Harlequin

Harlequin is known for their romance, and they just started a teen section.

I have a story for you now.



The mail comes when I'm at school, so my mom gets it. She sorts it and gives me my junk and my review books. (Junk = college stuff.)

So when I got it from Harlequin...

"What are you doing getting books from Harlequin?"

"I don't know; I did-"

"Are you a slut and not telling me?"



Okay, that may be a little over exaggerated, but you have to love my mother...

Final Fridays - Cassandra Clare

She's funny.
She's written a fantastic series.
She's third in the YA fantasy world only to J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer.

Yes, she is Cassandra Clare!

I was lucky enough to, despite my pitiful lack of reading this month - SAT + projects = hate - to interview the fanTAStic Cassandra Clare.

And, without further ado...

Were you ever pressured to change the characters and the plot and, if so, when and how?

No, my publisher has never pressured me to change anything about either the characters or the plot. Sorry, that's a boring answer, but it's also true.

According to my friend Kellyn, "It didn't read like she used an outline -- like the last Harry Potter did -- but it was sooooo good that I think she did." Did you write using an outline?

Wow, I don't even know what it means for something to sound like an outline was used? Like it was trying to hit various points in order? Almost all writers use outlines, and I'm no exception. I have outlines that detail everything that happens in the series, and then outlines that detail what happens in each book, and then outlines for each character detailing their arcs, and how they change. I do think of course that one should not be too afraid to deviate from the outline if you have a great new idea or discover a flaw in the outline. Making the story better is always more important than sticking to the outline.

That's exactly what it means - and yes, making the story better > outline. Especially if the story turns out kick butt. If you could transport yourself into your world, would you do it and what would you do?


I would not! I do not want to be attacked by hideous demons, thank you. I am fairly cowardly which is probably why I enjoy writing about people who are brave. If I was forced to enter my world, I'd probably just go to Taki's and check out the menu.

Hahaha, I don't think I'd want to be attacked by demons, either. Did anything influence you? Shows, books, people, music, past events (personal or historical)?

Hundreds of things. Shows, books, people, music and past events — I'm influenced by Buffy, by the Borderlands books, by Swordspoint, by The Dark is Rising, by Angels in America, by World War Two, by current events, by stories I find in newspapers, by classic urban fantasy, by noir detective mysteries, by PG Wodehouse, by anime and by manga. I could go on and on.

BUFFY! Favorite color?

Er... purple.

What was your favorite part to write in the whole Mortal Instruments series so far and why?

I enjoyed writing the part where Simon is practising coming out to his mom as a vampire. "Mom, I have something to tell you. I'm undead." That part actually cracked me up while writing it. Sad, I know.

That's one of my favorite lines. Favorite piece of clothing?

My Fleuvog shoes, as anyone who reads my blog knows!

Do you have any weird habits when writing, or places where you write? Like chewing a pack of Bubble Yum or sitting on your roof?

I write with my friends in an unnamed coffee shop in New York City. I don't know if that's particularly weird — but since it's a big group of us in public we can't do chicken dances or anything. Sometimes I'll ask one of them to help me run through a scene or block out a piece of action. That may look strange to onlookers.



Oh, how that reminds me of conversations I have had with my friends...

Thanks, Cassandra! Check out her AMAZING Mortal Instruments series, all three of them in stores now.

(And now I feel like Ryan Seacrest...)

~N

Waiting on Wednesday - The Chosen One

Chosen One
Carol Lynch Williams

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated polygamous community without questioning her father’s three wives and her twenty brothers and sisters. Or at least without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her 60-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family.

For some reason, reading about polygamy interests me - the same way reading about anorexia interests me. It's taking something you'd never do and don't really understand and giving you a new perspective on it.

And I love rebelling characters.

So this could be fun! :]

Comes Out May 12 '09

A Little Bit Wicked

A Little Bit Wicked
Author: Kristin Chenoweth
Series: ---
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
How Received: own
Note: My love of Broadway makes me slightly biased on this autobiography.
Other Note: Summary from inside flap.

If Chenoweth -- singer and sexpot, comedian and Christian, inspiration to hometown girls and drag queens alike -- is a little bit wicked, she's also a lot of bit wholesome: a lesson in surprising contrasts.

That about summarizes the whole book.

Now, I loooooooooove Chenoweth. She's an amazing performer and singer and just downright adorable. And this "tell-little" auto-biography about her reflects her perfectly. It tells things like it is with Chenoweth's own style of sass, and she addresses things in such a way that you have to laugh.

All in all, even if you don't like Cheno or Broadway, I'd recommend this. It'd give you insight into something you don't know about, and frankly, it's just fun to read - though a little hard to follow if you don't know her work.

Overall Rating: 10/10 for Cheno fans & me. 8/10 for not Cheno fans & not mes
A Little Bit Wicked or- I'm cutting myself off, because it's Cheno. And I ain't gonna compare Cheno!

Happy reading!

~Nicole

Freedom's Landing

Freedom's Landing
Anne McCaffrey

It's the dawning of a new age for mankind when the Catteni descend to Earth and easily overcome the Earth's population. Thousands are herded onto slave ships headed for the intergalactic auction block.

Kris Bjornsen is captured in Denver on her way to her college classes and wakes up on the primitive planet Barevi. Courageous and resourceful, she manages a single-woman escape from the Catteni and is living in the wilds of the planet when she comes to the aid of a Catteni soldier pursued by his own ranks. Recaptured together, they join forces with other slaves to outwit their captors and a hostile planetary environment.

Another sci-fi story, and I loved every minute of it. It's just a great, well put together novel... and I do love love stories.

Marley & Me

So, on Monday night, I watched Marley & Me - with Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, and an adorable Labrador.

It lived up to the book.

They cut a few scenes out - like the one of Marley being in a movie - but it really captured the emotional aspect of the relationship between man and dog and between family and dog.

I cried at the end.
I NEVER cry.
But I cried at the end.

I gave the movie a solid 8/10 for movies - not something I would buy, like I would the book, but something I might watch again.

[[On the mention of movies, I did just buy Legally Blonde. SUCH a good movie!]]

~N

Waiting on Wednesday

Bad Girls Don't Die
Katie Alender

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Cover whoreness dictates that I must appreciate this book's cover.

So please oogle it for a few moments.

...

The description sounds cool, too. ^^ I love ghost stories.

Comes Out April 27, '09

My Project

Did you know that...

Lord of the Rings came out in the 50s?

Hershey Park

Oh, my dear readers, this week has been very slow in posting.

Mainly because it's my spring break and I was traveling. The only book I brought was Jane Eyre, which I was too lazy to pick up and read...

Ah well.

But I took a few pictures for you of the books that they had at...

HERSHEY PARK!

They had lots of chocolate, too.

See?




Told you.


But they also had books on...

... well, chocolate.



Anyway, I'll hopefully get back to reading soon. I present my 50's project at the end of this month, so I should have time to do some reading after that. :]

~N

Friday Favorites

Crystal Singer
Anne McCaffrey

Her name was Killashandra Ree. And after ten grueling years of musical training, she was still without prospects. Until she heard of the mysterious Heptite Guild who could provide careers, security, and wealth beyond imagining. The problem was, few people who landed on Ballybran ever left. But to Killashandra the risks were acceptable....

You'll see a lot of Anne McCaffrey creeping up this month. I see her as the queen of science fiction and fantasy - she's written so many good things, and so much.

One of the reasons I love this book so much is because Anne tied in her musical background into the book - a lot of the book relies on music.

Waiting on Wednesday

The Beef Princess Of Practical County
Michelle Houts

After years of waiting, it is finally Libby Ryan’s turn to shine at the Practical County Fair. Libby is filled with excitement as she and her granddad pick out two calves for her to raise on her family’s cattle farm, in hopes of winning the annual steer competition. Against her father’s advice, Libby gives the calves names, even though both steers will eventually be
auctioned off. After a few months of preparing for the Practical County Fair, Libby finds that she is growing closer to her steers with each passing day, and the pressure to win Grand Champion is mounting.

Luckily, Libby can count on her best friend to get her through most of the county fair chaos. Yet once reality sets in and she realizes that her steers will soon be sold to the highest bidder, the chaos in Libby’s heart becomes
too much to bear.

I'm not ZOMG wanting to read this. But the title alone makes me giggle. And I do like farms.

Comes Out April 14 '09

Friday Favorites

Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling.



This needs no summary.


Or an explanation.


Over and out.

Random Shout Out

A random shout out to Michelle, who entered April's contest yesterday and told me to listen to Avenue Q.

I love that soundtrack.

Good choice, Michelle! ^^

April's Contest -- "All Jokes Aside"

This giveaway is over.

With the "Out Like A Lamb" contest over...
... it would be smart to announce the winner.

Which is...

Lilibeth Ramos!

Congrats!!!!


To enter this contest, just comment or email me. Maybe with something interesting (song lyrics are always fun.) U.S. residents only - I wish I had money to send elsewhere, guys!

And yes.

If you blog about it and tell me, you'll be entered twice.

Alright, this month's books consist of...

An Advanced Reading Copy of Elizabeth Scott's Love You, Hate You, Miss You

t's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her. And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone, and Amy doesn't want to talk about it. No one knew Julia like she did. No one gets what life is without her.

No one understands what it's like to know that it's all your fault.

Amy's shrink thinks she should keep a journal but instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia. And as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past holds its own secrets--and that the present deserves a chance.

An Autographed Copy of Alex McAulay's Shelter Me

Maggie Leigh just wants to be a normal teenager, but when German bombs tear apart London during World War II, her ultra-religious mother sees the destruction as divine punishment. She sends Maggie to a remote boarding school in coastal Wales, supposedly to keep her safe, but also to keep her in line. The school is creepy, the headmistress is a lunatic, and the students range from spoiled rich girls to speechless trauma victims. But when a tragic accident happens on the beach, Maggie and three friends are forced to flee the school, plunging into the nightmarish world of Europe during wartime. Now every decision Maggie makes is fraught with danger, and living to see another day depends on how quickly she can think and act...and how far she's willing to go.

Melissa de La Cruz's Blue Bloods
*which earned a 9 or above from WORD*

Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it.

and Glen E. Page's The Last Plague

A young girl is brought into Dr. Douglas Hunter's ER one night with her abdomen ripped open. One of her ovaries has been stolen; the other is as hard and black as coal. When the bodies of more young girls are discovered, their ovaries also missing, Dr. Hunter and his family of adopted misfits find themselves unwittingly drawn into a dark plot of government intrigue and biblical prophecy.

As Dr. Hunter investigates the cause behind this mysterious plague, he and his family uncover unsettling connections, not only between their own painful pasts, but to war crimes in Nazi Germany and even events from the days of Christ. The investigation attracts the attention of a group of ruthless people with mysterious powers who are determined to keep the plague a secret. But as more secrets come to light, Dr. Hunter realizes his family may be facing the last plague, the beginnings of the Apocalypse.

Happy April!


Don't forget to check out this Final Friday interview with Cassandra Clare!

Tw1l1ght

tw1l1ght
st3ph3ni3 m3y3r

this story is 'bouts a sparkly sexy vampire who falls in love with a human and then has to save her from being killed by da evily sparkley vampires and then they fall in love and live happily ever after!!!!!!

it's the best book evaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!11!!!1!!!eleven!!!

twilight or harry potter?: twilight, duh! happy porrer doesn't sparkle. *sparklesparklesparkle*

rating: 500000000/10

happy watching dvds!

~N


PS: It may be April Fool's day, but talking in chatspeak like that gave me a headache...