"My Name is Memory" (A Book Review)

Book: My Name Is Memory            Author: Ann Brashares
Pages: 336                                  Chapters: Not Numbered


Inside Cover Book Blurb:

"Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has "the memory", the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel's unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now "Lucy" in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together."

Ack! Why Is My Computer Like This?!

So for a few weeks I've been trying to upload the (exclusive) videos, to no avail. I've sometimes started uploading them at 1 in the afternoon, letting it run until 8 or 9 at night (!!), but everything I do eventually results in a little pop-up window saying: "There was an error uploading your video," or something similiar. I'm fed up and tired of it, and really sad, because there's no way I'm going to put these videos on Youtube. (They're not bad or anything {this week's was going to be a tour of the Club Level floor of the Naperville Hilton, for Pete's sake}, but in them I'm especially happy and giddy, which translates to idiotic. ^-^; )

An Excuse and a Book Review (A House Afire)

Remember how I said I might be going away for a bit? Well, I'm back, and am admittedly a little later than expected -- a couple days later. Which also explains why this post is so dang late (sorry about that, by the way).

Anywho, since I was on break, there was actually time for me to read, *GASP* so I'm going to wait to do the next Supernatural post until Friday (or sometime over the weekend, whichever) and today do a review for one of the books I read over the past week. Random, I know.

Book: A House Afire         Author: Emma Kinna

Pages: 504                        Chapters: none         

*SELF-PUBLISHED by PUBLISH AMERICA*

Back Book Blurb: Phyllis Sorin has seen all sorts of people.With two kind aunts who rent out the rooms of their house to anyone in need, the people she calls family are a little different than most. There's Bill, who takes on the personalities of movie characters. There's Quincy, whose best friend is a drag queen. There's Anna, an opera singer and kung-fu master. And Phyllis, well, she's not exactly normal herself. But even as she begins to navigate high school's social jungle, Phyllis finds comfort and humor in her odd home. When Dominick Siddons moves in, however, all of Phyllis's priorities become inferior to finding out his secret. A young lawyer with a vicious wit and ferocious temper, Sid may understand Phyllis in a way no one else can. And through truth and fiction, through the inevitable chaos of the house, Phyllis finds much more than she bargained for.

Overall: A humorous and slightly romantic novel, A House Afire walks the line between YA and adult books. On the one hand, Phyllis is so clearly an adolescent -- she speaks with a young voice and complains frequently about all the homework her teachers give her -- and on the other . . . there are definitely some adult themes in the book. (examples: Excessive swearing, teen sex, relationship troubles, and a teenage girl falling seriously in love with a man who appears to be in his mid to late twenties.) Yet A House Afire takes itself fairly lightly, focusing prominently on humor and the dialogue between the characters; this is what makes Kinna's book so interesting to read.

However . . .

Supernatural Summer Tour 2010 (Part E)

Before we get to the main part of the post, I just want to mention that I will be INKPOPPER OF THE WEEK, this Monday, July 26, 2010. Yay! An interview (w/ some of my gorgeous pictures -- not of me, of course) with me will be posted on Inkpop's Blog sometime on Monday. If you're interested, please check it out! Also, I have two new works uploaded there, Loss, which is a piece I wrote this week for a writing workshop's anthology (Yes, I know what you're thinking: no more Buffy? *sniff* I've finished all the seasons.), and Black Tears, my novel. The latter also placed in the Top 10 of the Supernatural contest -- but only an excerpt, as the entry limit was 20,000 words, dangit. Now it's up for all to see, critique, and pick. *hint hint, nudge nudge*

On to the main event! lolz. This is the 2nd part of the in-Coldstone interview (once again, ignore the adorable-yet-completely-annoying kids in the background), and the last part that I uploaded to my Youtube Channel. {Just can't get enough of those links. *smilies*} After this post, it's completely original video -- new, and just for you guys. Enjoy.

This week's buddy icon is Honma Risa, who first played CereCere/Sailor Ceres in the Transylvania No Mori Kaiteban (Revision) in 2001. In 2004, she returned to play the role of Sailor Mars in Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu, as well as it's kaiteban. This 2005 revision was also the last set of stages before SeraMyu went on a "temporary hiatus." . . . and hasn't come back yet.

Supernatural Summer Tour (Part 2)

It's been a long time since the last update, I know, but here is the long-awaited part 2 of my "Supernatural" experience.

To start us off, here are the official blog postings of my trip, on the Supernatural Summer Tour website and on the InkPop blog. You can get the basic idea of the trip from there. ^_^

It was a wonderful experience, so forgive me if I want to keep the details to myself, to kind of savour them. (I will tell you that it was my first time at Coldstone -- and I went there with 4 famous authors! *sqee* BTW, I had the same ice cream as Kimberly (Derting): Birthday Cake Remix. It was great, but probably something like a million calories. Oh well. ;) )

Check out my YouTube channel for videos of the event at Anderson's Bookshop (my interview, the authors' interview) and at Coldstone (me, asking them questions). To see the full list, check out my Supernatural Summer Tour/Interview 2010 playlist. Enjoy!

Supernatural Summer Tour (Part 1)

Well, it's less than 24 hours until I'm in Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Il., at the June 5 stop on the HarperTeen Supernatural Summer Tour. *excited face*

Once there, I'll have "green room" access to the stop, and I'll get to meet the authors (and hopefully interview them). They include:

• Kim Harrison (Early to Death, Early to Rise)
• Ellen Schreiber (Vampire Kisses novels)
• Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder)
• Kelly Armstrong (The Darkest Powers Trilogy)

I'm planning to capture it all -- well, most -- on video, so in a couple days I'll probably be posting whatever HarperCollins allows me to. ^_^
Here's an article about the contest (winner), that I just unearthed: Supernatural Writing Contest Winners Announced! from the main host site, http://www.supernaturalsummer.com/. The tour's almost over, but if you can make the Anderson stop, or the one after that, great!



If you're there tomorrow, be sure to say hi! *waves*

Inkpop Supernatural Contest

Well, the results of Inkpop's Supernatural Writing Contest were announced and . . . I won! *happy dance* Check out the link here: Inkpop Supernatural Contest

In case the link dies, it is/was a contest, hosted on inkpop.com, calling for stories or poems about anything supernatural (hence the title). Here is the blurb posted on the page:

"Write an entry for the Supernatural Writing Contest by tapping into your inner dark side. Do you have a story about vampires, zombies, witches, or some other supernatural subject? Submit your writing for a chance to win awesome prizes, including a trip to our Supernatural Summer book tour. You don't even have to enter the writing contest to win. If you read entries and vote, you could be eligible for prizes too."

And here is what I won:

"Our grand prize winner will be flown out to see the Supernatural Summer Tour and meet with the Supernatural Summer Tour authors. Keep an eye on the Supernatural Summer Tour for an exclusive content and an interview with our Supernatural authors hosted by our Supernatural Writing Contest winner."

In addition, I've won a mini camcorder (do people still say that nowadays? lolz) and a $100 itunes gift card.

Isabella2296 was the editorial winner, and she will receive a review and critique from a HarperCollins editor. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who made my winning the Supernatural Writing Contest possible! "Eternal" wasn't that big on the site as a whole, but it won because of all the great reviews and lovely comments you all made! I'm really happy that everyone took the time to read and critique it. Thank you so much!!

In celebration, here's an extra-sparkly MarinaMoon icon for y'all today! Enjoy.

New Stuff

Wearing: black/white Aeropostale sweat jacket, ripped white-wash jeans, black moccasins

Listening to: We Believe You (playlist)

Happy August!
Right now it's a sweltering 87 degrees F here (which is hot for us), and I'm just glad that air conditioning was invented. :D

I've added some new stuff to the blog, cluttering it up, but it's all for convenience -- I just don't know whose convenience it is for.
New songs have been added to the playlist at the bottom of the page. A few Vanessa-Mae songs, plus some more BSSM (my own personal abbreviation). And did you notice that the page takes a little longer to scroll down? That's because of the Seventeen widget I put down there. I think it only applies to those that live in the US, but if anyone has a suggestion of another prize/widget thingie, just post a comment.

Rachelle Gardner, a literary agent here in the States, recently wrote a really good post, detailing the differences between craft and story.

Also, check out my work on Teen Ink so far! It's mostly pictures, though.

I just sent in a new work to them a couple of days ago, and hopefully soon it will be read and posted there. When it does, I'll let y'all know.

Exciting News! (plus writing links)

Exciting news from me today!! (not that any one's listening, but whatever)
Recently I entered a contest, judged by author Sonya Sones, to write a mini-sequel to her book, "What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know." It had to been under 1,500 words or 10 pages, whichever you reached first. There would be one grand prize winner, and 10 runners up.
I wrote my entry, entered the contest, and promptly forgot all about it. ;^o^
So I completely wasn't expecting an email from Sonya personally, telling me that . . .
I was one of the 10 runners up!!

Okay, so it's a bit anticlimactic, but still. It was a national contest, and it really is awesome to be one of the runners up. Although my work probably won't be published on Ms. Sones' website (like the winner's will be), I do get an autographed copy of her book, and a free subscription to the magazine, Teen Ink. Sounds kind of flaky, but it's still cool.

Also, one of my articles on the Teen Ink website was rated #1 a few days ago, which made me super happy. See it at: http://www.teenink.com/raw/Health/article/89814/sun-exposure

I'm very happy right now. :D Hee.

Red Eye + Link

I was researching agents a while ago, and came across a great informative link. (Don't I sound smart? *rolls eyes*) So I thought, why not share?
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/agents.html This is from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, but it pertains to anyone trying to track down and weed out suspicious agents. Lots of links from that link that are also helpful. Click, or die!!

On a side note, I've recently become addicted to a show called "RedEye," on Fox News. It's at something like three in the morning, and since I'm usually asleep (hopefully) by then, I have to tape it. It's funny, and kind of witty, but also a bit sick. Some good points are made, one of my favorites from the past week comparing Obama to a jealous stepfather. Very weird, and not that good if you're liberal or anything, but it doesn't really discriminate. They are, more or less, fair and balanced. And Pinch, the New York Times consultant (who's a pile of nyt papers with googly eyes taped on and a string to make the top section of papers move like a mouth) is absolutely hilarious.

Check out http://www.dailygut.com/ for the host's Gregalouge (it's a monolouge, but with Greg), or go to http://www.foxnews.com/redeye/index.html , the show's direct site. No matter what party you are, the show's good for at least a cheap laugh. ;)