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Guest Post: Megan Bostic on her super creature

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Today, Megan Bostic (author of the forthcoming Never Eighteen) talks a little bit about what her super creature would be. The actual prompt for the guest post was this: Zombies, vampires, werewolves, fairies, mermaids, and other creatures have left a mark on our society. Your mission is to combine a well-known creature with something from our world and develop a super creature. Explain what it is, what its strengths and weaknesses are, and why we should be afraid to sleep at night. Megan even went the extra mile and shows us an image of this creature.

My super creature is a Leopryad. It’s part Leopard, part tree nymph. The legend is, in the time of early man, a hunter came across a pregnant, slumbering leopard. He approached silently, and hit her over the head with a club, then stabbed her. She woke and attacked and killed the hunter. Injured, she crawled into the recess of a nearby tree, where she and her unborn cubs died. Her spirit became one with the tree, creating the Leopryad. Her babies followed suit as saplings.

Now the Leopryads are born from trees, and they become their birth tree’s guardian. They not only live among the trees, but are able to merge with them, essentially becoming part of it. They use this gift as camouflage, and it’s best not to seek them out. They asexually reproduce, so now can be found worldwide, though they prefer to live where there are clear skies and an abundance of trees.

They are peaceful by nature and despise violence; however, they fight to protect the trees from the enemies of nature. They are especially dangerous during the Christmas season.

Leopryads are elusive, and largely nocturnal. They are very agile, and can run at over 40 mph and jump up to 20 feet.

Being carnivores with a voracious appetite, hunting for food is a natural instinct and not considered violence. Like the leopard, they stalk their prey silently, pounce on it at the last minute, and strangle its throat with a quick bite.

Land development has forced the Leopryads to venture into more urban areas to hunt. They will prey on any living creature they come across, however, prefer human flesh to the gamey meat of wild animals. They’ve been known to especially target those they know have violated the trees—whom they kill slowly. Leopards have no reservations about entering houses to feed their need for flesh, so it’s best to keep your doors and windows locked at night.

Mostly mute, Leopryads communicate with one another with body language, facial expressions, and vocalizations. They are one with each other as they are one with nature, and when not hunting or defending the trees, can be found frolicking and dancing together in the deepest realm of the forests.

Twitterview: Megan Bostic (Never Eighteen)

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Megan Bostic is the author of the upcoming Never Eighteen, due out January 17 from Houghton Mifflin. Check out her website here, where she also links to her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts.

Pitch your book in 140 characters:
Austin Parker, seeing the world through dying eyes, wants his loved ones to see the value of their own lives before it’s too late.

Who will this book appeal to?
Teens and adults, alike, who like books about friendship, life, and love. Anyone who wants to make a difference in the lives of others.

Favorite moment or character in your book:
When Austin and Kayle hike up Mt. Rainier to see comet falls and talk about what the future may or may not hold for them.

What’s your writing routine?
Organized chaos. I sit, I write, no stopping, no outlining. I always make sure there are pens, coffee, and a pile of sticky notes close by.

What’s your best piece of writing advice?
Never surrender and always work to be better.

What’s been the most surprising part of the publishing journey?
How utterly long it takes from conception to publication.

What did you do when you learned your book would be published?
I went to Disneyland. I’m kidding. I was in Disneyland when I found out, so I celebrated on the rides with my family.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?
To never stop trying to improve my craft. As writers we will never reach perfection, but we should try hard to get as close as we can.

What are your top three favorite books?
This answer probably changes daily. Today I’m going to say, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Stand, and Fahrenheit 451.

What’s next for you?
I’m working on another YA novel that I’m hoping will find its way to the shelves in the next couple of years.

2011 in Review: Kimberly’s Picks

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This was a good year for science fiction. On the SFF scale, I’ve always leaned more towards fantasy. Lately though, the YA fantasy field has been overcrowded with paranormal books (which really aren’t my thing). There just haven’t been many well-written books along the lines of Graceling (where the magic doesn’t occur in our own world). Science fiction is a different story. It started with the dystopia movement and I’m pleased to say it’s progressed beyond that subgenre to some straight-up old school scifi goodness. The trend continues beyond this year. I am very much looking forward to it.
All of that is to say there were some real standouts in science fiction this year. In fact, despite my deep and abiding love for all things dystopian, the standout sci fi novels weren’t dystopias. Of course, my favorite book of the year was a fantasy, and a paranormal one at that…
Best book of 2011: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
No need to recap why – I’ve said it at least half a dozen times already.
There are a smattering of runners-up, and here is where the sci fi shines: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan, A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (which I didn’t review, but Kelly did), and Tankborn by Karen Sandler. Karen Healey’s moving fantasy The Shattering and A. S. King’s literary novel Everybody Sees the Ants round out my top picks of the year.
Even the almost-great science fiction offerings were better than usual: Variant by Robison Wells, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Ashes by Ilsa Bick all exceeded my expectations. Keep it up, authors. The science fiction field is so fertile for new and genuinely innovative stuff. I except to see some of that in 2012.
Book I most look forward to sharing in 2012: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
If Cinder is any indication, my wish for 2012 will be granted. Look for a review of this very early next year. I know it’s been getting a lot of buzz. It’s deserved.
Most anticipated sequel of 2012: Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan (July) and the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone (September) are neck and neck here. Insurgent (May) is a solid third, but I don’t feel the itch to get my hands on it like I do the others.
Most disappointing: Chime by Franny Billingsley & Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry
These two share the dubious honor in this category, but for very different reasons. Chime was almost the polar opposite of what I enjoy in a book, whereas Dust and Decay was well-written and exciting but too much of a rehash of the first book in the series to be in satisfying.
Cutest: Long Tail Kitty by Lark Pien
By a long shot. Is there anything cuter than this book? No, there is not. Dare I say it – it might be even cuter than some of your children. (This is a 2009 book, but I read it this year, so I’m including it.)
Best surprise: Clarity by Kim Harrington
I was so surprised – and pleased – by how much I enjoyed this mystery with a paranormal twist. Clare’s voice is among the best I read all year.
Book most in need of some judicious editing: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
It had potential. When I’m at my most grandiose, I like to think I could have whipped this book into shape. And then I remember that writing and editing are always harder than they seem.

Guest Post: Caroline Starr Rose on May B’s Inspiration

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Today’s guest post from Caroline Starr Rose is a behind-the-scenes look at the inspirations and research behind her novel May B.

Thoughts
I’ve always had an interest in the women of the frontier, stemming from my love for the Little House on the Prairie books. As a child, I’d talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder as if she were someone I personally knew and spent hours wondering about her world.

When I got older, I thought about pioneer life through the eyes of a teacher. In those days, the schoolhouse focus on recitation and memorization favored students able to do these things well. But what about the kids who found these in-front-of-the-class lessons difficult? How did they manage?

There’s a character in the Laura books named Willie Olsen, an ill-mannered boy who often sat in the corner during lesson time. As a kid, I labeled him a bad boy; as a teacher, I wondered if there was something more going on. Maybe Willie was a poor student and a goof-off because he had a learning disability. Maybe he couldn’t grasp his school work not because he wasn’t capable, but because no one had taught him how.


Research
I actually began my frontier research without any clear idea where I was headed but trusted the story would come to me as I became familiar with the era. Originally, I thought my character would be a mail-order bride abandoned by her new husband. It’s interesting to note that I do make mention of mail-order brides in MAY B. and that much of the story hinges on May’s abandonment.

Two books that really spoke to me during the research phase were PIONEER WOMEN: VOICES OF THE KANSAS FRONTIER and READ THIS ONLY TO YOURSELF: THE PRIVATE WRITINGS OF MIDWESTERN WOMEN, 1880-1910. Journals and letters from this era were terse accounts of the mundane, literal and immediate. Recorded events followed a safe, predictable pattern. Once I noticed these things, I knew how to approach my story. I stopped writing prose and moved into a novel-in-verse format, where I felt I could get as close to the bone as possible with this character and her situation.

Influences
As for the survival aspect of the story, two books and one movie influenced my writing: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, HATCHET, and CASTAWAY. My seventh-grade English teacher introduced me to THE COUNT, a book that remains my favorite to this day. I was especially drawn to the prison scenes, where Edmund Dantes is left alone in a dark cell, presumably for the rest of his life. I didn’t discover HATCHET until my college adolescent literature course, but immediately fell in love with this survival story full of despair, self-discovery, and ultimately rescue. The movie CASTAWAY captured my imagination, especially the challenge of telling the story of a person all alone who didn’t talk much (unless it was to a volleyball).

Putting it all together
In many ways, May’s story started years ago, before I knew her, back before I even dreamed of writing. That’s the way it works for me — the blending of ideas, memories, questions, and impressions to make something new.

2011 Favorites: Kelly’s Picks

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Like in 2009 and in 2010, I don’t plan on sharing what I think were the best books of the year. It’s entirely subjective and, well, as much as I like reading and poring over “best of” lists, I think favorite lists are more enjoyable to talk about. It’s unscientific and there’s no criteria other than gut reaction.

So this year I’ve read 250 books to completion and probably had another 50 or so I didn’t finish for one reason or another. My favorites list is composed of those books that stand out to me for one reason or another, and they’re books I keep thinking about. These aren’t in any order, and I’ve kept it limited to the books published in 2011 (though I’ve got a couple at the end published prior to this year that have stood out to me, too). Without further ado…


Without doubt, I think the book that stands out to me the most this year is CK Kelly Martin’s My Beating Teenage Heart. This is speculative fiction, and it touches upon the issues of loss, grief, and on the connects among people, be they strong or very, very loose. What starts out as a book that feels like it’s going to be a tear jerker for one reason spins around in the final two chapters to become a book of utter hope. I’ve passed this one along to more than one person since reading it, and it’s one I keep coming back to, thinking about how much I need to reread it. My chest swells a bit when I think about how those final two chapters made me feel.


This year, I discovered Blake Nelson in a really big way, and as soon as my reading time opens up again, I plan on finishing my tour de Nelson. I think I have three of his books left to read before I’ve read them all. That said, Recovery Road has been my favorite. The ups and downs we experience right along with Maddie are powerful and realistic. I’m rereading this one right now because I enjoyed it so much, and what I’m loving is how similar (and different) Maddie is from Andrea Marr, Nelson’s classic from Girl. Also, clearly, I have a thing with books featuring a heart on the cover.


Moira Young’s rapid-paced Blood Red Road is one of the most memorable post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read, and I’ve read a good handful of them. Saba is a fantastic, daring, and strong main character, and the writing really pulled me in. It’s not traditional, it’s a bit dialectic, and it’s not usually anything I care for but the elements all connected perfectly here. Moreover, this book, while part of a trilogy, stands completely on its own. I got the entire story in one book, and yet, it managed to hook me enough to want the second book.

Let’s file this one under surprise favorites, but Geoff Herbach’s Stupid Fast had everything I like in a book: a strong voice (male, even, which I love even more), a rural setting (which when I read I knew exactly what town it was modeled after and, after handing this book off to a friend, ALSO knew exactly what town it was modeled after), a strong voice, enough romantic tension to make me care, believable family crumbling, a strong voice, and did I mention a strong voice? Felton is one of the strongest characters I’ve read this year, and I cannot wait to revisit him in the companion novel. I think when I was 15, Felton and I would have been really good friends.


When this book was handed to me back in January as a bound manuscript with little more than a bright yellow paper cover, I didn’t know what to expect. But I got a lot, and it’s still stuck with me, even almost a year later. Amy Kathleen Ryan’s Glow is a sci-fi novel, set aboard a spaceship of pioneers leaving Earth to settle a new world. It features not only the space adventure, but it features twists and turns left and right, along with loads of romantic tension (without overpowering the narrative) and it’s an extremely fascinating look at the intersections of faith, politics, and dialog. There’s so much going on politically here, but as soon as you feel you have an idea where Ryan will lay down her message, it’s switched up. Bonus: strong female character. Second bonus: as soon as I finished I wanted to discuss this one with someone because there’s so much to unpack. Third bonus: I’m very eager for the sequel. Negative: I think the paperback cover of this book is one of the biggest cover fails in a long time. Why, why, why?

I don’t usually reread books, but apparently my favorites list this year is chock-full of books I’ve reread, which I take to mean something in and of itself. Alas, Imaginary Girls was excellent the first time I read it, but even better the second time. This is a must-read for language and imagery lovers. It’s a must-read for those who like books that are haunting and eerie and don’t offer any answers but loads of questions. More importantly, it’s fun. I loved the entire experience reading it. I was immersed completely, and I wanted to get lost in this strange little world.

A few other books that really stuck out to me that were published in 2011 include:

Amy Reed’s Clean, which I have also now read twice. Great voices, character development, and great writing.

Kirsten Hubbard’s Like Mandarin, which explores female friendship and power within these relationships in a brutally realistic manner. Grace is among my all-time favorite characters, I think.

Joshua Cohen’s Leverage, which follows two boys as they’re put in a situation of life and death (literally). This is “Mean Girls” with testosterone, and it left me physically and emotionally exhausted the whole way through.


Cecil Castellucci’s First Day on Earth is going to stick with me for a long, long time. It’s imperfect, but the things it does right are done SO right it doesn’t matter. Speculative fiction that cuts right to the truth of every day life here on Earth.

Marianne Baer’s Frost surprised me because it was the first psychological thriller in a long time to actually get me. I didn’t see the end coming, and it was just so perfect. The trick was on me, and I appreciated that because the writing, the story, and the characters were so well developed. I deserved being tricked!

Hannah Harrington’s Saving June is one I didn’t review here, but it stands out to me as I write this list because it tread so many well-worn tropes but still managed to be different. It’s a story of dealing with grief, it includes a road trip, and a lot of music. But I think what stood out to me was how good the romantic tension was, as well as how realistic it was. I liked this book this year, but I know had I had this when I was 16, it would have been my all-time favorite for sure.

Cat Clarke’s Entangled also deals with grief, but it handles it in an entirely unexpected, twisted, and brilliant way. I’m bummed it’s near impossible to get in the States, but it is worth tracking down via Book Depository. The dark and unflinching nature of this one worked for me.

Did I mention I read 250-some books this year? I have a few more new favorites that were new-to-me this year. They published before 2011, but I picked them up this year, and I’m so glad I did.

Katie Williams’s The Space Between Trees is a lush, lyrical mystery with some of the best writing I’ve read this year. The mystery itself is good, though not entirely unpredictable, but the way some of the secondary characters tie together in this one is smart. It’s a slower read but in a good way. The writing is worth it.

Simmone Howell’s Everything Beautiful had one of the best characters I’ve read this year, too. Riley is a hardass, tough-as-nails, never-going-to-change kind of girl but through the novel, we see that facade fall apart. She’s challenged on her ideas of faith and friendship and she comes out a way stronger person because of it. Maybe what I loved most about Riley is she’s not ashamed of who she is, strengths and weaknesses. She’s totally comfortable in her skin, too. I find that a way too rare quality in ya fiction (yet she still has an entire arc and change!).

Ryu Murakami’s In the Miso Soup is one I read right at the beginning of the year and it still lingers in my mind. It’s an adult psychological thriller and it is dark, twisted, and sick. I loved every single minute of it. I picked up Murakami’s Piercing as soon as I finished this one and loved it, too, though Miso Soup is a little stronger. It’s not for the weak of stomach or those who don’t like violence, but for those who are okay with those in their fiction, this one gets it right.