Tuesday, June 30, 2015

#AuthorsAgainstBullying movement

For years I have been bullied. It has been really hard. After starting my blog, I found that many of the authors I was meeting had been bullied too.
 
 
I read a book about bullying by an author named Susan Burdorf. I will post the review later this week.
 
This book made me want to do something more than just review it. It made me want to give others a chance to tell how they had been bullied. So with the help of my mom and Susan, I want to start #AuthorsAgainstBullying to get the message out.
 
If you are an author or blogger, please place this image in support of this cause. Show other kids like me that they are not alone.
 
I will be posting more about this later on and doing a video about it.


Monday, June 29, 2015

Book Review: Howl - The Howl Series




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Synopsis
Samara’s first date with Luke, the hot new guy at school, didn’t go exactly the way she planned. She figured they would stargaze and maybe share a kiss at the end of the night, but she couldn’t have prepared for what really happened. She was bitten by a wolf and not just any wolf—a werewolf.

After she shifts for the first time, she meets the Alpha of her new pack in the woods. While he answers a lot of her questions, he remains in his wolf form during their meetings to keep his identity a secret from her. She wonders who this mysterious wolf is and why he bit her.

As Samara begins to learn more about her family secret and how it plays into her new life as a werewolf, she realizes that she has an important decision to make—one that could hurt the ones she cares about the most. She must choose between two werewolf packs: the one that she’s destined to be in and the one that she feels she belongs in.

Howl is a suspenseful tale of secrets, betrayal, and forbidden romance
.
 
My Review

 
I read "Howl" a few weeks ago, but since it was still fresh in my mind, I decided to share. "Howl" is written by Jody Morse and  is 262 pages long.

Samara and Emma are best friends, but they couldn't be more different. Emma decides to throw a party and that is where Samara meets Luke, her cute crush. On their first date a wolf attacks Samara and her life changes forever, literally (In this book werewolves live thousands of years). After everything she has went through already, Samara has to make a decision that will impact her life forever. Since her grandfather was the most powerful and feared werewolf in all of history every pack in the area wanted her to join their pack. What pack will she choose?

I am very into the supernatural stuff, mostly vampires and werewolves. This book was very romantic, but also very sad. The cliff-hanger was very sad, but suspenseful. I liked how the werewolves were balanced. There are many stories about werewolves and Jody Morse incorporated the most common one, a humans body transforming into the four-legged wolf, and some of her own interesting ideas for the packs abilities. The only thing I disliked was this is supposed to be for teens and YAs, but it has cussing not for the reading of teens.
 
 

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Book Review: The Conduit - The Gryphon Series


 
 
Synopsis
 
Gryphon Series Book 1

All 18-year-old Celeste Garrett wants is to head off to college and make those fun, yet ill-advised, choices college kids are known for. And maybe to spend some time with the hot cameraman she just met. Instead, because of a pact her ancestors made in the 17th century with a mythical creature, she has to save the world.

While normal kids are slamming energy drinks and cramming for exams, Celeste will get her adrenaline rush fighting a fire breathing dragon. She wants to meet friends in the quad to exchange lecture notes, but first she must exchange blows with a shapeshifting demon on the rooftop. Life isn’t always fair for a superhero, but at least she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her brother and sister as sidekicks, they alternate between saving lives and getting on each others’ nerves. Together the trio encounters unspeakable odds, mystical forces and comes face-to-face with an image that will haunt them forever—their grandmother in a leopard print bikini.

"Okay, little side note here. If a psychopathic killer asks if you want to see a trick, say no. That’s the smart thing to do. I, on the other hand, responded, 'Bring it'."
-excerpt from THE CONDUIT
 
 
My Review
 

I just finished reading "The Conduit" by Stacey Rourke. It is 204 pages long. When my mom came home from her book-signing in Utopia, she told me that she brought me a new book and I was excited to find out that it was about the mythological creature, the Gryphon!

Gabe, Celeste, and Keni are in for the ride for their lives when an ancestral vow draws the siblings into the world of "magic". How will they cope with their new abilities? A panther is terrorizing the local children around the age of 8 and 9 years old to find the Chosen One, only to find out they were looking in the wrong age group. But, will the siblings find answers or their own deaths?

I love Greek mythology and mythological creatures, the Gryphon being one of them. The bird-women remind me of my favorite mythological creature, the Harpies. I love how the book incorporates the traits and abilities of the Gryphon. The cover reminds me of an angel that fell from the heavens. I love cliff-hangers and the cliff-hanger at the end of this book makes you want to grab the next book right off the back to find out what is going to happen next. I can't wait to read the second book!!!


Author Interview

I got the chance to actually talk with author Stacey Rourke about this amazing book!

1. What made you want to become an author?

"I have been writing stories since elementary school. That said, growing up I never thought of becoming an author. I went to college, tried on a LOT of different careers, but none every really fit. Then I completed my first manuscript, The Conduit. I wrote it just for me, not really thinking I would do much with it. However when I completed that book and began dipping my toe in the waters of the literary world, it was as if a light finally went on over my head and I realized what I was SUPPOSED to be doing. I didn't pick a career as an author, it's just who I am. I know that now."

2. What inspired you to come up with the Gryphon 'magic' throughout the book?

"Research! I researched mythological creatures and their origins in search of the right one to use. In my reading I found that the Gryphon really WAS thought to be The Protector of the Divine. From there the ideas flowed. The different attributes of his physical appearance divided perfectly to help the story along! I have found in most all of my books that through fact finding and research I can find really amazing story ideas that are rooted in truth!"

3. Would you consider that the bird-ladies could have some similar traits with Harpies of Greek mythology?

"I have never been asked that before, but what a great question! Physically speaking, absolutely! Beautiful women, with avian qualities describes both. However harpies have gotten some bad press, their name alone has negative connotations. The Spirit Guides in The Gryphon Series work for the good guys, and while their decisions aren't always favorable ones they believe themselves to be working for the greater good."

4. I really found your character Celeste interesting! Was it kind of difficult to come up with a talent for her, since Gryphons are half lion, half eagle?

"Not really, Celeste was my root character even before the Gryphon! With her I wanted to create a strong female character that girls could relate to and look up to. Whatever powers she gets, her inner strength is her strongest quality and that she possessed from the very beginning. My goal there being to show my readers that no matter what life throws at them the ability to overcome comes from the well of strength within us all."

5. Would you consider your book's three main characters (Celeste, Gabe and Keni) gifts more supernatural or more magical?

"Gabe and Kendall's I consider more supernatural. This was something that happened to them--like a werewolf bite creating a new wolf. Celeste is The Chosen one--this is her destiny and it's a magical one. Of course WHY it's her destiny is a big mystery that is revealed in book four, Ascension."

6. Have you written other genres or are YA's your main focus?

"I have a new adult paranormal series, and an adult contemporary romance that is more comedy than sizzle. That said, when I read I tend to gravitate to the YA genre, so ALL of my books are kept clean enough for any teen to pick up. The violence or language may get kicked up a notch in my other books, but I keep all my steamy scenes "fade to black" so parents of my YA readers don't have to worry!"

7. I just want to thank you for letting me interview you!

"Thank you so much for having me here! It was my honor to be your first interview!!"