Awesome find

I have lived in this town for almost three years and I barely discovered this wonderful used bookstore. I was so excited when I found it and I cant wait to actually have time to look around.I got story of a girl for 4 bucks. Sorry I just really wanted to share this.

Contest end

so my why we love books contest has come to an end. I have to say this was a great contest I got some really honest answers and everybodys answer(click to read) was fantastic. I was originally going to post the winners answer but that wouldnt be fair because everybodys was great so click on the answer link or this ONE to read what my awesome followers had to say. So it came down to three choices for the grand prize and to be fair I used random.org.*drumroll*
Jenn


I also used random .org to choose the other winners.*drumroll*
Ashley
and because i reached fifty foollowers I threw in another winner
Miss attitude
I will email you with some choices first com first serve.
Thank you all for entering and check back for another contest around december.

Hispanic heritage month

Okay so I realize that this is more than a couple days late but I really wanted to post something for HHM. So since I am Hispanic I thought I would find a way to tie the culture with books. So the successful YA author Diana Wallach agreed to let me ask her some questions. In case you guys don’t know who she is she wrote the Amor and Summer Secrets Series. So here goes the interview:

1. Are you Hispanic? If so do your own experiences come out in your books?

I am. I’m half Puerto Rican and half Polish—not a very common mix (unless you watch West Side Story). And I decided to give my multicultural background to my main character, Mariana. So there are a lot of experiences in my books that are derived from my own.

For example in Amor and Summer Secrets, the town in Puerto Rico where Mariana spends the summer, Utuado, is the same town where my dad grew up. And I gave Mariana’s father, Lorenzo, some biographical tidbits from my dad’s life, including a few of his childhood anecdotes.

But mostly, I wanted to show a little of what it’s like to grow up not fitting the Latina stereotype. I’ve got reddish hair and freckles, and I didn’t learn Spanish in the home. So I decided to give some of those traits to Mariana. In the Amor series, Mariana doesn’t identify with either of her parents’ cultures and I feel this is a very common experience. It doesn’t matter whether you’re half Polish and half Puerto Rican, or half Thai and half Jamaican, I think a lot teens can relate being torn between two very different ethnic groups.

2. What inspired you to write this series?

The first book in the series, Amor and Summer Secrets, was initially inspired by a conversation with my agent, Jenoyne Adams. She had mentioned seeing a recent increase in interest from editors seeking multicultural novels, and she asked the infamous question, “Got any ideas?” I didn’t. But by the end of our conversation, I had pitched the story for what became Amor and Summer Secrets.

Part of the inspiration was derived from my first trip to Puerto Rico after I graduated from college. I met my relatives in Utuado for the first time, and I got to see where my dad grew up. I wanted to share some of those experiences with my readers.

3. The titles are Spanish and English, is there a story behind it?

My late editor, Kate Duffy, actually came up with the title of the first book. And the concept stuck. The idea was to highlight Mariana’s multicultural background by taking a Spanish word that’s become “Americanized” and adding it to our title. Let’s face it, “Spanglish” is a very common language in our country. And I think it gives readers a glimmer of what’s inside the book, while not intimating readers who are not of Hispanic descent.

4. Last and definitely most important what is your favorite food (tamales, sopes, posole, menudo tacos, etc...)?
Well, if you mean Latin food, I didn’t grow up with too much exposure. My mom’s Polish, so I had more kielbasa and pierogies than tamales and sopes. However, my grandmom (my dad’s mom) used to make Spanish rice with chicken and sweet plantains (which I love). I also make a mean paella—I spent a semester abroad in Spain.

Thanks Mrs. Wallach I really appreciate you taking time to answer some questions.
If you want some more info check out:
http://www.dianarodriguezwallach.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dianarodriguezwallach
http://twitter.com/dianarwallach
And if this sounds like a series you might want to read check out my why we love books contest and you can choose this book if you win.

P.S. I got the pic from her site thats why it came with the text

Author interview: Fabian johnson

Hey everybody want the scoop on a new author and his new book? Well I got the privilege of asking new Author Fabian Johnson some questions.

Name: Fabian Johnson

Book Title: A Hero's Legacy, Shattered Friendship

Release date: Not solid on that one yet but available for pre-order before the end of this month.

Synopsis: I always get wrapped up in this but here goes. Michael is the son of one of the greatest dragon riders ever. Fearing that he would suffer the same fate as his father and have to sacrifice his life for the greater good his mother hid him away in a small rural town on the outskirts of the kingdom. After his dragon Bahamut appeared in his life it became obvious to his mother that no matter how much she tried she cannot hide him from his destiny. Now he has returned to take his place alongside the other young riders (fatherless youths like himself) to train under CPT. Daniels (the only survivor from the previous generation) in order to stop the Necromancer from finishing what he started a decade ago. Michael makes friends with the handful of riders rather quickly but one (Maxwell) resents him for unknown reasons. Maxwell being the son of the rider who turned his back on the fold and slayed all the others is a very talented warrior that promises to be the next great dragon rider, but even though Michael can't match his skill he has raw talent of his own. With the childish Frank and his big brother David and also the smart Alec Gregory and the quiet Mark. These young boys are really all that stands between the necromancer reviving his wyvern and finishing what he started and Maxwell's father Victor, from being the last dragon rider alive.

What inspired you to become and author? Is writing your main job? What inspired me to become an author is simply my desire to read a good book. I know that there are plenty of good authors out there; there are even more bad ones. Lately most of the books that I've been reading seem like cliché ridden attempts to make a quick buck off the reader. I could pretty much tell the whole story without having to read and often read just to prove myself right. I hoped that someone would write something that felt fresh, then I thought "why can't I?" So I started to make up my own story with my own characters and pretty much enjoyed the show while remembering what I saw in my imagination. And no, writing is not my main profession. It really started as a hobby. I am a full time soldier in the U.S. Army. Infantry at that. Though I have a little over a year left and plan on going to college and eventually med-school.

Why dragon riders? Dragon riders because they are my favorite mythical characters. Like how everyone has their favorite race. Until now dragon riders have been humans with special abilities, but in my story they are in fact they're own people. Also, I feel that the few books that I have read on dragon riders did not do them any justice. I never once got the feeling that these were people capable of epic feats. I planned on showing the world that dragon riders are more than farm boys atop a fire breathing lizard.

What do you have to say to people who may judge your book before they even read it? To them I say you're wrong. Trust me you have no idea what will happen in this story. I know this because in truth, most things I wrote, I wrote after seeing it happen for the first time myself. My characters really have a life of their own and this isn't your typical good VS evil story either. To sum it all up I would say this is just the story of a group of friends with extraordinary skills trying to survive against a seemingly unstoppable threat. It's just their life. No good, no evil, just differences in perspective to what's right and wrong. (Even the villain has good reasons for being how he is)

What advice do you have for aspiring writers? My advice to any new writers out there is to read when you can and write write write. Writing should never be a burden, if it is then there is something wrong. Sure there will be times when the ideas just aren't coming but for the most part it should be fun. You should enjoy getting lot in the world you created and seeing your characters grow. Just keep writing and don't worry about spelling and grammar too much. Eventually you'll get better and there will always be editors

Thank you for the interview Mr.Johnson! Sounds like a great book so be on the lookout for this Book in the near future.

Horrible

Sorry I am probably the worst blogger ever because I have all these plans to post things and I never do but do not fear this week will be different. So I have some book reviews to post up between today and tomorrow I think three in total. Some updates if you haven’t seen my contest ends on the 25 of this month so spread the word (please with a cherry on top!). So I don’t know if I have any followers who are seniors(yes, no, maybe so) the point is I am studying for the ACT and SAT you guys probably already took them but if not I will share some of the tips I get from my studying at the end of every post if anyone is interested. So that’s it for now.

Oh I read this On PI pretty cool. http://www.simonandschuster.com/admin_assets/1423_Banned_Book_Poem.pdf

Boy toy contest!

UPDATE:Contest ends september 25 so leave your entry comment it's not too late yet.
Remember you must leave a comment to be entered.


So i am going to be giving away a signed copy yes you read right SIGNED copy of Barry Lyga's boy toy.Synopsis from authors website:
Five years ago Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand.
But they don’t—they can’t.
And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago. She’s back, and she’s determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.
Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won't stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink.
And then there’s Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh’s past. It’s time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.

If only he knew what the truth was . . .



sounds good right? So this is intended for mature teenagers preferably 16 and older but who listens to those things, but i am warning you that it contains some adult content.

contest only open to U.S.
Rules: you must be or become a follower to enter

+2 for being an old follower
+1 for becoming a follower
+2 for putting this contest somewhere on your blog(URL needed)
+1 for every comment on an old post (limit 2)

okay i will also select a couple of people randomly to win a paperback copy of royally jacked

Novice

Okay so aside from trying to review books i will also be posting chapters to a story i have been trying to write.It is currently untitled.

to blog or not to blog?

So the answer is yes i will blog. Basically i read a lot of books so why not share my opinions with the world right?of course I'm right. So every time i finish a new book i will write a short review and advice people on whether its good enough to go out and get.