Author Appreciation Week: Post 4

So far this week, I've done the college students trying to balance everything, the authors that probably put themselves through an emotional firestorm to tear the reader's heart out, and the single mom of 4 who is still writing amazing novels. Today's topic, after much debate, are the authors who dare to really push the limits, putting controversial topics in their books and causing a bit of a stir with content. What one person passes as amusing or understandable, another will find offensive.

There are definitely several authors who fall into this category but the two I'm picking are Dia Reeves for some of the very wild things she's incorporated into Bleeding Violet, and S.A. Bodeen for some of the even more shocking events in The Compound.

Dia is a very amusing woman who looks at things a little differently and tests the limits of what the general public finds acceptable. There are a few scenes in Bleeding Violet that have caused a buzz and while I personally thought they were mostly amusing given the overall level of disparity and crazy in that book (and yes, that was the point), others have disliked her book greatly for it. Dia lets it roll off her back, appreciation those who follow her state of mind but understanding those that don't. It takes a strong author to stand in something like that and even from talking to her on my forum, she's prepared for it and knew to expect it. She doesn't fight back, she leaves it up to the reader.

While I don't have as much straight on experienced talking to S.A. Bodeen, The Compound really did push the limits and content alone of that book has received negative reviews. I can't speak for how she handles any backlash but considering I haven't heard anything bad towards it, I am betting she knows how to face it down as well and I applaud both of these women for it. They don't limit or reign themselves in because we are in a time of oversensitivity and content attacks.

And to those of you who didn't like some of the content these women went with, I hope you can still appreciate the author and what they do.

Author Appreciation Week: Post 3

As I was wasting time on Twitter last night and reading some posts from various authors, I got to thinking about how being a parent, first off, is a full time job. Being a successful published author and a parent- that's pretty amazing. But being a successful published author, a parent, and a single one at that? I think that says a tremendous amount for a person. Now take that person and make them a parent of 4? It's a little mind blowing. So first off, to all the parents who happen to be authors, props to you. To the single parent authors that I don't know of off the top of my mind, I applaud you. The one out of this mix I am going to spotlight? Michelle Zink.

Michelle is the brilliant author behind The Prophecy of the Sisters and the upcoming Guardian of the Gate. This was not a simple series- between the plot, the concept, and the time period, it is clear a lot of work went into this book yet Michelle did it, all while taking care of her 4 kids. She doesn't stop there, however. Michelle still reads her fellow author's books, does what she can to promote them, and even scours the blogs for mentions of her own books. She's committed to her writing career and she's committed to her kids and that is fantastic and deserves some appreciation and attention. I hope you all will join me in recognizing what a feat this is, both for Michelle and the other authors who have kids. And if their kids are anything like I was growing up, they are all that much more amazing.

You can find Michelle on her website, Twitter, and sometimes even on your own blog in her lurking. And yes, she's even been known to leave comments.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.


This week's WoW pick, now that the cover is finally released, is Torment by Lauren Kate.

The world created in Fallen was fantastic and well put together with a very interesting ending leaving the reader with plenty of questions. The thing I loved the most about Fallen? At the end of the book, the reader still doesn't know a whole lot about Daniel. He wasn't suddenly made an open book like what happens in most fantasy books. He is still a mystery.

The Torment cover reignites some of my questions and theories, making me even more eager to read this next installment. While Fallen may not have had the most rapid pace, the building mystery kept me interested and engrossed and Fallen helped build the world and characters. If Torment is action packed, it won't seem out of no where at all.

This books is set to hit US shelves September 28.

Author Appreciation Week: Post 2

I have to admit, after much reading across the YA genre, I think the books that deal with the rough issues- the dark, edgy, raw and emotional ones- are the ones I prefer. If I had to only choose one subsection and never go out of it, this would be it. The reason? When done well, it makes me feel something. It grips me, tugs me in a ton of directions and mostly importantly, throws me into someone else's position and changes the way I think about things. There are two authors who immediately spring to mind when I think of these kind of books- the ones that take a hard situation, put someone in it, and it's the reader that comes out changed. This is an incredibly hard skill to master and a likely harder mindset to get into for the actual writing process.

Being appreciated today is Laura Wiess, author of Such A Pretty Girl, Leftovers, and How It Ends, and Courtney Summers, author of Cracked Up To Be and Some Girls Are. Both women know how to write characters you just might want to hate but in the end, you side with them and that is a fantastic feat. The books mentioned above are the kind that stay with you, that you use to compare other books to, that set a certain standard. While it may be their books that are brought up, it's their work regardless.

You can find Laura on her website and Courtney on her website and on twitter.

Author Appreciation Post 1

I think this Author Appreciation week is a fantastic idea. Yes, we give them praise when we read their books but how often does that spotlight stick once we pick up a new book? There are plenty of authors I like and love but rarely do I really think about why that is, other than I liked their book. I'm appreciative of their writing much more than I am of who they are and at least for me, narrowing down my picks makes me focus on the authors themselves.

My first picks are two authors I have a lot of respect for because they are college students but also published authors, balancing college classes and life with what can often be a full time job of writing.

First off is woman who is brash and speaks her mind and that alone makes me appreciate her. She isn't afraid to dive into an extreme topic for her first book and she has no problem showing who she is to the world instead of feeling like she has to hide behind some proper public persona all because she's a published author. Even more impressively, she wrote her first book at 16, juggling school and didn't care she was "young." This book was a strong start and she has plenty of time to really improve and crank out some impressive works. Need a hint on this one? Hannah Moskowitz and if you haven't read her debut work Break, I suggest you do. It's worth it.

You can find Hannah on Twitter, her website, and her blog.

Next up is Estevan Vega, an amusing guy with some interesting book ideas. Currently, he's pushing the promotional aspect of his book Arson and though he's had a few published works prior to this one- and yes, he is in college now which makes him another successful "young" writer- he is really hoping Arson is "the one" for him. I think it has all the makings to be a huge hit and appreciate this author even more for how hard he's working on spreading the word of his book. He isn't leaving it up to others or even sending out a few review copies and hoping the bloggers do the work. He's involved every step of the way while still hitting the books for school.

You can find Estevan on Twitter and his website.

Both of these authors have a promising road ahead of them in the literary world and I look forward to more from them both. They also both are very appreciative of their fans and understand how important they are- and are very public about how much they love their fans. Despite being busy, both will take the time to reply to emails, pass along links to reviews of their books, and plenty of other things that make their readers feel warm and fuzzy. For all the reasons and above more, I want to say I appreciate what these two do, are doing, and will do.

Book Review: Uninvited by Amanda Marrone

SUMMARY:

Jordan's life sucks. Her boyfriend, Michael, dumped her, slept his way through half the student body, and then killed himself. But now, somehow, he appears at her window every night, begging her to let him in.

Jordan can't understand why he wants her, but she feels her resistance wearing down. After all, her life -- once a broken record of boring parties, meaningless hookups, and friends she couldn't relate to -- now consists of her drinking alone in her room as she waits for the sun to go down.

Michael needs to be invited in before he can enter. All Jordan has to do is say the words....


OPINION: 4 STARS

This is a quick, somewhat dark but mostly entertaining read. There is an element of suspense and fear involved but it's undermined by Jordan's propensity for drinking till she's numb. While it isn't the most condonable reaction, I can understand it and Marrone handles this facet of the story remarkably well.

Jordan is a character that will likely turn you off in a few ways but she is also a character that shows great development and growth as the story progresses. Her motivations are clear and Marrone does a great job making the reader feel empathy towards her. It likely isn't easy to find out your ex-boyfriend killed himself but if that wasn't rough enough, suddenly he is a vampire and sitting outside your room every night. While this is a commonly used scenario, Marrone still makes it her own and I did enjoy the book.

As far as vampires go, I enjoyed the way Michael was done, particularly considering this book was released in late 2007. He resembled more of the classic vampires, before they were continued revamped, and I actually found it refreshing to delve back into that sort of world. He had to be invited to come in, a stake would kill him as would decapitation, etc. He was battling with his humanity, sometimes seeming like the loving boyfriend he had been while other times hints of his true nature would come out and the entire time, Jordan was left to resist the urge he provided to simply let him in.

Jordan's friends covered a bit of the usual spectrum- the partying type, the ones her mother compares her to, the ex best friend about whom rumors spread of an addiction problem, and the one who her mother disapproves of. Clashes with her mom also crop in much of this book, usually causing Jordan to turn to drinking. Again, not condonable but understandable, particularly when she's scared to leave her house and be gone after dark in case a certain vampire tries to hunt her down.

The plot is pretty basic and predictable but still made for a great read that moves at a good pace, and the writing fits with the age group. It didn't wow but it never detracted for me or made me want to stop reading. I also really liked the ending and thought it tied things together nicely without forcing any part of it.

Details:
Source: Purchased at Borders
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse; Original edition (October 23, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416939784
ISBN-13: 978-1416939788

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