Category Archives: Romance

Author Interview: Myra McEntire (@myramcentire)

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From about an hour after I started reading Hourglass, Myra McEntire’s debut novel, I knew I had discovered a new “favorite author.” And after finishing its sequel, Timepiece, it was confirmed: I must read anything and everything Myra McEntire writes. Immediately.

Then I was privileged to attend an author event with Myra and Amy Plum, and guys, Myra is hilarious. She had me (and the rest of the audience) in stitches most of the time. Sadly, my camera ate my picture of the two of us together, so I guess I’m just going to have to go to one of her future events to get another photo.

DARN. *blatant sarcasm*

Or I could do as my husband suggests and try to worm my way into her personal life since we live in the same city (His logic: “Don’t famous people have normal friends sometimes?”) but as I don’t actually want to be a crazy psycho-stalker, I’ll just continue to read her books and attend her events and bug her on Twitter.

So as a treat for you today, and to celebrate the upcoming release of Timepiece (June 12, 2012!), I have the joy of treating you to my interview with Myra! Yay! In it, we discuss Hourglass, Timepiece, her third book [which Myra recently announced will be titled Infinityglass], and random trivia about Myra. Enjoy!

 

I think by now, we all know what your books are about. I’ve summarized and reviewed each book on my site, plus you go into detail on your site. But if you wouldn’t mind, because I have a 6-year-old and I think 6-year-olds are hilarious, would you ask your 6-year-old to tell us what your books are about?

Hourglasses. (Hee!)

[NOTE FROM LAUREN: I guess I was asking for that! My 6-year-old is also always extremely brief when I wish she would be verbose, and verbose when I wish she was brief.]

How did you come up with the idea for Hourglass?

I visited a writer’s group and had a really silly name prompt for a character. I wrote the required pages and thought it was over, but I had niggling questions that wouldn’t allow me to let the story go!

How do you come up with names for your characters? And did you happen to name Emerson Cole after the character of Cole in The Sixth Sense (the kid who sees dead people)?

Emerson is named after Ralph Waldo. You’ll see quotes from him at the beginning of my Hourglass books. And I did NOT, but I am stealing that idea now. Thank you.

The plotlines for Hourglass and Timepiece are both really complex. How did you keep track of everything?

I have multiple spiral notebooks, and I also do a lot of searching through my manuscripts on my computer.

Kaleb has his own love interest in Timepiece (who I completely adored), but did you ever consider making a love triangle between Kaleb, Emerson, and Michael? The building blocks are there in Hourglass… (P.S. Thank you so much for not making it a love triangle).

Kaleb and Emerson would give new meaning to the words “Hot Mess.” They were never intended for each other, and the person Kaleb ends up with was meant for him from the very first baby draft of Hourglass.

Timepiece ends with a huge new development. What can you tell us about the next book? Will there be a new narrator?

There are at least two or three more Hourglass books in my mind. They all have different voices.

How long have you been writing?

Always, but for publication since 2008.

How did you find your agent?

I went the traditional route. Wrote a book, polished it, and queried.

What was your reaction when you got your book deal?

I am not a huge reactor. Mostly I was like, “ Huh. That just happened. “

What advice would you give an aspiring writer?

Read, write and be stubborn.

What’s your solution to writer’s block?

Keep going. You can’t fix an empty page. I also recommend routine tasks like folding laundry or doing dishes.

What’s next for you after the Hourglass series comes to a close? You know, if that ever happens…which I kinda hope it doesn’t.

I’m halfway finished with another project, and I’m totally in love with it. I can’t tell you anything else, except it’s very different!

If the Hourglass movie gets made (and I REALLY hope it does), who would you cast to play Emerson, Michael and Kaleb? (And any of the other characters, if you have them cast in your brain?)

(This is an exclusive post for my blog tour!)

[NOTE FROM LAUREN: I tried, and failed, to get in on this blog tour. Maybe Infinityglass?]

What’s your favorite thing about living in Nashville?

I love the pastureland. It’s so gorgeous on some of these country backroads!

Who is your celebrity doppelganger?

Rob Pattinson. Errr ….

 

 

 

 

 

[NOTE FROM LAUREN: I’m not seeing it, Myra. For what it’s worth, I’d say she resembles a young Meryl Streep. Yes?]

What is your ideal vacation?

Right now, I just want the beach.

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Coffee.

Favorite caffeinated beverage?

Coffee.

Favorite candy bar?

Coffee. Oh wait. Sea salt dark chocolate.

Favorite pizza toppings?

Veggies!

Favorite chick flick? Action movie?

Tangled (I always stop and watch it), and X-Men.

Favorite time travel story (that you didn’t write)?

Any Doctor Who anytime anywhere.

What are your 5 “desert island” books?

Bible, Wizard of Oz, all the Harry Potters (obvs I’m taking more than five).

[NOTE FROM LAUREN: Cheater.]

 

Thanks so much for talking with me Myra! I can’t wait to purchase my copy of Timepiece, and I’m probably going to need therapy or something to help me get through the next year until Infinityglass is released.

If you’re interested in my in-depth opinions on Myra’s books, here they are:

My review of Hourglass

My review of Timepiece

If you’d like to learn more about Myra, buy her book, or just bask in her awesomeness, here’s some ways to help with that:

Purchase Hourglass

Purchase Timepiece (releasing June 12, 2012)

Myra’s Website

Follow Myra on Twitter

Find Myra on Facebook

Throwback Thursday (5/31): Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

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Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books.

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your post.
 
My throwback for this week is…

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I was first introduced to Outlander  by a friend who insisted it was an amazing story, plus it was free on Amazon at the time (sadly, it’s not now), so I figured, what the heck?

Outlander is the story of Claire Randall, a nurse celebrating a second honeymoon with her husband, Frank, with a trip to Scotland in 1945. The trip is going wonderfully, until Claire accidentally touches an ancient stone and is abruptly and violently transported back to 1743. Utterly confused and completely out of her element, before she knows it, Claire has joined up with the powerful but dangerous MacKenzie Clan at Castle Leoch.

Desperate to get back to her own time and to Frank, Claire unwittingly finds herself in perilous situation after perilous situation. Further complications in Claire’s life include her tentative alliance with rebellious clansman James Fraser, and her appalling realization that her husband’s doppelganger ancestor, Jonathan Randall, is a sadistic and merciless psychopath.

Outlander is one of the most beautiful and realistic love stories I’ve ever read. It’s not insta-love. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s complicated, it’s difficult, and it’s sometimes extremely painful. But it’s also beautiful and sweet and innocent.

As for the rest of the story…it’s just gorgeous. The settings are lush and vivid. The supporting characters are extremely well-developed. The mystery surrounding Claire’s accidental time travel is intriguing, and the tension between the MacKenzie Clan and the British soldiers is nearly palpable. The intricacies of life within the Castle Leoch are fascinating. And Jonathan Randall is one of the scariest and most dispicable villains…ever.

A warning to all the YA fans out there: Outlander is an Adult book, with a capital A-D-U-L-T. It does not shy away from torture, violence, and assault. Plus there are several explicit sex scenes. So if you are a fan of the glossing-over and the euphemising and the fading to black…this is not the book for you.

However, if you can handle the adult content, I highly recommend this book to fans of romance, adventure, time travel, and historical fiction. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful story. And as an added bonus, the series is still ongoing. Although Outlander was released over 20 years ago, the seventh book, An Echo in the Bone, was released in 2009, and the eighth book is coming in 2013.

This is a Blog Hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday post below!

Top Ten Tuesday (May 29): Recent Books I Hope Are Still Read in 30 Years

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to us by the fine folks over at The Broke and the Bookish, so we can all make bookish lists to our hearts’ content.

The topic for this week is:

Top Ten Books Written In The Past 10 Years That I Hope People Are Still Reading In 30 Years

Ooh, this one is hard. Most of the books on my shelf are either really old or really new. And most of the really new stuff, even books I really enjoyed, I don’t see standing the test of time. Many contemporary titles make a lot of references to the technology and culture of today, and may seem too dated to the teens and adults of 2042. So most of what I’ve come up with either deals with the past or the future, or fantasy worlds. Those seem a lot more likely to age well than books that are firmly grounded in the present.

I’m going to stick to fiction, since that’s what I review on this blog, although of course there have been some wonderful non-fiction titles that have come out in the last 10 years.

Also, I know this may be cheating, but I’m going to include a few series where the first book may have come out more than 10 years ago, but the series continued into the past 10 years. My apologies for playing fast and loose with the rules.

What kills me is I have a few books on my shelf right now that I suspect would make this list if I had read them yet. But alas, I haven’t had time. C’est la vie.

That said, here’s what I’ve come up with.

10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I hesitated to put this one on the list, because I kind of hope that our obsession with “reality” entertainment will have faded in 30 years, thus making the book less relevant. But it is still a moving look at the effects of war on society, and while I’d like to think that war will also be irrelevant in 30 years, something tells me that’s just a dream.

9. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Such an interesting and unique way to tell a story. And I assume the vintage photography will only be cooler 30 years from now.

8. Ender’s Shadow series by Orson Scott Card. 

This follow-up series to the Ender’s Game series (which has already proven it can withstand the test of time) is exciting and thought-provoking science fiction. The first book was released in 2000, but the series is still continuing, and the most recent book, Shadows in Flight, was just released this year.

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 

A beautiful story set during one of the darkest times in our history. I hope it moves future readers as much as it moved me.

6 The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen.

An enchanting and marvelous medieval tale that will appeal to young readers of all ages. I wouldn’t be surprised if this starts showing up as required reading in schools.

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This book is in turns amusing, heartwarming, disturbing, and inspiring. It’s a simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking look at racism and discrimination in our not-too-distant past. In 30-years, hopefully readers will be much more removed from racism, but it will be good for them to appreciate where we came from.

 4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I’d imagine that even 30 years from now, there will be a market for pulse-pounding, adrenaline-pumping speculative fiction. 

3. The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb

This one’s a big cheat. I’m assuming that if you’re going to read Tawny Man, you’ve already read the Farseer trilogy (first book published 1996) and the Liveship Traders trilogy (first book published 1999). But even if all anyone in the future read was this series, they’d still be treated to an amazing fantasy adventure.

2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The first book in this series, Outlander, came out more than 20 years ago, but this series is actually still going on, so I think it counts. The most recent book, An Echo in the Bone, was released in 2009, and the next in the series, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, will be released in early 2013. This is a beautiful historical romance with a touch of time travel thrown in. It’s already lasted 20 years – why not 30 more?

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Again, the first Harry Potter may have been released in 1999, but the series continued through 2009 and introduced so many people — young and old alike — to the wonders of reading through magic and fantasy. I have no doubt that The Boy Who Lived will age well.

Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (@V_Rossibooks @harperteen)

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I’ve been pretty psyched to read Under the Never Sky since I saw the cover several months ago. I mean, that is a pretty sweet cover, right? Plus, it’s a sci-fi dystopian, which is a mash-up of two of my favorite genres (and if you read my spotlight over on Michelle Muto‘s blog, you know I like genre mash-ups. Oh also, I was spotlighted on Michelle Muto’s blog! How cool is that?) So what better book to kick off my two-week dystopiaganza?

Dystopiarama? Dystopiapalooza? Hm. I may have to work on that.

The Plot

Aria has lived all her life in the pod of Reverie among the Dwellers, safe from the Aether storms and deadly toxins in the Earth’s atmosphere. In Reverie, every entertainment, risk, and sensation takes place in the virtual Realms, an experience that proclaims itself “Better than Real.”

However, when Aria takes part in what is supposed to be harmless mischief, outside the safety of the Realms, everything goes wrong, and her night of fun ends in catastrophe. Lives are lost, lies are told, and before Aria knows what is going on, she finds herself exiled to the world outside the pods. The Death Shop.

Perry has lived his life in the shadow of his brother, Blood Lord of one of the many tribes that inhabits the treacherous lands outside the pods. He is a Scire, gifted with extraordinarily heightened senses of smell and sight, and feels that his tribe will suffer under his brother’s leadership. The only thing that has kept him from challenging his brother for the leadership role is his love for his brother’s small son, Talon.

But when Talon is kidnapped by Dwellers, Perry takes the blame and is forced to abandon his tribe.

Soon, Perry and Aria find themselves thrown together, forced to form a grudging alliance, each of them possessing something the other desperately needs. But their personal differences, the search for Talon, and the proof of Aria’s innocence is overshadowed by their continuous fight to simply survive.

My Thoughts

First of all, I had a really hard time just writing the summary of the plot. This world is complex, and although I love the thought that went into it and all its intricacies, I found the story initially kind of hard to settle into. There’s a lot that happens very early on in the story, and I had to struggle to get my bearings. But once I got my feet under me (about halfway through my lovely synopsis up above), I really enjoyed the story.

I think this book is actually only loosely a dystopian. It’s really much more sci-fi, with a few dystopian elements thrown in almost as an afterthought. Truthfully, if not for random mentions of pieces of Earth’s history (a Matisse painting, a National Geographic magazine) sprinkled in sporadically, this entire story could easily have taken place on an alien planet. The atmospheric conditions are so different from what we currently know, and humans have changed so much, that the setting isn’t really recognizable as Earth. However, the back story of how the Earth came to be this way is never explained (there are some vague mentions of what happened before and after “Unity,” but the book never explain what this was), so maybe if it is revealed in the sequel(s), it will all make more sense.

I enjoyed Aria’s character. She wasn’t a meek and klutzy damsel in distress like so many YA heroines. (She was, of course, freakishly beautiful, BUT that is explained as a product of genetic engineering, and therefore forgivable. In Aria’s words, in Reverie, “everyone looks like this.” Ooh, deja vu!) She had her moments of forehead-slapping idiocy, but she also learned and grew, realized when her stubbornness was stupid, and was someone I could root for.

I liked Perry even more, although at the beginning I kind of wanted to punch him, what with all the “my brother’s in charge but it really should be me” nonsense. Okay, fine, it should be you, but stop acting like your only two choices are killing your brother or exile. There’s such a thing as humility, dude.

But again, that was just in the beginning. Once he was out on his own and with Aria, I liked him much more. And like Aria, he also grew, which I appreciated. Too often, the worldly male character in a book serves only as a teacher for the naive female character. But while Perry did teach Aria a number of things (including how to not pick poison berries, a lesson Peeta could have used), he also learns a great deal himself.

I enjoyed the pacing and the development of the plot, and the writing was absorbing, once I got used to it. I loved that the romance in the book developed slowly and naturally. The only complaint I had was that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending. A lot of questions go unanswered. Since this is book one of a trilogy, I’ll forgive it. But I was hoping at least a little more would be wrapped up in the first book.

Overall, I thought this was an intriguing story with engaging characters, and I’m excited to see what happens next.

Content guide: Contains violence, references to cannibalism, and brief sexual situations. 

Teaser Review: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

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I am going to an author event tonight with Myra McEntire, Amy Plum, and C.J. Redwine. I could NOT be more excited about it. I have read and loved both of Ms. McEntire’s books (Hourglass, Timepiece) and read and enjoyed the first of Ms. Plum’s books (Die for Me, Until I Die). I actually won copies of both Revenants books in a HarperTeen giveaway, which is really exciting, but I won’t have them for the signing tonight. Sad 🙁 Hopefully she’ll have bookmarks or something I can ask her to sign. I do have my paperback copy of Hourglass all ready for a signature, though!

The third was a little trickier, since C.J. Redwine is a debut author, and her book Defiance won’t be out until August 28. I really wanted to read her book before meeting her (even though I knew most people at the signing would not have read it), so I figured I should at least attempt to get my hands on a copy. First, I emailed C.J. herself, since she is a Nashville author and I live in Nashville. She was extremely kind and gracious, and offered to lend me an ARC to read before the signing. But of course, she was also working hard on the sequel to Defiance and up against a deadline, so it was going to be tricky to meet up.

Plus, she has no way of knowing I’m not a psycho-stalker. I mean, I’m not, but you never know about people you meet on the Internet.

However, in a funny twist of fate, after finishing Hourglass I read the acknowledgments, and realized I knew Myra McEntire’s agent. We went to college together. And upon further investigation, I realized she also represented C.J. Redwine. So I sent her a Facebook message, and lickety-split, she popped an ARC of Defiance in the mail for me.

Well, not quite lickety-split. She had to go to Utah first. Because she’s a big-time book agent who gets sent to Utah for the weekend. But she mailed the book (along with a couple other surprises!) out the day she got back. Because she is awesome.

I on the other hand, was sent to two birthday parties last weekend, by my children. And trust me, that was enough. I’m not cut out for the big time.

So to make a long story….slightly less long, Defiance arrived on Saturday. I didn’t tear into it immediately (I had promised my husband a movie night, and we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and it was fun and action-packed and exciting), but my Mother’s Day request was that my husband watch the kids so I could read Defiance. And it’s a good thing I had an excuse to read all afternoon, because I could not put it down.

Since Defiance will not be released until August 28, I will be posting a full review (along with an author interview!) closer to release. But I just wanted to post a bit of a teaser, in case you have a chance to get your hands on an advance copy and wonder if it’s worth your time, or if you’re considering pre-ordering a copy and wonder if it’s worth your money.

Just to be clear: it is.

The Plot: I usually write my own summaries, but this one has such a complex plot, I don’t know how to summarize it in a concise manner. So this is the synopsis from Goodreads:

“Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.”

My Thoughts, In a Nutshell: This book was amazing and fantastic and fantastically amazing. It took me a couple chapters to get into the writing style, just because it’s a tad more detailed than lots of other YA books I’ve been reading lately. But once I adjusted, I was hooked.

Defiance is absolutely chock-full of action, suspense, tingly romance, bitter heartbreak. The setting is unique and intriguing – kind of medieval-meets-steampunk-meets-fantasy. There are monsters and gadgets and swords and dungeons.

I literally gasped and cried and hunched up in a ball because it was just making me feel ALL THE FEELINGS during parts of this book. And normally, I am a pretty stoic reader.

The characters are incredible (Rachel and Logan immediately became one of my favorite fictional couples), the writing is vivid, and the story is intricate and beautiful. I don’t want to say much more, because this is just a teaser review, and if I’m not careful it’s going to turn into a full-blown all-out Review.

Suffice it to say, I loved this book. If you have a chance to read it, or if it’s within your means to buy it, do it. You’ll be glad you did.