A Very Merry Friday - R.J. Anderson

May your Christmas be filled with joy, happiness, and a lack of zombie attacks.

On this glorious day, we have a very special visitor to cap off this month's list of authors. R.J. Anderson, author of the Faery Rebels series, has generously agreed to stop by today to chat about books, woodchucks, and the upcoming year.

You can order R.J.'s books online by going to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.

N: The world is relying on your ability to choose a favorite author or book. With the fate of the world on your shoulders - what do you select?

I'm going to assume you mean a favorite author or book for teens specifically, in which case I'll have to say Megan Whalen Turner -- her Thief of Eddis books are brilliant.

N: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck was a faery?

Depends on whether the woodchuck-faery can chuck the wood without getting eaten by a crow first...

N: What's been your favorite scene in all of the books you've written?

My favorite scene so far is in REBEL a.k.a. WAYFARER, but I can't talk about that yet without spoiling the book! So I'll have to say the part in KNIFE a.k.a. SPELL HUNTER where Knife peeks through Paul's window and sees him lifting weights, and realizes hey, I'm attracted to this guy, what's up with that?

N: Who would you cast to play you in a movie about yourself? Your love interest?

Me! I love acting. I doubt I could convince my husband to play along, however...

N: What's the best part about having a blog? The worst?

Best: Hearing from new people and having fascinating conversations with them in the comments. Worst: Trying to think of interesting topics to write about!

N: If you could have one faery quality, what would it be?

Faeries are much stronger than humans for their size. I'd think that would be pretty handy! Although being able to fly would be fantastic too...

N: I vote for flying. Why did you choose to write under "R.J." rather than Rebecca?

I grew up reading C.S. Lewis, E. Nesbit, J.R.R. Tolkien and G.K. Chesterton, so using my initials just seemed like the writerly thing to do.

N: I'd have to agree. Who wouldn't want to be J.K. Rowling? What are you looking forward to this New Year?

Starting to write my third faery book, ARROW, which is scheduled for UK release in January 2011. I can't wait to find out what my characters have been up to -- and how they're going to get out of the trouble I've put them in!


Thanks for stopping by, R.J.!

May everybody find what they want under their tree today - and for those of you who don't celebrate it, may you have a fantasmagorical day otherwise.

~ Nicole

300 Followers & Facebook

Omigod! I made it to three hundred followers!

I suppose I must fill January up with oodles and oodles of awesome contests!

On another note.

I realized I never fully announced that yes - WORD for Teens DOES have a Facebook page! Not only does joining the fan page give you a chance at extra entries in giveaways, but participating in the discussion boards gives you major brownie points.

We've currently got three discussions going on - Author Recommendations (which comes with it's own photo folder); Book Recommendations (which comes with it's own photo folder); and Twilight? - obviously, a place to debate about Twilight.

I've also got another photo folder - Nicole's Must Read Books - that has, as is rather self explanatory, all of my favorite books. There's also a whole page of important links, like interviews and contests and what have you.

I mean, who wouldn't want to check it out?

Is it me...

... or does Sweeney Todd have a lot of versions?

- books
-- Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Peter Haining
-- Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Robert Mack
-- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Mark Salisbury
- play
- musical
- movie

For those of you who know it, which is your favorite? I love the movie myself.

Avatar

I saw Avatar last night.

For all you fantasy/sci-fi/good plotline/good characterization people out there: GO SEE IT.

It's freaking fantastic.
Consider me a nicely converted little fangirl.

I could talk about it more, but go see it for yourself. You'll understand.

Friday - Jessica Burkhart

It's going to be an excellent Friday. We have the weekend to look forward to. Avatar comes out today.

And, best news of all, Jessica Burkhart has stopped by as our next Holiday Friday author!

Jessica Burkhart is the author of the Canterwood Crest series. She's only twenty years old and she's already managed to publish eight excellent novels, all of which have been picked up for a made-for-TV movie. She also has an excellent blog that she updates on a regular basis.

N: Welcome, Jessica! What's been your favorite part about writing the Canterwood Crest series?

J: Working with my editor, Kate Angelella. Every time we get together to brainstorm, it always involves one or all of the following: large amounts of caffeine, mani/pedis, crazy-laughter and sparkles. She's incredibly talented and I'm lucky to have her on my side through every step of the process.

N: Mani/pedis rock. Let's go out on some wild limb here and assume you like horses. ;] If you could pick any horse to ride - breed, or color, or specific horse - what would you pick? (I'd choose The Black Stallion, myself - pure black Arabian love.)

J: Ohhh, I love the Black Stallion, too. I'd have to go with Secretariat. I'd love to ride him on a track and just let him go. Can you imagine the speed? What a rush!

N: On the topic of horses - which of the Canterwood horses is your favorite?

J: I've got to go with the main horse--Charm. He's got a personality all of his own and he's like a character in the books.

N: What was it like, going through your entire ordeal with scoliosis?

J: Honestly, it was painful both physically and mentally. I had to stop riding at thirteen and lost what I thought was going to be my career for the rest of my life. At that age, it was devastating. Now, though, I think it was actually one of the best things that's happened to me because it got me to the place I am right now, which is really, truly happy writing and living life.

N: What do your fans have to look forward to in the future? Do you plan on writing other things besides Canterwood?

J: I do plan to write more tween and to venture into YA. For the Canterwood fans, the series has been optioned for a made-for-TV movie, so fingers crossed that a network picks it up. I'd love to see it on screen. :)

N: Ooo-ooo-ooo! Can't wait to see that. I know it's difficult, but if you had to pick a favorite author, who would you choose?

J: This is an adult author, but Jeannette Walls who wrote The Glass Castle is my favorite.

N: QUICK. Leprechauns have taken over the world, and the only way to save humanity is to... write a limerick.

J: Oh, man! I'm going to be lame and claim my brain is fried from just turning in a book (which it is!) and forgo writing. Perhaps I'll write that limerick into my next book. ;)

N: La-ame. Nah, I get it. (However, if I see a limerick on leprechauns taking over the world in the next book... I think I'll die laughing.) Now, we're all dying to know - what presents do you want for this holiday season?

J: I really want to spend time with my friends. Everyone's crazy-busy and some one-on-one time watching reality TV, movies or just chilling sounds so perfect.


Thanks for stopping by, Jess! Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer? You can order her books online or pick them up/request them at your local book store.

~ Nicole

Cover Look Alikes

Ya see it?

If I Stay

If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: ---
Publisher: Penguin Group
How Received: library

A few minutes ago, her biggest decision was what to wear to her boyfriend's concert.

Now Mia watches as her body is slid into the ambulance. She has no recollection of the accident. All she can do is watch and wait as her body is flown off to a hospital; as they slide tubes into her body to keep her lungs inflated; as her friends and family rush around her, telling her to stay alive; as she finds out her mother and brother and father are long gone.

Now her biggest decision is to live or let go.

Was it good? Definitely.
Something particularly special? Not really.

Forman's use of flashbacks in this particular novel are excellently twirled into the story and gave it all more of a feel of being real. The characters were well developed and the story line interesting.

As a person with friends obsessed with music, I particularly loved the bits about the cello.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10. Though it was good, it wasn't anything spectacular - undoubtedly well written and worth reading, but not worth buying.

Short review for a short book.

~ Nicole