Summer Reading List #2-- The Genuinely Spooky

On my quest to recommend some great books to carry you through vacation, I am revealing something about myself-- I read a little bit of everything. Like my taste in movies, my taste in books typically would be described more easily by what I don't read than what I do. I don't read (or watch) comedies, romantic comedies, or romances. Almost everything else is fair game.

In the horror genre (which I watch more than I read), I have previously expoused my love for Stephen King's IT, but for a summer reading recommendation, I am going a different way.

Lost Boys, by Orson Scott Card

No, this is not the basis on the vampire movie (though I love them both). This is a book about a Mormon family relocating from Utah to a small town in the east coast. Step and his wife Diane immediately become concerned as they learn of a rash of mysterious disappearances, all involving the town's young boys. Their concern grows when their previously buoyant eight-year-old son Stevie is suddenly withdrawn, preferring the company of his new and growing army of imaginary friends.

This book is genuinely creepy, downright scary at times. Written with Card's usual penchant of narrative the carries (rather than pulls) you through a story, you will find it hard to put down.

If you've got a few days off and can afford to sleep with the lights on, this is highly recommended!

Summer Reading List... Number #1: How to Turn Off Your Mind

I, unfortuantely, have one of those jobs where a summer vacation is nearly impossible-- I am a spring/fall vacationer. Nonetheless, I always try and find myself on a beach here and there, book in hand. There is nothing more relaxing than summer reading. And so, I thought I would share a handful of book recommnedations for anyone who has time to focus on their summer reading.

So Book #1-- The fun, engaging read that will let you shut your mind down and focus on the surf

Dead to the World, by Charlainne Harris

I've read nearly every Sookie Stackhouse novel (for some reason I skipped the first). As someone who worships the literary greats like Margaret Atwood, John Irving, and Madison Smartt Bell, this feels like an odd choice, but these books are amazing for what they are-- pure, unpretensious entertainment.

The Sookie Stackhouse novels will surprise you, make you laugh, and (yes) at times make you groan and roll your eyes. But they will also pull you in and hold you in delightful anticipation.

This, the fourth novel, was by far my favorite and happens to coincide with this season of True Blood. Trubie or no, this is the ultimate beach read. And, you don't have to have read the first three books to jump in on number 4... BUT, I consumer each one of these books in about a day, so if you have the luxury of ten days at the beach, you may be able to get through the whole series and still have time for a BBQ and amusement park :)

What you don't know about being a writer...

... Is that it takes PATIENCE! And, you might have heard, those of us of Irish decent are not known for possessing this virtue in abundance.

But it does... patience.

For example, the process of submitting work for publication takes a really, really long time, which is not a mystery to anyone in the world. I started submitting work seriously when I was 22-- short stories, novel queries, etc. It took 7 years to get published.

Looking at a novel, for example, the process CAN go something like this:

1. Send query (email or print) and wait at least 3 weeks (usually more like 6) for a response.
2. If the publisher/agent wants to see more, send the full manuscript, and wait 6-12 weeks for a response. If they decline your query, start again.
3. If the publisher wants your work... well... best case. Otherwise, start over.

So, all in all, one rejection can take 18 weeks or so. Now, I have had dark periods where I stop submitting for months, or years, but I am commited to dilligence now.

And I am in the middle of this, currently! I declined a publishing contract on book #2 because it wasn't what I envisioned, and went another way. I know have someone reviewing the full manuscript, and have put in 3.5 weeks of waiting for a response.

I think I have a few more weeks yet, but I do wish the mail man would show me some love!

Feeling like a writer again!

Today, as we brace for the announcement of the Book of the Year awards, I am rememdying a nagging feeling I have had all week-- I haven't felt like a writer.

Its the issue with us writing types-- so many of us are temperamental. I'm stalled waiting on some things to come to fruition on book #2, which is really frustrating. I also a very mediocre review of Max and Menna last week. I really need to work on thick skin! It wasn't even a really bad review, but I let myself get all upset and discouraged...

As a result of all of this, I have just felt stuck, and very un-writerly.

And so I owe my ultimate thanks to Joli from Acting Up with Books. She recieved a review copy a few months ago, and posted her review of Max and Menna  last week. Not only is her review humblingly positive (seriously, I am speechless), but she also really seemed to get the intention of the novel. It's a great feeling to see a reader really engage with your work! If you want to read her review, you can find it here: http://actinupwithbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-max-and-menna-by-shauna-kelley.html

Thus, two hours before the awards are announced, I finally feel like a writer again!

I am about to get in the car and meet my brother in Atlantic City for some good food, good company, and craps! I have my fingers crossed for my fellow Lucky Press authors who are finalists as well-- they both truly deserve the awards-- as for me, I am just honored to be acknowledged alongside books like A Blue So Dark, and The Second Trial... and hopeful that the craps table will render me a winner anyway!

Can YOU cure my wander lust?

I have been on the road 50% of the time in June and I am EXHAUSTED. Here is the deep dark secret about those of us who travel for work a lot-- it really isn't a glamorous thing. It's a lot of mediocre room service in a suburban hotel room just far enough a way from the interesting sounding city you flew into to make it difficult to actually see anything.

In short-- its frustrating to go a lot of places, but never see anything.

So ironically, as tired as I am of airports (I literally just had to look at the information kiosk to remember that I'm in Detroit), all the travel gets my wander lust up. I've lived in the same state my whole life, and while I highly doubt I will relocate any time soon, I do like to dream and virtually shop for a new place to live.

My weird, virtual city hopping led me to take a quiz online the other night about what city is most suited to me... the very humorous answer-- Sioux Falls, South Dakota. And actually, on looking into it, the city has a lot of things I love, but 1/8 of the population of Baltimore-- and even Baltimore feels a little small to me.

So I am open to suggestions for my virtual relocation-- tell me about where you live, and maybe I can imaginarily move there soon! Here's what I am looking for:

1. Size! I need to be in close proximity (an hour or less) to a city of at least half a million.
2. Diversity! I like being in an area where lots of cultures and types of people interact. I couldn't thrive in an environment where everyone is the same religion, for example.
3. History! I LOVE Baltimore because so much has happened there. I like historic buildings, and fun cultural anecdotes
4. Food! Yes, sir. I need to be somewhere with really good regional cuisine, but also LOTS of options for other types of food.

So where should I pretend to move??

Review- I'd Know You Anywhere

I have an entire shelf of "airport" books, i.e. books I bought at the airport when I finished the books I had with me. I have discovered some great authors this way, like Libba Bray and Kira Salak. So, I had great expectations for Laura Lippman's I'd Know You Anywhere (Atlanta Airport),  based on some stellar quotes on the cover. Maybe the expectations cause my disappointment in this book to be greater than it deserved.

Premise: Eliza and her family have just moved back into the vicinity of her childhood home, a home from which she was kidnapped, raped, and held captive for 6 weeks by Walter Bowman. Eliza is the only victim he left alive, and now he has found a way to communicate with her. Through an intermediary, he convinces Eliza to not only talk to him on the phone, but also to come and visit him.

I bought it because, as I read the back, I thought "for real? A victim going to have a friendly chat with her rapist?" but according to the New York TImes Book Review, Lippman convinces us that this is possible and logical. And, Laura Lippman is a really good writer. Her voice is engaging, and she has a wonderful penchant for simple descriptions that communicate volumes.  I want to read more of her stuff, despite not liking this.

It pains me to say negative things about other people's work, knowing how sensitive I am about my own. But, the disappointment I felt at the end of this book was overwhelming. I feeel arrogant for saying this, but I disagree with the New York Times. I do not believe that Lippman has created a scenario in which I believe a rape victim will go chat with their rapist (that is a hard sell to me as a woman). And the "terrible secret she's kept burried inside" that the back cover copy promised me was neither terrible, nor really a secret. The characterization is flimsy (particularly with Eliza), and the real strength of the book-- the flashbacks telling of her captivity-- are too few and far between to save it for me.

I'm sorry to Ms. Lippman, and hope you will not find me arrogant for so blatantly arguing with the most respected book review publication in the world, but I just don't buy it. I wanted to love this book. I expected intense psychological prose that sucked me in and made me believe. What I got was a book that forced me to wear a constantly dubious facial expression the whole  time I read it.

More on the competition-- Review of A Blue So Dark

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler is the second of my fellow nominees for the YA Book of the Year Award from Foreword Magazine that I have read. And, for the second time, I am thoroughly honored to be nominated with this totally excellent novel.

This novel is told through the voice of fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose, who is artistic, sarcastic, and keenly insightful. Her father is MIA and her mother, also an artist, is a schizophrenic who was decided to go off of her meds. Aura vividly describes the disintegration of her mother's mental state, as well as her own life, as the illness takes over. Standard teen moments, likether first kiss with that boy, are interspersed between moments of Aura skipping school to put out the fire her mother attempts to start in the bathroom.

Beautiful and terrifying, the book explores the link between mental illness and creativity, from the perspective of a family member. There were a few minor complaints I had-- I wish Schindler had taken her time a bit more at the onset, showing us mom before she got sick, and creating some normalcy for Aura before we see her life crumble. Overall, though, a wonderful read and highly recommended.

When Dreamy Men Disappoint: X-Men: First Class

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my ecstatic excitement over the forthcoming X-Men : First Class movie, because it combined two of my favorite things-- the X-Men, and dreamy man James McAvoy. So, on my first free afternoon, I headed to the theater...

... and I was reminded that, much like chocolate and red wine, loving two things does not necessarily mean you will love them together. I found the movie overwhelmingly disappointing.

One of the better aspects of the previous movies have been a quick build up to the central conflict-- who are we fighting and why, with a healthy dose of tension between fighting other mutants and fighting the humans that hate mutants. Not so in this movie-- half an hour in, I was still wondering why the bad guy was wanted by the CIA. Forty minutes or so, and we finally get to actual conflict that requires cooperation of all the mutants and human. 

There are gaping contradictions between the first four movies and this one, the acting was just OK. Kevin Bacon was good, and James McAvoy did a good job, but the character just wasn't Professor X. Their job was not aided by costume and set design that was just plain caracitureish. I frequently had to remind myself that I wasn't watching an Austin Powers movie.

All in all, not as disappointing as Terminator: Salvation, but most definitely a movie that does not live up to its potential.

More on the cool kids...Melissa Kline, fellow LP author

You ever meet someone virtually and just know that if you met them in person, you'd just adore them?

Well, meet Melissa Kline, author of next month's release My Beginning from Lucky Press, publisher extraordinaire. Melissa is a wonderful fellow blogger, finds ways to make me smile through her comments and feedback on bad days, and even better, is immensely talented. Through her blog, I have gotten to preview her writing and must say that hers is one of the two books I am most looking forward to for this year (the other being String Bridge by Jessica Bell).

Want a taste of why I am so anxious? Here is the description from Amazon (where the book is available for pre-order)...

My Beginning is told through the eyes of Ivory, a 16-year-old girl who has lived her entire life within the walls of an institution. The institution is one of many supposedly set up to protect those within from a worldwide plague. She and all of the other surviving children live a strict, mundane life full of tasks and responsibilities--forbidden to go outside, congregate or even look at the opposite sex. Despite the uncompromising atmosphere, Ivory manages to pique the interest of the only boy who did not grow up in the institution, creating a love affair neither of them expected. Multiple secret meetings take a turn for the worse when they are caught and severely punished, but through unexpected circumstances they find themselves on the outside. There is a lot more to the world than they could have ever imagined when they learn of a war and lifelike machines that threaten humankind. Ivory faces many unexpected challenges, and, ultimately, it is up to her to save Aidan and the world she has grown to love.

So I encourage you to go get to know Melissa a bit better, and I will look forward to posting my review of her work later on this summer, after I have had the opportunity to review it. Surf over here: http://melissaklineauthor.com/my-beginning/

... and the winner is...

Thanks to everyone for their participation in last week's contest. I am excited to see so many reviews!  I apologize for being MIA most of the week-- work took me on a mini tour of the US: Baltimore to Dallas to Atlanta to Orlando to Baltimore, all in the span of 4.5 days.

But now, I am excited to announce the winners I've drawn from the hat-- well, actually, a bowl, as I couldn't find a hat. Because there were so many excellent reviews posted, I've decided to award TWO prizes! And here they are:

A $25 Amazon gift certificate goes to Vivien for her Goodreads review of Forbidden, located here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/164489367. This book is not my normal type of read, but I must say that I am intrigued by a book that "Flays you alive" (according to Vivien).

AND

A $10 Amazon gift certficiate goes to Bee for her Goodreads review of Fury, located here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/157180250, a review that promises, in all caps, to introduce me to one of the best characters written in YA. Ever.

I will be emailing the winners today about these prizes, but all of the reviews posted were truly exccellent. I am so honored and excited to inhabit an online community that is so communitted to sharing their love of books. Again, I thank you all.

And since it is Saturday, and I have decided to refer to this day henceforth as "Shameless Self Promotion Saturday" check out Carbohydrates and Conjunctions, a very excellent blog about reading and eating (two of my favorite things) for a new review of Max and Menna: http://carbsnconjugations.blogspot.com/

Use your words.... a Giveaway!

I've said it before and I will say it again-- we live in an awesome time! Authors have the option of interacting directly with our readers. And readers have so much power...


Thats right... power. Reviewing books, blogging, posting, etc. allow you all to share with the world your likes, your dislikes, your passionate loves in the book world. And people listen. Libraries consult blog reviews before deciding which books to offer. Fellow readers use your reviews to pick their next book. Authors thrive on your feedback, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to keep us going.

And so I want to keep continuing to encourage you to use your words! And I am rewarding one lucky winner for it. Here's how it works:

1. Go to Amazon, GoodReads, your blog, or Barnes and Noble and post a review about a book that has thrilled you, filled you with passion, or inspired you. It can be any book at all!
2. Come back here and post a comment to tell me what book and where you reviewed it.
3. I will enter all of the reviewers into a hat, and select the winner, to be announced during the second week of June.

The winner recieves a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

So use your words, people! Share your passion with a community of readers.
And Char-- I still have Max and Menna for you if you email me an address...

I've entered the digital age!

It's an exciting day-- the Kindle version of Max and Menna is up! Visit Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Max-and-Menna-ebook/dp/B0053QY1MY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1306951364&sr=1-3-catcorr

I'm an eBook author now, too!

There have been lots of good things happening with the book, and I don't know how faithfully I have shared the news here, so here is a quick recap to accompany new of the Kindle version:

• The ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year winners will be announced this month, and Max and Menna is a finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category.
• Max and Menna was included in the new title listings presented at Book Expo America last week
• In September, I will be in the local author tent at the Baltimore Book Festival
• In October, I am presenting at the Barnes & Noble in Bel Air, MD as part of the diversity festival they sponsor with the local high school

In addition, good reviews keep coming in, and I am honored, humbled, and excited to see my book find a small place in the literary community. Having a voice as a writer has been my dream for a long time, and I constantly feel blessed for the opportunities I have to share that voice.

And, I am ALWAYS grateful to you all for reading and sharing in my excitement. Thank you, thank you, thank you!