Tag Archives: Marissa Meyer

March 2, 2013 · 9:26 am

Stacking the Shelves (23)

STSWelcome to Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga’s Reviews! I love to see what books other bloggers get during the week, and I love to share my new books as well. This week was a particularly fun week for me, because in addition to some new review titles I got a couple of surprises in the mail.

004

A huge thanks to Lucy at The Reading Date for this amazing stack of ARCs! I entered her contest and frankly forgot all about it. When she told me I’d won the “Anti-Valentine” box, I was thrilled.  She also threw in a cool Comic Con bag! Thanks Lucy:)

002

Alma Katsu was kind enough to include me in The Companion Club, a group of Adair followers who will help her promote her amazing trilogy. She sent all of us a package with pins, stickers, postcards and other goodies, including a note with this intriguing statement: “Please wear your pin proudly and if you draw blood with it—someone else’s of course, not yours—so much the better.” If you’ve read The Taker and The Reckoning, you’ll understand:) The third book in the trilogy, The Descent,  will be out in 2014.

002

I pre-ordered my copy of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer from Amazon, and for doing so I got a surprise Scarlet lip gloss in the mail! Thanks to MacMillan for making my daughter very happy:)

e-Books for review from NetGalley & Edelweiss: (click on book covers to go to Goodreads)

Beautiful GoodbyeZenn ScarlettClub MonstrosityThe Sweetest DarkStoker's Manuscript

Beautiful Goodbye by Nancy Runstedler. Release date: July 23 2013 (Dundurn). I had never heard of this publisher before, but I believe they are better known for their non-fiction titles. I don’t have a lot of info on this book, but from the Goodreads description it’s a YA paranormal about three teens and a Ouija board.

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon. Release date: May 7 2013 (Strange Chemistry). I remember getting the news about this acquisition from Angry Robot, and I’m really excited to have a review copy in my hands. You’ve got to click on the cover and read the book description. It’s out-of-this world! I’m really looking forward to this one.

Club Monstrosity by Jesse Petersen. Release date: April 29 2013 (Pocket Star).  This book sounds hilarious! It’s about a group of monsters who form a support group. Wow.

The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abé. Release date: April 9 2013 (Bantam). Set in 1915 England, this story takes place in a boarding school. It’s a historical paranormal and is recommended for fans of Libba Bray (!) and Lauren Kate (!) and gets a blurb from Melissa Marr (!)

Stoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty. Release date: June 13 2013 (Putnam Adult). This historical novel blends real events with a mystery that spans many years. I love that is revolves around the novel Dracula.

What did you stack your shelves with this week?

9 Comments

Filed under Stacking the Shelves

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 9, 2013 · 7:20 am

Stacking the Shelves (20)

Stacking the ShelvesStacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews, and is a way to share the books you’ve acquired over the past week or so with other bloggers. Since I received an Amazon gift card for Christmas, I used some of it this week to buy some books I’ve been lusting after…and I got some other things as well.

For Review:

StungHow Beauty Saved the Beast

Stung by Bethany Wiggins. Release date: April 2 2013 (Walker Children’s). This sounds like part science fiction, part horror. I love the simplicity of the cover!

How Beauty Saved the Beast by Jax Garren. Release date: February 11 2013 (Carina Press). I loved Garren’s first book in the series, How Beauty Met the Beast, and I’m anxious for more of these fantastic characters.

For Review & Giveaway:

Insomnia

Insomnia by J. R. Johansson. Release date: June 8 2013 (Flux). I’m super excited that the author was kind enough to send me an ARC after I babbled on and on about how much I wanted to read her book! (I think she took pity on me…) In any case, she agreed to send me a copy provided I give it away after I read it. That’s right, folks! I’ll be giving away a signed ARC very soon…stay tuned!

For Blog Tours:

The Devil's TriangleSilencing Breath

The Devil’s Triangle by Toni De Palma. Release date: February 2013 (Crescent Moon Press). I’ve read several titles from this small publisher, and I’m looking forward to reading this one as well.

Silencing Breath by Joanne Brothwell. Release date: February 2013. I read and reviewed Joanne’s first book in the series, Stealing Breath, and was happy when she asked me to read Book #2.

Purchased:

Scarlet2The Darkest MindsShadow and BoneEtiquette and EspionageSplintered

I’ve been dying to read all these books (except for Splintered, which I’ve already read), and I’ve read rave reviews on all of them. As far as Splintered, I read an e-ARC from the publisher, but I loved it so much I wanted my very own copy. And believe me, as lovely as the cover is, this photo doesn’t do the real book justice. The physical copy is stunning!

What’s on your shelves this week?

10 Comments

Filed under Stacking the Shelves

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 28, 2013 · 8:00 pm

Young Adult Giveaway Hop! Win THE ARCHIVED or SCARLET

ya hop

Wow, I really thought I was done with Giveaway Hops this month, but apparently not…this is my LAST giveaway hop of the month, but I think it’s a good one. The Young Adult Giveaway Hop is hosted by I am A Reader, Not A Writer & Book Love 101. This is a BIG hop. There are 200+ blogs participating! That means you can hop from blog to blog and enter to win a YA book at each stop. For my giveaway, I’ve decided to give away two books! These are two of the books I’m most excited to read in January and February, so I will pick two winners, one for each book! This giveaway is international, provided you live in a country where The Book Depository ships for free.  (Please check the list of countries here before you enter. U.S. and Canada, you’re covered:)) Here are the books:

The ArchivedThe Archived by Victoria Schwab. I just got my pre-order copy from Amazon, and I’ll be devouring this as soon as I get through a few more NetGalley titles. This book is gorgeous, too. I recommend everyone purchasing the hardcover, because the interior is pretty special…Here’s the story:

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous-it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

Or you can choose this:

Scarlet2Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Book Two of Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles comes out in week, just about when this hop is over. I am beyond excited to dive back into the story of Cinder and her friends. Here’s what Scarlet is about:

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Ready to enter? Simply CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE RAFFLECOPTER!

And don’t forget to check out all 200+ blogs in this hop! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIST OF PARTICIPATING BLOGS.

103 Comments

Filed under Giveaway Hop, Giveaways

Tagged as , , , , , ,

December 28, 2012 · 6:51 pm

My 2013 Reading Challenges

Reading Challenge 2013I have to admit, I’m a newbie when it comes to reading challenges. I’ve never done one before! So what does one do to remedy that situation? Why, sign up for four reading challenges! Yep, I’ve done it now…I’m committing myself to four different challenges (one of them being my own) for 2013. I think some of them will intersect, so I’ll be able to use the same books for more than one challenge, but I’m looking forward to completing all four next year. As I complete a book, I will highlight it in red. I will also link it to my review.  Selections subject to change! Click on the challenge buttons for more information on how to sign up. Here’s what I’ve signed up for:

Catch Up Reading Challenge Button250 copy

OK, this is my own challenge. I actually started it as a personal goal to play catch up with my TBR pile. Since I made it up, it doesn’t have very many rules (yet) and there aren’t even any minimum requirements for participating. If you’d like more info on my 2013 Catch Up Reading Challenge, click here to read more, and sign up if you’d like! I’ve chosen eight books to “catch up” on, which you can see on my post.

DAC button

Hosted by Hobbitsies, this is a well-established Reading Challenge that I’m excited to be a part of! The challenge is to read twelve YA or Middle Grade debuts during the year.  Here is my list, although it is subject to change, depending on my mood:)

1. Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
2. Insomnia by J. R. Johansson
3. The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
4. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
5. Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
6. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
7. The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
8. Linked by Imogen Howson
9 . Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan
10. Pantomime by Laura Lam
11. In the After by Demitria Lunetta
12. Poison by Bridget Zinn

SARCThe 2013 Standalone Reading Challenge, hosted by Icey Books & I Like These Books, is asking us to read fifteen YA or Middle Grade standalone novels. I think it’s a great idea because I usually find series books very frustrating. Either a great-sounding book comes along but I haven’t read the first book in the series yet (and don’t have time!) or the second book in a series that I love comes out but I don’t have time to read it. Here’s what I plan to read for this challenge:

1. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
2. Thin Space by Jody Casella
3. Control by Lydia Kang
4. Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
5. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
6. Poison by Bridget Zinn
7. The Gathering Dark by Christine Johnson
8. Transparent by Natalie Whipple
9. Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum
10. Starglass by Phoebe North
11. Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
12. Absent by Katie Williams
13. Hysteria by Megan Miranda
14. Acid by Emma Pass
15. Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

2013eclecticreaderThe 2013 Eclectic Reader Challenge, hosted by Book’d Out, sounds like a blast! Simply read twelve books from twelve different categories. Some of them are harder than others, but the goal is to push yourself to read things you normally wouldn’t read. Here are the books I’m going to read:

  1. Translated fiction – Revenge by Yoko Ogawa (Translated from Japanese)
  2. Historical mystery – Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan
  3. Romantic suspense – Thorn Abbey by Nancy Ohlin
  4. Made into a movie – Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
  5. New Adult - Easy by Tammara Webber
  6. Urban Fantasy – Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
  7. Dystopian – Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
  8. Memoir – Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
  9. LGBT – Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney
  10. Action Adventure – Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
  11. Humour – Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore
  12. Published in 2013 – The Archived by Victoria Schwab

What reading challenges are you participating in? I’d love to know!

5 Comments

Filed under Reading Challenges

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 18, 2012 · 3:00 am

Tammy’s Top Ten Books I Read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday2Today’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish)  is definitely my favorite of the year! And what a hard Top Ten to narrow down…I read so many wonderful books this year. Every book on my list received a five-star review, but many of my five-star reviews aren’t on this list. Cutting the list down to ten was very painful and agonizing, but in the interest of keeping this a true “Top Ten” list, I did just that. It was interesting to discover that eight out of the ten are adult books, which surprised me since I read a lot of YA as well. So here they are, my faves from the past year! I’m listing them in alphabetical order, so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings:) Oh, and I’m trying out WordPress’ new slide show feature, what do you think?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Yes, this book came out in November of 2011, but I didn’t get around to reading it until January. And I’m so glad I did! Although long (849 pages), I loved every word. King writes a tense and engaging time travel novel about the repercussions of changing events in the past (like for example, JFK’s shooting). But it’s a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface. One of my all-time favorite King stories.

2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  I love fairy tale re-tellings, and this has got to be one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve ever read. Cinderella as a cyborg?? Yes! This imaginative story is only the first of four books in the series, the next of which comes out in February. So if you loved Cinder, you have a lot to look forward to. You can read my review of Cinder here.

3. Edge of Oblivion by J. T. Geissinger. Wow, this book took me totally by surprise! It’s published by Montlake Romance, a publishing arm of Amazon, and I really wasn’t expecting the quality of writing and story building that I found in this amazing book. Not for kids, though! I’d rate it NC17 if it were a movie:) You can read my review here.

4. The Reckoning by Alma Katsu. The second book in Katsu’s The Taker Trilogy did not disappoint. It was a lush and dangerous descent into the minds of some very fascinating characters, and I can’t wait for the third book in the series, which will hopefully be published in 2013. You can read my review here.

5. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley.  This adult paranormal story was funny, entertaining, confusing, surprising, and amazing! It was one of the most unique stories I read all year, and it has been compared to Harry Potter, X-Men and Ghostbusters. It’s really none of those, but something completely original. I look forward to reading more from this talented writer.

6. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I read this for book club back in March, and was blown away by the violent, gritty and unexpectedly funny Eli and Charlie Sisters, two outlaw killers that seem more human than many of the “good guy” characters I’ve read in other books. Reading this book has given me a fondness for westerns, and I hope to read more like it soon.

7. Something Red by Douglas Nicholas. I don’t usually seek out historical fiction, but this book seemed too good to pass up.  Something Red has some of the best characters I’ve read all year. Mysterious and epic and filled with action as well as tender human moments, I hope more readers discover this amazing book. You can read my review here.

8. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff. It’s hard for me to describe how much I loved this book. Oddly, I’ve read some really mixed reviews, and I think the reason some people just didn’t get it was that it wasn’t what they were expecting. It’s a beautifully written fantasy with a lovely relationship between a girl and a griffin, but it’s set in a harsh world where lots of bad things happen. Just read it already! You can read my review here.

9. Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. Gladstone is a master of world-building, and the odd but compelling city of Alt Coulumb has wonders to spare. I was completely immersed in the story of Tara, Abelard, Cat and Raz and I can’t wait for the sequel next year. You can read my review here.

10. Velveteen by Daniel Marks. I just managed to squeeze this in before this post was due to go up, and I’m so glad I did. Wow. Marks’ wonderful but horrifying depiction of purgatory is tempered by some pretty awesome characters, especially Velveteen, a very angry girl who has died horribly and now wants nothing more than to take revenge on the madman that killed her. Oh, and to get to know the newest and hottest soul in town, Nick. Look for my review coming soon.

I’d love to hear what your top ten books are! Please link me up, or just let me know in the comments! Next week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie, and although it’s Christmas day, I’ll be posting my Top Ten Indie Books of 2012. I read some amazing indies, and they deserve some love as well:)

11 Comments

Filed under Top Ten Tuesday

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 27, 2012 · 7:10 am

Tammy’s Top Ten Most Anticipated Books for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’ve been waiting so patiently for this week’s Top Ten! From now until the end of the year are some of my favorite Top Ten themes. In fact, I’ve been working hard (reading) all year to bring you these lists, as have most other book bloggers. So here we go…these are my Top Ten most anticipated books that will be released in 2013—at least the ones I know about, and the ones that already have book covers. There are several that could have made this list, except the cover designs have not yet been revealed, and since the visual impact of a book is important to me, I don’t want to show you any blank covers.  These are listed in order of release date.

1. Splintered by A. G. Howard. Release date: January 1 2013. Technically I will be reading this in December, in order to have a review up before the release date, but technically it is a 2013 book, so I feel like I can include it here. I’ve read really good reviews of Splintered, and I can’t wait to read it myself. This re-imagined Alice in Wonderland is far closer to the original than Alice in Zombieland which came out earlier this year, from what I’ve heard, so if you’re looking for a good Alice story, this could be the one.

2. The Archived by Victoria Schwab. Release date: January 22 2013. This story is about a girl who keeps watch over the dead, who sit on shelves like books and are violent if awakened. I’ve been waiting forever to read this, and the wait is nearly over! This is another book that’s already received some great reviews. To promote her book, Victoria has been recording her own “histories” on YouTube for the past few months, you should check it out if you have time.

3. The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd. Release date: January 29 2013. This book has my name written all over it! Based on the story The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells, it tells the story of Dr. Moreau’s daughter Juliet, who discovers her father’s terrible scientific experiments with animals when she journeys to the island to find him. It sounds like a mix of science fiction and horror, and it’s set in the same time period as the original story, 1894.

4. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Release date: February 5 2013. Yea, it’s coming out on my birthday! Happy birthday to me:) Scarlet, in case anyone has been hiding under a rock, is the second book, after Cinder, in Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles. (There will be four books in the series.) According to some reviews I’ve read, it picks up right where Cinder left off and continues her story, but introduces us to new characters as well.

5. Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger. Release date: March 5 2013. Wow, this sounds great. It’s about a girl who can walk on the wind and can control it as well. She’s sworn to protect a boy named Vane, who survived a category five tornado which killed his family. It sounds romantic, dangerous, and magical. I can’t wait to read it!

6. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters. Release date: April 2 2013. I recently chose this as a Waiting on Wednesday (last week in fact!) and it’s true: it is one of the books I’m super excited to read. It takes place in 1908 during the Spanish Influenza epidemic, where a girl named Mary, who doesn’t believe in ghosts, is haunted by the ghost of a boy who died in battle.

7. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Release date: April 30 2013. Joe Hill is one of my top favorite horror writers, and I’m so pleased he has a new book coming out soon. It’s about a girl named Victoria who escapes a place called “Christmasland” after being kidnapped by a bad guy named Charlie. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and you can bet whatever Hill has in store for his characters, it won’t be pleasant…

8. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan.  Release date: May 7 2013. A story about an invisibly boy? Are you kidding me?? Stephen has been invisible almost his entire life, ever since his grandfather cursed Stephen’s mother. He is surprised to meet someone who can actually see him, a girl named Elizabeth. Can they break the curse? Will they fall in love? Let’s all read it and find out…and don’t you love the cover?

9. Joyland by Stephen King. Release date: June 4 2013. This is one of those instances where I wanted to list King’s other book that’s coming out next year, the sequel to The Shining, Dr. Sleep. Alas, there is no cover art to show you yet, so I had to cross it off the list. But I can’t wait to read Joyland, which comes out exclusively in mass market paperback, and takes place at a carnival.

10. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. Release date: August 15 2013. Between the title of the book and the author’s name, it’s quite a mouthful, but beneath this gorgeous and Gothic-looking cover lies a terrifying tale of a boy who just might be the devil, and the girl who’s falling for him.

I just realized this list is made up of mostly YA titles.  I didn’t plan it that way, I guess it just goes to show that young adult authors are writing some of the best fiction out there. I’d love to read your top ten list, please leave me your link!

15 Comments

Filed under Top Ten Tuesday

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 18, 2012 · 7:37 am

Waiting on Wednesday #16 – SCARLET by Marissa Meyer


Another Wednesday, another book. It’s my favorite day of the week! Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. Finally, the cover and release date have been revealed for the second book in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Scarlet:

Isn’t the cover beautiful? As many of you know, Cinder is high on my list of all-time favorite novels, so a release date for Scarlet is happy news, even if it’s next year. I’ve even added Scarlet to my new header, that’s how excited I am! Here’s the book description from Goodreads:

This book will feature Cinder and Little Red Riding Hood and will take place in France.

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

The expected release date for Scarlet is February 5, 2013 (my birthday!). And I’m really glad Meyer is continuing to feature the character of Cinder in each of the four Lunar Chronicles, even though each book focuses on a different fairy tale character.

What are you waiting on this week?

16 Comments

Filed under Waiting on Wednesday

Tagged as , ,

July 10, 2012 · 7:00 am

Tammy’s Top Ten Things I Learned at Camp NaNoWriMo

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie! Which means, we can pick whatever Top Ten Topic we want. I wanted to do something completely different this time, and since I recently participated in Camp NaNoWriMo, I’ve decided to share some things I learned while writing a novel. For those of you unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), it’s a novel-writing program that takes place during the month of November every year. Participants who write a 50,000 word novel during that month *win* the bragging rights and special “badges” to place on your website. The philosophy of NaNoWriMo is simple: you have a limited amount of time to write 50,000 words (approximately 175 pages), and to reach this goal you need to focus on quantity, not quality. That’s right, throw quality out the window and just get the words out. Hey, that’s what revision’s for, right?

Last year Camp NaNoWriMo (held in the months of June and August) was created, and this year I caught wind of it just in time to register and start writing. And yes, it was hard. Added to the stress of having to write every day, I went on vacation and lost five days of writing. So technically, I wrote my novel in 25 days, not 30. But I persevered, I wrote when I didn’t want to, and I made myself sit down at the computer for 1-2 hours a day and work on something that may or may not actually be a novel. And at the end of the month, I had written 50,017 words. Here’s a screenshot of my progress. I loved watching the daily count bar go up! But you can see the flat lines on the days I didn’t get to write:

I learned a lot while writing, and I wanted to share what I learned for those of you who may be interested in taking a shot at the August Camp or this November’s NaNoWriMo Challenge:

1. Plan your novel out ahead of time, and outline it if you can. It will be much easier to get your word count down if you know where you’re headed.

2. It’s OK to write your story out-of-order.  When I sat down each day to write, I decided what I was in the mood to write about, and concentrated on that particular scene or character, no matter where it fell in the story. The fine folks at NaNoWriMo may consider this cheating, but I did it anyway.

3.  Don’t waste time stressing over the names for things, like characters or places. If you haven’t come up with cool names by the time you start writing, use something generic for now, like “Bob” or “Sally” and go back and change the names later. Likewise, if you have a brain-freeze and can’t think of a word, instead of spending precious time going through the thesaurus trying to find just the right word, insert a placement word for now. You can always revise it later.

4. It’s OK to break your writing time up during the day. Instead of writing 2,000 words in one sitting, I broke it up into morning, afternoon, and evening writing sessions. This worked really well and kept me from being overwhelmed.

5. Don’t fall behind in your daily word count! Also, try not to skip days. It will be much harder to make up missed days than you realize. Just like the story of the turtle and the hare, keeping a steady pace will get you to the finish line stress-free (well, mostly, anyway…).

6.  Don’t worry about the prose—too much. Get the words out and concentrate on polishing later. Adding imagery, similes and other descriptive phrases later is—or can be—a part of revision.

7.  If you get stuck and can’t figure out where your story is going next, pick a couple of characters and write a scene between them with lots of dialog. You may discover things about your characters that you didn’t know before.

8.  When all else fails, just start typing! This kind of free-form writing can lead you in surprising directions, and you may come up with plot ideas you hadn’t considered.

9.  Don’t go back and fix things during NaNoWriMo! If you write yourself into a corner and realize something isn’t working (which I did many times), just write an alternate scene that solves the problem. But don’t delete the first scene! You want to add to your word count, not subtract from it.

10.  50,000 words is not a novel. It’s about half a novel, so remember when NaNoWriMo is over, you still have a lot of work to do. NaNoWriMo is a motivational tool to get you started, but unless you are an incredibly gifted writer, you will not have a finished novel at the end. That’s OK!

At the end of it all, I am happy to say I earned this badge! The whole thing was an eye-opening experience, and yes, I will do it again.  I want to leave you with a real-life story I just read in Publisher’s Weekly. Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, one of my favorite books so far this year, sprang from NaNoWriMo. Here’s what Meyer told PW during a recent interview:

“I wrote the first draft of Cinder during NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month], in about two weeks…But then it really took a little less than two years of on-and-off revising until I began querying.” — Publisher’s Weekly, July 2 2012

Novels take time to write, but it can be done. Even a best-selling novel has to start somewhere. Like Cinder. Like mine. Or yours.

Join Camp NaNoWriMo now! The next session starts August 1st. Or, if you aren’t quite ready, sign up for November NaNoWriMo.

9 Comments

Filed under Ruminations, Top Ten

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 24, 2012 · 8:03 am

Tammy’s Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  If you head on over to their site, you can see other bloggers’ top ten lists too. This week is tough!  I mean, what do you do? Go back to the classics?  I decided to focus on books I’ve read in the past five years or so.  And I’ve noticed my list features lots of smart, beautiful, and resourceful women. With a couple of guys thrown in!  Here we go, in no particular order:

Rudy from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I love this book so much. And although I’m listing Rudy as my favorite character, I really love Liesel as well. This is a survival story, a love story, a sad story, and a story of hope. Liesel is the book thief, but I fell in love with her friend Rudy. Just read it, if you haven’t yet. You won’t regret it.

Candy from Emergence by David R. Palmer.  I’m so glad I thought of this book. It’s been years since I read it, but it ranks high up on my list of favorite SF stories.  Candy is an incredibly smart eleven-year-old survivor of a bionuclear plague.  With her pet parrot Terry, she sets out on a journey to find other survivors.  Yes, it sounds like a million other post-apocalyptic novels, but it’s unlike anything else you’ll ever read. I’m holding on tight to my frayed paperback copy, because unfortunately, Emergence is out of print at the moment.

Fire from Fire by Kristin Cashore. I am eagerly awaiting Bitterblue, the final book in Cashore’s trilogy, but until then I can gush over Fire, the second in the series. In this world, Fire is called a monster.  She has fiery red, beautiful hair and can control people and read their minds.  She is such a unique character, that it’s hard to compare her to anyone else.

Jake from The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan. Jake is the last werewolf on Earth, and he is one bad-ass dude.  But he’s also handsome, suave and charismatic. Plus he has the heart of a poet. Or at least Duncan does. Jake has been around the block and has given up hope, and now that he’s being hunted, he’s almost ready to go quietly.  You kinda feel sorry for the guy, but he finds the will to live when he meets…well, I don’t want to spoil it for you…

Myfawny Thomas from The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. “Myfawny” rhymes with “Tiffany.”  That’s one of the first things you learn about this wonderful character, told in her own words.  I loved The Rook and just never got around to writing a review, but Myfawny’s first person account of how she wakes up in someone else’s body (she’s actually lost her memory) and how she solves the mystery of who exactly is trying to kill her is one of the more original stories I’ve read recently.

Unnamed narrator from Incendiary by Chris Cleave.  The subject matter about a London bombing at a soccer game is tough to swallow,  and I don’t think I would have been able to get through it if it weren’t for the heart-felt narration of a woman whose husband and son were killed in the stadium.  Written as a letter to Osama bin Laden,  the narrator’s voice is fraught with sorrow and anger, but she gets through the horrible days after the bombing with a wry humor. She is truly an unforgettable woman.

Iko from Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  One of my most recent five-star reviews, Cinder is a SF take on the Cinderella fairy tale. Its structure follows the events in the classic tale, but the unique characters make this quite different. I love the character of Cinder, but I actually loved her android Iko even more.  Iko is quite intelligent for an android, and she is Cinder’s constant companion.  She keeps Cinder’s secrets just like a real friend, and you won’t believe what happens to her near the end of the story, or how Meyer sets the stage for Iko’s reappearance in the next book in the series, Scarlet.

Kvothe from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Kvothe is everything a great character should be: dashing, a talented musician and gifted with the ability to do just about everything well. He’s also irreverent and has a mysterious past. He makes women swoon and breaks lots of rules.  I didn’t like Rothfuss’ second book, The Wise Man’s Fear, as much, but I did find even more to love about Kvothe.

Karou from Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. Here’s another quirky, intelligent and talented female character with colored hair! Daughter of Smoke & Bone was a favorite of mine last year, mostly due to the characters, but also because Laini’s writing is so vibrant and engaging. You can tell she truly loves the characters she is writing about, and that makes the reader love them as well. Deep down I want to be Karou, a girl who can make wishes come true and has blue hair.

Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  Although she is abused in the beginning of the story, Lisbeth gets her sweet revenge and never lets the bad guys crush her spirit. How can you not love a character like that? And she’s a computer hacker to boot. I don’t really want to be her, but I do admire her tenacity and focus.

So, who are your favorite characters?

10 Comments

Filed under Top Ten

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 3, 2012 · 2:55 pm

Tammy’s Top Ten Books to Read in a Day

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week we are asked to pick ten books that we would read in one day. I interpret this as books that are so engaging that I can’t stop reading! If only I still had time to read a book in a day…I think those days are well behind me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t think of ten books that would fit the bill if I had absolutely nothing else to do for a whole day! So here we go…

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  OK, all you Twi-haters, this may come as a shock to you, but before it became fashionable to hate the Twilight series, this book was actually given good reviews by the publishing industry. I am happy to say that I read Twilight long before it became popular, and I was so taken with it, that I emailed everyone I knew and told them to drop everything and go get it!  Stephenie Meyer may be the brunt of sparkly vampire jokes now, but she was able to pull off something rare: she created an amazing chemistry between two characters that compelled you to keep reading.  In fact, this is the only time I’ve ever finished a book, then immediately turned back to page one and read it a second time. No, she’s not the best prose writer out there, but let’s give credit where it’s due: this book created a sensation. I dare anyone out there to prove me wrong.

2. Harry Potter (any or all of them) by J. K. Rowling. This selection should be on everyone’s list this week, I think.  Rowling is a master story-teller, and she deserves every bit of fame she’s struggled for.  The Harry Potter books are extremely readable and hard to put down once you’ve started.  I love the way they evolved over the years, as Rowling herself matured as a writer.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone may have been written for kids, but The Deathly Hallows that ended the series had a different audience in mind.

3. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.  This unique story kept me turning pages as fast as I could.  The main characters are separated throughout most of the story, which made the tension palpable. Finn is a prisoner in Incarceron, and Claudia is the daughter of the prison warden, who doesn’t even know Incarceron exists, until she discovers a secret.  Her follow-up to Incarceron, Sapphique, was not as engaging for me, but the writing and world-building in both are top rate. Fisher really knows her stuff, and if you haven’t read the books, I suggest you add them to your list.

4. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.  Another unique concept, The Golden Compass and the two books that follow it, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, ought to be as widely read as the Harry Potter books, but their controversial anti-church theme has kept them from reaching a wider audience. The characters are amazing, and Pullman’s idea of each person having their soul embodied by an animal struck me as genius. Forget the movie, read the books. You won’t regret it.

5. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.  Lots of hype about this book pre-publication did not detract from its greatness. The story of a girl who uses wishes to do things like make her hair blue was so original and readable that it was over before I knew it.  Although some of the elements feel familiar, like the fact that Karou is a girl trying to find out who she really is, mostly the book is loaded with originality. Laini’s other books are just as good, and her buoyant writing style just makes you happy! Plus, this cover is gorgeous, I love its simplicity. I can’t wait for her next book…

6. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.  My book club just read this, and yes, it was my pick, I’m happy to say.  This western set in Oregon and California during the 1850′s gold rush was compelling for many reasons, but mostly for the first person narrative of Eli, one of the brothers in the title.  Charlie and Eli Sisters are hired guns, and they have been recruited to kill a man in California.  The tale of how they attempt to do this is strange, violent, and at times, tender-hearted.  This funny and irreverent tale should not be missed.

7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  I’ve mentioned this book before, but it definitely falls in the category of books that are hard to put down.  I’ve noticed a pattern to all my picks, and that is that they all have unique worlds and compelling characters.  With so many over-used plots out there, it’s nice to find writers that work hard to go against the grain.  Ready Player One is set in a horrible future where people escape into a virtual computer world rather than face real life.  It’s a mind-bending concept and I found myself literally forgetting which world I was in.  Plus, a futuristic novel that glorifies the 80′s? How can you not want to read that!

8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  Cinder is still fresh in my mind, so I immediately thought of it when compiling this list. Again, it’s got a special and clever idea that borrows from something recognizable (the fairy tale of Cinderella) and drops it into an unfamiliar framework (science fiction). This combination, especially in the hands of a talented writer, is unbeatable.  Knowing there are three future books in the Lunar Chronicles is gratifying, but having to wait a year for the second installment is going to be torture.  Read it and you’ll see what I mean.

9. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It’s hard to keep track of all the different series Cassandra Clare has going on, but it all started with this book, by far my favorite.  Great characters, romance, special powers, and a story that will keep you reading long past your bedtime, City of Bones has it all for me.  The narrative moves fast, and it has that element we’re all looking for in a story: it makes us want to know what happens next.  Not only would I read this in a day, but I would go back and re-read it if I had time.

10. Hyperion by Dan Simmons.  Simmons is a rock star, no matter what genre he writes in, but I have to say his Hyperion books are still my favorite.  This one and The Fall of Hyperion are classics, and I don’t mean because they were written twenty years ago.  Simmons’ imagination is unsurpassed in my book, and even though Hyperion is a bit lengthy, you will not want to stop reading once you have started.

8 Comments

Filed under Top Ten, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,