Friday, September 28, 2012

Feature Friday: Melissa West

Melissa lives in a tiny suburb of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L'Engle. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and an M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange. GRAVITY is her first book. 

Interview:

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

Melissa: 
Read. Read as often as you write, perhaps even more. It’s amazing what our minds retain about plotting and character development. I find myself re-reading scenes that work well in a book over and over to determine how the author did it. Classes are wonderful, but in my opinion, reading is the single best thing you can do to advance yourself as writer.

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

Melissa:
This is tricky! I adore most of Jane Austen’s books. I loved A WRINKLE IN TIME as a child. I remember thinking L’Engle was so brilliant to have come up with the story and telling my father that one day I would write a book.

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

Melissa:
I’m asked this question quite a lot and I find myself torn on the answer. I have always found alien theory to be fascinating, but the real root of my story began one day when I was watching the start of a storm out my back door. The trees were all moving around in an easy peacefulness that was both comforting and unsettling. Suddenly, I saw movement in the trees—likely a squirrel or something—but in that moment I wondered, “What if there was a creature, a being, which came out of the trees?” And through that nugget of an idea, GRAVITY was born.

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

Melissa:
Yes! I find that I write the first 2/3 of my stories easily, and then I hit a wall. I’m not sure where to go. I like everything to feel logical. Even the illogical needs to feel logical, so I tend to fight my stories to death until I find that place where everything makes sense—at least in the world of fiction.

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

Melissa:
This is tough. I love Ari, my main character. She’s so tough, yet internally so unsure of herself. I always find that sort of hero/heroine more realistic. No one is completely fierce. Everyone has doubts. I also love Jackson, my hero. He’s different than a lot of the heroes I read. He’s strong and certainly arrogant at times, but he isn’t the brooding type.

A.L.:
Have you always wanted to write? 

Melissa:
 Oddly enough, no. I have always loved to write and as a kid did say that I wanted to write a book, but I did not really set my mind on writing until a few years ago. I wrote my first book and was hooked. Now it’s like a drug. I need my writing fix to feel whole.

A.L.:
What was your journey to publication like?

Melissa: 
It was, like most, stressful! It amazes me that we survive the querying process. I started querying GRAVITY in April of 2011 and had an insane request rate. I thought I had it all figured out. Boy was I wrong! The book wasn’t ready. So after receiving several R&Rs and comments from agents, I rewrote the book. Then in September of 2011, I decided to submit to Entangled. Within a week, I had an offer from them and multiple agents. It was a dream come true!

A.L.:
So, we hear you love shoes and coffee.  What’s your favorite brand of each and why?

Melissa:
LOL! Yes, I am a tad addicted to both. I have a rule about shoes. I do not allow myself to spend more than $40 on any given pair—except Uggs, which I love—because I do not typically wear the same shoes each year. Yes, I realize that is crazy. I have a few pairs that make it more than a season, but normally I get tired of them and want a new look. I won’t allow myself to throw them out though, so I have a ton of shoes. My poor husband. As for coffee, I am completely addicted to Starbucks and my drink of choice is a white mocha—hot in the winter, cold in the summer.

A.L.:
Why do you write YA?

Melissa:
Honestly? The romance. I find the teen years to be so very pure when it comes to romance. We all remember our first kiss, our first love, etc. And nothing in adulthood compares to those years. I like to try to recreate that warm, fuzzy feeling in my books. Everything from the first look to the first touch to the first kiss, it’s all like magic.

A.L.:
What made you decide to write a Sci-Fi piece?

Melissa:
I love a good easy read, but for the most part I prefer what I call “smart fiction.” I think sci-fi, especially soft sci-fi, can both make you think and still read easily. It’s the best of both worlds.

The Giveaway:
Today's a light giveaway because Melissa doesn't have any ARCs yet!  So, she's giving away some signed swag for her debut novel, GRAVITY, and you can look for it in the stores in October!

Gravity:  In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.


Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy it on Amazon.
Buy it on Barnes and Noble.

How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the green "Do It" buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the green 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, September 24, 2012

Monday Muse: Som Sabadell flashmob



Okay so I found this on Google+. It has been around for a while, but I'm behind the times I guess. I wanted to share it because when I watched it, it made me cry. I think it's so beautiful! This is one of my favorite pieces and I think this performance is a wonderful tribute that makes me love mankind for its awesomeness. Enjoy!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Feature Friday: Robin Bridges

Robin Bridges is the author of the YA historical fantasy series, THE KATERINA TRILOGY. Set in Imperial Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, the first volume, THE GATHERING STORM, was published in January 2012 from Random House/ Delacorte Press. The second volume, THE UNFAILING LIGHT, will be published in October 2012. Robin is a member of the 2012 Debut Author group, the Apocalypsies, as well as the Class 2K12 and SCBWI. She lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband, one teenager, and two mastiffs. She likes playing video games and watching Jane Austen movies.

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

 Robin: 
Read. A lot. Not just in the genre you want to write, but also classics, comics, non-fiction, poetry. Read blogs and websites about writing. I’ve learned so much about this business from the websites and message boards of Cynthia Leitich Smith and Verla Kay. And write. A lot. Someone once said a writer’s apprenticeship takes a million words.

A.L.: 
Other than Jane Austen, what's your favorite book and why?

Robin: 
Just one??? Today my favorite book, other than the giant annotated version (with deleted chapters!) of Austen’s Persuasion that just arrived in the mail, is Georgette Heyer’s Cotillion. It’s another story that takes place in regency England, but the hero is the unassuming type whom no one suspects of having heroic qualities. He surprises everyone in the end, including himself. I just re-read this book this week and fell in love with the characters all over again. Also, the book on my nightstand right now is Tessa Gratton’s Blood Magic. Deliciously creepy bedtime reading!

A.L.: 
Where did you get the idea for The Katerina Trilogy?

Robin: 
I’ve always been fond of Russian fairy tales, especially the stories of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave. I’m also a huge nerd when it comes to Imperial Romanov history. After watching Nicholas and Alexandra as a girl, I decided that I was related to Count Witte, the tsar’s finance minister. (My grandmother was a Witte, but alas, was NOT related to the count. I still went through my teen years pretending to be a countess.)

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

Robin: 
Ugh, another tough question! I think it would be Alix. She has secrets of her own, and shares a lot more in common with Katiya than she would prefer to believe. She may be naïve to the ways of St. Petersburg society, but she knows the duty she must perform because of her own dark gift.

A.L.:
The Gathering Storm is the first book in the series and The Unfailing Light, the sequel, is coming out soon. What can we expect from Katerina’s newest adventure?

Robin: 
More smooching and more undead. Here’s the flap copy: Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.

A.L.: 
What drew you (1) to young adult literature, and (2) to historic literature?

Robin: 
Both are genres I’ve always enjoyed reading. I lived at the library when I was younger, and read and re-read favorites by Andre Norton and Madeline L’Engle, as well as tons of biographies- people such as Queen Elizabeth and Madame Curie and Samuel Clemens. Having an aunt who was a librarian helped, too. She introduced me to Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, one of my favorite fantasy series when I was younger.

A.L.: 
Katerina’s world is filled with necromancers, paranormals, and political intrigue. Why go the way of the fantastic instead of just making a straight-up piece of historic literature?

 Robin: 
There was already a hint of paranormal in the real stories of these characters and that intrigued me! The Montenegrin sisters were known as the Black Peril- they were fond of séances and fortune tellers, and collected occult manuscripts from Egypt and the Orient. Papus, whom you’ll meet in THE UNFAILING LIGHT, was a member of several occult orders in France and later advised Nicholas when he was the tsar. He once conjured up the ghost of Alexander III. Papus was one of the people who would later warn Nicholas of the dangers of Rasputin. He also predicted that the tsar would be safe as long as he (Papus) was alive. The Imperial Family was killed less than a year after the Frenchman’s death. Princess Cantacuzene could really trace her ancestry back to the House of Bessaraba, and Vlad Dracul.

 A.L.:
Is Katerina based off of a real-life person or is she entirely of your own making?

Robin: 
Katerina is the only major character in the trilogy that I made up. The Duke and Duchess of Oldenburg only had one son, Pyotr Alexandrovich. Although he was married twice he never had any children, so that branch of the Oldenburg family is now extinct.

A.L.: 
Did you incorporate your own experience as a pediatric nurse with Katerina’s love of medicine?

Robin: 
I find the history of medicine fascinating, and I enjoyed researching Russian medicine of the 1800’s. The fact that so many diseases that would have been fatal back then are now easily curable makes me wish I had a time machine. I could be a Pediatric Time Lord RN, saving the world with my bottle of hand sanitizer.

A.L.: 
What kind of preparation did you do for making this series accurate?

Robin:
I started by reading the message boards of the Alexander Palace Time Machine, where there are all sorts of topics on Imperial Russian history. Then I started to accumulate a not-so-small library of books on the Romanovs, as well as some on the Montenegrin dynasty. I read books about the history of women and medicine in Russia. I corresponded with a very nice lady who is in charge of the museum of medical history at the University of Zurich. Alas, my plans to travel to St. Petersburg were nixed by my husband, who forbids me to go until I am fluent in Russian. But one day…

The Giveaway: 
Robin really outdid herself spoiling you guys for this giveaway! Ready? She's giving away a hardcopy of book one, THE GATHERING STORM, a ARC or author copy of book two, THE UNFAILING LIGHT, and bookmarks and stickers. Fun goodiebag, right? I'm jealous of you people, you all get such fun stuff...


The Gathering Storm: St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue. An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn. The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?
 Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy it on Barnes and Noble.
Buy it on Amazon.

The Unfailing Light: Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in.
 Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy it on Barnes and Noble.
Buy it on Amazon.


How to Enter: 
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the green "Do It" buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the green 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

Monday, September 17, 2012

Monday Muse: Araceli - From Nataly Dawn's Upcoming Album, "How I Knew Her"



A new folk singer that has come to my attention! I had to share this with you guys cause I really like this song. I'm going to check out the rest of Nataly Dawn's work.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Feature Friday: Kat Zhang


Kat Zhang is an avid traveler, and after a childhood spent living in one book after another, she now builds stories for other people to visit. An English major at Vanderbilt University, she spends her free time performing Spoken Word poetry, raiding local bookstores, and plotting where to travel next. What’s Left of Me–about a girl with two souls–is her first novel and will be released by HarperCollins on 9/18/2012. She is represented by Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. You can read about her travels, literary and otherwise, on her website or check her out on Twitter.

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

Kat:
Finish that book! Many people underestimate the importance of (and the difficulty of!) this first step. Do your industry research, but don't stress too much about the little things. In other words, if your query letter is in yellow font, 5 pages long (sans sample pages), and full of how your mother loved your book and you think it's going to be the next big thing after Harry Potter, it's probably going to be an issue. Having 1.5 inch margins instead of 1 inch, however, is *not* going to matter. Cross my heart ;)

Write, write, write!

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

Kat:
Ooh, I can't ever answer questions like this ;) As a kid, it was THE GOLDEN COMPASS. I adored Lyra so much, and I was in love with the idea of having a constant companion in the form of a daemon.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for What’s Left of Me?

Kat:
I don't really have a super interesting story to tell about how I came up with the idea for WHAT'S LEFT OF ME :P I wish I did! Really, though, I just started wondering one day--everyone has a bit of an internal monologue going at times; what if that little voice in the back of your head was a real person? What would it be like to live trapped in your own body? That was how the idea for Eva began, and the rest of the story grew around her.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing What’s Left of Me? What were they and how did you fix them?

Kat:
I re-wrote the latter half of the book many, many times! It was definitely a tough process, one I worked through with a lot of help from critique partners as well as my agent, and later, my editor (though the book was, of course, in much better shape by the time it sold!). It taught me a lot, though, about the revision process and the tenacity and love you really have to have for a story to see it through to publication.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in What’s Left of Me is your favorite and why?

Kat:
I actually really liked writing Dr. Lyanne, who is someone you meet later on in the book. I can't say I'd like her a ton if I met her in real life, but she's a lot of fun to write because she is so different from Eva, the main character.

A.L.:
What’s Left of Me is one of the most unique story ideas that I’ve seen in a while. What did you do to prepare yourself for writing two souls sharing one body? What kind of world is that?

Kat:
Thanks! I didn't really "prepare" for writing from Eva's POV any differently than I do for any other character. There was some finagling to be done with pronouns and some idioms had to be axed (if one soul is feeling angry, but the other is not, you can't really have her say something like "fire rushed through my veins" or something), but otherwise, things came weather naturally. I'm not sure what that says about me :P

A.L.:
What’s Left of Me is part of a trilogy, so we can expect two more books, but what else are you working on/interested in writing?

Kat:
I'm working on a sort of dark fantasy, as well as a YA contemporary, and I have plans for a high fantasy standalone, but that's on the back-back burner.

A.L.:
If I’m doing the math right, you sold your book at a wicked-young age! Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication?

Kat:
I sold at 19 :) I started writing What's Left of Me the winter of my senior year of high school. The first draft took me a little more than a year. Then I revised for a few months and, after querying about 2 months, signed with my agent, Emmanuelle Morgen. I revised with her for a few more months, and then we went on submission to publishers and announced the deal with HarperCollins about a month after that! :)

A.L.:
You’re a prolific traveler. Can you tell us what your near-future traveling plans are? What country would you most like to visit? Which countries/states that you’ve already visited do you love the most?

Kat:
Next summer, I have plans to go to the UK to travel a bit with one of my friends who will be studying abroad there. We'll probably go to France and Italy, too. Things aren't set, though :) I'd like very much to go to Australia, and more asian countries, as well!

I can't say which countries I've liked the most! They've all got such unique things to love about them. I always enjoy visiting China, of course, since almost all my family is there.

A.L.:
Can you give us an abridged version of one of the stories you made up as a child?

Kat:
Do you mean one the plays I talk about in my longer bio, or books I started? I began writing my first book when I was 12. It was about a little girl who ran away from home and ended up at the house of a young doctor and his "troubled" (read: 15-year-old delinquent exasperating his parents) cousin. Her own family is rather broken, but they fight to have her back, and her new "family" fights to keep her. It's funny, because it's the kind of story I'd almost be too nervous to tackle today because I'd be afraid of doing it "wrong." I guess at 12, you don't really worry about those things.

The Giveaway:
Kat is giving away signed cards and I'll be pitching in a copy of What's Left of Me, her debut novel.

What's Left of Me: I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy it at Barnes and Noble.
Buy it at Amazon.

How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the green "Do It" buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the green 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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, September 10, 2012

Monday Muse: Amanda Louise Spayd's The Maker

So, I normally put up music for the Monday Muse, but considering all the wonderful things I've discovered at DragonCon this year, I'm going to be featuring some artists for the next month or so.  Today's artist is a woman named Amanda Louise Spayd.  She makes very unique dolls/puppets.  They're a little scary, but something about them is also innocent and endearing.  I actually didn't see her at DragonCon, but I saw a couple of pictures of her creations, was told by the person who owned them that they were purchased at DragonCon, and thus spent a good portion trying to find Ms. Spayd.  Alas, I couldn't find her.  I did, however, do a bit of internet research and came across the little film below.  "The Maker" is an award winning sort film featuring her creations.

THE MAKER FILM
Amanda's Blog
Amanda's website

Friday, September 7, 2012

Feature Friday: Talia Vance


Talia Vance is a practicing litigation attorney living in Northern California with her real life love interest, two-point-five kids, and a needy Saint Bernard named Huckleberry. Talia has been writing since she could talk, making up stories for every doll, stuffed animal and action figure she could get her hands on. She grew up hoping to write the great American novel, but her life ran more along the lines of tortured romance and fast paced thrillers, so that's what she writes.

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

Talia:
Write. Revise. And keep going. The hardest thing for me to do as a writer was finish a novel. I still have to fight the feeling of panic I have when I write a first draft, that fear that I will never get it done. The only way to succeed in this business is to keep writing. And if you don’t succeed the first time, try again.

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

Talia:
I have always loved Pride and Prejudice. I love how a story written two hundred years ago can transcend its own time. Once I got past the old world language, I was immediately sucked in by the characters, the humor and a romance that made me swoon. It’s one of the few books I’ve read multiple times.

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

Talia:
So many places. A lot of the situations Brianna found herself in were cribbed from my own life. met my husband playing quarters when I sixteen, and then he dated my best friend. I owned a rescue horse I had to train and sell to pay for college. My best friend came along on my first real date.

The mythology came from a combination of Celtic myths. Ireland has a rich history of myth and folklore, and I wanted to explore the idea of how that magic might fit within modern times. I discovered the story of the Milesians banishing the gods from Ireland, and that led me to thinking about how the gods might fight back.

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

Talia:
Many. The first big snag was making the commitment to finish the book. I had started and stopped writing so many times, that it was a challenge for me to make the time to get this book done. After I got my agent, I did a very significant revision, which basically involved throwing out about half of the book and starting over. It was worth it though, as I really felt like I found the story then.

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

Talia:
I love writing Austin, because every scene he is in is so full of layers. On the surface he is so British and charming, but he always has an underlying motive, and I love discovering what that is. Even so, I have to say that my favorite character is Brianna, because I experienced the story from her point of view. I love the way she grew throughout the story, from a wallflower who kept her heart guarded with science and logic, to a strong young woman who made her own decisions about how to fight and who to love.

A.L.:
So, I’m big into Celtic myth, but I’ve never come across a “bandia” before. Is that of your own making or something real? What is it exactly?

Talia:
Bandia is the Gaelic word for goddess. Before Christianity, Ireland had its own Pagan culture and myths involving their own deities. I spent some times looking for Gaelic words that I could work into “my” mythology which was a backstory that I invented based on bits and pieces of real Celtic myths. For example the story of the Milesians tricking the gods into leaving Ireland for the underworld is a myth used to explain the absence of the gods from our modern world, and the rise of Christendom in the Celtic world. That was the starting point for my story: what if the battle for control of the world between the gods and humans never really ended?

A.L.:
How come you picked Celtic myth over other schools of myth? What about Danu compelled you?

Talia:
I felt like Ireland already had such a rich history, so full of legends and magic, it was the perfect backdrop for my story, which I knew was going to be based on myth. I started researching American superstitions and was surprised at how much of our modern belief system has Celtic roots. Then I started researching Celtic gods and goddesses, and I was fascinated by the story of how humans succeeded in banishing the Tu’auth De Danu to the underworld. I wanted to see how that conflict might still be played out by the descendants on both sides- those of Danu and those of the Milesians, who I imagined as Crusaders. I loved the idea of goddess as warrior, and as embodying female power.

A.L.:
So, you’re an attorney by day and a writer by night. You’ve been telling stories since you were a child, but what made you want to get published?

Talia:
I love reading books and discovering characters and worlds for the first time, so it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t want to try to get my writing published and share it with others. There’s something truly amazing about connecting with other people through stories.

A.L.:
You’ve got quite a few books coming out in the next few years: Silver, Gold (the sequel to Silver), and Spies and Prejudice. What are you working on next?

Talia:
Right now, I’m still working on edits for Gold. There is a possibility of another book in the Bandia series, but nothing’s been decided yet. I have a new project that I’m excited about, but I can’t talk about it yet, except to say that it’s YA, full of action and romance, and a lot of fun to write.

A.L.:
Why did you decide to write YA books instead of adult oriented books?

Talia:
I’m pretty sure that when I started writing, I didn’t even know that YA was a genre. I think that I naturally write in the voice of a 16 or 17 year old girl because I never left that age emotionally. I fell in love with my husband when I was sixteen, and although we didn’t get together until years later, I still remember that feeling of falling in love and the insecurities that went along with it. I love that young adults are so full of promise and possibility, and I never want to lose that feeling that anything is possible. So that’s what I write.

The Giveaway:
Talia is going to send a signed copy of her debut novel, SILVER.

Silver: "As I step into the room, a silver flash blurs my vision. Before I can take a breath, the world falls away."

Brianna has always felt invisible. People stare right past her, including the one boy she can't resist, Blake Williams. But everything changes at a house party where Brianna's charm bracelet slips off and time stands still. In that one frozen, silver moment, Blake not only sees her, he recognizes something deep inside her she's been hiding even from herself.

Discovering she is descended from Danu, the legendary Bandia of Celtic myth, Brianna finds herself questioning the truth of who she is. And when she accidentally binds her soul to Blake, their mutual attraction becomes undeniable.

But Blake has his own secret, one that could prove deadly for them both.

Bound together by forbidden magic, Brianna and Blake find themselves at the heart of an ancient feud that threatens to destroy their lives and their love.

Read reviews on Goodreads.
Buy it at Barnes and Noble.
Buy it on Amazon.

How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the green "Do It" buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the green 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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Alternate History Costuming Links

At DragonCon I was on a panel called “Bustles, Bustiers, and Britches” -- a panel on alternate history costuming.  I promised a number of audience members that I would put up a post providing a number of good sites that carry fashions that *could* be used in an alternate history costume.  This is a broad spectrum list, so you’ll have to pick and choose which ones are right for you.  If anyone has any other retailers to suggest, please do!


Stone Flower (store in NYC)

Monday, September 3, 2012