – a friend of a friend – who could give me a proper introduction to the whole thing.

I spent a day on location in Brooklyn, where they were filming a scene for a TV show, and tried my best to take everything in. There was a lot to learn – the names of the various cameras and lights, the many parts of a call sheet, the roles of different crew members – and it was a lot of fun to watch the countless takes as they shot the scene. The books I write don’t tend to require a lot of research, so I really enjoyed learning something new, and it turned out to be enormously helpful when I sat down to write those scenes in the novel that centered around the filming. I still had to do quite a bit of research online and talk to several authorities on the subject, but capturing the feel of being on location was important, and hopefully it comes through in the book.

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statistical probability of love at first siteNow we’re giving five lucky winners the chance to win a really amazing prize pack, courtesy of Little Brown. The prize includes the paperback of Statistical Probability of Love at First Site, an advanced copy of This is What Happy Looks Like, and some surprises!

To enter, just comment below and tell us what makes YOU happy, then fill out the contest form here.

The Rules:

  • You MUST comment below AND fill out an entry form. You have to do both!
  • U.S. only
  • One entry per person
  • Entries are due by midnight (PT) next Thursday, February 21st.

Questions? Leave ‘em below & we’ll reply!

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Posted in Blog tour, Contests, Guest Blog

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: Cover Designer Interview

Posted on January 24, 2013 by | 2 Comments

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Today, we are thrilled to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. And because I’m obsessed with cover stories, we’re chatting with Marci Senders, the lead designer for Disney-Hyperion and the woman behind the gritty, attention-grabbing cover for The Darkest Minds. Thanks to Marci for stopping by today!

darkest mind blog tourWhere did you start with design ideas for the cover of THE DARKEST MINDS? What was your original concept, and how did it evolve to the final design?

Our very first comps had the Psi symbol…they were pretty and more colorful. We also tried showing figures and more conceptual directions. Ultimately, we went back to the Psi symbol but in a much grittier way.

As a designer, talk about the importance of color palette, typeface, etc. when putting together book covers for a specific demographic?

The goal of a designer is to get the tone of the book across as quickly as possible. Since the symbol was really rough, the title was kept really simple and it is easy to read over the background texture. We kept the background colors dark and muted to go with the story and the help pop out the bright orange symbol and type. You also find out that the color orange is as symbolic as the symbol itself.

Why go with a design-based cover, as opposed to a photo-based cover or a more traditional illustration?

This is a bold story and I think showing the bold symbol works really well with the tone of the book.

What do you hope the cover conveys to potential readers?

That The Darkest Minds is an intense story. The gravel texture and the symbol created out of an oil spill hints of the road trip storyline.

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re thinking for the sequel’s cover?

The next cover in the series is still in the works but I will say that the symbol that we are going with hints to the adventures ahead.

The Darkest MindsAbout The Darkest Minds:

When Ruby awakened on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” Because Ruby might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby knows that she is one of the dangerous ones and, when the truth comes out, she barely escapes Thurmond with her life. On the run and desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her, Ruby joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what she did to her parents.

When they arrive at the safe haven, East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work too, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. And soon Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

The heart-pounding first book a near-future dystopian series, Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds will leave you begging for the next installment.

Alexandra BrackenAlexandra Bracken was born and raised in Arizona, but moved east to study at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.  She recently relocated to New York City, where she works in publishing and lives in a charming apartment overflowing with books.  You can visit her online at www.alexandrabracken.com or on Twitter (@alexbracken).

The Darkest Minds Blog Tour Schedule

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Posted in Blog tour, Covers

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans Blog Tour: Character Interview

Posted on January 18, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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Today, I am thrilled to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans, a really intriguing new novel that sets out to answer the question, what happens after you die? And when that answer isn’t all harps and clouds, she addresses: how can you fight back from the afterlife?

level 2For today’s blog tour, we have an interview with Elliot, the father to main character, Felicia. Her dad may not be a huge character in Level 2, but I chose to interview him because his influence is a big part of the book and is clearly an important part of Felicia’s life (and afterlife). And from talking to Lenore, I get the sense that Elliot will continue to be an important, underlying presence in the sequel!

What’s the most outrageous inspiration you’ve ever used to write your music?

My current project is based on a rumor my Serrada Escrima Sifu told me about a herd of musical goats in his native country of Turkey. People from his hometown were all talking about a former blacksmith who outfitted his goats with bells of various sizes. Supposedly he was training them to jump in a certain sequence in order to create a piece of music. I was utterly fascinated and had to see this spectacle for myself.

We successfully tracked them down and recorded them, and now I’m nearly done composing my Prancing Goats Symphony. I’m in talks with some European venues to stage a performance.

Have you ever written anything inspired by or about your daughter, Felicia?

Felicia started having really bad nightmares after an incident that occurred when we were living in Nairobi, Kenya. I sang her lullabies to calm her down.  Around the same time, we took a trip to Maasai Mara National Park and heard a performance by the Maasai, who are big into polyphonic syncopation. That inspired me to compose a series of lullabies mixing my Irish tradition with the Maasai call-and-response pattern, creating a sort of chant-like effect. The rhythmic nature of it always soothed Felicia.

Your daughter’s life spiraled wildly out of control not too long ago. How did it feel to have to have to send her away?

It’s been a very trying time.  I always try to tell myself that she’s nearly eighteen and would be going off to university soon enough anyway, but this forced separation still hurts, especially considering the circumstances.

If you could redo anything in your daughter’s life, what would it be?

As a parent, the inclination is to protect our children. I hate knowing that Felicia is in any kind of pain. But children will never learn or grow emotionally if they can’t make mistakes for themselves.

What is one memory you would relive over and over again, if you could?

Evie, Felicia’s mother, never wanted to have children, so I resigned myself to never getting to be a dad. But then, Felicia came into our lives and I remember the first time I cradled her to my chest. It was the most magical moment of my life.

Learn more about Level 2 and connect with Lenore online:

Read an excerpt of the first 50 pages of Level 2 here.

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Posted in Author Q&A, Blog tour, Character Interview