A Tale of Two Memoirs~

So, quite by accident, I ended up reading two memoirs this year. Last spring I read Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and now I'm reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. 

I picked them both as part of my diversity reading challenge. Caged Bird was published in 1969, when no one even batted an eye at the use of the word Negro. I had heard of it, but never really knew it was a memoir. Obviously, reams and reams have been written about it and my opinion hardly matters, but something has struck me about the book (and I'm not completely finished reading). 

As with Brown Girl Dreaming, there's a sense of drifting as a young child from grandparent to parent, back to grandparent.  Maya's story starts in the 1930's and 40's. Jacqueline's story is from the 1960's and 70's, but there's still the same upended life on the move, from place to place to place. Maya's description of parents she really doesn't know and finally meeting them is especially heart wrenching to me. I can't imagine how hard it was on those children to be shipped around. We think grandparents raising children is a new phenomenon, but obviously it's not. It will continue for as long as we refuse to educate children about sex and how to care for and protect themselves before they need to know.

Much has been made of the early rape and the later sexual experimentation in the book, but it is an honest, thoughtful portrayal of real life for these children. To ignore that is to ignore reality. Deny that it happens if you'd like, but that doesn't change the fact that these things go on.  The social outcome won't change until we can all have open, honest discussions about sex with our children in preparation for adulthood. I applaud Angelou for having the bravery to be so honest in a world where so many are still kidding themselves.

The Brotherhood and the Shield: The Three Thorns Blog Tour

Welcome to my stop on The Three Thorns Blog Tour!

Enter the giveaway and then scroll on down to see my interview with the author!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Winner will be drawn March 27, 2015

· Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of The Three Thorns (The Brotherhood and the Shield #1) by Michael Gibney (INT)

~About the Book~

Title: THE THREE THORNS (THE BROTHERHOOD AND THE SHIELD #1)
Publication date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Tantrum Books/Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Michael Gibney

Three brothers born to a once powerful King were abandoned at birth and cast out into the old world as orphans - alone and unaware of the other's existence or their royal heritage. 

In the new world, by order of the false King, three of the most lethal assassins are sent to kill the children before they come of age and avenge their father’s throne.

But when the brothers find one another, Benjamin, Tommy and Sebastian must resist the temptation of magic and power if they are to defeat the unspeakable evil that has threatened them since birth. 

The Three Thorns is book one in an exciting children’s fantasy series called The Brotherhood and the Shield from debut author Michael Gibney.

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD | Indiebound

Goodreads

~About the Author~

 

Michael Gibney began working in restaurants at the age of sixteen and assumed his first sous chef position at twenty-two. He ascended to executive sous chef at Tavern on the Green, where he managed an eighty-person staff. He has worked in the kitchens of Morgans Hotel Group, 10 Downing in Manhattan, and Governor in Brooklyn’s DUMBO, among many others. Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to work alongside cooks and chefs from many of the nation’s best restaurants, including Alinea, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Bouley, Ducasse, Corton, wd~50, and Momofuku. 

In addition to his experience in the food service industry, Gibney also holds a BFA in painting from Pratt Institute and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 Connect with the Author: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

~Author Interview~

 

Hi Michael! Welcome to the blog. Can you tell us a little about your writing journey.

 After I quit music in the early 00’s, I went back to the only subject I was ever good at in High School and my love of creative writing was re-birthed at the age of 24. Years before I had completed several screenplays and short stories that never left my dusty office. When I realized I got more fulfillment and purpose out of the written word than I did the musical note, I began pursuing it with a burning passion. I began writing The Three Thorns (Book 1 of the Brotherhood and the Shield series) in 2007 and haven’t stopped writing since. (I am up to book number 5 on that series and have 3 separate novels in production). I went through the literary agencies and sent off rough drafts of The Three Thorns to thousands of agencies across the globe and went through over three thousand rejections, mostly via email and post and a few via phone. I was eventually picked up by an Agency in Seattle, until I was unhappy with the lack of push they were giving The Three Thorns to publishers. I asked to get out of the contract with my first Agency and went back to square one before I set out seeking the right Agency for this series. I ended up with a total of 12 top CEOs in New York wanting to represent The Three Thorns including Peter Rubie of Fine Literary Management. But in the end I believe I found my ‘Brian Epstein’ in Liza Fleissig and Liza Royce Agency in New York. Through Liza, my novel was picked up and edited by Hunger Games editor Jennifer Rees and the first two novels of the series were bought by GMMG Georgia McBride’s group and placed under the sister company of Month9Books, Tantrum. After much online distribution deals with the likes of Indigo and Amazon, The Three Thorns, my debut novel, is currently set for release on the 24th February, 2015, seven years after I wrote it. It has been a battle, but a battle worth fighting and has spawned three other books with another three on the way and has encouraged me to keep writing and pitching my future manuscripts to my faithful agents at LRA. 

What do you enjoy most about being a writer?

I love the escapism. That’s what is the most rewarding about writing. It is like I am watching a movie in my head that no one else has and hasn’t been released yet. It’s a very personal journey and this escapism has helped save me from having nervous breakdowns and depression, something I have been prone to due to my overactive imagination and lack of physical and mental stimulation. I use writing and my imagination to stimulate my senses. I think I not only enjoy escaping within the worlds and characters my mind can create but I also need to. 

What is the hardest aspect of being a writer?

Motivation. Procrastination. Keeping the faith when everyone feels that what you are doing is a waste of time. It is hard when you lose faith in your work to get behind a desk and use months of your time on something with no guarantee. It’s a gamble. You’re basically risking having a life for having a career. It’s scary and I find that just to get started is the hardest part. Once I am typing, I am off like a thresher shark swooping after its prey. But from sitting with the thoughts in your head and trying to take care of all the menial day to day of life to setting your fingers on a keyboard to work … it is in that grey area, that middle ground from a to b that I find the hardest, which is why I admire Stephen King and Michael West for battling through their procrastination.

How much research goes into your story?

For a fictional fantasy series liken to the Brotherhood and the Shield, plenty. Especially for the realism and real dates and times when the story goes through different dates in the world’s history. Greek Mythology and Celtic Folklore as well as research on forms of magic and real spell casting was also researched. Very little was made up outside the actual story, which is just another reason how The Three Thorns and its Brotherhood series differs from most books in its genre. The same vigorous research is covered and sought out when writing the other books in the series and my other novels separate to the Brotherhood series.

 Writers are sometimes influenced by things that happen in their own lives. Are you?

Definitely. I think this is why The Three Thorns is very Irish in a sense, even though my characters are mixed. Maybe there's a little bit of Irish myth and folklore in there. You never know until you read. A lot of the first half of the book is inspired by my childhood growing up in a working class and war torn city like Belfast, Ireland in the 1980s.

What is the most surprising thing about writing/publishing you have learnt?

That hard work and dedication will and does pay off. I have learnt that not everyone in the industry are necessarily right about everything and critics are no exception in this case. I have learned to take everything with a pinch of salt and grow thick skin. I have also learnt that there are people in this industry who are genuine and who do have faith as well as business to offer and that these people tend to break the new and up and coming authors into the industry and will mould them into bestselling authors. I have learnt that there is hope with these rare people within the industry and it has increased my faith in publishing, that not all routes are necessarily the same and they don’t have to be. Regarding writing, the biggest and most important lesson I’ve learnt is to be yourself. Write what you want and don’t compromise to the point of selling your work short. If you write for yourself and finish a book or a piece of work that you love and you are proud of, then everything else beyond that is a bonus.

 What are your top tips for writers.

My first tip for any writer is write what you know. Second is write what you are confident with. You must believe in it no matter what or else there is no point without having faith behind anything. Secondly, write what YOU want to write. Please yourself. Entertain and thrill yourself. If you can do that, chances are you’ll have written something entertaining or thrilling for your reader. If you focus too much on what is marketable and try and write for the critics, the publishers or the people, you will end up with a dog’s dinner of a manuscript and you can’t please everyone. But if you please yourself, you will have the faith behind it to take it all the way. Lastly, write like you’re in a movie theatre that you have all to yourself. The massive cinema screen is facing you. It’s white/blank. What movie do YOU want to see? Visualize that movie and start writing down what you see. That is how I write. I use my vivid imagination to its maximum capability.

Other than writing what else do you enjoy?

I love film-making, creating and writing music and I love to paint portraits and work with paint, stencils and led. Anything artistic and creative, I am interested in. Outside of that, I love travelling, experiencing new walks of life and different cultures, especially Japanese and Asian culture.

 Who is your favorite author and why?

 Stephen King, not only King of books by surname, King is an inspiration to any author out there just by productivity alone. His vigorous and relentless work ethic is what I admire most about him next to his incredible and genius imagination. I strive to be as productive as King is someday and I want to tackle and attempt multiple genres, not just Children’s Fantasy. I think being pigeon holed or sticking to a safe formula is stifling to me both as a writer and as an artist. This is another reason why King is my favorite author. He wasn’t afraid to tackle new genres once he was labeled a horror writer.

If you had a premonition you would be stranded on a desert island what 5 books would you take?

The Holy Bible, The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare, Lord Of The Rings, Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Lord Of The Flies.

 Five words that sum you up.

 Perfectionist. Naïve. Generous. Ambitious. Flawed.

How can we learn more? 

www.thebrotherhoodandtheshield.com

www.facebook.com/thethreethorns.com

 Twitter: @Michael_Gibney

 http://gramophones.bandcamp.com

 www.month9books.com

Great! Thanks so much for being on the blog~ Best of luck with The Three Thorns!



BOOM! Read my review of Struck by Clarissa Johal

Welcome to the blog tour celebrating the 1 Year Anniversary of the release of Paranormal Gothic Horror Novel ~ STRUCK by Clarissa Johal.   Follow the tour (schedule posted below) to read new reviews, interviews with Clarissa, and exclusive excerpts. "The shadows hadn't been waiting. The shadows had been invited."

~About the Book~

After a painful breakup, Gwynneth Reese moves in with her best friend and takes a job at a retirement home. She grows especially close to one resident, who dies alone the night of a terrific storm. On the way home from paying her last respects, Gwynneth is caught in another storm and is struck by lightning. She wakes in the hospital with a vague memory of being rescued by a mysterious stranger. Following her release from the hospital, the stranger visits her at will and offers Gwynneth a gift--one that will stay the hands of death. Gwynneth is uncertain whether Julian is a savior or something more sinister... for as he shares more and more of this gift, his price becomes more and more deadly.

Book Details:

Title: STRUCK

Genre: Paranormal Gothic Horror

Author(s): Clarissa Johal

Publisher: Musa Publishing

Cover Artist: Kelly Shorten

ISBN: 978-1-61937-690-8 

Number of Pages: 255

Price: $4.99

Amazon Author Page

~About the Author~

Clarissa Johal has worked as a veterinary assistant, zoo-keeper aide and vegetarian chef. Writing has always been her passion. When she’s not listening to the ghosts in her head, she’s dancing or taking photographs of gargoyles. She shares her life with her husband, two daughters and every stray animal that darkens the doorstep. One day, she expects that a wayward troll will wander into her yard, but that hasn’t happened yet.

*Member of the Author's Guild

Coming May 19, 2015 from Permuted Press

VOICES, a paranormal psychological horror

STRUCK, a paranormal gothic horror

(2014) Musa Publishing

*Indie Book of the Day Award

*Nominated for the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll 2014

BETWEEN, a story of the paranormal

(2012) Musa Publishing

*Second place in the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll 2012

*Paranormal Reads gives BETWEEN 4 out of 5 Bats

PRADEE, a young adult fantasy

(2010) CreateSpace

*Second round finalist in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award Contest 2012

Short stories:

PIGEONS, published in the literary journal Susurrus

THE ROPE, published in the literary journal Susurrus

Non-Fiction:

A WAY OF LIFE, published in The Sacramento Bee

Find Clarissa Online:

Author Website Amazon Author Page

Author Blog

Author Facebook Page

Twitter

Author Goodreads

Pinterest

Praise for STRUCK:

Lovely Reads

"This book grabs you in right away and hold your attention...I so loved this book and didn't put it down until the very end." Read More ~ Lovely Reads

Bex 'n' Books

"This is a spooky thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You won't be able to put it down because you must finish it to see what happens, even if it keeps you up late at night to do so." Read More ~ Bex'n'Books 

Bibliophilic Book Blog

"STRUCK will get beneath your skin from the very beginning. Gwen’s a likable character with a difficult past and tenuous future after meeting Julian. I liked the secondary characters, especially Fenten and Poppy. The characters were definitely all well-developed and engaging." Read More ~ Bibliophilic Book Blog 

Straight from the Library

"The characters are well drawn and likable....The action is fast paced-- I read the book in one sitting." Read More ~ Straight from the Library 

~Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)~

How did you come up with the idea for STRUCK?

Some stories begin as random scenes, some as characters, and some are born from asking the question, “What if?” I was hit with the idea of STRUCK while running on a forest trail near my house. It was during a thunderstorm and I wondered what it would be like to be hit by lightning. I write about ghosts and things that go bump in the night and in essence, those entities are energy. What if a portal was opened by a lightning strike? And what if that portal allowed the energy from those entities to escape? The idea was intriguing and I went to bed still thinking about it. That night, I dreamt I stood in a field, with lightning striking the ground all around me. But the lightning wasn’t just releasing electrical energy, the lightning was releasing negative entities from the Otherworld. I woke from the nightmare in a panic, thinking those entities had somehow attached themselves to me. And so a story is born.

I went on to research the effects of being struck by lightning, interviewed several lightning survivors, and began writing STRUCK. I’m continually amazed how a, “What if?” idea can expand into a novel.

What first inspired you to become a writer? And what compels you to continue your career as an author?

I wrote my first short story in grade six. I was asked by the teacher to read it aloud to the class, which terrified me. After I was finished, I realized that I actually had everyone’s attention! I was shy and we moved every year, so I was always the new kid. When you’re in that situation, it’s kind of like being invisible. Finding my voice through story-telling made me realize how powerful writing could be. As far as continuing—truthfully? I think I’d go nuts if I didn’t write.

What made you choose the genre of paranormal gothic horror?

I started out writing fantasy fiction. I was working on the second installment to my PRADEE series when there were two characters that kept showing up on the page, over and over. They didn’t belong in fantasy novel, nor did they belong in my story! But their backstory came to me so vividly, that I set aside my series and wrote my first paranormal novel, BETWEEN. I’ve been pulled into the Otherworld permanently now. The ideas come faster than I can write them down.

~My Review~

Look at this peeps! A rare book review by me!

Just so you know up front, I did receive a free copy of Struck by Clarissa Johal in exchange for an honest review. I don't do a lot of book reviews on the blog, mainly because I don't read fast enough to meet blog tour time frames, but this was one opportunity I'm glad I didn't pass up.

I enjoyed Struck. It's well written and suspenseful till the bitter end. It's the story of a struggling artist struck by lightning who begins to have increasingly terrifying visions she can't explain, nor can the reader. For someone like myself who doesn't read a lot of suspense, I found the book maddening at times because I wanted more information than I was getting, but it kept me reading, which is the point of suspense, right? Although I must admit I began to despair when I was 75-85% done with still no explanation in sight. At that point, the main character lost all my sympathy by shoving away all her friends for some still unexplained reason. I got that she thought she needed to protect them, but it seemed like it was out of her control at that point.

I liked the secondary characters, especially Fenton, but I couldn't help wondering if he was a bit too much the stereotypical sassy BFF. And I did have one nit pick toward the end when the characters start burning sage to ward off evil spirits and make comments about the smell of burning roasts. The sage Native Americans burn is  a wild plant very different from culinary sage. I've never burned culinary sage, but I doubt it smells like the sweet sage Native Americans burn. Overall, I found Struck to be a well crafted, suspenseful read. I give it four stars!

~Tour Presented by~

~Tour Schedule~

January 1: Tour Kick-Off http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/
January 2: Exclusive Excerpt http://ifeeltheneedtheneedtoread.com/
January 4: Review http://www.carolynspearromance.com/blog
January 5: Review HorrorMade.blogspot.com
January 7: Exclusive Excerpt http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/
January 9: Exclusive Excerpt http://aliciajoseph.com/
January 12: Review https://twitter.com/peach83352

January 15: Exclusive Excerpt http://darcnina.wordpress.com
January 17: Review http://mullenarmyfamily.blogspot.com/
January 19: Exclusive Excerpt http://sloanetaylor.blogspot.com/
January 20: Exclusive Excerpt http://www.babsbookbistro.net/
January 21: Interview http://ifeeltheneedtheneedtoread.com/
January 23: Exclusive Excerpt https://fillingspaces.wordpress.com/
January 26: Interview http://karengreco.blogspot.com/
January 28: Review http://neutiquamerro.wordpress.com
January 31: Reviews (by 3 different tour hosts) 1) http://ifeeltheneedtheneedtoread.com/ 2) http://www.themoralofourstories.com 3) http://hello-booklover.tumblr.com/

Book Covers, Reviews, and other Nonsense

I admit it. I read book reviews. Not the professional review so much as the average reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I read book blogger reviews too. Occasionally, I may even pick up the books that are recommended in the reviews as I did recently with A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. It was highly recommended by a blogger I know as one of the best she'd read in 2014. It was supposed to be scifi and since I was looking for scifi, I gave it a chance.

Now, being the review reader that I am, I added the book to my Goodreads list and looked at the reviews. Just a warning here, the book is also a romancy YA novel, so the readers might be a bit different from adult novel readers. So what do you think I saw?

I saw pages and pages of readers gushing over the cover before they'd ever read it. Yes, the cover is nice. It has some pretty colors, but who would have thought a picture of two cities would set the YA readers' hearts on fire? I don't get it. I love watercolors as much as the next gal, but I also know that the inside of a book often has nothing to do with the outside. As it so happened, the inside of this book was actually disappointing to many of those Goodreads readers, who annihilated the book in various scathing reviews.

I've written enough of my own books to know just how hard it is and I've read enough to know just how subjective that is. I would no sooner walk up to an author and claw their heart out with my fingernails than post a mean spirited review, because that's what mean reviews do. By "mean" I'm talking about reviews that go on for pages belittling and denigrating  every nit picky little thing the author did or didn't do. Believe it or not, dear reader, there's a human being behind every book you read, doing their very best to entertain you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's nothing personal, I promise you.

I have a new book coming out in 2015. Sometimes I shake in my shoes at the thought of the reviews that are sure to come, but I have to remind myself that its all subjective. Not every book is for every reader. There are certainly books I don't enjoy, but I don't take pleasure in shredding those books and their authors publically. I prefer to do something more useful with my time, like read the next book on my list.

I guess, as they say, haters gonna hate. I wish instead they would write a book of their own and just see if they could do any better before they start slinging the mud at others. What are the chances of that?

Peace~

#MondayBlogs on Reading and Writing~

2014 has been a very busy year for me in terms of reading and writing. I did the JuNoWriMo challenge, the August writing challenge, and the September writing challenge. Whew!

JuNoWriMo was the toughest. It's essentially the same "write 50,000 words in a month" goal as NaNoWriMo. And I succeeded. I wrote a complete rough draft of a steam punk, archaeological adventure story. It still needs a lot of work, but I'm basking in the achievement anyway. I've never been able to complete NaNoWriMo before, probably because of the time of year. In June, my kids are out of school and I have more free time than in November.

When I realized the difference, I thought maybe I should make better use of my summer for writing? I started another new book in August and worked on it through September, with the help and encouragement of the folks at Writing Challenge.org . Their challenge is a little less rigorous - 500 words a day. That manuscript is still under construction, but it's at least 30,000 words already. Maybe by the end of 2014, I will have written 100,000 words? Exciting!

 

 

I've been feeling the past few years like I haven't been reading enough fiction, so I also signed up this year to read 20 books on Goodreads, another challenge. In all honesty, I'm behind on my goal (12 out of 20 so far) and I might not make it, but I've read some good books so I consider it a success too. If you want to see what've I've read recently, check out Goodreads and friend me there.

 

I was comparing and contrasting what I've enjoyed and what I haven't, trying to understand what works for me and what doesn't and pin pointing exactly "why".

 

Here's what I've found I like: overcoming adversity, seemingly unrelated stories that eventually relate, mystery, love/romance, fantastical elements, humor, strength of character, gothic creepiness, and the gothic/steampunky time period.

My reading dislikes: random gross elements for shock value, characters telling me what's happening without telling me how they feel about it, and stories with a complete lack of any characters with redeeming qualities.

 

I've read "adult" and "young adult" and come to the conclusion that the difference between the two is not the sophistication of the subject matter, but the general outlook. Young adult is usually more hopeful. Adult can be too, but sometimes it tends toward a more dour or realistic outlook. I myself tend to gravitate toward the hopeful end of the spectrum, which is probably why I write ya. I read and write to be delighted and entertained.

 

What do you like to read and why?

 



Storyteller Book III Release Day!

Storyteller Book III: The Last Page is here!

For those of you who have been waiting, the wait is over! I sure appreciate your support over the course of this trilogy. It's been a labor of love and I'm honored to be able to share it with you. I uploaded the file to Smashwords this morning. In no time at all, it should work it's way out to other distributors, such as Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, and iBooks. I hope you'll find it at your favorite ebook store and download it soon.  And if you missed the first two books in the series, you'll want to read those too.

Here's the brief description, although it might be a tad bit spoilerish if you haven't already read Books I and II:

When her story began in Storyteller: The True World, Lily Lightfoot didn’t know she was a fairy with the power to make things happen, just by telling a story, but then everything changed. Now she’s on a quest to save the True World with only a few friends to help her. Her mother and her best friend captured, it’s up to Lily to complete the Quest of Galamar – a centuries old fairy tale. All she has to do is figure out how to turn back time. Easy, right?

In Storyteller Book II: The Quest of Galamar, Gabriel sent the three friends to find the Full Moon Amulet, hidden deep in the mountains and guarded by a fierce dragon. The amulet, one of four moonstones created ages ago by the fabled elf warrior Galamar, holds the power of the Northern Portal keeper, Ironblood the dragon. Whoever possesses all four amulets has the power to recreate or destroy the True World. Gabriel’s brother, Lord Kane, will stop at nothing to have the ancient powers for himself and keep Lily from fulfilling the Prophecy of Galamar.

Now, the amulet recovered, Lily loses her guardian and best friend in the process. The only way to save him is to face the remaining portal keepers, the Griffin and the Harpy, and Lord Kane himself. As the True World prepares for an epic battle, Lily races to find those she loves and fulfill the ancient quest before it’s too late.

 

Enjoy the journey~

Missy Ames Blog Stop # 8 on the Hush Puppy Tour

Missy wrote Hush Puppy the most wonderful review on Goodreads and Amazon.  We've never actually met outside the Lair of the Dark Fairy Queen on Facebook, so I'm fairly certain hers is an unbiased review. 

Either way, it really made my day to hear a parent say they would let their child read my book.  That's what it's all about, right?

Hop on over to Missy's blog and check out her review. There's lots of fun things over there, so enjoy~

October 9 ~ Feed by M.T. Anderson

I thought I'd share a young adult book review with you today. I recently read online a comment someone made to the effect that adults who read young adult literature do so because they are too immature to handle adult novels. Grr! That really burns my posterior. I want to assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. To prove that young adult stands on it's own in the literary world, I thought I'd showcase a book or two on the blog here from time to time.

This review is one I previously posted on Goodreads.  If you haven't yet discovered Goodreads, please hop on over and check it out. It's like Facebook for book people. And make sure you add me as a friend!

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Woah, unit! How do I even begin to review Feed by M.T. Anderson? As a writer, I’m in awe. As a reader, I’m simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by this vision of what our future could be. This review could be somewhat spoilerish, but I promise not to get into specifics.

Feed is the story of Titus, a typical teenager with a constant internet link running in his head 24/7, encouraging him to consume goods and services every waking moment of his life. Kind of like a permanent Google Glass in your brain. When he meets Violet, he begins to realize there’s a world outside the feed of which he is totally ignorant. When Violet’s feed is hacked, she starts to fall apart mentally and physically and Titus is overwhelmed.

I read a criticism of the book that suggested Titus never changes as a character, but that’s not true. He’s not a likeable person, but that’s the point of the book. He’s intimately attached to the feed. It’s the only thing he’s ever known. Life without it is terrifying. At the very end, when he finally does open his eyes to what’s truly going on in the world around him, it’s too late. Way, way too late for him and everyone else around him. The feed is in every cell of his body. The oceans are so polluted you can’t touch them. Trees are torn down to build air factories in their place. The snow is black. People are convinced by the feed their skin lesions are fashionable, attractive even. There’s nothing Titus can do except stare his own death in the face, and he knows it.

Feed is a highly exaggerated treatise on what could happen if we allow corporations to completely take over our government. Some would argue they already have. Laws and regulations are created and repealed so corporations can sell us more cars and oil and guns and cheap goods from China every day. Sometimes it does seem like Americans just want more and more and more stuff without caring what the environmental or social cost may be. My only qualm with the book is the plot itself is so simple as to be almost non-existent. Boy meets girl, girl challenges boy, they break up, boy is forced to realize his own pathetic existence against his will.

I’m sure this is Anderson’s point though, that once you sell your heart, soul, and government to consumerism, there will be no way of turning back the tide. Your life will become shallow and simple. It will consume you until all your money is gone and then discard you. Need health care? You aren’t much of a consumer, so sorry, you’ve become a bad investment. Oh? Would you like to buy some overpriced jeans?

CJ Burright Blog Stop #7 on the Hush Puppy Tour

 
 




CJ read Hush Puppy early on and wrote my very first review. She's a real sweetheart and you should all be her friend on Goodreads. :)  She's a Swoon Romance author, so we'll be like cousins when I become a Month9Books author with the publication of Vessel in 2015.  (The two are imprints owned by the same publisher.)

She picked up right away on the Romeo and Juliet references in Hush Puppy as being a harbinger of hardships to come, but maybe not in the way one might expect.  There's no double suicide in Hush Puppy, thank goodness!!

Come on over to CJ's blog and see what she has to say~

Kara Leigh Miller Blog Stop #6 on the Hush Puppy Tour

Today I'm at Kara Leigh Miller's blog talking about my writing process and how I came to be a writer.


I hope you'll come on over and say hi.  Kara's about to launch a new book of her own, so you'll want to check that out~


As you may already know, my young adult novel Hush Puppy involves an interracial relationship.  The main character, Corrine, is a black girl.  This book is my first attempt at writing characters that are "outside my race" if you will.


Since the release of Hush Puppy, I've met several writers of color through the blog tour and on Twitter/Goodreads, who have really encouraged my efforts to at least try to portray characters of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  One blogger asked if I would create a quick guide to "writing multicultural".  I'm sure I'm no expert, but here's what I try to do~


1)      Get out of your comfort zone – don’t tell yourself you can’t do something just because you’ve never tried it. Don’t limit your imagination.

2)      Focus on the same, not the different. Inside, we’re all the same.

3)      Look around you. You already know a lot of people with a variety of experiences you can draw from. If you don’t, go meet some.

4)      Remember respect. Always respect your characters, no matter what their background. Represent them clearly and honestly. Don’t make them into cardboard cutout stereotypes.

5)      Tell a good story. It really doesn’t matter what your characters look like if the story’s no good. No one will care and as writers, we want readers to care more than anything.

I hope this inspires you to give your characters diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds when you write. Enjoy~

Diversity in Young Adult and Middle Grade books

I’ve been following along in Marieke Nijkamp’s blog event DiversfYA lately. It’s been extremely illuminating.  If you get a chance, you should hop on over there and check it out.  It’s about diversity, or the lack thereof, in fiction for young people. 

That’s not to say there are no diverse characters in fiction today, but there could certainly stand to be more.  The world and its people are a rich kaleidoscope of experiences and our stories are too. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the stories of minorities seem to be rather rare in traditional publishing. 

Those I’ve read seem to fall on the tragic end of the spectrum, but not always.  Marcello in the Real World by Francisco Stork is a beautiful story about a young savant learning to function in the harsh, reality of everyday life.  Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda is a brutal look at what happens to a bullied Asian teen who’s immigrated to America.  These stories are honest and truthful and need to be told, but I think there’s room for minority characters in science fiction and fantasy too.  In fact, librarians who work in schools with minority kids are begging and pleading for it. 

Why aren’t these characters being reflected in published fiction?  Are white authors afraid to write characters outside their own race?  Are there less authors of color for some reason?  Do publishers avoid buying multicultural fiction?  I’m sure I don’t know the answers to all these questions, but I’d like to know your thoughts.  What would you like to read about? What multicultural books have you read that we should know about?

Hush Puppy cover is here!

I wish I wasn’t so crazy-busy right now so I could do a proper blog post to tell you how much I love this cover.  It’s an intelligent, beautiful young woman with all the potential in the world, just like my heroine. 

Leave a note here and let me know what you think, and after that, you can jump over to my web site and read an excerpt if you like.  And don’t forget a Facebook like so you can get all the updates on the release of the book. J  Hope you’re going to have the best week ever~

My $0.02

I must be feeling opinionated today because I went on my Good Reads page and commented on most of my book list!  I only meant to go on and review The Giver, which I finished last night. The choice of book seemed very appropos once I finished it, since it seems to me to be an illumination of what it means to be alive.  I do recommend it to you.

I hope to read, review and write much more in 2012.  It is my only resolution, I think. If you haven't been to Good Reads, it's a great site and I encourage you to friend me there. Oh, and all that crap you've been worrying about in the past year? Fugittaboutit!

Happy New Year!