"Don't Just Get Even. Write a Novel." - The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet

Most of the time, when I write a review, I try to pen my own little blurb for the story. But The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill already has such a tremendous blurb, I couldn’t possibly do any better than to post it here: 

Ellie Sweet is a lot of things—good girl, novelist, silent adorer of the new boy at school, Palmer. But when “outcast” gets added to the list, she decides it’s time to take reality into her own hands … and tweak it as needed.

In the pages of her book, she’s Lady Gabrielle, favorite of the medieval Italian court. Her once-friends are reduced to catty ladies-in-waiting, and the too-charming Palmer—who in real life never spares her a second word—gets to be nothing more than a rake wracked by unrequited love for her. She even has a perfect real-life villain in the brooding Chase, who hails from the wrong side of town.

But just when she’s getting along great in her fictional world, the real one throws her a few curves. With Chase pursuing her, Palmer wanting to date her—but in secret—and the details of her manuscript going public, Ellie suddenly receives more attention than she ever really wanted. And when her former-friends discover what she’s been writing, they’re determined to teach Ellie a lesson about the severe consequences of using her pen as her sword.

I knew that I would love this book as soon as I saw the tag line: Don’t just get even. Write a novel. Brilliant, right? And once I started reading, I didn’t want to set it down.

I connected with Ellie Sweet right away. She’s clever and quite witty, but unmistakably human. A very real character with real struggles, feelings, and mistakes. By the end of the first chapter, she had wormed her way into my heart, and I felt like I’d known her for a long time.

As a writer, I especially enjoyed Ellie’s journey through the writing, querying, and publishing process. This book will especially appeal to the many teen writers out there, but you certainly don’t have to be a teen or a writer to love it.

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet has all the elements of a tremendous YA contemporary novel and is one I know I’ll be reading again … and again. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a great summer read with a dash of wit, heart, and truth.

Find Stephanie Morrill at her website or blog for teen writers Go Teen Writers.

Be sure to stop by the other Teen Novel Team tour participants:

Blooming with Books • Jill Williamson • The Life of a Teenage Writer • Once Upon an Inkling • Pages from My Journal • Rachelle Rea • The Ramblings of a Young Author • Shadow Writer World • Who YA Reading? • The Writings of Rosie • Worthy2Read

Team Novel Teen is a group of bloggers dedicated to spreading the word about clean teen fiction. Check out other posts about The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill by clicking on the links above, and click here for more information about Team Novel Teen.

It's That Time of Year ...

Well, it's coming up on that time of year when I pack my war bag, stow my writer's cap, saddle my horse, and head out for the best summer job ever! I spend my summers working at a Christian youth camp as the head wrangler--which means, I take care of twenty or so horses, teach kids how to ride, and tell them about Christ.

So, yeah, it's pretty much the best job you can imagine.

Unfortunately, around the same time, this blog becomes somewhat of a ghost town. But don't abandon me yet! I will be back in mid-August. And although I won't be able to write anything during the week over the summer, I do plan to stop by every now and then on the weekends and keep you amused with random stories, book musings, and etc.

Be sure to keep an eye out for some book reviews over the next few months as well. I have some marvelous books on my review shelf that I'll be posting about soon.

Wondering what to do until then? Because obviously reading this blog is so much a part of your lives that you're sitting there, stunned at this dreadful news, trying to figure out how you will endure the silence... ;)

Here are some old blog posts you can check out if you're seeking a good laugh, information, or just an escape from summer doldrums:

• Book Reviews

• The Stories That Matter (A post I wrote for Speculative Faith, an excellent speculative fiction oriented blog chock-full of wonderful articles.)

• Journey with Gillian posts on Go Teen Writers:
  Procrastination Doesn't Pay
  5 Tips to Surviving a Writer's Conference as a Teen
  Mountain Climbing and the Writer's Journey
  (Go Teen Writers is an awesome site for teen writers. Run by YA authors Jill Williamson and Stephanie Morrill, it provides lots of wonderful information, tips, and community! You should definitely check it out.)

• Villainy 101 Posts

• Random Middle Earth Musings:
  Wanted: Burglar to Share in Great Adventure
  The Sea Longing

• From the Sheep Pens - On the Life of King David

• The Fiddler's Tune - A Short Story by Gillian Adams

So I hope you all enjoy your summers and I'll see you in August!

May Characters in Costume Reveal

This month, for our Characters in Costume, we did a "Meet the Character" challenge. This is our last challenge before we take a hiatus over the summer months and pick up again in the fall. So for this challenge, I decided to go back to the very beginning ... (a very good place to start, or so I've been told) ... and introduce you to the character who began it all.

It being my decision to become a writer, obsession with costumes, and propensity to reenact my characters and scenes (always a bit awkward when someone happens in on you in the middle of a highly dramatic chapter.)

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Marya, from Out of Darkness Rising.

[These pictures were taken while filming the book trailer. Film/photo credit goes to Adam Terrell of Next Generation Video Productions.]

Marya is a young villager who lives on the Island, a barren rock shrouded in mist. All the villagers spend their days in terror of the Serpent, crushed beneath the oppression of his priests, the Tribunal. When Marya's parents are slain by the Serpent for their belief in a legendary king, Marya becomes an outcast.

As an outcast, Marya is utterly forsaken and alone. She feels abandoned by the parents who chose a legend over their own daughter. She is cut off from her people and forced to survive in the wild.

[Photo credit: Holly Hamlin]

As a peasant, Marya's clothes are rough and ragged. They've suffered a lot of wear and tear over the years. Most precious to her is her mother's shawl (not pictured here). It's little more than a ragged piece of material that Marya found on the stone where her parents met their doom, but Marya treasures it. And when she wraps it around her shoulders at night, it feels as if it is her mother's arms wrapped around her.

Filming the book trailer was a lot of fun, but I found the prep work just as enjoyable. Characters and costumes that I had only vaguely envisioned before suddenly became concrete in my mind. I had to figure out just what sort of shirt, what color, and what style such-and-such character would wear, because if I didn't, he was going to be immortalized on screen in a t-shirt and jeans. Lots of good incentive there. :)

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Be sure to stop by the other participating sites and meet their characters as well!

Victoria Grace Howell

Hannah

Mary Ruth Pursselley

Molly

highpattern

Amor et Bellum

The Pink Cave

Kendra E. Ardnek

Realm of Hearts

Zara Hoffman

Characters in Costume Challenge - May Edition

You've guessed it! It's time for another Characters in Costume Challenge. Unfortunately, this is the last one I'll be able to do until the end of the summer. So if you've been waiting to join in, now is your chance!

This month being the merry month of May, we shall do a Meet the Character challenge. We've done it before, but it tied in the vote for last month's challenge, so we'll do it again!

This challenge is due on Friday, May 10th. Mark it on your calenders. Scribble it on random sticky notes and tack them all over the house. You don't want to miss out on the fun! ;)

Challenge Guidelines:

It's quite simple, really.

Pick one of your characters. Or, if you're not a writer, or not currently writing a story, feel free to choose a character from one of your favorite books.

Find a costume that fits your character and take a picture of yourself in said costume (and in character - i.e. if your character is prone to scowling, don't smile in the picture.)

Post the picture on your blog or somewhere online where the other Challenge members can see it. For an example of a previous Challenge post click here.

Feel free to write a little bit about your character too, or if it's a character from someone else's book, tell us why you chose that character!

Be sure to share this challenge with all your writing/reading friends. The more people who participate, the more fun it is!

To enter the challenge, leave a comment below with a link to your blog, and I will add you to the participant's list! Please make sure that you will be able to post your picture on the challenge day when you sign up. :)

Angel Eyes and Broken Wings - CSFF blog tour

First off, I have a confession to make. As much as I love speculative fiction, I’m generally not a huge fan of angel/demon stories. Not that I think there’s anything wrong with reading or enjoying them, it’s simply a matter of personal taste. And my personal taste usually travels in a different direction.

So when I first heard about the Angel Eyes series by Shannon Dittemore, I was somewhat hesitant to order a review copy, even though everything I had heard was positive. But when my friends started writing reviews gushing about how good the books were, I decided to check them out for myself.

And I’m glad I did.

The Story

Forgive me for reviewing both books at once, but since Broken Wings is the second book in the series, I didn't want to review it without mentioning the first book as well.

In the first book, Angel Eyes, Brielle returns home, reeling from a recent tragedy, to try and pick up the pieces of her old life. But when she meets Jake, the new guy at school who possesses a strange and marvelous gift, Brielle discovers the ability to see into the Celestial and is confronted with the reality that angels and demons are real. Both Brielle and Jake’s gifts paint a big red target on their backs. Brielle soon discovers that the old life is lost forever, because “once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee.”

The second book, Broken Wings, picks up about six months after the end of the first. From the back cover:

Brielle sees the world as it really is: a place where the Celestial exists side by side with human reality. But in the aftermath of a supernatural showdown, her life begins to crumble.

Her boyfriend, Jake, is keeping something from her—something important. Her overprotective father has started drinking again. And he’s dating a much younger woman who makes Brielle’s skin crawl. Haunting nightmares invade Brielle’s sleep, and flashes of Celestial vision keep her off kilter.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s been targeted. The Prince of Darkness himself has heard of the boy with healing in his hands and of the girl who sees through the Terrestrial Veil.

Brielle has no choice. She knows evil forces are converging and will soon rain their terror down on the town of Stratus. She must master the weapons she’s been given. She must fight.

But can she fly with broken wings?

My Thoughts on the Series

Shannon Dittemore is an artist with words. She doesn’t rely upon long, drawn-out passages of overweight prose, but utilizes just the right amount of imagery, description, and word play to create a beautiful picture in your mind.

I enjoyed reading Brielle’s story in both Angel Eyes and Broken Wings. The sections written from Brielle’s point of view captured her fragility and despair after tragedy perfectly. I enjoyed reading from Jake’s perspective as well. Though at times, he came across as almost too good, if sometimes a bit creepy stalkerish in the first book. ;)

Honestly, I would have preferred to stay with Brielle and Jake's point of view through the entire story. Sometimes, the scenes in Angel Eyes written from the perspective of Damien (one of the demons) seemed to cheapen the fear factor, rather than raising it. While the chapters from the perspective of several angels in both Angel Eyes and Broken Wings often lacked the deep, dynamic feel of Brielle's chapters.

Though it is while reading from the perspective of Pearla (one of the angels) that you get gems such as this:

“It’s the greatest expression of love, she knows, to lay one’s life down. But she wonders if humans know just how unique the ability is to do that. Death is not something an angel has to offer her loved ones. How glorious it must be to have one’s days numbered by the Father. How precious it makes each and every one.” (Broken Wings)

My Thoughts on Broken Wings

Broken Wings is a vibrant sequel to Angel Eyes. I found myself inextricably drawn to both Brielle and Jake and their story. You can't help feeling for Brielle, trapped as she is in the midst of so many trials, worries, secrets, and mysteries.

Even at the end of the book, so many mysteries remain unsolved, so many questions unanswered, and so many difficulties unresolved, that Broken Wings felt like merely the prelude to what will doubtless be an epic third book. And the cliffhanger ending ensures that you will pick up the third book…no matter what! 

Overall, I enjoyed both books and have no doubt that I will read the next book in the series, Dark Halo, when it releases this fall. If you like a good angel/demon story, with mystery, a bit of romance, and action thrown into the mix, then you'll enjoy both Angel Eyes and Broken Wings.

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Stop by the participating sites to see what others have to say about Broken Wings.

Julie Bihn Jennifer Bogart Beckie Burnham Pauline Creeden Janey DeMeo Theresa Dunlap Emma or Audrey Engel Victor Gentile Nikole Hahn Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Karielle @ Books à la Mode Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Megan @ Hardcover Feedback Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nathan Reimer James Somers Kathleen Smith Jojo Sutis Steve Trower Phyllis Wheeler Shane Werlinger

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of writing an honest review.

Giveaway Winners Announced!

The hobbit birthday giveaway has come to a close. Thanks to everyone who participated! This morning, Rafflecopter randomly selected our three winners.

Drumroll, please . . .

Our winners are:

Laura Pol

Kay J. Fields

Julie Dick

Congratulations winners! For your prize, each of you may choose one of the following books. Once you've made your selection, please email  me at thesongkeeper@gmail.com to claim your prize. Include the title of your selection and your mailing address in your email, and I'll ship your prize by the fastest carrier pigeon.

• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (or another book from the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson: North! Or Be Eaten, The Monster in the Hollows)
• The Fiddler's Gun or The Fiddler's Green by A.S. Peterson
• One of Jill Williamson's books: By Darkness Hid, To Darkness Fled, From Darkness Won, Replication, Captives, The New Recruit
• Failstate or Failstate: Legends by John W. Otte
• One of the Tales of Goldstone Woods books by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower)
• Merlin's Blade, by Robert Treskillard

I don't know about you, but I had enough fun to make a tradition out of this. Stop by next year for another hobbit birthday giveaway!

April Antagonists - Characters in Costume Reveal

It's time to reveal those dastardly villains of yours! Drag them out of the dark. Boot them out of their evil lairs. Grant them the spotlight for one moment.

For the longest time, I couldn't decide which antagonist to highlight for this challenge. Eventually, I settled on the antagonist from my fantasy Song of Leira.

This is Carhartan, second marshal of the Khelari and a servant of the Takhran. He is a deadly warrior and wields his red-stained sword left-handed with horrifying effectiveness.

Note for the Novel Police: If we were going to be completely accurate, Carhartan should be wearing black plate mail and a silver cape. Unfortunately, all I had on hand was silver chainmail and a black cape. But I suppose you get the general idea! ;)

 

As you've no doubt gathered from the pictures, Carhartan is a secretive man. (No amount of cajolery, bribery, or threatening induced him to allow me to take a face shot.) Likewise, Carhartan's past is somewhat mysterious. His history is hidden, and he likes to keep it that way.

On the outside, Carhartan appears the ever confident, carelessly brutal, efficient warrior and leader of the Khelari. But deep within, he is haunted by his failures. He relishes the sweet taste of victory, all the while knowing the wine will turn to bitter ashes in his mouth at the thought of his defeats.

Oh and as a side note, I do beg you to keep the above in the strictest confidence. I have no doubt that my life would be in grave peril if Carhartan ever discovered that I had revealed such sensitive information. But there are no requisite privacy laws in the author/character relationship as there are in that between doctor and patient.

Though I don't suppose that excuse would have any effect on Carhartan.

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Be sure to stop by the other participating sites and see their antagonists, villains, and sundry other characters of the nefarious variety. ;)

Enter the Writer's Lair

Ramblings by Bethany

The Pink Cave

Zara Hoffman

Amor et Bellum

Lily Jenness

The Writer's Window

Realm of Hearts

Next challenge will take place on May 10th.

Click here to find out more about the Characters in Costume Challenge.

A Hobbit Birthday

"Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays. Not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion; but it was not a bad system. Actually in Hobbiton and Bywater every day in the year was somebody's birthday, so that every hobbit in those parts had a fair chance of at least one present at least once a week. But they never got tired of them." 

~ The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

I've long been fascinated by the idea of having a hobbit birthday. I thought it would be so much fun! So dear blog followers, since I have recently had a birthday, I would like to have a hobbit birthday here on my blog and give you a present!

Several presents actually.

The first is for all of you. As a simple thank you for reading my blog, commenting on my random posts, and enduring my various musings on Tolkien, Lewis, fantasy, villains, and costumes, I'm posting a short story that you can read here: The Fiddler's Tune.

The second gift is a giveaway! I've selected a few favorite books, and on this Hobbit birthday of mine, I would like to offer you a chance to read one of them!

Unfortunately, since I have not yet discovered a troll treasure trove or defeated a dragon and earned my fourteenth share of the treasure, not everyone will win a prize. But there will be three winners, and you all have an chance at being one of the lucky trio!

The prize? Each winner may choose one of the following books:

• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (or another book from the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson: North! Or Be Eaten, The Monster in the Hollows)
• The Fiddler's Gun or The Fiddler's Green by A.S. Peterson
• One of Jill Williamson's books: By Darkness Hid, To Darkness Fled, From Darkness Won, Replication, Captives, The New Recruit
• Failstate or Failstate: Legends by John W. Otte
• One of the Tales of Goldstone Woods books by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower)
• Merlin's Blade, by Robert Treskillard

Enter the giveaway using the fancy-dancy Rafflecopter below! (Note: due to the lack of carrier pigeons willing to fly across the ocean, this giveaway is open to the US only.)

Winners will be announced on the blog on Wednesday, April 24th! So be sure to check back then.

A happy hobbit birthday to you all! ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Villainy 101: How to Trap a Hero

Editor's Note: At long last, we have received word from our spy at the Academy of Ultimate Villainy! This recording showed up in my mailbox this morning. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's not exactly the good news we've all been waiting to hear . . .

Transcript of Dr. Sinestra's lecture. To hear the full adventure, listen to the recording above. 

Dr. Sinestra: Today, we are discussing the most important thing you will learn while attending this Academy: How to Trap a Hero.

There are many differing schools of thought upon this subject, but there is one rule upon which all the experts agree: The number one rule of hero trapping is to offer the hero something he cannot resist. 

Every hero has a weak spot. Once you find out what that weak spot is, you can prey upon it, offer him the thing he most desires, and then snatch it from his grasp at the last moment and leave him in utter despair.

Obviously, depending upon the hero, this may take different forms. But there are three main types of heroes, and three tried and true methods of luring each sort of hero into a trap.

The Romantic Hero—This hero is dashing, passionate about whatever he has set his mind upon. To trap this hero, a Super-Villain cannot do better than to kidnap the hero’s girlfriend. Admittedly, this method has been employed so often as to become somewhat of a cliché, but if it works (and it assuredly does!) then why not use it?

The Idealistic Hero—This hero is the worst sort of hero there is. The hero who simply won’t give up, but will fight until the death, driven by belief in his/her mission. There are ways to exploit this hero’s weakness, however. Such a hero is inherently principled and self-sacrificial, and the capture of a score of hostages often proves sufficient to ensure this hero’s downfall. Grab copious amounts of innocent bystanders and force the hero into an exchange. Without fail, this sort of hero will offer his/her life for the release of the hostages.

The Clever Hero—And at last, we come to the intellectual, so-called brilliant hero driven by a need to display his or her cleverness to the world. With this hero, bait your trap with the promise of information. The number one rule when trapping the clever hero, is to make the hero believe they are trapping you or tricking you into giving something away. Make them comfortable, lull them into complacency, into thinking they control the situation. Then . . . you pounce . . .

Editor's Note: I find this whole affair disturbing. How our spy could have been so careless as to have fallen into such an obvious trap escapes my comprehension! Given the recent lapse in communication, there is no way to know when this recording took place, how long the spy has been trapped in the dungeons, or even if the spy is still alive. I shall continue to work with my contacts in the hopes of discovering further information.

April Antagonists and the Academy of Ultimate Villainy

Quick reminder: This month's Characters in Costume Challenge: April Antagonists is due next Friday, April 19th!

We're focusing on those vile (and perhaps not so vile) villains who populate the pages of your storyworld. So break out those black capes and curly mustaches and prepare your evil chuckles for next Friday.

To find out more about this dastardly challenge, read this post: April Characters in Costume Challenge.

Need some nefarious inspiration? Check out these audio dramas about the supervillain outbreak and a British reporter named Jeffrey Floyd over at Supervillain of the Day.

Speaking of villains, I just realized that it's been a long time since we've received a report from our spy at the Academy of Ultimate Villainy. I do hope nothing terrible has nothing. Last time the spy promised to send us a recording of the single most important lesson taught at the Academy. I don't know about you, but I'm quite interested to find out what that is . . .

Suppose I'll have to get in touch with my contacts and see if we can't figure out what's become of our spy.

Stay tuned for more information. ;)