Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts
Monday, August 5, 2013
Hey guys! Welcome to the Dragonwitch tour! I was a part of the previous book, Starflower's tour so I'm excited to be back with more goodness for you today! I've got a great guest post from the author, and a swanky giveaway so read on! First here's a little something about the book itself!
Dragonwitch
by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Published: 7.13
Pages: 423
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by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Published: 7.13
Pages: 423
Submissive to her father's will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves--Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country. But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta's tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war. And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice...and for the one person who can wield it.
Sounds exciting doesn't it? If you're interested, don't forget to check out the rest of the series!
Author Anne Elisabeth StenglAnne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, MOONBLOOD, STARFLOWER and DRAGONWITCH. HEARTLESS and VEILED ROSE have each been honored with a Christy Award.
Anne is totally awesome! So is her brain! Here's a little bit about her writing process!
Writing A Bookby Ann Elisabeth Stengl
My
novels always begin with the first whisperings of an idea, so faint
that I couldn’t begin to try writing them. So I will let those
whisperings float around in the back of my head for quite a while as
I work on other projects. If they die away never to return . . . oh,
well. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy!
But,
if they stick around, I will eventually sit down and jam out a few
notes. Just a few, no more than a page-worth. Then I’ll let those
notes sit, sometimes for months, even years. And I’ll write other
stories, some of which will reference this new idea, and I’ll
gather more ideas to go along with the original one, until my mind is
no longer full of whisperings, but of loud clamorings.
When
the time is right for that new story, I will write out in no
particular order all the various ideas I’ve been considering for it
over the last several months and years.
These are
sometimes quite disjointed and disconnected, but I’ll write them
all out in various degrees of detail so that I can have a look at
them on the computer screen. Then I start tweaking and finagling to
see how they’ll all fit together, asking out “What if . . . ?”
and writing little scenarios as I go along. If any idea doesn’t
seem to fit the story during this stage, I’ll toss it back into the
“idea pile” for later consideration.
Once
that is accomplished, I will take all the ideas that are gelling well
together and compile a loose sort of outline. This allows me to see
the story in a glance, from beginning to end—all the major plot
points, all the major reveals and climaxes. It helps me to see that
every character is serving an important role, building toward the
final climactic sequence.
After
this, I create a chapter-by-chapter outline. In this outline, I make
certain that I know what
needs to happen in each chapter, but I don’t worry about how
it
will happen. I figure out the how
as
I go, leaving plenty of room for spontaneity and inspired creativity.
The outline is a map to help me navigate the complex plot twists of
my world and to make certain that the current novel is properly
connecting to the other novels. But it is not a prison. I can move
around as I like inside it.
Only
then do I start writing the novel itself. I write from the beginning,
starting with the prologue or chapter 1. I will rarely
skip around as I write. Sometimes I will go back to flesh out and
adjust things written earlier, but I never jump ahead.
This
process can take me anywhere from two to eight months to complete. I
don’t think I would write my novels anywhere near as fast if I
didn’t carefully outline and plan ahead! They’re tough enough as
it is . . . And I definitely recommend outlines to all of my writing
students.
A
few of my novels have varied from this process a little bit.
With
Dragonwitch,
for instance, I tried to write the story without an outline, simply
figuring out what would happen as I went. That was a big
mistake! I ended writing 40,000 words worth of material and dumping
it—not once, but several
times.
That’s an entire novel’s worth of unusable material! And I still
had nothing to show for it.
Only
when I sat down and mapped out the story using the outlining process
listed above—beginning with listing all the various ideas and
figuring out which ones worked and which didn’t—did Dragonwitch
start coming together. I could have written it so much faster if I
had simply followed my usual process!
Giveaway Time!A tour is not a giveaway without a little something for the readers is it? Enter away to win an Amazon Gift Card up to the value of $25! Giveaway Ends 8/13/13
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Click Here for the rest of the Tour Schedule!Thanks for stopping by today!!! Hope you found something awesome! Have a good one! XOXO,
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron
Published: January 24th 2013
Two years after her best friend was involved in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury, Lottie Anders is ready to start her freshman year of college. Ready to move on. Ready to start forgetting the night that ripped her life apart. Her plans come to a screeching halt when not one, but both brothers responsible for the accident end up back in her life again. Zack is cruel, selfish and constantly rubbing what happened to her friend in Lottie's face. Zan is different. He listens to her awkward ramblings. He loves "To Kill a Mockingbird" as much as she does, and his dark eyes are irresistible. His words are few and far between, but when he does speak, she can't help but listen. The trouble is, Zan was the driver in the accident, and now Lottie's discovered he lied to her about what happened that night. Now she must decide if trusting him again will lead to real forgiveness, or deeper heartache.
Faster We Burn
by Chelsea M. Cameron
Published: April 20th, 2013
The last thing Katie Hallman needs is another guy in her life, but Stryker Grant is there anyway. What starts out as just an escape from her previous relationship disaster soon turns into something more. Stryker gets under her skin the way no one has before, and soon she realizes she can't shake him, even if she wanted to. But is Katie ready to trust her already-battered heart to the guy who could shatter it into a million pieces?
*********About the Author***********
Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
Sounds totally and completely awesome right? Well here's a guest post from the brain behind the books herself!
-The Appeal of Romantic Books-
It has been said that "all you need is love." Well, I think you might also need food and sleep and cuddly socks, but that is beside the point. There is a reason that we still read William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and other authors who died a long time ago. LOVE. We love... love. I guarantee you to take a man, sit him down and make him watch The Notebook and challenge him to not shed a tear and that man will cry. It's been proven by science.
Life sucks most of the time. Face it, it does. Fairy godmother's never show up when you want them to, that guy you've been in love with forever never seems to see your inner beauty and the guy you meet at the party and totally have a crush on almost never turns out to be a prince from a faraway country. BUT, all of those things can happen in the world of fiction. You can meet a vampire, or a werewolf or a… zombie (if you are so inclined), and fall in love with him or her or… it. Happiness is a thing that everyone, regardless of their human or non-human status, regardless of looks or money or anything standing in their way. Anyone can have a happy ending.
Romantic books give us hope that it can happen to us. That the guy (or girl) staring at you from across the cafe might be your one true love and you'll have amazing sex and make perfect babies and grow old together. They're also a way for us to relive our own lives without the mistakes we might have made. That one that got away, or the one that fizzled out that you regret losing, or that fight that made you break up. In books, love conquers all of those things. Even after years apart, the passion still burns and you can start over.
I'm not saying that these things don't happen in real life, but not nearly as often as people wished they did. But it's much more likely that guy across the cafe is a prince if you were in a book than that guy in front of you in line at Starbucks being one in reality. But you never know...
and with that said....GIVEAWAY TIME!
...and what a whipper-snapper of a giveaway it is too! Enter away!
Don't forget to check out the complete tour schedule for other awesome posts! Many thanks to Giselle for arranging the tour! With that, my work here is done! Thanks for stopping by! What are your thoughts? Have you read these books? What did you think? Are you interested? XOXO,
Monday, April 15, 2013
Hey guys! I've got an awesome Guest Post here for you today! One of my fav bloggers around, Nikki from FICTION FREAK is totally hijacking my blog to write an awesome guest post. She decided to talk about...BLOGGY FRIENDS! So, onto her rambles!
HELLO *glances around* I FINALLY GET TO ATTACK TWSNBI'S (Thou Who Shall Not Be Inked) BLOG! WOOHOO.
{Inky Side Note: Yes that is my awesome-sauce Nikki-Name}
SO TODAY, since Inky is 1/5 of the Merp Squad, I decided to talk about...
BLOGGY FRIENDS
Okay, well. I'm going to talk in general about bloggy friends. Then I'm going to full out squeal about the Merp Squad. [which will be explained.]
SO BLOGGY FRIENDS ARE...
- Wonderful
- Amazing
- Always there for you
- Understand your suffering
- Will squeal with you
- Will fight with you over YA boyfriends
They can't argue with me about who's better *coughs* MORPHEUS, INKY, MORPHEUS *cough* and they don't understand the SQUEALING that happens when an author talks to you! THOSE are reserved for ze bloggy friends. And they're perfect for that! My bloggy friends have pulled me from the brink so many times and I just want to fly to everyone's house and smother them in a group hug. WHICH ONE DAY I SHALL DO. [is this a threat?! ;)] We're totally going to have a party one day. It will be of epic proportions.
 |
| button via Jessi! <333 |
{Inky: It should probably be explained what the Merp Squad is. It's nothing more than 5 bloggy friends who've all at one point or another been hooked on the word Merp. Therefore they have decided to call themselves the MERP SQUAD. Now back to Nikki!!!}
FIRST OF ALL IS INKY! [that would be me]
SHE IS ONE AMAZING PERSON. She's super fun to talk to and definitely knows how to start an argument *cough cough* We battle over transportation (i.e. Morpheus vs. Jeb from Splintered by A.G. Howard) but we also fangirl. LOTS. I don't talk to her as much *pokes* but I SERIOUSLY wish we talked more! SERIOUSLY. She also seems full of irony and dry humor. But I'm probably way off. I like to read people. But I often do so wrongly. :P
EILEEN FROM SINGING AND READING IN THE RAIN
My best friend! Who I talk and stalk every day without fail. We go from bookish talks, to stalkery talks, to random fun talks. I've also been on her blog a...few times. SHE'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I LOVE HER SO VERY MUCH. She's hilarious and can talk about the most random things! We're crazy partners! (And fangirl partners of course!)ANNABELLE FROM SPARKLES AND LIGHTNING
She's super super super nice and super pretty. She's pretty much the more poised one out of all of us, methinks. She's SUPER generous with giveaways and presents (EVEN WHEN I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON) and she's just SUPER fun to talk too! I ADORE her and I need to start 
JESSI FROM AUNTIE SPINELLI READSMY TEAM MORPHEUS TEAMMATE. Super fun, super bubbly, super CAT LOVING. She has, what? 4 cats? And oh my gosh, THE FLUFFINESS. She's the super techy one! Sort of! But she's AWESOME at ze designs and totally awesome. Also, JERRIT.
*************************************************
Give it up for THE NIKSTER!!!! Thanks so much to this awesome gal who volunteered to come spam her awesomeness on my blog!!! You all need to go visit her if you haven't. She has fantastic reviews and lots of squeals! [click button up top]. And don't forget to have an awesome Monday! XOXOXO,
Thursday, March 14, 2013
by Jade Kerrion
Published: 12.21.12
Pages: 144
When you choose your friends, you also choose your enemies. Seventeen-year old Dee wants nothing more than to help her twin brother, Dum, break free from the trauma in their childhood and speak again, but the only person who can help Dum is the alpha empath, Danyael Sabre, whom the U.S. government considers a terrorist and traitor. The search for Danyael will lead Dee and Dum from the sheltered protection of the Mutant Affairs Council and into the violent, gang-controlled heart of Anacostia. Ensnared by Danyael's complicated network of friends and enemies, Dee makes her stand in a political and social war that she is ill equipped to fight. What can one human, armed only with her wits and pepper spray, do against the super-powered mutants who dominate the Genetic Revolution? America, nevertheless, is ripe for transformation. Exhausted by decades of belligerence between humans and their genetic derivatives--the clones, in vitros, and mutants--society is on the verge of falling apart or growing up. Dee, with her sassy attitude and smart mouth, is the unwitting pebble that starts the avalanche of change. In her quest to help her brother become normal, Dee will finally learn what it means to be extraordinary.
Blog / Facebook / Twitter
Jade Kerrion unites cutting-edge science and bioethics with fast-paced action in her award-winning Double Helix series. Perfection Unleashed and its sequels, Perfect Betrayal and Perfect Weapon, have been described as “a breakout piece of science fiction” and drawn rave reviews for their originality and vision. Her latest novel, When the Silence Ends, is a Young Adult spinoff the Double Helix series. She is also the author of Earth-Sim, a whimsical and compelling view of Earth’s history through the eyes of the two students assigned to manage our planet.
Don't they both sound fabulous? Make sure to check the book out and say hi to Jade!
Guest Post: The Power of Ordinary
Young Adult novels abound with extraordinary protagonists. I’m sure that in your travels through books, you’ve met the child of destiny who’s fated to end a war and unite two worlds. You’ve probably also met the quiet kid who doesn’t quite fit in, who discovers his amazing super powers and uses them to save the world. Of course, there’s the protagonist who stumbles upon a mysterious world that coexists alongside her reality, populated by sparkly vampires and handsome werewolves.
I’ve found two major themes running through most YA novels: the first, as I noted above, the extraordinary teenage protagonist, and second, the adults are frequently the enemy, ranging from indifferent parents to murderous despots. Neither of those observations particularly align with my observations of life.
I don’t know about you, but most days, I feel pretty ordinary. When I did go to school, I was something of a geek and somewhat lacking in hand-eye coordination (which is why I danced ballet instead of playing sports involving balls of any sort.) My superpower was an ability to excel on standardized tests (try writing that into a book…) And I don’t know how you feel about it, but adults weren’t really the enemies. Yes, my parents were (and still are) occasionally tiresome, but they were always supportive and loving. The worst thing you could have said about my teachers is that some of them were boring, but still, they were all decent people. Adults have never been the enemy—at least, adults should never be perceived collectively as the enemy. As an adult now, I should know.
So, when I set out to write a YA spin off my award-winning Double Helix series, featuring Dee and her twin brother, Dum, I wanted my readers to appreciate adults in more roles than that of the enemy. Some of them are, of course, but like the real world, there’s a vast spectrum of them; some adults even become Dee’s friends and mentors. More importantly though, I wanted my readers to appreciate the power of ordinary.
Dee, the protagonist of When the Silence Ends, is ordinary. She’s seventeen years old, and she has ordinary concerns that include holding down two jobs to pay the rent, making sure her brother gets to his speech therapy class, and wondering how to pay for college. She lives in a world populated by extraordinary people who possess psychic powers, but unlike Bella who had the good fortune to be loved by a vampire, Dee can never become that kind of extraordinary, now or ever.
Is it possible to write a book about an ordinary person having an extraordinary effect on the world? Of course! We see those heroes around us every day—people, just like us, making an extraordinary difference in our world. I think those heroes have several traits that make them special.
They know how to work with others. Rarely are heroes solitary loners. More often than not, they’re talented leaders who understand the value of listening as much as they do the importance of speaking. They inspire with their vision, but they are not too proud to listen to advice or accept help. Most importantly, they care for something beyond themselves.
Dee is that special person—a perfectly ordinary person, surrounded by psychically talented mutants—who finds her own brand of extraordinary. Inspired by her love for her brother Dum, and armed with nothing more than her wits and pepper spray, she navigates the social and political minefield of a world transformed by the Genetic Revolution. In so doing, she changes her life and the lives of those around her.
Here’s to a celebration of being normal and to the power of ordinary. Three cheers for Dee. If she can do it, so can we.
Super Duper Excerpt
Dee stalked over to her brother. For a long, silent moment, she stared into his familiar face as he bopped along to whatever music was blasting from his iPod. He did not even look at her. When had he become a stranger? She smacked him on the side of his head and remained unmoved when he raised his aggrieved gaze to her. “Are you saying that this place is okay for you?” she asked, raising her voice so that he could hear her through his ear pods.
He nodded.
“Are you sure about that? We’re moving here so that you can train with Danyael. I’d hate for you to feel inconvenienced about leaving the comfort and protection of the council for this dump.”
He frowned, his eyebrows drawing together, and turned away.
All right, so he understood sarcasm. How was she supposed to argue with a person who would not argue back, but who could hurt her just by walking away? Dee was still scowling and blinking back the tears from her eyes when Jessica returned with an armful of cleaning supplies. Dee ignored Jessica’s compassionate glance. “I thought Danyael said he worked all day. I didn’t think he would be around.”
“He isn’t.”
“You broke into his apartment?”
Jessica put the cleaning supplies on the grimy countertop in the kitchen. She tapped the side of her head. “I flipped the lock on his door. I did tell him, though.”
“Before or after you broke in?”
Jessica cocked her head to the side. “Why are you so uptight about stuff like that?”
“Because when I do it, I run the risk of being caught and labeled a criminal. You do it, and nobody cares.”
“Sure, they care. They just don’t notice.”
“And you don’t care?”
“Look, I got his permission. Who cares if I got it a microsecond before or after I flipped the lock? You need to chill out.” Jessica snatched up a spray bottle and a rag, and stomped off toward the bathroom.
With a sponge in hand and her teeth clenched, Dee scrubbed out the dirty brown spots on the kitchen counter. Jeez, I’m becoming my mother. Except that Mom had never been a nag. When she wasn’t sunk in depression, Mom had been cool, even though she had been a mutant. Dee cast a narrow-eyed glare at her brother, who was washing down the windows. Mom had not been an alpha mutant; she had not possessed the prerequisite weirdness that accompanied most alpha mutants.
I am not weird. Jessica’s irate voice snapped through her head.
Dee hurled the sponge into the sink and stalked into the bathroom. For a long and silent moment, she stared at the rag, apparently under the control of an invisible hand, as it scrubbed down the shower tiles. She looked back at Jessica who sat on the closed lid of the toilet bowl. “And that’s not weird?”
“No, it’s who I am, and I don’t like being called ‘weird.’”
“Fine, but that—” She pointed at the hardworking rag. “—is not normal.”
“What’s not normal is how gross the shower is. I’m not stepping in there to scrub it out.”
Dee’s passing glance at the shower became a hard look, and she chuckled. “Is that green thing in the corner alive?”
“Yes, and it’s really close to sentient thought. In a year, it might be able to talk.”
Unlike Dum.
Jessica’s gaze darted to Dum and then flashed back to Dee. She switched to a telepathic conversation. He can talk, you know. I asked Danyael. He said there wasn’t anything wrong with Dum physically.
I know. The problem is just in Dum’s head. What else did Danyael tell you about my brother?
Jessica shrugged. If you want to know, you can ask Danyael directly. It’s not like it’s a secret.
Who knew what other telepathic and empathic conversations were taking place around her? It sucked to be human in a world dominated by super-powered alpha mutants, and worse, she could do nothing about it.
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Aren't they awesome? You're totally excited right!? You should be!! Please leave a comment telling Jade hi! Now go stuff your face with Pie on this awesome of Pi days. Thanks for stopping by!! Xoxo,
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Timespell by Diana PazPublication date: April 1st 2013]
In TIMESPELL, the brash and impulsive Julia must team up with her sweet and straight-laced best friend, Angie, and the malicious and power-hungry Kaitlyn in order to keep the witch-like powers of her inheritance. But these powers come at a cost. The girls are bound to serve the Fates, and their first mission sends them back in time to Marie Antoinette’s Paris and eventually, into the chaos and war of the French Revolution.
Website - Blog - Facebook - Twitter
Diana Paz writes books about magic, adventure, and romance. She was born in Costa Rica, grew up on Miami Beach, moved to Los Angeles in high school, and went to college in San Diego. Basically, she’s a beach bum. Diana graduated from California State University, San Marcos with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. She loves old movies, epic fantasy, all kinds of music, and heading to the beach with a good book. Preferably sipping a highly sweetened iced coffee.
Writing about time-travel is a lot of fun, but it’s also really tricky! The biggest challenge I faced was in revisions. If I changed anything in one timeline, there were invariably ripples that changed things in the other timelines in the story. Every change required me to be VERY thorough about going through the whole story and making sure everything matched up.
Some other challenges were in having the girls come up with viable explanations for their clothing not matching the time period, and their modern mannerisms and general lack of propriety. It was fun seeing the world through the girls’ eyes and letting them fumble their way through history. Even though they constantly got themselves into trouble, they always managed to surprise me and find ways to overcome their obstacles.
In a lot of ways, the challenges I faced as a writer mirrored the challenges my characters faced in dealing with time travel. Much like Julia, Angie, and Kaitlyn, searching the threads of time for the timeline they truly belonged in, I had to search for the best plot twists and resolutions for the story. But unlike my characters, at least I wasn’t battling demons while doing it.
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.....and that's all I've got for you today! Don't miss the chance to enter this giveaway and win your own copy of this book before it comes out in April! Ooooh! Sounds excited right?! Go enter! Also, thanks to Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours for letting me get on the tour! <333
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Happy Happy Happy Tuesday! XOXO,
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.....and that's all I've got for you today! Don't miss the chance to enter this giveaway and win your own copy of this book before it comes out in April! Ooooh! Sounds excited right?! Go enter! Also, thanks to Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours for letting me get on the tour! <333
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy Happy Happy Tuesday! XOXO,
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Happy Tuesday everyone! Today it's my turn to host a lovely little stop on the tour for this delightful fairy-tale spin-off! Wooot! If you love fairy-tales make sure you read on through! I've got a little info about this book and then I've got some
Published: 8. 5. 12
Pages: 194
Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.
But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?
Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.
Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake. Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school. And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.
About the Author
Twitter - Website - Facebook
Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is her fourth happily ever after novel. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).Don't Sariah and her book sound awesome? Here's a little more of Sarah's Fairy-Tale insight, in these three guest posts! Enjoy!
We look at fairy tales as not being politically correct. As demeaning to women. But these are stories that have survived hundreds (thousands?) of years. They’ve been told and retold for centuries. They’re worlds full of magic – witches, ogres, trolls, giants, fairies, elves, talking animals – a truly fantastic place that unleashes the imagination. A child raised on fairy tales is a child who can dream big.
The world is full of good and it is full of evil. Fairy tales are a safe way of introducing this world to our children. Fairy tales are a place where goodness always triumphs, and evil is always defeated. It is full of heroes and heroines who through their own moxie are able to triumph in a scary place full of giants and evil grown-ups.
It allows us to imagine a romantic love so great and fantastic that we would scale any wall, slay any dragon, make any sacrifice. And shouldn’t we want to love that way?
I also think it’s important that our children learn to dream, and have a little bit of magic in their lives. This is the only time in their lives they’ll believe with such purity and intensity. Why would anyone want to deny them that chance?
And as our culture evolves and changes, so do our fairy tales. They’re told in new and exciting ways, allowing us to keep that sense of wonder and excitement with our new versions.
My ugly stepsister knows she isn’t anywhere near as pretty as Cinderella. But what she fails to realize is that she has her own beauty, one that isn’t necessarily skin-deep. And my hero is attracted to her long before her Cinderella-esque transformation.
Beauty is so subjective and comes in so many different forms that maybe those girls did deserve a second look.
Original fairy godmothers were important in tales – the comfort that existed by reading about a child alone in the world who had a godparent looking out for them, and how much better that they were magical and could grant wishes! Wouldn’t that be every child’s dream? (See also: Nickelodeon’s “The Fairly Oddparents.”) They were kindly and good-hearted – even if their magic did have limits (Cinderella’s carriage turns back into a pumpkin, her dress back into rags). I love the idea that while the Fairy Godmother is providing the transportation and the dress, the rest would be up to Cinderella. She would have to win the prince over with her own merits, not with magic.
But for every Cinderella Fairy Godmother we get, there are a long line of vindictive fairies out to punish those who have forgotten them or overlooked them, such as cursing a boy to be “too clever” or saying that Briar Rose would die by touching a spindle or refuse to help because they weren’t consulted about a possible marriage. Or they give advice instead of wishes, which the heroines can’t find any use for.
I love the fairy godmother in “Ella Enchanted” who thinks she is giving this fantastic gift in making Ella obedient, but it is something that is actively ruining her life. The magic is given without any thought to the consequences.
So they tell you to never look a gift horse in the mouth, but maybe you should take a second look when someone comes along offering you a magical solution. It may not turn out the way you want!
_____________________________________________________AND, not only do you get those awesome posts from Sariah, but there is a FANTASTIC tour giveaway as well! So go ENTER way!!!
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Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Tuesday! May all your dreams come true! XOXO,
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Published: 2.12.13
Pages: 304
Rapunzel is not your average teenager. For one thing, she has a serious illness that keeps her inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion. And for another, her hair is 15 feet long. Not to mention that she’s also the key to ultimately saving the world from certain destruction. But then she meets a boy named Fane, who changes all she has ever known, and she decides to risk everything familiar to find out who she really is. Filled with romance, adventure, and mystery, Rapunzel Untangled is one story you won’t want to put down. Discover the true meaning of love and friendship in this modern twist to the classic fairytale.Inky's Blurbings:
This book was adorable. Short, sweet, with a pinch of magic and a dash of romance on the side. If you like fairy-tales and happily-ever-afters, this is probably the book for you.
Let's start with Rapunzel. The epitome of Rapunzel plopped in the 21st century. Just like in the fairy-tale, our MC is naive about the world. She knows absolutely nothing about the workings of the world outside her tower. Literal tower. I was a little unsure about this. That's pretty naive. She has to learn everything. And it was fine. Just kinda funny, she didn't even know what M&M's were. But that just goes to demonstrate her innocence. Despite not know anything about the world, she learns things well and changes a lot in character. There were a few times when I felt like she would snap from reluctance to confidence in a page, or when her character would slip. I can't say that I ever felt super connected, but Rapunzel was a very sweet heroine who told the story in a great way.
Moving onto the romance. It's same old same old Girl meets Boy by accident and then they fall in love. This time through the magical internet world of Facebook. :D Now the one thing that deeply cracked me up was the fact that Boy of Interest is named Fane Fannigan. I'm sorry, but it's the 21st century. Yes the name is adorable, but come one. His character is great, and he's a very sweet guy. But the NAME?! Moving on the romance between the two of them was quite cute actually. Yes, it's likes most Rapunzel tales; the girl's intrigued by the boy, the boy likes the girl. 100 pages to love. Aaw. It's all sparkles and cupcakes.
Plot wise, we got a crazy mother Gothel, obsessed with her magic hair. Big surprise. Digging deeper, we find that there is a deep reason behind the madness. I'm not gonna say anything to spoil it, but there were some things about the magic that I really would have liked to know more about. We learn that the magic was PUT in her hair. How. Why? What? Ah well. This is just a cute fluffy book. It's all good.
There's really only one other thing I have to talk about. The Mansion. Haha. Now, what I found interesting about this was that I believe Cindy based it off an actual house. Which is really cool, because I've been to this house. In the book, she talks the house being under constructions, doors opening on walls, stairs to nowhere, and the like. Not to mention Gothel's obsession with sixes. Now, to me, this was screaming Winchester Mystery House. This is a real house near me that had a similar story. It's actually very cool. I've been to see it and so I thought it was tots awesome. Anyway, random thought over.
Am I too sarcastic? Maybe that's a flaw. Either way. Bottom line, this book was too cute. And beyond that, sure a few things cracked me up but I did really enjoy this cute book. It was sweet and a very true retelling of Rapunzel. I loved how it was set in the 21st century. You should go check out this adorable book if you are looking for a sweet chick-flick read.
3.5 Stars
-About the Author-
Cindy C Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City, growing up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She and her husband - who happens to be her high-school sweetheart - raised two sons and two daughters. She's now blessed with two daughters-in-law as well. She developed a love of writing in high school when a teacher introduced her to the joys of escaping reality for ten minutes each day in writing. When she's not writing, reading, or answering emails (notice there's no mention of cleaning, cooking or anything remotely domestic), she can often be found riding her Harler through the beautiful canyons near her home. (Yes, she rides a Harley.)
So whatcha thinking so far?! Well I've got a great guest post from Cindy up next for you. On...fairytales! (What else?!)
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The Frog Kissed the Princess? (Scandalous!) Or, Why Do We Retell Fairytales?
I laughed when Hannah sent me this subject for a guest post. You know, in reality, if a girl kissed a frog she would—at minimum—be frowned upon. And she’d get warts on her lips, right?So, I hope you've enjoyed the Rapunzel fun here today! And don't forget to check out the snazzy giveaways from Cindy! #1 is open to INT, #2 is open to US peeps! Happy Thursday everyone!
As much as I love both the Grimm versions and the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo versions, I also love the retellings. Fairytales are timeless, classical tales. It seems that every movie, every book, every story can be in some way compared to or traced back to one of the classical fairytales.The original versions of most fairytales have been lost beneath the clutter of Disney films and retellings. For example, in most of the original versions of Rapunzel, she came out of the tower pregnant after the Prince’s many visits (talk about scandalous!). In some versions of The Frog Prince it wasn’t a kiss but sleeping in the Princess’ bed that broke the spell. One incarnation even has her flinging him violently against the wall to break the spell. In almost all of the versions of The Little Mermaid, the Prince marries another and the mermaid is turned into sea foam. In Cinderella, she did not talk to animals, ride in a pumpkin, or have glass slippers until centuries after the first telling.There’s a trend right now for fairytale retellings—which I welcome because I’m such a fan—but it’s nothing new. All of the fairytales have had retellings throughout the centuries from their first incarnation. Some of them are as old as the 1st century, some came about as late as the 1800’s, but in my research for writing my own retellings, I have yet to run across a single one that hasn’t been retold at some point or another.My personal theory is that because of the timeless nature of the stories, they hold an endless fascination to anyone who loves good storytelling. There will be waves and ebbs in the popularity of fairytale retellings, but I suspect that long past the time that my footprint has faded from the earth, there will be some writer putting pen to paper, finger to keyboard, or whatever technology they have, and giving all the old fairytales another go round.
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Xoxoxoxoxo's on this VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!
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