Release Blitz: Resisting Roots by Audrey Carlan

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Today I am so excited to be participating in the Release Blitz for Audrey Carlan’s Resisting Roots, the first book in her new Lotus House Series.

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Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Lotus House, #1

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SYNOPSIS

Yoga instructor Genevieve Harper is a blond bombshell loaded down with responsibility and sacrifice. She makes the most out of raising her two siblings in the wake of their parents’ tragic accident. At twenty-four, she doesn’t have time to devote to a man…especially not the devastatingly handsome Trent Fox, who’s known for being a “player” on and off the baseball field.

Trent has the best hitting average in the league. Recently, he suffered a torn hamstring that takes him to the Lotus House Yoga Center for recuperation. There he meets the curvy, petite blonde with soulful black eyes and candy-coated glossy lips he’d like to do more to than kiss. He secures the flexible hottie for daily private lessons that ultimately show him how sensual the art of yoga can be.

Can love grow between a woman who’s rooted in her life and a man who resists any notion of staying in one place?

If you’re intrigued by the practice of yoga and desire a sensual, intensely erotic, and uniquely spiritual read with characters capable of performing pretzel-like sexual acts, the Lotus House series is for you. Each of the seven books can be read as a standalone but are better read in order. No cliffhangers. Books are erotic romances written for mature audiences 18+.

resisting-roots-teaser

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Audrey Carlan is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She writes wicked hot love stories that are designed to give the reader a romantic experience that’s sexy, sweet, and so hot your e-reader might melt. Some of her works include the wildly successful Calendar Girl Serial, Falling Series, and the Trinity Trilogy.

She lives in the California Valley where she enjoys her two children and the love of her life. When she’s not writing, you can find her teaching yoga, sipping wine with her “soul sisters” or with her nose stuck in a wicked hot romance novel.

Be Sure To Follow Audrey:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudreyCarlan/?fref=ts

Website: http://www.audreycarlan.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/audreycarlan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreycarlan/

Buy Links:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/23oW0JZ

Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1R8m6uW

Kindle UK: http://amzn.to/1KAxHNH

Amazon UK Paperback: http://amzn.to/1nuGcFj

iBooks: http://apple.co/20ppcOz

Google Play Books: http://bit.ly/20C13V3

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1OTtNkP

Nook: http://bit.ly/1UL6HAJ

B&N Paperback: http://bit.ly/1ktwfFT

Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/1RTmfnB

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1TEbrtN

PlayBooks: http://bit.ly/20C13V3

REVIEW

BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS.

I really enjoyed Resisting Roots. It was a fun, exciting read that I got through in a couple of days. Carlan has written a great contemporary romance that is perfect for a relaxing day spent at the beach or poolside. It’s the perfect summer beach read. As someone who has taken yoga on and off for years the fact that the series revolves around a yoga studio appealed to me. I like that each chapter started with a different yoga pose. Carlan did a good job of introducing poses and terms to people who haven’t taken yoga classes before.

I enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters Trent and Genevieve. There was a particularly steamy scene in the yoga studio that I sincerely enjoyed. Not only was Trent and Genevieve’s relationship fun to read about I also loved the relationships between Genevieve and her siblings as well as Trent’s budding relationship with them as well.

There were times when the relationship between Trent and Genevieve felt a little rushed. Their initial meeting and the buildup to the consummation of their relationship was very well paced. However, afterwards it seemed to jump ahead. There were certain things that I felt could Carlan could have had spill out into the second book instead of cramming it all into a single book. It seems as if she felt she had to cram Trent and Genevieve’s entire story into one book instead of spreading it out.

Overall I genuinely enjoyed Resisting Roots and am looking forward to the next book in the series, Sacred Serenity.

Release Blitz Organized By Bare Naked Words

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Ontario Teen Book Fest Blog Tour: Mary McCoy

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This year I am excited to be participating in the Ontario Teen Book Fest Blog Tour. I am especially excited to be spotlighting YA author Mary McCoy. Her debut novel, Dead to Me was one of my favorite books that I read last year.

The Ontario Teen Book Fest is an amazing event and I am so happy to be participating in the blog tour for it. I attended last year and had an absolute blast. It is a FREE UNTICKETED event featuring multiple bestselling Young Adult authors.

Scroll down for my Spotlight and Interview with Mary as well as a giveaway for a poster signed by all of the attending authors.

When: Saturday March 12th, 9 am to 5pm

Where: Colony High School 3850 E. Riverside Drive, Ontario, CA 91761

The Ontario Teen Book Fest Website: http://www.ontariotbf.org/

The event is sponsored by Once Upon A Time. They will have books available for purchase at the event. There will also be t-shirts and posters available for purchase as well.

Their website: http://www.mrsnelsons.com/

*Blog Tour Schedule*

February 22nd – Spotlight on Andrew Smith – What A Nerd Girl Says

February 23rd – Spotlight on Alexandra Monir – The Consummate Reader

February 24th – Spotlight on April Tucholke – Adventures of a Book Junkie

February 25th – Spotlight on Alexis Bass – A Traveling Book

February 26th – Spotlight on Marissa Meyer – Read Now Sleep Later

February 27th – Spotlight on Sara Elizabeth Santana – Movies, Shows and Books

February 28th – Spotlight on Robin Reul – Recently Acquired Obsessions

February 29th – Spotlight on Katherine Kottaras – iFandoms Collide

March 1st – Spotlight on Stephanie Diaz – My Fangirl Chronicles

March 2nd – Spotlight on Virginia Boecker – The Reader’s Antidote

March 3rd – Spotlight on Mary McCoy – Book You Very Much

March 4th – Spotlight on Brad Gottfred – Seeking Bazinga

March 5th – Spotlight on Michelle Levy – My Fangirl Chronicles

March 6th – Spotlight on Elana K Arnold – Read Now Sleep Later

March 7th – Spotlight on Kristin Halbrook – What A Nerd Girl Says

March 8th – Spotlight on Jessica Brody – The Windy Pages

March 9th – Spotlight on Nicole Maggi – Nite Lite Book Reviews

March 10th – Spotlight on Jay Asher – A Bookish Escape

*Spotlight on Mary McCoy*

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Mary McCoy is a writer and a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles’s notorious past. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. Mary now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Her debut novel, Dead to Me, is a YA mystery set in the glamorous, treacherous world of 1940s Hollywood.

For more information visit Mary’s website here

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LA Confidential for the YA audience. This alluring noir YA mystery with a Golden Age Hollywood backdrop will keep you guessing until the last page.

“Don’t believe anything they say.”
Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her–and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away.
When Annie does turn up, the blond, broken stranger lying in a coma has no answers for her. But Alice isn’t a kid anymore, and this time she won’t let anything stand between her and the truth, no matter how ugly. The search for those who beat Annie and left her for dead leads Alice into a treacherous world of tough-talking private eyes, psychopathic movie stars, and troubled starlets–and onto the trail of a young runaway who is the sole witness to an unspeakable crime. What this girl knows could shut down a criminal syndicate and put Annie’s attacker behind bars–if Alice can find her first. And she isn’t the only one looking
Evoking classic film noir, debut novelist Mary McCoy brings the dangerous glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age to life, where the most decadent parties can be the deadliest, and no drive into the sunset can erase the crimes of past.

*INTERVIEW*

Q: What was the inspiration for your debut novel Dead to Me?

When I moved to LA ten years ago, I got really into film noir and old detective novels. I really wanted to pay an homage to those kinds of stories, but I also wanted to write something where the female characters were up front and center, instead of being relegated to femme fatales and victims.

Q: You have been a contributor to One Bunker Hill and 1947project where you have written about “Los Angeles’s notorious past”. What is it about LA in the 1940s that made you want to write about it?

Murder and mayhem and corruption, oh my! My book is set in 1948, which is the year after the Black Dahlia murder. It’s also set around the time of a few other notorious LA crimes that I’ve done a lot of reading and writing about: the Lila Leeds drug bust, the disappearance of Jean Spangler, Brenda Allen’s prostitution ring and the corrupt LAPD vice squad. The list goes on and on.

Q: Are there any other time periods/places you would like to write about?

I’ll never say never, but so far, I haven’t gotten a bee in my bonnet to write another historical novel. My next project is set at a summer camp!

Q: What was your research process for Dead to Me like? Did you visit any of the places you talked about in the book?

I’m a librarian, so of course, I was obsessed with getting every last fact right. I even found a public transit map of Los Angeles from the 1940s and made sure that Alice’s adventures around town on the Red Car were accurate.

I visited almost every spot I wrote about for the book, and most of the characters’ homes are based on actual places. Of course, my favorite place to do “research” was the time I went to Musso & Frank Grill for steak and a stake-out of the kitchen.

Q: What is your writing process like?

A mixture of diligent slogging and fevered wind sprints. The most important thing for me is sitting down as often as possible to write, whether I’m feeling inspired or not and simply doing the work.

Q: What were some of your favorite writers growing up?

I loved Roald Dahl, Lois Lowry, Ellen Raskin, and Louise Fitzhugh. Sophie, Anastasia Krupnik, Turtle Wexler, and Harriet M. Welsh were my role models and heroes when I was growing up, and it’s probably because I loved them so much that I decided to write books myself.

Q: For anyone who liked Dead to Me what are some places in Los Angeles that you think they would like to visit?

Okay, here’s an LA history nerd itinerary for you:

Start off by admiring the architecture at Union Station and the Terminal Annex Post Office, then take the Red Line to the Pershing Square stop. Hop off, grab a burrito at Grand Central Market and check out the Bradbury Building which is, for my money, the most beautiful sight in Los Angeles, then follow it up by skulking around the halls at the Biltmore Hotel and check out the zodiac chandelier in the 2nd floor Rotunda at the Central Library.

Some of my other favorite historical places are The Last Bookstore, Musso & Frank Grill, the HMS Bounty, the Egyptian Theater, the El Rey, Canter’s Deli, Langer’s Deli, and the Silent Movie Theater.

I think there are at least five places you can get pastrami on my LA history nerd itinerary.

Q: Can you tell us what you are working on now?

My next book is called CAMP SO AND SO, and it will be published by Carolrhoda Lab in spring 2017. It’s set at a summer camp where each cabin of characters finds themselves trapped into acting out a warped version of a classic camp story. In order to make it out in one piece, they have to figure out who’s pulling the strings and how to take control of their own stories again.
It’s fun and weird and metafictional, and I can’t wait for people to read it!

*Giveaway*

Enter for a chance to win a poster signed by all the authors attending OTBF. The contest is NOT International (US only) and will run from February 22-March 13th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Resisting Roots by Audrey Carlan

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Today I am thrilled to be working with Bare Naked Words to share the cover for Audrey Carlan’s upcoming book Resisting Roots, the first book in her Lotus House Series.

coverGenre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Lotus House, #1

Release Date: April 5, 2016

SYNOPSIS

Yoga instructor Genevieve Harper is a blond bombshell loaded down with responsibility and sacrifice. She makes the most out of raising her two siblings in the wake of their parents’ tragic accident. At twenty-four, she doesn’t have time to devote to a man…especially not the devastatingly handsome Trent Fox, who’s known for being a “player” on and off the baseball field.

Trent has the best hitting average in the league. Recently, he suffered a torn hamstring that takes him to the Lotus House Yoga Center for recuperation. There he meets the curvy, petite blonde with soulful black eyes and candy-coated glossy lips he’d like to do more to than kiss. He secures the flexible hottie for daily private lessons that ultimately show him how sensual the art of yoga can be.

Can love grow between a woman who’s rooted in her life and a man who resists any notion of staying in one place?

If you’re intrigued by the practice of yoga and desire a sensual, intensely erotic, and uniquely spiritual read with characters capable of performing pretzel-like sexual acts, the Lotus House series is for you. Each of the seven books can be read as a standalone but are better read in order. No cliffhangers. Books are erotic romances written for mature audiences 18+.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Audrey Carlan is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She writes wicked hot love stories that are designed to give the reader a romantic experience that’s sexy, sweet, and so hot your e-reader might melt. Some of her works include the wildly successful Calendar Girl Serial, Falling Series, and the Trinity Trilogy.

She lives in the California Valley where she enjoys her two children and the love of her life. When she’s not writing, you can find her teaching yoga, sipping wine with her “soul sisters” or with her nose stuck in a wicked hot romance novel.

Be sure to follow Audrey:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudreyCarlan/?fref=ts

Website: http://www.audreycarlan.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/audreycarlan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audreycarlan/

Pre-Order Links:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/23oW0JZ

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1R8m6uW

Kindle UK: http://amzn.to/1KAxHNH

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1nuGcFj

B&N: http://bit.ly/1So4G00

Nook: http://bit.ly/1SyoWdw

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1OTtNkP

iBooks: http://apple.co/20ppcOz

PlayBooks: http://bit.ly/20C13V3

Cover Reveal Organized by Bare Naked Words

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From Page to Screen: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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I am excited to share my latest From Page to Screen post on If I Stay by Gayle Forman. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Summery: Mia Hall is faced with some tough choices: Stay true to her first love – music – even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?
Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.
Book Review: This was a quick and easy read for me. I got through it (and it’s sequel Where She Went) in a couple of days. I definitely enjoyed the book. Despite the fact that the book starts of with a car accident that kills Mia’s family the book isn’t as heavy as I expected. I think one of the reasons for this was because the focus was more on Mia reflecting on her relationships rather then the aftermath of the accident. One line that I think really summed up the book was “Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you”. The story was less about the accident and more about the choice that Mia has to make and wether or not she can live with the consequences of that choice. So in the end it is more about life then it is about death.
Most YA books are more about romance so I really appreciated that Mia’s relationship with her family and friends was just as prevalent and important as the romance between Mia and Adam was.
Movie Review: My feeling towards the movie are similar to my feeling towards the book. I thought the movie was really good. They did a great job portraying Mia and her relationships with her family, Kim and Adam. I absolutely loved the scenes between Adam (Jamie Blackley) and Mia (Chloe Grace Moretz). The one thing I wish was that there would have been more of Kim (Liana Liberato). I adore Liana and just wish she could have gotten more screen time.
While the movie didn’t make me cry I definitely got teary eyed at some parts. Particularly the scenes between Mia and her grandfather.
Compare and Contrast: One thing I have to say about the movie is they did a great job sticking to the book. While of course things changed they really did a good job of staying true to Forman’s novel. The biggest differences between the film and the book was the role Adam played. In the movie they expanded Adam’s role to the point were they decreased the role of Mia’s family and Kim. While I did enjoy the scenes between Adam and Mia I definitely wish we saw more of her relationship with her parents and Teddy.
One thing that really separated the movie from the book was the music. I absolutely loved the If I Stay soundtrack, especially the Willamette Stone songs, and have listened to it over and over again.
 
Overview: Overall I thought the movie did a great job of translating the book into a movie. While changes were made they stuck to the core of the story and kept all of the emotions that were in the book.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

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Rounding out #Bookchella (on April 18-19) was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I have been attending the LA Times Festival of books for four years (this was my second year going both days) and I have always had a spectacular time. Because it is such a huge event you have to plan ahead and know who you want to see. Fortunately for me I was able to see everyone I wanted to this year. I already can’t wait for next spring.
Day One:
Saturday April 18
I arrived early at the USC campus to pick up my press badge. This was my first year going as press so I was excited to get my badge.
After getting my badge I headed over to the YA Stage and hung out around there waiting for Elizabeth Eulberg to start her signing at the Once Upon a Time tent. When I got to the tent I was excited to see that not only was Elizabeth signing there but also Jenny Han. This worked out perfectly as I was able to set them to sign my books before their panel “The Girls are Alright”.
After getting Jenny to sign my copy of To All the Boys I Loved Before Elizabeth and I found a nice sunny spot where I was able to interview her. (You can watch my full interview with Elizabeth here).
After the interview I wandered around until finally heading over to “The Girls Are Alright” panel. Because of my press badge I was able to skip the line and got priority seating in the auditorium. Because I had already gotten my books signed by Jenny and Elizabeth earlier that morning I decided to see if Octavia Spencer was still at the Children’s Stage. She was already signing books by the time I arrived but unfortunlty she was only signing copies of her book The Sweetest Heist In History, the second book in her Randi Rhodes, Ninja Dectective series. I usually would not do this but I ended up waiting for her signing to be over and as she was leaving I asked for a quick selfie which she was kind enough to say yes to.
The last panel of the day for me was the “Thrills and Chills” panel at the YA Stage. I had told myself I wasn’t going to purchase any books at the festival (I have enough already) after listening to this panel I ended up buying Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas (pictured below).
Day Two:
Sunday April 19
Day two was a lot less hectic as I only went to two panels. I ended up getting to the festival later then I had on the first day as I went to Target for their Lily Pulitzer x Target collection (the pink dress I am wearing is from there).
Because I got there late (and ended up leaving early) I was only able to attend two panels (although the first wasn’t an actual panel but a cooking demonstration). YES you heard that right, a COOKING DEMONSTRATION, by none other then Katie Lee herself. Since moving into my first solo apartment I have been determined to cook more so going to see Katie Lee cook was a no brainer.
After the cooking demonstration (and getting my cookbook signed) I headed straight to my next (and last) panel of the day: “Famous by Association”. I was really excited for this panel because Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (of Go Fug Yourself) were going to be there. I am a bit of a royal watcher so I absolutely loved their Prince William and Kate Middleton inspired novel The Royal We. (Sidenote: you can read my interview with Heather and Jessica here).

All in all I had an amazing time at the LA Times Festival of Books. I am already looking forward to next year.

Richelle Mead Interview

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Back in April I had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Richelle Mead at Yallwest. I have finally transcribed the entire interview for you here. You can also watch the full interview at the bottom of this post.

Q: Tell us about your writing process?

A: For me my writing process has to be very scheduled because I have kids. Before I had kids I could just be like “I’m just gonna write at 2am and it’s cool”. When you have kids you gotta treat it very much like a job. My time is when they are in daycare and preschool so I can write from 9am to 4pm and if I don’t put in those hours they don’t get put in and it’s a good system for anyone trying to break into writing as well if your having trouble doing it. Set aside that time and just say from this time to this time I am writing no matter what.

Q: How far in advance do you plan a series?

A: When I sit down to write the first page of the first book I have to know how the last book is going to end and I usually how each book along the way what its big ending is going to be. That isn’t to say I have every detail planned out along the way. A lot of things do pop up. But the overall structure and the main plot arcs I do have to know. I think it makes for a better story.

Q: What is your inspiration for writing?

A: I think I have just alway been a lover of stories and I find most writers are like that. They love stories and you eventually you just want to write your own and from a very young age I was like that. I would love to read books and then I just wanted to write them.

Q: What writers would you say influenced your writing the most?

A: I really loved Lucy Maude Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables. Whenever people are like “oh strong female heroine, what a new concept?” it’s really not. Even something like that you wouldn’t think Anne of Green Gables but she is strong and strong willed. And I always had, just in the back of my head, this is how girls are and this is how they should be. Another influence was Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who wrote this Sword and Sorcery series called Dragonlance back in the 80s. Everyone who hate my cliffhangers has them to blame. Because I remember being dumfounded I read the second book in the trilogy and a main character died and someone else was kidnapped and I was like “wait this isn’t how books end”. It drove me crazy and I needed to read the third one and so now I do that in my books.

Q: How much of yourself (if at all) do you put into your characters?

A: I am all my characters and I am not. There is no character that you can say “that is totally Richelle Mead transported into a book”. Nobody’s like that but there is glimmers of me in all of them as their creator, there can’t help but be. Now that doesn’t mean to say “ow that murderous villain” like that my secret thing but their personality quirks. It’s such a mix of things. It’s a mix of me and things I see in the world and you just synthesize it into the book.

Q: You have said the idea for the three vampire races: dhampir, miroi, and strigoi, came from Romanian folklore. Where did the idea of the alchemists come from?

A: It was partially a suggestion from my friend. I had told him I need a secret society to work into this world and he was like “what about the alchemist?” and strictly speaking the alchemist of history really don’t do what mine do but it kind of gave me a springboard and I have really changed them quite a bit so I am not sure how much resemblance between mine. But that was where it came from I just wanted this kind of Men In Black kind of group to be active in the vampire world.

Q: Unfortunately the second book in the Vampire Academy series,Frostbite, was not turned into a movie. Which actor would be your #1 pick for Adrian Ivashkov?

A: I have always tried to keep my head clear of that. I rarely talk about dream casting. I find it’s easier to be open minded because then when things are cast you aren’t upset. I mean people get vicious on the internet, they get suicidal on the internet. They are like “I can’t believe my dream actor wasn’t cast” and I just want to stear away from that and just what come is what comes.

Q: Adrian or Dimitri?

A: I can’t pick. I am asked that all the time and I have never answered anyone

Q: Are you working on any other books right now? What can we look forward to?

A: My next is going to be Soundless which is a stand alone book. It comes out November 10th. It’s a high fantasy based on ancient Chinese history, it’s inspired by that. It takes place in this remote mountain village where people haven’t been able to hear for generations. There is a teenage girl, she is an artist and that makes her a very important person when you can’t hear because they are very visual. She wakes up one morning and she has her hearing back and no one has had this for years. She doesn’t even know how to describe what she’s experiencing and so she goes on this quest to try to figure out what is happening to her and her village. She is accompanied by a young man she used to be involved with so there are some issues.

You can watch the whole interview here:

YALLWEST + “Royal Wedding” by Meg Cabot Giveaway

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On the second weekend of April (April 11-12) while music lovers were heading to the desert for the first week of Coachella book lovers headed to Santa Monica for the first annual YALLWEST.

Day One:
Saturday April 11

Day one of Yallwest took place at Santa Monica High School. I got there an hour early and there was already a line to get in. When we were finally let onto the campus I met up with my friends. That was when we noticed Richelle Mead and Stephanie Perkins nearby. Since my friend Sarah (of What a Nerd Girl Says) and I would be interviewing Richelle later that day we thought we would go up and introduce ourselves.

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After talking to Richelle (and taking a quick photo) I got my VIP writsband from Melissa de la Cruz and headed to the main auditorium for Ransom Rigg’s keynote address. Before Ransom spoke the Mayor of Santa Monica said a few words before naming Margaret Stohl as the “Mayor of Yallwest”.

It was shortly after Margaret was given her mayoral sash that I left the auditorium. When I got outside one of the first things I saw was the Epic Reads booth. Not only were they giving away free ARCs (Advance Reader’s Copy) but they had an ARC of Meg Cabot’s new Princess Diaries book “Royal Wedding”. When I asked about it the women at the booth said they would be giving it away in an hour. I really wanted it so I said I would just hang out until they were giving it away. She must have realized how determined I was to get the book because she gave me a copy right then and there.

After completely geeking out over my amazing luck I quickly got in line for the Veronica Roth signing. Because the line was so long they had to limit the amount of books you could get signed to only three. This worked out perfectly as I only needed to get Insurgent, Allegiant and Four signed (I had gotten Divergent signed last year at the LA Times Festival of Books). The line was about an hour long but in the end it was totally worth it as I got all my Divergent books signed.

Now with Veronica out of the way I headed over to the signing tents (Veronica got her own tent in another area of the festival) to see Richelle Mead. The line for her signing ended up being so long that I decided not to stay (I would be meeting her later for our interview anyway).
After wandering around for a while I finally made it to my first panel of the day: Outlandish. The panel was moderated by Kass Morgan and included Andrea Cremer, Susan Ee, Veronica Rossi and E. Lockhart. The panel focused on the changing landscape of young adult and how romance and gender plays a role. My favorite question was probably the first one Kass asked: “Why, as a society, are we particularly interested in what teen girls are consuming content wise?” The best answer, in my opinion was, from Andrea, who has a PHD in History and specialized in Gender Studies, who said that women “are powerful and people are afraid of that and they always have been. So policing what you can read and what you can think and what you can say is something that the powers have been concerned about.”
I have a confession to make: I have not read or watched The 100 (to be perfectly honest I stopped watching the CW after Gossip Girl went off the air) but after meeting Kass Morgan I will definitely be picking it up.

Kass Morgan, Andrea Cremer, Susan Ee, Veronica Rossi, and E. Lockheart

After this panel I went straight to the cafeteria for my second panel: “Strong Female Characters’ Ugh”. This sounded like an amazing panel (and not just because it included Veronica Roth, Stephanie Perkins and Victoria Aveyard on the same panel) but because the topic was one that I was very interested in. One quote that I heard authors use throughout the festival, and in this particular panel, that I really loved was a Joss Whedon quote that goes “So, why do you write strong female characters? Because your still asking me that question.” I didn’t enjoy this panel as much as I thought because the sound system wasn’t working so I really couldn’t hear most of what the authors were saying. I ended up leaving and waited outside until the next panel.
Once this panel was over I went back in (I wanted to get a front row seat for the next panel). Lucky for me Stephanie Perkins stayed after the panel and signed and took pictures with everyone. Even though I had already gotten all of her books signed I still wanted a picture with her.

Veronica Roth, Shannon Hale, Stephanie Perkins, Kimberly Derting, Victoria Aveyard, and Morgan Rhodes

The next panel was “Writers as Superfans: Cosplay Panel”. I have to say I absolutely loved Richelle Mead as Anne Bonnie from Black Sails and Margaret Stohl as Black Widow (who is my favorite Avenger).

Morgan Rhodes, Andrea Cremer, Maya Van Wagenen, Leigh Bardugo, Gene Luen Yang, Margaret Stohl and Richelle Mead
After the Cosplay panel I went to find my friend Sarah, as we were both going to interview Richelle and I had no idea where we were going to meet her. I found her and some other friends in the signing line for Victoria Aveyard. At this point I was debating wether or not to get in line with them as I would be seeing Victoria again at Pasadena Loves YA. Eventually I decided to get in line with them and got Victoria to sign my copy of Red Queen.

After getting Red Queen signed we heading to the author green room where we were to meet Richelle. I was extremely nervous as this was the first time I had ever done a live interview so I am sure I came of a very awkward during our interview.

Once my interview was over I headed out to were they were giving out Sprinkles cupcakes (I am not going to lie Sprinkles cupcakes are my kryptonite). Along with the cupcakes they were giving out free ARCs. I can’t remember what the other ARCs were but I ended up getting Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (just based on how much I loved Confessions of a Shopaholic).

The final event of the night was the Smackdown and a performance by the all-author cover band Tiger Beat. The Smackdown was absolutely hilarious. Not only did they play fun games (like Celebrity Squares) but some authors got up and read their writing from when they were teenagers. My favorite one was E. Lockheart who couldn’t even get through hers because she was laughing so hard.

Towards the end of Smackdown “Mayor” Margaret Stohl came up and announced the keynote speaker for YallFest (which happens in Charleston, NC).

After this is was time for the Tiger Beat concert. I loved this. Even though I was exhausted I stayed for the entire thing and I was so glad I did. The lead singer of Tiger Beat was Libba Bray (I started reading the Gemma Doyle trilogy when I was in high school and was so sad I missed her signing).

Day Two:
Sunday April 12

Day Two took place at the Santa Monica Public Library. Because the location was much smaller the vibe of the second day was a lot more relaxed.
I ended up going to only one signing, for Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, and I didn’t even get my own book signed but my friends. I mostly just hung around outside getting pictures with different authors. I was even able to get Marissa Meyer and Robyn Schnieder to sign my copies of their books before their signings so I was able to avoid the lines.

Jessica Brody, Marissa Meyer, me and Leigh Bardugo
The one panel I did get to was “Bad Boys, Manic Pixies, Love Triangles: Tropes We Love and Hate”. Not only was it my last panel I went to at Yallwest but it was probably my favorite. Afterwards I was able to get a quick picture with Robin Benway.
Bad Boys, Manic Pixies, Love Triangles: Tropes We Love & Hate panel

Of course I couldn’t leave Yallwest without checking out the photo booth with my friends. (BTW I am in love with the giant bow I am wearing. I don’t know why but I have a huge love of bows).

You can watch entire interview with Richelle here.

Giveaway

Today I will be giving away an advance copy of Meg Cabot’s Royal Wedding, the newest book in the Princess Diaries series. To enter see the details below.
Here’s How To Enter:
  1. Like. Like Book You Very Much on Facebook here.
  2. Comment. Leave a comment below using the hashtag #YALLWESTGiveaway.
  3. Wait! I will announce the winner on Monday June 8th.
Terms and Conditions:
  • you must LIKE Book You Very Much on Facebook to be eligible.
  • this giveaway is open to US residents only.
  • winners will be contacted via Facebook. if I do not hear from you within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected.
  • limit one comment per entry. multiple comment entries will not be considered.
  • this giveaway ends at midnight pst on Sunday, August 31st.
  • this is not a sponsored giveaway.

Pasadena Loves YA Blog Tour + Q&A with Ava Dellaria + Giveaway

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This year I was honored to be asked to participate in the Pasadena Loves YA Blog Tour and to host a Q&A with Ava Dellaria, author of Love Letters To The Dead. Be sure to check out the full interview with Ava by scrolling down.
Along with the Q&A there is also a giveaway of three books from any Pasadena Loves YA 2015 authors. For more information and to enter the giveaway just scroll down to the end of the post.

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For those who haven’t attended this event before here are some of the important details…
When: Friday May 23, 2015 at 12 noon-4pm
Where: Pasadena Public Library, Central Branch, 285 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101
What: Meet 20 YA authors / Panels & Book Signings / Giveaways and Refreshments / Free tote bags for the first 150 guests!

Cost: FREE

Authors: Keynote speaker Mary McCoy (author of Dead to Me) with Katie Alender, Victoria Aveyard, Alexis Bass, Julie Berry, Livia Blackburne, Virginia Boecker, Jessica Brody, Stephen Chbosky, Brandy Colbert, Ava Dellaira, Kody Keplinger, Liz Maccie, Morgan Matson, Lauren Miller, Alexandra Monir, Jennifer Niven, Romina Russell, Sarah Tomp, & Kiersten White

For more info, visit www.pasadenateenbookfestival.com

Please Note: Book sales by Vroman’s Bookstore will begin at 11am. Co-sponsored by Bridge to Books. No registration required, but we would appreciate it if you would post, share, tweet, and tell everyone you know about the upcoming event! Please use the hashtag #PLYA2015.

Q&A with Ava Dellaria

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Q: Tell us about your writing process?

For me, first drafts are a process of discovery. When I started out writing Love Letters, I began with the concept and a few key story points, and I thought of the early stages of writing as spending time with the characters and getting to know them, learning to listening to what they wanted to tell me.

After I had finished a draft of the book, I began the process of shaping the story. On my next draft I focused on structure and narrative arch. I drew on the feedback of friends and family and rewrote the book many times before I began working with my agent and my editor—what I presented as a first draft had actually been rewritten countless times!

Q: What writers would you say influenced your writing the most?

I feel like I’ve been influenced, in some way, by every book I’ve fallen in love with. I have a background in poetry and it’s had a big influence on my prose. (I often start out a day of writing by reading some poetry—it’s a great reminder, always, of the possibilities of language.)

Stephen Chbosky, who was a mentor to me, was a big influence on my writing. At the time I was writing my first draft of Love Letters, I was reading This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz and Welcome to the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. They are both marvelous masters with language, and helped to inspire me.

When I began working on Love Letters, I hadn’t setting out to write a YA book necessarily—to be honest I knew little about the genre at the time—but after I’d talked to my agent about it, he told me he thought the book should be published as YA, and I started educating myself in the genre. I read some of the classic titles likeSpeak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Looking for Alaska by John Green. Those books were real inspirations for me, and helped me a lot in writing my second (and third and fourth and fifth!) drafts of the book.

Q: In your book Love Letters to the Dead the main character, Laurel, writes letters to famous dead people as an English assignment. How did you decide which people Laurel would write to?

I started out with some celebrities that I myself loved and began researching others who I thought might be a good fit. As I worked on the book and got to know Laurel, I found that her character and the choices of people to whom she would write mutually informed each other. For example, when Laurel began writing to River Phoenix, I saw the evening that she and her sister, May, had first watchedStand By Me together, and the way that his particular innocence spoke to them, as they felt the first danger of their own slipping away.

I had originally started out with a wider selection of letter recipients, but in subsequent drafts of the book those who were no longer relevant to the plot fell away. The book traces the evolving connections that Laurel makes between her own life and the lives of the people to whom she writes, so as Laurel’s character and journey became clarified, so did the decisions about the people to include in the book.

Q: If you had been given the same English assignment as Laurel when you were in high school who would you have written to?

I’ve been asked this question a lot, but never with the “in high school” caveat, which is a great addition! I’d likely have written to Kurt Cobain, like Laurel does. I could also see myself having written to Janis Joplin, or John Lennon, or a number of authors I loved, like Kate Chopin or F Scott Fitzgerald.

Q: Fox 2000 has optioned Love Letters to the Dead. What would be your dream casting?

Yes! I feel very lucky to have gotten the opportunity to write the screenplay. I have had a wonderful time working with Fox 2000 and the producers at Temple Hill, and it was a really great to get to spend new time with the characters and to figure out how to tell Laurel’s story in a different medium. As for casting, I have faith in my producers! I thought they did an amazing job with casting for Fault in Our Stars, Twilight, and Maze Runner, and I’m really excited to see who they’d chose forLove Letters.

The Giveaway

Enter to win any 3 books from the 2015 Pasadena Loves YA authors, US only, ends 5/20/2015.

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From Page To Screen: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

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In early January I got to see a screening of CBS’ new film The Duff, based on the book by Kody Keplinger, so I thought it would be fun to do a Page to Screen Review of the book and movie. BE AWARE: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
Summery: Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a biting wit, and a spot-on BS detector. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush, who calls Bianca the Duff–the designated ugly fat friend–of her crew.  
Book Review: I really enjoyed this book. When I started reading the book I was very surprised by some of the more mature content but I guess you can get away more in a book then in a movie. However while there was sex in the book it was not graphic at all so I can see how Keplinger was able to get away with it.
One of the things that I liked most about the book was Bianca. She is cynical and sarcastic but that is what endeared her to me. Wesley also was a great character. I liked that even though he turned out to be a pretty good guy he didn’t go through a 180 degree change. I thought that definitely lent an air of realism to the whole book.
The pacing of the book was good. The story definitely kept me hooked. I finished it in a couple of days because I couldn’t put it down and just wanted to know what happened next.
Movie Review: The movie was so great. But then again any movie that starts off with a Breakfast Club reference is my kind of movie. It was charming, fun, entertaining, and had me laughing throughout the entire thing. I especially loved the addition of Allison Janney and Ken Jeong who were absolutely hysterical.
But by far my favorite part of the movie was the relationship between Bianca (Mae Whitman) and Wesley (Robbie Amell). Every scene that involved the two of them was amazing. The chemistry between them was obvious and just made their scenes together that much fun to watch.
What most surprised me (but in a totally good way) was how raunchy it was. When I first saw the trailer (and some of the changes) I assumed the mature content of the book was taken out to ensure a PG-13 rating. So I was surprised by a lot of the sexual innuendo and raunch jokes throughout the film. But again, surprised in a good way (I do tent to have a very raunchy sense of humor so I really enjoyed it).
Robbie Amell (Wesley) and Mae Whitman (Bianca)
Compare and Contrast: When I first saw the trailer I was a little worried because it was totally different from the book. Usually I am a purist when it come to book adaptations but I in this case I was totally fine with the changes made because in the end the essence of the book remained: it doesn’t matter how others see you it’s about how you see yourself.
As an adaptation the movie left a lot to be desired but as a movie, on its own, it was great. It was cute and funny without being too fluffy. One change that I wasn’t crazy about, however, was Bianca’s relationship with her friends Casey (Bianca A Santos) and Jess (Skyler Samuels). In the book Casey and Jess play a big part but their characters were cut down in the film and most of the film revolves around Bianca and Wesley.
 
Overview: I loved the movie and will definitely be seeing it again when it comes out in theaters. I really hope the movie does well because I feel like it has the potential to be a classic teen movie like Mean Girls, Easy A or Sixteen Candles.
 
Extra: I attended an early screening of the film at The Grove here in LA with my friend Sara (you can check out her blog here). While we were waiting in line before the screening they brought over a cardboard cutout of Robbie Amell for people to take pictures with.
After about a two hour wait we were finally let into the theater and found our seats.
Before the movie started it was introduced by Robbie Amell (Wesley), Bella Thorne (Madison), Nick Eversman (Toby), and Bianca Santos (Casey).
The cast stayed until after the film (except Bella who had a family emergency) to meet everyone and take photos.
Because Robbie had tweeted that he might be at the screening I brought my copy of The Duff for him to sign. I ended up having Bianca and Nick sign it as well.
The Duff comes out in theaters February 20th and is Rated PG-13