Guest Post: The Diary of Willow Krimble (Giuseppe Bianco)

The Diary Of Willow Krimble
First Entry

Dear Diary,

Wow, this feels so weird. I’ve never written that before, which is really odd, since Grandma Trisha gave me this Diary two years ago. She knows how much I love to write. I’ve written a few short stories and a ton of poems, but I’ve never written in a diary before. With the strange events that have been happening to me lately, I just feel like I need to express certain things that I can’t share with anyone else, including my best friend, Razzel.

​So, where to begin, Diary? Since I’m new at this, I’d feel a lot better if I gave you little bit of background info on myself – even though you are just a leather-bound notebook – no offense.
​
My name is Willow Krimble. I’m 13-years-old, I have freckles, bushy, almond-colored hair, and I have to wear a retainer for the next six months, even though I finally got my braces off. Sounds like your typical tween, right? Oh, I promise you, it gets more interesting, Diary. I wouldn’t exactly call my life “typical”. You see, for one thing, I was born without the bottom half of my left leg, so I’ve had to wear a prosthetic limb pretty much my whole life. It’s all I’ve ever known, so I don’t mind it. I often notice my classmates curiously staring at it, which isn’t my favorite pastime, but you get used to it. You never do get used to the insults, though. Shayla Stergus and Snella Burinbine, at school, think it’s pretty funny to call me things like “Prosthetic Princess”, or “One-Leg Wonder”. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bug me. I don’t have to tell you how powerful words can be. They can raise you to amazing heights, where you’re heart begs to remain, or they can drag you to a dark place, where it seems as if the tiniest flicker of hope will never shine again. Sorry to get so deep, there, Diary. It’s the poet in me, I guess.
​
But thank goodness for my best friend, Razzel Fiora; she’s had my back since we were three years old. She really looks out for me. It’s not the worst thing in the world to have a best friend who’s skilled in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, complimented by a sarcastic attitude. Comes in handy when someone refers to you as “Robo-Crutch”. Don’t laugh, Diary – not funny.
​
But enough about my middle school angst. Now that I’ve filled you in on the basics, I think I’m finally ready to share something else with you; something … peculiar … something … curious. You see, the retainer, untamable hair, and steel leg are just the back-story to Willow Krimble. Did I just refer to myself in the third-person? Sorry about that. Anyway, the real thing you should know about me is, lately … well … strange, unexplainable things have been happening around me, and I’m not sure I should tell anyone. But If I don’t share it with someone, I’ll just burst. That’s where you come in, Diary.

​I always tell Raz everything, but suddenly being struck with the power to heal others isn’t information I need to be sharing with anyone just yet. You read that right; I can heal people. Well, at least I think I can. I’ve had three separate instances this week where two people, and one pet-shop guinea pig, were suddenly healed after I came in contact with them. Crazy, right? I mean, why me? What makes me so special? And why now?
​
Truth is, there was a time when I … well … okay, no one knows this, Diary; not my mom, my older brother, Wyatt, not even Raz, but when my dad was sick, just before he passed away, I wanted so badly to be able to take his illness away – to just pull it out of him and dispel it. I remember on my seventh birthday, when I blew out those candles, I wished with my entire soul, for him to get better. I remember gazing at his frail, withered appearance, after my vicious puffing extinguished the final thin, pink-swirled candle. I remember thinking I’d performed some wondrous magic. When you’re seven, you believe in that stuff – you believe in everything. Call it what you want: Magic, miracles, super powers, whatever… When you’re a kid, you can feel these moments when you think something amazing has just happened. Something that makes your heart feel like it just expanded wider than it ever has; that moment where nothing ugly in this world matters because all you can see is the beauty, surrounding it. That’s what you feel when you’re a young kid and something incredibly unexpected happens, like coming home to a freshly baked batch of chocolate chunk cookies for no particular reason … or getting a snow day off from school … or having your birthday wish come true…. But you should know, Diary, that my wish never did come true that year. That feeling I had when I blew out those candles, was totally premature. Or should I say, “immature”; just a little kid with a big wish. A wish that deep down, beyond that heart-swelling feeling, I knew would never really come true. Sorry to be such a downer, Diary, but if what I can do is truly real, then why did it happen now? Why not six years ago? Life is really strange that way, isn’t it? Things never turn out the way we map them out in our own minds, but I suppose there is a reason for everything that’s happening to me. Grandma Trisha always tells me: “Let life travel where it wants to go; just savor the journey.” I think I get my passion for writing from her, but don’t tell mom I said that.
​
You should know, Diary, that I just paused for a ginormous yawn, so, clearly, I’m not going to figure this all out tonight. I’d better get to bed; I promised Raz I'd meet her at the library tomorrow to work on our homeostasis paper for Science Class. Well, Diary, thanks for listening. I feel a lot better now that I was able to share all of this with you. Maybe I’m crazy; maybe all of these things have just been a strange coincidence. Maybe I am just a typical kid, with an overactive imagination. I’ll keep you posted. Oh, and, Diary … thanks for keeping my secret.

The winner of a signed copy of A Girl Named Willow Krimble is...

Shannon J!

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Book Review: Static (+ extras)

Be careful what you listen to...

During the summer before her senior year, 17 year old band groupie, Salem Vale, has been following her favorite punk rockers, Malice, from gig to gig hoping that one night she might get backstage and meet the sinisterly sexy guys. She’s been saving her virginity for the lead singer Thane. One fateful evening she gets her wish. It’s a dream come true.

Except the dream turns to a nightmare when she wakes up in a dumpster, tossed away like yesterday’s trash, with no memory of what happened the night before. She feels strange, different, as if something is trying to get out. Soon she realizes she’s changing…turning into something not quite human.

Now a hunger deep inside claws at her to feed, to siphon energy from those around her. Before she can do just that, Trevor, the band’s roadie shows up and stops her from killing. With his help she learns to control the hunger inside, because he’s just like her. And in return he wants her help to do one little thing…

Help him kill the members of Malice.

I recently read Staticby Tawny Stokes. Starting with the cover... seriously... I love it. I think it's definitely one that'll catch eyes on a shelf. I would, however, recommend this for the older crowd. It's definitely not for tweens.

I really enjoyed Salem, the book's main character. She was funny and sassy and wasn't perfect. She's dealing with a lot and messing up along the way. Too often characters are "perfect" and that bugs me. Salem was very refreshing. Also, Salem Vale... I kinda want her name.

The supporting characters weren't always likable, but they really fit into the story well. Their interactions and dialogue are realistic. Static fits in the YA Urban Fantasy category, but stands out as being unique. The story is unlike any I've come across.

I admit that I don't read a lot of self published books, but this one was one of my favorites. My biggest issue were some of the continuity errors. One page says 7:30; on the next it's at 6:00. And there were a few times where I stopped with a "Whut? That word doesn't sound right." Little things that could have benefitted an editor or more betas. But all-in-all it was a fast, fun read. I'll definitely be reading more from Tawny Stokes.

Below the wonderful cover you'll find an interview with our heroine and an excerpt of chapter one. And be sure to visit Tawny Stokes' site for more info on her and get books.

Character Interview

A big thank you for having me today.  I have the pleasure of bringing Salem Vale from my book Static with me today…well it took some persuading to get her here….


You said you were taking me to that Doc Marten store.

I know I did, and I will, after this interview….

Fine.

So, here we go….fast five with Salem Vale.

Five favourite bands:

Sick Puppies, Korn, Sum 41, Papa Roach, and Red, I actually like a lot of bands but those are the first ones to come to my head.  Oh and I used to love Malice until they messed me up.

Five favourite foods:

Um, pizza, tacos, hot pockets, hamburgers, and like gummy bears.

Five favourite movies:

Jennifer’s Body, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Paranormal Activity, and Superbad.  I love me some Michael Cera.

Five favourite books:

Do graphic novels count as books?  I did read that Hunger Games book. It was pretty cool.  Oh, and basically anything Neil Gaiman writes.  He’s a rock star.

Five favourite actors:

Hmm, there’s that dude from True Blood…the Viking.  He’s hot.  Um, Johnny Depp for sure.  He’s uber cool. Emile Hirsch for sure, oh and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And Michael Cera of course.

Can we go to that store now?  I really want a new pair of books. These ones have holes in them.

Sure, Salem, thanks for coming out today and sharing  a little about yourself.

Yeah, no sweat.  I’ll catch you all later.

STATIC EXCERPT
Chapter 1

You belong to me…

I own you…

The hypnotic timbre of Thane’s voice surged through my body making me tingle all over. Like a rush of heroin injected into my vein, soothing me, exciting me, I was completely and utterly hooked.
The bustling crowd in front of the stage swayed back and forth and I swayed with them. I was caught in the movement—the flow of people stirred like a whirlpool to the intoxicating rhythm and razor sharp lyrics of Malice.

Your life’s in my hands…

I’m sucking your soul…

My favorite band for the past year, I’d traveled, with my best friend Chloe, across Idaho and Washington in the past two months to see them play. My mom had been really cool about it, even lending me her car—an old POS, but a vehicle nonetheless—to drive to the shows just as long as I didn’t drive home trashed. I’d attempted it one night, but got scared when I couldn’t keep it on the road, and pulled over at a rest stop. Chloe and I slept in the car.

Thankfully no crazed psycho killer raped and mutilated us. The worst that came at us was a stray dog looking for some scraps. Chloe gave it the rest of her cheeseburger that we’d picked up a MacDonald’s drive thru after the show.

For eight gigs, I’d been entranced by the four member—three guys and one girl—band. My body responded to every aspect of their music. My head pounded to the constant heady thump of the drums, my heart thrashed to every guitar riff, and my thighs clenched with every word lead singer Thane uttered into the microphone.

Some songs he looked like he was making love to the equipment, running his fingers up and down the silver pole, uttering a lover’s words in its ear. I ached and throbbed wishing I could be that thin pole of shiny metal. If only he’d hold me like that, gripping me tightly, running his sweet lips over my face and neck. My eyes nearly rolled back in my head in ecstasy imagining what that would feel like.

That was when Chloe punched me in the arm starling me from my fantasy. “Salem?”

“What?” I grunted, peering at her between strands of black and blond hair hanging in my eyes.

“Do you want some of this?”

I glanced down to see her passing me some vodka. I took the offered bottle and tipped it to my lips swallowing down a good portion. It burned going down, but it was a good burn, telling me I was still sober. Which I needed to be if I was going to complete my mission of getting a back stage pass to meet the band. This was their final gig for the summer in my home city—Boise, Idaho—and I wouldn’t get another chance to offer up my virginity to Thane. I’d been holding onto it just for him.

My mom had always told me that virginity was a gift and the guy better be someone special enough to give it to. I figured Thane was extremely special. I mean, my mom had given hers up to some Rock God in the 80’s, I suspected it was either Keith Richards or Iggy Pop because she had signed pictures of them both thanking her for a stellar night and when she mentioned either one of them she got this little smile on her lips and a devilish sparkle in her eye.

Before I could hand the bottle back to Chloe, the couple next to us bumped into my arm and I nearly dropped it. I turned around to glare at them, but they were so busy making out that they didn’t notice. That was one thing I did notice about Malice gigs, there always seemed to be a lot of couples kissing and groping each other either on the stage floor or in darkened corners peppered around the venue.

In Spokane, when I went to the bathroom at the club the band was playing in, I happened upon two girls making out in one of the stalls. Although I was an equal opportunity snogger, that had thrown me for a loop. I certainly knew some people were gay, I didn’t have an issue with that—I had an uncle who was gay and a friend at school—it was just I’d never seen it so graphically displayed before.

Once I’d finally given the bottle back to Chloe, she wiped the top with the hem of her t-shirt—I guess she didn’t appreciate my spit—and took a pull, then tucked it back into the pocket of her army green jacket that swam on her lanky but scrawny frame.

“Did you figure out how we’re going to score backstage passes yet?”

Shaking my head, I set my attention on the security guards off to one side of the stage, handing passes on strings to a few big-breasted Goth wannabes. At every show I watched similar guards giving passes to similar types of girls. The two times I’d asked for one, they’d looked me up and down, likely taking in my black 10 holed Doc Martens, jeans-a few worn spots at the knees and on the ass—shaggy mop of black and white hair, and Betty Boop t-shirt that didn’t stretch out to a DD cup, or to a C for that matter and disregarded me in the time it took to do the bra calculations.

This time I came armed. I’d shoved my mom’s silicone gel boobs into my bra under my vintage Sex Pistols t-shirt. That made me go from an A cup to a perky B. I was also wearing my extra special pair of worn jeans that made my ass look good. I’d considered also wearing my mom’s butt enhancer panties—she had real body image issues—but decided against it. I didn’t want to look like a complete whore.

“I’m going to ask real nice.” A trickle of sweat ran down the back of my neck. I wiped at it. I really didn’t want to have sweat stains on the back of my t-shirt. The heat in the club was nearly oppressive. Too many bodies packed into too small a room.

Chloe eyed me dubiously, black eyeliner starting to run down her gaunt cheeks. “You did that the last time. And the security dude was a real dickhead about it.”

“That was before I had these.” I stuck out my chest and cupped my boobs.

Chloe shook her head, her short cap of fire-engine red hair swinging. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”

“Duh? That’s all guys understand. Boobs. It’s as if they are actually communicating with them, the way they stare.”

“Well, then, good luck with hypnotizing these security assholes with your perfect B boobs.” Chloe laughed. “You should go soon cuz it sounds like they’re getting ready to wrap up the set.”
She was right. Devon, the girl band member, stepped forward to roll into her bass solo, her pink Tokyopop pigtails bouncing to the rhythm. It was the beginning of their song, Sin City, which they always played second to last. Straightening my shoulders, I made my way, by pushing and shoving, through the pulsating crowd toward the right side of the stage.

When I reached my destination, there were three bimbos standing in front of me giggling and jiggling at the two beefy security guys. It just about made me want to barf. I actually had to put my hand to my mouth just in case I did.

“Excuse me,” I yelled over top one of the girl’s bleached blond head. “Can I get a couple of passes?”

The blond whipped around to glare at me. She had one of those hoops in her nose that made her look like a bull. I wondered if I waved a red flap if she’d charge at me. She looked scary enough to do just that.

One of the security guys looked me up and down. “Sorry. I just ran out.”

I noticed the passes dangling from the all three of the girls’ hands. “They got some.”

“Those were my last three.” He shrugged and went back to ogling one of the three girls who was wearing a black fishnet top and nothing underneath. I think her nipples were even pierced. I managed to spy a glint of sliver when she turned to glare at me too.

Blondie continued to glare at me. “Why don’t you run along little girl? Go play with your Goth Barbie.”

I hated when people assumed I was so young. I was seventeen but short—five feet one—and I got mistaken for fourteen all. The. Time. It didn’t help that I was small too—a whopping size one—with petite delicate features courtesy of my mom who looked like a punk pixie most days with her short spiky black hair and colorful tattoos covering a lot of her tight compact body.

So it didn’t surprise me when my hands began to shake from the anger welling up. I despised confrontation but right now I hated not having a back stage pass even more. I glanced up at the stage and watched as Thane moved around with his long sinuous limbs and silky black hair falling in his perfect pale face making my stomach clench. I had to get backstage no matter what.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” I finally said.

She arched her pierced eyebrow and set one hand on her ample hip. “Excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to?”

I took in her appearance, noticing she wore cheap purple hair extensions, I could plainly see one of the clips in her hairline at her temple, and her face was adorned with several piercings. She looked like she’d been put together with pins.

I smirked. “Skankenstein?”

The two security guys laughed at that, as did one of her friends but not the one with her nipples poking out.

“You bitch!” she shrieked.

I didn’t expect her to hit me. But she did. Hard. An open hand slap right across my left cheek. It stung like hell. I’d never been slapped before and didn’t realize how badly it could hurt. I think my lip was cut as well because I could taste blood in my mouth. I glanced down at her hand and noticed the solid silver rings on her hand. The bitch had turned them in.

“Hey,” one of the security guards shouted, “If you’re going to fight take it outside.”

A little crowd started to form around us. The scent of blood always got teenagers’ attentions. We were like animals in that regard. I don’t know how many times I’d been in one of those crowds watching as two or three or more people beat the crap out of each other for pathetic and irrelevant reasons.

I could read the lips of the guys standing closest to us as they passed the word on about the bitch fight about to happen. What was it with guys wanting to watch two girls fight? I really hated to be in the middle of one, all eyes watching, ready for the scratching and hair pulling that usually entailed in a girl fight and hoping for blood.

Usually a loner, I didn’t like a lot of attention. Preferring to stick to my three or four good friends, I didn’t much like being in a crowd, except at a gig. But then when I came to a Malice concert, it was always just between me and the band. The crowds never bothered me. I just came to hear the music and watch the sexy guys on the stage—I came for the rock fantasy.

So standing in front of a fuming blond bimbo out for blood in a fighting circle surrounded by twenty or thirty people wasn’t making me feel all that good. Again, I felt like I was going to barf. I didn’t want to fight. I wasn’t big on violence; I didn’t even play fighting games on my DS. But I was not the type of person to back down either. My mom had always taught me to stick up for myself. Although I’m sure she didn’t mean that I should punch the shit out of this girl. Even if I wanted to.

Rubbing my cheek, I tried to appeal to the girl’s reasonable side, assuming she possessed one. “I think for that you should give me your backstage pass. We’ll call it even.”

She laughed. “Not likely.” Then she shoved me hard. I stumbled backwards into the murmuring crowd. Two sets of hands pushed me back into the circle. Hey, thanks guys!

It was obvious I wasn’t going to walk away from this easily. Or at all by the murdering look in the blond’s eyes. But no one ever said being a groupie was easy.

Not sure what to do, I glanced up and locked gazes with Thane. He was standing near the side of the stage looking down at me; the microphone stand gripped tightly, his dark eyes piercing me. Heat blossomed inside of me. I’d never been looked at like that by a guy before. As if he wanted to devour me from the toes up. I put a hand to my stomach where butterflies started to flip flop around like beached fish.

A rush of something I couldn’t name shot through my body. Adrenaline or lust, I didn’t know which, but whatever it was made me feel really good. Powerful even. Sexy. Like one of the female members of the X-Men. Storm maybe, or Rogue, maybe even Dark Phoenix before she went insane and killed everyone.

Whatever it was, I liked it.

Putting my attention back on my blond nemesis, I decided I needed to act if I was going to get out of the situation. Faster than I knew I could move, I reached up and snatched the bull ring from her nose.

She screamed and grabbed her nose with both hands. Blood seeped between her fingers to drip on the floor.

The sound of her skin and cartilage ripping made me shiver. Even above the music I had heard it ring in my ears. I felt bad for liking the sound, but she had it coming.

Her two friends gathered her in the safety of their arms but they both stared at me with a mixture of venom and apprehension. I suspected no one saw that coming. I certainly hadn’t.

In a daze, I looked around me, and noticed that she’d dropped her backstage pass onto the floor. Leaning down I snatched it up and smiled. I finally got my backstage pass.

As I hung it around my neck, my gaze met Thane’s once again. He was singing the last lines of their last song but he was watching me. And he smiled.

I smiled in return.

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Guest Post: The Teen Inside Me (Tawny Stokes)

I’m pretty sure I never really grew up.  Not really.  Sure I got married and had a kid, and got divorced and pay taxes and pay bills.  I do all the adult things I’m supposed to. But deep down inside I still feel 16.  Which is probably why writing YA feels so normal to me.

I’ve written a lot of books for adults but it wasn’t until I started writing YA that it felt truly right.  Static was the first YA I’d written.  And it was an easy book to write.  And a joy to write.  Some of it was like jotting down old memories. Vivid memories that I could still see, and hear and feel.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Salem’s experiences were mine. Although I had attended many gigs when I was a teen, and I did travel around following different bands, I have in no way had any contact with an incubus and have ever been turning into anything unnatural.  *looks in mirrors checks eyes*.  Nope, still good.

It was the same when I wrote Demon Whisperer.  It was easy.  Well, not easy easy, all writing is hard, but I didn’t have to think about what I was writing, it just flowed.  The difficult part was not interjecting my thought processes into the way Caden would think and behave.  He’s 17 and I’m well, not 17, and I have many life experiences, I’ve learned the hard way some tough lessons.  So, sometimes it proved difficult to allow Caden to make those mistakes when I knew better.  I didn’t want Caden to do dumb stuff, make poor decisions, but I knew to keep his voice authentic I had to let go.  And remember all those painful moments from my teen years.  In some ways, it was fun to relive them.  Like first love.  That’s always my favourite thing to re-experience, that rush.  And Caden’s got it bad for Aspen.  J

So now I’ve come up with the 5 ways you can tell you have a teenager living inside of you, for all those adults out there…

1. You call everyone dude
2. Your thumbs have callouses from texting
3. Your iPod, iPhone and other devices are part of your iDentity
4. You are either Team Gale or Team Peeta, or the fact that you think in teams when it comes to dudes
5. Other words in your vocabulary are: epic, uber, junk and awesomesauce
6. You watched the Hunger Games movie trailer ten times in a row.  (Okay, that might’ve just been me)

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Guest Post: Reinvention (Tawny Stokes)

Ch-ch-changes…as David Bowie’s iconic song streams through my head, I think about all the changes I’ve made in the past year.  There has been quite a few.  Some small, and some major.  Some personal like my continual battle with Pepsi addiction, but most are related to my writing career.

As probably a lot of you know, there has been tons of turmoil in the publishing industry, and unfortunately since I haven’t found huge success in the paranormal field, that turmoil has affected me, as well as tons of other authors I know and love.  As with all strife, its how you handle it that makes the difference. And I’ve never been one to let anything get me down.  I’ve been dropped by publishers even before this industry shakeup.  Kensington dropped me after my disastrous showing in sales of my adult post-apocolyptic book Inferno, the sequel to Hell Kat.  And I kept going.  

After my third book came out from Harlequin Nocturne, I did some soul searching, and realized I really didn’t belong in the current paranormal romance field, IMHO.  I realized I had a strong voice for YA, so I wrote one, and sent it to my agent and she shopped it, and shopped it and shopped it. And unfortunately, it didn’t hit.  So I wrote another YA, and sent it to my agent and she shopped it and shopped it and shopped it.  We came closer with this one, so close it makes me cry just thinking about it.  But through this all I realized that I LOVE writing YA.

Also through this shake up, I went back to my first love, writing screenplays.  I actually started writing them before I ever wrote a book.  So I’ve written a couple of scripts, and in the past year, I’ve secured a Hollywood manager, and a producer who loves my work and my voice and we have developed a TV show pilot together, (which is actually based one of my YA books) and it is currently at the networks being considered.  Wheeeeeeee!!  I have a few other scripts being read as well by various producers.  I’m very excited about the future for me in movies and TV.

Oh right, back to books…. J

So through this all, and the rise of ebooks, and the kindle, I decided to selfpublish as well.  I’ve already released an adult urban fantasy called GLIMMER, under my Vivi Anna name, and I’ve just released my first YA, called STATIC, under my real name Tawny Stokes.  And through this all I realized that all I really want to write is YA.  I’m very excited about the choices that authors have now.  I’m excited about the future of publishing for authors.  We have many paths to take to get to publication.  It’s a brave new publishing world and I’m very excited to be part of it.

Oh, and for all those cupcake lovers out there, Mocha are you listening? I just recently had the most amazing cupcake in all the world…at Pink Sugar Cupcakery in Victoria, British Columbia.  I had their trademark cake the Pink Sugar.  It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in my whole life. And they do orders online…I’m just saying.  J

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Comparison: A TALE DARK AND GRIMM and THE GRIMM LEGACY

A TALE DARK AND GRIMM
By Adam Gidwitz
272 pages. Andersen. £5.99. (Ages 9 and up).

ISBN
9781849393706

Rating: 5 Stars


THE GRIMM LEGACY
By Polly Shulman
336 pages. Putnam Juvenile. $16.99. (Ages 10 and up).

ISBN
9780399250965

Rating: 5 Stars

      A Tale Dark and Grimm tells you the true story about Hansel and Gretel. It is about a king who marries a beautiful princess. His faithful servant, Johannes, turns to stone for saving them. However, that’s not the whole story because then they have children and they cut off their heads so that Johannes will come back to life. Although that’s not where the story ends. The children then come back to life and run away to find new parents. Hansel and Gretel are then pushed around to different parents but never is one good enough.
      My favourite character is Gretel because she kills a dragon. My favourite part is when Gretel goes to a murderer’s house. I think ages eight through twelve should read this brilliant book. I think this book deserves five out of five stars. I like this book so much that I just want to read it over and over again but sadly it belongs to the library, I just wish I had it!
      The Grimm Legacy is about a young girl called Elizabeth who works at a library that isn’t really a library of books. To find out what the library has in it read the book yourself.
      A Tale Dark and Grimm and The Grimm Legacy are both amazingly good but I think that A Tale Dark and Grimm is better because there’s no kissing.Both of these books have some things to do with the Grimm's fairy tales and actually involve some of my favourite fairy tales. I think that the way The Grimm Legacy is connected to the Grimm's fairy tales is good because they take things from the fairy tales and try to say what would happen if they were in our world. On the other hand A Tale Dark and Grimm is actually retelling one of the Grimm's fairy tales.

also on Guardian Children's Books Site

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Guest Post: A Few of my Favorite YA Things (Tawny Stokes)

I love to read YA books.  They are usually all I read now.  I find that I am always surprised when I pick up a new book.  I don’t already have expectations like I would when I pick up a paranormal romance or urban fantasy these days.  Yes, I have been disappointed by some YA books, but for the most part I enjoy every one I read.  And it’s not just books, I love teen movies ever since I was a teen. Some of my favourite movies are teen oriented.  I think basically I am still 16 living in a 40 year old form.  

Here are some of my favourites:

BOOKS:

Hunger Games (trilogy) – Suzanne Collins

Gone (series ) – Michael Grant

Devouring (trilogy) – Simon Holt

Matched – Ally Condie

Divergent – Veronica Roth

Unwind – Neal Shusterman

Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver

Delirium – Lauren Oliver

Forest of Hands and Teeth – (series) – Carrie Ryan

 

MOVIES:

Easy A

Superbad

Jennifer’s Body

The Faculty

The Craft

Juno

Breakfast Club

Valley Girl

 

Tell me about your favourite YA books and movies.

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2011: A Year in Review

This year was a big year. I grew a bit more serious about reviewing books on my blog. I've been networking with authors and publishers. And I'm really excited about the results. I also recently started a Tumblr.

I read many incredible books this year. It's impossible to pick one favorite. But a few that stood out...

I loved everything I read by Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Kim Harrison, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Vincent, and Maggie Stiefvater. But that wasn't much of a surprise. I've been a fan of theirs for years. Melissa released her first adult novel this year with Graveminder. I might even like it more than her faeries. Speaking of faeries, Maggie's The Scorpio Races was amazing. Another book that might've topped my old favorite of hers.

I started a couple of new series this year. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready had been on my shelf since it came out. I finally picked it up, and I loved it. Shift and Shine will definitely be high up on my 2012 tbr pile. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore was a fun, fast read, and I'm eager to continue the series. Ash by Malinda Lo was a fantastic retelling of Cinderella. I can't wait to read Huntress. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey was an incredible debut.

An old trilogy I picked up was The Secret Circle by L. J. Smith, originally published in the 90's. I picked it up before the show premiered. And while I enjoy both, they are very different.

I also read a couple of stand-alone novels. Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr was beautifully written. I've not been disappointed by any of her books. And How to Save a Life was even more incredible. She's definitely one of my favorite YA contemporary authors. I came across a used library copy of the out-of-print The Selchie's Seed by Shulamith Oppenheim. It's very short, and I had to force myself to put it down and make it last more than one sitting. It was beautiful. Definitely one I'll be rereading this coming year.

I've been trying to read more middle grade fiction since I have so much of it on my shelf. I really enjoyed Priscilla the Great by Sybil Nelson and A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Guiseppe Bianco. The latter was originally published as a freebie online and later self published in book and ebook format. I read it in two sittings. I read the first half, and then put it down. But then picked it back up thirty minutes later and finished it out. Another wonderful MG book was The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

I'm not big on the classics, but I did finish Through the Looking-Glass this year, and I'm still making my way through the Narnia series. I plan to finish the last two in 2012 as well as read The Wind in the Willows.

This was a big year for manga and graphic novels. I continue to be a huge fan of Bill Willingham's Fables series. I discovered a YA line of graphic novels called Minx and have enjoyed several of their titles, including Clubbing, Emiko Superstar, and The Plain Janes. I read all 8 volumes of Chobits by Clamp. I loved that series and plan to read their Cardcaptor Sakura series in 2012, as well as xXxHoLic. I'm also excited about rereading the rereleases of Sailor Moon. Other manga I fell I love with in 2011 was Kuroshitsuji, aka Black Butler.

And now for the giveaway! I'm giving away a copy of one of my favorite 2011 reads, A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Guiseppe Bianco. Trust me, you want to read this one.

To enter:
1. Follow this blog using GFC.
2. You must be 13 or older. (Since this book is MG, everyone ages 9-12 may be entered, but please have a parent do it for you.)
3. Open internationally.
4. Please fill out this form.

So... those were my favorite books of 2011. What were yours?

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