I would like to Welcome Jami Aldento Book Junkie today as my Guest Author celebrating her latest release Unleashed (you can read my review HERE), which is book three in the Gemini Men Series that released from Kensington Publishing on Sept 29th, 2009. I first read Kept which is book two and Derek's story and loved it so much I had to then go back and read book one in the series which is Caught, Ethan's story. Who doesn't love smokin hot brothers, each with their own baggage and brand of sexiness that is a cant miss sucking you in until the last page, only to leave you wanting more of them! Just delicious!
Jami was gracious enough to answer some of my question, so without anymore babbling from me, let's begin!
I am a fly on your wall today, what would I see in the day of Jami?
Oh, something very glamorous I'm sure! Seriously though, you'd see me roll out of bed around 7, have just enough time to suck down 2 or 3 cups of coffee before my two boys, ages 2 and 4 erupt from their bedroom. Then it's all about getting them fed, dressed, and depending on the day out the door to daycare and school or for playdates and other activities. On the daycare/school days I work, and on the other days its all mommy time. In between all that I try to squeeze in a run a few times a week and try to plan something interesting to make for dinner.
If someone were writing a story about Jami Alden, what type of word would describe you?
Snarky.
How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like?
I generally start with the spark of an idea. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes it's a news story, a snippet of conversation, sometimes it's another movie or even another book, and I see a side character and think, what would it be like if we focused on that person's story? Then I like to have a rough, working outline – not too specific, but something that helps me map out the big turning points in the story. It's always subject to change, but I need some sort of roadmap so I don't get completely lost.
Can you tell us a little about your newest release UNLEASHED?
UNLEASHED is Danny's story. He's the oldest and toughest of the Taggart brothers, and arguably the most scarred by his mother's disappearance 18 years ago. In UNLEASHED he reunites with a lost love to discover the secrets of his mother's disappearance.
If you could cast Danny & Caroline for a movie who would play them on screen?
I don't know – in general I don't think of real people when I think of my characters. There is one exception – when I wrote DELICIOUS, I had Eric Bana in my head the entire time as my hero, Gabe. Actually, Eric Bana could pretty much play any of my heroes, and I'd be fine with that :)
Did you draw your characters from the personalities in your life?
Not really, though with almost every book, one of my characters will directly quote something someone has said to me. And I'm sure there are character traits that unconsciously seep through, but it's never on purpose. :)
What do you think is the hardest part about maintaining a series?
For me, the hardest part is developing the characters over several books and keeping them consistent. As an author, I want to include just enough about a character in preceding books to pique the reader's interest – make the reader think, “I can't wait for so and so's story!” Then, when I write the book, I want to make sure I really come through with this character I've built up over multiple books. Another challenge is giving readers a chance to reconnect with old favorites, but not making it read like a family reunion.
Do you feel a sense of closure with the completion of Danny’s story?
I do – this was the first time I've written a series of single titles, and also the first time I've written a series with a mystery that threads through all three. With Danny getting his story and the mystery of his mother's disappearance solved, I feel like his story wraps everything up nicely.
What else do you have in the works?
Right now I'm working on a new romantic suspense series idea, very much in the formative stages. But stay tuned :)
If you were not writing, what would you be doing?
Probably freelance marketing and corporate copywriting, like I did before I was published in romance. I enjoyed the work and it had the same flexible hours. :)
For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel? Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc.
Oh, God, all of the above! But if I had to pick one, it's the synopsis, hands down. I have no trouble writing a giant, messy, working synopsis for myself, but when I can't write a marketing synopsis to save myself.
How long did it take you to get published?
From the time I really started writing seriously to the first sale was 4 years. In that time I wrote 1 category romance, 2 single titles and 4 novellas.
Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing? Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction?
Not really. I definitely have ideas of what they look like, and details about their physical attributes, but I almost purposely don't let it solidify too much. That way they stay very much their own people within the book, and don't morph into other people, famous or not.
Do you feel that your covers accurately represent your books characters?
And If you had your say in one cover, which would you change?I have to say, I wish the guy on UNLEASHED looked a little more... manly. He's gorgeous, but he looks like he's about 20, definitely not big, tough, baddest of the bad asses, Danny Taggart.
Don't forget to check out all of Jami's Books in the Gemini Men Series!
Thank you again Jami for such a great interview! Jami has been kind enough to offer 3 copies of KEPT to posters to 3 winners, as well as a surprise grab bag book from my back list for the First Place winner! Check below for details.........
***GIVEAWAY***
+1 Entry to Answer Jami's Question above
+3 If you grab my button or already have it on your blog (must provide link)
+5 If you are a Follower or become one! (must leave link)
Finally..... at long last Danny Taggert's story has been told with the release of UNLEASHED by Jami Alden! I so adore all the Taggert brother, (younger twins Ethan and Derek), well their stories were told with Caught and Kept. Now it's Danny's turn and a closure on the mystery arc that has plagued the Taggert clan and held a little piece of all their hearts..... what the heck happened to their mother Ann all those years ago. Danny is the oldest and I have always though the hardest. As in yes the man can kick some serious ass, but it has always been like he has had some hard shell around him. A self preservation of sorts I guess for him because his heart is so damaged it has forgotten how to love. That is until his long time love Carolyn Medford comes back into his life. Carolyn and Danny were high school sweethearts, she stuck with him through Military School and some time in the service. Until he started treating her like total shit, she had no choice but to let him go and move on her life. That was ten long years ago and now Carolyn is back in his life and in his heart. She has convinced him to help her find out who is framing her for her husbands murder. Not just that, who is framer her and why. Danny accepts, I just knew he would. Damn him if that stubborn man isn't lovable all the same! He does have a heart and a weak spot for Carolyn, and he is just an all around good guy at heart. He doesn't let her down. But it helps that Carolyn lets him in on her theory that James, her late husband had some connection to his missing mom Ann. That, if anything Danny can't refuse. And Carolyn, I loved her from the moment she started talking to me through the pages. She was some weak little sapling, she was heartbroken all over again after seeing Danny after 10 years, all those feelings didn't come back. But the girl is still in love, and once again falling heard. There is so much history there between the two that neither one can deny anymore! And the fact that someone isn't just trying to frame Carolyn, they are trying to kill her! So much comes to a head for Danny. Not just him, but his entire family. Closure on the disappearance of his mother all those years ago. Which brings out so many heartbreaking feelings for the Taggerts, especially Danny's dad. Which brought me to tears to see what it did to the man who can continued to search for her and clues to her disappearance. A beautiful love story that at the end, well that dumb Danny let Carolyn go again. I couldn't believe it. Watching him find his way back to her and their love was a journey I am glad I took!
5 Stars! Loved it, couldn't put it down
SNIPPET:"Danny Taggart is the biggest badassof all the Gemini Men. And there's only one thing a woman can do with a man this hot, hard, and ready for action... He's the oldest of the three Taggart brothers. And the boldest. Tall, dark, and rippling with muscle, Danny Taggart takes no prisoners. But when his latest case puts him up close and personal with the woman who once left him raw and aching, he's shell shocked. Caroline Medford is stilll hotter than hell. But she's also got her pretty grip on the thruths that have shaped him into the soul-ravaged warrior he is today. Burned once, Danny's plan is to satisfy his craving for Caroline and walk away. Yet once he has her warm and willing beneath him, he can't get deep enough - or close enough. Not even when danger threatens to destroy everything he's ever fought for. Including the only woman he's ever loved..."
What do you get when you mix a family wedding (with all the drama), a bit of an overbearing mother (who you love her and want to strangle at the same time), bed bugs, a slimy cousin trying to hit on you with ulterior motives, and one smokin hot cop? The answer is Power Playby Nancy Warren. Power Play is the latest release from Nancy and Harlequin Blaze which releases this Nov. to my simple but thunderous applause. All of the above is the chaos of Emily Saunders an entrepreneurial massage therapist who can come to Elk Crossing, Idaho for her cousin Leanne's wedding. One week of wedding drama she knows will take it's toll, but she is a tough independent girl and she can hold her own. Or can she? With an mother who won't putting on the pressure as she volunteers her for more than her share of wedding tasks to her mother and aunt trying to get her up with her slimy third cousin who is pompous and arrogant not to mention the last person Emily wants to be around, what's a girl to do as the hotel is invaded by bedbugs. Forced share a room with a bit of an overly hairy but all too sexy man due to a computer glitch by the hotel, Emily and Jonah Batts lives are about to intertwine much to the dismay of Emily at the time. Jonah is in town for the Hockey Tournament and since there are no other rooms available or hotels is isn't that torn up about sharing a room with the beautiful Emily. As the days progress Emily and Jonah spend their nights talking and getting to know each other and learn that they actually like each other despite their circumstance, they are both starting to feel a natural attraction to one another as well. Which spikes at cousin Leanne's stagette party when third cousin Buddy is drunk and a little too touchy feely for Emily's liking and Jonah's as well as he comes to her rescue greeting her with a scorching kiss. With the fireworks set from the kiss, Emily is forced to seduce Jonah if she wants him in her bed, and he comes oh so willingly. And much to the surprise> of both, the sexual chemistry is off the charts as Jonah is waylaid into pretending to be Emily's boyfriend & plus one for the wedding. Adding a little side romance and some humor, Emily's friend Kristen and Sadhu, a teammate of Jonah's add to this well rounded ensemble of secondary character's and create trier own love story in the mists of a family wedding and high drama as cousin Buddy takes them all for a ride as his shady past comes to surface. Drawing Emily right into danger where only one man can saver her, Jonah. But in the end will one week be enough for Emily and Jonah? Only love and time will tell. An Enjoyable and fast paced romance that gets your heart started at first scream (literally) and doesn't end until the last page. One page turner that you can't miss!"
5 Stars..... A True Can't Miss!
SNIPPET:"Keep her hands to herself?Not easy for Emily Saunders, who's in Elk Crossing, Idaho, for a family wedding. She's double booked in the same hotel room with a sexy cop attending—of all things!—a hockey tournament. As a massage therapist, Emily's soon itching to soothe Jonah Betts's gorgeous muscles—both on and off the ice.Jonah can't believe his luck—a sexy single woman sharing his cozy room, albeit temporarily. Okay, her orange bridesmaid dress is a disaster and her family is convinced he's actually her boyfriend. He's ready to go along with it even as he makes his play….Until Emily is suddenly calling for a TIME-OUT! Will Jonah's fantasies be permanently iced?"
TRUE BLUE (Unabridged) Audio By David Baldacci, read by Ron McLarty is up for grabs with many thanks for Anna @ Hachette. And I have 3 copies for 3 lucky winners!
Synopsis: "A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation's capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci's new, heart-stopping thriller, True Blue. Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything—her badge, her career, her freedom—and spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and is focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: a vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send her back behind bars. Then Roy Kingman enters her life. Roy Kingman is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. Their investigation into the lawyer's death reveals surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital, and what began as a fairly routine homicide investigation takes a terrifying and unexpected turn into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal."
Available in CD and Digital Download formats. Listen to an excerpt. Visit DavidBaldacci.com
***GIVEAWAY*** +1 Entry for Comment +3 If you grab my button or already have it on your blog (must provide link) +5 If you are a Follower or become one! (must leave link) Winner will be chosen on 11/12 @ 11:59pm
NINE DRAGONS (Abridged and Unabridged) By Michael Connelly, read by Len Cariou is up for grabs with many thanks to Anna @ Hachette I have 3 copies for 3 lucky winners!
Synopsis:"From the streets of L.A. to the shimmering skyline of Hong Kong, Harry Bosch must find his missing daughter. Harry Bosch is assigned a homicide call in South L.A. that takes him to Fortune Liquors, where the Chinese owner has been shot to death behind the counter in a robbery. Joined by members of the department's Asian Crime Unit, Bosch relentlessly investigates the killing and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong triad. But before Harry can close in, he gets the word that his young daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong with her mother, is missing. Bosch drops everything to journey across the Pacific to find his daughter. Could her disappearance and the case be connected? With the stakes of the investigation so high and so personal, Bosch is up against the clock in a new city, where nothing is at it seems. Nine Dragons, the most personal and thrilling Harry Bosch story yet, is available now in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. The audiobook, Kindle, eBook, and large-print editions of Nine Dragons are also available."
Jenn from Sapphire Romance Realm has honored me with a very cool award! Well, I for one think she is just fabulous! And it isn't just because she gave me an SRR Award (Sapphire Romance Realm Outstanding Romance Blog Awards), no sir she gave me a Joseph. Now you ask yourself, what the heck is a Joseph...... well.... just scroll down and take a look for yourself. It's he yummy!
So I am a little behind on things! (story of my life) but I owe a huge thanks for Cathy @ CAFFEY READS for the below award : You Are A Great Read Blog Award
For this award, come up with my own top ten list, then forward the award on to up to ten other bloggers"Top Ten Favorite (of many more) Romance Series that I recently read (in no particular order - not of order of favorites because they are all!)
And last but not least my friend Andrea over at Buried in Books, she gave me this award back in Aug! Does that tell you anything {yes, I am a horrible slacker ;-( }. Thank you sweetie and I am so sorry it took me ages!
To my girl Cecile, if you guys don't know it is Cecile's Birthday today!!! Wooo Hoo!!! She is an abosolute sweetheart and just an all around good person. Oh yeah, and she has a kick Ass Blog! If you haven't already checkout out her blog........... well, watcha wait'en for ??? Hope on over to
I would like to Welcome Maria Geraci to Book Junkie today as my Guest Author celebrating her latest release Bunco Babes Gone Wildwhich is book Two in the Bunco Babes Series that is set to release Nov 03, 2009. You can read all about Bunco Babes Tell Allin my review HERE
Thanks for having me today, Brande. Great questions!
If someone were writing a story about Maria Geraci, what would your blurb say? Oh, boy, that’s a good one. Off the top of my head, I would have to say my tagline would be: Never Say Never. I never dreamed 7 years ago when I decided to write a story for fun on the computer that one day I’d be a published author. Of course, there’s other things in my life the tagline applies to also, but those are kind of private.
How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like? Each story is different. Sometimes it starts with a character, or a situation, or in the case of the book I’m currently writing, the title. From there, it begins to take on a life of it’s own. After I have a rough mental image of the story, I usually write a chapter to get a feel for the characters. Then I plot out the major elements of the story and start writing. I’m not married to my plot outline, so if while writing the story something alters, then I go with what feels right.
Can you tell us a little about your newest release Bunco Babes Gone Wild? Bunco Babes Gone Wild is the story of a woman who decides to shake up her boyfriend after he presents her with a calculator for their 5 year anniversary (instead of the engagement ring she’d been expecting). So she goes to my fictional town of Whispering Bay, Florida, home to the Bunco Babes (the characters I introduced in my first novel, Bunco Babes Tell All) to seek solace and advice from her big sister. She gets a lot more than she bargained for though, and finds herself in the middle of a Bunco feud and a theft. She also meets a hunky new guy she can’t seem to stay away from. All in all, it’s a sexy, humorous, light women’s fiction story.
Is there another genre you would like to explore besides Contemporary Romance?I started off writing historical romance and actually wrote 2 manuscripts in that genre. The first one was awful (and a true beginner’s effort!) The second manuscript finaled in the American Title 2 contest and helped me get an agent. Ultimately, between my agent and I, we decided that my voice stood out more in the contemporary genre. As for exploring other genres, well, you know the old saying (see answer to question 1).
If you could cast Kitty & Steve for a movie who would play them on screen? I always saw Kitty as Drew Barrymore in my head. She has Kitty’s wholesome prettiness and has a great sense of comedic timing (which you’d have to have to play Kitty!) Steve is little harder to cast. Whoever plays him would have to be able to pull off the whole tall, dark, and handsome mysterious stranger thing without it coming off as too hammy. I think Dermot Mulroney might be a good choice. Mmmm…the more I think about Dermot, the more I like him for Steve.
So far who was your favorite Bunco Babe to write about? No fair! That’s like asking a mother who their favorite child is! I loved writing Kitty but then I also loved writing Georgia (the heroine in Bunco Babes Gone Wild). Secondary characters are a lot of fun to write, especially Pilar. I never know what’s going to come out of her mouth.
What quality do you look most for in your heroes? Kindness, a good sense of humor, and the ability to not take yourself too seriously. Of course it helps if on top of all that, he’s also really sexy.
What was by far was your favorite scene to write? Without question, it was the Black Tie Bunco party scene in Bunco Babes Gone Wild. My fingers literally flew over the keys writing it!
What do you think is the hardest part about maintaining a series? Keeping your characters straight!
If you were not writing, what would you be doing? Cleaning closets and doing housework. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
How long did it take you to get published? About 5 years. Somewhere around year 3 and a half, I was incredibly lucky to land Deidre Knight as an agent. She shopped the historical that had finaled in the American Title 2 contest, but it didn’t sell. I had shown her a little bit of Bunco Babes Tell All in the beginning stages and she encouraged me to finish it, saying “That’s the book that will sell!” And she was right.
Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing? Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction? I just depends. Each character is different. Sometimes I start off thinking of a character as a certain person or physical type, but once I start to write them and know them better the mental picture in my head of them might change. For instance in the story I’m working on now, my hero started off with brown hair, but once I started to write him, he became Curtis Stone (the celebrity chef) in my head, so I had to go back and give him blond hair!
If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be? If I put a vampire in my story will you read it? (Okay, so that was a joke.) Being a reader myself, I know what makes me pick up a new author and give them a try, but as an author, I’m interested in what it is about a book that inspires a reader to give an unknown author a chance.
**Once again, a big Thank You to Maria for taking the time out for my questions and for this fantastic Giveaway !
One lucky commenter will win signed copy of Bunco Babes Tell All direct from Maria!
***Giveaway Rules***
+1 Entry for Answering Maria's question above
+3 For Grabbing My Button (must provide link)
+5 For Pimping out this contest (must provide link, sidebars ok, tweet/facebook ok too)
Winner will be chosen via Random.org on 11/03 8am EST
Bunco Babes Tell All, OK have to admit when I read the little I was like huh, what is Bunco? That must be their last name and they are sisters. So when Maria Geraciasked me to read her book Bunco Babes Tell All, I was like fantastic, thinking to myself, well let me check out her site and see what this book is all about....... ah yeah, so if you know what Bunco is then you are already laughing at me. I read that Bunco was actually a game. Well duh on my part! Then I read the blurb and excerpt and knew I was hooked. (oh yes, after I Wiki'ed Bunco of course)!
From the moment you meet Kitty, you can't help but love her. She is one in a group of three tight friends who share a passion of playing Bunco meeting every Thursday night to gossip and drink it up. And of course play Bunco! But as the night starts out Kitty is the Host of tonight's Bunco party, if only she could get her toilet to stop flooding. I couldn't help but giggle, if anyone has ever had a toilet flush to only have the water rise and you realize, OMG.... it isn't going down! The moment of sheer panic freezes you until you hit the floor looking for the valve..... yeah been there, done that! So automatically I felt for the girl, but I couldn't keep my giggles to myself as her two partner's in crime showed up, Shea and Pilar. Both married, make that ALL the Bunco ladies are married.... minus thirty-five year old Kitty! Their friendship, bond and humor cemented the bond I felt with all of them as their character's unfolded on the pages with three very sassy and witty ladies. So what' s a girl to do with a flooded toilet and the party in just a few hours? Steve, the plummer to the rescue! Hum, only thing this sexy and charming plummer isn't really a plummer at all. Oh, he does fix the toilet but ends up in Kitty's bed too. The girl just couldn't resist his charm and not to mention the man is killer in the bedroom. The problem is that Kitty likes him, a lot, and wants to explore what Steve has to offer, the thing is that the guy is tight lipped as ever and kind of mysterious, you just know the man is hiding something! Whispering Bay is a sleepy north Florida town, so when this sexy, cryptic man arrives in Kitty's life, Shea and Pilar just aren't going for it, nope, just like the good friends that they are, they are just looking out for their girl Kitty. Someone has to, the girl is all starry eyed with Steve and jsut wants more of him. And knowing full well that there is something about this "plummer" that just isn't adding up. Not to mention their best friend is lusting after a man who have been married and divorced THREE times! The plot only thickens as Kitty, who is a realtor is offered to broker a new development of Condo's in their quite little town. Oh yes, not going over to well with the folks of Whispering Bay, big money is coming to town to shake things up. But this would be huge for Kitty and her career if only everyone would see the benefits of the new development Kitty's life professionally would fall into place. But we all know life has drama, and Kitty, Shea and Pilar are in the thick of it. I just couldn't stop laughing at the things that came out of these girls mouths. Every Thursday night with so much gossip plus alcohol a new drama comes alive. So real was their friendship and their personalities it was easy to relate to them and love them all the same. I wanted to be their friend to, I wanted to meet Thursday nights and drinking margaritas, gossip and play Bunco! Maria just draws you into their world which is filled with passion, love and friendship. Steve, oh Steve, I just couldn't decided if he was an official "bad boy" or not. He has the elements with the secrets he held and all that charm oozing from every sexy little pore, just wanted to eat him up all the same. I had such a great time reading this book, fun, fun, fun..........I can't wait to read Bunco Babes Gone Wild!
5 STARS- LOVED IT! COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN
SNIPPET:"Meet the Bunco Babes of Whispering Bay. Every Thursday night they roll dice, drink frozen margaritas, and catch up on all the gossip in their small north Florida town. Kitty Burke is the only Bunco Babe who is still single—which is okay—but she’s thirty-five and may need to face that her image of Mr. Right is all wrong. Take Steve. Very sexy—but on paper, with three failed marriages and a shady career, maybe not great husband material. And yes, his ring tone is “Freebird.” Certainly fellow Babes Shea Masterson and Pilar Diaz-Rothman vote thumbs down. But maybe there’s more to Steve than meets the eye? Is it time for Kitty to take a chance and hope that she can be as lucky in love as she is in Bunco?"
Random Magic is the debut novel by Sasha Soren, who is an accomplished freelance writer/producer, screenwriter, copywriter and lyricist. I am thrilled to have her here today at Book Junkie in Celebration of the release of Random Magic on a quick stop on her Blog Tour! I was lucky enough to grab some of Sasha's time for a few questions below and honored to be able to review Random Magic. You can read my review HERE !
I would first like to Welcome Sasha Soren to Book Junkie today as my Guest Author celebrating her debut release, Random Magic. So here goes ...........
I am a fly on your wall today, what would I see in the day of Sasha? Nothing too terribly thrilling, alas. Right now, in the middle of touring (Hi, everybody!), so most days would be treated to the very exciting spectacle of me emailing, writing up materials for the tour, checking that ARCs are sent out, creating book trailers or online quizzes, trying to stay ahead of schedule and Twittering my little heart out. And maybe there’d be like a little snooze, you know, just for variety. Coming soon to a TV near you, an exciting new reality show about a lovely writer: Nothing Happens For A Whole Hour. Possibly followed by next season’s follow-up series: Wow, She Made A Cup Of Tea! Actually, that exclamation point might even be too exciting.
If someone were writing a story about Sasha Soren, what would your blurb say? Of course, it’d be lovely if it were: “She’s a bazillion times more scrumptious than cotton candy,” or just “Swoon.” But it’s far more likely to be: “Good lord, what’s she done now?” Alternatively, perhaps: “She did it the hard way.” That’s probably going to be my epitaph or something. That, or, as Winnie puts it in the book: “Seemed like a good idea at the time” or: “Be right back.”
How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like? Hmmm. Actually, have never even thought about it, it’s just a natural thing for me. For example, if you have a knack for cooking, you just sort of…do it. You don’t think about it. Or, if you’re good with music, or organizing, or sports or kids or crafts or driving or swimming and so on, you don’t give it much conscious thought. You just sort of get on with it. Also, I’m not the most organized person in the world. So, don’t really start with outlines or synopses or anything, because I’d get so caught up in making it all look nice that I’d forget to write. No, my writing process is more like, “Hey, I wonder if that would work?” And then you go muck about and scribble on things and have some tea and a ponder and sometimes think, “Aha!” And sometimes you just think, “Just look at you. Working hard, eh?”, because an awful lot of the process of writing is, literally, just sitting around staring out a window. So, it sort of looks like you’re just draped about decoratively, doing nothing at all. But, oh, inside your head, the gears are cranking. Well, on a good day. Oh, but in getting started… Some curious idea will just pop up, and it won’t have an easy answer. So, that draws my attention. The rest of it is kind of trying to answer the question, “What if…?” I think all books start that way. You’re just trying to answer some particular question. Then you have another question, and try to answer that one, and just keep going until everything ends up making a strange kind of sense. I do think that everyone goes about it in their own way, though. Like there are people who are very character-oriented, and so they know the characters, first, and that tells them the story. Or, they know the plot, and figure out what happens to the characters within the framework of the plot, and go about it that way, from almost the opposite direction. Some people benefit from mapping out their story ahead of time, in an outline, because they like to have the ground ahead of them be as clear as possible. These are all good approaches -- whatever works to help you get the story on the page, then that’s a useful thing. For me, I don’t plan ahead, and don’t have a strong idea about any particular character, they kind of tell me about themselves as we go along, until finally I just kind of know how some particular character would react. They become familiar, like old friends. But, apart from that, really just start with something that puzzles me, or intrigues me, or makes me curious, and just try to follow the questions, until there aren’t any more to answer.
Can you tell us a little about your newest release Random Magic? The basic story of the book is that young Henry Witherspoon has an absent-minded professor who misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, and so Henry has to book-jump to go bring Alice back again. Coming from a safe, settled environment, Henry’s in serious trouble in this other, more treacherous magical world, but he meets a witch, Winnie Flapjack, who’s got some tricks up her sleeve and decides to help him. That’s how the book begins, it’s the essential problem that needs to be solved, but there are also lots of other elements woven in between the main threads. There are funny scenes, surreal scenes, philosophical scenes, adventure scenes, things you won’t expect -- it’s an unusual book because it doesn’t fit neatly into any particular genre. It’s more like life, itself, which really can be sunny one moment, then dark the next. The word “random” in the title refers to the character who loses Alice, Professor Random, but also to the adventures, the things learned or observed, that we encounter in life. Because that’s how we actually experience it. The interesting thing is that sometimes “random” things aren’t as random as we think they are…
If you could cast Winnie and Henry for a movie, who would play them on screen? Hmmm. Well, not that familiar with actor names, but there was a film called Whale Rider, and something about the main actress reminded me of Winnie, I think she’d have made a convincing Winnie Flapjack. Although, of course, not sure how old she’d be now. But it’s this actress – actually, here’s the trailer for that film, so you can see what we’re discussing: http://tinyurl.com/dn7wrt) Something about the character, or the actress who plays her, just reminds me of Winnie. She has the same kind of vibe of self-contained strength, determination, grit, a willingness to fight to the death for what she believes in, or to save someone or something she loves deeply. So, she just has a very Winnie kind of energy. Henry, no idea. No particular actor comes to mind for Henry. He’d have to be a young actor who’s a bit droll, who can be clueless but still somehow sympathetic. His strength is different from Winnie’s strength. They’re both strong people, in their own way. Winnie’s strength is something you notice when you read the book, she’s just tireless and passionate and doesn’t feel sorry for herself, ever, and she’s never daunted by anything, she just gets on with it. But Henry, I realized later in writing the book, he seems like a marshmallow, compared to Winnie, but in fact he does have a kind of yielding, patient strength. It’s tricky explaining why, without putting a massive spoiler on the page, but for folks who’ve read the book -- consider how long it’s been from the beginning of the book, until the ending scenes. Now, he’s been steadily pursuing just one single aim, for that entire period of time. If you’ve read the book, you know exactly what that aim happens to be. So, that kind of persistence and dedication is also a kind of strength. I think that, in casting Henry, he’d have to look less able and bold than Winnie, but would have to also have a quiet undercurrent of strength, just like Winnie does. His is just less immediately obvious. They match each other. She’s more active strength, and he’s more passive strength, but together they’re a perfect match. It might be hard to reflect that on screen. When you’re doing a film, so much of it is about what you actually see onscreen. It would be easier for people to see and understand Winnie’s strength, because so much of it is shown just by her body language, her expressions and the way she speaks, how quickly she moves and reacts. Whereas Henry’s strength would have to be more subtly implied. He’s not going to go swinging from any trees if he doesn’t have to, or anything. But notice that, even though in the book, he’s ready to give up, he learns something through just knowing Winnie. So, when he realizes how important one particular thing is to him, then, no – he doesn’t give up. He goes about it quietly and obstinately, but he doesn’t give up. That’s something he learned from Winnie. So, not sure who’d be a good foil for Winnie, but it would probably be someone with a calm energy, compared to her storm. They have that kind of synergy, in the book, so it would be nice if that could be reflected onscreen. It’s the kind of internal change in character that would have to be told without words, though, maybe a change in the way he reacts or speaks, and so on. The thing about the synergy between Henry and Winnie is that, I think he reacts to her at first with total bemusement, because he’s just never met anyone like her in his life, and doesn’t know what to make of her. Then, as they continue on their journey, he learns to admire and appreciate and be thankful for Winnie’s strength. But also, he doesn’t just learn to respect Winnie’s strength; I think that it actually goes even deeper than that, in what he’s learned just by knowing her. He doesn’t just admire her strength – knowing Winnie helps him find his own. Casting Henry would be difficult, because he spends so much time in the book just trying to catch up with Winnie, who thinks faster and acts with less hesitation, that he’s vaguely comical. He’s endearing, but at the same time, you shake your head because, without Winnie’s help, he wouldn’t have survived. So, it would have to be an actor that can manage to be both clueless and endearing at the same time, and it might be hard to pull that off. Winnie, though, would be harder to cast, since she’s just such a tomboy – but beyond being a tomboy, she’s just wise beyond her years. There really isn’t any other actress I can think of apart from the one mentioned who’s been able to project that combination of grit, resolve, inner and outer toughness, but also passion, and deeply-felt emotion and love. She’s not cute-spunky, or girly-spunky, she’s like a much older soul in a much younger body, she’s had to survive a very difficult life. I mean, in the sense that her bravado isn’t bravado – she really is brave and willing to put her life on the line. Also, she’s crafty, resourceful, determined, focused and extremely self-possessed, which is rare in a younger person – so, finding that kind of energy in an actress might be difficult. It might be difficult for them to understand Winnie’s particular kind of strength. It’s not showy, it just is. If you have any suggestions, it would be interesting to hear them in the comments, but that particular actress is really the only one that vaguely comes to mind as being a close match for Winnie. For Henry…no idea.
What was your favorite scene to write in Random Magic? That’s a really hard question. They were all favorite scenes, because they were all so interesting to me, for different reasons. The Garden of the Muses: Interesting because of all the vivid color, and imagining what it would look like and what you’d be likely to see. The grumpy goat at the Lost and Found station: He was so cranky, but he just made me laugh. Needlessly unpleasant people generally do make me laugh because they’re just so absurd. The bridge and the apprentice wizard: It was so surreal that here was this lovely chappie who was deadly, an interesting juxtaposition, because, of course, he’s very likeable and endearing, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. It didn’t matter just how nice he was; if Winnie’d failed, he’d have killed her without a qualm. Of course, this is something that Henry fails to understand about her world, when he first arrives. He’s still trying to play by the rules he’s learned back in our world. Which, of course, would get him killed, which is why he’s quite lucky to meet Winnie. She knows the dangers. If she doesn’t know something, she learns it very quickly, because that’s how she’s managed to stay alive. Callie’s party and her limitless library: Callie is just such a jolly, pleasant character, it would be nice if everyone knew a Callie. It was fun to imagine which writers might be there and what they’d be doing. Also, wow, what a library she has, was just lovely to imagine a library where you could find any book ever written. Yes, please! The living chess scene: Writing those scenes nearly wiped me out for a week. There was just so much to keep track of, it was really complicated, because the chess moves had to be accurate. I wanted to write an actual game, that you could re-play on a chessboard, which would make perfect sense. Keeping track of who was where and why, but also making the scene interesting and intelligible to people who don’t play chess, well, that was tricky. Those scenes were just so vivid to me that I didn’t mind the sustained effort it took to construct them. They just fascinated me because while writing them, it was like I’d actually fallen into the book and was standing on the board along with Winnie and Henry, and felt the same urgency and courage in everyone on the board. The pirates: They were just fun to write. The lingo they use is actual pirate lingo, so it was fun, after having to stop and go do some research, to come back and just play with all these colorful phrases. Then it was fun to just make the pirates all sort of funny-scary, and as outlandish as possible, and just think, well, how silly can we be in this scene? Oh, very silly, I think! Let’s go! Tina, of Tina’s Book Reviews (http://tinyurl.com/yksyafd) wrote a lovely review of the book, and she happens to love all things piratical, so she loved those scenes and said she laughed so hard her stomach hurt. Well, what more does any writer need to make their day, really? I ask you. Because, when you can create something that makes someone laugh and enjoy themselves and feel good, that just makes you feel good, too. Just happens that she especially loves pirates, so those scenes were like a fantastic circus for her – all things piratical! And a parrot! I didn’t happen to know that when I wrote those scenes, I didn’t write them with some particular person in mind, just that the pirates made me laugh and it was fun to write about them. But it’s just a nice feeling when something you’ve written is so delightful to someone that they get a kick out of it, it makes them laugh and sorts their day out a little bit. You know…random magic. Because that’s magical, too, how that particular bit about pirates in that particular book somehow ended up in the hands of a reader who’d especially love exactly those scenes. Interesting, no? The scenes in the Floating City were intense, wouldn’t say it was a pleasant experience to write them, because they just came down in a flood, was almost like being possessed, not really writing it so much as channeling it. If the Muses exist and they’re around today, then that was definitely a gift from Callie, because the scenes were so vivid and startling that it was almost like I was actually there and able to observe what was happening. The impressions about the city were really strong, just had to write down what I was seeing. It felt like some sort of creative fugue, where you’re just writing and writing and writing and totally forget what’s going on around you, and you look up and realize that it’s midnight. That only happens rarely, and would be hard to classify the experience as comfortable or good -- it’s more akin to burning alive from the inside -- but it’s still really satisfying to the soul in a way that’s just not possible in any other way. Did you ever draw your characters from the personalities in your life? Not usually, no, because I prefer fiction to non-fiction, so I like to just…make stuff up. It wouldn’t be as challenging to write a character based on someone I already knew, and evidently I prefer to do things the hard way… But, aha, yes, in Random Magic, there are two tributes that I put in there for particular people. Nevermore is based on someone who’s very like the character in the book. Cora (the Muse of Dance), in the book, is a tribute to a really wonderful ballet teacher. The characterization is exaggerated somewhat, to really make Cora’s artistic temperament stand out almost in a satirical way, but otherwise it’s fairly spot on. She was just a very strict, very demanding, very regal and daunting woman, in her 70s. She looked so fragile, like a puff of wind would just waft her away, but she had a backbone of steel. If you showed up even 30 seconds late for her class, all she’d have to do was just look at you, and you’d turn around and go – running, with much quickness – away. She just had so much presence and je ne sais quoi; very committed to the art, very strict, very demanding, almost to the point of brutality, but everything she did, was in honor of this beautiful art of illusion. And, also, it should be said, that everything was also in honor of her dancers, in being wise and experienced enough to know that it was possible to reach just a little further, do something just one more time, try just a little harder. Because, of course, that’s how anyone perfects any art; with patience and commitment and sacrifice. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Well, she wasn’t going to suffer any lightning bugs in her imperial domain, when instead she could draw down a sky crackling with arcs of light. When people are trying their best to help you perfect something, whether it’s your work or your art or your handwriting or your soul, they all have different approaches. Sometimes they say, “You can’t,” meaning you’re pushing yourself too hard, or are reaching for something you’ll never be able to reach. Sometimes they say, “You can,” meaning that they can see you struggling, and they have compassion for your pain, and want to give you just a little energy so you can take one more step. Well, she was a different breed, entirely. She didn’t say, “You can’t,” and she didn’t say, “You can,” she said, “You will.” Of course, a lot of people thought she was a fire-breathing dragon, but if you were paying close attention, it was easy to tell she was a fire-breathing dragon – with a marshmallow heart. Because, of course, if there was some brilliantly talented dancer who couldn’t afford to continue taking lessons, well, they wouldn’t have a dance card but she’d somehow mysteriously forget that they were supposed to have one. Or you’d find someone wiping away tears in a corner sometimes, not because she’d made them cry with her ceaseless demands, but because it turns out that those impossible demands weren’t so impossible after all, and she’d taught them the secret of flight. Lovely woman. Lovely and overwhelming and marvelous. They don’t make grand dames in the grand tradition like that, anymore, which is a pity. She was like your worst nightmare of a drill sergeant -- in a tutu. Right…try to get that image out of your head, now. But, yes, in all seriousness, just a brilliant, dedicated and passionate person. Profound love for the art, and profound love for the dreamers who worshipped at its altar. Her territory, however, was a slacker-free zone. If the Muses needed a replacement Muse of Dance to come along and run a ballet conservatory in the Garden of the Muses, she’d be it. And no one would dare be late there, either. Not even Zeus.
What else do you have in the works? No new writing for now, just busy on tour and with other things, there’s no time left to actually write. But always thinking, and have a few ideas that would be really interesting to follow, so as soon as I can steal some time, will be off answering questions and following the trail, again.
What inspired you to write Random Magic, what was your muse? Honestly, think it was just curiousity. What would happen if you could visit a book, and what would happen if a fictional character was lost in our world – or, no, what about if she was lost in a different book and someone from our world had to go rescue her? What would happen? So, was mainly curiosity, because I’d started thinking about it and seriously started getting curious about just what would happen. And..ta-da! I found out what happened. Writing a whole novel just to find out the answer could have been the hard way to go about doing things, however. I mean, I might’ve just asked. If you were not writing, what would you be doing? Traveling, probably. It’s my second-strongest lifelong obsession.
For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel? Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc.? Actually, the hardest part of writing is just finding enough time and money to have the time to be able to write. Writing requires a lot of time – researching, writing, thinking, editing, proofing, then doing it all again, scrapping pages that don’t work, trying to figure out some tricky problem, and so on. If you don’t have that time to write, you won’t be able to let the story fully develop, because it’s like…yes, it’s a bit like if you’ve just planted an herb garden in a window box on your sill. So, yes, you have all the necessary items that you need – seeds, dirt, container, water – but if you don’t have time to actually use them, then you’re never going to be able to chop some fresh oregano over your spaghetti or make some fresh lemongrass tea or what have you. You have to have the time to go through all the stages: The seeds (the initial idea or ideas), the dirt (characters, dialogues), the container (your framework of the story, the plot), the water (putting in writing time). Then you have to prune, and wait for little new shoots to spring up (editing, proofing, rewriting). And, finally, at the end, after all of that care and attention, you finally have something very tasty and delicious and wonderful. But if you miss a step, or skip a step because you’re impatient, or just don’t have the time to attend to all of these important things, then you don’t have anything. You have a great book that never had the opportunity to come to vibrant life, in that way. And that’s a real pity. So, the hardest part of writing is never the actual writing. The hardest part of writing is being able to have the time, the tools, the funds to write. If no one’s going to come along and give you these things you need, then you need to provide them for yourself. You work and then put money aside so that you can buy some free time when you can just write. You fight for it. You have to, because the world isn’t going to just give it to you. You just fight for it, because you feel passionate about it, just like anyone would fight for anything they feel passionately about. You know, the mothers and fathers out there – you’d fight for your kids, wouldn’t you? And you’d think people were nuts if they asked you, well, why would you do that? You just do it, and you put everything you have behind it. Well, if you feel passionately about creating some new book, or album, or some other work of art, you do the same thing. You just do it, and put everything you have behind it. So, yes, the hardest part of writing is finding the time to be able to write. The writing itself, well, yes, of course it’s ridiculously difficult. I think you have to be slightly mad to actually contemplate putting yourself through that kind of mental torture on purpose. But, like anything, if you feel passionately about something, it’s not like you’re going to listen to reason, anyway. So, might as well just get on with it. I don’t worry about the difficult parts of writing – everything you mentioned in your question – simply because I spend so much energy fighting just to be able to do all of them. To me, it’s a privilege to suffer for my art. Cue melodramatic music. But it’s true. It’s sort of the difference between a paper cut and a broken leg. The difficulties of writing are very vexing, and, yes, they drive you to distraction and some days you’re so focused on some part of some story that you can’t figure out and walk around looking like you’ve just stuck your finger into an electric socket. So, a paper cut is very distracting and unpleasant. But if you break your leg, whoah, you’re not even bothered about that paper cut. So, in terms of difficulties, then: The writing process, that’s the paper cut. It bothers you and keeps you tossing and turning and distracts you and is generally unpleasant. But fighting for the time to write – that’s the equivalent of taking a tumble down a ski slope. That’s the much bigger problem to face down. Yes, every bit of the writing process is extremely difficult, but not really focused on the difficulties, because the bigger problem to solve is being able to put myself through all those difficulties, in the first place. But, assuming that problem is solved, and only have to worry about the writing, then, which would be the hardest part of writing, out of the elements you’ve mentioned? I think it would probably be, in order of difficulty: Writing the story: The most difficult for most people, because the process of writing is both very hard and very boring. Most of the time, getting the story on paper is just a matter of planting your behind in a chair and just writing and writing and writing for hours, until the story starts to shape itself. Also, a lot of the writing bit of it isn’t actually writing, at all, it’s thinking. You just have to be sort of obsessed with your story, and willing to devote huge amounts of energy to sorting out little arcane details that wouldn’t matter to anyone else. So, you’re not only putting in all these hours at the keyboard, but all these other hours away from the keyboard. It’s sort of like when you hear people complaining about school – first you have to sit through all these classes, then you have to prep for a test, then on top of everything, there’s homework. And then they think about it and want to run away screaming. But it’s all necessary. So, the hours you spend writing are important. The hours you spend thinking about things are important. The odd thoughts you take the time to jot down are important, because they might have the answer to some writing problem you’re trying to solve. But you can’t skip any of it. It’s all important. Life interrupts you, and not everyone thinks it’s worth the time to use all this mental energy to sorting out what happens, why, when, where, and so on. No one else can help you, because you’re the only one who knows the story, so you’re the only one who can solve it. So, you can’t even lean on getting a little bit of tea and sympathy, because you’re the one who has to figure it out. But if you’re going to finish your book, then you just have to commit to it and not stop until the story is complete. Then you can maybe have a rest. But first…back to the keyboard. Plotting: This is easier, because as you get more and more of the story down on paper, you start to see more and more of the story, so that plotting becomes a little easier. It’s like you start out on a foggy night walking across the moors and can’t make your way without a map, you have to just take one step, then another step, then another. Finally, the fog starts to clear, and you look back and find that, not only have you traveled maybe 300 steps, but now you can also see more of the surrounding ground, and can figure out where to go from there. Plotting doesn’t get easier if you’re not already writing the story, which is sort of a conundrum. It does get easier as you continue, though, because you start to see a wider range of ground, not just the little patch of ground you’re standing on. But to do that, of course, you have to move. And that’s the actual writing part, where you just plant yourself in your chair and start to think about what happens, what might happen, what doesn’t happen, what happens next, and what happens because that happens – or doesn’t. Moving all of these things around in your mind, taking one step, then another. And so on. Plotting gets easier as you go along, it’s okay not to have a map, as long as you have a rough idea where you’re going. Concept: It was hard to decide where to put this, because it actually fits in two places. It’s the easiest thing in writing, because you might have 100 ideas in an hour, and so there’s usually some other idea coming up if some other idea doesn’t work. It’s also the hardest thing in writing, because it you start off on the wrong idea, it would be a bad thing to realize halfway through the book that it just won’t carry the story. So, the idea does have to be right. The good thing is that you can have ideas all the time, and you don’t have to commit to exploring them if you don’t want to, so, for that reason, it’s an easier part of writing, because there’s very little effort involved. On the other hand, it’s one of the hardest parts of writing, because without a good idea, you don’t have anything to build on. So, it’s both one of the easiest parts of writing and one of the hardest. Characterization: Easier than writing the story, because it’s something you think about while you’re writing the story. So, it’s not a separate thing, it’s just part of the larger process. Also, as you go along, you start to get to know your characters, so that it becomes almost natural to just know what they’d say or do in response to something. It might be hard trying to figure out, in the beginning, just which characters will play the biggest role, or what their real story happens to be, but if you have two people, you already have some sort of story. They might be similar or different, or friends or strangers, or male or female, or whatever it is, but as long as you have two people start talking, then you’ve already begun telling your story, and the rest starts to sort itself out. You know what some particular character is likely to do, and what they’re not likely to do, which makes them more of a known entity, so you don’t have to guess what they’d do anymore, you just kind of know. Synopsis/Query letter writing: The easiest of the other elements on your list, because by the time you get around to writing a synopsis or query letter, you just know your story so well, you just have to explain it briefly so that you can communicate the information to someone else. But it’s easier to do that, it’s just like having a nice conversation with someone, it’s something we all do every day, just communicating. So, it’s not that difficult, compared to everything else. Query letter writing might be difficult in the sense that you never know if someone’s going to appreciate your work or just slam the door in your face or even just be really nasty and spoil your whole morning. But if you believe in the story, and you know it’s good, then you might as well just go out and take your chances. The answer’s going to be yes or no, positive or negative, good or bad. Half of that equation sucks, but it’s still a simple equation, so it’s not that complicated, might as well just go on ahead. Just like Winnie says, if you’re going to take a gamble on something that seems overwhelming, well, “I’ll always gamble on one out of two -- them’s good odds.” Of course, in the book, she’s talking about taking a gamble on life vs. death, but, if you’ve already read the book, you already know that, and are probably laughing because that’s just Winnie for you. Actually, she does say something to Henry when he wants to give up, something along the lines of -- actually, to quote her -- “If you fail, you fail. Stay here and you’ll know for sure you will.” I guess it just comes down to your personality -- do you feel more secure having a settled answer, even if it’s a bad one, or are you willing to take a chance and see what happens? The security or the danger, they’re all up to you. You’re the only one who can make that decision, because you’re the only one who knows what you’re capable of, and what you’re willing to risk.
Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing? Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction? Actually, no, but I do know that other writers do this, it helps them visualize the new world and get a sense for their characters, and even get organized. You know, like they’ll have a sort of posterboard on the wall, with the chapters laid out, and visual information and so on, and it really does help them construct that particular world. They literally have pictures on their walls of people who look the way they imagine their characters might look like. Also, yes, there are people who strongly visualize their characters mentally, and I think that probably does help them understand what their character is like. For me, though, they don’t look a particular way, in my mind. What comes across to me much more strongly is not what they look like, but what they’re actually like. I mean, what their energy is like, I really do feel that, which is useful, because I can put myself in their place and know what they’d do. I’m actually the same way in daily life -- I don’t normally notice what people look like, as much as I get a strong impression about their particular energy. The who, not the what or which. The soul, maybe. Not sure what I’m picking up on, actually. But it’s the same way with characters; I don’t know exactly what they look like, but I do know exactly who they are. It’s instinctual. Also, think it’s more fun to leave out heavy description, and just let the reader fill in what they think a character looks like, what they sound like, and so on. It’s just more fun that way, and they can more easily slip into a story if they’re left enough space to feel welcome. Random Magic is a very visual book, there are lots of vivid descriptions, but mainly just to give people a feeling for what the world is like. But tried to leave the specific details up to readers to decide, because reading a book is like watching a film, only you’re kind of making up your own film, in a way. On the other hand, it’s hard to write a character without giving some idea what they look like. So, for example, I knew Winnie had dark hair and green eyes, that she had a pointy chin, and that she was little and wiry. I knew that she was wearing a patchwork tunic, that it was red, and that she was wearing a pair of boots. I knew that Henry had blue eyes and lighter hair, and that he was wearing pajamas, because he was sent on this adventure without warning. I knew he was wearing a pair of galoshes, because he’d been planning to sneak out the window in his school. But apart from these tiny sketches of description, wanted to leave the rest up to the person reading the book, because it might be really interesting, what they came up with, and much more personal. And that’s a nice way to read a book. The only supporting character who just seemed very insistent on being seen was Lady Witherspoon. I knew exactly what dress she was wearing, what the colors were, that the fabric was, the style of her hat, her hairstyle, and even the details about what flowers were on her hat and what her evening coat looked like. For some reason, all of these details just came through very strongly. She’s a very elegant and fashionable and eccentric and vain (in a lovable way) character, so…well, I think she just wanted to show off her dress, personally.
If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be? I’d be curious to know what their favorite scenes were -- or who their favorite characters were and why. Just one question, oh, that’s hard. There are so many questions I’d like to ask them. But either one above would be interesting, I like to hear which things people connect with, because it’s interesting that different people remember or are moved by totally different things. I’d also be curious to know what particular thing made them laugh or cry, because a genuine emotional reaction is a wonderful compliment and I’d treasure it. I’d be curious to hear their own thoughts on some of the more philosophical parts in the book, and some of the answers and questions they’ve been thinking about in their own lives. It’s really interesting hearing what people think, or how they react to some specific book. It doesn’t even have to be my book, just happen to like hearing intelligent discussions about, oh, everything under the sun. There’s so much to learn, and you learn a lot just by listening to what people have to say. If you’re reading this and would like to leave your comments about the book, on any of the questions above -- or, sticking to just the one question (fave scene or character and why), I’d be very pleased to hear your thoughts and will read them all. Really, I’m just that nosy.
** As a side note I would again like to thank Sasha for answering my question with such love, as I told her this morning, her answers were filled with heart that it was obvious to see the passion she felt for her novel/characters. Coming from a reader's stance it helps me to solidify in my head the connections that authors have to their work and the passion that we too as readers feel for the words they write and the worlds they create for us!
SNIPPET: "When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from “Alice in Wonderland,” young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Strüths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time. "
*** You too can win a signed copy of Random Magic from Sasha @ Well-Read Reviews! This contest runs from October 20th – November 25th 2009 (the end of the tour).
There is a new scary book in town, and it is calledThePeruke Maker by Ruby Dominguez. And wow, is this story bone chilling. I live here in Boston and Salem only being 15 min away, I have traveled there many times have have hit all the museums and sites the city has to offer (which are amazing BTW), so when I had the opportunity to read this one I was thrilled. That and the fact that I am a total wimp when it comes to scary things, mostly movies that I knew I would have more courage to hop out of my comfort zone. Boy was this a doozy, just look at that cover! It grabbed me, took me on a very scary journey and gave me chills all over my body. The Peruke Maker takes place in two different centuries, first you have the 17th century New England and then the 21st Century and two women who's lives are intertwined in a ghostly and gruesome twist that will chill your spine and capture your interest. Sarah is in the 21st century, modern day woman who has just survived a horrific car accident, leaving her body battered. Her face and head are scared and it has left her without any hair, and emotionally destroyed when she spies an add in the paper for a wig. Not just any wig, this one is 100% human hair "grown and harvested from reliable and youthful donors". How can she pass it up, especially when this beauty that she gets has the most spectacular flowing red hair she has ever seen. The wig alone gives her the confidence that she so desperately needs. But don't get your hopes up too soon girl, cause the ghost of Bridget Cane has arrived to scar the living daylights out of you. And that she does! Bridget was accused of being a witch, same as her mother, then tortured and executed during the height of the Salem Which Trials. Bridget was a beautiful young girl, the Peruke Maker's (wig maker) daughter...... with..... you guessed it, a beautiful mane of flowing read hair. Creepy I tell you, that isn't all, because now that Bridget has arrived, Sarah is time traveling from the present day to the front pew of the trials! But something is changing in Sarah and it isn't for the good. She must fight her way back from this dark path she is taking and come to terms with who she has become. Michael, Sarah's boyfriend plays a part as well. She has brushed him aside not believing that he doesn't care about her scars, it is who she is that he loves. If only Sarah can't find the love she has for Michael again, she will indeed find her happiness as well and let Bridget rest in peace. The one thing I have to say about his book is that it was a little difficult to follow and didn't flow as I would have liked, it was written in screenplay format and I believe if it wasn't it would have made for an easier read. All in all, I thought it was an enjoyable read, a bit gruesome and gritty at times, but I still really enjoyed it all the same.
4 Stars, liked it, would recommend
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I had the honor of reading the ARC of Sasha Soren's debut novel Random Magic just the other week. I have to tell you I was so excited since I had had correspondence with Sasha for about a month or so and I knew that this was going to be a FANTASTIC read from just chatting with her about the book and playing around on her site with all the goodies she has posted about Random Magic. Boy was I NOT disappointed! I don't know how better to describe it than whimsical and just plan FUN! I know I have seen that description out and about in the bloggosphere when reading the other reviews about Random Magic but I couldn't think of any other words to capture the heart of this book. There is a bond and a friendship between the two main characters, Winnie and Henry that just captured my heart and wouldn't let go. I couldn't help but read faster and keep the pages turning, I was so desperate to learn what happened to them. And let me tell you that there are some crazy adventures they struggle through. One thing about Random magic I can say, think back to when you were a kid, all those stories and fairy tales we used to read about, you remember those right? Well, imagine a grand adventure where they are all true and you are Winnie Flabjack...... that is what Sasha did. She took me on an adventure, the sarcastic Winnie's hooks up with Henry, he sent to help the absent minded Professor Random who has made a huge mistake that could kick in the Chaos Theory (or the Butterfly Effect). Henry Witherspoon has to book jump in search of Alice who the professor has mistakenly misplaced. The Chaos Theory if you don't know is basically if you mess with the past, you change the future! Their journey and adventure takes them everywhere you can imagine, there are Evil Queens, Vampires, pirates and more that at times had me laughing out loud! One reason to love this book? It truly takes you away, partly to the past and the comical adventures we read about as children (Alice in Wonderland), Sasha brings those characters to life and adds a few more interesting one's to boot, with an electrifying amount of humor plus the whit and sarcasm of Winnie who is brilliant,brave & powerful in her ambition and downright fearless in her conviction. She is a heroine that I want to be, an entertaining romp if anything, through Alice's looking glass of sorts and a mish mosh world of creatures, imagine what you will, cause it's all there and more. The walls they hit and the characters they run into crack you up, I just wanted to be on this journey with them. Winnie being a doodle witch she has some serious magic up her sleeve and she isn't afraid to use it. And watch out kids cause she does at will. I do have to say there were a lot of references I didn't get, but never fear Sasha posted a little "cheat sheet" in the front of the book to guide you through. Boy, I wish more authors would do that sometimes..... geez, I tell ya!
All in all, just plain fascinating characters that capture your heart, the entire time reading this I kept thinking this would make one wicked movie ( I read a few placed others felt the same, see, I am not alone!!!) and started casting the characters in my head. I knew I was in deep then, and I know I needed to spread the word on this magical delight! You want to read this book, you need to read this book!
5 STARS- LOVED IT! COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN
**Tune in tomorrow while I welcome Sasah to Book Junkie with a fun interview on stop of her Blog Tour!**
*** You too can win a signed copy of Random Magic from Sasha @ Well-Read Reviews! This contest runs from October 20th – November 25th 2009 (the end of the tour).
Please follow along sidebar, all contests will be posted with links!
About Me
Brande
I am a working mom with an addiction to coffee, chocolate, and books.. I read an average 3 to 4 books a week to escape reality. I have setup this site to organize my own thoughts and help others when choosing what to read. Since I can be a dimwit at times I decided to keep a record of the books I read. This record turned into reviews so I would remember if I liked the book I forgot I had read. I am not particularily funny and my grammer sucks so please don’t expect much. Basically I don’t know jack about many things, but I do know what I like in a novel and what makes me want to spend my money on an author.
Are an author or publisher who would like to submit a book for review or are interested in doing a guest blog please E-MAIL ME. I accept ARCs, self-publised as well as books that are already on the shelves. PLEASE READ MY REVIEW POLICY.
If you could cast Danny & Caroline for a movie who would play them on screen?
So I am a little behind on things! (story of my life) but I owe a huge thanks for Cathy @ 
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