quotes Elisquared likes


"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."— John Green

9.25.2013

YALLFest Interview with Ransom Riggs

Hey everyone!  Here's another exciting YALLFest interview to share with you! 

If you didn't know (and you really should because it is an awesome event) YALLFest is a great YA Author Festival held in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by Blue Bicycle Books. Still a baby, with 2013 being it's third year, YALLFest brings some of the BIGGEST names in YA books together for one day of ridiculous amazing fun.  To get people excited, they have picked bloggers across the internet to host interviews with the authors attending the festival.  I am one such lucky blogger!  

Check out the rockstar author that will be gracing us with his presence at the festival down below and keep checking back as the countdown to YALLFest keeps going! And you can always follow ALL the updates by checking out their twitter: @YALLFest


The Interview

What one thing do you need to have when you write?
Silence. My noise-cancelling headphones have become almost essential.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
The first. I rewrite and rewrite it a million times. The last comes easy.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
1. I’m six foot four. 
2. I lived on a working farm until I was five. 
3. I used to know how to cook Indian food but now I've forgotten. 
4. I love documentaries. 
5. One day I will conquer the moon.

What are you working on now?
A novel for Little, Brown the plot of which is SECRET! (Sort of, for now. But I’m really excited about it.)

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?
Oh, definitely YA to write in. I read everything, lots of YA, lots of adult, nonfiction of all sorts. I even read poetry when I’m feeling ambitious. I think it’s crucial to have lots of different influences. If you only read in the genre you write in, your writing will sound like everything else that’s already out there.



The Books


Meet Ransom Riggs
"I do a lot of different things, which can make for a rambling and confused-sounding answer when I am asked, as I often am in work-obsessed Los Angeles, “So ... what do you do?”  But I will attempt to answer this question, in list form: 
• I write books.  First, a non-fiction book about Sherlock Holmes.  Then a novel about peculiar children.  Then a book of found photographs with writing on them.  I'm fairly certain there are more novels on the way. I can feel them clanking around half-formed in my brain.  
• I make movies.  I went to film school and made a lot of shorts there, then after I graduated I got jobs making short and some book trailers, too, like this and this. I also write screenplays and make the occasional video blog. 
• I word-blog for mentalfloss.com.  My favorite column is a series of photo-travel-essays called Strange Geographies."

9.23.2013

YALLFest Interview with Rainbow Rowell

Hey everyone!  Here's another exciting YALLFest interview to share with you! 

If you didn't know (and you really should because it is an awesome event) YALLFest is a great YA Author Festival held in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by Blue Bicycle Books. Still a baby, with 2013 being it's third year, YALLFest brings some of the BIGGEST names in YA books together for one day of ridiculous amazing fun.  To get people excited, they have picked bloggers across the internet to host interviews with the authors attending the festival.  I am one such lucky blogger!  

Check out the rockstar author that will be gracing us with her presence at the festival down below and keep checking back as the countdown to YALLFest keeps going! And you can always follow ALL the updates by checking out their twitter: @YALLFest



The Interview

What one thing do you need to have when you write?
Lip balm.

Describe your book in 5 words.
FANGIRL: Earnest, snowy, swoony, minty, bookish.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
THE FIRST!  The whole first page is a nightmare.  I want people to just skip it.  And I always end up rewriting it.

Best writing tip you ever received?
“Just finish your book.”

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. I think it would have made me feel less alone.

Where's your favorite place to write?
 At coffeeshops. In giant overstuffed chairs.

What are you working on now?
I’m revising my adult novel, Landline, which comes out in spring 2014, and playing with a romantic/political/tragicomic fantasy.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?
I write mostly contemporary. I read mostly fantasy.

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length novel?
All of my ideas are full-length novels. I have a hard time narrowing my scope.


The Books



Meet Rainbow Rowell
Rainbow Rowell writes books. 
Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline). 
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor & Park and Fangirl). 
But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love. 
When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things. 
She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.

9.20.2013

YALLFest Interview with Sean Williams

Hey everyone!  Here's another exciting YALLFest interview to share with you! 

If you didn't know (and you really should because it is an awesome event) YALLFest is a great YA Author Festival held in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by Blue Bicycle Books. Still a baby, with 2013 being it's third year, YALLFest brings some of the BIGGEST names in YA books together for one day of ridiculous amazing fun.  To get people excited, they have picked bloggers across the internet to host interviews with the authors attending the festival.  I am one such lucky blogger!  

Check out the rockstar author that will be gracing us with his presence at the festival down below and keep checking back as the countdown to YALLFest keeps going!  And you can always follow ALL the updates by checking out their twitter: @YALLFest



The Interview

What one thing do you need to have when you write?
The right music. And chocolate as a reward when I finish.

Describe your book (Twinmaker) in 5 words.
Jump meets Uglies. But different.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
The first line is often the hardest to write, but I like a good challenge. The line I like writing the least is the last because it means I have a whole load of rewriting ahead of me.

Best writing tip you ever received?
Give up. If you can do that, you’ll be happier and probably better off as a result. If you can’t, then you know writing is exactly the right thing for you!

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
1) I live in Adelaide, South Australia, a place that’s home to about a million other people but somehow feels like a small town, which is why I love it.
2) I still think music from the 1980s is cool.
3) My stepson has situs invertus, which means his heart is on the wrong side of his body. That’s not really about me, but it is pretty random.
4) I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who.
5) I’m minding a pair of green tree frogs, Skipper and Jumpy, for a young friend while she’s overseas with her family. You can see pictures of them on my Facebook page.

Where's your favorite place to write?
In my study, a lovely upstairs nook containing all my favorite book-related things, but I’ve trained myself to write anywhere as long as I have my headphones and some music. I quite like writing in hotels, probably because someone else does all the household chores.

What are you working on now?
Crashland, the sequel to Twinmaker.


Books by Sean Williams

Young Adult

Children's
PLUS Several Adult books!

AMAZONBARNES & NOBLEBOOK DEPOSITORY| INKWOOD BOOKS


Meet Sean Williams
Sean Williams was born in the dry, flat lands of South Australia, where he still lives with his wife and family. He has been called many things in his time, including “the premier Australian speculative fiction writer of the age” (Aurealis), the “Emperor of Sci-Fi” (Adelaide Advertiser), and the “King of Chameleons” (Australian Book Review) for the diversity of his output.  That award-winning output includes forty novels for readers all ages, eighty short stories across numerous genres, the odd published poem, and even a sci-fi musical. He is a multiple recipient of the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards in multiple categories and has been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Seiun Award, and the William Atheling Jr. Award for criticism. He received the “SA Great” Literature Award in 2000 and the Peter McNamara Award for contributions to Australian speculative fiction in 2008. His latest series are Troubletwisters, a fantasy for middle grade readers co-written with Garth Nix, and Twinmaker, a near-future thriller for young adults (and old adults too). His short story “The Missing Metatarsals”, set in the Twinmaker universe, is available online at Lightspeed Magazine.

9.16.2013

YALLFest Interview with C.J. Lyons

Hey everyone!  Here's another exciting YALLFest interview to share with you! 

If you didn't know (and you really should because it is an awesome event) YALLFest is a great YA Author Festival held in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by Blue Bicycle Books. Still a baby, with 2013 being it's third year, YALLFest brings some of the BIGGEST names in YA books together for one day of ridiculous amazing fun.  To get people excited, they have picked bloggers across the internet to host interviews with the authors attending the festival.  I am one such lucky blogger!  

Check out the rockstar author that will be gracing us with her presence at the festival down below and keep checking back as the countdown to YALLFest keeps going!



The Interview

Describe your book in 5 words:
Girl dying of broken heart (literally)

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
The first. I’ll often return to it over and over again until I’ve sliced and diced and fine-honed it to that perfect combination of intrigue, visceral reaction, and emotional connection with the reader.

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?
Code Name Verity because it is so emotionally honest and inspiring, empowering, not to mention gut-wrenching. Really brings the era to life as well as the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
(1) When I was a kid I worked summer stock theatre and was actually a theatre major undergrad before switching to pre-med.  (2) I’ve had two hard landings in helicopters while working as a flight doc.  (3) I survived rampaging Cape Horn Buffalo and a pack of wild baboons, not to mention a leopard (he’d already eaten) while hiking in Hells Gate Park in Kenya.  (4) I’m a Capricorn.  (5) I diagnosed my niece with the heart condition that’s at the center of my YA thriller, BROKEN.

What are you working on now?
DAMAGED, my next YA thriller, due out in 2014. It deals with the really tough topic of abuse and coercion and is the most difficult book I’ve ever tackled—there have been times while writing when I was literally in tears as I typed.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To read?
I created my own genre of Thrillers with Heart—I love writing fast paced stories with raising stakes but centered on the emotional heart of an evolving relationship. As for reading, I read almost every genre but especially love YA, magical realism, and thrillers. As long as a story grabs me by the throat and won’t let me go because I’m too worried about what the characters are going through, I’ll read it and love it.



Books by C.J. Lyons
Young Adult
Coming Nov. 5th
Adult
 All Published

AMAZONBARNES & NOBLEBOOK DEPOSITORY| INKWOOD BOOKS


C.J. Lyons
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen novels, former pediatric ER doctor C.J. Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.  CJ has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy. She has worked in numerous trauma centers, on the Navajo reservation, as a crisis counselor, victim advocate, as well as a flight physician for Life Flight and Stat Medevac.  CJ has been a story-teller all her life, always creating stories about people discovering the courage to make a difference. This drove her into writing thrillers centering on strong relationships and led her to coin the term: Thrillers with Heart.

9.14.2013

Little Fish Back to School Blog Tour + Giveaway!


Little Fish: A Memoir From a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer


Author: Ramsey Beyer
Published Date: September 3, 2013
Published by: 


Summary:
Ramsey Beyer's debut autobiographical graphic novel, Little Fish: A Memoir from A Different Kind of Year, is the coming-of-age story of a small-town high schooler's transformation into an independent city-dwelling college freshman. Told through a blend of journal entries and lists plus comic-style artwork and collages, the book touches on challenges every student meets when facing the world for the first time on their own, and the unease - as well as excitement - that comes along with those challenges. Everyone can relate to Ramsey's journey from childhood to independence - from adjusting to being away from home to navigating new friendships and finding the right path.

Get your hands on a copy of the book here:
     
Or, if you're really awesome, you'll order from MY favorite bookstore: Inkwood Books


My Review:
Graphic novels are one of my obsessions.  I love them and devour my library's collection on a daily basis.  My librarian calls me when they have a new one in, my craze is so bad.  So when Zest Books asked me to be a part of the Little Fish Back to School Blog Tour, I was so very on that!

Opening up this book I felt transported back to my first year of college.  Obviously it was a very different experience but the same feelings were present.  That is what Beyer captures so well in her words and illustrations.  College is a invigorating, terrifying, exciting, and trying time whether or not you already have a grasp on what you want for the future.  You're meeting new people, gaining new experiences, and increasing your perceptions.  Just as Beyer did.  The lists she includes and the small details of that time ring true, and I never felt that she was isolating her experience into something only she would understand.  No, instead with a beautiful illustration and some choice phrases she invites you inside and welcomes you.

In English Education we talk about connections to books: Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, and Text-to-World.  This book really brought a Text-to-Self connection for me and I'm sure it will to everyone else who reads it.  Filled with funny moments, heartbreaking moments, embarrassing moments, and tender moments, Little Fish: A Memoir From a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer should not be missed!  

If you want a copy for yourself, enter my giveaway below OR check out the purchase links above.

FINAL VERDICT: 4.5 STARS!


About Ramsey Beyer:
Ramsey Beyer grew up on a farm in Michigan before escaping
to city life in Baltimore, MD, where she received a BFA in
experimental animation. She currently lives in Philadelphia, PA
and keeps her hands busy with all sorts of projects and activities,
including gardening, riding her bike all over Philly, taking her dog
Rover for long walks, and working on comics in coffee shops.
She has been making zines since 2004 when she discovered a
love of minicomics through Snakepit, Jeffrey Brown, Nicole
Georges, and Clutch. Little Fish is her first published book.

Follow Ramsey Beyer here:
Facebook  |  Tumblr  |  Twitter  |  Website


Giveaway:
  • 1 winner will receive: a prize packet that includes a finished copy of the book and an awesome poster, as well some Zesty swag!

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