Mundie Moms

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Author Interview& Giveaway with Lauren Kate


I have fallen in love with Lauren's writing, and I wanted to know What Inspired Lauren to Write Her Series:

When Lauren first proposed Fallen to her agent, she said they knew it would be bigger than one book. She said it was impossible to write everything she wanted to and make it fit in one. Making it a series has been very rewarding for her. I was curious if she outlined or not and she said she doesn't outline, but she has a bare-boned one page synopsis for each book. She said each of her characters has changed and grown so much from when she first started writing them. Her husband is her biggest supporter and he's helped her with her characters.

Fallen & Torment's Mythology:

Lauren's mythology has fascinated me. In asking her what inspired her to write her series, she said she was inspired from Genesis, when the Angels are cast out of heaven for falling in love with women. She wondered what type of women it would take for an angel to fall in love with them. Lauren added her own twists by blurring the lines of Good and Evil, as Angels have flaws and in-perplexities like humans.

Torment's Characters & Setting:

I really love the setting in Torment and in asking Lauren what inspired Shoreline, she told me about a cliff in Monticello, CA, where she and her husband were engaged at, inspired the setting.

I asked Lauren if she found it easier or harder to write a sequel. She said it was easier writing Torment, as she already knows where the series is going and what the reader expectation is. She said she's taken some great advice from her readers feedback and reviews.

In talking about the challenges in building the characters in Torment vs Fallen, Lauren said that Luce is not as independent in Fallen as she is in Torment. She grew into the character she wanted her to be in Fallen, but Luce had to find her own way. Cam's character becomes more important, as he's the adversary. He's suppose to be reckless and out of control, like we see him in Fallen. In Torment he becomes one of the most enduring characters. Daniel is still very withdrawn.

I really love how much Luce grows in Torment. I was curious how Lauren wrote the more emotional scenes when Luce discovers her past family. Lauren said she had to go as deep as she could with Luce, in order to write those scenes. There's so much pain with the families Luce has left behind. She had to go there and experience the pain of what her family went through and the pain Luce feels.

In talking about her characters, Lauren said that Arriane was the most fun to write. When I asked her who inspired her characters, she said each of her characters has a little bit of her in them and a little bit of everyone she loves. Luce is physically is based on her oldest friend, though in the beginning her had written her character to be more like her. Luce turned out completely different.

What We Can Except From Passion:

We talked a little about Passion, the 3rd book in the series, which is a prequel to the series. Passion is about Luce and Daniel, and YES Cam will be in there too. Lauren said Passion was a little harder to write, as she's did a lot of historical research for the book. As far as writing about Luce and Daniel, it was easy to write about their story, as she already knows about their relationship. We'll also see Luce's past and current family, which I'm really looking forward to reading about.

What We Can Except from Rapture:

Lauren assured me that all the characters, including the new ones from Torment will be back for her 4th book, Rapture, which will pick up from where Torment left off.

I'm really looking forward to both Passion and Rapture's releases. Really, I can't wait to find out who Luce chooses and where her decision she makes at the end of Torment, takes her to.
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If you haven't already, I highly recommend picking up Torment today. You can read my review here http://tinyurl.com/36xerxf

You can read more about Lauren Kate and her books here http://laurenkatebooks.net/

Thank you so much Lauren for your time and for the interview. Thank you Random House for arranging our interview and for our giveaway. Random House has provided us with a couple copies of Torment to giveaway!

Banned Books Week Guest Author Post by Shannon Delany

Banning Books: Inefficient and Oddly Entertaining

Every time a discussion of censorship or book banning comes up an image of artist Frank Miller’s (Sin City, 300, The Spirit, Batman) jumps to mind. Here’s the image’s link: http://tinyurl.com/27olagh

To me, censorship is as frightening as that image is shocking.

I thought about taking a moral or philosophical stand about banning books for this post. I have plenty of arguments against the banning of books (more since discovering my own debut novel, 13 to Life, and all other paranormals have been banned from one classroom in a particular Texas school).

But I’d like to approach the argument differently.

I want to tell you why I think banning books—or most anything—is an inefficient manner of keeping something out of people’s hands.

I studied Eastern European history in college and the USSR became a fascination of mine. The USSR was known for taking extreme measures in controlling the information (television, radio, newspaper and word of mouth) that reached their citizens. They were big supporters of censorship. And we—in case we forget—were outraged as a nation that there was no freedom of information for that country. It was one of the myriad reasons we claimed superiority over them during the Cold War and one of the reasons I find it bitterly ironic that we still have so many books challenged here.

History teaches us that the censorship that occurred in places like the USSR (and still occurs today in certain countries that we boldly consider to be less than the U.S.) only causes a societal backlash.

You ban something, what inevitably happens? More people find out about it.

Why? Because to ban something you have to first discuss it with some authority. Then you have to list it somewhere and make people aware of it being banned. Some people will (of course) ask for a reason as to why something is banned. So a reason must be produced and also made somewhat public. Frankly, by the time you’ve discussed what needs to be banned, agreed on a list, listed banned items and explained your justification for banning such things you may as well have advertised the banned items to people.

Until Dr. Wesley Scroggins got so much recent press pushing for the banning of the books SPEAK, TWENTY BOY SUMMER and SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, I hadn’t read any of them (SPEAK was on my TBR list because I’ve seen it used with amazing results in classrooms). Now, thanks to my natural curiosity and Scroggins’ 20+ page document (available online) explaining why they should be banned I’ve read more of each of them than ever before. Thanks, Wes!

And where do we see most book bannings occurring? In schools as questions are raised about what preteens and teens should be reading.

Again, how truly inefficient! Think about it. What’s one truth we universally recognize about teens? They are rebellious—they will do something just to spite authority—just to prove they can do it. And teens and tweens are most frequently mentioned as having the greatest amount of disposable income (so they can actually buy books).

So go ahead. Tell teens they aren’t allowed to read something (ohhh—better yet, threaten to confiscate it if you find it in their possession—they *love* that). You’ll see that book’s numbers on Amazon rise. Doubt it? We all watched SPEAK’s numbers jump last week. Because everyone was talking about it.

Feel free. Sit in long, dull meetings coming up with lists of books to be banned. Don’t dare use books to open conversations with teens about topics you might otherwise try to brush aside. Then wait as word spreads like wildfire. And watch readers speak out about how those very books enlightened them, strengthened them or simply entertained them.

The more you complain, the more buzz you create for books. And advertising money’s always a bit tight in the publishing industry. So do what you feel you have to. There will be plenty of well-read, well-educated people (young and old alike) to try and teach you how truly inefficient your attempt at banning books really is.

__________________

Shannon Delany is the author of 13 To Life. Secrets & Shadow, the second book in the 13 to Life series will be released February 15th, 2010. To learn more about Shannon and her 13 to Life Series, please visit her site here www.ShannonDelany.com.

Thank you Shannon for your awesome post and for being apart of our Banned Books Week. We really appreciate it!

Thoughtful Thursday- Roald Dahl Read A Thon

This is a great reading challenge for kids. I know, why am I posting this on Mundie Moms? Well many of us are parents or have younger siblings or work with kids and I couldn't not share the news about this awesome Read A Thon. Plus, it's Banned Books Week and we were shocked to find out Roald Dahl books have been banned, so what better way to continue in helping promote Banned Books!!

The Challenge- runs from September 2010- December 2010 and is for kids ages 7-13 who live in the United States. All kids need to do is read 3 Roald Dahl books between now and December.

Participants can pick up their Dahlathon Official Reading Journal at any local bookstore or library or they can download a copy (see the link at the bottom of the post). Once you've read your three books, kids will need a parent/teacher/guardian to sign their slip and send it to Penguin Young Readers Group and they'll receive an official Dahlathon Award!

Be sure to visit the site for a complete list of rules, and see what participants can win here http://www.roalddahl.com/Default.aspx?referrer=dahlathon&region=US

Thank you Kathy for making me aware of this & promoting it Mundie Kids for our Banned Books Week, which is found here http://tinyurl.com/29v77nz!

Book Review & Giveaway- Maybe This Time

By Jennifer Crusie
Published by St. Martin's Press
Released on August 31st, 2010
Source- publisher
2 stars- It's Ok

Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiance and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything…

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiance thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting…

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in-law, and, of course, her jealous fiance. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind… (quoted from Goodreads)

I have never read any of Jennifer Crusie's books before and I really didn't know what to except when I read Maybe This Time. When I was asked to review the book, I was drawn to it because of the paranormal twist. I think that sometimes readers think that adult books will have a YA appeal because of the paranormal element in the book, but this is not the case with Maybe This Time. I think adults who like a little bit of romance with a paranormal twist may enjoy it.

Maybe This Time follows the book's main character Andie, as she wants to rid her ex-husband of 10 years, a prominent lawyer, North Archer from her life once and for all. When she goes to his law office to do just that, she finds herself falling for him all over again. Not one to show weakness, Andie fights that feeling and finds herself saying Yes in helping him for a month. She is to go and take care of Alice and Carter, the two kids North is a guardian for. The kids live in an old Victorian style house that was brought over from England about a hundred years ago, and they refuse to leave the house, even though attempts have been made numerous times to move them up with Archer. While they have a caregiver, the nanny's keep running away.

Having never wanted to be a mother, Andie's maternal instincts take over the minute she meets the kids, but she also realizes something is not right in the house. Not only have the children never been properly cared for, but the house is very haunted. After a series of events, North returns to the house to help Andie, both their mothers are there, North's brother, and team of people who are their to investigate the ghosts. As things heat up, the ghosts become stronger, though they'd never harm the children, nothing has stopped them from killing in the past and nothing can stop them now. Andie and North (who doesn't believe in ghosts) will stop at nothing to protect the children and each other.

What I did like- I really loved how Andie came in and took charge over the children. She is one feisty character who came to care for and love two very broken kids and worked to make them better. Where everyone else gave up on them, I should say ran away, because of the ghosts that live in the house, Andie stood her ground to everyone and every ghost in order to protect the kids. I loved seeing her relationship with kids grow and seeing the kids come around and grow to love Andie. I liked the chemistry North and Andie have, as even after being divorced for 10 years neither has gotten over the other one. They both try to deny the feelings they have for each other at first, but in the end their hearts win out. I liked both North and Andie's mothers. Bothof them have some great flaws, but both are fiercely protective of their adult children, but not in that overbearingly bad way. I did like the ghosts/haunting in the book. It was a little creepy and a little predictable, but it was still good.

What I didn't like- I had a hard time getting into the story, until close to the end. There wasn't enough character building or plot depth to really keep me hooked. Over all there wasn't any depth to the story. I had a hard time finding the characters relatable. The story left me feeling a little empty, as I didn't take anything away from it. I didn't care for the language that's spread through out the book. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of the F word. I over it look it if it's used or twice, but more than that and it totally bugs me and sometimes will completely turn me off of the book. I didn't care for the sex scenes, even if it was hot. But, it's an adult book and that's excepted, it's just something that wasn't for me. I wanted to sit down and get lot in a great love story with a paranormal twist and that didn't happen.

Though Maybe This Time wasn't my cup of tea, but many adult readers & Jennifer Cruise fans may enjoy it.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, we have 1 copy of Maybe This Time to giveaway. This is open to residents in the US and Canada only. The winner will receive the book from St Martin's Press.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I Am Number Four Movie Trailer

Let's just say that this is an indulgence of sorts for a certain Mundie Mom we love. Also, hey, we all like watching Alex Pettyfer's latest film work, right? Right.

I liked the book (see the review here) and I do encourage you to pick it up and read it before heading out to see this, which looks chock full of action:

Banned Books Week Guest Author Post by Christine Johnson

So, during banned books week, there’s always a lot of discussion about how banning is a form of censorship and how terrible that is. That books are a commodity that should be available to everyone. I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m going come right out and say that I think censorship is okay. Banning books is absolutely fine.

But not in schools. Not at libraries.

Book banning belongs in individual homes.

Listen, I’m the first one to get my back up at the suggestion that someone else can tell me what to do or what to read/not read. And because I try *very, very hard* not to be hypocritical, I recognize that this means that I don’t get to tell other people what to read, either. If someone’s offended by the language in a book, or the content, they shouldn’t have to read it and neither should their kids. If parents have particular religious values or moral codes that preclude their kids from being exposed to certain materials, then they should monitor their family’s literary diets to make sure they’re appropriately wholesome.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to see this issue from the point of view of the book banners. As infuriating as I find their actions, they *genuinely* seem to feel that they’re doing good work. That they’re protecting the innocent from something harmful by keeping them from reading books that contain material they deem “inappropriate.” But I just can’t manage to digest their position that they somehow have the right to dictate the moral standards of entire schools. Entire library systems.

Why? Why isn’t it enough for them to tell their own children not to read SPEAK, or TWENTY BOY SUMMER, or pretty much anything Kurt Vonnegut’s ever written? Do they have so little control over their own kids that the only way to prevent them from reading this “smut” is to have it eradicated completely from their environments?

Book banning is - at it’s core - an issue of control. Controlling the information that’s available. Controlling what kids experience, literarily and otherwise. And that’s fine. I welcome ANYONE to control what their own kids read. If they are so deeply concerned that their child might stumble across something retina-searing in the public school library . . . all 50 states allow a child to be home-schooled. There are private, religious educational institutions whose literary selections are likely to be less controversial.

I disagree with those sort of strict reading standards, largely because I think the world is built with as much ugliness as loveliness and most of the banned/challenged books are at least trying to make sense of that ugliness. And teens most definitely need a way to make sense of the world’s horrors if they’re going to be expected to face them as adults. But I’m digressing. That’s *my* opinion. That’s why I’ll let my kids read without qualification, though I’ll be watching carefully and talking extensively with them about books that contain difficult topics.

If I don’t want anyone telling me that I *can’t* do it that way, then I realize that I have to suck it up and let other parents lock away those same books I’ll let my kids read. I have to let them hide their children from the ugliness even as I take my children’s hands and walk them through it.

So - message to the book banners, the censors, the zealots - HAVE AT IT. Go nuts. Redact GOODNIGHT MOON if you want to. I’ll even smile and wave as you do it. But keep that crap behind your own doors, please. Because the second you try to take my kid’s copy of HIS DARK MATERIALS or HARRY POTTER, you’ve gone too far. The second that you come into a *public* school and try to impose your *private* standards on the kids in those classrooms - that’s when those of us on this side of the issue will push back. And we’ll keep pushing until you’re safely locked inside your own homes, where your censorship belongs.

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Christine Johnson is the author of Claire De Lune. You can find out more about Christine and her writing by visiting her website here http://www.christinejohnsonbooks.com/

Thank you Christine for taking the time to share with us your thoughts about Banned Books Week!!

Book Review- When I Was Joe

Released on January 7, 2010
Source: Publisher
4 Stars- I really liked this book. Go pick it up!

Synopsis (From Frances Lincoln)When Ty witnesses a stabbing, his own life is in danger from the criminals he’s named, and he and his mum have to go into police protection. Ty has a new name, a new look and a cool new image – life as Joe is good, especially when he gets talent spotted as a potential athletics star, special training from an attractive local celebrity and a lot of female attention. But his mum can’t cope with her new life, and the gangsters will stop at nothing to flush them from hiding. Joe’s cracking under extreme pressure, and then he meets a girl with dark secrets of her own.

It took me a few pages to get the hang of this book, since it's the first UK book I've read and some of the words they used for different things and slang was new to me, but once I got comfortable with it I enjoyed it a lot. After poor Tyler goes to the police and confesses to be a witness of a murder he and his single mother are taken away from their home in London are given new identities and lives and are taken to live in a totally different town then what they're used to. Ty/Joe at first is angry about having to go down a grade in school and change his age to a year younger. Once they begin to live in their new home, Joe begins to embrace the change and the new clean slate he's been given to start again. He's seen as the new guy in school and since he's taller and bigger than most of the other boys he becomes very popular with the girls, he soon starts getting used to his life and begins to like himself as Joe.

Most of the book focuses on Ty/Joe's new life and how he tries to make the best of it even though his mother seems very depressed and is not willing to settle in their new home. While I was reading it and wondering where the story was going next we get a new spin in the story when Joe finds a girl that has something to hide and he feels she's someone he can really talk to as they become close and get to know each other. Unfortunately for Joe things don't stay the way he wants them too when the gang members that he's been hiding from get too close to home and his new life starts to crumble around him.

When I Was Joe was something new and very different from what I've read before and I definitely recommend it! It was a realistic view of urban violence and crime from the point of view of a 14 year old boy. Keren David has written a very well developed and original character. Joe was in my opinion a realistic portrayal of a teenage boy, and once we get into his mind while reading this story you can't help but feel the connection to him. I really felt so sorry for him when he was constantly trying to do the right thing but everything just seemed to be going wrong for him. Once you get halfway through the book and you think everything is going right you get all these unexpected surprises and more and more of Ty/Joe's real version of what really happened the night of the murder starts to unravel.

This book has so many serious topics that are woven into the story perfectly in a way that it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable while reading it, but it still seems very real and make you feel like you can relate to the characters and feel for them. Once you get to the end you wish you had the second book in your hands to read on and find out what will happen to Tyler next. Even though this books touches serious topics there's also the big mystery of the murder that keeps you glued to the pages, a bit of a love story that you want to see grow, some wit, and Joe's mind which lightens the story and pulls you right in to the middle of it that you don't want to see it end.

Thank you to Frances Lincoln Children's Books, we have 1 signed book we're giving away.

Waiting on Wednesday & Another NIGHTSHADE Clue


Published by Penguin
To Be Released on October 19th

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Nightshade has everything I want out of a book- action, mythology, wolves, an amazing love triangle, and a very strong female character, who's ultimate choice may cost her everything she's ever known. I highly recommend picking up Nightshade when it's out! This is one of my favorite reads of the year.

You can read more about Nightshade on Andrea's site here http://tinyurl.com/2a5287z and you preorder it here http://tinyurl.com/23cggjg

You can read my mini blurb here http://tinyurl.com/2ujl4og
I'll be posting my full review closer to the release date.
___________________

Recently Shay Doran's been sending out a lot clues about himself to bloggers. The goal is to solve the clues that lie hidden in these messages. *see below*

Shay is the other part of the fantastically written love triangle in Nightshade. I'm going to say that he's already winning over the hearts of many fans, and they've yet to really meet him. Just wait till you read about him in Nightshade. I'll admit, I'm torn between Shay and Ren.

I think I've figured out the first clue, but the second clue is a little harder. I swear it should be more obvious to me what the answer is. I should say I have it half solved. What do you think the clues say? Once the clue is revealed, we'll post it on our blog here and on Shay's facebook page.

I've posted our clues on Shay's Facebook Page here, and you can see the rest of the clues he's sent out. Be sure to watch his vlogs here http://www.shaydoran.com/ and you can subscribe/watch Shay's Youtube Channel here.

Here's what Shay recently sent us: *You can click on the picture to enlarge it*







Tuesday, September 28, 2010

We're Chatting With Grace Author, Elizabeth Scott Tonight!


*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.

*Please know that we will be discussing Grace by Elizabeth Scott!

*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, so that Elizabeth can answer your questions. With the high volume of guests expected tonight, not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat. If that is the case, we will be sure to send them to Elizabeth so that she can answer them, after which we will post them on the blog and our forum.

*In respect to Elizabeth's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to their current writings, and book.

*We will not post any personal questions or comments.

* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.

*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!

Banned Books Week Guest Author Post by Myra McEntire

Are You There, Judy? It's Me, Myra

When I was in elementary and middle school, I was the nerdiest kid alive, like, ever.

Seriously.

When you’re young, you don’t know how to own your inner nerd, you just feel every single second of being different. You pray one day you’ll get rid of the glasses and the too skinny legs and the propensity to fall over (especially when seventh graders tripped you).

I had two saving graces back then. Dancing was one. I didn’t always follow the steps (okay, I never followed the steps, sorry Ms. Humphries). I just followed my imagination and went where the music took me. The smells of the studio - rosin for the toe shoes, the leather of the ballet slippers, Chapstick – soothed me in a way nothing else could.

Except for the smell of books.

Whether they were from the tiny Colonial Heights Library or from B.Dalton bookstore, or from the shelves at my home or my grandmother’s, books were always the cure for everything. They gave me a chance to live in someone else’s world, escape my own. I could solve mysteries like Trixie Belden (and I still own all the originals), paint a cat like Ramona, or write secrets in my notebook like Harriet the Spy. I could live in a New York City apartment building like Peter Hatcher or Shelia the Great. I could ride horses like Black Beauty or The Black Stallion.

I could learn about very mature things, such as different religions and menstruation, like Margaret.

My parents had no issues with me reading these books. I reckon my teachers didn’t either. The problems came when I tried to tell my second grade class about them.

I can still see the look on Mrs. Cheeseburger’s* face when I ended my oral book report on ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME, MARGARET with, “And then she got her period.”

My mom had to meet me in the principal's office.

That book started a love affair with Judy Blume’s works, a love affair that had more influence on the way I think as an adult than I can properly assess. I went to a tiny rural school. Almost everyone was Protestant – we thought even Catholics were a little bit touched. I certainly never met anyone who was Jewish, or interacted with anyone of another race. In this case, it wasn’t because of prejudice. It was because of exposure.

So when Margaret questioned religion, so did I. When an African-American family moved into IGGIE’S HOUSE, I didn’t doubt Winnie’s choice to stand up for them when certain neighbors got ugly. I felt empathy for Jill when people called her BLUBBER, because even though I was on the opposite end of the weight spectrum, I caught hell for looking different, too.

Even today, when my youngest child tries to take flight from the top of the refrigerator or takes off his pants in the grocery store, I repeat this mantra: Farley Drexel Hatcher, Farley Drexel Hatcher, Farley Drexel Hatcher …

Judy Blume’s books took me places I never would have gone, physically and emotionally, if I had been left to my own devices. They helped me grow up. They made me socially aware.

Imagine if her books hadn’t been allowed on the shelves?

Who would that nerdy girl be today?

Not the same at all. So I raise a glass to Judy Blume and all the other authors out there who aren’t afraid to tell the stories that should be told.

I owe you who I am, and ultimately, I owe you what I do for a living.

And I’m grateful.

--
Myra McEntire is the author of the upcoming HOURGLASS (Egmont USA, May 24, 2011). She lives with her husband and two children in Nashville, where she is most likely at this very moment trying to convince her youngest to wear pants.

You can find out more about Myra by visiting her blog: http://writingfinally.blogspot.com

*names have been changed to protect the guilty

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