Waiting On Wednesday: BROKEN THINGS by Lauren Oliver

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme that used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

Waiting On Wednesday is where I/we get to "spotlight" the books that we are most looking forward to reading soon! 

Today's pick is... 

BROKEN THINGS

by Lauren Oliver

Expected release date: October 2nd, 2018

Published by: Harper Collins

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Mystery/Thriller

Format: Hardcover, eBook

SUMMARY

It's been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend.

That driven by their obsessions with a novel called THE WAY INTO LOVELORN, the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.

The only thing is: they didn't do it.

On the anniversary of Summer's death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago - no matter how monstrous. 

MY THOUGHTS

If you've been following me for a while, you know how much of a fan I am of Lauren Oliver's books and writing... I'll add a pic of my Lauren Oliver shelf down below for you to see the proof ;) 

I see that on Goodreads BROKEN THINGS has been labeled as a Young Adult book. However, I was under the impression that this was an Adult rating because, first, this takes place five years after their friend was killed, making me feel that these girls may be in the New Adult genre?... and, since it is being released directly under Harper Collins and not from one of their Young Adult imprints...??? 

Key phrases that has me super excited to read this as soon as it is released (unless, by some miracle, I can get/borrow an ARC copy, please!) 

- "Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend."

- "... the three girls imagined themselves into a magical world..."

- "The only thing is: they didn't do it."

- "... no matter how monstrous."

What do you think??? 

What are you anxious to get your hands on soon???

Release Day (Excerpt and Giveaway): A COLD LEGACY (The Madman's Daughter #3) by Megan Shepherd (YA)

http://www.rockstarbooktours.com

A COLD LEGACY

The Madman's Daughter #3

by Megan Shepherd

Release date: January 27th, 2015

Published by: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)

Genre: Young Adult 

Format: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

SUMMARY

After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet — along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward — has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation — and her own intended role in it — forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love — even our own humanity.

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

A Cold Legacy (The Madman's Daughter #3) EXCERPT

(pg. 21 - 24)

Montgomery stopped the horses outside a tavern. He came to the carriage door, opening it just a crack to keep the rain from drenching us. “I’m going to ask directions. We can’t be far now.”

We watched him saunter over the muddy street as though he didn’t even feel the bite of freezing rain. A face appeared in the tavern window. The door opened and he spoke to a woman in a wool dress for a few moments, then stomped back through the mud. “This village is called Quick,” he told us. “The manor’s only five miles from here.”

“Did you hear that?” Lucy murmured to Edward, still stroking his hair. “We’re almost there. Just hold on. Everything will be all right once we arrive.”

Montgomery’s eyes shifted to me. Neither of us wanted to remind Lucy that the prospect of Edward’s fever breaking—and the Beast’s reappearance—was almost more frightening than the fever itself. Delirious, he was less of a threat.

“Let’s go then,” I whispered to Montgomery. “And quickly.”

He closed the door and in another moment we were moving again, passing through the rest of Quick. Then all too soon the village was nothing but fading lights. The storm grew and the road became rougher, and all the while Edward’s eyes rolled back and forth beneath shuttered lids.

Thunder struck close by, and Lucy shrieked. Montgomery whipped the horses harder, pulling us along the uneven road impossibly fast, trying to outrun the storm. I twisted in the seat to look out the back window at the pelting rain. A stone fence ran alongside us.

“We must be getting close,” I said.

“Not soon enough,” Lucy breathed. “We’re going to crash if he keeps driving like this!”

The road widened, straightening, letting us travel even faster. Lightning struck close by, blinding me. The horses bolted. Lucy screamed and covered her eyes, but I couldn’t tear mine away. The lightning had struck an enormous oak tree, twisted from centuries of wind. The oak took flame, blazing despite the rain. A smoking gash ran down the trunk—the lightning’s death mark. I watched until the rain put out most of the flames, but it still smoldered, billowing hot ash into the night.

The horses pawed the earth, and I grabbed the window to steady myself. At this wild speed, just hitting a single rock at the wrong angle would send the carriage shattering to the ground. It was madness to go so fast. Couldn’t Montgomery calm the horses?

Just when I feared the carriage would careen out of control, it stopped short, throwing me against the opposite wall. I tangled in Lucy’s limbs as the chains around Edward’s body clinked. Balthazar grunted, jerking awake at last. We scrambled in the bottom of the carriage until the door flew open.

Montgomery stood in the pelting rain. I feared he’d say we’d broken another strut or the horses had gone lame or we’d have to spend the night in the harsh storm.

But then I saw the lights behind him, and the night took shape into a turreted stone manor with bright lamps blazing and gargoyles on the roof vomiting rain into a stone courtyard.

Montgomery’s eyes met mine beneath the low brim of his hat.

“We’ve arrived,” he said.

JOIN the Madman's Daughter TWITTER CHAT today at 8pm EST!!!

GIVEAWAY

- 1 winner will receive a signed copy of A COLD LEGACY and swag! 

- US Only.

- Ends on February 6^th at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Bumbles and Fairy-Tales will not be held responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Megan Shepherd

Hello! 

I’ve been many things, like a professional exchange student, park ranger in Montana, and LOST enthusiast, but what I am now is a writer.

I think it’s fair to say I was born into it. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, raised behind the counter of my parents’ independent bookstore, Highland Books in Brevard. Ah, so many free books. But I never thought being a writer could be a real career. After college I thought I’d end up as a foreign service officer somewhere dashing and exotic, like Canada. I studied French, Spanish, German, and Russian and still speak a few of those. Then I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Senegal, where I learned a few more languages I’ll never speak again and lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water. You can probably imagine how that experience went, but if you’re curious, here are the dirty details. 

It wasn't until a chance acquaintance read something I wrote and said, "have you ever considered being a writer?" that something clicked and I realized it was possible. My husband encouraged me, and I quickly fell head-over-heels in love with writing and children's literature in particular. I started out writing articles, which have appeared in Faces, Appleseeds, and Calliope magazines, and stories for younger children. I soon realized I wasn’t sweet enough to write fiction for that age and found myself writing young adult literature instead, which doesn’t require nearly as many tender moments and includes a lot more cursing.

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or hiking in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I love to hear from readers, so please drop me a line!

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Tumblr / Goodreads

http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/

Blog Tour (Interview and Giveaway): THE WICKED AWAKENING OF ANNE MERCHANT by Joanna Wiebe (YA)

THE WICKED AWAKENING OF ANNE MERCHANT

The V Trilogy #2

by Joanna Wiebe

Release date: January 20th, 2015

Published by: BenBella Books

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Format: Paperback, eBook

Format read: Paperback from the publisher.

SUMMARY

Life and death, light and dark, spirit and flesh-on Wormwood Island, the lines are always blurred. For Anne Merchant, who has been thrust back into this eerily secretive world, crossing the line seems inevitable, inescapable, destined.

Now, as Ben finds himself battling for the Big V and Teddy reveals the celestial plan in which Anne is entwined, Anne must choose: embrace her darkly powerful connection to a woman known as Lilith and, in doing so, save the boy she loves... 
or follow a safer path that is sure to lead to Ben's destruction at the hands of dark leaders. 

Hoping the ends will justify the means, Anne starts down the slippery slope into the underworld, intent on exploring the dark to find the light. 

But as the lure of Lilith proves powerfully strong, 
will Anne save others - only to lose herself? 

INTERVIEW with JOANNA WIEBE

1. Where do you get your inspiration for the remote island, its natives and the school?

Oooh, well, my inspiration for the island itself comes in part from the year in which I lived in the very remote, very rugged town of Kamikawa-cho, in the middle of Hokkaido, Japan. It’s also informed by my home of Vancouver Island, a glimpse of which is shown here:

(source)

As for the people of Wormwood Island, I actually studied post-colonialist literature and cultural theory during undergrad, which perhaps makes me partial to wishing to tell the story of those who’ve been displaced by wealth and power. The Abenaki people of Wormwood Island are forced to do rather unthinkable things in order to provide for themselves after government policy removes what little of their culture they had left; in the case of the First Nations people on Wormwood Island, that is the end of whaling practices. 

And the school Cania Christy is inspired by my sheer love of boarding schools. We have a very well-known and reputable boarding school here on Vancouver Island called Shawnigan. It loosely informed Cania Christy:

(source)

2. What can we expect to see in The Wicked Awakening? Any new characters?

Yes! While writing, I was super-stoked by how much room I had in The Wicked Awakening to develop the existing characters – Anne, Ben, Harper, Pilot – and introduce some pretty cool new ones. The joy of writing novels in a series is that, outside of a few situations, you don’t need to spend quite as much time building your world in books two, three and on, so you can spend more time exploring the dimensions of each character.

But back to the new characters! In this book, the shamed Headmaster Villicus is replaced with a decidedly shameless headmaster named Dia Voletto. He’s tattooed, he says the wrong things, he makes Anne feel totally different about herself – and I lovvved writing him.

We also meet the Seven Sinning Sisters. These ladies are fab. They just so happen to be the seven deadly sins personified, which means we get to meet people like Superbia, the underworld goddess of pride, and Invidia, who is envy. Anne’s interactions with these sisters – and what they teach her about herself – was impossibly enjoyable to bring to life on the page. I can’t wait to see more of them in the third book…

3. The V Trilogy, is dark, twisted and suspenseful. How were you able to get into such a mindset to write? Do you have "writing rituals" or things that you need to have in order to help your creativity?

I tend to write in the evenings, alone, with the lights dimmed a little (as bad as that is for my eyes). I put on music that makes me feel a little eerie, like any Modest Mouse album or Air. I also think I simply lean toward darkness for God knows why, so I’m often kinda surprised to read in reviews that people find the books quite dark and creepy because I don’t feel I’m laying it on particularly thick. I’m like, “What’s creepy about a girl raised in a funeral home? Is it that dark to visit an island run by a devil who exchanges life for things like tattooing something awful to one’s forehead?” ;)

4. What is one thing you would have done differently for one of your characters?

Ah, the dreaded question. The regret question. The one thing I would have done differently for one of my characters is show the other sides of Villicus in the first book. Anyone who’s read The Unseemly Education already knows who Villicus really is, so, knowing that, it would have been possible for Villicus to look quite different than he does. He could have looked like a celebrity or someone invisible-ish. But that’s not how I saw him. I saw him as he is on the page, and I think that, unfortunately, maybe that makes him read as a villain produced from the Villain Mold. (Sure, that’s a thing.)

So that’s the one thing I might change: I’d make Villicus perhaps less obviously a bad dude.

5. Can you give us a sneak peek to what we may expect to happen in book 3?

Oh, how I’d love to... What I can say is that the Seven Sinning Sisters will be back, and Harper is going to be, um, rather aligned with them. We’ll get up close and personal with Jeannie Zin, and we’ll see a side of Ben that, I think, some fans have long expected to see. Pilot will do as he does: flip-flop between disappointing us and making us proud. Of course, the tension between Anne and Villicus will come to a head. And Anne will definitely be her most take-charge self yet, though it’s going to come with consequences to be sure.

Someone will die for good. Someone will be heartbroken. And those who had it coming will, at last, get it. At least, that’s where I have the book right now.

THANK YOU so very much for answering my questions, Joanna!

Book 3 sounds amazing! And I am really looking forward to reading it!!!

MY FAVORITE QUOTES

Oh, God. My name said by his voice. 

This is why people have names. This is why people have voices. 

~ Paperback, page 28

GIVEAWAY

BenBella Books is generously offering up 15 copies of The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant, please enter the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win! 

Giveaway is open to US addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Bumbles and Fairy-Tales will not be held responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Joanna Wiebe

Goodreads / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, Januray 12th - Reading YA Rocks - Guest Post
Tuesday, Janaury 13th - Literary Meanderings - Interview
Wednesday, January 14th - Such a Novel Idea - Interview
Thursday, Janaury 15th - Of Spectacles and Books - Guest Post
Friday, January 16th - Feminist Reflections - Guest Post
- -
Monday, January 19th - To Each Their Own Reviews - Guest Post
Tuesday, Janaury 20th - Bumbles and Fairy-Tales - Author Interview
Wedneday, January 21st - Aphonic Book Reviews - Guest Post
Thursday, Janaury 22nd - Her Book Thoughts - Guest Post
Friday, Janaury 23rd - Book Lovers Life - Guest Post
- -
Monday, Januray 26th - Jump Into Books - Interview
Tuesday, Janaury 27h - Bad Bird Reads - Guest Post
Wedneday, January 28th - Addicted Readers - Interview
Thursday, Janaury 29th - Behind the Pages - Guest Post
Friday, Janaury 30th - Curling Up With A Good Book - Interview

http://www.kismetbt.com/

Review: DARK DAYS by Kate Ormand (YA)

DARK DAYS

by Kate Ormand

Release date: June 3rd, 2014

Published by: Sky Pony Press

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Sci-Fi

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Format read: An annotated hardcover.

SUMMARY

The future world has been divided into sectors--each the same as the other. Surrounded by thick steel fences, there is no way in and no way out. Yet a cyborg army penetrates each sector, picking off its citizens one by one, until no one is left. Behind the sectors' thick walls, the citizens wait to die. Few will be chosen to survive what's coming; the rest will be left behind to suffer. A new world has been created, and its rulers are incredibly selective on who will become a citizen. They want only those with important roles in society to help create a more perfect future.

Sixteen-year-old Sia lives in one of the sectors as part of a family that is far too ordinary to be picked to live. According to the digital clock that towers high above her sector, she has only fifteen days to live. Sia has seen the reports and knows a horrific death is in store for her, but she is determined to make the most of her final days. Sia refuses to mourn her short life, instead promising herself that she'll stay strong, despite being suffocated by her depressed mother and her frightened best friend. Just when Sia feels more alone than ever, she meets Mace, a mysterious boy. There is something that draws Sia to him, despite his dangerousness, and together, they join a group of rebels and embark on an epic journey to destroy the new world and its machines, and to put an end to the slaughter of innocent people. 

DARK DAYS' BOOK TRAILER

MY REVIEW

One of the most creepy dystopian/sci-fis I have read! This book kept me on the edge of my seat; made my heart race, palms sweat; and kept me up all night...

Sia has lived her entire life holed up in her sector having never stepped foot past the iron walls that surround it. Their world is gray and bleak. Having never seen flowers, trees or stepped on grass, Sia is trying to keep herself distracted by creating the most mundane bucket list anyone has ever seen. But when you only have 15 days left to live, what else is there to do? There is no sense in panicking, rioting or anything else. It would only cause death to come to your door that much faster.
Sia has shut down her feelings and deals with the most heartbreaking moments by suppressing all of her emotions. At times it was hard for me to understand her detachment to such life changing events. But then again, I am not the one who is facing death in just a few short days. No one can predict how they would react to anything when they're faced with knowing that everyone around them, including themselves, will no longer exist because they were not deemed worthy to bring anything to the "new world".

No one will survive the cyborgs that are coming...

There are a lot of ups and downs, twists and turns, action pact moments. What really kept me captivated was that the chapters were numbered to countdown to the day that Sia's sector was going to be destroyed. It was really stressful to read through the chapters as the numbers went down and it got closer and closer to the inevitable.

I am really hanging on to the hope that there will be a book two! This book was an amazing introduction to an intriguing new world and has given me hope for these memorable and genuine characters. The ending was a really well done cliffhanger; I usually despise cliffhangers. But, the author gave me all I needed to get by for now. But every time I think of this book, or see it, or anything - I crave to know more!!! What is happening right now? How did the world get to be like this? Why is this government so twisted? Why send these killing machines in to destroy innocent lives? Why not just let them starve, or let them die of something else... less morbid? There are a whole lot of other questions that I have too and I'm hoping that ANOTHER BOOK will help answer them!

If you love dystopian books with a sci-fi twist, add this to the top of your TBR. And if you don't, then you really need to go out of your comfort zone... it will blow your mind!

*An annotated hardcover was won in a giveaway from the author.
The annotations or the author herself have not influenced my review.
All thoughts are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Kate Ormand

Kate Ormand is YA author of DARK DAYS and THE WANDERERS. 

She lives in the UK with her family, her partner, and a cocker spaniel called Freddie. She recently graduated from university with a first class degree in Fine Art Painting. It was during this course that she discovered her love of reading YA books, prompting her to try a new creative angle and experiment with writing. 

Kate is also a member of an online group of published writers and illustrators called Author Allsorts. 

And she writes children’s picture books under the name Kate Louise. 

Kate is represented by Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd.

Website / Blog / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / Pinterest

Blog Tour (Deleted Scene, Interview and Giveaway): SING SWEET NIGHTINGALE (The Dream War Saga #1) by Erica Cameron (YA)

SING SWEET NIGHTINGALE
The Dream War Saga #1
by Erica Cameron
Release date: March 4th, 2014
Published by: Spencer Hill Press
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Paperback, eBook


SUMMARY

Mariella Teagen hasn't spoken a word in four years. 

She pledged her voice to Orane, the man she loves—someone she only sees in her dreams. Each night, she escapes to Paradise, the world Orane created for her, and she sings for him. Mariella never believed she could stay in Paradise longer than a night, but two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Orane hints that she may be able to stay forever. 

Hudson Vincent made a pledge to never fight again.

Calease, the creature who created his dream world, swore that giving up violence would protect Hudson. But when his vow caused the death of his little brother, Hudson turned his grief on Calease and destroyed the dream world. The battle left him with new abilities and disturbing visions of a silent girl in grave danger—Mariella.

Now, Hudson is fighting to save Mariella's life while she fights to give it away. And he must find a way to show her Orane’s true intentions before she is lost to Paradise forever.



Dream War Saga Links
Website / Tumblr

DELETED SCENE

The bell rings and I follow the line of students plodding like cattle toward the door. I wonder how anyone can find anything enlightening or stimulating in this kind of environment. The very building seems to sap the life out of everything within its walls. 

"Hey, Mariella?"

The sound of my name pierces through the music and I jerk to a stop, looking around. My eyes meet the pale blue eyes of the brunette who left class early. I'm surprised she knows my name; I would have bet only people with access to my attendance records know I exist. I switch my hand from my iPod to my nightingale and nod at the girls since she seems to be expecting some kind of a response. 

Stepping to the right to pass her, she surprises me again by quickly blocking into my path. I glance at her and slowly pull one of my headphones out. What is wrong with the world today? Do I have a sign on my back that says, "Talk to me, please?"

"Um, you're the only person left in Honors who hasn't served as a mentor." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as she shifts her weight. "There's a student waiting in the main office. Will you do it?" 

You have got to be kidding me. Without even remembering what in the word "mentor" means within the context of her request, I know it's a job I do not want. Suddenly, an old memory surfaces and it clicks. Mentors play tour guide to new students for their first week. They provide directions, explain the rules of the school, and are generally helpful. In othr words, they're the complete opposite of me. Being a mentor will mean paying attention in school. It will mean knowing things like people's names and will definitely mean speaking. I can barely remember what my own voice sounds like - I only open my mouth after I've gone to sleep. 

Turning to Blue Eyes, I raise an eyebrow and shake my head. 

"It won't be easy for you and I would do it myself, but I can't. Just..." Blue Eyes trails off and starts rubbing a silver bracelet on her left wrist. "Ask someone if you don't know the answer to his questions and use a notebook to talk to him."

I look down at my empty hands. I don't even own a notebook. I stopped bringing anything to school a couple of years ago after realizing I never used any of it. I don't even have a pen. 

Blue Eyes sighs. I'm either annoying her or she thinks I'm pathetic. I can't tell. She reaches down and unzips her messenger bag, digging through it for a minute and coming back up with a black and white patterned book and a blue pen. She flips the book open and leans against a locker to write something on the inside cover before passing the notebook and pen to me. 

"Here," she says. "I wrote down my info for you, just in case."

Opening the book, I see KT Dowling and an email address written there. Her thoughtfulness surprises me. She must know I won't use a phone number. I ponder turning her down, but the bell rings; we're already running late. The moment is now. Yes or no.

Refusing will mean more than not dealing with a new kid. KT will plead with me for a while, hoping change my mind. She'll tell whoever is in charge of the mentor program that I refused. They'll probably tell my parents. Who knows what my parents will decide to do about it, especially since they're working on this new let's-get-Mariella-into-college scheme. Refusal will be complicated but submission is impossible. 

Shaking my head, I try to pass the notebook back to her. 

"Really?" Her eyebrows pull together as she takes the book and spins it in her hands. "Um, all right. Guess I'll see if anyone else can do it. Just don't forget to let the office know when you're doing your community service project."

Wait. What? I cock my head to the side and stare at her, waiting for an explanation. She never mentioned a community service project. Blue Eyes sighs a third time and I start to feel guilty for bothering her so much... well, almost feel guilty. 

"The students who opt out of the mentor program have to participate in community outreach instead. It's not so bad, you just have to put in about thirty hours somewhere in town and write a two page paper about the experience."

I've been backed into a corner I didn't even know existed. What kind of stupid requirement is this? I do not want to guide a stranger around school but I really don't want to waste time on some pointless after-hours project. Damn. Today is going downhill so fast. 

Covering my eyes for a moment, I take a deep breath and nod. I'll mentor. It's the lesser of two evils. "Great!" KT quickly gives me back the notebook and pen, a wide smile curving her lips and lighting up her eyes. "He's waiting for you in the office. I have to get back to class. I'll see you there, okay?"

She practically runs away, probably scared I'll change my mind again, so I turn and head in the opposite direction. Walking through the empty halls is odd, almost eerie. As much as I ignore the people who usually surround me, I've never passed through these halls without them. It's almost as though their presence strengthens my resistance. Now my resistance is met by nothing. A fizzing sensation begins to fill my body, starting in my stomach and traveling out to the tips of my fingers and the bottom of my feet. I shift the notebook and pen into one hand and quickly reach for my nightingale. It soothes me as soon as I touch it, but the uncomfortable feeling falls away only after I breathe like Orane taught me and expand the light of the nightingale until it covers my entire body. 

I hold tight to my token for the rest of the walk, moving as slowly as I can manage without actually stopping. A sign sticking out from the wall on my left tells me I've reached the office. Now all I have to do is open the door and go inside. Right. Easy. If I want to do it. I take down my hood and adjust my headphones, stalling for time. 

At last I admit there's nothing else to do except reach forward an push the door open. 

"That should be your mentor now," I hear someone say before I step inside. Sighing, I wonder if this poor schmuck has any idea what he's in for.

PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon
Barnes and Noble 
The Book Depository
Kobo 

INTERVIEW

The questions to this interview are based on not having read the book and 
concentrating solely on the deleted scene... 

1 - What was your inspiration to create a story about a 'nightingale', Mariella, who can only sing in her dreams? 

The original inspiration for the story came from a combination of two songs played back to back at just the right time. “Mariella” is a song by Kate Nash and the whole thing is basically the story of a girl named Mariella who decides not to speak. After that came a song by Silversun Pickups called “Creation Lake.” The lyrics there talked about 24 parts of the day, which led me to wonder “what happens during the 25^th part of the day?” When I combined the willingly silent girl with a world that only exists at midnight (in the 25^th part of the day), I had the beginnings of Sing Sweet Nightingale. Once I started writing, I knew I wanted a special nickname for Mariella, something with mythology and weight behind it, but something still seemingly harmless. I remembered the (very short) song from Cinderella and looked into the stories surrounding the nightingale. After some research, I realized it was a perfect fit in more ways than one. Everything else unfolded from there!

2 - How did you come up with the names to your characters? Like Mariella's, and especially, Orane's and Calease's?

Mariella is named after the Nate Nash song that inspired her character, but Orane and Calease were more complicated. Orane is actually a girl’s name in French that means “rising,” but Calease is a name I invented. I wanted their names to be distinct yet not attached to anything people would already know. The associations people have with certain names can be very strong! That’s one of the many reasons character names are so important. Choose the wrong one and readers can get the wrong impressions of the characters.

3 - What does the nightingale mean to Mariella?

The nightingale represents the promise she made to Orane and, really, her relationship with him in general. It’s a reminder of how much, in theory, he cares about her. It’s also a way for her to remember Orane’s world during the other 24 hours of the day.

4 - How is Mariella in the Honors program when she doesn't pay attention or bring her school supplies to school anymore?

She studies at home a lot. There’s really only so much of a class that involves a participation grade and so if she can pass the tests and turn in papers, then she gets the grades to stay in the honors program! Also, because she’s labeled as having a “disorder” by the school system, Mari is allowed certain extensions and loopholes. She turns in extra papers every semester in every class, for example, to make up for her silence and distraction during class. Because she’s so studious, she’s actually in the running for Valedictorian. She and K.T. are practically tied.

5 - How do you switch back and forth writing two different points-of-views? Did you find yourself favoring one over the other?

Writing Sing Sweet Nightingale was the first time I’d tried writing a story that switched POV within the same story. It had to happen! Trying to tell this story from only one person’s perspective meant missing out on so many details. So, yes, I knew it was necessary. Writing it was a whole different story. Although writers can try to make their characters as distinct as possible, they all still originate from the same place—inside your brain. Keeping the voices of all the different characters distinct is really a challenge. I didn't necessarily favor Hudson, but with him it was easier. With Hudson, he appeared in the first draft much the same way you see him in the published version. Mariella was the one whose voice I had to tweak and modify (and then outright change) throughout the writing and revising and editing process. I really enjoyed it, actually, figuring out how to portray the inner monologues of two very different humans. Not every book I ever write will include the dual POV (sometimes a dual POV destroys the suspense of a story and some stories simply don’t need it) but I like playing with it if I can.

GIVEAWAY

First-Place Prize: Signed copy of Sing Sweet Nightingale, bracelet, two bookcover pendants

Second-Place Prize: Bracelet and two pendants

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Erica Cameron

After a lifelong obsession with books, Erica Cameron spent her college years getting credit for reading and learning how to make stories of her own. Erica graduated with a double major in psychology and creative writing from Florida State University and began pursuing a career as an author.

Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, ex-Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She loves the beach but hates the heat, has equal passion for the art of Salvador Dali and Venetian Carnival masks, has a penchant for unique jewelry and sun/moon décor pieces, and a desire to travel the entire world on a cruise ship. Or a private yacht. You know, whatever works.

Her debut novel, Sing Sweet Nightingale, released March 2014 and it was the first volume of The Dream War Saga, a four-book young adult series.

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