BB: Guest Post + Contest: Linda Joy Singleton

Next up is Linda Joy Singleton, author of of many books including the DEAD GIRL series. (DEAD GIRL WALKING, DEAD GIRL DANCING, and DEAD GIRL IN LOVE)

Enjoy!

~~~

MY PERSONAL HISTORY OF E-BOOKS

With e-books so popular, I thought I'd share some of experiences with electronic books. I know to most readers, it seems like e-books just suddenly sprang up last year and seem to be taking over the publishing world. But you might be surprised to know that I sold my first e-book over ten years ago. It wasn't an easy process, either. I went through ALL the same steps as I would have with a traditional publisher.

In 1999, I attended a writing conference at a castle where an e-book editor spoke and talked about this new method for publishing. I love to try new things, so I pulled out some manuscripts that hadn't sold yet and sent them to HardShell Word Factory. It took a long time to go through the submission process, then when my books were accepted (for middle-schoolers) I had to wait my turn for editing and for the cover art. They had their own artist -- a talented young man who was sadly murdered a few years ago -- and he did the covers for MELISSA'S MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, MAIL-ORDER MONSTER, PHANTOM BOYFRIEND and LOVE POTION (mysterious, magical, romantic books for younger teens). I went through editing the same as with my traditional publishers (at the time I was writing a cloning series for Berkely called REGENERATION). It took two years before the first two books were out in floppy disk format. They packaged these books in little boxes with disks inside and covers like real books. Readers could also buy two-books-in-one paperbacks of these books. I love these books and was excited to embark on a new type of publishing. This was years ago before the Kindle or Nook. But there were e-readers. The best was the Rocket Reader. The first out into the world and a great device. But it didn't survive and the others that followed had battery problems and were still too expensive to lure readers away from paperbacks. (Not that I wanted to do this -- although I have many e-books on my I-Pad, I continue to buy and prefer paper books).

So I had these e-books published and online waiting for readers. Guess what happened? Not much. In 2001, kids weren't going online to look for books. My annual royalty statements from the e-books totaled less than $5. Still I loved these books and was glad to have them out there.In 2003, I gave it one more try and my favorite e-books, DOUBLE VISION, was published by Amber Quill. This YA is about a teen girl who must pretend to be an alternate version of herself in a parallel world to prevent a murder in her family. Still the market wasn't there yet so few sales.

Jump ahead to January 2011. I've published over 35 traditional YA/MG books and still have the 6 e-books out, too. My publisher, Flux, decided to try an experiment by offering my THE SEER book, #1. DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY for free for a month to Kindle readers. Many people received e-readers for Christmas and were eager for free books. My book sold like crazy! My book made it down to #12 in the top free books for Kindle. In May, my publisher tried this again with my book DEAD GIRL WALKING, and it made it down to #7 in the top free-books. Now I seem to make more e-book sales than paperback sales.

And my e-books published years ago--suddenly they're selling. I'm receiving royalty checks larger than 3 digits! E-books have come a long way -- and I've enjoyed going along for the ride.

CHECK OUT MY E-BOOKS:

Double Vision

Mail-Order Monster
Love Potion
Phantom Boyfriend

~~~

Now for a giveaway!

Linda will be giving away an autographed copy of DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY. Enter now for a chance to win!

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Jess C Scott

Next up is Jess C Scott!! Enjoy!

~~~

Staying Focused as an Indie Author, by Jess C Scott

Jess C Scott, author of The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy and EyeLeash: A Blog Novel
Independent publishing offers tremendous opportunities to writers everywhere. The indie publishing model is speedy and efficient, and allows a writer to have full creative and business control.

I decided to self-publish my debut book (EyeLeash: A Blog Novel) in June 2009. I published my second book in August 2009. Both these books (and many of my subsequent novellas/novels) aren’t exactly “commercially categorizable.” They don’t fall neatly into a specific category. These types of books can be problematic for mainstream commercial publishers, who have certain expectations with regards to the business of commercial genre fiction.

Some writers write for the money. Others write because they love to write, and want to share their work with the world. I happen to fall somewhere in the middle.

My ultimate goal in life has always been to “making a living from writing” (I’m currently 24, and have one more “basic financial goal” to meet in 2011).

I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of focus on how much indie authors earn, and how many copies they sell. There seems to be a lot more emphasis on quantity, instead of quality. Maybe this is because society values money and materialism. I’ve had to question my own values and beliefs, along the way, to decide for myself what I really wanted to do (as an indie author).
At the end of the day, I want the stories I write to be able to stand the test of time. Earning an income from writing is important to me, but I cannot do it at the expense of my vision as an author/artist/non-conformist.

What I’m making money from is just as (if not more) important to me, as how much I’m earning (with regards to writing/publishing).

Indie publishing offers me the opportunity to get stories out in a timely fashion, and create stories that I want to write, not what a conglomerate dictates to me is right for a particular genre/market.

As an artist, I’m very careful to ensure that I do not exploit this opportunity, which traditional commercial publishing is not be able to provide for me. This is why I continue to stay focused on the characters and storyline.

Making money is great. But making money from providing something of meaningful value is even better.

To all the indie authors out there who share a similar perspective: Do what you love. Keep improving. Keep going.
---------------

LINKS:

Website: http://www.jesscscott.com
EyeLeash Page: http://jessink.com/eyeleash.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jesscscott
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jesscscott

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jess identifies herself as an author/artist/non-conformist. Her literary work has appeared in a diverse range of publications, such as Word Riot, ITCH Magazine, and The Battered Suitcase. She is currently working on a YA “seven deadly sins” series, an incubus-themed anthology, and The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy. Connect with Jess online at www.jesscscott.com.

~~~

NOW CONTEST TIME!

Just fill out the contest below for a chance to win a signed copy of EYELEASH: A BLOG NOVEL.

Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Alex Cavanaugh

Next up is the author of CassaStar [My review HERE], Alex Cavanaugh! Enjoy!

~~~

Challenges of Writing a Sequel

Some writers envision detailed worlds and further adventures for their characters. They plan for more books. Not everyone has that vision, though. I certainly didn’t!

When I wrote CassaStar, it was intended to be a standalone book. I’d carried the idea around for years and even wrote a rough draft when I was younger. I’d envisioned many adventures for Byron and Bassa, but when I wrote CassaStar (spoiler!) I killed off one of the characters. That rather nixed further stories.

I panicked when people began asking about a sequel, even before CassaStar’s release. What the heck was I going to write?

One question continued to come up from fans - why weren’t there any women in the book? I decided to give the fans what they wanted and introduced a female lead into the story. Drawing upon an earlier idea, I created a whole new storyline, one that I hoped would satisfy my readers. That definitely taught me to continue fueling new ideas.

I also continued with the theme from the first book - friendship and trust. After countless rewrites of the outline, I used NaNo last year to complete the first draft of the sequel. I revised the story, ran it by my critique partners and test readers, and submitted it to my publisher in June.

And I am happy to say the sequel will be released next February 28 as CassaFire!

Of course, now everyone expects a trilogy! Back to the drawing board…

Thanks again, WDEBO, for allowing me to be part of your anniversary celebration!

~~~

Now for CONTEST!

Enter to win an ebook copy of Alex's book CassaStar. (Just fill out the form below!)

Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post+Contest: Steve Kluger

Next up is the talented author of books such as MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR and ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE (Both of which are my personal favorites), Steve Kluger.

Enjoy!

~~~

People are constantly asking me where I get my ideas for the stories and characters I put into my fiction. In fact, I’m not nearly as prolific as I’ve been perceived to be, since virtually all the stories are true and all of the characters are real people. I call it “creative reporting” rather than “creative writing.”

Of all the novels, the one that comes closest to being pure autobiography is ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE. Fundamentally about two boys who fall in love with each other in twelfth grade and then don’t meet again for twenty years, it didn’t really require a hell of a lot of imagination on my part. All I had to do was reconstruct my senior year of high school. Exactly as it happened. Well, okay—maybe with one teensy little tweak. Because if I’d actually written it the way things played out in real life, the novel would have ended on page nine.

How To Fall in Love With Your Straight Best Friend

(If You Absolutely Must)

Anybody who's ever wondered just how long gay kids have been falling for straight kids need only take a closer squint at Mercutio, who somehow managed to glide through all fifteen years of his life without ever ungluing himself from Romeo's side. Furthermore, he had impeccable taste in clothes, a dancer's body, and a passion for Queen Mab–who, to this day, bears a suspicious resemblance to Bette Midler. It's not like you needed a road map to figure out what was going on.

Mercutio, of course, wound up on the wrong end of a rapier before he had a chance to pitch the advantages of same-sex domestic partner benefits to Romeo–and the rest of us have been striking out just as prosaically ever since. So how come we still insist on romancing our straight best friends at least once between Winnie the Pooh and college? Because we thrive on irony? (Yes.) Because it's good practice for the real deal? (Yes.) Because a broken heart is so irresistibly theatrical? (Absolutely. "Oh, my man, I love him so. He'll never know....")

Falling in love with Philip was definitely not on my agenda in October of my senior year. He was a 17-year-old godling from France who'd become the envy of the entire senior class, and I was a 17-year-old dork from Maryland who'd become the poster boy for Queer Bashing 101. (I'm still not sure how they figured out I was gay before I knew it myself, though I suspect the Ethel Merman thing may have had something to do with it.) Neither one of us remembers how we met; one minute he was asking me if he could borrow a dollar, and an instant later we were Phil-and-Steve (I always gave him top billing because he was way too cute not to have it). This unexpected development threw the bashers for a loop: in order to score points with Philip, they suddenly had to go through me first. Which meant acquiring a hasty tolerance for Gypsy, Mameand Funny Girl. Revenge is always sweet, but it takes a gay kid to make it musical.

I had no idea that Cupid had just shot me in the ass until Friday evening, November 14. I was in the midst of plowing through a novel I'd recently discovered (Valley of the Dolls, in case it matters) when I realized I'd read the same paragraph nine times without registering a word–because all that kept spinning through my head were images of Philip's twinkly eyes whenever he'd glance at me across a classroom, and the thermonuclear one-dimple grin that could melt plutonium.

Welcome to Gay Adolescent Hell.

Rules and Regulations
(Note: since this is autobiographical, it's about boys. But the formulas work the same way for girls–all you have to do is switch the pronouns and add Lesbian hair.)

1. Practice typing his name in 46 different fonts (including Japanese).
We didn't have iPads yet, so we did the best we could with ballpoint pens and notebook paper. I was more prolific than most: every one of my essays was originally titled "Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip."

2. If you run into each other in the gym, avoid the showers as though they were radioactive. You really don't need a pulmonary embolism at 17.
As soon as I found out that Philip was a swimmer who wore Speedos, I chose track–which was as geographically far from the pool as I could get. On one occasion I ran a ninety-minute mile in the pouring rain just to make absolutely certain he'd already left the locker room.

3. Don't help him audition for a part in the school play, because you're only going to wind up being cast with him.
This is especially painful when the play in question is A Midsummer Night's Dream and the two of you have to spend six weeks together in tights. "Lysander, yield thy crazed title to my certain right," snarled Philip, poking me with a foil. "If thou say so, withdraw and prove it too," I glowered back, poking him in return. One such rehearsal resulted in an impromptu tickling match–which I needed like a hole in the head.

4. Don't waste your time searching for tiny clues that he's really gay. He isn't. Just because he's heard of Barbra Streisand doesn't mean he secretly wants to kiss you. Fidel Castro's heard of her too.
When we listened to The Grateful Dead and discovered "Uncle John's Band" together, it became "our song." Swiss Miss and chocolate chip cookies in the snow comprised "our menu," and after stumbling across ‘ubiquitous' on the senior English vocabulary list, we adopted it on the spot as "our word." Philip didn't seem to understand that these little landmarks meant he was supposed to ask me to marry him.

5. When he meets a girl he really likes, don't say stinky things about her to change his mind–he'll only get suspicious. Instead, help him plan his romance step-by-step, and when he wins her over (they always do), make yourself absolutely indispensable to her.
Nancy knew inside of nineteen seconds that I was in love with her boyfriend–but since I played my cards right, she kept my secret. This sort of unexpected bonding was nothing new; straight women and gay men have been confiding in each other ever since Guenevere (Julie Andrews in the musical) and Lancelot (Robert Goulet) figured out that they both had the same kind of long-range plans for Richard Burton.

6. Be careful when you buy him birthday presents–you don't want to tip your hand.
The label-maker he's coveted, the new copy of Abbey Road, and the dozen boxes of chocolate chip cookies (half of which he's going to share with you anyway) are relatively benign; the slim volume of poems entitled You're My Friend So I Brought You This Book isn't. Can you spell "dead giveaway"?

7. When the nearby girls’ school asks for boy volunteers to help build the sets for a production of “Brigadoon,” stick cotton in your ears during rehearsals.
Brigadoon was written five years before you were born. Which means that the song “Almost Like Being in Love” was not inspired by you and Philip. Do the math, dude.

8. If you're wondering whether being in love with your best friend means you've finally come out to yourself, the answer is yes.
I had two choices: I could either pretend I was straight and forget about Philip, or keep Philip and admit the obvious. Talk about a no-brainer.

9. When you tell him the truth, don't be pissed off if he guesses it first.
Philip confessed that he'd begun to get the hint about an hour and a half after we'd met–but it didn't make any difference because nobody had ever loved him so unconditionally before. "And I love you too," he said. "It's just in a different category." Somehow I felt cheated out of my big scene.

10. Don't be surprised if you remain best friends for the rest of your lives.
Philip is married, has two kids, and lives in Philadelphia. We still listen to "Uncle John's Band" and we still say ‘ubiquitous' to each other. As a matter of fact, I e-mailed him the first draft of this column and received the following reply: "Lose the Ethel Merman bit. You're dating yourself. And by the way–that was half a lifetime ago. Get a grip already. Love, Phil."

Sure, it was hell–but the memories have always been worth it. And eventually we all outgrow the need to fall in love with our straight friends. Most of the time. I mean, sort of. Well, okay, there was this one occasion when my new dentist turned out to be a relentlessly breathtaking and irredeemably hetero-sexual Japanese American who left me no choice but to fake a pain in an upper left molar just so I could stare up into those big brown eyes during the four visits it took him to complete the root canal I didn't need.

But that's another story.

~~~

Now for the contest, Steve will give a copy of any one of his books (List below).

My Most Excellent Year
Almost Like Being In Love
Last Days Of Summer
Changing Pitches

To join, just fill out THIS form!!

Good luck!

Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Beth Fantaskey

First up is the awesome Beth Fantaskey, the author of JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE, JEKEL LOVES HYDE and JESSICA RULES THE DARK SIDE.

Enjoy!

~~~

Happy blogoversary, Electrical Book Café! And thanks for being part of a global network that is keeping the love of reading alive.

I’m a little ashamed to admit that when my first book, JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE, came out in 2009, I was completely ignorant of the book blogosphere. Probably because I am about one hundred years old – at least according to my kids – I had no idea that there was this huge, interconnected community of book lovers out there, reviewing and commenting and bringing authors and readers and stories together.

I look back now and think, “Wow... I was so missing out!” In fact, I feel like I missed out during my whole childhood and youth, simply because the blogosphere didn’t exist. What I wouldn’t have given, as a kid growing up in a tiny town in Pennsylvania, to have had the chance to discuss my obsession with The Lord of the Rings trilogy with an international community of people who felt the same way. As it was, I was lucky to have one like-minded “geeky” friend who could talk Hobbits for hours with me. Of course, we knew the Tolkien books were popular, but we had no idea that there were millions out there who were just as passionate about them as we were. And if we did suspect those people existed, we had no idea how to reach them.

We are so fortunate today to have the chance to connect with each other in cyberspace and share our love of whatever stories grab us and won’t let us go – and to learn about new works that we’ll embrace, too.

The book blogging community impresses me in another way, too. As a YA author who deals mainly with young bloggers, I have to say that every time I hear complaints from my generation about young people being “lazy,” I think about all the time and effort that blog managers put into designing, updating, organizing live chats, running contests... all that goes into having a successful site – work done without expectation of profit or gratitude, even – and I know for a fact that the skeptics are wrong.

So this is sort of my public “thank you” to not only Wdebo and the Electrical Book Café for another year of blogging, but to everybody who does the same. Keep up the great work, on behalf of all of us who didn’t even know we were missing, when we were growing up. Thanks for putting the time and effort into giving us a place to share our common love for reading a good story.

~~~

Now, for the CONTESSTTT!!! Beth will be giving away a paperback copy of JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE.

To join, all you have to do is fill out THIS form!

Good luck!

Wdebo :)

Blogoversery Contest Announcement!!

[Added Info]

The posts...

Guest Post + Contest: Beth Fantaskey

Guest Post + Contest: Steve Kluger

Guest Post + Contest: Alex Cavanaugh

Guest Post + Contest: Jess C Scott

~~~

Hey everyone. So it's August 21st, which means it is my blogoversery :) This year for my blogoversery bash, I will be posting guest posts from authors with different giveaways on each post.

The minimum requirement is just to be a follower :)

Ready?

The posts will begin on Monday!

See you then =]

Wdebo :)

P.S. All Blogoversery Bash Posts will be marked with a BB.

Character Post: Carley Wells from How to Buy a Love of Reading

This is, I think, the last post as part of my Blogoversery Bash.

This post is perfect for today seeing as how it is the first day of school AHHH wish me luck!!!

You can click HERE for my review of How to Buy a Love of Reading.

~~~~~~

It always feels wrong, the first day of school. For one thing, the air still thinks it's summer. The breeze coming off the water is soft and tangy and nearly thick enough to rest against. It'll be weeks before fall will sharpen its saltiness into something that stings. For another, nearly everyone will be wearing new clothes too hot for the weather even though nobody is in a hurry for fall. All trying not to look like they're trying to wear something new because what's the rush--they'll still be new in a couple of weeks and there'll always be new new things. All trying not to look like they're trying.

Trying:
1. v. (present participle of try) Attempting to do something.
2. adj. Difficult, getting on one's nerves.
3. adj. Desperate--for example, needing to wear new fall clothing purchased yesterday because one returned from Fat Camp last week unable to button the shorts one wore in June.

"Which two books did you end up using for your summer reading project?" Hunter asks. At the stop sign a block before Montclair Academy he brakes too long. Though he's in linen and seersucker--Hunter never wears the wrong clothing, never feels rushed--his face is moist. He wipes it with a handkerchief and rubs his temples.

Behind us, Jake beeps, as if Hunter getting through the intersection ten seconds sooner would get us to school any faster, as if we aren't all part of a slow-moving parade in which everyone is checking out everyone else's new clothes and new tans and new cars (Amber's Rover, Jake's Jag, Hunter's Mercedes), tops down and windows open, rubberneckers all rubbernecking each other, like a giant accident waiting to happen.

"What time did you leave the Station last night, H?" He has that pale-beneath-his-tan look. Hard to tell if he's solidly into his first-day-of-school hangover or just starting to sober up.

"Did you go with Slaughterhouse-Five or Pride--"

"You drive like a senior citizen!" Jake shouts, and leans on the horn.

"Go already," I say. "Go."


* * *

Understand, this all happened earlier. Understand, I know there's something totally fake about telling a story--or typing one--as if it's happening right now when it clearly isn't happening right now because I'm in front of my computer, in my room, not in Hunter's car or at Montclair (where I'm about to be in the next part of this story). But present tense sounds right in my head. In my head, it is happening right now. Or rehappening.

And understand, I know no one is reading this. If a girl sets up a blog in the middle of cyberspace but nobody knows about it, does it make a sound? I know I'm invisible here. And I want to be. It's safer here than on paper or on a computer file, both of which my mother could find. I just need somewhere to scream where no one will hear.

* * *

"At exactly what point this summer," Mr. Nagel asks, standing over my desk, "did you manage to forget about the assignment?"

This being a rhetorical question, I shrug. Most of the time you can't go wrong with a shrug. Hard to debate a shrug.

"Miss Weiss," Nagel says to my friend Amber, "can you fathom how someone could forget the assignment?"

Caught in the middle of texting, Amber slips her cell phone under the twelve-page "Demonstrate Your Familiarity With Literary Terminology" handout Nagel has just plopped on our desks. The instructions ask us to be honest about what we know. It's supposedly just to help Nagel get a grip on what he needs to teach us, to "assess your collective gaps."

Hunter warned me on the way to school to look up everything on the Internet tonight so I can claim to be on a first-name basis with every literary term in the packet--even synesthesia. Last year, when Hunter took the class, people who answered the handout honestly got called "Gaps" by Nagel for the entire first month of school.

Amber flashes me a look that says, Sorry, but I'm going to need him for a college rec next year, and tells Nagel, "It would be hard to forget. I mean, it was a lot of writing. Not too much, but, um, just enough." She pats her twenty-page typed journal response to how The Crying of Lot 49 "resonates" with Sense and Sensibility, as if to remind herself that it's still there, on her desk, ready to be handed in. Amber gets those nightmares where you show up to a weird class you don't remember signing up for--say, Greek--and it's the day of the big test. Sometimes she needs to double-check that she's not in the middle of one.

Her last text to me, before Nagel had started surveying us about which books we'd each picked for the "Odd Couples" summer reading assignment, had been: "Europe turned Hunter extra-über-hot." He came back different, sure, but it's hard to say how. I mean, he's been gorgeous as long as he's been at Montclair, but now there's this almost unreal look to him. It's hard to describe, so I shouldn't even try. I just know that his being hungover or exhausted or sick just makes everyone think he's even better looking now. Like a poster of a beautiful, pained guy.

"I didn't exactly forget," I tell Nagel. "It was more like I thought I did it, and it turned out I didn't."

"And which books, Miss Wells, did you imagine this hallucinatory assignment for?" People snicker.

"I read the list," I say.

"All one hundred recommendations?"

"No. I mean, I read the list. Just the, um, list. A lot. I read it a lot." The snickers turn into full-out laughter. I let it crash over me, like a wave it's too late to body surf. I submerge into my head, and let it roll by.

* * *

I could recite the whole list if I wanted to. Not in alphabetical-by-last-name-of-the-author order, the way it is on the handout everyone got last June that asked us to choose two books that seem dissimilar and write an essay about how this "Odd Couple" had more in common than they at first appear to.

I could recite them, though, in the order Hunter read them (or in many cases, I suppose, re-read them) this summer. He read all one hundred of them while he was away. I couldn't tell you, exactly, what The Sound and the Fury is about, but I could tell you how he felt about it, what he wrote about it in a blog he doesn't know I know about, a blog no one has ever read but me. Probably he was afraid his cousin Ian would read his journal while they traveled together. Probably, the same way I'm doing now, he figured cyberspace was the only place big and dark enough to hide a piece of his heart.

Bored at Fat Camp, I was Googling combinations of books--hoping, honestly, that someone at some other school had posted an essay that put together two very random books like this. (I wasn't planning, exactly, to plagiarize. More like get inspired. Or, okay, borrow an idea or two.) I was trying three or four books at a time, seeing what came up, and there it was: a blog that mentioned The Grapes of Wrath, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Emma, and The Remains of the Day in the same sentence. One paragraph in, I knew it was Hunter. He wrote the way he talked. Also, he went by the name Scott Fitz.

And so, all summer, though he didn't e-mail very often and only called a couple of times, I felt like I was with him in Europe. I knew when he was sad (often), like when he wrote about a book called The Age of Innocence, saying people were trapped there the way they are in Fox Glen, everyone having to put on an act. I knew when he was trashed (also often), like when he went on for pages about how F. Scott Fitzgerald was predicting his own end in The Beautiful and Damned and how there was something he called "meta-" about an author writing his own life and making it come true.

I knew that even though he wanted to pretend he was only writing this for himself, and even though he didn't go around commenting on other people's book blogs to get them to notice him, he wished, secretly, that someone would stumble upon his blog by accident--some random, book-loving girl. She would be gorgeous but secretly geeky, like him. She would understand him from the way they both thought Mr. Darcy was actually a jerk, and not just at the beginning of the book. She would see what he thought Pride and Prejudice had in common with 1984. He'd have found his soul mate by accident. Instead, the accident was me.

* * *

"Everyone was talking about it, C," Hunter says softly as we drive away from Montclair at the end of the day. "I just don't get you sometimes. Pissing Nagel off on day one. Starting the year with a zero. It was a tricky assignment, I know. And if you were having trouble… if you found it was…"

"Stupid," I say. "Putting together things that don't belong together. I wasn't going to waste my summer shoving together things that don't fit."

~~~~~

Wow! Awesome guest post huh? Remember to check out the site HERE. And my interview with the author, Tanya Egan Gibson HERE.

Remember to join my contest HERE, for a chance to win a copy of How to Buy a Love of Reading and also a 1 of 3 postcards!

Wdebo :)

Character Post: Amber Borden from the Dead Girl series

This week, I am proud to present Amber Borden from the Dead Girl Series (Dead Girl Walking [Click for review HERE], Dead Girl Dancing [Click for review HERE] and Dead Girl In Love).

She is here for an exclusive interview with The Electrical Book Cafe, for the blogoversery bash.

Check it out...

~~~~~~~~~

Wdebo: Hi Amber, how are you doing right now?

Amber Borden: I'm hanging in my bedroom with Alyce and we're working on welcome baskets for the HHC (Halsey Hospitality Club). I'm working on a basket shaped like a bird cage for a new student who raises parrots. But my cat Snowy keeps stealing the feathers and hiding them under the bed. It's annoying--but Alyce can't stop laughing.

W: Are you excited for the new Dead Girl book, Dead Girl in Love, that has just come out?

A: Oh, sure...but kind of embarrassed, too. It was a shock to find out I didn't know what was really going on with my best friend. But ultimately I found out some stuff about Alyce and that was worth everything I went through -- even the bat's blood. But once the book is out, everyone will know how badly I messed up romance. Why am I so trusting? I really have to work on that. Hmmm...I need to get a self-help book on trust issues.

W: For those readers who do not know anything about the Dead Girl series, could you give a brief summary?

A: DEAD GIRL WALKING: Amber Borden (that's me!) is earnest, eager to help people and aspires to be an entertainment agent. Things go wrong for her at a party then things improve--but SMACK! I'm hit by a mail truck and go off to the white light. I meet my Grammy Greta and my childhood dog then I'm told to go back. Only I make a wrong turn and wake up in the body of Leah Montgomery: the most popular and gorgeous girl at school--who has just attempted suicide. While I discovers secrets about Leah, I race against time to return to my real body and ordinary-but-nice life.

#2. DEAD GIRL DANCING: Due to crazy events, I land in the body of a college girl going to get wild on spring break--which could be a fun adventure except for one thing--the college girl is the older sister of MY boyfriend. Awkward becomes deadly when a Dark Lifer stalks me--and threatens my life.

#3. DEAD GIRL IN LOVE: Another body swap--this time into my best friend Alyce, who has been keeping a dark secret about her family that involves graveyards, mental illness and a secret death. While I works hard to help Alyce, a Dark Lifer works hard to steal my heart and soul. Some sizzling out-of-body romance in this one!

W: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

A: Chocolate chip cookie dough!

W: What do you think you're going to do after this interview?

A: Hmmm...are we still talking about ice cream? Excuse me, I'm going to to the fridge. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is calling my name.

W: If, for some reason, it was going to be the end of the world, and you had the power to save yourself and just one person, who would that be?

A: Okay, I thought hard on this one. I considered taking Alyce because she's my BFF, but she's morbid enough already without adding the whole end of the world drama. Then I considered my other best friend Dustin because he's so smart and protests against corrupt politicians. But Dustin's brilliance comes with computer hookups, and the electricity might be out if things go globally-critical. Next I thought about my adorable triplet little sisters but I could never choose between them. Same things with my parents. So I finally decided that I'd take my boyfriend Eli because he's got math-smarts and great problem solving skills. I just know he'd figure out how to save the world so then everyone would be okay. And if not we'd have lots of romantic alone time together. We could start a family and make things right for the world this time.

W: Is there anything else you would like to say?

A: Of course! I read self-help books, you know, so there's a lot of advice I could give to so people wouldn't need temporary replacements in their bodies and could solve their own problems. Mostly it's common sense stuff like be honest, respect yourself, keep a journal to help sort through your feelings, try to exercise even if you hate it like I do, go for nerdy nice guys because brains are HOT, and always have a cat or dog or some pet around for company and hugs.

Oh! And don't forget to read the DEAD GIRL series. Tell your friends to read them, too. If your bookstore doesn't carry them, say "Why not? Are you dumb or something? Order them now!" Also check out the author's website < www.LindaJoySingleton.com> to find out when the short story about me (and this psychic named Sabine) will be posted. It's called SABINE MEETS DEAD GIRL

W: Thanks for letting me interview you Amber!!!

~~~~~~~

For those who would like....HERE is my interview with Linda Jay Singleton, the author of the Dead Girl Series.

Hope you guys have a great day!!

And remember you get TWO extra entrees into the contest by commenting on this post and don't forget to join the contest HERE...where one of the prizes is a GIANT Linda Jay Singleton fan pack!!!

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: John Ford

John is the awesome author of The Morgue and Me [Click HERE for review]. John is also a law school graduee, by attending both Standford and the University of Michigan Law School.

Now onto the interview...

~~~~~~

Wdebo: Can you describe a typical day?

John Ford: The typical day, as it’s supposed to happen, is this: work out at the gym, work the “day job,” write for three hours, have dinner or meet up with friends, bed. This happens about 3% of the time. I’m taking a month-long break between “day jobs,” and here’s how today went. Write for two hours Put together that IKEA entertainment center that I’ve been meaning to get to for three months now Get a gift for my friends one-year old baby Try to writeGet distracted by reading a friend’s screenplayDeal with reservations for fall travelEmail friend with comments on screenplayTonight: pub trivia with friends

W: How did you come up with your idea for The Morgue and Me?

J: I wanted to write a traditional-feeling detective novel with a young main character. All of the usual occupations you might see—cop, private investigator, etc.--were out of bounds to an 18 year-old, so I just started thinking about how a kid might stumble across a serious crime. A part-time job at the morgue seemed perfect. I really built the mystery around that setting and character.

W: Are any of the characters based on someone you know?

J: Can I plead the fifth? Actually, seriously, none of the characters are based on real people. Though, I suppose, there’s a little bit of me in all of them—which is a very scary thought.

W: What is your favorite thing to do (apart from writing)?

J: I love to go running. It’s a bit like writing—a solitary activity that can sometimes feel like torture, and often takes the wind out of you. But when you’re in the groove, there’s nothing like it.

W: What's your favorite color?

J: Blue. Light blue. (Imagine me saying this like “Bond, James Bond.”)

W: If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

J: I suppose it’d be cheating to bring a power-boat, map, and plentiful supplies of food and gasoline?

Okay . . . running shoes, a good falafel sandwich, a fountain pen, a bathrobe from the Ritz-Carlton, and a copy of The Great Gatsby.

W: Who is your favorite superhero and why?

J: Either Aquaman, because I used to be a swimmer, or The Green Lantern, because the name is so cool. (Though, actually, the Green Lantern is a whole group of superheroes, so Aquaman it is.)

W: Who are some authors you look up to?

J: Nancy Werlin and Ned Vizinni are two YA authors I admire greatly.

W: Do you have a new project you are working on? And if so, can you tell us a bit about it?

J: Yes, and no. Not to be all mysterious or anything, but it’s not quite finished enough for me to go off blabbing about it. I’ll say this: it’s a thriller-type book that, at the moment, I feel very good about.

W: I know a lot of my blog readers are writers. Do you have any tips to share to aspiring authors?

J: Read, read, and read—you soak up so much about writing that way, without even knowing it. The other thing I would say is to be careful about drawing from your own life too much. Make sure what you’re writing about is just as interesting to other people as it is to you.

W: What is your FAVORITE book in the world, the one that you think everyone should read before they die?

J: Too hard! I said that I’d take The Great Gatsby with me to the island, so I guess I’m going with that. I read Stephen King’s The Stand when I was in high school and it floored me. Back then, I would have picked that one.

W: What is one thing that not many people know about you?

J: I hardly ever return my library books on time. Sorry, Cleveland Park Library! For the record, though, I do pay all my late fees.

W: Do you enjoy watching movies if so, do you have a movie you absolutely cannot stop watching?

J: I absolutely love movies. I have a thing for movies that take you on a head trip, like Memento or Being John Malcovich, but those aren’t to everyone’s taste so don’t necessarily take that as a recommendation.

W: Finally, do you have anything else you want to say?

J: I think you know all my secrets now, so I’m good. Thanks so much for having me!

W: Thanks for letting me interview you!

~~~~~~~

Check out John's Goodreads page HERE

Remember, if you comment on this post you recieve TWO extra entrees for the GIANT blogoversery bash contest HERE. Where one of the prizes you can win is a signed hardback copy of The Morgue and Me. Check it out!!

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: Julie Schumacher

Welcome to another post for my blogoversery bash!! This is an interview with Julie Schumacher, the author of Black Box [Click HERE for review].

Julie's first published story Reunion was part of The Best American Short Stories 1983, she works at the University of Minnesota as the Professor of English and Creative Writing.

Now for the interview....

~~~~~~

Wdebo: Can you describe a typical day?

Julie Schumacher: I try to write in the mornings, before I go to work. If I can get a couple of hours of productive writing in, that's a success. I've never written full-time, because I have two kids and I teach at the University of Minnesota. I try to reserve evenings for reading -- mainly novels and short stories.

W: How do you come up with the ideas for your stories, mainly Black Box?

J: Ideas are everywhere, all the time: we just aren't used to recognizing them as ideas. We think we're day-dreaming, when in reality we're sifting ideas through our heads all day long. The trick is to catch hold of the themes and ideas that come back to you, over and over like recurring dreams, and then give them shape and polish them so that they have meaning and are appealing to others, as well as yourself.

W: Could you give a short summary of Black Box, for those readers who might not be familiar with it?

J: Black Box is about two sisters, Elena and Dora. Dora, the older sister, suffers from depression; Elena, the younger, doesn't think that anything is terribly wrong until Dora is hospitalized. She tries to hang on to the sister and to the relationship she once knew, and she tries to help -- but Dora gets worse. Elena seems to have no one to talk to about what has happened to her family -- until she meets Jimmy Zenk, a quirky loner who offers her frightening information about the hospital where Dora is being treated.

W: Are any of your characters based on anyone you know?

J: All my characters, I think, are some version of me. As a day-dreamer, I like to imagine myself in a lot of different scenarios and situations, and to imagine how I would react. That said, I do know a number of people who have suffered from severe depression, and their experiences helped inspire me to write the book.

W: What is your favorite thing to do (apart from writing)?

J: Reading. Hands down. I am one of those wackos who hates television and cell phones and computers. I still write all of my books by hand, with a ball-point pen

W: What's your favorite color?

J: Blue. Which seems appropriate to a person who has written a book about depression.

W: If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

J: Well, if this were an island well equipped with food and water and a comfortable house and clothing (so I didn't have to bring those), I suppose I'd bring a combination of favorite books and family and friends. Something to read and someone to talk to -- those are the necessities in my life.

W: Who are some authors you look up to?

J: Lots and lots of authors. Too many to name -- many of them dead (Jane Austen and George Eliot for starters), and many of them alive. I keep books of quotations/favorite passages from novels that I love, and I re-read them a lot. They inspire me as a writer, and they also help me maintain a sense of who I am and who I was.

W: Do you have a new project you are working on? And if so, can you tell us a bit about it?

J: I'm superstitious about revealing too much about what I'm working on -- writers tend to be nervous about these things. But I'm working on a few projects: a novel and a book of short stories, among others.

W: As an only child I am curious, what is it like being the youngest of five children?

J: I loved growing up in a big family. There was always conversation, always someone to talk to or pester, always something to do. I grew up hearing family stories at the dinner table, and playing games: solitaire, ping-pong, kick-the-can, cribbage, soccer, tennis, caroms, bridge, hide-and-seek, hearts, field hockey, lacrosse... you name it. A family is a sort of universe unto itself.

W: What is your FAVORITE book in the world, the one that you think everyone should read before they die?

J: Middlemarch, by George Eliot. It's very long: it's best to read it when you have a fair amount of time.

W: Finally, do you have anything else that you would like to say?

J: Yes. I think everyone should turn off the TV and the computer and read a good book.

W: Thanks for letting me interview you!

~~~~~~~~~~

Remember to check out Julie's site HERE!

And also remember that when you comment on this post you recieve TWO extra entrees for my GIANT blogoversery bash contest HERE, where you also have a chance to win a copy of Black Box.

Wdebo :)

Character Post: Rumer Xiong

Today's guest post is from Rumer Xiong, one of the main characters of Rumer & Qix. Just saying hi from the 3014.

Check it out!!

~~~~~~~

Hi Wdebo! Hello 21st century. My name is Rumer Xiong and I’m writing to you with my animet, Qix, from Nanjing, China. It’s the 31st century here and I’ve had a lot of trouble getting back through the time barrier 1000 years to reach you in 2009. The good news is, if you’re reading this, it means we finally got our message through. Success!

It’s the year 3014 here. I’m sixteen and work as an apprentice reporter at the world’s biggest media company, the Global Quotidien. We call it the GQ for short. Qix is my unofficial assistant because animets like her are mostly toys for little kids and apprentices aren’t supposed to bring them to work. No one knows that I bring Qix in with me because she’s very small and I sneak her into the office every day in my shoulder bag.

I’m posting this message because our world is in total chaos and I think you might be able to help. There’s devastation everywhere and we are definitely in trouble. No one knows what to do. Everything’s crumbling around us and people are disappearing all over the place. According to some research I’m doing, it looks like the problem may have started about 500 years ago. That’s when the last of the plants and animals became extinct and were replaced with perfect replicas. Scientists figured out how to make fake trees, artificial animals, faux flowers, synthetic food, artificial air, water and even computer-generated weather.

For us, these synthetic versions of once real things are all we know. There have never been any problems with them and everything has been fine until a few months ago when, out of the blue, crazy things started happening here. People all over the planet began sending stories to us at the GQ about seeing things like real grass and real butterflies. No one believed them, of course. These things have been extinct for 500 years. My boss at the GQ called them lunatics and refused to include their stories in our publications. Now thousands of reports are flooding across the news grid claiming sightings of things like entire oak groves erupting through the ground destroying all the buildings on the surface in their way. I’m trying to find out more about what’s going on, but people today don’t know anything about oak trees or real grass or butterflies. No one has seen anything like this in their lifetimes. I think nature is trying to make a comeback.

I’ve heard about a woman named MoNa through postings on the indie network who says we’re suffocating the planet. They say she’s behind the destruction of all the man-made things and the disappearance of so many people. Some say MoNa is really Mother Nature, but I don’t know. Whoever she is, we don’t know where she is or how to talk to her. We don’t know anything about her creations. We have so many questions. Like what do you feed a giant tree? Is grass supposed to keep growing? Where do you get a spare part if a butterfly’s wing breaks? How do you get in touch with MoNa? If you have any ideas please post them here. The future needs you now.

Thank you so much!!

xoxo, Rumer and Qix
Apprentice Reporter
The Global Quotidian
http://www.rumerandqix.com/

P.S. Qix’s has a question about animets. That’s what we call the intelligent artificial pets we have that can talk and do lot’s of helpful things. Qix wants to know if you have any animets? What kinds of things can yours do? She is really good at flying upside down.

~~~~~~~~

Awesome! You guys ready for the challenge?

Remember to check out the site!!

And remember, when you comment on this post you recieve TWO extra entrees into the GIANT blogoversery contest HERE, where one of your prizes is a copy of Rumor & Qix. What are you waiting for? Join NOW!

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: Micol Ostow

Today, TEBC is hosting an author interview with Micol Ostow, the author of the GoldenGirls series. [Includes GoldenGirl (Click for review HERE) and Fashionista (Came out yesterday-Click for review HERE)]

Enjoy...

~~~~~~

Wdebo: Can you give us a brief overview of Fashionista?

Micol Ostow: Fashionista is the second book in the Bradford Novels series, and it's told from the point of view of Madison Takahashi, a budding fashion designer and one of Bradford Prep's elite. It picks up just where GoldenGirl left off, which dedicated readers will know is right around the time that Mads may or may not have been mackin' on someone else's boyfriend. Scandal!

W: Hope everyone can read it! Can you describe a typical day?

M: A typical day is very, very boring. No one will ever make a competitive reality show about freelance novelists, that's for sure.

Obviously my schedule is more flexible than people with office jobs, but I do treat my writing as a full-time job. I'm up pretty early and take care of things like emails and errands. I usually go to the gym. The coffee tends to kick in around 11, and between 11 and 6 are when I get most of my writing done.

I do teach a writing workshop once a week, and teaching days are hectic, especially if I'm still finishing up reading the workshop submissions. And any time I have a school visit or anything like that, all bets are off. But those days can also be the most fun.

W: Oh, that would be cool if you could visit my school :) Haha. How do you come up with the ideas for your books?

M: That is a very good question! I wish I had a very good answer for you. The answer, really, is: all over. Sometimes it's a phrase that caught me, and I work backward from there. For instance, the project I'm working on now, tentatively titled Does This Dogsled Make My Butt Look Big, was something that came out of a casual email between myself and my editor. We were talking about the glut of plus-sized modeling stories that were in the media at the time, and I said it would be funny to write a book called Does This Runway Make My Butt Look Big...and things evolved from there.

Other stories, like 30 Guys In 30 Days, came from conversations friends and I actually had. I had a friend just out of college who had broken up with a long term boyfriend who had challenged herself to talk to at least one new guy a day, just to get her dating skills back up and running. I don't even know if she really went through with it, but it was a great idea for a book. Or so I thought.

So Punk Rock is very heavily based on my own experiences in Jewish day school (and my brother's experience in a band), and Gettin' Lucky was a blatant attempt to cash in on the poker craze. Popular Vote came about because my editor at Scholastic thought it would be fun to publish some chick lit to tie into election fever.

So really, all over. Like I say.

W: Wow, it's soo cool to learn more about where ideas come from. Are any of your characters based on someone you know?

M: Yes and no. It's kind of impossible to write a character who doesn't have SOME of one's own characteristics, I think. For instance, Emily from Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa grapples with meeting her Latino family for the first time, which is something I've experienced first-hand. But the fun thing about fiction is that you get to take "true" stories and make them better by making stuff up! I can say with certainty that despite certain similarities, Emily is definitely not me.

W: So true, I like adding some "true" things into the stuff that I write. What is your favorite thing to do (apart from writing)?

M: Reading. Followed closely by relaxing, spending time with my friends, and playing with my dog. I'm pretty low-key.

W: Yeah for dogs!!! I love playing with my dog too! What's your favorite color?

M: I seem to own and wear a lot of blues and purples, so do with that information what you will.

W: Bahaha I wear a lot of blue too! If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

M:
1. sunscreen
2. books
3. dvds/something to watch them on
4. my yoga mat
5. my boyfriend and dog

Okay, I know that's technically more than five things. Sorry!

W: Haha it's ok, and I would totally bring my dog too. Who are some authors you look up to?

M: So many! I've had the great opportunity to work with and meet many writers through my line of work (writing/editing/teaching). They've all been incredibly supportive and I've learned something from all of them.

Just a few off the top of my head:

AIMEE FRIEDMAN: is an amazing editor who still finds time to write breathtaking stories. Her work gets better and better.

NOVA REN SUMA: has been writing for over a decade but is new to the YA scene and one to watch. She has great insights and is fantastic with pep talks.

NATALIE STANDIFORD: can flip from commercial fluff to serious fiction on a dime. I'm so envious.

LOUISE HAWES: was my adviser during my last semester at grad school and her guidance truly altered the course of my writing career. I'm in tremendous debt to her.

People I don't know whose writing blows me away: Ellen Hopkins, MT Anderson, Gabrielle Zevin.

I'm leaving out a million zillion billion people here.

W: I really need to read some of Aimee's books. Do you have a new project you are working on? And if so, can you tell us a bit about it?

M: The above-mentioned Dogsled, which is about a wallflower type who moves from Miami to Alaska with her celebrity-shrink father and retired telenovela-star mother, embarks on a GPS-driven scavenger hunt across the tundra, and in the process learns to incorporate a bit more color into her waiting-in-the-wings lifestyle.

W: Sounds exciting can't wait for it! Do you have any pets? And so, what kind do you have?

M: Miss Bridget Jones Ostow, aka the cutest French Bulldog in the whole wide world. You can read more about her on my website.

W: Aw :) What is your favorite book of the moment?

M: Currently reading Clay by David Almond, and loving it. Just finished The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and loved that, too. I'm a big reader.

W: I really need to read Jenny's book! Do you enjoy watching movies if so, do you have a movie you absolutely cannot stop watching?

M: I love movies--probably why I'm marrying a film producer! (www.noahharlan.com). Favorites include: Heathers, Clueless, Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Shaun of the Dead. I think that probably tells you all you need to know about my personality.

W: Cool! Finally, do you have anything else that you would like to say?

M: Thanks for having me, and check out So Punk Rock, available now, and Fashionista, coming 8/25 [Wdebo's Note: This interview was given before today, so Fashionista has already come out yesterday] ! And visit me at www.micolostow.com!

W: Thanks for letting me interview you!!

~~~~~~~

Remember to comment here where you can get TWO extra entrees into the contest HERE, where you have to chance to win a copy of GoldenGirl, Fashionista, or So Punk Rock.

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: Jess C. Scott + Character Post: Jade & Novan

Hello! Welcome to the next Blogoversery Bash post!! Today's author is Jess C Scott the author of the book, Eyeleash...Check it out!

~~~~~~~~~~

Wdebo: Can you describe a typical day?

Jess: I always have breakfast (cereal + milk = good meal for any time of the day). I need some level of physical activity too, or I just go nuts. I spend a lot of time reading and/or writing. I will soon be continuing my tertiary education. I foresee having to brush up on my time management skills.

W: How did you come up for the idea for EyeLeash?

J: In the second chapter, there's a scene where the two lead characters exchange a certain kind of "look". That happened to me in real life, and I suppose it set things off for the rest of EyeLeash (both the real-life experience, and whatever I mixed and matched to result in the final blog novel itself).

W: Could you give a short summary of EyeLeash?

J: No problem -- I've been using this summary since 2007!

Jade Ashton is a sassy virgin. In her private blog, she vents about "fitting in" a world where superficiality reigns supreme.

Suddenly all logic flies out the window when she meets Novan: the former geek, who's morphed into a delicious songwriter-musician.

They decide to be "friends-with-benefits". But it's Novan--with his poems and riddling passages on his own blog--that backs out.

EyeLeash captures self-discovery in the 2000s, and showcases the colorful, intricate drama in two youths' relentless search for themselves--and what's really in their hearts.

W: Are any of your characters based on anyone you know?

J: The lead guy character in EyeLeash is roughly based on someone I know -- physically they share quite a few similarities, but the real guy is slightly more...psycho. As for the characters in my second book (a short story collection) -- most of them are completely fictitious. I derive equal enjoyment from both basing characters on actual figures, and letting them come to life (of their own accord) in the story.

W: What is your favorite thing to do (apart from writing)?

J: I seriously like to have a good night's rest. I like going on long, aimless walks...zoning out to music (rock, classical, dance)...drawing (can get very tiring though)...and spending time with pets/animals. I like to bake and indulge in good food too.

W: What's your favorite color?

J: I'm not Onch, so I'm not going to say that my favorite color is "rainbow" -- however, I do have a problem picking one out of the million available colors.I might go with midnight purple (for the allure and mystery), or red (for the passion, vibrancy, and energy).

W: If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

J: 1. SPF 45 Sunblock & Moisturizer 2. Water bottle (SIGG bottle, preferably) 3. The maximum amount of paper and pen I'm allowed to have (for the duration of the stranded island course!) 4. Swiss Army Knife 5. A small pot/tin to boil water, and/or cook various "stuff" in...

W: Who are some authors you look up to?

J: They are mostly classic authors -- I'm a bit of an old soul in this department, which is quite ironic, because my writing tends to be contemporary. Some of the writers that I look up to include Vladimir Nabokov (utterly wicked style), Roald Dahl (also very stylish -- both his works for children and adults!), Anais Nin, D. H. Lawrence (OMG), Leo Tolstoy, Sylvia Plath, Vivian Vande Velde, and I cannot leave out my top two favorites -- Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde.

W: Do you have a new project you are working on? And if so, can you tell us a bit about it?

J: There's usually something or other that I'm working on. I'm working on a less-radical-than-my-debut-blog-novel YA series -- I will give more details later ;). But here's a very short excerpt (from my first draft):

“Are you wearing cologne?” I ask. I want to know what brand of fragrance it is. I might even buy a scent that I think would complement his well.

He doesn’t hide a smile. “Kenzo Pour Homme. Do you like it?”

“Yes. It’s not too...overpowering.”

“Ah, that gets annoying sometimes,” he says, which makes me so glad I’ve never been one of those sorts. “How about you, which brands do you like?”

Oh shoot. What do I say?

“Chanel,” I reply. Because there’s a huge billboard advertisement of Chanel No. 5 by the side of the escalator we’re traveling on.

W: I heard you lived in Singapore for your first twenty years (that means you were born there right? haha sounds stupid, sorry!), how different is it from Maine (where you currently reside)?

J: Not a silly question at all -- yes, I was born there. It is quite starkly different from Maine. Singapore's an urban city (and there aren't four seasons there -- it's mainly hot, or rainy); Maine has a lot of wild countryside (with very nice summers, and very cold winters)...the differences are quite extreme. But eh, perhaps I'm someone who finds balance amidst extremities.

W: What is your FAVORITE book in the world, the one that you think everyone should read before they die?

J: Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina -- if I had to pick just ONE book, that's the one I think everyone should read before they die. The human experience is captured in such a wonderfully captivating and realistic way -- I remember feeling my life had changed, when I finished the novel. It is not a book to be casually flipped through; I spent 3 months reading it.

PS: Shout-out for Edgar Allan Poe's and Oscar Wilde's collected works too (I cannot ever leave those two out!). And Anais Nin and D. H. Lawrence if you like something more provocative. Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait, a fantastic fantasy compact-sized novel. George Orwell's 1984 for an eye-opening "the future is here" read. I know I've ended up listing more than one book, but it's only so that each person can make their individual selection from my personal recommendations...

W: Finally, do you have anything else that you would like to say?

J: Don't be afraid to be who you are. We are constantly bombarded by the mass media on what we should do/what we should be like/how to wear our hair/how to dress -- a unique self-identity is something that the outside world cannot influence (or brainwash). Knowing what you're about will give you direction and meaning in life, along with the drive and focus to live your dreams.

Thanks Jess!

To learn more about Jess check out her Wordpress HERE!

~~~~~~

Now, we have a real treat as Jess writes an IM between two characters, Jade and Novan from her book Eyeleash, talking about what? My blogoversery! Yeah, I feel special...Check it out!!

~~~~~~

Conversation started on [21 Aug 2009, 7:37PM]

¤Jade¤: hey, first time i’m hearing of this word

¤Jade¤: “blogoversary”!

[novan]: oh yea

[novan]: there’s also monthsaries, vlogversaries, twitterversaries...

[novan]: ur blogversary?

¤Jade¤: not yet. mine’s wayyy eaerlier. 2 Jan

[novan]: oh right. how cld I forget... ROFL

¤Jade¤: this blog run by Wdebo

¤Jade¤: have u seen her blog?

¤Jade¤: http://theelectricalbookcafe.blogspot.com/

[novan]: wow funky name

[novan]: icic. k tnx for the link J

¤Jade¤: omg Super Junior! tt 13-member boy band u told me abt?

[novan]: yea

[novan]: largest boy band in the world

[novan]: u shld check this guy out too

[novan]: se7en... watch this MV - www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeyMLGMN_vA

[novan]: tt’s some slick dance moves, man

¤Jade¤: ZOMG, super hot

[novan]: haha

[novan]: very talented dancer and singer too

[novan]: wow, i don’t know how many hours ive spent on youtube

¤-Jade-¤: yep

¤-Jade-¤: u watch one video

¤-Jade-¤: before u know it, 3 hours have passed!!

[novan]: yea oh btw... im looking @ the txc museum’s website

[novan]: theres some dinosaur bones exhibit thing going on

[novan]: wanna get up close w dinosaur bones 2nite?

¤-Jade-¤: hey why not

¤-Jade-¤: tho i feel like watching a movie

¤-Jade-¤: n throwing popcorn at the screen...

¤-Jade-¤: ok that was random

[novan]: well maybe we cld do both J

[novan]: wow i rem us throwing popcorn the other time

[novan]: coz the show was SO BORING

¤Jade¤: YESSS!! boredom shld be illegal

[novan]: indeed

[novan]: hey uhm, i think we gtg soon...

[novan]: the museum closes at 10pm i think

¤Jade¤: ok

¤Jade¤: just gonna send Wdebo a gift first!

¤-Jade-¤ sends: “hyde_reading.jpg”

¤Jade¤: tt’s what i’m sending her

[novan]: ooh, cool

[novan]: love the simple lines on that

[novan]: hyde rocks man!

¤Jade¤: yeah, got tired with fashion illustration

¤Jade¤: so tried smth new with this one

¤Jade¤: anything to say to her?

[novan]: Wdebo?

[novan]: hm, i dunno her very well

[novan]: what does she like

[novan]: ?

¤Jade¤: describes herself as a “Taiwanese drama addict”

[novan]: ah ok

[novan]: erm

[novan]: off the top of my head...

¤Jade¤: she likes C-pop too

[novan]: alrighty. lets see. a haiku poem?... smth short + sweet¤Jade¤: finish it in 2 mins :P

[novan]: k

¤Jade¤: writing now>?

¤Jade¤: 1 min more...

¤Jade¤: zzzrrrreeppoooooooooo

¤Jade¤: oh ur back!

[novan]: YEA

[novan]: u can send her this

[novan]: [Taiwanese dramas:] <-- that’s the title, n also 1st line

[novan]: [Taiwanese dramas:] / Addictive as C-pop is / Ever infectious.

[novan]: not my best, but decent for 2 mins

¤Jade¤: i’m sure she wldn’t mind ;)

[novan]: k, cya l8r i guess?

[novan]: wish her a happy blogoversary too

¤Jade¤: sure thing!

[novan]: J

~ Conversation ended on [21 Aug 2009, 8:02PM] ~

----------

EyeLeash is Jess’s debut blog/IM novel.
Her website is http://www.jesscscott.com/.

~~~~~~~~~

Awesome!!! Bahaha such a great guest post...Love your haiku Novan :)

Thanks so much Jess for all you did!!

Hope everyone can check out Eyeleash.

Remember, if you comment on this post you get TWO extra entrees into the contest HERE, and don't forget to join in! Where one of the prizes is one of four Eyeleash bookmarks and an e-book copy of Eyeleash.

Wdebo :)

Character Post: Faith Crosse from Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Since so many readers of Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side e-mail to vent about how much they despise Faith Crosse, I thought it would be fun to give everybody a glimpse into Faith’s world. Following is how I imagine Faith’s life in the aftermath of the book.
Happy reading – and happy “blogoversary!”
~Beth

~~~~~~~~~~~

SPOILER ALERT:
If you haven’t read the book yet – first off, this “chapter” won’t make any sense – but it will also give away a plot twist or two!
Read the book first!

Lu-ci-us… Lu-ci-us… Lu-ci-us…

I hadn’t even noticed that I was again repeating his name like a mantra as I drummed my fingernails against the arm rest of my teak lounge chair, and when I realized what I was doing –thinking about him – my fingers clenched, nails scraping against the wood.

DAMMIT. Not again. NEVER again.

Licking my lips – too hot, suddenly – I shifted in the chair, feeling the sweat trickle down my spine, tracing a path from the string that held my bikini top in place all the way down to the string that essentially served as the bottom.

My tan would cover nearly my entire body. Not that I had anybody to show the tiny, tempting patches of creamy white skin that were covered by the suit.

Eyes closed behind my mirrored sunglasses, I felt a smile of approval start to play on my lips as I pictured myself stretched out by my family’s pool, my blond hair glistening in the sun.

Of course, I could have guys lined up to peek at those secret, fair places that my bathing suit concealed. Old men, young men, that perverted math teacher who used to get red and flustered every time I would lean over his desk and ask for help, just to screw with his head. And my idiotic ex-boyfriend, Ethan Strausser, would probably pay – his entire salary from his humiliating, minimum-wage summer job as a ride operator at a theme park – to see me again, even for a minute.

My lips pursed, my smile vanishing in tandem with the sun that ducked behind the shifting clouds.

But I didn’t want Ethan anymore. He had served his purpose, first to establish my dominance at school – who else would Faith Crosse date but the most popular boy? – and then in my plot to revenge myself against Lucius Vladescu.

Ethan had been jealous and almost too ready to believe that Lucius was a monster who needed to be destroyed in a lonely barn by an angry mob.

What a simpleton Ethan was, compared to Lucius. Smart, sexy, savage Lucius…
Tilting back my head, I reached up and traced the side of my throat with my slick fingertips, feeling the two small scars that had sealed Lucius’s fate on that cold, winter night.

I had inflicted the wounds myself, alone in my bathroom, barely flinching as the point of the metal nail file had gone deep into my flesh.

I’d had the idea on the spur of the moment, while soaking in the tub, and I hadn’t wanted to risk even running to the kitchen for a knife, for fear that I’d lose my nerve. I’d just climbed out of the water and bubbles, snatched the file from a drawer under the sink, and stood naked and dripping in front of the steam-clouded mirror, doing what I’d needed to do, not even thinking about what might happen if I’d gone too deep or struck my jugular.

I would even say that I’d been eager – had a need to satisfy – and the rush had been amazing as the hot blood had coursed out of the two wounds, trickling down my neck, mingling with the warm droplets of bathwater, and staining the pure white towel that I’d finally grabbed to stop the flow when I’d started to get unsteady on my feet from the loss.

In that moment, as I’d stood shaking with excitement and weakness and the promise of vengeance, I’d finally understood what I’d been yearning for on those nights when Lucius and I had been together, and his mouth had grazed the very spot that I’d just pierced.

That sensation… That’s what I had longed for, without even understanding what I’d needed.
That feeling, and Lucius, himself. A vampire…

I’d thought I was making up that monster story to punish Lucius for rejecting me – Faith Crosse! – but it had been true.

All along, it had been true.

That strange pressure I’d felt against my throat when we’d been alone up in his apartment, in the dark… That pressure that I’d come to crave so badly, in a way that was never really satisfied… That had been Lucius’s fangs, barely concealed and scarcely controlled.

My fingers clenched again and I dropped my hand back to the arm rest, raking my nails against the wood, purposely ruining my Malibu Pink manicure, which had cost my stepmother sixty dollars just the day before.

Lucius Vladescu could have given me everything. Could have fulfilled all my desires. We could have – SHOULD HAVE – been together forever.

But he’d chosen Jessica Packwood.

I didn’t even speak her name aloud, and still my mouth tasted sour. Or was that bitter?

I’d thought removing Lucius from this earth would be enough… but it didn’t change the fact that he’d wanted her. I hadn’t counted on how that would sting even after he was gone.

I reached out blindly, and when my fingers met the icy, sweating tumbler of iced tea on the table at my side, I lifted the glass and held it to my lips, drinking deeply. I needed to quench my thirst not just for cold liquid, but for something else. Something I couldn’t name, but which would extinguish this unbearable disappointment, like water could put out fire. I couldn’t endure second place one minute longer. I would go crazy...

Opening my eyes, I slammed the glass back down on the table, so hard that it cracked and nearly cut my fingers, spilling more blood.

Or would I always be in second place?

I’d heard rumors that Jessica had gone to Romania to find Lucius. That he was somehow alive and living in a castle. And I knew enough about rumors – I’d started enough rumors – to know that they often held at least a grain of truth.

I could certainly believe that Lucius was a prince, as surely as I believed he was a vampire.

Was it also possible that he had somehow survived that night in Jake’s barn?

I closed my eyes again and squeezed the arms of the chair, mind starting to race. Was there a chance that the stories about vampires were true… that Lucius knew the secret to eternal life? I had felt his strangely cool skin, and the way his heart beat so slowly, even when we were…

“Faith!”

My stepmother’s squeaky, girlish voice came from the screened veranda, and I gritted my teeth, angry to have my thoughts interrupted. “What?” I snapped, not removing my sunglasses. Not even opening my eyes. “What do you want?”

“I’m just worried, sweetie, that you’ll get melanoma laying out there in the sun all day,” the big-chested bimbo who’d married my father on the rebound had the nerve to suggest. “Or worse yet, you’ll wrinkle your pretty face before you’re thirty!”

I didn’t bother to answer her, and after awhile I heard the screen door slap shut as she went back inside to hide her own chemically peeled skin in the climate-controlled mansion that my father had bought for her.

Reaching to release the back of the chair so I could lie flat, I rolled over onto my stomach and unlaced my top, baring even more skin to the punishing sun.

Screw turning thirty. I was eighteen and my thirtieth birthday seemed like it was a million years away. And as for cancer – I’d beat that, too, if I had to. I would never lose again.

I turned my face to the side and folded my arms under my bronzed cheek, and soon my fingers found that familiar spot on my throat, like they always did when I needed to soothe myself. Remind myself who I was.

Someone who got what she wanted.

The girl who always took first place, at any cost.

The back of my index finger stroked the scars, over and over again, repeating the motion the same way I too often repeated my former boyfriend’s name.

Lu-ci-us… Lu-ci-us…

What if you really are alive?

~~~~~~

Thanks so much Beth!! So great to hear from Faith's point of view (even though I still hate her :P ).

For those who have yet to experience the darkly-amazing magic of Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side check out my review HERE!

Thanks bunches and remember to join my contest!!

Wdebo :)