Interview with Mia Siegert | Author of YA LGBT Debut Jerkbait

I sat down (well, I technically didn't sit with her but I really want to!) with Mia Siegert, debut author of Jerkbait. It's a YA LGBT hockey novel that follows two twins and the catastrophic events that occur when one attempts to commit suicide. It tackles so many great topics. Topics include but are not limited to suicide, sexuality, bullying, cyber-bullying, stranger danger online, sibling rivalry and first love. With strong character development and a great story line, this book is sure to amaze readers and encourage diverse books. 

Check out my book review → here! 

• From what I've read about you, you're not a twin. Correct me if I'm wrong! Because you aren't a twin, how were you able to translate the relationship of twins so well in the book? What kind of research was done? Being a twin myself, I definitely felt like we weren't being misrepresented and your descriptions about their behaviors were spot on!

You’re right—I’m not a twin! I was raised an only child although now I have two stepsisters.  

I’m not sure about management, which probably sounds like a strange thing to say, but for me it’s natural. Maybe it’s because I went to Goddard College for grad school where we were encouraged to experiment and write fearlessly. And it might sound terrible, but I didn’t do as much research as one would think. I studied cryptophasia VERY closely and the twin telepathy for some ideas/initial drafts, but as it went on, I guess I thought of it more as this bond.

It helped that my editor McKelle George knows a LOT about big families, which was important to convey. We didn’t want twins to be a gimmick.

Author Interview + Giveaway: Cleo by Lucy Coats

Cleo by Lucy Coats
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars :star :star :star :star
Source: eARC via Netgalley | Hachette Children’s Books
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2015
Pages: 320
Genre: fantasy, middle grade, historical fiction,
adventure, young adult
Godreads

Her precious mother is dead - and it isn't an accident! The young Cleopatra - Pharaoh's illegitimate daughter - must flee the royal palace at Alexandria or die too. As her evil half-sisters usurp the throne, Cleo finds sanctuary at the sacred temple of Isis, where years later she becomes initiated into the secret Sisters of the Living Knot. But now Isis's power is failing, Egypt is in danger, and Cleo must prove her loyalty to her goddess by returning to the Alexandria she hates. She must seek out the hidden map which is the key to returning Isis's power - on pain of death. But will she be able to evade her horrible sisters? And will she find dreamy Khai, the über-hot Librarian boy she met as she fled Alexandria years before? Cleo's powerful destiny is about to unfold… Gorgeous and evocative, this captivating new YA novel imagines the life of the teenage Cleopatra before she became the icon we think we know.

My Review

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Cleo instantly grabbed me with its cover. I saw, Cleo and Cleopatras face with a cartoonish design and immediately gleamed it was a middle grade historical fiction book. Keeping with my historical fiction frenzy I decided to request it, and I’m so glad I did. Although I have kind of taken a break from my middle grade frenzy these past few months, I do still love the genre (and always will). In fact, reading Cleo has helped me remember why I love middle grade books so much when they’re done well. Cleo definitely did a hard thing, in my opinion. That is in the sense that to I felt like I really was reading a great historical fiction novel…but more importantly, I just felt I was reading a story. A story of Cleopatra and how she had to flee the palace in fear for her life just minutes after her mother was pronounced dead.  Talk about exciting!

The pacing of this book was excellent. Pacing has been so important to me lately due to my busy schedule. I don’t really give every book 100 pages to “warm up” to anymore like I used to. If I do it just sits there and collects dust and builds guilt in my stomach for not finishing another book. :| Which is why I can’t skip the fact that this book had me pretty much glued to my kindle as the events unfolded. Another thing rarely accomplished in middle grade to a seasoned middle grade reader like myself aka old. KEEP ME GUESSING UNTIL THE END.

And boy, did this book do that. Almost infuriatingly so, to be honest. Why do I say infuriating? Well, probably because I thought things would be tied up with a nice big fat bow on the top at the end. NOT SO! There’s not so much a cliffhanger, as a what the heck moment at the end that I seriously did NOT see coming. It makes me so happy though when this happens in MG books though because I always feel like I know what is going to come. Especially with an adventure story such as this.

Then again, Cleo is so much more than just an adventure story. It’s the story of Cleopatra and her best friend/slave and her survival traveling across the land to finally become a priestess of the goddess. There is some magical elements n the book, that are really really freaking cool!! For instance, the gods and goddess can show their favor openly to anyone/everyone. So some random girl can walk into a room and maybe, if she’s in danger or something, a god can show that they favor her by having a brightly lit symbol of said god glow above her! I thought that was really cool. Besides these little nuances, the ancient Egyptian world was extremely close to our own, in history. I felt it was very believable from the historical aspect. In fact, a little too believable [see interview below]. >.<

While Cleo can “see” gods / goddesses, it’s not something anyone knows. She hides this vey rare and valuable gift, although it doesn’t really come to play more than in a cursory sense, same as her being favorited by the goddess is more like a burden to be honest, and Cleo doesn’t hold herself above others (much). In case like me you kind of are bored by these heroines/heroes born with special magical powers that just save them from everything while they do literally nothing of accomplishment and at the end reap all benefit and priase. *eye roll* THIS is NOT that type of book.

While there is a love interest, Khai isn’t in a lot of the story until the end. I actually really really liked it because (another tricky feat) it felt like a genuine middle grade love blossoming. It didn’t feel too advanced or too juvenile. It really seemed natural and cute and there were tons of “awww!” moments that I just loved (especially since Khai’s a librarian!!!!) :L

The “villains” AKA “Evil Sow Sisters” are Cleopatra’s two half sisters who take the throne after her mother passes away (her father, the Pharaoh is in Rome). Those two…wow, what can I say? I’ll keep it short by saying they were excellent villians. They had depth (one more likable than the other), personality, evil geniuses, and I could see why they decided to turn to evil. Sometimes characters are just “evil” for the sake of “evil” and I always think “why? what enticed them to this lifestyle?” :O I really am anxious to see what happens in the next book with the whole family situation.

Oh did I not mention? THERE IS A SEQUEL. Yes, as I mentioned earlier, the ending really had me surprised. Not only due to the plot twist, but because I had NO idea there was going to be a second book! That kind of bummed me out, because I felt like I was purposefully manipulated. Although, obviously, that is far from the truth! lol. I just didn’t know. So it took me totally off guard and yeah, now I am pretty much in hives dying trying to figure out what will happen with Cleo and Co. in the next book, Chosen! ^_^

I really recommend this book. I heard some reviewers saying it didn’t have enough “historical language” and I have to disagree. I’ve read adult historical fiction books with less historically accurate language than Cleo (ahem, MJ Rose, I love you …but..yeah). I never once felt like, oh, are we back in the 21st century now? That is my biggest thing. If the language sucks me out of the time period and morphs me back into my living room glancing at my gadgets like what? Well, then we have a problem with the language. If the language, however, is subtle enough to keep me in the past engrossed fully with the story, characters, setting, plot, and atmosphere. Well, then, that is a success in my eyes. Cleo did that 100% and it was heavenly to get lost in a book again. It’s been awhile.

I recommend this book to those who love historical fantasy books and strong, flawed, female heroines who don’t have an easy way of things. There is strong mythology and the setting is amazing. If you love imagining how Egypt was during the time of the Pharaohs (plus some magic mixed in), then you need to read Cleo!

Author Interview

:star Thank you for being on the blog today! :star

For those unfamiliar with Cleo: would you describe it in tweet form? (140 characters or less )!


Beset by evil gods & murderous sisters, Princess Cleo must save Egypt & her goddess Isis from doom with help of hot scribe spy boy, Khai.


What is your favorite part of the book?


So hard to choose! But I love the 'Ta Dah! Surprise!' scene in the palace where the older Cleo rediscovers Khai - and I had a LOT of fun writing the bloodthirsty scenes in the embalmer's chamber and in the crocodile dungeon.



I can’t help but feel it can be difficult to write a historical fiction novel for young adult and middle grade readers. Did you encounter any difficulties writing for this age group?

I always have my reader in mind while I'm writing, whatever age group the book is for (and I'm a bit unusual in that I write for all ages from two to teen). The thing which really matters is making the story exciting, so that is always first and foremost in my mind, and I try to pace any book accordingly. I guess the hardest part for me of writing a novel for MG or teens is leaving out fascinating items of research I've come across if they don't serve the story. It's all too tempting to info dump for the sake of it, so I'm pretty ruthless about cutting those bits in later drafts of the book. 'If in doubt, leave it out', is my motto!



How much research did you have to do while writing Cleo?


The short answer is absolutely masses! I describe Cleo as 'paranormal meets historical', so while the bits with magic and the gods are really important to the story, so is getting the actual historical setting right. I tend to do a lot of reading around the subject first, to get me into the period and the mood - I found Stacey Schiff's Cleopatra - A History was a good place to start - and then I go into a lot more detail. In this case that meant going back to translations of writers around Cleo's time for descriptions of how the Royal court would have functioned and what the palace actually looked like, and also a LOT of geographical stuff. I am now an expert in ancient modes of transport up and down the Nile, currents, winds, Egyptian flora and fauna - and the songs of Nile boatmen. I also had to research make-up (everyone, male and female wore it in Egypt), food, embalming techniques, how papyrus smells, how the Great Library of Alexandria stored its 100,000 scrolls, and, of course, how all the Egyptian gods and goddesses were worshipped, plus priestess dress, the layout of temples, animal and plant totems and a whole lot more. If you think of the amount of research I did as a four-storey house, the amount which actually made it into the book is about halfway up the basement!



How much of the history of Cleopatra is actually true? (did she really have two evil “sow sisters”)?

Cleopatra's early life is what I call a 'hole in history' ie no one knows very much about her before she actually came to the pharaoh's throne at eighteen. There are a whole raft of unanswered questions, and that's like candy to a novelist because you can answer them in any way that fits your story. Nobody knew for certain who Cleo's mother was - she might even have been illegitimate, as her father certainly was. She could have been the daughter of her own sister, or of a concubine, or of a member of the Royal court. She definitely had sisters - three of them, two older, one younger - and two younger brothers, but they were probably half siblings. Tryphena and Berenice both held the throne, that's definite, and Berenice was a pretty horrible person (as she is in the story). Their father, Ptolemy Auletes, definitely went into exile in Rome because of his debts. Basically, I've tried to keep the known facts as authentic as possible, and woven my version of Cleo's story in between the very large gaps in our historical knowledge of her.


I had no idea there was to be a sequel until the very last page! Is this a series or is there only going to be a sequel?

I could have gone to three, but I very much wanted to keep to that 'hole in history' period before she ascends the pharaoh's throne, so a pair it was!



What can we expect in the sequel, Chosen?

I don't want to give away too much, but I've made no secret of the fact that Cleo ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger ! Chosen picks up the story a few hours later, and it takes Cleo and her entourage on an eventful journey across Egypt, and then on a stormy sea voyage to Ancient Rome. As well as more action from the immortals on all fronts, there's rocky romance on the horizon with Khai, an unexpected love interest for Cleo's BFF, Charm, a terrifying army of the undead - and a meeting with a handsome Roman soldier called Marcus Antonius which will shape the rest of Cleo's life. I had a LOT of fun writing it, and I'm hoping everyone will enjoy seeing Cleo grow and mature, as well as finding out what happens to her next. There are quite a few surprises in store!


Thank you again Lucy for being here. I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait to follow Cleo’s adventure in Chosen, in 2016!

We hope to have you again to speak about Chosen :)
Thanks for having me, Diamond - and yes please, I'd love to come back again! I've really enjoyed answering your questions.

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About the Author

Lucy Coats has written over 35 titles (for all ages from two to teen), and has also worked as an editor, journalist and bookseller. She has a passion for all things mythological, and Cleo is her first encounter with the gods of Ancient Egypt. Lucy lives with her husband and three very uproarious dogs in a house mostly furnished with too many books.
You can find out more about Lucy at: www.lucycoats.com and also on Twitter at @lucycoats. Cleo is also on Twitter at @CleoTheChosen if you'd like to chat to her.

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Blog Tour: The Offering by Kimberly Derting - Author Interview

True love—and world war—is at stake in the conclusion to The Pledge trilogy, a dark and romantic blend of dystopia and fantasy.

Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks.

When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.

But things aren’t always as they seem. Charlie is walking into a trap—one set by Sabara, who is determined to reclaim the Queendoms at any cost.

Praise for The Offering

"This was a truly epic ending to the series." --Crystal Perkins, Goodreads Review

"The final book in Kimberly Derting’s Pledge trilogy is a thrilling conclusion. I was immediately swept up into it and powered right through. It was pretty much what I wanted with a few surprises along the way." --Krys at Bibliopunkk Reads

Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE trilogy, and THE TAKING (coming April 2014 from HarperTeen). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see.

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 1/21/14

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0a00961146/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

When did you first discover your love of writing?

I knew I wanted to be a writer back in 7th grade, when I took a journalism class. I wrote my first book when I was in my early twenties, got an agent, and thankfully it never got published. It was awful, but I learned a lot about how to finish a manuscript, revising, and submitting to agents. All things that would help me later in life.

Would you consider yourself a dystopian writer (since both of your series have a dystopian/post-apocalyptic flare)?

Honestly, I’ve always thought of myself as a suspense writer who likes kissing scenes. The things that matter most to me aren’t where, or when, the books are set. It’s whether there’s enough tension throughout the book to keep the reader (and me, frankly) interested, and whether the relationships—whether it’s the romantic relationship or the familial ones—are realistic.

Which book was the most difficult to write? (Or, were they all easy peasy lemon squeezy?)

They’re all easy in some ways, and challenging in others, but probably the toughest was DESIRES OF THE DEAD (book #2 in the THE BODY FINDER series). I’m not sure why, but I felt an enormous amount of pressure for it to be perfect right out of the gate—which no book ever is, of course. But I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around that fact, and I agonized over writing it. I hear a lot of writers referring to that as the “sophomore slump,” and I had it real bad.

In your mind, Was the series always meant to be a trilogy?

It was, although when it first sold, Simon & Schuster only bought the first one, so I had to wrap up the ending of THE PLEDGE enough so that if they decided not to buy the last two, readers wouldn’t be left with that, “Wait, what...?” feeling.  Fortunately, before the first book was even released, they’d decided to pull the trigger on the remaining two and we had a series! 

Can you describe each of the main characters in a few words (no longer than a tweet length).

CHARLIE: Determined to keep those she loves safe, even if it means sacrificing herself.

MAX: Who doesn’t love a hot prince?

BROOK: Unwilling to let her past keep her down. Will do anything to prove she’s worthy of her new role—even kicking butt.

ANGELINA: Not your typical little girl. Charlie’s little sister, is a whirlwind of energy who is uncannily perceptive.

As a huge fan of language (I speak English, Farsi, and a little French too)-- I really love the involvement of language in this series. Can you tell me a bit about how you thought of this concept?

Um, wow! I’m impressed that you’re multilingual!

Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I’ve always been fascinated by language on so many levels.  Not just how it can be used as a weapon—or a divisor, as in THE PLEDGE—but also how language can be used as a tool to bring people together.  People often use language to judge others or make assumptions based on their grammar, idioms, or dialect.  Aside from how we look, language can play a significant role (good or bad) in the way people view each other, whether intentionally or not.

  

What's one thing that got edited out (in any of the three books) that you wish would've stayed. Or, if nothing, what's one little tidbit we don't know?

I’m not sure there was anything edited out that I wish would have stayed, but I’m not sure everyone realized that Angelina—Charlie’s little sister in the series—is based on a real person.

Years ago, I met a woman named Marie Lucas, who shared her heart-wrenching stories of growing up in WWII Germany. She told me that when she was a little girl she would be awakened by air-raid sirens and then her older sisters would throw her over the fences so they could hide in the mineshafts outside of town until the fighting had passed. She also told me about her battered little rag doll, which was the inspiration for Angelina’s doll, Muffin.

Do you have any plans for other books or series that you can tell us about?

The first book of my new series, THE TAKING, comes out April 29th, 2014. It’s about a girl who wakes up after what she thinks is one night, only to realize that five years have passed and everyone she loves has moved on without her...yet she hasn’t aged a day.

I’m working on the second book in that series now!

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What a fantastic interview thank you so much Kimberly! (I don't know about you guys, but I'm eager to read The Taking)!

Review, Interview & Giveaway of Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Dragonwitch

by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Paperback, 432 pages

Published July 1, 2013 by Bethany House Publishers

Submissive to her father’s will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves–Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.


But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta’s tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.


And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice…and for the one person who can wield it.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, MOONBLOOD, and STARFLOWER, with DRAGONWITCH due to release in 2013. HEARTLESS and VEILED ROSE have each been honored with a Christy Award.

Facebook * Twitter * Website/Blog * Goodreads

Tour-wide Giveaway - 

July 1 - 26

USA, Canada & UK - Print Copy of the entire series to date!

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Pull up a chair and a cup of tea... we've invited Anne Elisabeth to every blog on the tour!

July 

1 – Book Release!

2 –  The Writer’s Window

3 – TheOther World

4 – Mel’sShelves

5 – JL Mbewe

7 – TheProud Book Nerd

8 – GettingYour Read On

-          Christy’s Cozy Corner

9 – BookwormLisa

10 – Jojo’sCorner

11 – LDS& Lovin’ It

12 – TheWondering’s of One Person 

I interview Anne Elisabeth Stengl: 

1. What is your favorite fantasy novel?

Right now, that would be Sir Terry Pratchett’s Nation . . . which is possibly more “alternate-history” than fantasy, but there are a number of wonderful fantasy elements in it. I absolutely adore that book!

But, for more overt fantasy-fantasy, I think I will say . . . The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.

2. How did you come up with the world in this series?

You know, I couldn’t say exactly. I’ve been building this world in my head since I was a teenager. These days, I don’t feel as though I “come up” with anything so much as discover what’s already there, just waiting to be found. It’s a wonderful way to write!

3. Do you have any tips for introducing another cat in the household?

It’s usually a good idea to isolate the new kitty for a few days, allowing the current feline denizens to sniff New Guy under the door and get used to his smell. When you begin letting them interact, expect lots of posturing and “kitty politics,” and keep an eye on them. They usually work it out, establishing a hierarchy. As long as everybody gets lavished with love along the way, it’s not too difficult! We just introduced our fifth kitty into the mix . . . and the other four basically went, “Huh. Another newbie. Whatevs.”  It was the easiest introduction I’ve ever made! J

4. What got you into writing?

I’ve been writing since I was very little. I wrote my first “novel” when I was nine-years old, and I’ve been writing ever since! I grew up the daughter of an award-winning professional novelist, so I think it might have been genetics . . .

 

Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

My rating: 3 of 5 stars :star :star :star


A copy of this book was provided to me by Bethany House Publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dragonwitch is the 5th book in the Tales of the Goldstone Wood series. It's the first book I've read of the series. Though I normally don't jump in a series in the middle, I was told it would be OK. Thing is, it was difficult. Very difficult. The start of the book we find Alistair, earl and soon-to-be-king. There is also the Chronicler, who is the only librarian and who is teaching (or trying to) Alistair to read. He's a dwarf, a bitter dwarf of a man. Then we meet Leta, daughter of a king in a distant shore come to be the bride of the future king of Gaheris. Each of these characters takes a turn narrating. Also, a cat. And a dragon. And someone else who is a woman (?) all these different narrators and changes in story almost kept me from finishing this book. It was really hard. When did I finally feel like I wasn't being jerked around and was keeping up with what was happening? 40% in. Yeah, it took awhile. But, like I said, this was because I didn't know the world or characters or anything (my fault, I think).

What did keep me reading for the first half and made me very happy I kept reading for the last half was the story itself. It was an intricately woven tale of fairies, mortals, brothers, cousins, dragons, hatred, and courage. All were elements that make a good fantasy story great. The "evil" characters weren't truly evil, they were just responding to heartbreak and disappointment. The imagery was amazing. I really felt like I was watching a movie. A good movie, at that!

I don't want to give too much away, especially because I kept guessing where the story would go and definitely had a huge *gasp* moment regarding Mouse. Her and Leta were my favorite characters I think. I'm definitely going to be reading more of this series. All 5 of the books prior? Eh, I don't know. But I want to read another book and find out more about this world. And if a fantasy novel leaves me feeling this way, it was successful in my eyes.

I recommend this book for lovers of fantasy. I recommend you read at least 1 book in the series FIRST. If you are a first time reader (like I was) then I suggest you give yourself plenty of time to digest this book. It's not impossible to understand, but all the names, characters, places get overwhelming confusing unless you can really take your time and digest the story slowly.



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