Authors in the Corner: Sara Hantz

Today we have a guest blog from Sara Hantz

Sara Hantz started writing when she ran out of degrees to study and decided it was much more fun to make things up than to comment on dry academics. Born in England, she moved to New Zealand a few years ago with her husband and two children. The Second Virginity of Suzy Green is Sara's first novel.

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School....... the best days of our lives????

When Megan asked me to blog, at first I couldn’t think of what to blog about. Then I thought, why not talk about school, as The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, is all about Suzy trying to change from being a girl always in trouble to the perfect student.

I don’t know about you, but I was told repeatedly that school days are the best days of your life. But, I didn't get it. How could they be? I was always in trouble for disrupting lessons, dying my hair non-regulation colors (well, as school shirts were blue, I fail to see how having a blue flash at the front of my hair was a problem - it matched), having a small radio in my purse and balancing it on my shoulder so I could listen to it (this was before iPods).... the list goes on and on.

I couldn't wait to leave. But once I did, school took on a whole new meaning. I thought going out to work meant no one would be telling me what to do every hour of the day (like in school). Wrong! At school, unless you do something really bad, they can't kick you out for underperforming, unlike work. And school hours being 9-4, with two breaks and an hour and a quarter for lunch, is pretty good when compared with working 8-6 or however long it takes to get the job done. And as for the long school holidays. Try swapping that for 3 weeks a year.

And let’s not forget what they actually teach you at school. I might not have valued it then, but I sure do now. Education gives you choices. So when you come to decide what career you want you're not restricted.

So, best days of my life? Not the best but, with hindsight, better than I thought. And my BFF I have known since school.

What about you, how do you feel about school?

Thanks again, Sara!

You can visit Sara on her website.

And check out my review of Sara's novel, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green, here.

I Want You! (To Share Your Opinion)

Hello, fellow book lovers! I've been meaning to ask you all a question. What's your opinion on a blogger posting about personal things?

Do you guys think that I should post about personal things? Or should I just keep it strictly to books/authors/etc.?

And I'd like to think that you'll respond without a reason, but sometimes that's just not true. So, you get an extra entry to mystery contest #2 if you respond.

But, you have to have emailed me with your first entry (see post here) in order to receive the extra entry. And as a warning now and to future entries, if you do not answer the question I've asked, your entry does not count.

Thanks guys.

Review: Mercy, Unbound

Mercy, Unbound

Kim Antieau

Mercy O’Connor is becoming an angel. She can feel the wings coming from her shoulder blades. Sometimes, she can hear them, and sometimes they are very uncomfortable. So she knows she’s becoming an angel. And angels don’t need to eat. So she doesn’t eat. Her parents, however, are not as sure.

Out of concern, her parents send her to a clinic called Mercywood that specializes in eating disorders. Mercy can’t understand why. She can see the other girls there definitely need help. But, she knows she doesn’t have an eating disorder. She doesn’t care about her weight. But when no one else can see her wings, Mercy begins to doubt. What if she’s killing herself?

I have to admit, I did take the first line of my review from the back of the book. It just seemed too perfect not to use it. So there, it’s cited. Mercy, Unbound was an amazing book. I was a little apprehensive when I saw that it only had 165 pages, but this book continued to surprise me. The lesson Mercy had to learn was deep. The number of pages didn’t keep the message away.

I loved Mercy’s character. Kim Antieau allowed half of the novel to be Mercy’s thoughts, and it gave a clear insight on her character. The more I would read this book, the more I would hope that Mercy would be okay. If you’re looking for a deep, meaningful read with a short page count, this is the book for you.

Mystery Contest #2 (Please Accept My Apologies)

Sorry again fellow booklovers. I've been working for the past few days and am just *exhausted*. I haven't had time to put together any new exciting posts, or write some reviews, or compile contest links betweeen last Thursday and today. Hopefully I'll get to writing some more wonderful reviews for all you wonderful people.

However, I will tell you that mystery contest number 2 is starting NOW!

(Sorry, all you out of US booklovers [I love you!]. Even number contest means that it's only open to US residents.)

If you'd like to be entered, please email me (subj: Mystery Contest #2) and tell me the book you most enjoyed reading this summer!

As always, you can get extra entries for blogging about this contest and linking to it.

So here's what's coming up this week:
Book Reviews (maybe start posting another review on a weekend? scheduled? I'd love some input!)
Guest blog with Sara Hantz
(hopefully!) Maintenance to the blog

Look for reviews of these books soon:
Mercy, Unbound
The Year of Disappearances (also cross posted on the awesome blog Genre of the Month)
How to be Bad
serafina67
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Rumors
Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty
Debbie Harry Sings in French

My TBR list is now almost non existant. Uh oh.

Go! Enter!

Review: The Strand Prophecy

The Strand Prophecy

J.B.B. Winner

Evolution has always been a huge part of our world. Now, it’s even bigger. We’re approaching a cycle of evolution brought on by radiation that will rapidly change everything. Prey will become predators. Predators will become prey. And humans are the most abundant in the world.

This is the message the mysterious Strand brings to the president. But when the president refuses to acknowledge it, he leaks the research on the internet. The next day, what he predicted occurs in Brazil.

Steve Cutter was a cold, indifferent scientist until his brother dies in a car accident. His brother’s daughter, Anna, has become the center of his world. He must do anything to protect her. He might even become someone else.

I wasn’t sure of what I was getting myself into when I picked up The Strand Prophecy. I had cringed at the words “It’s ‘X-Men Meets Jurassic Park…’” on the back cover. And I had to pull myself through the first few pages. But after that, I was pulled into the book. It kind of reminded me of a science fiction version of the movie Iron Man, but totally different on many different levels. I would highly recommend this book to any science fiction lover.

Authors in the Corner: Stephanie Kuehnert

Today, our visiting author is Stephanie Kuehnert.

Stephanie Kuehnert got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist 'zines. Stephanie received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. Her debut novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone—a raw, edgy emotional tale about growing up punk and living to tell—will be published by MTV Books in July 2008. You can visit her at http://www.stephaniekuehnert.com/ or www.myspace.com/theblacknotebooks.

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Performance Anxiety

My debut YA novel I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone officially comes out on July 8th. That’s less than one week away. People keep asking me if I’m excited, which, duh, of course I am, but I’m also totally freaked.

I had a lot of different hobbies when I was younger. I couldn’t seem to settle on one particular thing to stick with (besides writing, which I’ve been doing since I learned how). I played clarinet for a couple years, then I was in Chorus, and I’ve taken guitar lessons on three separate occasions. I had a painting phase, a drawing phase, and a ceramic phase. I quit ballet for gymnastics, quit gymnastics for stage crew, and quit stage crew to act.

Eighth grade was my actress year. I was in three plays that year. I loved trying out, I loved rehearsing, and then performance time came… My stomach twisted in knots. I couldn’t sleep. I wondered why in the world did I do this to myself? I hate addressing large groups of people. I’m a shy person by nature. I’m much happier hanging out with one or two friends or in my room by myself listening to music and reading. Why, oh why, did I sign up to go out and perform in front of all these people?

Yeah, that’s exactly how I’m feeling right now. I’ve lined up this whole slew of events to celebrate the release of my book and now I realize that I have to *do* them. I’ve gotta read in front of people, many of them strangers in other cities. I’ve gotta worry if people are even going to show up. In fact, it’s kind of even worse because with plays at least I didn’t write the dialogue I was speaking or the action I was performing. I wasn’t responsible for the whole story, just a small piece of it. Now I wrote the thing and I have to perform it. And yes, I’ve been rehearsing by doing open mics and appearing at reading events with friendly familiar audiences for awhile now, but it hasn’t made it any less scary. Seriously, can we just call the whole thing off???

No. No, I can’t. In fact, Amazon.com is already selling the book before the official release date, so it’s out there right now for the masses to judge. And plane tickets have been bought and commitments have been made, so I’ve gotta do the events like I promised. *Sigh* So now I have to remember the rest of the eighth grade actress experience, which is that once I got onstage and got into my role, I loved it. It was a great rush. I enjoyed the applause and I never majorly screwed up and when I got criticism it made me a better actress. Besides, unlike acting, which was just a phase, writing is my life and is the only thing I never quit to try something else. So I really have no choice, but to step on the stage and enjoy my moment. If I’m in a town near you, I hope you will come enjoy it with me.

Thanks so much, Stephanie!

So if you haven't been paying much attention lately, this week is Stephanie week in honor of the release of IWBYJR over at Shooting Stars Mag! They have this really cool contest going on, so you should go and check it out!

Oh No! (Oops, I Did It Again)

Well... I thought I had scheduled a post for yesterday of contest links, but apparently I hadn't. Sorry guys! I still haven't unpacked from my trip and all. But, later you guys will get an awesome guest blog! So check in for that laters.

In the meantime, I'll tryyyyyy to get things back the way the schedule dictates. (But, I might end up doing away with the contest links on tuesdays and do something else. Then just posting contest links when I come across them. Which is wayyy easier.)

Bye guys!