STACKED

books

Giveaways: The Reece Malcolm List & Things I Shouldn’t Think

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It’s the season of giving (or something like that) and we have two more books to giveaway. Rather than run them through the end of December, though, they’ll run through December 20. That way they can be in the hands of the winner before the new year kicks off.

First, Amy Spalding offered up an advanced reader’s copy of her forthcoming (February 2013) book The Reece Malcolm List. I’ve (p)reviewed it here. This is a charming and delightful read, with just the right balance of humor and heart.

Then Janet Ruth Young offered a paperback copy of her book, Things I Shouldn’t Think. I reviewed this one back in 2011 when it was in hardcover and titled The Babysitter Murders. You can read the review here and my thoughts on the cover switch and name change here. This is a book about OCD — but not in the way you’re expecting.

Feel free to enter one or both of the titles in the forms below. Both giveaways are for US and Canada only. If you don’t see the second form, keep scrolling down a bit. It’s there.

Huge thanks to Amy and Janet for offering these up.


Guest Post: Victoria Schwab on The Archived

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Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch (read Kelly’s review here), has a new novel coming out January 22, and we’re pleased to be a stop on the vlog tour leading up to its publication! The concept stood out to me immediately: the Archive is a library of the dead, where those dead act as books of history. There are certain people – librarians – who have the ability to “read” these histories of people’s lives. 
Sounds cool, right? Goodreads has a more detailed synopsis:
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each
body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians
can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which
they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here
four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined
to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once
was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories
from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the
people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for
staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous-it’s a
constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but
now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the
boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive,
the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately
altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece
together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In
this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin
lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit,
unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

As part of the tour, Victoria has created a series of vlogs that tell a little about what a person could read if she were a History in the Archive. STACKED is stop 12 on the tour, and we get a story about Neil Gaiman and hugs – both things worthy of discussion!

Victoria introduces the idea of the Archived and the vlog tour in the video below:



And you can read her History in this video:


To view all the videos in the vlog tour, including part one of the Neil Gaiman story, you can visit Victoria’s Youtube channel. Victoria’s also given us a swag pack to give away to one lucky reader (a tote bag and a couple of bookmarks), and I’ve thrown in a finished copy of the book when it publishes in January! To enter the giveaway, fill out the form below:

Twitterview: Emily Hainsworth

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I am so excited to have Emily Hainsworth, author of the debut Through to You, here as this month’s Twitterview victim. She’s here to talk about the inspirations behind her story, to explain what the green light signifies, and, of course, to talk about her deepest darkest secrets and share her favorite ice cream flavor. Oh, and she tells us who one of her greatest influences is (he happens to share initials with her own main character).

In addition to a Twitterview, I’ve got a finished copy of Through to You to give away to one lucky winner. 

Without further ado, Emily:

Pitch Through to You in 140 characters.
Heartbroken guy finds door to a parallel world where his dead girlfriend’s still alive, only she’s not quite the same person he remembers…
What inspired Through to You?
I wondered what it would be like to see how one choice could cause someone’s life to play out in two completely different ways.

How would you classify Through to You genre-wise?
My publisher likes to call it “light sci-fi,” but I’ve been told it reads a lot like a contemp…with a parallel universe.
Through to You features a male main character. How did you get into the male voice?
I read a lot of Stephen King & as many boy YA novels as I could get my hands on. But I also used to want to be a boy, so maybe that helped.

Did any television/movie/book help you in developing your parallel worlds?

This music video directly inspired my idea of parallel worlds. I can’t explain exactly how a rave in a library did that, but it’s ART, okay:


Tell me about the green light. (YES, I’m leaving it this vague. Good luck!)

The green light is where all possibilities begin and end. (Yes, I will also be that vague!)

What, if anything, should readers walk away with from Through to You?  
I’m not sure I can ask readers to do more than enjoy the story. But for anyone intrigued by choices/2nd chances, I’d love to discuss!

If you had to give your book a “____ meets _____” pitch, what two (or three! or four!) books/films/shows would Through to You be a meeting of?

My agent called it IF I STAY meets 13 REASONS WHY. I might call it BEFORE I FALL meets FRINGE, except I’ve never actually seen Fringe…
Who or what do you write for?
I write for myself. I try to keep the “ideal reader,” as Stephen King calls it, in mind as I go, but I have to love my stories first.
What was your most influential read as a teenager?
As a teenager, MASTER OF MURDER by Christopher Pike. That book helped me realize I wanted to be an author. It’s also a fantastic mystery.
Who are your top three writing influences?
Christopher Pike, Stephen King, Courtney Summers
Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
Oh man, this is a tough question…I’m going to have to say ALL of the Apocalypsies. I can’t pick just one!
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Sit your butt in the chair and write. Every day. Until you’ve finished what you started.
What’s your best writing advice to give?
See above!
What is your writing routine?
My routine has been changing lately, but it often involves a good deal of procrastination and sugar consumption. Then typing. 😉
What gets you jazzed to write?
There’s no inspiration like reading a satisfying book. I get so excited, I can’t wait to get back to my own. 
Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?
For THROUGH TO YOU Trespassers William’s “Different Stars” album was essential. And I always have to include Hooverphonic on my playlists.
What’s next for you?
I have a second book coming out with Balzer+Bray in Fall ’13! It isn’t a sequel, but I hope if you enjoy THROUGH TO YOU, you’ll like it too.
Favorite ice cream?

I can NEVER pick one flavor, so give me a waffle cone with a scoop of mint chocolate chip under a scoop of Bunny Tracks. 🙂

Your deepest, darkest secret?

If I told you that, I’d have to kill you! And I like you too much to ever do that. 😉

Speechless by Hannah Harrington & The Love is Louder Campaign

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A couple of weeks ago I posted a review of Hannah Harrington‘s sophomore novel Speechless, which you can read here. Here’s a little more about the book:

Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret. Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast — and nearly got someone killed. Chelsea has taken a vow of silence to learn to keep her mouth shut and to stop hurting anyone else. 

Speechless tackles real-life teen issues, including bullying, mean girls, LGBT awareness and hate crimes. In October 2012 — a month from now, Harlequin TEEN will be releasing a new survey following up on interviews with 1,500 girls between the ages of 13 and 18 on the subject of bullying. In part of this project, they’ve teamed up with the Love is Louder Campaign.

Love is Louder is a non-profit group and Harlequin TEEN partnered with them to help use the power of YA literature to take a stand against bullying. The Speechless action kit is up on the Love is Louder site and uses tie book to provide ideas for activities and events that promote the anti-bullying movement. The goal of this partnership is to help make a difference in the lives of teens, one student at a time.

If you weren’t aware already, October is anti-bullying month. Keep your eyes around the blogosphere because I bet this is a topic that’ll be touched on quite a bit over the next month and a half.

To celebrate the partnership between Harlequin TEEN and the Love is Louder campaign, I’ve got two copies of Speechless to give away to those who live in the US or Canada. All you have to do is fill in the form, and I’ll pull two winners on September 24. If you’re interested in book trailers, I’m including it here for you to check out.  

Twitterview: EM Kokie

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This month’s Twitterview guest is EM Kokie, debut author of Personal Effects. As usual, there’s a giveaway of the book at the end of the interviews. What’s less than usual, though, is that this month’s questions contained a little bit of spoiling of the book to them — so you’ll be able to see all of the questions except those which have something spoiler-y to them. Those have all been included at the end of the interview in white font, so just highlight it to see the questions and answers. Since the book doesn’t come out for another week, I thought it best to be safe!

Without further ado:

Pitch Personal Effects in 140 characters

After his brother dies in Iraq, Matt makes a discovery that rocks his world. He risks everything to find out the truth and starts to grow up

If you had to give your book a “____ meets _____” pitch, what two (or three! or four!) books/films/shows would Personal Effects be a meeting of? (Yes, I gave her more than 140 characters to answer this one!)

Oh, wow…you know, I have no idea. The Great Santini would probably be in the mix, and maybe elements of Jellicoe Road, but there are other, missing ingredients, and neither of these are dead on…

What inspired Personal Effects?

I wrote the scene that’s now CH 2, this really angry kid post-fight. I wrote the rest of the 1st draft to find out why he was so angry.

What should readers walk away with from Personal Effects?

A satisfying reading experience. I hope they get sucked into Matt’s world and only think about it in relation to their own lives later.

How would you describe Matt?

Angry, scared, filled w/grief, and with little understanding of how truly good he is or who he could be. (Shauna wants me to add clueless)

Who or what do you write for?

The story. It’s always about the story, and the characters, for me.

What was your most influential read as a teenager?

Forever by Judy Blume. It was the first book I had to sneak, and it taught me I could read anything I wanted, it was my choice.

Who are your top three writing influences?

Writers are like grapes, always absorbing stuff. Each vintage/book has diff. notes. For PE prob Pat Conroy, Kevin Brooks, E. Lockhart

Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?

Hmm… “breaking ground” to me signifies risk-taking. No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson is intriguing, a documentary novel.

What’s the best writing advice you ever received?

You can’t revise a blank page.

What’s your best writing advice to give?

Don’t judge your characters. (And you can’t revise a blank page — I believe in passing on good advice).

What is your writing routine?

I write when the story is flowing, and read/research/experiment when not. When it’s really flowing, I sink in deep & ignore the world.

What gets you jazzed to write?

A character w/something to say. I think about people, stories a lot…But I get jazzed to write when a character starts talking

Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?

I don’t write to music, but if I need to stay awake or shut off part of my brain, I’ll put on TV/a Movie I know so well I mostly ignore it.

What’s next for you?

Keep on writing. Keep on reading. Right now I’m working on another contemporary, realistic novel-this one with a female POV character.

Favorite ice cream?

Cherry vanilla or something w/swirls, chunks & crunchy bits. And IMO ice cream always tastes better after a day at the beach

(Highlight from here on down to see the spoiler question/answer portion)

TJ’s sexuality is at the center of the story. Why?
Surprising how readers’ experiences vary – IMO TJ’s sexuality isn’t at center. It’s Matt’s journey, provoked by the existence of a secret.
TJ’s death occurs before the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell. Would this change him? The story?
Had TJ been out, he & Matt would’ve had a deeper, closer relationship. Matt would’ve grown from that experience, would’ve grieved differently
This is speculating, but go with me: how would TJ celebrate the repeal, if at all?
At home: w/a kiss, officially moving in w/Curtis, changing his forms, etc. If repealed while he was deployed: privately, in his heart.
Same question, but this time I’m putting it on Matt. How would he feel about the repeal?
If repealed after PE? Matt would be angry & sad all over again, this time for his brother & Curtis. But, hopefully, no one would get punched