Follow Friday--Tasks in Favorite Books + Blog Tour Stops

Announcements:

1) Thanks to all those who participated in my Persistence of Vision launch party on Tuesday! It was a blast! Remember, you have until Monday, February 4th to buy the book. Send me your receipt or conirmation email and you'll be entered to win one of three $20 Amazon gift cards!

2) Thanks to all those who participated in the Persistence of Vision Goodreads Giveaway. The winners of an autographed copy are Tiffany Ban, Angela Rary, and Michele Freeman! Congrats! The books are on their way!

3) Today's Blog Tour Stop is a mini-interview at Read It. Reviewed it. Do me a favor and hop on over to admire Lani's blog. She's awesome!

Follow Friday Post

Increase Blog Followers, gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Q: What is the first thing you would do if you woke up to find yourself in your favorite book?

jeremysadler.net

Recently my favorite books have been The Song of Fire and Ice series, and I've made no secret of the fact that Arya is my favorite character. I love her because she's independent and really intelligent. She can out-smart just about everyone, even adults (she's only twelve) and people that are technically much smarter than her. I don't want to give too many spoilers, but let's just say the one thing she totally isn't getting is the feelings a certain armorer's apprentice might have for her. Sometimes I just want to smack her over the head so she gets it. If I suddenly found myself in that world--well, first I'd find myself a short sword and a decent horse. Then I'd go find Arya, give her a swift kick in the pants, and make sure she understood the whole Gendry situation. ;D

After that, I'd probably high-tail it to the Wall and see if Jon Snow would be interested in a make-out session. ;D

How about you? What would you do in your favorite book?

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One Boy No Water Book Review + Thought for Thursday and Blog Tour Stops

Today's Blog Tour Stops are:
1)Guest Post at Ginger-Read Reviews
2) Review at Girl in the Woods Reviews
Hop on over and see what you think! :D

Welcome to the Read and Review Hop, hosted by Anya of On Starships and Dragonwings!

One Boy No Water Book Review

When old Uncle Kahana and his poi dog 'Ilima find a newborn with a funny birthmark abandoned on a reef in Hawaii, he soon finds out just how special the child is: the boy is allergic to water. One drop on his skin and it's like water on a white hot skillet; his allergies also make eating anything raw from the sea or rare meat impossible, which is simply absurd for an island dweller. Strangely, the boy's peculiar allergies lead Uncle Kahana to believe this child is 'ohana-family-and doesn't have to work too hard to convince his niece and her family to adopt and give him a name-Alexander Kanoakai Westin, or "Zader" for short. If only the rest of Zader's life were so easy! On the surface, despite his unusual allergies, Zader is an average eleven year old boy with typical challenges of fitting in with his peers, getting into a good prep school, and maintaining his relationship with his surfing crazed brother. In reality, Zader is Niuhi, a shark with the ability to turn into a person. As he matures and begins to adapt to his "allergies" in ways that make it easier to live a normal life, Zader's world begins to turn upside down-he will not only have to come to terms with who he is, but what he is.

Other than his peculiar medical condition, Zader is a fairly normal kid. He has to deal with bullies, family drama, worries about his identity, and physical limitations. But the more he hangs out with his loveable-but-somewhat-loony uncle, and helps his brother and best friend deal with a shark encounter, it begins to look like Zader is more than an average boy. He may be something special that came from the sea.

I don't usually read middle grade fiction. It's just not my genre of choice. But this was written by my good friend and fellow JFP author, Lehua Parker, so I decided to dive in.

The book is delightfully written to reflect the cultural vernacular of the islands. It does take some getting used to, but as long as I just let the dialogue flow and didn't think too hard about it, I found it easy to understand and fun to read.

The story is simplistic, but it's perfect for the target audience. Z has to overcome issues many kids deal with, including disappointment and other emotions that most kids feel during their years of growing pains. This book would be great for any kid struggling with overcoming something or bettering themselves in some way.

If I had any complaints, it would be that it felt like it ended in the middle of the story! I SO wanted more! I can't wait for book 2 to come out so I can continue the saga of Z's path to self-realization. Nice work, Auntie Lehua. Nice work. :D

Thoughts for Thursday

123rf stock photo/devor

Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Readers may respond by either commenting on the quotes I put forward or contributing a quote of their own. Leave it in the comments or a link to your quote in the linky. Whoever comes up with the best one will get some swag and be entered to win a bigger prize later on!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

In honor of my the release of my debut novel, Persistence of Vision, this week's theme is Dystopia!

"To say 'I love you' one must first be able to say 'I.'--Ayn Rand

"In the old days he had hidden a heretical mind beneath an appearance of conformity."--George Orwell, 1984

"For other nations, [dys]topia is a blessed past never to be recovered; for Americans it is just beyond the horizon."--Henry A. Kissinger

"There are no such things. All passion is lost now. The world is mediocre, limp, without force. And madness and despair are a force. And force is a crime in the eyes of fools...Everybody is mediocre. Madness and despair! Give me that for a lever, and I'll move the world."--Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent

"Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims."--Ayn Rand

What do you think? Do you have a favorite dystopia quote? Which of the above speaks to you? Personally my favorite is the Joseph Conrad one. How about you?

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POV Blog Tour Stops--Day 18

Today's Blog Tour Stops Include:


1) Review and Author interview on Megz Madd Reads
2) Promo Spotlight & Interview at Jeanz Book Read n Review

Hop on over there to leave your comments. Be sure to thank my awesome hosts for their hard work and beautiful blogs. Thanks so much! Happy Wednesday! :D

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Top Ten Tuesday--Frustrating Characters + Blog Tour Stops and RMQ

Today is the official release date of Persistence of Vision!  Yea!!! 

Links: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Tour stops today include:

1) Character Interview with Joan at Strands of the Pattern

2)  Guest Post on The Howling Turtle
3) Author Interview on Second Book to the Right

*Also, I'm doing a virtual launch tour for Persistence of Vision which starts today! The idea is, if you plan to buy the book, please please do it between 1/29 and 2/4. We want as many as possible bought up in the first week so we can get it on as many top lists as possible.

Of course, there will be prizes! Anyone who can prove they purchased the book in this first week (a picture of a receipt or a confirmation email will do) will automatically receive book swag and be entered to win one of three $20 Amazon Gift cards!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters Ever!!!

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10. The cast of The Millenium Trilogy

       I've said this before so I won't beat it to death, but I liked The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because it was a well-written whodoneit. I didn't really like any of the characters, though. Lisbeth, though a force of justice, was a bit a bit barbaric for me. Bloomkvist was basically good, but kind of a pansy. In the novel, it often served as comic relief but there was nothing that drew me to him. Overall, the characters had few morals or redeeming qualities, and even now I'm not sure how I made it through the entire trilogy with such mediocre characters.

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9. Susan Pevensie of The Chronicles of Narnia

    She's great in the first couple of books, but if you read all of the Chronicles, (mild spoiler here) she grows too pretentious to return to Narnia. She becomes an "unbeliever" of sorts which is frustrating given all she witnessed and experienced.

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8. Abigail Williams of The Crucible.

    She's the most tangible villain, though in truth the villains of the story are paranoia and hysteria. She's so self-absorbed that she doesn't seem to understand the hysteria she's causing, the damage she's doing or the nature of the beast she's unleashing. I always envision her walking around with a sign hanging over her head that reads, "Not getting it."

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7. Effie Trinket of The Hunger Games

    The film did a good job portraying her self-serving obliviousness to the world around her. While people die, she clicks stilettos, wears ridiculous make-up and acts like the throes of the hunger games is the privileged place to be.

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6. Professor Umbridge of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    Oh I feakin' hated this woman--more than I did Voldemort! I wanted to throttle her in every scene she was in! That's why it was so satisfying when Harry got to say the "I should not tell lies" line to her! (Kinda wish the centaurs would have eaten her, though.)

5.  Daisy Buchanan of The Great Gatsby

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     I re-read this book recently and loved it for all its beauty and tragedy, but Daisy is the kind of person I can't stand. She's the woman who wants it both ways and gets upset when she can't have it. She wants to be married to the rich guy and have the high-life, but also have the love affair of her youth. When her dual worlds collide, she gets so upset that she single-handedly causes the catastrophe in the book. If she had just made one ethical decision at one of many junctures in her life, she could have prevented a lot of tragedy, including deaths.

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4. Graendal of The Wheel of Time

    This woman isn't a very central character, but she's one of the evil Forsaken. while all the forsaken bring murder and darkness, Graendal has a special kind of twistedness. She likes to fry people's brains so they become mindless husks. She prays on young, beautiful people and makes them dress in skimpy, transparent clothing and preform modern dance for her at all hours of the day. Talk about a sicko!

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3. Caitlyn Stark of A Song of Fire and Ice

    She's basically a good character and you sympathize with her a lot, but she has a talent for terrible judgement and making ridiculously bad decisions. She always has a good reason, so you understand, but sometimes you also find yourself trying to figure out how to reach through the page and slap her.

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2. Arya Stark of A Song of Fire and Ice

    I've made no secret of the fact that Arya is my favorite character and plot line. She's whipper-snapper smart, and can out-do most adults and even people who are obviously more intelligent that she is. She's crazy-brave and holds her own in the face of horribly intimidating circumstances. But. When it comes to certain things--like a certain former armorer's apprentice that may or may not be crushing on her--she's walking around under a "not getting it" sign. And what's worse, she lets these things dictate her actions. I love her to death but sometimes I just want to turn her around, point her in the right direction, and give her a swift kick in the butt!

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1. Anna Karenina

   This is another one I recently read. It was hard to get through both because the writing was difficult, and because I couldn't stand Anna. She created unnecessary drama in her life just for the sake of drama, then sat around crying because of all the drama in her life. Even became suicidal over it. Really? She wasn't even worth slapping. I just wanted to walk away.

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Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)!

Last week's RMQ was: "You're getting the hang of it. I'll be back later to check on your work." This was said in 1982's The Man From Snowy River. No one guessed this one.

Today's RMQ is:

If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards. 

Any guesses?

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Medieval Tidbit--Rose Tattoos

Persistence Of Vision Blog Tour Stops:

Today I'm doing a guest post on the great Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog entitled, Top Five Ways You Know You're an Action Movie Villain. Hop over and check it out! 

This is another recycled historical post from months ago, but it's one of my favorite medieval tidbits. I may or may not work it into my next historical novel. :D

Source

In the 16th Century, men condemned to death were given rose tattoos. This was so that if they escaped, they would be immediately recognized. If you look on the internet, you can find references--with almost the exact words I just typed!!--that say this. However, it's hard to find any more detail on the subject.

What country was this in? Who instituted it? Was it a very common practice? What specific part of the body was tattooed, or did it even matter?

The lack of info makes me wonder how true this assertion is, but if anyone has any more detail, I'd love to hear it!

It seems to me that, especially in Europe, in the 16th century, tattooing would have been a bit of a mystical art. So were some kind of Eastern mystics commissioned to do the work, or were there locals that could do it?

I love this fact because it sets a perfect stage for a story: A man condemned to die escapes but has to keep some part of his body covered up so that no one recognizes him as a convict. The real question would be, is the thing he was convicted for something heinous that he really did, or just something he was falsely accused of? The answer could determine whether this is a protagonist or antagonist, and, you know, the course of human history as we know it.

...just kidding. I tend to be a bit of a drama queen when I get caught up in my story telling.

What are your thoughts about this medieval tradition?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies.

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Persistence of Vision Blog Tour Stops--Day 15

Today's blog tour stops include:

1)Review and Guest post at The Book Twins
2)Review and Spotlight at Reese's Reviews

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Blog Tour Stops--Day 14

Hello Everyone! Happy Saturday and welcome to Day 14 of the Persistence of Vision Blog Tour. Today's stops include:

1) An interview at Beth Art From the Heart and
2) An interview at Auntie Spinelli Reads.

Last night I went to a friend's baby shower which was a blast, but driving home the fog in Salt Lake was so thick, it was like the entire valley was full of white, diaphanous spirits, just floating around.

Anyone else done anything fun, eerie, prudent, reckless, or in any other way awesome this weekend? Or will you?

source

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Follow Friday--Late Night Reads + Blog Tour Stops

Blog Tour Stops today are:

1) Author Interview at Lite-Rate-Ture!  AND

2)Spotlight & *awesome* Giveaway at JC's Book Haven

*Also, I'm doing a virtual launch tour for Persistence of Vision on 1/29, it's release date. The idea is, if you plan to buy the book, please please do it between 1/29 and 2/4. We want as many as possible bought up in the first week so we can get it on as many top lists as possible.

Of course, there will be prizes! Anyone who can prove they purchased the book in this first week (a picture of a receipt or a confirmation email will do) will automatically receive book swag and be entered to win one of three $20 Amazon Gift cards!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

Friday Follow

Increase Blog Followers, gain Book Blog Followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Q: What is the last book that kept you up late into the night just to finish it?

source: goodreads.com

I just finished reading A Memory of Light of Robert Jordan.This is the 14th and final book in the Wheel of Time series, which I've been reading since I was sixteen. It was an amazing, epic final chapter. I loved everything about it, teared up often, and simply could not stop reading it! It was beyond awesome! I really could gush about the epic battles, awesome characters and tragic plot threads...but I won't. Check out my full review here.

How about you? What was the last book that kept you reading into the night?

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Thoughts for Thursday 20--Warriors + Blog Tour Stop

Today's Blog Tour Stop is a Review over at Defiantly Deviant. Hop on over and see what she thought!

Thoughts for Thursday

devor/123rf.com

Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Readers may respond by either commenting on the quotes I put forward or contributing a quote of their own. Leave it in the comments or a link to your quote in the linky. Whoever comes up with the best one will get some swag and be entered to win a bigger prize later on!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

This week's theme is Warriors!

Given enough time, any man may master the physical. With enough knowledge, any man may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both...and surpass the result.--Tien T'ai

You might as well stand and fight because if you run, you will only die tired.--Sei Shin Kan

A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does.--Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior

When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous. We are timid only when there is something we can still cling to.--Don Juan

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.--Leo Tolstoy

What do you think? Which quote is your favorite? Do you have one to contribute?

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3 Tips for Strengthening Narrative Description

Today's Blog Tour Stops are:
1) A character interview with David at All in One Place. 
2) A review at Paper Riot.

Hop on over and check them out! ;D

3 Tips for Strengthening Narrative Description

source: listeningislearning.org

This was something I was thinking about while writing this week. Description is a weakness of mine. It's not that I do it badly, but that I sometimes forget to do it all together. When I remember, I do okay, but I have to tell myself to focus on description in order to do it thoroughly. This week, I tried to focus on strong descriptions and I had a few thoughts while editing.

1) Strong verbs. Especially in description, we tend to use the verb was a lot. It was strong. He was sad. There was green paint on the wall. Now, I'm not saying don't use was. I use it all the time. My rule of thumb is that in any one description, you shouldn't use it more than once, and not at all if you can help it. Go through your descriptions and highlight all your was verbs. See if you can find stronger words.

Ex. Which is better: There was a husky, bald man sitting to her right, clutching the cage in fear.   OR
                              On her right, a husky, bald man clutched the cage with white knuckles.

I've highlighted the active verbs. See how much weaker was is? (Notice also that instead of telling the reader that he was afraid ("in fear") I showed that he was ("white knuckles").

2) Do or do not. There is no try. Don't use "trying" unless the person or thing doing the trying is going to fail. So, if someone is trying to climb a wall...only describe it that way if they aren't going to make it up. (He was trying to climb the wall, but kept slipping back down...) If they're going to make it up the wall, don't say "trying." Just say they scaled the wall with some difficulty.

He began trying to scale the wall. When he got to the top...  OR
He scaled the wall with some difficulty. When he got to the top...

Granted, both sentences would work. I'm sure some people will argue that this character has no confidence and that's why they described the climbing that way. That's fine, but you can describe their lack of confidence in a stronger way than using "trying." All this shows is the weakness of your narrative, not the weakness of your character. Be strong and certain of what your characters are doing. It will ground your readers in the moment and make them sympathize more strongly with the characters, confident or not.

3) Seemed and began. I've used both these examples before so I won't beat them to death, but they are similar to #2. Just trust me that, nine times out of ten, they make your description weaker. Either something you're describing is true or it isn't. Unless you are unsure, it shouldn't "seem" to be true. Only use this if your POV character isn't sure of what they're observing. (It seemed about to rain, but she couldn't be certain.) And don't have anyone or thing "begin" to do something. Just have them do it. You'll cut your word count and strengthen your description at the same time. Win, win.

How about you? What do YOU do to strengthen your descriptions?

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Top Ten Tuesday--Settings

Today's Blog Tour Stops Are:

1) Review at A Bookish Whimsy
2) Author Interview at Downright Dystopian
3) Review at Beth, Art From the Heart

Hop over and check them out! Be sure to thank the bloggers for all their hard work!

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top Ten Settings I'd Like to See More Of

(Totally love this topic, by the way!)

10. Castles--everyone knows I'm all about the medieval lifestyle. The more castles the better!

source: medievalcastlescc6.blogspot.com

9. Isolated Places--whether a deserted island or just the wilderness away from civilization, lots of great stories take place amidst great isolation. I think it's because places such as these hold both great adventure and a lot of inner reflection. Adventure plus literary fiction? I'm there!

source: lostpedia.wikia.com

8. Grand Estates--Downton Abbey. Need I say more?

source: dailymail.co.uk

7. Tel'aran'rhiod--This is the "world of dreams" in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. I so wish Robert Jordan hadn't passed away so he could write more stories about this place. It's freakin' awesome!

source: mizutori.deviantart.com

6. Middle Earth--another one that will never be because the author has passed away, but what I can I say? I finally saw the Hobbit movie this weekend and it put me in a really Middle Earth mood. ;D

source: lotrovault.ign.com

5. By-gone Cities--I'm not big on contemporary or anything that takes place primarily in a city, but if we're talking historical fiction (or medieval fantasy for that matter), well that's a whole other ball game. Can't get enough of that!

source: wellthatsdifferent.wordpress.com

4. Winter's Heart--I'm a big fan of the ice wall in George R.R. Martin's A Song of fire and Ice series. Though I wouldn't want to live it, I always think stories set in frozen, snowy locations are dramatic and exotic.

source: madnessletters.com

3. Ghost Cities--there are lots of dystopian films that take place in burnt out cities and ghost towns. I'd like to see more books with these settings.

source: whiggles.landofwhimsy.com

2. Space--I'd like to get back to some great, old-fashioned sci-fi. It's been awhile.

source: wallpapervortex.com

1. Under Water--I'm collecting mermaid stories for my TBR and I'm going to go on a mermaid-binge of sorts during the summer months. Totally open to suggestions over here.

source: paulvincenti.com

How about you? What settings would you like to see more of?

Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)

source: cultfilmfreaks.com

Last week's RMQ was, "What are you looking at, Butthead?" This was said by Biff, played by Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future. Maurice of The Geek Twins guessed this one. Great job, Maurice! :D

Today's RMQ is:

"You're getting the hang of it. I'll be back later to check on your work."

One point for film, one for actor, one for character. Anyone know this one?

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