Feature Friday: Justina Ireland

Justina Ireland enjoys dark chocolate, dark humor, and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. Vengeance Bound is her first novel.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Justina:
Stop reading the internet.  No, seriously. Twitter, message boards, Facebook, tumblr, these are all time sucks on your writing.  Not only that, but it’s really easy to get discouraged when a book that sounds eerily similar to what you’re working on gets picked up for a mega kajillion dollar deal.  So limit exposure to the pitfalls of the internet, and focus on honing your craft.

Write.  That’s it. Just write.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Justina:
My favorite books are always in flux.  I read a lot, so I don’t really have a favorite book, plus I rarely re-read anything.  I have favorite authors, though.  On the adult side I love Ilona Andrews, and will read anything they put out.  I also like Jeaniene Frost, Nailini Singh, Max Barry, Gillian Flynn, and Richard Kadrey.  I like these authors because they can take very dark subject matter and give it a kind of wry twist that is just amazing.

On the Young Adult side I’ll read anything by Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Veronica Roth, and Courtney Summers.  Courtney Summers is probably my writer crush.  If I could steal anyone’s writing style it would be hers.

And my favorite kids author is hands down Mo Willems.  I just love the irreverent humor in his books.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Vengeance Bound?

Justina:
I really, really wanted to write a YA version of Dexter, but I suck at writing contemporaries.  And the character in my first few drafts was kind of…terrifying.  So I fixed some of her flaws with Greek mythology, as one does.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Vengeance Bound?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Justina:
Oh yeah.  Most of my snags are because of my sloppy plotting, and I usually fix them with MAGIC  *sparkle fingers*.  It’s a running joke I have, whenever I get stuck in the plot I just throw in some magic to help my characters out.  This is why I can’t write a contemporary to save my life.

In Vengeance Bound my only true snag came at the end.  The way the story needed to end and the way I wanted it to end were two vastly different things.  I tried to make the ending I wanted work, but it just didn’t.  So the story ends the way it had to.  Sometimes the story will demand something other than what you had planned, and that’s okay.  Just go with it.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Vengeance Bound is your favorite and why?

Justina:
Mindi.  She’s Amelie’s friend at her new school, and she’s this mouse of a girl who has gone through a real tragedy in her life.  Everyone feels sorry for her and kind of coddles her, but she’s really more ruthless than anyone else in the story.  I love characters that do the unexpected.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Justina:
One day, while I was bored, I sat down and decided to write a book.  It didn’t go anywhere.  But then I sat down and tried to write a different book.  And that one didn’t go anywhere either.  But the third time? THAT one I finished.  It didn’t get me an agent, but the next book did.  And the book after that was Vengeance Bound.

The point? Sit down and write something.  Talking about writing has never gotten anyone published.  Only the actual writing part.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Justina:
My second book is already finished and comes out next year.  It’s called Promise of Shadows and is about a harpy who is pretty bad at being a harpy, and how she comes to terms with failure and success of a different sort.

What I’m working on right now is still secret, but it features kissing and killing, two of my favorite things.  Oh, and MAGIC *sparkle fingers*

A.L.:
How did you come up with the idea to plant the Furies in a girl's head?

Justina:
Eh, why not? Exorcist meets Greek mythology meets everyone’s favorite serial killer?  Seemed like a good idea at the time.

And that gives you a disturbing look inside my brain.  It’s a terrifying place to be.

A.L.:
I have to ask, what's with the twitter handle?

Justina:
I always joked I was “teh awesomesauce.”  But as twitter handles go, it was already taken.  So what’s more awesome than awesomesauce? Awesomersauce.  But “teh awesomersauce” doesn’t fit, so I lost a space and a U, and ended up with tehawesomersace.

I’m a firm believer in being your own biggest fan.  Because if you don’t like yourself, why should anyone else?  My twitter handle is an extension of that.

A.L.:
What's your favorite food and why?

Justina:
Cupcakes.  Because…cupcakes!

The Giveaway:
Justina is giving away a copy of VENGEANCE BOUND to one lucky winner!

Vengeance Bound:  The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge… no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.

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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email. This contest is open to national entrants only.

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Monday Muse: Icon for Hire - Fall Apart

*head bangs*

Feature Friday: T. Michael Martin

T. Michael (“Mike”) Martin is a novelist, screenwriter, and YouTuber who holds a B.F.A. in Filmmaking from University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was inspired to write his debut novel, The End Games, by his own younger brother, Patrick, and their shared love of zombie movies.  Mike and his wife, Sarah, currently live in West Virginia.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Mike:
Fundamentally: Write what you love. Writing is so hard. If you don't inherently love your genre, you might not make it through all the heartbreak attendant to any creative endeavor.

And once you've chosen your genre, it's smart to seek out the best films/books/etc. that are already in that genre—and then study them, broadly and deeply. As you do, you'll begin to notice common patterns, “beats” that the stories consistently touch. The only way to surprise (and really delight) the genre's audience is to give them what they want, in a way they could never predict. And in order to do that, you need to know the genre as well as anyone out there.

I don't mean at all that you should “copy” or “rip off” other stories. In fact, once you know the intimate pulse of your genre, you'll be so much more free to experiment in a way that will still be satisfying to the audience. For instance, when I was writing The End Games, I realized that zombie stories almost always have a moment I called “The Perimeter is Breached,” which is when the heroes' final barriers/fences/etc. fall, and escaping the undead now seems impossible. I included the frightening spirit of that “beat” in The End Games, but instead of making a literal fence fall, I “trapped” the hero in another way that will [hopefully!] shock the reader.

Finally, I personally adore Robert McKee's STORY seminar, as well as Pilar Allessandra's On the Page screenwriting podcast. (Scriptshadow can be very educational, too.)

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Mike:
Probably The Stand.  It's King's best work, I think, and genuinely a pop masterpiece.  Its mix of horror, wonder, humor, joy, and mystery are everything I'd like my own work to contain.  (Also:  Maaaan, is it entertaining!)

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for The End Games?

Mike:
I was actually at Pennsylvania's Monroeville Mall, which is where they filmed the original Dawn of the Dead!  I'd wanted to write a zombie story for years (seriously: I have an unfinished screenplay called Planet DEAD on my hard drive, which I wrote in eighth grade), but it wasn't until that day in 2008 that I found a door into the story emotionally.

My real-life little brother, Patrick, and I were walking around the mall when a random thought occurred to me: Why not write a post-apocalyptic book about two brothers, separated by ten years or so in age, trying to survive Armageddon in my home state of West Virginia?

I adore my little brother, and owing to our age difference, I acted as both sibling and semi-parent to him as he grew up. So when I started writing The End Games—which is about two brothers named Michael and Patrick—I was also writing about this question: How do you protect innocence during the apocalypse?

Or, perhaps better put: Can you?

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing The End Games?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Mike:
After the book sold to HarperCollins, my editor and I decided that we should add a day to the novel's timeline.  This sounded so easy—but I realized that, in order to add that day, I kinda had to overhaul a lot of the protagonist's emotional arc.  Luckily, I have a wonderfully supportive editor (Donna Bray) and also an amazing agent and mentor (Joanna Volpe and Sara Zarr, respectively), and they helped me not only get through the revisions but also make the book far stronger than I could have reasonably hoped.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in The End Games is your favorite and why?

Mike:
Wow, what a wonderful question!  I'd have to say Captain Jopek.  His voice was a fun challenge:  I've always been fascinated by men with the ability to be both dizzyingly charismatic and silently intimidating, so he was a blast to write.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Mike:
I've been a book lover since before I could read: Some of my favorite childhood memories are of my mom reading Berenstein Bears to me. But the writer who made me want to become a writer was R.L. Stine. For my generation, Goosebumps was the introduction to the grand archetypes of the supernatural, and Mr. Stine sent me head-over-heels in love with horror. (That's partly why it was so thrilling to receive a blurb from him for The End Games!)

So I wrote and wrote for, like, fifteen years, and then had a screenplay “optioned” (where a studio “rents” the rights to develop the project) during my senior year of film school. It didn't work out, though, I think for a couple reasons: 1) the Writer's Guild strike happened, and 2) as heartbreaking as it was to admit, I just wasn't a good enough writer yet.

I worked a bunch of frustrating, minimum-wage jobs for several years after that (including a stint as a test subject in experimental drug studies). And honestly, those years were so scary: I was watching my childhood friends go on to promising careers in other fields, and more than once—as I scrubbed a toilet or got poked with another hypodermic needle—I despaired that I might be kidding myself with This Whole Writing Thing.

But one of the things I'm proudest of in my life is that I kept writing throughout all that pain. I had a feeling that a book I was writing (my third novel, called The End Games) might be a pretty good one.

When I finished the book in the fall of 2011, I sent off query letters to agents on the scariest Saturday night of my life.

I received multiple offers of representation first thing Monday morning.  The book sold to HarperCollins about a month later.

(Do I have to tell you I cried?)

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Mike:
I'm working on my next novel for HarperCollins, which will be published in Autumn 2014. It's another YA thriller that takes place in West Virginia, with lots of action and scares and humor and teenagers saving the world.  We're keeping the specifics of the plot a secret at the moment, but I will say that it isn't post-apocalyptic or a sequel to The End Games, and it also doesn't have any zombie-ish creatures.

A.L.:
Would you consider The End Games to be a "zombie" book?  Why or why not?  If so, what makes this one different than other zombie books out there?

Mike:
This might sound funny, but I don't actually consider THE ENDS GAMES a “zombie book”; I've always thought of it as a psychological thriller that happens to takes place in a living-dead world.

It's a bit hard to talk about with going into spoilers.  But basically, the undead creatures in the book (they're called "Bellows") are only one of the threats the characters face, and arguably not even the biggest one.

That said, for zombie fans, the book does still have a ton of undead action, so I think they'll be happy, too.  :]

A.L.:
The End Games is about a set of brothers.  How much of your relationship with your own little brother did you draw from for the relationship between Michael and Patrick -- who, I'm assuming, are names after you and your brother?

Mike: 
They are named after us, and they definitely started out as us in the very early stages of composition.  After awhile, though, as the book and story grew, "Michael and Patrick" became so different from me and my brother that I didn't feel weird about using the names (which I'd originally intended only to be placeholders until I could come up with something better). But even though they wound up being so different from me and my real-life brother, the one thing that never changed, in life or the book, is the love the brothers share.

A.L.:
Out of all your YouTube videos, which is your favorite and why?  Which was the most fun to film?

Mike: 
I think "Scarecrows & Nostalgia: Thoughts from Places in My West Virginia Hometown" might be my favorite.  It feels like the one that does the best job telling a full story, and it's a kind of emotional snapshot for me of the last year or so of my life.

But "THE END GAMES Book Trailer" was definitely the most fun to film:  I got to run around the woods with guns and sneak into an old abandoned coal mine.  And what could be more fun than that? :]

The Giveaway:
Mike is giving away 3 signed bookplates to three lucky winners!

End Games: It happened on Halloween.

The world ended.

And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.

In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But The Game is changing.

The Bellows are evolving.

The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules.

And the brothers will never be the same.

T. Michael Martin’s debut novel is a transcendent thriller filled with electrifying action, searing emotional insight, and unexpected romance.

Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy on Amazon.
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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email. This contest is open to national entrants only.

 
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Monday Muse: All American Rejects - Hope It Gives You hell

Epic fun. I loved these guys in high school too. I'm in a high school kick, can you tell? LOL

Feature Friday: Emma Trevayne

Emma Trevayne is the author of Coda, out now from Running Press Teens, Chorus, out Spring 2014 from Running Press Teens, and Flights & Chimes & Mysterious Times, coming Summer 2014 from S&S Books for Young Readers. She collects music, loves cake, and tweets far too often @EMentior. Her books are on Goodreads, she blogs occasionally, and reluctantly uses Facebook.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Emma:
Don't take "write what you know" literally. The situations your characters face experience should only be limited by your imagination. It's the emotions caused by those situations you have to keep real and true and authentic, and if you do that, readers will connect with your story.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Emma:
Yikes, just one favorite? This changes often, depending on my mood. Right now, it's Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, which I read last year, because it is beautiful and heartbreaking. If I were ever going to attempt something literary for adults, I would only hope I could come close to writing something that good.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Coda?

Emma:
While watching movies because I had the flu and couldn't summon the energy to move. A song at the beginning of the movie Hackers made me start thinking about music and mood.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Coda?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Emma:
Actually, not so much with Coda; the writing process for it was fairly smooth, all things considered. At a couple of points I got the order of events wrong, but I can mostly sense when I do that and know to back up and change things. If I need to work through a plot problem like that, the shower is my favorite place to think. Walks are good, too.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Coda is your favorite and why?

Emma:
I should probably say that it's Anthem, the main character, except that it's not. Deep down, it's really his best friend, Scope, for his heart and his humor and zest for life even in very bleak circumstances. His mistakes are as big as his optimism and that's definitely a thing he gets from me.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Emma:
I can tell you that when I got the idea for Coda, I was writing something else. It took me about a month to give in to this idea that took over my brain, because I was so sure I shouldn't drop a manuscript on which I'd made so much progress for this crazy sci-fi thing. Also, what I had been working on was Middle Grade, and I was sure, before Coda, that I didn't have the skills or interest to write YA. Now the skills are developing, and the interest is definitely there--I'd like to write more YA. After I surrendered to Anthem and his friends, I finished the manuscript, edited it, and queried, getting an agent about six months after I started the book, which is fast, I know. Submission and sale were a little slower because of a tough market, but my agent was determined and she found me the best possible editor for the book.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Emma:
At this very moment, I'm actually not working on anything! I've just handed in Chorus, which is a sort-of sequel to Coda. In January, my first completed Middle Grade (once called Gearwing but now titled Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times) sold to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and that's with its editor, too. I need to decide what to work on next, but I think I know what it will be, and it's not like any of the others.

A.L.:
Coda is written entirely around the concept of music.  Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose music?

Emma:
I didn't! Choose, that is. The story chose me, but I'm a huge fan of music in general and listen to it all the time, so I'm sure that's why the idea, when it popped into my head, was so appealing.

A.L.
If you could play just one instrument, what would it be?  Likewise, if you could sound like any vocalist, who would you should like?

Emma:
The first answer is an electric violin. Electric stringed instruments are awesome. As for the second, hmmm. My favorite vocalists are almost all male, and I don't really want to sound like a guy. Probably someone like Neko Case, or Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, who both have very rich, strong voices.

A.L.:
What's the best brand/type of chocolate in the whole world? (IYHO)

Emma:
Ohhh, chocolate. I think the best in the whole world (or at least my fave) would have to be the Vosges Organic Peanut Butter ones. Because...chocolate and peanut butter, obviously.

Giveaway:
Emma is giving a signed copy of CODA away to one lucky winner.

Coda:  Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem—the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid.

Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?



Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy on Amazon.
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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email. This contest is open to international entrants.
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Monday Muse: Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American

I forgot how much I loved this song. It made my high school self squee so hard when I first heard it.

Feature Friday: Emma Pass

Emma Pass has been making up stories for as long as she can remember. Her debut novel, ACID, will be published in 2013, followed by another stand-alone thriller for young adults in 2014. By day, she works as a library assistant and lives with her husband in the North East Midlands.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Emma:
Keep going! Getting rejections is frustrating and sometimes downright disheartening, but that ‘yes’ from an agent or editor could be just around the corner, and if you give up, you’ll never know.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Emma:
I have too many favourites to count! Seriously, I can never pick just one book when someone asks me this question. There are so many incredible writers out there!

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Acid?

Emma:
When I was 14, a friend and I challenged each other to write a story about someone breaking out of jail. Although I only wrote the first few chapters, the idea never left me. I came back to it several times after that, again stalling a few chapters in, and then it occurred to me to try it as a YA novel – and it worked!

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Acid?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Emma:
Funnily enough, the biggest snag I hit was what to call the police force in the book. They started life as CIDA – the Crime Investigation and Defence Agency – which doesn’t have much of a ring to it, does it? I didn’t like the name, but couldn’t think of anything better, until one day, I suddenly thought of changing it to the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence – ACID. Now, not only did my sinister police force have a name that suited them perfectly, but my book had a really punchy title!

I always hit snags when I’m writing, though, especially in the first draft. As I don’t plan in detail, it’s an inevitable part of the process for me. One thing I find really helps is to write myself a letter starting ‘What needs to happen next?’ I nearly always find an answer when I do that, and am able to move the story on.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Acid is your favorite and why?

Emma:
It has to be Jenna! She’s so kick-ass and cool and brave, but she also has a really caring side to her, and is more likeable than she thinks.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Emma:
I realized I wanted to be a writer when I was 13, after seeing the film ‘Jurassic Park’ and trying to write a sequel (which was a whole 125 pages long!). After that, and over many years, I tried all sorts of writing – crime, literary fiction, picture books and just about everything in between. I discovered YA after going on a weekend course with Linda Newbery, an award-winning UK YA and children’s author. I’d been struggling with an adult novel that featured 3 teenage characters, and decided to try it as a YA novel. It was the first book I’d finished writing in a very long time.

Although that novel didn’t get me an agent or a publisher, I knew this was the genre for me, and two books later, I was offered representation by Carolyn Whitaker at London Independent Books. The novel she took me on with didn’t sell, but the next one – which was ACID – did. This year it will be 20 years since I saw ‘Jurassic Park’ and realised I wanted to be a published author!

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Emma:
I’m working on another standalone thriller for Random House, called THE FEARLESS. It’s a dark, post-apocalyptic novel with a dash of horror. This is a bit of the blurb that’s in the back of ACID:
The Fearless. An army powered by an incredible new serum that makes each soldier stronger, sharper, faster than their enemies. Intended as a force for good, the serum has a terrible side-effect – anyone who takes it is stripped of all humanity, empathy, love. And as the Fearless sweep through the country, forcing the serum on anyone in their path, society becomes a living nightmare…

A.L.:
How did you prepare to write about the only female in a violent, high security prison?

Emma:
NOT by visiting a violent, high-security prison, ha ha! I did some research on the internet and by watching TV programmes about Supermax prisons in the US, and the rest came from my imagination. Luckily, as ACID is set 100 years in the future, I had quite a lot of artistic license as far as that was concerned.

A.L.:
Why call the police force ACID?

Emma:
I love acronyms (as people will see when they read the book), and wanted a name that represented how corrupt and corrosive this police force were.

A.L.:
If someone were to come visit you in England, where would you take them first? Your favorite place?  A touristy spot?

Emma:
Definitely my favourite places as opposed to touristy spots. I love the countryside, so I’d probably take them for a long walk somewhere. And then to my local pub for a meal, as the food there is amazing!

The Giveaway:
Emma is giving away a signed copy of ACID!  This novel is only available in the UK right now (it's coming out later this year in the US) Be the first of your friends to read it!

Acid: 2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID – the most brutal, controlling police force in history – rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed – or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.

The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID – and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago.

Read Goodreads reviews.


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email. This contest is open to international entrants.

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Monday Muse: Akiko Shikata - Utusemi

Scene:
*Me watching Anime*
*This song comes on for the opening credits.*
O.O
...
...
...
:D *dies of squee*

Feature Friday: Mindy Raf

Mindy Raf is a writer, comedy performer, and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and grew up in a suburb of Detroit right around here (visualize the bottom of your left thumb. Mindy has written for CollegeHumor, VH1, TNT, The Daily Comedy Network, and was a contributor to the My Parents Were Awesome anthology. She continues to perform stand-up and music across the country.

Website: MindyRaf.com/books

Twitter: @mindyraf

Facebook: http://facebook.com/mindyrafcomedy

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Mindy:
Write, write, write. Don’t worry about what other people think about your writing or or what you think they think about your writing. Don’t be precious with your work. Share it, get feedback, blog it, get it out there. And if you’re wondering, “Am I writer?” Yes.  You ARE a writer if you write. I really do think it’s that simple.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Mindy:
That’s so hard. One?  Depends on when you ask me. Growing up I loved, and still love, Judy Blume. FOREVER, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET. You can’t go wrong with Judy Blume. I always have a new favorite book based on what I’m currently reading. I just finished ELEANOR & PARK so that’s my favorite book right now, but maybe the book I start today will be my new favorite. Clearly I have book commitment issues.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for The Symptoms of My Insanity?

Mindy:
SYMPTOMS is partly based on my own experiences as an adult with my mother being sick, and as a teenager dealing with a lot of unwanted attention from boys.  From the start though I had a general goal: write a relatable, funny story that also awakens a little girl power.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing The Symptoms of My Insanity?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Mindy:
The scenes between Izzy and her mom in the last half of the book were very tough for me to write. My mom passed away during revisions. Since Izzy’s relationship with her mom wasn’t parallel to my own, things got a little muddy as I was dealing with my own loss. Once I was able to recognize this through emotional trial and error, it became easier (and actually very cathartic) to separate and transform my own struggles to fit Izzy’s story.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in The Symptoms of My Insanity is your favorite and why?

Mindy:
Izzy was my favorite character to write. I had a lot of fun researching and writing as a major hypochondriac. I loved writing as Pam too, but I think Blake is my favorite overall. I really wanted readers to not see him as “bad” but more as a complicated, confused teenager who makes bad decisions. Blake’s character has come such a long way since my first draft, and I’m really happy with the results

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Mindy:
I got into writing YA through stand-up. I met my editor Jessica Garrison at one of my shows. She randomly caught my act, we chatted a bit after, and then she reached out to me about writing YA. At the time I was working pretty consistently as a comedy writer. Writing YA why actually a really natural transition. When I started writing SYMPTOMS my mom was diagnosed with a rare stomach cancer. I wrote draft one while she was recovering from her first major surgery. By the next round of revisions, I was saying goodbye. Throughout my journey as an author, I needed Izzy’s story  just as much as she needed my own. I hope those reading find they needed it too.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Mindy:
I’m working on another book, something new. No details ready to be revealed though, I’m superstitious that way. I’m also working on a stand-up show and a comedy music album.

A.L.:
What made you choose to write about a hypochondriac?

Mindy:
I remember free writing (long before Izzy) a cafeteria scene. A girl was telling a cute boy not to eat a cookie because the eggs might be raw and he would get salmonella. That cracked me up. (no pun, okay a little pun intended) It just seemed natural to me as I started writing as Izzy to make her a hypochondriac. Especially when I knew the story would go places that would really need that humor.

A.L.:
What's it like being a comedian?  Have you always known you were hilarious or did it just kind of get pointed out or do you actually try?

Mindy:
I never thought “I’m funny, I’m a comic,” but I was always cast in the comedic roles. I remember in drama class doing a very serious monologue and making people laugh and my teacher was like, “you found the funny!” And I was like, “No, I was just trying to emote.”  I would play original songs I wrote at a coffee house my freshmen year of college and after friends were like, “those songs were so funny!” I’m thinking, “wait, no,  those are my serious angst-ridden folk songs.”

A.L.:
As a comedian, it seems organic that you would write a humorous novel; but, do you think you'll ever write a serious novel?

Mindy:
SYMPTOMS is humorous, but it also takes on some serious subjects as well. I think it’s important for characters (and readers) to have humor to move through pain, or just move through life. So my goal is always to include both.

The Giveaway:
Mindy is giving away 1 signed ARC plus three signed bookmarks and a surprise swag item from the book trailer shoot!

The Symptoms of My Insanity: A laugh-out-loud, bittersweet debut full of wit, wisdom, heart, and a hilarious, unforgettable heroine.

When you’re a hypochondriac, there are a million different things that could be wrong with you, but for Izzy, focusing on what could be wrong might be keeping her from dealing with what’s really wrong.

I almost raised my hand, but what would I say? “Mr. Bayer, may I please be excused? I’m not totally positive, but I think I might have cancer.” No way. Then everyone at school would know, and they would treat me differently, and I would be known as “Izzy, that poor girl who diagnosed herself with breast cancer during biology.”

But Izzy’s sense of humor can only get her so far when suddenly her best friend appears to have undergone a personality transplant, her mother’s health takes a turn for the worse, and her beautiful maybe-boyfriend is going all hot and cold. Izzy thinks she’s preparing for the worst-case scenario, but when the worst-case scenario actually hits, it’s a different story altogether—and there’s no tidy list of symptoms to help her through the insanity.

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Showers of Books Giveaway/Hop

Enter yourself in a chance to win THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf (HERE)

The Giveaway:
One lucky winner can choose one from any of these books.

Let the Sky Fall:  Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Mila 2.0: Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

Etiquette and Espionage: It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners—and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage—in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger's legions of fans have come to adore.

Mind Games: Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Clockwork Princess: Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.   

Requiem: They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

The Elite: The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller The Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Iléa.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.  

How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email. This contest is open to international entrants.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway