Tag Archives: time travel

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!

Review: Timepiece by Myra McEntire (@MyraMcEntire @EgmontUSA)

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Timepiece is the sequel to Hourglass, which is awesome and crazy and a wee bit over-the-top but not so much that I can’t love it anyway.

Whereas Hourglass is told from the point-of-view of reluctant time-traveler Emerson Cole, Timepiece‘s narrator is her boyfriend’s best friend, the dark and brooding Kaleb.

The Plot

[Spoilers from Hourglass ahead. Skip down to My Thoughts if you haven’t finished it yet. Then GO FINISH IT.]

Timepiece picks up shortly after the conclusion of Hourglass. Emerson and Michael have been reunited, much to Kaleb’s dismay. They have succeeded in their mission to rescue Kaleb’s father, Liam, the director of the Hourglass. The devious Jack Landers is still on the loose, and no one has any idea what his endgame is.

Additionally, Kaleb and the other young members of the Hourglass are starting to be able to see rips, something that only Emerson and Michael could do before. And the rips are getting bigger.

No sooner have we digested this information than a new, mysterious baddie shows up and hands Kaleb an ultimatum in no uncertain terms: Deliver Jack Landers, or life as he and his friends know it is over.

Soon Kaleb, Emerson, Michael and the entire Hourglass crew — complete with some new recruits — are searching for Jack, using every trick in their arsenal, both technological and supernatural. But Jack always seems two steps ahead. And time is running out.

My Thoughts

Timepiece starts with a bang. New, bigger bad guys are immediately introduced and the stakes are promptly upped. We were introduced to the basic mechanics of this time-slippy world in Hourglass; this time we get into details. We find out more about most of the secondary characters. The action increases significantly.

Bottom line: If you thought Hourglass was fun, Timepiece is going to blow your socks off.

I’ve got to admit, I was a little tentative at first about the switch to Kaleb’s point of view. I felt like I had developed a good relationship with Emerson in the first book, and I was comfortable viewing the world through her eyes. Plus, the Kaleb we meet in Hourglass, and at the beginning of Timepiece, is a crass, womanizing drunk. Charming, sure, but I spent a good portion of the first few chapters wanting to smack him upside the head.

[Also, as a side note, add some tattoos and piercings, and I was totally picturing Kaleb like this:

I know, Kaleb’s not a football player and probably doesn’t go around telling anyone “Texas forever,” but his personality screamed Tim Riggins to me. Anyone else?]

Okay, sorry, just had to throw that out there.

Luckily, while I can’t say that I wound up agreeing with all of Kaleb’s choices, I was able to understand him, sympathize with him, and really like him. Even when he was being a womanizing drunk. He was a great narrator, and it was really interesting viewing this crazy world through his eyes.

It was also fun to see Emerson and Michael from someone else’s point of view. In Hourglass, their relationship is all fluttery feelings and absurd chemistry and sparks of electricity. In Timepiece, we can see how that gets a little annoying to the people around them.

We get to know the secondary characters better, especially Emerson’s best friend Lily, which made me super happy. I was really hoping we’d find out more about her, since I really enjoyed her character in Hourglass. There’s still a few characters I would like to know more about. Maybe the third book will use one of them as narrator?

Jack Landers is a great villain. He’s evil and scary and dark, but not cartoonish. He’s given a solid back story, so that you understand him but still don’t like him. He’s smart and cunning and not given to extensive monologuing or pointless vendettas. You can really understand why he would be two steps ahead of our group of heroes, without making him ridiculous or them stupid.

As far as the story in Timepiece, I was riveted from the first chapter through the last page. There is a ton of action in this book. The stakes are higher, the powers more developed, the craziness heightened. Like Hourglass, it had a few twists that I absolutely did not see coming, yet none of them felt contrived.

There is a love story in Timepiece, but it is not a love triangle, thank goodness. I was scared, going in, that I was going to have to put up with Kaleb and Michael being all angsty and territorial about Emerson throughout the book (as Kaleb obviously has feelings for Emerson in Hourglass), but that fortunately did not happen. As it was, I really like the way the romantic angle was handled. It felt real. It wasn’t all sparks and sighs and fluttery feelings, which is nice, because I don’t think that’s the way romance normally happens.

Overall, Timepiece was a fun and exciting story. I really enjoyed the characters and was never quite sure what was going to happen next. The book ends with an obvious setup for a third book, but while I am itching to read more about the world of the Hourglass (which will probably be a while, since Timepiece hasn’t even been officially released yet), I still felt completely satisfied at the conclusion.

Content Guide: Contains some violence, mild sexual content/innuendo, mild language

Note: I received Timepiece as a digital review copy from NetGalley. Timepiece will be released on June 12, 2012. You can pre-order yours on Amazon now!

Teaser Reviews: Glitch and Timepiece

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I recently finished reading the digital review copies of Glitch and Timepiece, and while I won’t be posting full reviews until closer to the release dates, I wanted to give you a taste of my thoughts.

First up, Glitch by Heather Anastasiu (release date: August 7, 2012):

Premise: In a futuristic society, humans have been purged of their emotions via technology implanted into their brain stems. Logic and duty reign supreme. However, when Zoe starts “glitching” — i.e. experiencing emotion — her world begins to fall apart. Does she turn herself into the Regulators to be “fixed?” Or does she attempt to break free of the orderly yet oppressive system, to lead a normal life and fall in love?

Why I liked it: Glitch is full of fun sci-fi action, superpowers, and crazy twists and turns. It’s a fun ride, kind of like an action movie or a roller coaster. You’re not going to come out having lots of Deep Thoughts after this one, but it kept me entertained for a couple nights, most of the characters were enjoyable, and I am always a fan of superpowers and futuristic technology.

Danger, Will Robinson: There is a love triangle in this one, and I hated — hated — one of the participants. So that’s always frustrating. Also, if you like your sci-fi served up with a hefty dose of it-could-kinda-maybe-happen scientific techno-talk, à la Michael Crichton, this is not the book for you. Disbelief must be suspended, and in a big way.

Next, Timepiece by Myra McEntire (release date June 12, 2012):

Premise: Timepiece picks up pretty much where Hourglass left off. (Haven’t read Hourglass yet? Go order it RIGHT NOW. Or pick it up from the library. You’ll be glad you did.) This time, the narrator is Kaleb Ballard, a minor player in Hourglass and Michael’s best friend. Kaleb is a charming but irresponsible womanizing drunk at the start of the book. However, when a new mysterious bad guy comes to demand that the Hourglass hand over the devious Jack Landers — or else — Kaleb finds himself swept up in ancient plots, legendary prizes, and the task of possibly saving the world.

Why I liked LOVED it: I need to be careful, or I will write an essay on how much I loved this book. And this is just supposed to be a teaser. So first off: Kaleb is awesome. He doesn’t start awesome. I wanted to punch him in the face. But he quickly becomes awesome. The secondary characters are fabulous. I was especially pleased that Lily, Emerson’s barista best friend from Hourglass, gets a lot more face time in Timepiece. Jack Landers is a deliciously horrible villain. And the time-slippy action and the twisty-turny plot is just incredible. There were several developments I just did not see coming, and that was a good thing. I can’t wait for the next book. Too bad this one’s not even out yet…

I’ll post full reviews when we’re closer to release, but if either of these pique your interest, go pre-order on Amazon, put them on hold at your library, or (if you’re a reviewer), go try to snatch them from NetGalley!

Teaser Tuesday (May 1): Timepiece

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser today comes from Timepiece by Myra McEntire. This is the sequel to the amazing Hourglass, which I loved.

“He glanced at Em and me as he listened to the caller on the other end, his fear more pronounced by the second.

Em’s anxiety crashed into mine. ‘I don’t feel good about this.'”

(54% of the way through digital galley version)