Monday, March 30, 2015

Elizabeth N. Love and Pouring the Cup

 I am still on a chocolate hunt after hosting Zelda, so I'll keep you in mind if I get some, but for now...we are off to Kansas to meet up with Elizabeth Love.
Did you know it was once ILLEGAL to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas? Eh, no...I am not kidding. 
Today we have Elizabeth N. Love with us, and she will share tidbits about her novel Pouring the Cup. Over to you, Elizabeth!

Author Bio
Elizabeth N. Love is a life-long resident of Kansas, where she grew up in what could be considered a cultural desert. Influenced by her mother's love of books, she began writing stories at an early age.
She is not only an author, but a musician, having played French horn and piano for many years. Elizabeth holds a B.A. in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Kansas. She currently lives in Kansas with her family.

Join her blog fans at http://writerbeeblog.wordpress.com/


Book blurb
On the faraway planet of Bona Dea, in a society forged by ancient settlers, trouble is brewing. Young psychic Axandra, never comfortable with her gift, is being forced to use it for the benefit of her people as ruling matriarch of the entire world and host to a powerful entity known only as the Goddess.

Struggling with her fate, used as a pawn between warring factions, life for Axandra is almost too much to bear. Even the ministrations of her beloved companion, Quinn, may not prove powerful enough to overcome the stress threatening to destroy Axandra's fragile soul.


Excerpt
Arriving at the Palace, Axandra was greeted at the door by Miri, who informed her that Quinn waited in the Library and that she had just taken up a pot of hot tea and light snacks. Putting the lid on her thoughts, Axandra ascended the staircase, each step up matched by an increase in her excitement.
She found him at the large table in the library, his head bowed to an enormous leather bound book. His thick index finger followed along the coastline of a landmass drawn on the pages. He peered through his wire-rimmed glasses at very tiny print in the legends.
Quinn looked up as he heard her footsteps and beamed from ear-to-ear.
“You did wait,” she said pleasantly, feeling her own cheeks rounding with a grin.
“Of course,” he responded, rising from the tall chair, leaving the atlas behind on the table. She
assumed the book contained maps of Old Earth. There were many continents colorfully divided into countries and kingdoms. It was a book that a historian like Quinn could spend hours dissecting and digesting—yet now he ignored it. Was she more interesting to him than a prized piece of history?
His round cheeks pinked slightly as he came forward. He stopped just centims away, one hand touching the corner of the hardwood table, the other hovering in front of him as though reaching out for her. He drew that hand back slightly, uncertain what to do with it in that moment.
“You came down from North Compass?” Axandra inquired, gesturing him to sit next to her where she eased down on a long bench near the wall. He joined her, sitting at a proper distance. He folded his hands on his lap.
“I’m on my way back to Southland to collect some belongings. I need a few things I left at home.”
“Oh,” she said with some discouragement. He hadn’t come just to see her. Her mind reeled, trying to decide how this relationship was going to go. Every look he gave her spoke volumes about his attraction and infatuation for her, yet some of his words seemed to brush that away.
“But I planned on staying in Undun for several days before I go south,” Quinn said, sensing her disappointment, “to see you. I-I want to—drat.” He stammered, flustered by his own thoughts. The pink in his cheeks deepened to a rosier hue as his eyes dodged about the room. He cleared his throat. “I thought we might spend some time together. I want to know more about you—if that’s all right?”
Axandra tried not to giggle, but the moment she opened her mouth to speak, the girlish sounds came out. “It’s all right,” she said with glee. She reached across the upholstery and placed her hand upon his where his thick fingers rested on the cushion. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
His shoulders dropped with relief. “I can’t believe I’m so nervous,” he said under his breath. “I have something I should confess to you,” he began to say.
“That you asked Sara to set up a way to meet me?” she offered.
Shocked, he looked directly into her eyes. “How did you know?”
“Eryn told me the story while we were on our way back to Undun,” Axandra explained. She couldn’t contain her laughter completely. His expression amused her. “I’m not making fun of you,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.
“Well, did she tell you why I asked for Sara’s help?” he pried. Instead of being mortified, he relaxed. Tension fled his body and his shoulders shook as he joined her laughter.
Breathing deeply to contain herself, she stated, “ Apparently—as I was told—you saw me on the pier when I arrived in the port.”
“That is true,” Quinn confirmed. “I happened to be at the port coming in on a ferry from the coastal islands. I remember it was a very cloudy and windy day. The seas were rough.”
“Yes, they were,” Axandra recalled with him. “You saw me in that crowd?”
“It certainly was crowded, wasn’t it,” he agreed. “Somehow, it was as though a sunbeam shown just on you—you seemed to glow. I pushed through the crowd trying to catch up with you, but you disappeared around a corner. I must have looked for you for a half-hour, checking inns and restaurants along the way.”
“I went straight in search of transportation to Undun,” she inserted into his story. “I happened on the bus depot and a bus that was just about to leave for the City. I wasn’t thinking of anything else.”
“All so you could come here and be. . .who you are,” he marveled, gesturing at her as a whole. “I never thought I would see you again. When I saw your face on the announcement placard in Lazzonir, I nearly fell backward! I thought there was certainly no way you would ever want to see me. I wasn’t going to walk right up to the Palace and say hello. That would be crazy!”
His hands gestured as he talked, animating his story and prompting continued chuckling. It all seemed so comical, how they had come to this point, sitting together. “The Elite would have chased me away. Then I realized that Sara was here all the time, so I asked for her help. I’d never felt so drawn to anything in my entire life—other than digging up the Ancients. I had to know what the outcome would be.”
“You certainly were determined,” Axandra noted. “Sara seems quite the matchmaker.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Quinn hinted, then skipped on. “My little plan seems to be working. Would have worked better if that Believer hadn’t ruined things for me in Lazzonir.”
She frowned at him. “That isn’t nice to say. Many of the Believers are very ill. They can’t seem to control themselves.”
Clasping her hand apologetically, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be nasty.”
She drew her hand away for the moment and looked across the library at nothing in particular. She didn’t feel very relaxed at the moment. “It’s just that I’ve worried so much about them. The Healers try to help them, but nothing works. And now we have to evacuate people due to the flooding. I’m letting everyone down.”
“What? You’re not a miracle worker, Protectress,” her guest reminded emphatically. “You’re a human being, just like the rest of us. You can’t fix everything.”
“Aren’t I supposed to be more?” she asked. She looked into his gray-blue eyes, searching for that answer. Maybe he would know. She didn’t know why she thought he would have the answer, but she wished he would say something.
He responded with such certainty she believed every word. “The Protectress is not supposed to be better than everyone else. She is supposed to be just like everyone else. You are the people. And humans have a lot of flaws. You’ve done everything you have the ability or the right to do.”
Quietly, Axandra studied him and thought about what he said. He made such sense. She asked him another question. “Why are you here?”
“Here in Undun or here with you?” Quinn asked for clarification. He smiled as he said it and the tension seemed to fly out of the room. “If you mean here with you—I’m not sure, but I like it.”
Smiling, she said, “I like it too.”

Could you share a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
My mother loved to read and she took us on a weekly trek to the library to quench her thirst for books. We lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so books and TV were our escape outlets. I loved watching anything sci-fi: Doctor Who, Blake 7, Star Trek, and such, and I loved reading Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and Isaac Asimov. When I was just nine years old, I started writing stories of my own. I haven’t stopped since, though there have been lulls from time to time. I have almost everything I’ve ever written stored in the basement, and every once in a awhile I go back and read, laugh at myself, and see if any of those old ideas will be any good now. I need to write, or I feel like something is missing from my life. I almost always have a journal and pen on hand for quick jots. Star Trek, my favorite.

Do you write full time? How much of your life is set aside for writing?
Currently I work full-time during the day, and have a small editing business on the side, as well as writing. With two children at home, I carve out about an hour or two each day just for writing, in between ballet, art, and soccer. I’ll even take vacation days just to stay home and write when no one else is home.  I have to make that time count. This is where we'd need Dragon speak to type out what wh say lol.

Would you take us on a brief tour of your novel and the world you’ve created?
Forged by ancient human settlers, Bona Dea is a place of peace and prosperity for the vestiges of the human race, long ago cast from Old Earth for possessing psychic talents. There is no war, no hunger, and no homelessness. Instead of an economy based on currency where poverty abounds, they have learned to work in communities where everyone shares the load.

Considering the physical and cultural differences between this new world and our current Earth, I created a unique calendar, governmental structure, and colloquialisms to reflect their worldview.

Axandra is a young woman with a destiny to oversee this world as the Protectress, the highest office of the people, and one shared along a family line. The family has a secret: an entity uses their bodies as vessels for existence, an entity who calls herself the Goddess. Axandra tried to escape this fate, but she is forced to return when the Goddess finds her and compels her to take the journey of a lifetime.

Supporting characters help her navigate the complexities of running an entire world. There are councillors, staff members, citizens, and her new love interest Quinn, each offering their wisdom and opinions.

Where does the inspiration for you main character and story come from?
Axandra is an imperfect woman, a quiet introvert who would rather remain unrecognized and live out her days in relative solitude in her island home. She is part me, part my mother, part my sister, and part a collection of characters from my favorite books by LeGuin and McCaffrey. She now has a life of her own.

What is the message behind the story? Was it something you specifically wrote a story around or did it develop as your characters came to life?
I like to let the reader decide what to take away from the story. Each person will have different interpretations and a different focus as they read. I love to hear what people think about once they are finished. My characters tend to write a lot of the story, when I let them. They need gentle nudges now and then. Too bad those characters can't type.

Do you work from an outline or just go with the flow? If you use an outline, how detailed is it?
It depends on the story. Some ideas require timelines and careful plotting to maintain the mystery. Others just flow on their own. I don’t know what I need in a story until I start working on it.

What is the time span in your novel, weeks, months, years? How much research went into it?
This novel covers the second half of the Bona Dean year, from late Spring to early Winter. To help the reader with the time scale, each chapter includes dates from this new world’s calendar, which I carefully constructed based on a longer revolution around the binary stars of the system, and includes thirteen months, thirty-two days per months, eight days per week, with one day set aside to celebrate their arrival on the new world, which begins their calendar. Now how cool is our job as an author when we get to create such amazing things!

Could you tell us how you go about your research, how you ‘catalogue’ information to make it all work?
With this science fiction/metaphysical topic, most of my research time went into observing interpersonal relationships, dialogue, and inflections. I spent a short amount of time reviewing the origins of our solar system to create a plausible extrasolar star system about 100-lightyears from Earth. I have computer files and print outs of the calendar to plot timelines for events, as well as character profiles and even a field guide for all of the animals that live on my new world.

How do you handle marketing? Do you have a plan, a publicist or just take one day at a time? Being with a small independent publishing house, I’m lucky to have a small team of people to help push marketing and promotions. Together, we choreograph our efforts to maximize sales. That's a good idea.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?  I used to hear all the time “Write what you know.” But in sci-fi, this doesn’t hold true. Don’t be afraid to write about what you don’t know. Explore. Experiment. You may find something out about yourself that was hidden before. I like this take on author advice.

Could you tell us what you’re working on now?
The follow-up to Pouring the Cup is just a couple of months away from its final version (granted the world cooperates with my schedule). At the same time, I am formulating a paranormal novel about a haunted B&B, and editing a non-fiction narrative about my daughter who was born with a congenital heart defect. I hope to have all three of these published and available by the end of the year. Beneath that, there are about five other ideas in the beginning stages.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Krysten Lindsay Hager and Best Friends...Forever?

So if you had stopped by yesterday, I'll bet you're just itching to read on about book 2 in the True Colors series. Good, because so am I! The interview with Krysten can be found on yesterday's post, so make sure you don't miss it.  
Now, Krysten was kind enough to send along two excerpts...and well, I posted them both, because the more I can share with you, the more I will.


Tag line: Good friends have your back, but some go behind it.

Blurb:   Landry Albright hopes the new year will start off in an amazing way—instead she has to deal with more frenemy issues, boy drama, and having most of her best friends make the cheerleading squad without her. Suddenly, it seems like all anyone can talk about is starting high school next year—something she finds terrifying.
                Landry gets her first boyfriend, but then gets dumped just as things come to a head with her friends, Peyton and Ashanti. She feels lost and left out, but finds good advice about dealing with frenemies from what she considers an unlikely source. Landry faces having to speak up for what’s right, tell the truth (even when it hurts), and how to get past the fear of failure as she gets another shot at competing in the American IngĂ©nue modeling competition.

EXCERPT 1:
I was so nervous the night of the basketball game. At first, I didn’t even want to go into the gym, but I mustered up the courage just as the game ball went streaking past my head and I almost got knocked over by a referee. The ref blew the whistle and went to hand the ball off. Vladi was standing right there and he nodded at me. Peyton squeezed my arm as we sat down, but I didn’t think it was that big a deal because he didn’t smile at me or anything.
           “Duh, he was playing basketball, but he acknowledged your existence,” she said.
          “Kind of like how that cheerleader who keeps screaming out his name is acknowledging him?” I pointed to the girl with glossy straight brown hair who was doing back flips on the sidelines.
         “Forget her. He must like blondes anyway. He didn’t check me out after all,” she said.
          I checked around to see if Carey was there, but I didn’t see her. I did see India sitting with Doug and Cristian though. I poked Peyton, but she had already seen them.
          “Devon would kill her,” she said.
          “Um, should we tell her? They just started talking again,” I said. I didn’t want to get in the middle of another fight and I could tell that Peyton felt the same way. Besides, it wasn’t like Doug was Devon’s boyfriend. I’m sure India thought she would be safe since other than her and Devon, the rest of us hadn’t gone to the away games before. Peyton said we should try to avoid them after the game so we could pretend that we never saw them together. However, I ran into her on my way out of the bathroom at halftime.
          “Landry,” India’s aqua blue eyes widened. “Are you here to see Vladi?”
          I nodded and we both stood there. Peyton came in to see what was taking so long and almost passed out when she saw India.
          “You guys, could you not say anything to Devon about this? I came by myself and I just ran into Doug here,” India said.
          Peyton and I acted like we hadn’t even seen Doug. I knew India had to be lying because who would go to a game by herself? We agreed not to say anything. The whole time I worried about what would happen if Devon found out that I knew about Doug and India. Peyton told me to relax because we weren’t doing anything wrong. I wasn’t sure which was worse: keeping a secret from Devon or breaking up her friendship with India?

Excerpt 2: India walked in, tossing her shiny, honeyblonde hair behind her. She walked right over to the girls at the juice machine and hugged the one with the mascara problem. Then India pulled out her Little Rose compact and started applying pink blush right in the hallway. She totally fit in with those other girls — India appeared about sixteen, beautiful, and like she belonged there.
Meanwhile, I was standing in a corner with Ericka, who had a snowman sweater on and was wearing a hair scrunchy — a scrunchy. It wasn’t as if she was trying to be retro either. Only little kids and my bus driver, Mrs. Jackson, wore scrunchies. At least Ashanti was super pretty, but I wasn’t so sure about how I came across. Did I look like a kid or a teenager? I had worn a royal blue turtleneck and jeans because I didn't want to call any attention to myself. Part of me would have liked to have the effect that India did when she walked in, but there was also a part of me that would have been perfectly comfortable wearing an invisibility cloak for the next four years of high school. At least being a "nobody” would have been better than being a friendless loser.


Author Bio: Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean reads
young adult series. Krysten writes about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in both True Colors and Best Friends…Forever?
Krysten is an Amazon international bestselling author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

What people are saying about True Colors (Landry’s True Colors Series Book One):
From Teenage Book Recommendations in the UK: "This is a fantastically relatable and real book which I feel captures all of the insecurities and troubles which haunt the modern teenage girl. It is about a young model who has to go through tough times when she is torn between a life as a model and managing her friendships. You learn which friends she can most trust and which will create the drama typical of teenage life. Follow the life of Landry and try to see if you can find out which are her true friends before their true colours are revealed. This book is all about relationships, hopes and truth. I loved this book!"

From Books & Authors Spot: This book is such an inspiration for those who just care about their looks and are tensed about them. This thing is looks aren't everything. This book is related to every teen's problem. Hager has written a very inspiring novel.

Buy Links:

Connect with Krysten:







Friday, March 27, 2015

True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Today we will have the first in a "Two-Part" post, featuring Krysten Lindsay Hager and her True Colors series. so, get ready for some good stuff. Oh, and if you have a teenage girl, she just might like this series! Oh, and don't forget to come back tomorrow for part two.

So just who are we talking to? Allow me to introduce you to Krysten Lindsay Hagar.
Author bio: Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she
didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and also writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. TRUE COLORS is her international bestselling debut novel from Astraea Press and the first book in the series. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite TV shows. She received her master’s in American Culture from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Could you share a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
-I’ve been making up stories since I was a kid. When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher told my parents at a conference she thought I would grow up and become an author. My mom was a little thrown by that. I think at that time all my friends and I were obsessed with books (like the Sweet Valley series, The Baby-Sitters Club, etc.) but I think my mom thought it was just a phase. Fast forward to high school and I was still saying that was what I wanted to do, so my mother signed me up for a writing conference a few days after the end of my senior year. It is really great that your mother supported you and helped you in such an awesome way.

Do you write full time? How much of your life is set aside for writing?
-I don’t have a schedule, but I am very disciplined. I might not write every day, but I work on some aspect of writing, editing, plotting—something every day. It’s not a career where you can take breaks. I read somewhere that writers never take vacations and isn’t that the truth? I went away with a friend for a short trip and my mind was going, “Hey, so and so could have her break up scene in a place like this,” and, “Gotta get a picture of this house because this is how I imagined the beach house in my story would look.” Haha! Now I don't think there's an author out there that would disagree with that comment.

Could you tell us a little about your novel?
-My book is about an eighth grader named Landry who is torn between wanting to fit in and wanting to stand out. She gets pushed into trying out for a modeling reality show with her two best friends, but they “unfriend” her when she advances in the competition without her. Landry tries to make new friends, but gets caught up between wanting to be herself and conforming to who her new friends want her to be. Along the way she learns that modeling is nowhere as glamorous as it seems, how to deal with frenemies, a new crush, and that true friends see you for who you really are and like you because of it.
                                                     
Would you take us on a brief tour of your novel and the world you’ve created?
-I’ve set the book in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is not a city I’ve ever lived in, but I spent a lot of time there since I have family there. I felt this was a safer environment and more universal than the town I grew up in myself. Landry goes to a private school called Hillcrest Academy where she sees that having a small class means trying to co-exist with frenemies. I went to a small private school from kindergarten through eighth grade so it was a world I understood very well. Landry starts going to the high school basketball games with her friends and meets a ninth grader named Vladi who she develops a crush on, but he seems like he might be interested in her, too. In my mind, I even know Landry’s school bus route and the stops where her friends live. I get very detailed when I come up with an idea, but most of that information is just for me when developing the story. This is something we have in common...details and research to make sure all bases are covered, and yet the reader is rarely aware of any of it.

Where does the inspiration for you main character and story come from?
-My inspiration came from a college professor who said we should write the book we wanted to read and this was the book I wished I could have had at that age. I wanted a character who shared her insecurities and fears (along with her funny commentary about life) to let readers know they are not alone with what they’re feeling or going through themselves.

What is the message behind the story? Was it something you specifically wrote a story around or did it develop as your characters came to life?
-I knew I wanted to create an honest, realistic teen who shared her fears and insecurities and how she longed to be a part of one of those tight knit cliques at school, yet never quite felt like she fit in anywhere. I knew going in that I wanted to deal with the friendship aspect of it, but as I went along more things popped up like her feelings about her parents living apart due to her mother’s job transfer. Sounds like something teens will really relate to, and definitely enjoy reading. 

Do you work from an outline or just go with the flow? If you use an outline, how detailed is it?
I never used an outline until writing the second book in the series, Best Friends…Forever? (which will come out in 2015). It became easier to have plot points and things jotted down to finish book two and work on book three. I think for a stand alone project that free flowing works best for me, but with the series I have to admit the outline has been helpful. I have only outlined a novel once, because I was taking a writing course, and although I find it to be somewhat of a pain to do, I will admit that it had been a useful tool. I think certain genres, such as mysteries, would require an outline.

What is the time span in your novel, weeks, months, years? How much research went into it?
-The book begins in fall and goes until the week of Christmas vacation for my character. The second book (which will come out this year) picks up right where I leave off in book one because I hate reading a series where important stuff happens off the page. I want to see it all and not read a little catch-up paragraph, so the readers won’t miss anything.

I didn’t do too much research since it’s fiction, but I do keep a list of Landry’s school schedule and make sure it’s accurate for an eighth grader.

Could you tell us how you go about your research, how you ‘catalogue’ information to make it all work?
-I write fiction so not as much detailed research. I do keep track of what goes on in middle schools and high schools in terms of schedules, I use diaries/journals, watch tween and teen shows and read the magazines. I also know the area I’m writing about (even though I never lived there) so that helps.
That sounds like research to me!

How does this book differ from what you have written in the past?
-I think this book is more vulnerable than some of my past work. A lot of people know my journalism work or my humor essays or funny short stories whereas this one deals more with self-esteem issues. This book is still funny, which relates to my other work, but it’s more of a vulnerable work which is why I think people connect to it so much. My list of books to read just keeps growing...

How have the changes in present day publishing impacted your schedule as a writer?
-It is more time consuming now due to social media. There are different time zones to consider, too. You might be dealing with bloggers, readers, interviewers, or reviewers from other countries and have to work on their hours. I enjoy meeting new people, so I have fun doing it, but it takes a lot more time than people realize. I think we (and people in general) would be shocked at just how many hours we spend on the marketing of our material, something that takes away from our writing time.

How do you handle marketing? Do you have a plan, a publicist or just take one day at a time?
-I’m not a planner when it comes to anything, so I take it one day at a time. I promote other writers on my blog all the time and not myself so much on there.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
-Take as many classes (literature classes, creative writing classes) as you can and go to conferences and workshops to learn about the business. There is so much to learn and like any other career you need training and education before you dive in.

Could you tell us what you’re working on now?
-I am writing the third book in the Landry’s True Colors series. I also am working on an older YA novel, another upper middle grade one and an adult novel as well. I just had the best time last night writing a funny scene with Landry and her crush. It’s moments like that when a scene really comes together that makes all the hard part worthwhile.

Tagline: A little competition can really bring out people’s true colors.

Blurb: Landry Albright just wants to be one of the interesting girls at school who always have exciting things going on in their lives. She wants to stand out, but also wants to fit in, so she gives in when her two best friends, Ericka and Tori, push her into trying out for a teen reality show modeling competition with them. Landry goes in nervous, but impresses the judges enough to make it to the next round. However, Ericka and Tori get cut and basically "unfriend" her on Monday at school. Landry tries to make new friends, but gets caught up between wanting to be herself and conforming to who her new friends want her to be. Along the way she learns that modeling is nowhere as glamorous as it seems, how to deal with frenemies, a new crush, and that true friends see you for who you really are and like you because of it.

Back Cover BlurbEvery day I walked down the sidewalk to school and wished I were one of the interesting popular girls who ran up with exciting news. Just once I’d like to be one of those girls instead of the being the one who didn’t get invited to things because people “forgot” about me.
Landry Albright gets pushed into trying out for the American Ingénue reality show modeling competition with her two best friends. She doesn't think she stands a chance, but she advances to the next level in the competition and her friends ignore her when they get cut.
Enter the gorgeous Devon Abrams, who also makes the first cut and includes Landry in her clique. Devon becomes the perfect best friend, but can their friendship survive the competition?
Landry hopes her big break could come at any moment, but soon sees there's much more to modeling than just getting your hair done and looking pretty. She begins missing out on being with new friends like Ashanti, a girl who truly has Landry's back. Landry also has the chance to have a boyfriend when she meets a boy named Vladi from another school.
Part of Landry wants to be famous (and have her hair look good for once), but part of her just wants to be accepted. She learns about friendships, being true to yourself, and that a good hair conditioner doesn’t hurt either.
Excerpt:
While I was deciding whether or not to chicken out, the stage manager, Georgia, started having the girls go out on stage. I overheard somebody say one girl fell out of her shoe as she stepped on the runway.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She just pretended to have two heels on and walked on her tip toes,” Georgia said.
I would have burst into tears and run off the stage — kind of like I did when I was four years old and in a dance recital. We were supposed to be little ballerinas and have scarves attached to our tutus, but my mom was still in school at the time and she came home late and forgot to give me my scarves. So all the other little girls pulled out their scarves, and there’s a video of me looking on either side of my tutu for my scarves and then bursting into tears crying “Mommy!” as I ran off the stage. My grandmother said I was adorable, but I don’t think it was any coincidence my grandfather died two weeks later.
At least I didn’t have to worry about missing scarves tonight. All I had to do was focus on not tripping. If I could just make it down the runway and back, I’d be fine. Unless, of course, I suddenly came down with Tourette’s Syndrome and started swearing live on the air… but I’d know if I had Tourette’s, right? It doesn’t just come on out of nowhere, does it?
“Okay, girls. Your group is next,” Georgia said.
I took a deep breath. All I had to do is say, “My name is Landry, and I’m from Grand Rapids.” Easy—as long as I didn’t get the dry heaves or puke into the microphone and electrocute myself…or get diarrhea on live TV. Why did I ever go to the audition in the first place? Everything was fine when I was just boring old Landry fading into the background. The girls at school were a lot nicer to me when I was nobody special. I mean, before this stupid competition I had friends, but now it seemed like there was no one I could trust. Maybe if I lost this stupid thing I could go home and everything would be back to normal.
“Okay, girls. You guys are next.” Georgia pushed me in the back. “Don’t forget to smile,” she said in my ear.
Then the girl in front of me morphed into a different person. She straightened her spine and walked with a little skip in her step. “I’m Desiree, and I’m from Sterling Heights,” she said in a low sexy voice. Great, I had to follow her.
“I’m Landry, and I’m from Chicago, Illinois,” I said. I moved away from the microphone and realized I said “Chicago” instead of “Grand Rapids,” so I went back to the microphone to correct myself and slammed into the next girl. She acted like she didn’t notice, but I had hit the microphone and it made a shrieking noise. I heard laughter. People were laughing at me. On television. I wanted to die.
I saw Georgia gesturing at me to get off the stage, and I walked off. I had been practicing my stupid runway walk for weeks and for what? A chance to humiliate myself on live TV? I’ve always been sorta accident prone. If anybody was going to do something stupid and embarrassing it was probably me, but I thought I could control myself for two seconds on live television. I’m such an idiot.


Buy Links:

Connect with Krysten:

Amazon author profile

Book reviews:

From Teenage Book Recommendations in the UK:

Review- "This is a fantastically relatable and real book which I feel captures all of the insecurities and troubles which haunt the modern teenage girl. It is about a young model who has to go through tough times when she is torn between a life as a model and managing her friendships. You learn which friends she can most trust and which will create the drama typical of teenage life. Follow the life of Landry and try to see if you can find out which are her true friends before their true colours are revealed. This book is all about relationships, hopes and truth. I loved this book!"
Review from Purple Pen Book Reviews: Heart-touching  Life Story and Great Read!!

When I first started reading Krysten’s book, I thought to myself that she must no everyone’s story at any given time in their life, we have all had to deal with some kind of drama, rumors, judgment, and loss of friendship and hoping to gain friendship.

This book should be read by all tween & teen girls, I believe each one would have some sort of connection to Landry. By the way, I love that name, “Landry!” Every woman worries about how they look and how other people perceive them to be; doesn’t matter if we are tweens, teens, in our twenties, middle-age or older. when we all look in the mirror, we all wonder.

And Krysten, shows this and more in her book and how we all can learn from what she has written. A great story with a great lesson and great morals. Keep writing, Krysten!! http://purplepenbooksreview.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/blog-tour-krysten-hager/

From Books & Authors Spot:
PLOT:
So this book was just so awesome due to which I have rated this book 5/5, first book on the blog to receive full marks. This book is about Landry Albright, a fourteen year old girl who hates her hairs and forehead. She underestimate herself but she is really tall and she's a great writer. Her best friends Tori and Ericka forces her to participate in a modeling contest. Landry knows that she will be rejected as she is not gorgeous. But to her surprise, judges select her and her best friends Tori and Ericka get rejected. Ericka and Tori become jealous and they starts to ignore Landry.

Landry's heart breaks, due to the ignorance of her best friends. Meanwhile, she also gets second place in a short story writing competition. Landry makes a new best friend, Devon but she is really moody due to which things get complicated between them. Landry also befriends Ashanti, Peyton, India, Arianna. Landry likes a guy, Kyle but she knows that he will never have feelings for her as she is not gorgeous.

Landry fails the competition and it doesn't matter to her. She gets modeling opportunities from some modeling agencies, and she starts to model for an agency. A super handsome guy Vladi falls in love with him and Tori and Ericka want Landry back.
Know more about Landry's chaotic life which so relates every teen girl...

THEME:
Never underestimate yourself.

MY OPINION:
This book is such an inspiration for those who just care about their looks and are tensed about them. This thing is looks aren't every thing. This book is related to every teen's problem. Hager has written a very inspiring novel.

RATE: 5/5

PRAISE:
"Inspiring... Perfect for a depressing day."
http://booknauthors.blogspot.com/2014/12/true-colors-by-krysten-lindsay-hager.html?m=1

Book review from teen book blogger: Indyia's Reviews!
http://meaboveaverage.weebly.com/book-reviews/true-colors

Krysten Hager's "True Colors" is GREAT book for teens! I'm in love with this book because almost ANY middle school, or even high school teens can relate to this! This book opens up when the main character, Landry Albright, is going through the typical stage of wanting to fit in! She gets an opportunity of trying to fit in when her best friends Tori and Erika push her into trying out for this teen reality modeling show! Landry goes for it and ends up making it to the next round! Little Landry? Making it to the next cut? Who would've ever thought! Even she was surprised! The real problem comes when her two friends Erika and Tori get cut! Of course, being jealous and mad and they unfriend her the next day! Landry tries to make new friends! Through this journey she gets caught up in trying to be herself, but also wanting to be "perfect middle school girl" to meet her new friend's standards! Landry learns throughout the story how to deal with her new found enemies, a crush, and she figures out modeling isn't this great big fairy tale world! In the end, she figures out that true friends will love you for you! I love the moral of this story because to me, it's very self motivating! It's okay to be yourself and a little quirky sometimes! I defiantly give this book a 5 out of 5!! After all, "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself!" -Coco Chanel

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Zelda Benjamin and Chocolate Couture

 Have you heard? It's spring! Wow...and we've had -24C. Can't wait to see what summer will be like. Oh, wait...bugs ;o)

Ok, ok...Let's give a big round of applause for our next visiting author, Zelda Benjamin! Ooh, and she comes bearing chocolate. Score!

Could you share a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
I was born in Brooklyn, New York and like to think of each neighborhood as a small town with its own unique setting and characters. The people and the neighborhoods were the inspiration for my Love by Chocolate series. When I'm not writing, I'm usually out in the garden with the dog, working as a nurse, or eating chocolate (not necessarily in that order). My stories are sweet sensual romances. They are full of the passion and emotions we all experience.
I was always a storyteller and have had stories floating around in my mind forever. I started writing for professional nursing journals before I published my first romance.

Do you write full time?
My day job involves long shifts in a pediatric ER. On my days off I write every afternoon. And eat chocolate....

Would you take us on a brief tour of your novel and the world you’ve created?
Chocolate Couture is a story about Lily Peradou. Lily, a former Chocolatier and Food Network star
now owns a pastry shop on Smith Street in Brooklyn, NY. She comes from a privileged past and is determined to make it on her own. Even the best made plans have a kink or two.
When Lily inherits the vacant space next door, her plans to expand her shop are set in motion. They come to a full stop when the heirs of the estate contest the will. To further complicate Lily’s plan, along comes Noah Adler. He has purchased his Uncle’s diner on the other side of the vacant space and has expansion plans of his own.

Where does the inspiration for you main character and story come from?
All my stories have come from real life events. The plot twists in Chocolate Couture were inspired by an article I read about an inheritance case.

Do you work from an outline or just go with the flow?
I don’t work from an outline and definitely go with the flow. A few years ago I started using Scrivener software as my preferred writing process. I love the way it lets me navigate between my chapters. If an idea for a scene strikes me, I can move ahead and jot down my ideas and easily go back to the chapter I’m working on. Hmmm, maybe I could have you come back and give us some Scrivener pointers. 

Could you tell us how you go about your research, how you ‘catalogue’ information to make it all work?
I would be stating the obvious if I expanded on how much I enjoy doing the chocolate research. As for my other research, using Scrivener makes it easy to save and view any articles I need alongside my writing. I also do lots of hands on research when I travel. I take photos of buildings, food, and interesting people. I save them on my computer under the story name or add it the side bar of my chapter. (Scrivener allows me to do this) OK, you really have to think about a tutorial.

How is this book different or similar to what you have written in the past?
Chocolate Couture is the 4th book in my Love by Chocolate series. The story lines all revolve around different chocolate shops in Brooklyn, NY.
The first three books in the series were published by a traditional publisher, Avalon Books, They are now under the Montlake imprint.
Chocolate Couture was my first Indie published book.

How have the changes in present day publishing impacted your schedule as a writer?
Marketing and social media are a big part of writing today. I prefer to get that over with early in the day. I recently created a schedule that has me resetting my day at 2pm. When my social media needs are addressed, I take a break. It helps knowing that at 2pm I will sit down and concentrate on writing. I think that makes sense. One can easily waste the day way on social media sites, getting little work done and leaving little time to write.

How do you handle marketing? Do you have a plan, a publicist or just take one day at a time?
I take one day at a time. There are too many changes in publishing to know what works best.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Write, Write, Write - even if it’s only a paragraph at a time. If you decide to self publish, make sure your finished work is professional. Use an editor, a cover artist, or a formatter if you can’t do it yourself.

Could you tell us what you’re working on now?
My current work in progress is a romantic suspense. The challenge is finding the balance between the
romance and the suspense while I take the reader on an adventure. Sounds a little about my present dilemma with my WIP.

Author Bio
A pediatric ER nurse with a passion for story telling, traveling, and everything chocolate.

I write happily ever after stories. The heroes in my stories are sexy men who you can't help falling in love with. My heroines are sweet and sassy, independent women who know what they want out of life. Like everyone, they sometimes hit a bumpy road to get there.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. I like to think of each Brooklyn neighborhood as a small town with its own story to tell. The books in my Love By Chocolate series are set in Brooklyn, where the characters are connected like any small town.

Reviews
InD’tale Magazine 
“Crowned Heart” for excellence. Witty and utterly entertaining. A scrumptious confection for sure.

Amazon 5 Star
This lively story will leave you satisfied and hungry for more in this series. Zelda Benjamin is a master at creating rich sensuality in a sweet love story.




Links

Blog 

Books available- Kindle and paperback




Thursday, March 12, 2015

Vered Ehsani and Ghosts of Tsavo

Hello! I am back...not that I have been anywhere exciting, just working outside the home more than usual and trying to keep up with the inner workings of the household when I am here. Although my husband tells me to ''try and do an hour's worth of chores a day..." to which I smile...
Uh, running the household, cooking everything from scratch, homeschooling, novel writing, nursing the wee one and part time with the military....eh, yeah, no comment DH, at least not until you do it all and get up with me a few times a night, every night.
Oops! OK, back on track...

Let's move on to Africa! Yes, we've left space and the Amish behind. We now make our way across the globe to chat with Vered. (Unless you already live there, then it would be nice if you could get the tea ready.)

Could you share a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
For some reason, that’s such an intimidating question! In a nutshell, I’m South African born, Canadian raised and Kenyan resident. My husband and I have an assortment of animals, including the
kids. I wrote my first story when I was seven. I’m not sure why I did it, but I haven’t stopped since. Can you elaborate on the Canada/Africa/family a bit? I have 2 kids (not including my husband): a 14 year old son and an 11 year old daughter, both born and raised in Kenya. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and have lived half my life outside of Canada. My husband and I came to Kenya in mid 200, as we both were interested in developmental issues. I am not going to take the bait on your husband comment.

Do you write full time? How much of your life is set aside for writing?
It depends. I’m a consultant, which means I’m either overworked or unemployed. When I’m unemployed, I write full time. When I have a contract, not so much. 

Could you tell us a little about your novel?
My most recent novel is the first in a series concerning dead husbands, African legends and the search for a perfect spot of tea. I wrote it for those readers who adore “Pride & Prejudice” and would love to experience “The Parasol Protectorate” set in colonial Africa. So basically I wrote it for myself. You make me laugh...and I love the mix found in your book.

Ghosts of Tsavo introduces paranormal investigator Beatrice Knight as she travels to colonial Kenya and lands herself in the middle of a mystery involving man-eating lions and other inconveniences. Inconveniences...I'll keep that in mind. Sorry, go on. Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick and a dead husband, Mrs Knight is desperate for a pot of tea. What she ends up with are the machinations of her best friend’s dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to the lions.

Throughout the series, I’ve woven in African mythology and cultural tidbits into the story, while attempting to be true to the historical facts of the time and place. This involved a bit (or rather, a lot) of research, but living in Kenya for the past 15 years helps with getting the ambience and environment into the book.
                                                 
Where does the inspiration for you main character and story come from?
Mrs Knight and I do share a few interests: we both live on tea and consume far too much of the substance; we both have a snarky sense of humour (although I draw the line at laughing when someone dies, barely); and we love being in Kenya. As for the story… Well, I’ve wanted to write about my current home for a while now, but couldn’t quite drum up the courage to do so, as modern Kenya is a complex place. However I love historical fiction and a Kenyan friend of mine began sharing tribal stories of local myths his grandmother used to tell him. And thus it all began. Interesting!

What is the message behind the story? Was it something you specifically wrote a story around or did it develop as your characters came to life?
The message can be best summed up with the eloquent words of Mrs Knight: “Being dead is no excuse for bad manners.” (Choked on a sip of tea)

Do you work from an outline or just go with the flow? If you use an outline, how detailed is it?
A bit of both. I do sketch out the overall flow of the story, the major plot points, characters, important directions, that sort of thing. But in the writing process, some intriguing little detours pop up, and often I didn’t see them coming. For example, I had no idea Mrs Knight felt that way about a certain person whose name shall go unmentioned. My kind of characters...the question here is 'How much did you argue with her before letting her have these feelings?'

What is the time span in your novel, weeks, months, years? How much research went into it?
The novel happens over a few weeks (not including the passage by ship from London to Mombasa – that was a very tiresome time and we don’t dwell too much on that). Research – quite a bit. I needed to study not only the historical facts around Kenya of the time, but also Victorian dress and conduct, East African culture and myths, the general events of the time that may have impacted on decisions and attitudes etc.

Could you tell us how you go about your research, how you ‘catalogue’ information to make it all work?
Cataloguing makes me sound far too organised! I started off with a list of questions that I added to as I wrote. Research happened all through the writing process, and on a few points, the research actually indicated a new idea or character to add in.

How does this book differ from what you have written in the past?
My other books have for the most part also been in the paranormal sphere (apart from a brief dabble into Sci-Fi, but it still had a bit of the unworldly involved). This series though is truly dear to my heart, and is one with such a rich world, eccentric characters and so many opportunities to continue the journey or delve into side series. Previously, I didn’t write more than two books in a series, but I’ve already finished the first four in this one, and have a fifth sketched out and started. 

How have the changes in present day publishing impacted your schedule as a writer?
My schedule, when I’m not working on a contract, is not much different than if I do go to work elsewhere. In other words, I treat this as a business. I think that's wise, because a lot of time goes into writing our books, we need to invest as much in the marketing and promoting of our work.

How do you handle marketing? Do you have a plan, a publicist or just take one day at a time?
I have a plan… sort of! The first and most important part of marketing is to keep writing. That I intend to do. I’ve also been reading about marketing and experimenting with ideas I’ve picked up.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Keep writing! Also a book I’d recommend highly is “Write. Publish. Repeat.” Practical and to the point. I will have to look into that one, I haven't read it.

Could you tell us what you’re working on now?
I’m polishing up the next three books in the series, and working on the fifth. I also am working on in-between short stories; these will be given out to anyone who posts a review of a book in the series. The shorts have secrets that aren’t fully disclosed in the main books. We're going to have to post a review here too!

Book Blurb:
Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in colonial Kenya desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she’ll need more than that if she’s to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. All this while surviving the machinations of her best friend’s dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?

Purchase links:
Kobo and Barnes&Noble to be added shortly


Author bio:

Vered Ehsani has been a writer since she could hold pen to paper, which is a lot longer than she cares to admit. She lives in Kenya with her family and various other animals. When she isn’t writing or running a radio show, she pretends to work as an environmental consultant.  Visit Vered and her world of African paranormal thrillers at http://veredehsani.co.za and get a free book. Email her at veredehsani (at) gmail.com – she loves to hear from her readers.

We can look forward to Vered possibly indulging us with a character interview...I'll keep you posted! Keep your fingers crossed :o)