I am So Sorry

I am so sorry, everyone.

This is the first year where I just COULDN'T get a post written everyday.

Things are going on right now that are kind of stressing me out and I couldn't keep up with responding to all your wonderful comments (which were all very much appreciated!).

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go back to my original schedule and post only once a week. But because I signed up for the A to Z Challenge, I want to still be a part of it in a way. So instead of one letter everyday, I'll be finishing up the month vowel style (one vowel for each week remaining week).

Because this is the third week, I'll be doing the third vowel on Friday.

I

I is for Instant Queue

Welcome back!!

Sorry about yesterday's late post. Yesterday was a bad day. Let's just leave it at that.

So here is another one of my great loves!!

Okay, so it's not letting me get any images (sigh), but my other great love is...

Netflix Instant Queue

It has made me so happy over the last year or so. It has given me access to BBC movies and tv shows like Sense and Sensibility and Doctor Who (because I don't pay for tv--rabbit ears, baby!). It has saved me money by not having to go out and buy a million movies.

And it has provided hours of quiet when I just needed a little "me" moment away from the kids. 

Yup, that's right. Sometimes situations demand you make the tv the babysitter while you take a bubble bath and cool down from a bad day.

Am I ashamed? Not one bit.

So, thank you, Netflix Instant Queue. I love you. I love you so much.

By the way, come back later (noonish eastern standard time) for an Indie Life post! And yes, I realize I could have used I for Indie Life right now, but I really needed to spread my love for Netflix. I'll be using "I" again later. :)

H is for "How You Doin'?"

Back today with another love...

Yup. I watched Friends growing up. I loved it and Joey was my favorite. I'm not ashamed to admit I also had a Central Perk t-shirt.

Did you watch this show? Which character was your favorite?

G is for Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

Welcome back! I'm talking about another one of my great loves today; another one of those things that helped make the Emily you see today. :)

I actually grew up with an Omnibus of Fairy Tales, which are the abridged, child friendly tales taken from the work above.

I still have the book, though it's missing its spine (and now held together with packing tape) and I read the stories to my own children (whenever I can get them to sit still long enough), but I purchased a copy of Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales a few years ago. 

I grew fascinated with just how much the stories had changed from one work to another. I started to come up with conspiracy theories as to why we'd make them more lighthearted and who would benefit the most from doing so. And I realized that, obviously, the villains in the stories would have the most to gain. If we forgot them and how truly horrible they were, they'd have a chance to grow more powerful.

It was actually that thought that inspired me to write my YA Contemporary Fantasy, ALMOST NIGHT (you can see more about it in the My Books page above). 

So what about you? Have you read the original tales? Or did you grow up on one of the other versions?

D is for Doctor Who!

The A to Z Challenge continues and we're back with another one of my loves. And OHHHHHH!!!!

The Doctor!!!!

I'm a new fan. Yes, one those. 

But I swear I'm at least knowledgeable enough to know that show does not begin and end with #11 up there.

Though I do love bowties now. 

I also have a plan for surviving the weeping angel invasion.

And I can pronounce dalek correctly. Oh yeah. That's a real fan. :P

Which reminds me of another "d" word...

LOL! Have a great A to Z day, everyone!

C is For C.S. Lewis

Welcome back! We're still going through the A to Z Challenge and today I'll be talking about another great love of mine.

Isn't that a great author picture? 

Sitting all scholarly on a high-backed chair with a book on his lap. 

Makes me wish I had something that debonair. 

Okay, so C.S. Lewis is kind of my hero. He wrote what moved him in order to teach something important to his readers. He's a legend. And his words continue to affect the world YEARS after his death. 

That's amazing. And a blessing. And I pray on a day-to-day basis that I'll have a fraction of his success.

What person today doesn't know about Aslan? Or Narnia? Or The White Witch?

What child hasn't cherished his words? 

And what hero has molded who you are today?

B is For Bazinga!

For those stopping by for the first time, I'm participating in the A to Z Challenge and sharing all my loves.

Today is:

Yes, readers. That guy. 

I can't say he makes the show because the whole cast is brilliant, but he definitely adds his own bazinga flavor to it all.

Sheldon Cooper with pretty much the best catch phrase in the world.

A is For Atlantis, The Stargate Variety

Is it April already??

I've been doing the A-Z Challenge since its inception and I'm super excited to be doing it yet another year! Welcome to those new to the Challenge as well as veterans!

If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I suggest you get with it. This is like the biggest thing in the blogging world. :P

The linky list for all participants is HUGE, so I won't be including it here. But I will give you the link to get back to it with ease.

This year, I'll be giving you readers a look into what makes me tick. You should be scared. No one should be subjected to this. ;)

I love movies. I love speculative fiction (heck, I write it). And I REALLY love the fantastical, awkward, and slightly weird.

This show right here got my creative juices flowing like few have. I obsessively rewatched the entire series the moment it came out on Netflix. Fantasy with sci-fi?? Yes please!!

A floating city that literally rises out of the ocean!

Pretty much the best cast of characters ever.

So what's your favorite tv show or movie? What gets your creative juices flowing?

Z is For Zippedy-do-da!

Today's the last day of the A to Z Challenge, but more importantly, it's...

THE DAY BEFORE THE RELEASE OF MY DEBUT BOOK!!!!!

and I kinda feel like this:

And I have big goals. BIG goals. 

I want to get on the Amazon Top 100 list. Oh yes I do!! And I have big plans. BIG plans. :)

Tomorrow, I'll be having a HUGE giveaway where I'll be giving away 5 signed copies of Elemental (stop back tomorrow for details).

AND! 

I'll be partying over at Mind Reader via live chat tomorrow at 5:00 pm (EST). You should definitely show up! I'll be bringing presents! There might even be balloons and confetti. :)

AND! 

Elemental is now available for your Kindle or Nook!!!

Please stop by Amazon and B&N and buy it. I swear you'll want to and it's super cheap! 

Don't have a Kindle or Nook? That's okay! It's available as a paperback too!!

Stop back tomorrow for the BIG giveaway!! You will NOT want to miss it. 

And please spread the word through your blog or tweeting/sharing through facebook. I'd really REALLY appreciate it. I might even dance for you. 

Oh, who am I kidding?? 

I'll definitely dance for you*!! 

*Seriously. I'll have the hubs videotape me dancing and I will totally post it on here. You will laugh. I promise.

Y is For Yovanoff, Brenna

**Elemental's release is two days away! I'll be celebrating over at Mind Reader via a live chat on. Please stop by on May 1st at 5:00 pm (EST) to talk to me, ask me questions, joke around, whatever! I'm bringing presents!** 

Bio (taken from here):


"I'm good at soccer, violent video games, and making very flaky pie pastry.

I'm bad at dancing, making decisions, and inspiring confidence as an authority figure. I suspect this is because I am short, and also terrible at sounding as though I have any idea what I'm talking about.

I'm a New York Times Bestselling author, and my novels The Replacement and The Space Between are both out now from Razorbill/Penguin Group.

If you want to know what I think about writing, publishing, books, or high school, you can check out my blog at:


http://brennayovanoff.com/posts/"

I love, love, LOVE The Replacement. If you have not read anything by Brenna, you need to. Right now. Yes, now. This moment. :)


Enjoy!

X is For XVI, by Julia Karr

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.    


Oh, I know what you were thinking, dear readers. You thought there was NO way I'd find something for "x." Well, let me tell you something. 


You are, thankfully, wrong. ;)

Summary (taken from Goodreads):

Some girls can't wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal, everything will be okay.

Then, with one brutal strike, Nina's normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she believed about her life is true. But there's one boy who can help--and he just may hold the key to her past.

But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as a whisper, one thing is for sure...

For Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet

I really liked XVI, by Julia Karr not because it was necessarily different from a lot of the other dystopians out there, but because the characters were very realistic. And the story was good! The MC irritated me a little in the end, but here's the thing; I like characters who do that from time to time because that makes them real people. The MC here isn't perfect. She makes mistakes and she suffers the consequences of them. I like that. Often, I read books about MCs who make mistakes but everyone forgives them, they forgive themselves, and life carries on. And while that's a great message to send sometimes to teens, I think it's also a great message to share the one where people suffer consequences from bad decisions.

So, I think you should check this one out! Enjoy!

W is for Wither, by Lauren DeStefano

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.   

Summary (taken from Goodreads):

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

I have to admit something: I'm starting to feel inundated with YA Dystopian. I still buy it, hoping for something to knock my socks off, but that's getting harder and harder to do. However, this one was the exception. It's very unique and deals with issues that, let's come to terms with this, are happening right under our noses today. I thought it was very well handled and put a new dystopian spin on childhood abduction.

If you're looking for a different kind of dystopian, this is a great book for you. Enjoy!

V is For Victoria Schwab

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.  


What's this? I'm actually remembering to post something before half the morning is gone? I know, it's amazing. :P

Bio (taken from her official website):

Quick Facts! Books: THE NEAR WITCH (2011), THE ARCHIVED (2013) Literary Agent: Holly Root at Waxman Literary Film Agent: Jon Cassir at CAA Publisher: Disney*Hyperion

I am the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Because of this, I have been known to say "tom-ah-toes", "like", and "y'all". But since this is about what I write and not how I pronounce my a's, I will say that I tell stories.

I love fairy tales, and folklore, and books that make me wonder if the world is really as it seems. I love writing about doors, and places between, and the cracks where reality slips into something darker, stranger, and invariably more interesting.

I grew up on the west coast, but went to high school in the south, an all girls' prep school complete with plaid skirts I used to doodle on during math.

I went to Washington University in St. Louis, where I changed course SIX times (and would have done it a seventh time, but my family and advisors said you couldn't switch majors in your last semester). I went from Physics, to Film, to Set Design, to Art History, to English, to Communication Design.

Job-wise, I have been a clerk in a department store, where I met a very nice Erotica writer while re-hanging bras. I have been an assistant caterer and a personal chef. Because of this, I bake some mean chocolate chip cookies, can plate hors d'oeuvres, and know how to make twirling napkin towers. I was a dog daycare attendant for a few summers, and have the scars to prove it. In college, I worked in a bookstore, where I never made ANY money because I spent every check feeding my book-buying habit.

And now, I am an author. That's still really fun to say, and I feel like I need to fact-check myself just to make sure it's true.

I read Ms. Schwab's first book, The Near Witch, a couple months ago and I was blown away at her beautiful writing. It was like walking into a painting. I can not wait until her second book, The Archived, comes out. 


If you haven't heard of Victoria Schwab, I highly suggest you check her out. 

U is For Uh-oh!

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time. 


So it's 8:44 this morning and it just hit me that I completely forgot to do a post for today.


Oops!


Well, since that's the case, and I don't have anything planned, how about I just share my book trailer again!!


Celebrate the uh-oh moment with me and watch something entertaining!!





Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!

T is For Twisted

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.

Summary:

High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

In Twisted, the acclaimed Laurie Halse Anderson tackles a very controversial subject: what it means to be a man today. Fans and new readers alike will be captured by Tyler’s pitch perfect, funny voice, the surprising narrative arc, and the thoughtful moral dilemmas that are at the heart of all of the author’s award-winning, widely read work.

Let's get this straight: I LOVE Laurie Halse Anderson and everything she writes. This book is no different. It is so gut wrenching with such realistic characters I couldn't put it down for even one moment. And I like my sleep. I don't stay up for ANYTHING. But I did for this.


This is another YA Contemporary you need to check out. Enjoy!!

S is For Sneak Peek

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.   

Click this link for a sneak peek at Elemental!!

R is For Ransom Riggs

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.  


Stop back tomorrow for a sneak peek of Elemental!!

Bio (taken from his official website):

"About me, the short version:

I live in Los Angeles, where I write books and make movies.

About me, the official-stuff version:

For books I'm represented by Kate Schafer Testerman of KT Literary. For film I'm managed by Heroes and Villains and repped by APA.

About me, the longer version:

I was born on a 200-year-old farm in rural maryland, where at the tender age of five I decided that I definitely wanted to be a farmer when I grew up, because being a farmer meant driving tractors.  Then, partially as a result of my new ambition, my mom moved us far away to Florida, where there were relatively few farms but lots and lots of old people and not very much for kids to do.  In retrospect, it was precisely because there wasn’t a lot to do, and because the internet didn’t exist and cable TV was only like twelve channels back then, that I was forced to make my own fun and my own stories -- and that’s what I’m still doing, only now I get paid for it.  So thanks, sleepy Florida fishing village!

I grew up writing stories and making videos in the backyard with my friends.  I knew I wanted to do one or both of those things in some professional capacity when I got older, but I didn’t know how.  For three summers during high school I attended the University of Virginia’s Young Writer’s Workshop, and I still consider it one of the shaping experiences of my life.  I met so many great, brilliant people, and it convinced me that it was possible to make a life for myself as a writer.

I also knew I wanted to make movies.  So I compromised, and went to Kenyon College first to study English,  then moved out to Los Angeles to go to film school at the University of Southern California.  Looking back, that was a lot of time and money spent on school, but I don’t regret it at all.  Being part of those creative communities gave me lots of time to practice writing things and making movies before I had to go out and try to do either of those things professionally.

So now 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 (which comes out June 7th).  Then a book of found photographs with writing on them, coming out in 2012.  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."

IF you guys haven't read Ransom's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children yet, you need to get on it!!! It is so brilliant. You need to check out the book trailer, too. This is one of the BEST book trailers I have EVER seen. 

Enjoy!!

Q is for Quinn, Susan Kaye

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.   

Bio (taken from her official website):


Why is the word graph in biography? 


Now I have a strange urge to create a graph of my life.

I grew up in California, where I wrote snippets of stories and passed them to my friends during class. My teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated my stories a couple times.

I left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees (B.S. Aerospace Engineering, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering) and work everywhere from NASA to NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) to a little Venice Beach restaurant called The Green Bean (I was the bookkeeper). I've designed aircraft engines, studied global warming, and held elected office (as a school board member). Now that I write novels, my business card says "Rocket Scientist and Author," and I don't have to sneak my notes anymore.

Which is too bad.

All that engineering comes in handy when dreaming up dystopian future worlds or mixing science with fantasy to conjure slightly plausible inventions. For my stories, of course. Just ignore that stuff in the basement.

My middle grade boys clamor for more middle grade books with magic and gadgets and less teen novels with kissing. Unfortunately for them, I enjoy writing both.

I write from the Chicago suburbs with my three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as much as I can handle.

Wow! Right? Susan is pretty amazing. Her books Life, Liberty, and Pursuit and Open Minds are two of my favorites. You should definitely check her out.

Enjoy!!

P is For Pike, Aprilynne

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.  

Bio (taken from her official website):


Critically acclaimed, internationally best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.

I love, love, LOVE Aprilynne Pike. Her Wings series is one of my absolute favorite series ever. I mean, come on. Fairies?? Yes please. If you're a fan of YA paranormal and are looking for an original take on an old concept, you NEED to check out Pike's books.

Enjoy!

O is For Orson Scott Card

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.  

Bio (taken from his official website):


Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.

Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts.

Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He recently began a longterm position as a professor of writing and literature at Southern Virginia University.

Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, and their youngest child, Zina Margaret.

Card is one of the greats. I think it's kind of a requirement to like him if you're going to call yourself a sci-fi writer. ;) 

If you've never read anything of his, check him out!