Mundie Moms

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Clockwork Angel Deleted Scenes


Cassie sure knows how to get us through the work day. Earlier today Cassie posted some deleted Clockwork Angel scenes here on her site. Here's a sample of one of the scenes:

This scene is part of the conversation Tessa and Jem have on Blackfriars Bridge. Jem tells Tessa more about his heritage and the state of relations between Britain and China during and after the Opium Wars.

"There was a place in China," said Jem, "called the Yuanming Yuan. The Gardens of Perfect Brightness. It was an Imperial residence. My went there to vist the Emperor once, a sort of ambassadorial visit from the Nephilim. She said it was the most beautiful place she had ever been. There were exquisite gardens, paintings, music, beautiful pavilions. They called it 'the Garden of gardens.'" He looked out over the water. "Fifteen years ago the British tore it to the ground. Reprisals for something that happened during the Arrow War. They killed the guards, stole anything they thought they could sell, and set the palace on fire. It took three days to burn. There's nothing left of all that beauty now but silent stones and scorched earth."

"I'm sorry," Tessa told him, having no idea what else she could possibly say.

"No one here cares, of course," said Jem. "They have never heard of the Gardens. Lord Elgin was the one who ordered the Gardens burned; for that, they made him viceroy of India. He is a celebrated man now. For what he did in my country I should hate him and all the Englishmen like him."

His voice was cool and clear, and sent a shiver up Tessa's spine. Across the bridge from them, the strolling couple had paused at a parapet; the man seemed to be pointing down at something at the water, the woman nodding as he spoke. "And do you? Hate them?"

"It does not matter," said Jem. "I am more than anything else a Shadowhunter. I am a brother to the Nephilim of England more than I am a brother to any mundane of the land where I was born. And when Nephilim look at me, they see only a Shadowhunter. It is the mundanes who look at me and see something they do not understand—a boy who is not quite white and not quite foreign either."

"Just as I am not human, and not demon either," Tessa said softly.

His eyes softened. "You are human," he said. "Never think you are not. I have seen you with your brother; I know how you care for him. If you can feel hope, guilt, sorrow, love—then you are human."

Be sure to visit Cassie's site here http://www.theinfernaldevices.com/infernalseries/ID1delete.html to read more!!

Book Review : Bran Hambric - The Specter Key

By Kaleb Nation
Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Released October 2010
Audio- audible.com
3 Stars- It was a good read.
The must-read follow-up from 21-year-old author phenom Kaleb Nation, creator of TwilightGuy.com
Blogging phenom Kaleb Nation delivers an exceptional follow-up to his debut hit, The Farfield Curse.

Re-enter the world of Dunce where magical hero Bran Hambric has recently discovered a safe deposit box in his mother's name-in the very vault where he was discovered as a boy.

Now he's on a frightening path that eventually leads to his father, whom Bran believed to be dead. When Bran's best friend, Astara, is kidnapped and turned into a Specter, he must explore a side of himself he never knew existed. But will the magic destroy him the way it destroyed his mother?

Bran Hambric - The Specter Key, was surprising. I was skeptical about reading it, but it's obvious from the first chapter that the author's writing has grown since book one. Kaleb Nation's attention to detail makes it easy to picture yourself in Bran's world tagging along side him.


In the anticipated sequel to The Fairfield Curse Bran takes you on another journey, inching closer to the truth about his mother. Bran is still living in Dunce with the Wilomas's waiting on Rosie to return. One night at the bank, he stubbles across a safe deposit box with his mothers name on it - it holds a secret, a deadly secret; that eventually leads him to his father.

When Bran's best friend Astara is changed into a specter, Bran will stop an nothing to save her. Bran's journey was my favorite part of the story. You never know what is going to happen next. One minute he is on a plane with a human and then the next he is in an underwater car. It's like Kaleb woke up an decided to put all the mythological stuff he could think off in one book - and I don't mean that in a bad way; it's what keeps Bran Hambric interesting.

I really enjoyed the second book, but I still think it is missing the crossover appeal that other books in the same genre have. The younger Harry Potter fans will love this series.

The Cinderella Society E-Book Celebration & Giveaway

We are honored to help author Kay Cassidy celebrate the E-book release of her debut novel, The Cinderella Society, which released yesterday!!! To celebrate, author Kay Cassidy has put together a wonderful prize basket for us to giveaway.

Here's what the basket includes:

* Metal glass slipper bookmark

* Miniature TCS glass slipper

* "Life should not be lived, it should be celebrated" jeweled keychain

* "Live-Love-Laugh" angel wall hanger

* "Believe" jeweled mini wall hanger

* Red and pink swirl notecards


You can purchase your E-Book of The Cinderella Society here at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can follow Kay on her blog here


Please be sure to fill out THIS FORM for your chance to win Kay's The Cinderella Society Giveaway Basket.


Author Interview with Samantha Young, author of Lunarmorte

I am very excited to have Samantha Young, author of a wonderful debut book Lunarmorte, on our blog today. Here's a synopsis of the story:

Existing in the shadows of our world are supernatural races; children blessed by the ancient Greek gods with unimaginable gifts, and at present they are fighting a two-thousand-year old war with one another.

The Midnight Coven, an alliance of dark magiks, faeries, and daemons born of black magik, believe that the vampyres and lykans are lesser supernaturals and a threat to mankind. They are at war with the Daylight Coven, a confederate of light magiks, faeries, vampyres and lykans who believe in the equality of the races.

Into this war seventeen-year-old Caia Ribeiro is born...a lykan with a heritage unlike any other. A heritage that, whether she wants it to or not, will put her into the very heart of battle... (quoted from Goodreads).

I absolutely love your richly detailed mythology in Lunarmorte. What inspired you to write such a vivid mythology?

I’d always wanted to write fantasy fiction, but I had been waiting for something that little bit different to inspire the kind of vibrant supernatural world I wanted to create. It was during my classes at university where I was studying ancient and medieval history that I first really explored the mythology of the ancient Greeks and realised how perfect these wonderfully complex gods could be as creators of supernatural races, and how some of the Greek myths themselves could be adapted to the pre-existing folklore surround supernatural beings.

I was fascinated by your unique spin with paranormal characters and their ability. Which character did you enjoy writing the most?

In Book One I definitely loved writing Caia’s character. She’s pretty unique as far as paranormal character’s go and it gave me such a wide spectrum to play with. Moreover, because she’s so special, her character development was so much fun. She really grows as the novel progresses and continues to do so in the next instalment; getting to create someone as spunky and kick-ass as Caia is the best job ever…I tend to forget that she’s fictional and hopefully readers will too :-p

Which character surprised you the most in terms of their character growth?

I was surprised mostly with Jaeden’s character because even though I always had certain plans for her (no spoilers) I hadn’t realised at the outset how much that would affect her character development. I’m so happy with the ways things turned out with Jaeden’s character growth, however, because she’s definitely one of my favourite characters out of the entire trilogy.

I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Are you able to give us any hints about what we can expect in the sequel?

The war really becomes the forefront of the story in the second instalment as Caia is inevitably drawn into it. Moreover, the world of Lunarmorte opens up to the life outside of the Pack so we’re introduced to some really interesting supernaturals.; there’s plenty of action and intrigue as Caia explores life amongst the leaders and warriors of the Daylight Coven.

Do you have a favorite paranormal book that you'd recommend to us to read?

*Big smile* I think you may be familiar with my favourite paranormal book…or books should I say. I absolutely love The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I also love, love, love the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Too many to choose from…I can’t do something as simple as pick just one. Book worm.
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Thank you Samantha for being with us today! We love that you're a big TMI fan. :)

You can read my 5 star review for Lunarmorte here- http://tinyurl.com/26fy9f5
You can read more about Lunarmorte by visiting Samantha's site here http://samyoungyafantasyauthor.blogspot.com/.
You purchase a copy of the book here http://tinyurl.com/27rvcy5

Waiting On Wednesday- Anna and the French Kiss

By Stephanie Perkins
Published by Dutton Books/Penguin
To Be Released On December 2nd, 2010

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris — until she meets Étienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna — and readers — have long awaited? (quoted from Stephanie's site).

We are really looking forward to this release! Let me just say, I am in love with this book. It's perfect for those days when you want to put on some comfy house pants, snuggle under a blanket by a warm fire, and get lost in a wonderful read. It's one of those reads you fall helplessly in love with, and want to go back and re-read it once you've finished it. I highly recommend pre-ording it and I'll be sharing my review soon.

You can find out more about Anna and The French Kiss by visiting Stephanie's website.

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, and allows us to spotlight a book that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

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