Monday YA Author Interview With Elisa Freilich

Where are you from?
 I grew up in Monsey, New York which is less than an hour north of Manhattan.

When and why did you begin writing?
 I began writing when I was little - usually poems and satirical newspapers poking fun at family and friends.  I've always loved writing and have been an avid reader all my life.  The novel just seemed like a natural progression for me.

What books have most influenced your life most?
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Gregory Maguire, for sure! I have always loved the way he would spin further fiction off of widely known fiction.  In Silent Echo: A Siren's Tale, I took a similar liberty with Greek Mythology.  I figured if Maguire can expand on the lives of the Wizard of Oz's characters, then I can do the same with the Greek Gods...

What book are you reading now?
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
 I think Marisha Pessl is a genius and absolutely adored her first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  (I just downloaded her newest, Night Film.)  I also absolutely adore John Green and am thoroughly intrigued by Lionel Shriver.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I think I'd have to go with Pat Conroy.  I know that his writing might a bit more flowery than what is out there today, but he was the author of my youth.  I devoured everything he ever wrote and still remember all of his story lines and descriptions so vividly.  I heard that he has something new coming out soon and I can't wait!

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
 Editing.  I went through so many rounds of it, shaving and weeding until I (and my agent) felt it was tip-top.  This editing process was far more arduous than writing the original story.
 
Have you been an avid reader your entire life? (since you could read) 
 Yes!  I was that kid that had to be told to shut the lights and go to sleep already.  I had a bathroom connected to my room and I convinced my mom that I needed that light to be on or else I'd be too scared to go to sleep.  Truth was, though, that I used to lie down on the carpet in front of the bathroom light so I could just read, read, read - Mom - Sorry for the white lie...

 
 
Ok now some fun questions:

What is your favorite sport to watch and or play?
 Ugghh ... Really?  Not a big sports fan.  But I guess I'd go with ice hockey because I get to watch my son (and occasionally my husband) play.
 
Favorite TV Show?
Downton Abbey
 
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla
 
Puppy's or Kittens?
Puppies!  Preferably English Bulldog.
 
Beach or Mountains?
Poolside?
 
If you could be a color, what color would you be?
Purple just like Dionysus's robes in Silent Echo.
 
Favorite Dessert?
Not really a dessert person because I'm always too full after a meal!  I like to have some salted chocolates or caramel, though, before bed.
 
If you could be a book character, what character would you be?
Thing 1, with my husband being Thing 2, of course.  We always have so much fun together!


Haunted by silence, a mute teenage girl is mysteriously given back her voice ... and it is divine.

Rendered mute at birth, Portia Griffin has been silent for 16 years. Music is her constant companion, along with Felix, her deaf best friend who couldn’t care less whether or not she can speak. If only he were as nonchalant about her newfound interest in the musically gifted Max Hunter.

But Portia’s silence is about to be broken with the abrupt discovery of her voice, unparalleled in its purity and the power it affords to control those around her. Able to persuade, seduce and destroy using only her voice, Portia embarks on a search for answers about who she really is, and what she is destined to become.

Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, SILENT ECHO: A Siren's Tale is an epic story filled with fantasy, romance and original music

 

Liebster Award: Questions and Nominations

Thank you Vinny for nominating me!

When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging a little over a month ago.....I am not really sure why I started other than I love to read.....and writing reviews sorta comes with reading :)
Tell us briefly about your blog and what do you do over there?
I do young adult book reviews, and some fun memes.
What you love most about blogging?
Getting to know new people!
How do you promote your blog? Whenever there's a new post, how do you connect people and let them know about your blog?
Twitter & Goodreads are great ways.
What is the most interesting thing that has happened to you during the course of blogging?
I got an amazing author named Romily Berard to do a interview with me! I loved her book Find Me & was so excited.
What do you think is the most challenging part about blogging?
Remembering to post, I am very forgetful. So if I didn't have a schedule, I would never post anything! 
What are your top 5 favourite books? Name some of your favourite authors.
All of Ally Carters books, I also love Jane Austen.

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer was actually the first book I reviewed for this blog
(here) is really good....so is its sequel Scarlet.
How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True....is really cute and one of my new contemporary favorites.
Besides blogger are you on any other blogging social networks? If yes, which one do you prefer most and why?
Just social networks, I use goodreads.....which is awesome.
Your favourite blog that you follow (choose one)?
I like quite a few blogs......http://readbooksandlivegreen.blogspot.com/ is a really nice one.
Lastly, any tips for fellow bloggers?
I am so new....how about any tips for me???


More about this award here

My Questions.
Why did you start to blog?
Favorite Book To Movie?
Favorite Debut Book?
Favorite thing about blogging?
Favorite spot to read?

I know it said to nominated 10 blogs, but I only thought about 3 blogs for this award.
http://readbooksandlivegreen.blogspot.com/
http://icycoldreads.blogspot.com/
http://justanotherteenreading.blogspot.com/

Cursed Review (that sounds bad :)

Cursed
Jennifer L Armentrout
Published September 18th 2012 by Spencer Hill Press
Goodreads 

Dying sucks
...and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand.

After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he's a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she's more than interested. There's just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she's willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she's not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life.

For real this time

Review:

This was my first Jennifer Armentrout book, I am always a little cautious when starting a book written by a author I have not read before, but after hearing so many good things about Jennifer, and needing a standalone to read, I decided to take the plunge. And I definitely did not regret it! Awwww where do I start? The plot, the characters? The characters had layers upon layers of emotions, The main character Ember (shortened to Em or Emmie most of the book) So she shares my name :) is a complicated...more This was my first Jennifer Armentrout book, I am always a little cautious when starting a book written by a author I have not read before, but after hearing so many good things about Jennifer, and needing a standalone to read, I decided to take the plunge. And I definitely did not regret it! Awwww where do I start? The plot, the characters? The characters had layers upon layers of emotions, The main character Ember (shortened to Em or Emmie most of the book) So she shares my name :) is a complicated, hardworking teenaged, that has had way too much thrown on her, but handles everything in my opinion, with grace and maturity. Her sister, going through some things that are not typical, is understandably misbehaving for most of the book. So Ember struggles with taking care of her sister, and growing up herself. Her love interest Hayden is mysterious and charming, but also protective and sweet. The plot was a little bit similar to the book I read right before this, Pivot Point, But the similarity ends in the same way that two contemporary's might be similar, or two books about fairy's. The plot was full of turns and twists that kept me on my toes, and overall this was such an entertaining book....Definitely pick up a copy as soon as you can! 4.5/5

Stacking The Shelves (5)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

Here are the books I bought/received this week.



These are all from the Library.

Link me your Stacking The Shelves below!
 

Embrace & Hold Tight Book Blitz And Giveaway

Embrace (The Embrace Series #1)
by Cherie Colyer
Release Date: 12/20/11
Omnific Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:
Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.
Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound.

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Hold Tight (The Embrace Series #2)
by Cherie Colyer
Release Date: 08/20/13
Omnific Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:
What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want...and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend -and fellow witch- can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist...and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

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Excerpt from Embrace:

 

He had a large mix of alternative and rap music, and mostly male singers, so when I hit a

country CD with a blonde on the cover I held it up.

“Taylor Swift?” I asked.

“What?” A red flush crept into his cheeks. “I had a crush on her.”

I looked at the cover. Maybe that was his secret. Maybe he was into blondes. What if I was

an experiment to see if they really did have more fun? My dark chestnut hair was about as

far from Goldilocks as it could get.

He reached for the CD, but I raised my arm over my head before he could grab it.

“I was young,” he said, lunging forward and missing my hand.

“And you’re so old and wise now,” I teased, moving the CD behind my back.

He grabbed for it, his body practically on top of mine as he tried to catch my hand. I leaned

back, laughing.

“Maybe we should play it,” I said, squirming to keep him from being able to reach it.

He wrapped an arm around my back, pulling me closer. “Let’s not.”

We were a jumbled mass of arms and legs. His belt buckle rubbed the bare skin of my

stomach, and his neck was in perfect kissing distance. My gaze traveled to his lips. His close

proximity had me forgetting I was winning the game of keep-away…

About the Author

A little about myself: I write young adult and middle grade novels. I love finding new stories that keep me up late reading. While my favorite genre is fantasy, if the book is beautifully written with characters that come alive I’m all over it.
My debut novel EMBRACE is now available from Omnific Publishing.</ b>

***Author Links***

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***GIVEAWAY***

$20 Gift Card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz organized by:

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Giveaway! + Top Ten Tuesday (4)

Top Ten (or 8) Best Sequels Ever

(again, in no particular order)

 Hosted by  http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/

Sequel to Dairy Queen






I love all of Jenni James Jane Austen Retellings.





I liked this one even more than the The Girl Of Fire And Thorns



And of course Ally Carter's books are on this list.






Those are the sequels that I could think of.......
Tell me what you think below!

And because today is my 1 month Blogoversary !
Giveaway Time!!!


 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find Me Playlist

So to celebrate the release of Find Me I have a short post about the music to share from Romily!




FIND ME Playlist
If any of you have been following along with me, you already know I don’t write to
music. I probably should. The right songs can get you in the mood for emotional scenes, block
out distractions, and generally help you hit your word count.
Considering I do a lot of my writing at work, my cubicle is outside the office’s only
bathroom, and my coworkers love to eat Mexican (but the Mexican does not love them back),
writing to music should probably be my go-to. But I never really thought about it until Epic
Reads asked me to do a playlist and, suddenly, I discovered all these great songs that were
written expressly for FIND ME.
I know. I know. I’m like that girl who thinks every song on Top Forty Radio is about her
break-up, but we’re going to do this anyway. It’ll be fun.
Heh. If only for me. First off?
Cut by Jimmy Eat World. When he sings how “you happened to me so I waited,” it just
kills me. It’s exactly how I think of Griff seeing Wick for the first time. She wasn’t just another
girl. She was an event. She was something that happened like a war or a blow. Everything else
was what came after.
Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance. This is a great song, such a twisted take on
fairytales and it’s exactly how Wick would see the world. Here, Romeo doesn’t say he loves
Juliet instead he tells her “You belong to me.” After enduring years of abuse from her father
that’s how Wick sees love. It’s belonging to someone. It’s being owned. And then she meets
Griff.
Why Part 2 by Collective Soul. Such a great song. It’s about love and loss and faking it.
The singer’s trying to be everything his lover needs and it’s never enough. He’s only left “here
with the blame.” Wick has tried to be everything for her sister and, in the end, it isn’t enough—
until Lily’s kidnapped and Wick’s the only one who can find her.
The Only Exception by Paramore. Wick has everything figured out. Like the song says,
she’s “got a tight grip on reality.” Or does she? Because Griff’s nothing like Wick expected.
He’s “the only exception” she’s ever made. And, when she faces down the man who determined
to kill her sister, Griff’s the only person still at her side.


As always, an enormous thank you to Em for having me. Writers are hugely lucky to
have bloggers like her on their side. Hope you’ve enjoyed the playlist and I hope you enjoy
FIND ME!!