The Carrier of the Mark Blog Tour: Cork City

Cork City is the second biggest city in Ireland and it houses the tallest building in Ireland, The Elysian. It’s split down the middle by the River Lee and the main section of the city is actually built on a boggy island in the middle of the two sections of the Lee. It gets an average of 151 days of rain a year and suffers from fog… a lot. This is a little problematic for a city which built its airport on the top of hill overlooking the town.

St. Patrick's Street is the main street of the city. It’s built on a strange curve because it was constructed on arches over a channel of the River Lee! It is off this street that you will find many of the points of interest mentioned in Carrier of the Mark. The Huguenot quarter is a maze of little paved pedestrian streets that buzz with activity, chic cafés, and culture.

The English Market is another prominent feature of Cork, and one close to my own heart. It is one of the oldest of its kind. It’s been around since 1788, and is even 80 years older than Barcelona's famous Boqueria! It’s an indoor market with the most amazing vaulted ceilings, indoor fountains and tunnel like alleys of the most fabulous sights and smells you can imagine. Gorgeous!

Cork's most famous building is the church tower of Shandon, which dominates the North side of the city. It is widely regarded as the symbol of the city. At the very top of the tower sits a weather vane in the shape of an eleven-foot salmon. Interesting!

Cork City is also the destination of choice for the girls of Kinsale in Carrier of the Mark. It’s about a thirty minute bus ride into the city and it’s where they hit the shops, do some damage to the credit cards, and gossip over frothy lattes in the super trendy cafes.

Each stop on The Carrier of the Mark tour features a guest post from Leigh offering a special look at an important place in the book. Be sure to visit Well Read Wife on Monday, October 10 for the next post!

Leigh Fallon was born in South Africa, raised in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to Cork in her twenties. While living in beautiful Kinsale, her novel, Carrier of the Mark, was conceived. She promptly abandoned her “riveting” career in corporate treasury and discovered Inkpop, a website for budding writers of teen fiction. Within weeks, her manuscript hit the coveted top-five spot and was reviewed by an editor at HarperCollins. A few emails and some hysterical screaming later, she signed her first deal. Leigh and her family now share their time between Ireland and the United States.

Their love was meant to be.

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

Interview with Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong, author of the Otherworld series, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Reading with Tequila: When you first started writing the Otherworld series, how much of the story did you have planned out? For example, did you know from the beginning that Savannah would eventually become the central character in the series?

Kelley: I’d always planned to finish the series with a Savannah trilogy. I chose her because she’d grown up in the series and is the most connected to all the other narrators. It seemed fitting that she should take her place as a “Woman of the Otherworld.” As for the plot, for the past six books I’ve been laying the framework for this final adventure.

RWT: I loved the alternating main characters in each book and have always wondered, why did you choose to write from multiple viewpoints?

Kelley: When I was asked to consider turning it into a series, I discussed it with my agent and said I didn't want to do umpteen novels with the characters of Bitten. I love them, but after a few books, I'd been struggling to find fresh threats for them to face! It would get very repetitive very fast. So we came up with the idea of the wider supernatural world, and creating characters in Stolen I could spin off to as narrators. That has meant infinite possibilities for the series and it has kept it very fresh for me.

RWT: Is there any character in the series you identify with more than the others? Any character that's more fun to write?

Kelley: I don't have a favourite, but some are easier to write than others. Elena is the easiest because I've written the most from her point of view. Because she was the first, she was also the most relatable one for me--I made her my age, from my geographic area, with my education level, etc. The hardest to bring to life was my ghost, Eve, because she's the least like me, so it took some work to get into her mindset. Once there, though, I had a blast! So she’s definitely one of the most fun to write.

RWT: Otherworld is an increasing popular series, gaining new readers with each new release. Why choose to end the series after one more book?

Kelley: I don’t consider it “slamming the door” on my universe. It’s more like pulling the curtain for now. I’m not tired of the world and readers don’t seem to be tired of it, but it seems a wise idea to wrap things up where I’ve long planned to…before I—or my readers—get bored. Although I’m moving on to a new adult series, I still have plans for more Otherworld short stories and, if I get a killer novel idea in the future, I have left things open enough for a curtain call or two.

About the Most Recent Release

It's been ten years since Bitten, the first novel in Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Otherworld series. In that time hundreds of thousands of fans have ravenously devoured the adventures of Armstrong's witches, demons, and werewolves. Now, in Spell Bound, she brings them all together for her most sweeping tale yet.

Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she's powerless to help herself. At the heartbreaking conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would prevent further pain for a young orphan. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise.

And now, witch-hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell-casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Armstrong gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jamie, Hope, and other beloved characters, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.

Kelley Armstrong's

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Reading with Tequila's review of Spell Bound

Interview with Michelle Rowen

Michelle Rowen, author of Bloodlust, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

National bestselling author Michelle Rowen writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy. She was the winner of the 2007 Holt Medallion for Best First Book and the 2009 Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Vampire Romance.

Michelle lives in Southern Ontario. Please feel free to contact her at michelle@michellerowen.com. She loves hearing from readers!

Reading with Tequila: For an urban fantasy heroine, Jill is refreshingly normal. Were you ever tempted to give her more than average abilities?

Michelle: I really wanted Jill to be a normal human woman with no training or special survival skills, thrust into a dangerous and deadly situation. I wanted her blood to be the danger, the weapon, not Jill herself. I'd read a lot of urban fantasy novels where the heroine is kick-ass from the very beginning and felt I wanted to go in a different direction. My initial inspiration for Jill was Sarah Connor, a character who went from a mild mannered waitress to a Terminator-butt-kicking action heroine over the course of two movies. If she'd been butt-kicking in the very beginning, her journey as a character would have been much less compelling for me. By the end of Bloodlust, Jill's definitely a different person from where she started in Nightshade, and there's lots more room to grow from there.

RWT: At the beginning of Nightshade, Declan is physically repulsive and emotionally cold. Did you ever worry that readers wouldn't be able to get past that initial impression?

Michelle: Ah, see. I never found him physically repulsive. I dig scars and an eye patch. Emotionally reserved also is cool with me. :) And I knew what was hidden deep in this dude's heart. I wanted the reader to take the same ride as Jill. Again, I wanted to play with what I'd seen in other books -- where the heroine meets the hero and he's so OMGHOT from the very first page that she can barely keep her libido off him. That's all fine and good (and hey, I've written a couple of those myself), but I wanted a more gradual build. As Jill starts to become attracted to Declan and digs past those many layers of his, I am hoping the reader does too.

RWT: In Bloodlust, Jill finds herself deeply connected to a man other than Declan. While Jill obviously lusts after both men, is it possible that she could love them both?

Michelle: Hmm, good question. I really don't know. Is it possible to love two very different men at the same time? Can your emotions fool you? If someone is there for you when the other is missing in a time of great need, does the heart grow fonder, or go yonder? Personally, I think I started to like (ahem, lust after) the other guy a whole lot more than I should have and gave him way more page time than he might have deserved. What can I say? He's pretty sexy. ;) At the end of the day, though, where are his feelings? Does he even know what love is? I do think Jill has strong (but different) feelings for both men. I also think she feels stronger for one of them, and that likely won't change any time soon. However, I am a big fan of love triangles. Always have been. True love never runs smoothly.

RWT: Is there a set number of books in the Nightshade series? And can you give us any hints about what might be in the future for Jill?

Michelle: Ah, another tricky question. I went into this "series" counting on the contracted two books and the novella that came in between, which is why I gave Bloodlust what I think is a satisfying ending. I very much want to write more in the series since there are lots more places that Jill needs to go as a character -- in fact, I've already mapped those places out for at least two more books. However, at this time, my publisher has not committed to more books, which is disappointing both to me and to the readers I know loved the first book. Hopefully, however, those readers will help to spread the word about the books. Publishing is a tough business right now and series are getting canceled all over the place. But I'd love to write more about Jill and her future adventures and will definitely keep my fingers crossed that I can do that some day very soon.

About the Book

Jillian Conrad's blood has killed the vampire king. Now an enemy to all vampires, she is targeted for elimination. So is the infant daughter of the dead king. If Jillian doesn't stand in the way of her death, then everyone, living or dead, is in great peril.

Michelle Rowen's Website
Reading with Tequila's review of Bloodlust

Interview with Kelly Keaton

Kelly Keaton, author of Darkness Becomes Her, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Kelly loves ancient history, fantasy, and mythology. She dreams of one day attaining magical powers, discovering the secret to immortality, ridding her home of pet hair, and being crowned Mardi-Gras queen. She likes pre-Raphaelite art, moonlight on snow, and MMORPGs. She lives in North Carolina with her family, one Great Dane, and two incredibly hairy cats.

Kelly’s alter ego, Kelly Gay, is a 2010 double RITA finalist and a recipient of North Carolina’s Art Council fellowship grant in literature. She writes the Charlie Madigan series for Pocket Books.

Reading with Tequila: Ari, the lead character in Darkness Becomes Her, has self-defense and firearm training well before she comes into her "ability." Was this just because her foster parents were training her to be a bail enforcement officer or did you have additional motivation for making her so able to defend herself?

Kelly: Ari's training is a direct result of her time with her foster parents. But I also think if Ari had never met them, she would've found a way to learn self defense. It's just part of her nature and how her past has shaped her. She's been toughened by life and now that she's older, she isn't going to take anymore crap. But, certainly in developing her the goal was to create a character able to defend herself, and more importantly to create a heroine able to defend herself mentally. To be strong enough on the inside to handle all the craziness that comes.

RWT: In the world Darkness Becomes Her is set, the United States sold New Orleans to a private group after it was ravaged by two hurricanes. Did you ever worry that some might find the idea of that, even completely fictionalized, as upsetting after past New Orlean's tragedies?

Kelly: Yes, of course that concern was there. And I knew comparisons would be drawn, understandably so. I have deep sympathy and respect for everything the victims of past hurricanes have been through and are still going through. And I have a deep love for New Orleans and it's people.

I think authors who write about real-life tragedies or mirror them in fiction often do so with respect. Filmmakers, authors, and artists portray wars, disasters, terror in order to show the human condition - hope, will, courage, love, hate. Showing how people can rise above and survive can be an acknowledgement, a testament, and a tribute whether a book is set in an actual real-life disaster or whether it mirrors an event in the past.

My futuristic city of New 2 is born out of the devastation caused by fictional twin hurricanes supernaturally fueled by the goddess Athena, and the actual story takes place over a decade after this event occurs. The plot of my book doesn't revolve around this event, but what it does do is show how one amazing city continues to rise from destruction. It does, of course mirror the past and it mirrors the future as well. I must acknowledge this, not ignore it. Hurricanes are a fact of life in the south. I live in the south. I have been through countless hurricanes, and I've been hip-deep in flood water. And as a creative person, one who draws on human experience and the world around me, I can't ignore their impact and must be truthful about the past, the future, and the natural environment.

My motivation for writing DBH came from my desire to write about a city I have absolutely adored for the last twenty + years. I want to introduce New Orleans to teens and readers who haven't discovered or read about the city before, to inspire the same kind of passion I have for the place. In the end, I have to trust that my words convey my deep love and admiration for the city and its people, and I have to trust that my readers will see the setting for what it is -- a nod to the beauty, spirit, and resilience of New Orleans.

RWT: You also write the Charlie Madigan series under the name Kelly Gay. Did you find any surprising differences between writing for adults and writing for teens?

Kelly: Yes and no. The supernatural aspects, the action, and the tough heroines are very familar aspects in both books. For me, the big differences came in terms of character growth and internal story arcs. My adult character is a 31 yr old single mom, so the things that are important to her and the things she learns and goes through are different than what a 17 yr old would learn. So their internal journeys are much, much different.

RWT: I hear you've already completed the sequel to Darkness Becomes Her. Any chance you could give us a hint of what's to come for Ari and her friends?

Kelly: Yes! Readers will find that there is a lot more face time with Sebastian and with Athena in this book. The story takes off right where Darkness Becomes Her left off with Ari wanting to save Violet and her father. Will that happen? I cannot say, but there are definitely some shocking moments in this book! ;-)

About the Book

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Kelly Keaton's website
Kelly on Facebook
Kelly on Twitter

Reading with Tequila's review of Darkness Becomes Her

Blog Tour: Libba Bray Guest Post & Contest Announcement

The hilarious Libba Bray is here today to answer some pageant questions!

Please describe your daily hair, makeup and outfit selection routine.

My daily hair, makeup and outfit selection is as follows: Wake up with a vague feeling of having forgotten to do something important. Stumble toward shower. Step in cat vomit. Sigh. Wash off cat vomit in shower. Wash hair while singing Led Zeppelin medley reimagined as elevator muzak. (Personal fave? “Since I’ve Been Loving You” complete with “bah-bah-bah-bah” backing vocals.) Drip all over floor searching for towel. Put on glasses. Find towel. Eye mega-sized bottle of lotion. Say, “I really should moisturize.” Leave bottle untouched. Slap cream on face. Make sexy face in mirror. Say, “You are so dewy—you’re a dewy decimal system!” Realize this makes no sense. Carry on. Spritz industrial “texturizing lotion” in hair. Hair has one texture: stick straight. This does not prevent the purchase of everything with the word “texture” in it. Blow dry. Hair looks no different. Brush teeth. (Dental hygiene—so important.) Vaseline lips. Say, “ew.” Wipe most of it off lips. Ponder drawer full of makeup. Remember there was a time when I would give makeovers to all my friends. Remember that the people at Sephora consider me a high roller. Remember that, like a magpie, I am drawn to sparkly, shiny things, including eye shadows in every color of the rainbow. Remember that I am running late. Close drawer and count on the Vaseline to make me shine. Stare at open closet. Stare some more. Select jeans and a black concert t-shirt. Add socks and sneakers. Remember that there is a laptop, bagel, and coffee in my near future. Feel beautiful. Walk off singing “No Quarter” to a bossa nova beat.

If you were a pair of shoes, what kind would you be and why?

If I were a pair of shoes, I would be a pair of Converse. But a very sparkly pair, probably bright blue, with graffiti laces. I live in NYC, and I need to get around and up-and-down subway stairs quickly. So I’d be a pair of shoes that are street-smart, funky, sparkly, easy, comfy, can dress up or down, shoes that wouldn’t hurt your arches at the end of the day. That’s what people say about me so often: That Libba—she’s easy on the arches.

Scholastic has launched a new online community called This Is Teen to connect readers with their favorite YA authors and books. Visit their page on Facebook for all the latest news on Libba Bray and her new book Beauty Queens: www.facebook.com/thisisteen.

Follow Libba to her next tour stop: The Book Cellar on June 6th.

Beauty Queens Contest

Ladies and gentlemen, we want to know WHAT MAKES YOU A BEAUTY QUEEN? Being a Beauty Queen like the ones in Libba Bray's new novel means being true to yourself and who you want to be. Tell us in 500 words or less what makes you a Beauty Queen, and you could win a $250 Amex Gift Card to use toward whatever makes you feel most awesome. Or you could opt for a $250 gift card to Sephora. Whatever you choose, we will also send you a signed copy of the book and your very own tiara!

To enter go to http://www.thisisteen.com/Contest.htm

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal US residents ages 13 to 18. Deadline to enter 5pm EST on July 1, 2011. Void where prohibited. For complete details and official rules go to www.ThisIsTeen.com

About the Book

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and complete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eye liner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program – or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan – or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

Interview with Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf, author of These Things Hidden, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Heather Gudenkauf is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Weight of Silence.

Heather was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing impairment (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her), Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father's students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.

Heather Gudenkauf graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent her career working with students of all ages and is currently a Literacy Coach, an educator who provides curricular and professional development support to teachers.

Heather lives in Dubuque, Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Maxine. In her free time Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running. She is currently working on her third novel.

Reading with Tequila: Where did you get the inspiration for These Things Hidden?

Heather: The idea for the novel came about after I heard an NPR news story describing how in the twelfth century, a deeply concerned Pope Innocent III created the Medieval foundling wheel. The Roman Pope ordered the construction of foundling wheels, rotating platforms built into the walls of churches, after becoming aware that many unwanted newborns were being tossed into the Tiber River by their mothers. This allowed desperate women to anonymously and safely leave their newborns with the nuns inside the church walls. From this I decided to write the story of one little boy left at an Iowa safe haven site, the mystery surrounding his birth and the four women who pass in and out of his life.

RWT: These Things Hidden does a wonderful job of showing how the choices we make can effect our entire lives in unexpected ways. Was that the intended message of the book?

Heather: Thank you! I do think that the choices we make can have a far-reaching impact on our lives and often on the lives of others. These Things Hidden highlights the importance of making thoughtful, well-intentioned choices, but also acknowledges the fact that sometimes life just happens - good and bad - and how we respond in these circumstances is the true measure of who we are.

RWT: Allison goes through so much in the book and in the end proves to be a very strong person. Did you ever feel bad about all that you put her through?

Heather: I did feel bad for all that Allison had to endure and out of all the characters in the novel, she underwent the biggest transformation. Allison, the golden girl, had her whole life in front of her and one decision sent her on a path she could never have imagined. Thankfully, Allison's determination and strength get her through the most of difficult times.

RWT: I love the scene where Allison calms Joshua by treating him the way should would another inmate. Is this a known parenting technique or your own idea?

Heather: That is one of my favorite scenes in the book also. I got the idea for this through my experience as a teacher and working with students who needed assistance in calming themselves. By giving a person the opportunity to gather their bearings and to save face, gives them the chance to make better choices. I wish I could say it's my own technique - but it's one I learned from many wonderful teachers I have worked with in the past.

About the Book

When teenager Allison Glenn is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces whispered rumors every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn—shy, quiet Brynn—who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her.

But then Allison is released to a halfway house, and is more determined than ever to speak with her estranged sister.

Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.

Reading with Tequila's review of These Things Hidden

Interview with Kristan Higgins

Kristan Higgins, author of All I Ever Wanted, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Kristan Higgins, author of My One and Only and six other romantic comedies, combines real life, true love and lots of laughs in her stories. Her books have received praise and accolades from readers and reviewers alike. Kristan is a USA TODAY bestselling author and the two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America's RITA® Award...in 2010 for Too Good To Be True and in 2008 for Catch of the Day. Called "one of the most honest and creative voices in contemporary romance," Kristan is hard at work on her next book. She lives in a small Connecticut town with her heroic firefighter husband, two lovely children and a very cute puppy. Kristan loves to hear from readers!

Reading with Tequila: I loved the secondary characters in All I Ever Wanted. Which one was your favorite to write and why?

Kristan: I had a lot of fun with Damien, the sniping receptionist at Callie’s job, just because it’s fun to write such a snarky character. I also always love writing kids, so Bronte and Josephine were fun for me (especially Josephine’s inappropriate taste in music). But for this book, Noah, Callie’s curmudgeonly grandfather, was my favorite character to write by far. I think he steals every scene he’s in. He’s so blunt and grumpy, but he’s got the biggest heart. I love how he struggled with aging, and I loved how capable he was in his craft. And of course, I loved the jacuzzi scene.

RWT: In All I Ever Wanted, Callie's parents embark on the "Tour of Whores," where Callie's mom makes her dad introduce her to all the women he cheated on her with, which I found emotional in a surprising way. Where did you get the idea for those scenes?

Kristan: Eleanor, Callie’s mom, needs closure—and, let’s be honest, she wants to punish her ex-husband. Tobias had gotten by on charm for a long time, and Eleanor wants him to face what he did. But in a way, he already has…Eleanor’s the one who needs to put the past behind her…even if that’s not her intent in the beginning. For me, a lot of ALL I EVER WANTED is about forgiveness, and in order to forgive, sometimes we have to suffer a bit first. What’s revealed by the Tour of Whores isn’t quite what Eleanor expected…I think those scenes are hilarious at times, agonizing at others…and I love the fact that Callie’s parents make her a witness.

RWT: Your newest book, My One and Only, Harper James is trapped on a cross country ride with her ex-husband. Is it ever difficult to make awkward situations like this humorous?

Kristan: I think awkward situations are the funniest—in writing, at any rate! In real life, they only become funny after a good long while has passed. For MY ONE AND ONLY, writing the enforced intimacy of these two was a real joy…all those emotions simmering just under the surface, all that past waiting to be examined!

RWT: How important is realism in romance to you, in what you enjoy reading and in your own books?

Kristan: As a writer, realism is very important for me—mostly in terms of emotional honesty. I like writing about situations we could all be in, and I love writing a big, memorable love story about regular people. I don’t let my characters get off the hook—at least, I try not to. At some point in every book, they have to drop the outer defense mechanisms they’ve used for so long and take a chance, and it’s not easy! A lot of times, I find myself asking, “But what would THIS character do or feel, given what’s happened?” That’s where I really try to be realistic.

As a reader, I enjoy escapism as much as anyone. But to me, the perfect book is about character I really know, whether they’re part of the ton from Regency England or cowboys from Western Montana or a vampire slayer in rural Maine. No matter what the situation, I have to believe this character. When the character does something that’s simply out of character, that’s when I close the book.

About the Book

One Happily-Ever-After Rocking Chair…

and no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol' Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a three-oh birthday bash in the family funeral home.

Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a crazy relationship with the town's not so warm and fuzzy veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark's attention. So Ian is more comfortable with animals…. So he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang, if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor….

Kristan's website
Kristan on Facebook
Reading with Tequila's review of All I Ever Wanted

Guest Author: Leanna Renee Hieber + Giveaway! {Haunted London Tour}

The Perilous Prophecy Haunted London Blog Tour: Day Three – A ghost of my own making

About the Haunted London Blog Tour: The Haunted tour has become tradition to celebrate release week of my Strangely Beautiful series of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels. Here I introduce the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in the latest book. Special thanks, as always, to Richard Jones, www.haunted-london.com, for being my foremost ghostly resource! About this prequel novel: The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess features a young Beatrice Smith grappling with her duties as leader of The Guard of spectral police, while a faltering Goddess of beauty and light sacrifices all for a snow-white child of destiny to be born into the gilded Victorian Age. For all involved in the making of delicate Prophecy, the answers to divine questions lie in passionate, imperfect mortal hearts. -- I write Gothic novels, so prepare a capital D for Drama, set your sights on ghosts and myth, prophecies and fraught perils, all manner of intense characters, and come along for the ride!
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About today’s ghost: My favourite thing about creating a series is the fact that the world-building never stops growing. Characters that seemed incidental at first have the opportunity to return. I made up a ghost who had traveled from a long distance to offer Alexi and his Guard a warning in the first Strangely Beautiful novel. So it made sense to introduce the same ghost but from the first encounter; this time in its native land. So rather than give you its invented ‘backstory’ – I’ll let it ‘speak’ for itself.

From The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess:

They followed their Intuition past a bustling market square teeming with people, glittering with wares and fabrics, reeking of scents, and at last they found a young man floating in an alley. A boy entirely supine but airborne. He was luminous.

Belle shrieked. Beatrice moved in front of her, placing herself in the spectre’s line of sight, and she was the first to enter the alley. It wasn’t that she wanted to see this abomination any more than Belle, but her instinct told her that this was her proving ground and she must rise to its challenge.

Ahmed held out his hand to Belle, a gesture not to worry, and he smiled. The French girl’s shoulders immediately eased, as did everyone else’s. Ahmed’s joy was potent magic.

“You each have a gift,” Beatrice instructed, using the sort of voice that made people turn and listen. Surprising her, they did. “And we each have an instinct. Use it. Now.”

She whirled toward the floating boy and flung out her hands. In them, phoenix fire was instantly ready and eager to be wielded. It flowed from her hands, seemingly knowing what to do. The flame enveloped the youngster’s hovering form like a bubble of water, and the boy’s possessor became visible.

Ibrahim reached into the new and vast library of his mind. He chose scripture from the Quran and spoke it bravely, directing his words at the demon above. Clearly, the boy’s inhabitant was displeased. The offending spirit strained and thrashed inside the youth’s skin, tearing at the dusty linen of his long tunic and frayed vest, turning the boy’s honey brown skin a pallid grey, threatening to transform him into a ghost before their very eyes.

Verena gasped. From the look on her face, the entwined beings clearly horrified her, yet the living victim’s obvious pain drew her forward and she reached out to touch him. His racked body went limp when she did. Her hand was soft light, and its application was mercy.

George reacted next. Taking charcoal from his pocket, in a few swift strokes he etched the outline of a great dove. Beatrice squinted before realizing his intent. The dove was not only a picture but script, the body of the bird curved down and continued into Arabic script that read Peace.

“Now that is brilliant,” Ahmed breathed. George beamed, his fair skin pinking, his cheeks dimpled, making him somewhat the cherub.

None of them knew precisely what they were doing. Nonetheless, instinct proved true, and Beatrice was proud in a way she had never felt: of herself, and of these strangers who were suddenly family.

The possessed boy’s gaze snapped to the dove, to Peace, and the sight kept his eyes from rolling and his mouth from foaming. She could tell they were making progress. As well, Beatrice noticed that if she moved her hands closer together, her binding blue fire constricted the creature within him. The spirit hated its shackles.

Belle came close and touched the boy’s ankle, but she hissed in pain at what she felt. Her touch was giving her insight that was clearly unpleasant. Ahmed was swift at her side, bestowing joy. He reminded them each to breathe deep, and he demonstrated, giving a soft laugh to buffer their hearts. A possession infected the air and the mind with heavy negativity.

“What did you learn, Belle?” Beatrice asked.

“It cried out from the towers and saw dumb sheep below. A muezzin, he was. But at some point he turned and sang for evil. Sang not to lure men to prayer but to depravity. Humanity, dumb sheep… He wanted to scare them, to turn them all. It wants. It hungers for so much more than this life can give…” She shuddered, and Ahmed’s attention was again needed.

“He sang from the towers calling others to prayer,” Ibrahim murmured. “And yet the creature never learned how to pray for himself. Clearly. How sad.”

-- (End of Excerpt)

Leave a comment for your chance to win either a download code or a print copy of one Strangely Beautiful book from the series (winner’s preference)! Follow along the rest of the tour for more ghost stories and chances to win! Tour schedule available via the Haunted London Tour page of my website: http://leannareneehieber.com where you can also find the archives from Haunted Tours past! I also hope you’ll join me for the launch of my new MAGIC MOST FOUL saga of Gothic Victorian Paranormal novels set in 1880s NYC with Sourcebooks Fire. DARKER STILL (Magic Most Foul #1) hits the shelves 11/11!

Happy Haunting!
Leanna Renee Hieber
Twitter: http://twitter.com/leannarenee
FB: http://tinyurl.com/lrhfbfan
Blog: http://leannareneebooks.blogspot.com

Entry deadline: Wednesday. May 11, 2011 at 11:59pm EST
Include email address when entering.

Guest Author: Beth Kendrick

Beth Kendrick, author of The Bake-Off, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila talk about baking.

Beth Kendrick got her B.A. in English at Carleton College before earning her Ph.D. in child psychology and then pulling a professional U-turn to pursue her dream job of becoming a novelist. When she is not slavishly working on her next novel, she’s cheering on the Chicago Cubs, watching TV series of questionable intellectual value (“Real Housewives of Orange County,” we’re looking at you), going to the gym, or learning how to bake (those last two kind of cancel each other out). She lives in Arizona with her family and two unruly rescue dogs. You can visit her website at www.BethKendrick.com.

Piecrust: It Ain’t for Sissies

As a rule, authors dread the question, “Where do you get your ideas?” because they honestly don’t have an answer. But I know exactly where I got the idea for my new book, The Bake-Off: 2 a.m., the night before my toddler’s birthday party, while sweating and cursing and trying to pipe green icing onto a chocolate sheet cake so that I could add a tiny, to-scale lawn mower intended for a dollhouse (God bless eBay) and deliver unto the light of my life the “lawn mower cake” he so fervently desired.

The Cake Boss I am not, and I was tired and frustrated and thinking: I can’t do this—I quit. Kid won’t remember it anyway. But then I thought, You know, if someone offered me a million dollars, I would figure out a way to make this cake beautiful. And I was off and running with the idea of two estranged sisters who can’t bake at all, but are desperate for money and recognition. So they enter a family recipe and go for the gold at a national, high-stakes dessert championship, even though they’ve been feuding for years and can barely boil water.

When I came up with the premise for this story, I thought the writing would be a snap. My characters can’t bake, and neither can I, so we have lots in common. Woo hoo! Rule-breakers and rebels unite!

Except, by the end of the story, Amy and Linnie have learned how to bake. Specifically, they’re making apple pie from scratch, including the crust, which is the pastry equivalent of an ice skater executing a triple axel and sticking the landing at the Olympics.

The time had come to stop coasting on good intentions and brownies from a mix. Time to turn off Top Chef and The Food Network and get my hands dirty (or at least lightly dusted with flour). As part of my research, I interviewed a woman who’s spent decades on the competitive cooking circuit. She gave me the inside scoop on things like how to prepare for competition day and little things that can sway the judges in your favor (like choosing a sassy, catchy name for your recipe), but of course I wanted juicy gossip and tales of intrigue. She kept insisting that 99% of the people she’d met at competitions were charming and delightful.

So naturally I wrote my book all about the other 1%--the backstabbing, ruthless, sabotaging drama queens.

I also enrolled in a two-day “intensive baking workshop” at a local cooking school. This turned out to be a 48-hour crash course in humility. I was, to put it tactfully, the problem child in class. All the other students were showing off their superior knife skills and chatting knowledgably about things like “flavor profiles”, while I practically amputated my thumb with an apple peeler. I gave it my all, though. I sliced and sautéed and worked the food processor like a pro. I rolled my crust out into a perfect circle, wove strips of dough into a perfect lattice, and baked at 350 until bubbly and golden brown.

Then I stood back while the instructor sampled the finished product. She took a tiny bite, put down her fork, and cleared her throat.

“There are two types of pie,” she said. “And you were trying to make the other kind.”

As soon as she said it, I grabbed a pen—that line is totally going in the book.

I had so much fun writing The Bake-Off, and I hope you have fun reading it. There’s a little something for everybody: butter, sugar, sisterly love, a few misdemeanors, a lot of scandal, and recipes for vodka-butter cake and a killer apple pie. Bon appétit!

For more information about Beth and her books, please visit her website: www.BethKendrick.com and Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BethKendrickBooks

About the Book

Suburban soccer mom Amy has always wanted to stand out from the crowd. Former child prodigy Linnie just wants to fit in. The two sisters have been estranged for years, but thanks to a series of personal crises and their wily grandmother, they've teamed up to enter a national bake-off in the hopes of winning some serious cash. Armed with the top-secret recipe for Grammy's apple pie, they should be unstoppable. Sure, neither one of them has ever baked anything more complicated than brownie mix, but it's just pie-how hard could it be?

Guest Author: Susan Jane Bigelow

Susan Jane Bigelow, author of Broken, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to tell us about superheroes.

Superheroes are a longtime obsession of mine, ever since I was a kid! Originally, I loved their stories because, hey, super-powers! Who wouldn't want to fly or be able to shoot laser beams out of her eyes? Makes sense. But now I love the superhero genre because of the incredible potential for storytelling, and for exploring themes that I find incredibly relevant.

In a lot of ways, superhero stories are about those who are different or special in one way or another. Here are people who either have inborn or contracted special abilities or powers, or who are in some other way extraordinary. This makes them very different from the other people around them, sometimes in extremely visible ways.

Themes that tend to crop up over and over are those of isolation, loneliness and resentment, as well as misunderstanding and mistrust on the part of the non-superhero population. How do they deal with it? Do they withdraw from life, embrace their differences, or some combination of both? Superman has a Fortress of Solitude where can retreat from an impossibly demanding life. Batman has no real friends, and is focused to the point of obsession and beyond with his work. There are many stories of superheroes trying, desperately, to have some semblance of a “normal” life, either through a second identity in which they “pass” for a non-superhero (most famous example: Clark Kent), or through family, friends and work. And, suddenly, this is probably starting to sound familiar to a lot of people out there who have ever felt different or isolated.

One of the great things fantasy and science fiction can do is give us a lens through which to view our own society and its problems from a safe distance. Superhero stories allow us to think about how Western society views crime and law enforcement, for example. Clearly they can, in their better moments, also give us insight on how society treats those who are either visibly or invisibly different, and how they cope with what sets them apart. The best superhero stories, in my opinion, are those that explore these issues of difference within the context of a larger narrative. Watchmen comes to mind almost immediately as a great example of this kind of storytelling, as does Astro City and some of the better X-Men stories.

These differences are often portrayed in fantasy and science fiction as generally positive things (see: Harry Potter), and despite the negative effects readers are led to see them as more a blessing than a curse. Differences, the message tends to go, set us apart and can be a difficult burden to bear, but they also make us unique and special, and give us insights and experiences other people don't have. This is an incredibly awesome message.

So, sure, I love reading and writing about superheroes because what they can do is amazing and fascinating. However, I also love these stories because I can use them to talk and think about issues that really matter to me. How cool is that?

About the Author

Susan Jane Bigelow is a native New Englander and librarian with a passion for books, computers and writing. She lives in northern Connecticut with her wife and cats. Broken is her first novel.

About the Book

Broken figured she was done with heroics when she lost the ability to fly and fled the oppressive Extrahuman Union. But then the world started to fall apart around her, and the mysterious Michael Forward entered her life, dangling the possibility of redemption and rebirth. Can a shattered superhero help save humanity's hope for a better world?

Reading with Tequila's review of Broken

Guest Author: Tessa Adams + Giveaway

Tessa Adams, author of the Dragon's Heat series, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to tell us about tequila!

First of all, thanks so much for having me today, Jennifer :)  I really appreciate it.  After all, what better place to talk about my new book, Hidden Embers, then here at Reading with Tequila?  One of my favorite scenes in the book actually takes place over a bottle of tequila, and like Jennifer says in her bio regarding her meeting with her husband, Jasmine and Quinn’s first conversation is also about tequila …

Speaking of which, I’m not much of a drinker, simply because I’m terrible at holding my alcohol—from the time I was legal, my friends have always called me a very cheap drunk.  But if I do end up having a drink, nine times out of ten, it’s going to be something with Tequila in it.  Maybe it’s because I was raised in Southern California where the margarita is king, or because Tequila always means a huge, fun party where I’m from, or maybe it’s simply because I think doing body shots is incredibly sexy (Quinn and Jasmine do a few …)  Whatever it is, tequila is definitely my drink of choice.

So, in that vein, I thought I’d pop up a couple of tequila drink recipes that I think are delicious—and hope that you like them as well.  The first one I ran across when I was researching one of my novels a few years ago, and my friends all agree—it’s a winner!

Silk Stocking (makes 2)
3 oz Tequila
1 oz crème de cacao
2 oz cream
1 tsp Chambord

Mix in a shaker with ice, then strain into a martini glass rimmed with sugar or shaved chocolate, and serve.

Another delicious tequila recipe is for a Mexican Sunset (makes 2):
3 oz tequila
3 oz orange juice
1 ½ oz Kahlua® coffee liqueur
2 oz grenadine syrup

Mix in a shaker with ice, and strain into a martini glass rimmed with sugar.

And here’s the conversation I was talking about between Quinn and Jasmine:

The bartender slapped two shots of Patron on the bar between them, along with another shot glass full of lime slices. Jasmine reached for hers, aware that the guy sitting next to her was doing the same.

She might have thought it was lame that he ordered the same drink as her—like that would impress her or something—but there was a line of used shot glasses in front of him, and when he turned his head to look at her his breath smelled faintly of her favorite tequila.

“What should we drink to?” he asked in a low, smoky voice that made her toes curl inside her favorite pair of Sketchers.

She thought about it for a second, then remembered how good it felt to defend herself against the jerks outside. “How about to kicking a little ass?”

If she’d hoped to shock him with her response—which she was honest enough to admit she might have—she was disappointed. He simply lifted one dark eyebrow and asked sardonically, “So, you like to kick ass, do you?”

“Absolutely. If the occasion warrants it, I’m all for a good ass-kicking.” She raised her glass, clinked it against his. Then tossed the shot back in a hurry.

It burned all the way down, lit a fire in her stomach that worked its way through her bloodstream until every part of her was tingling and warm. Tequila didn’t usually have that effect on her, but she refused to give the guy next to her the credit. No matter how hot he was.

And God, was he hot. Long and lean with heavily muscled arms and a torso so sculpted she could see the outline of his six pack through his T-shirt. He was so sexy that she had to surreptitiously wipe her mouth to make sure she wasn’t drooling.

Add in the brooding green eyes, chin-length black hair and cut-glass jaw lined with stubble, and he was every late-night fantasy she’d ever had. Even as she told herself she wasn’t going to be sticking around long enough to find out if he tasted as good as he looked, a part of her was intrigued enough to turn toward him and watch as he lifted his own shot glass.

He caught her looking and grinned, a sharp, seductive expression that made her nipples tighten against the thin cotton of her tank top. She started to cross her arms over her chest, but saw that she was too late—his emerald gaze had already found the tell-tale peaks beneath her shirt.

“That was fast,” he said with a grin. She wasn’t sure if he was talking about her response to him or the way she’d downed the shot. “Can I get you another one?”

She shrugged. “Sure.” It wasn’t like she was going to be driving anywhere anytime soon.

He flagged down the bartender and ordered them both another shot before turning back to look at her. “So, whose ass did you kick tonight, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“A couple jerks who thought a woman stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire was fair game.”

The smile slid off his face and his eyes darkened dangerously. “Are they still alive?”

“Unfortunately.”

He scanned the bar. “Are they here?”

“Nope.. Why? You planning on coming to my defense?”

She held her breath as she waited for him to answer. She was all for a knight in shining armor, but she preferred a man who knew she could take care of herself—and who trusted her to do it.

“Not your defense, no. But I figure there are a bunch of women in here who wouldn’t be able to handle themselves as well in a similar situation.”

She melted a little at his words. Despite his very bad-ass exterior, it sounded like he was one of the good guys. At the very least, he had more than a passing respect for women. She could totally get into that.

“They’re long gone, so that’s one less thing for you to worry about tonight.” Even as she spoke, she couldn’t believe the flirtatious tone in her voice. She never went that route, usually went out of her way to avoid sounding like some silly schoolgirl with a crush. But something about this man was really ringing her bell—in the best possible way.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He spun his barstool toward her, so that his knees brushed lightly against her upper thigh. Pleasure fluttered inside her and she caught her breath, shocked that such a light touch could elicit any response from her at all, let alone one strong enough to have her libido stand up and take notice.

The sudden heat radiating from him told her she wasn’t the only one whose body was just a little out of control.

“Are you? Why?”

“Because as entertaining as it would be to teach those guys a lesson, I much prefer sitting here with you.”

“Really? And why is that?”

“You smell a lot better than they probably do—and you have excellent taste in tequila.”

“Yeah, well, a girl never knows when a taste for highbrow tequila will come in handy. Speaking of which—” she said, as she reached for her second shot. “Cheers.”

He inclined his head forward. “Cheers.”

She downed the shot in record time, but when she slammed her glass on the counter, she realized he still hadn’t taken his first shot—which was resting, neglected, between his fingers—let alone the second one that was sitting in front of him.

“Something wrong with your drink?” she asked.

“No. I just enjoy watching you indulge. Besides, I’m already a few ahead of you.” He nodded to the empty shot glasses the bartender had yet to clear away.

“You are indeed. Why is that, by the way?”

This time his smile was anything but warm, and she felt the chill of it cut through the rosy tequila glow currently enveloping her. “It’s been a rough year.”

There was something in the way he said it, something in the sudden sadness that wrapped around him like a cloak that made her think that his “rough” was a number of shades worse than hers. And that was saying something, considering her year to date had consisted of dealing with a serious outbreak of Ebola in the Congo, followed by being blown up in the third week of a research trip that had started going wrong the second she’d gotten off the airplane.

Still, no one was more surprised than she when she reached a hand out and covered his, where it rested on his knee. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

His fingers clutched at hers like a lifeline. “Don’t be. You didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m having a pretty crappy year myself, so I can empathize.”

“Awww, don’t tell me that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I wouldn’t wish my luck on anyone.”

So how about you?  What’s your favorite drink, alcoholic or otherwise?  Leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of Dark Embers, the first book in the Dragon Heat’s series.  Have a great Monday!

About the Author

Tessa Adams, aka Tracy Wolff, lives with four men, teaches writing to local college students and spends as much time as she can manage immersed in worlds of her own creation. Married to the alpha hero of her dreams for twelve years, she is the mother of three young sons who spend most of their time trying to make her as crazy as possible.

About the Book

Deep in the New Mexico desert there is a secret race on the brink of extinction—the pure-blood shapeshifters of the Dragonstar clan. And they have one last, desperate hope for survival…

Quinn Maguire is a powerful Dragonstar healer at a tragic loss, unable to cure the insidious disease killing off his people. Yet even in such dire circumstances the conservative Quinn is secretly disapproving of the alternative: Dr. Jasmine Kane, enlisted by the head of the Dragonstar clan to help abort the virus. She is a wild card. She is an outsider. She is human.

Decked out in black leather and a tough attitude, Jasmine clashes with Quinn in more ways than one. And when destiny chooses her for his Mate, he doesn't know whether to rejoice or rebel. Because while Jasmine makes him burn hotter than any woman--dragon or human-- ever has, their differences make a relationship impossible.

But when a rival infiltrates the clan and attacks Jasmine, Quinn becomes desperate. Jasmine is now the first human to be infected with the disease—and Quinn must do everything he can to find a cure, and save the woman he has grown to love.

Giveaway

As she mentioned above, Tessa Adams is offering one lucky winner a copy of Dark Embers!

To enter, leave a comment answering Tessa's question. Be sure to leave your email address in case you win!

US/Canada.

Entry deadline: Sunday, April 24th at 11:59pm EST

Interview with Ally Condie + Giveaway

Ally Condie, author of Matched, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Ally Condie is a former high school English teacher who lives with her husband and three sons outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, running, eating, and listening to her husband play guitar.

Reading with Tequila: Matched is set in a fascinating society where every aspect of life is arranged by the government and the citizen appear to be content. One of the instigating factors in Cassia's beginning to exercise free will was a poem. Do you believe that just a few lines can cause a person to question everything they've always known?

Ally: I do, in the sense that often the written word can be a catalyst for feelings and questions that are already being felt and asked somewhere inside. Often, we find ourselves in reading the words of others. I chose the particular poem used in Matched because it is a poem that both incredibly beautiful and almost universally accessible—meaning that almost anyone of any age responds to those first few lines.

RWT: For me, the choice between Xander and Ky was like choosing between comfortable and forbidden. Have you heard from many fans about their Team Xander vs. Team Ky choices?

Ally: I have! I think right now it’s about 60-40 with Ky in the lead. It makes me happy that readers like both characters-I wanted them both to feel appealing and interesting.

RWT: The society plays an active role in the love triangle in Matched. Cassia seems to make a choice in the end, but was it really her choice or is it where the government led her all along?

Ally: This is a great question…and won’t be fully revealed until Book 3 so I can’t really answer it. I hope that’s all right. :) But I can say that Cassia made the choice to love Ky in the first book. Whether or not the government put that idea into her mind remains to be seen.

RWT: Matched is the beginning of a trilogy. Can you give us any hints as to what may be in the future for Cassia, Xander and Ky?

Ally: Yes! CROSSED, the sequel, is almost finished and we are going to see a lot of the Outer Provinces in that book. I’m very excited about the characters and the setting. It’s been so much fun to write.

About the Book

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Ally Condie's website
Matched website
Ally on Twitter
Matched trailer
 Matched author video

Reading with Tequila's review of Matched

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Matched!

To enter, leave a comment. Be sure to include your email address in case you win.

US only.

Entry deadline: Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 11:59pm

Guest Author: Pam Bachorz

Pam Bachorz, author of Drought, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to tell us what she would miss if she lived with The Congregation.

Thanks for the great question!

I am a girl who loves her treats and her gadgets. If you take away those things, I get very grumpy. That is why I can never compete on Survivor, although I’d make for very interesting TV as I unraveled.

So, the first thing I would miss terribly would be CUPCAKES! They are a little bit of happiness in eight bites or less. And on the healthier side, I’d miss the Vitatops I’m addicted to and rely on for the (very frequent) days when I don’t have a cupcake. I’d miss fancy fruit, too. I just tucked a big batch of Florida oranges in my crisper. Not many citrus trees in the woods of upstate NY… and I’m allergic to apples, so I wouldn’t get very far on that Congregation diet staple.

As for gadgets, the thing I’d likely miss the most would be my washer and dryer. Of course there’s TV and Internet, and I’d miss those, but more than that I would miss my little constant companion: my iPhone. No music? No podcasts? No CUT THE ROPE and ANGRY BIRDS games? How am I supposed to get by?

Finally, I’d miss my little flame-thrower/fire starter. Because matches freak me out and I’ve got no skills with a flint.

About the Author

Pam Bachorz grew up in a small town in the Adirondack foothills, where she participated in every possible performance group and assiduously avoided any threat of athletic activity, unless it involved wearing sequined headpieces and treading water. With a little persuasion she will belt out tunes from "The Music Man" and "The Fantasticks", but she knows better than to play cello in public anymore. Pam attended college in Boston and finally decided she was finished after earning four degrees: a BS in Journalism, a BA in Environmental Science, a Masters in Library Science and an MBA. Her mother is not happy that Pam's degrees are stored under her bed.

Pam draws inspiration from the places she knows best: she wrote CANDOR while living in a Florida planned community, and set DROUGHT in the woods where she spent her summers as a child. She currently lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and their son. When she's not writing, working or parenting, Pam likes to read books not aimed at her age group, go to museums and theater performances, and watch far too much television. She even goes jogging. Reluctantly.

About the Book

Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from the backbreaking work of gathering Water. Escape from living as if it is still 1812, the year they were all enslaved.

When Ruby meets Ford--an irresistible, kind, forbidden new Overseer--she longs to run away with him to the modern world, where she could live a normal teenage live. Escape with Ford would be so simple.

But if Ruby leaves, her community is condemned to certain death. She, alone, possess the secret ingredient that makes the Water so special--her blood--and it's the one thing that the Congregation cannot live without.

Drought is the haunting story of one community’s thirst for life, and the dangerous struggle of the only girl who can grant it.

Interview with Leanna Renee Hieber

Leanna Renee Hieber, author of The Strangely Beautiful series, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

Award winning, bestselling author, actress and playwright Leanna Renee Hieber graduated with a BFA in theatre, a focus in the Victorian Era and a scholarship to London. While performing as a professional actress she adapted works of 19th Century literature for the stage. Her one-act plays continue to be produced around the country.

Her novella Dark Nest won the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in Futuristic / Fantasy / Paranormal Romance. Her debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Strangely Beautiful series of ghostly, Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels, landed on Barnes & Noble's bestseller lists, was named a favourite of 2009 by 14 book blogs, won the 2010 Prism Award for both Best Fantasy and Best First Book and the option rights have been sold for adaptation of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker into a Broadway musical.

Leanna is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), Romance Writers of America, RWA, and the International Thriller Writers (ITW). Leanna is proud to be a co-founder of Lady Jane's Salon Reading Series in New York and is thrilled and honoured to have been named the 2010 RWA NYC Chapter Author of the Year. A member of Actors Unions AEA, AFTRA and SAG, Leanna works often in film and television. When not writing or on set, she's a devotee of ghost stories and Goth clubs, adventuring about her adopted hometown of New York City, where she resides with her real-life hero and beloved rescued lab rabbit Persebunny.

Reading with Tequila: Percy Parker believes herself to be hideous. Some others believe her to have an ethereal beauty. Most seen her has just looking strange. Is there a meaning or message behind Percy's physical appearance?

Leanna: This is the most important aspect of my series. Yes, I’m interested in what happens when average humans have the supernatural thrust upon them, but I’m more interested in presenting a human being who has to navigate a cruel and oft intolerant world in addition to those paranormal challenges. In romance, so often everyone is beautiful, and beautiful in a fairly traditional sense. I’ve long been a member of the Goth community. We often have a slightly different idea of what is beautiful, and it’s usually something that might, to some people, be a little spooky. I spent a long time as the only Goth girl in a college of 16,000 people. Having people who are scared of you because of how you look is a very difficult thing, but it was more important that I talked to people who were brave enough to ask me ‘why do you dress like that?’. I would answer them, and they’d find out that I was a really friendly, perky, outgoing person who just really loved black velvet, chokers, corsets, black lace, a good ghost story and every Tim Burton film ever made.

All this to say; I’m interested in questioning beauty, redefining beauty and finding it in interesting, unique places. Miss Percy represents those questions, and her unique qualities are what the series hinges upon thematically, they’re used in the plot, and in the atmosphere of the story. When she is accepted by those around her, it’s a challenge to us all to accept and find someone or something strange, in fact, beautiful. And she has to find it in herself too. She starts the series too timid, bemoaning her appearance- you would too if you were told you were a ‘freak’ all your life. But as others, especially the hero, Alexi, demand she rally from self-pity, she begins to see what he and her friends see; that she’s strangely beautiful. This realization is like a slow opening of a rose, and that’s why ‘strangely beautiful’ is vital as the series title.

RWT: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker provides an entirely new take on the Jack the Ripper murders. Did you purposely work the book around the timing of the murders or did it all fall into place naturally?

Leanna: A bit of both. I’ve been obsessed with the year 1888 since childhood, when I began writing a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera around age 12. Since then the 19th century has been an obsession, I studied it in college and received a scholarship to study in London. While there, I went on one of Richard Jones’ Jack the Ripper walks and visited the places important to the crimes.

I knew at that point I’d have to write about them, but not until Miss Percy Parker literally walked into Professor Rychman’s magnificent office in my mind in some sort of fever-dream, demanding (sweetly, but insistently) both he and I take notice of her. Since the Victorian era is my default mental playground, and the story had to revolve around ghosts if Miss Percy looked so much like one but wasn’t, having the story take place in 1888 made sense, and that “Jack” could be indicative of a bigger problem. The moment I realized Miss Percy’s real name I began threading in one particular story from Greek mythology, which gave me the answer as to what my Jack the Ripper could be.

In the thrilling flurry of inspiration, it’s hard to remember what came first, chicken or egg, but the exciting part about it is that once things fall into place, it offers the deep satisfaction of having completed a very difficult puzzle.

RWT: The ghosts in your books are based on real-life stories. Have you spent a lot of time researching ghosts?

Leanna: Indeed, it was my favourite part of the process! My hero in this is Richard Jones, England’s foremost ghost expert! He has written several Ghosts of London books for Barnes & Noble, and those were my go-to resources. I picked ghosts I liked the sound/history of and plugged them into areas that it made sense for the Guard to be able to access. I got to meet him while in London and he’s as kind and helpful as he is knowledgeable. Please visit him at http://haunted-london.com/ - And stay tuned for my 3rd annual Haunted London Blog Tour, where I detail the real stories behind the ghosts I use, making a stop right here at Reading with Tequila in May!

RWT: The third book in the series, The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess, is set to release in May of this year. Is this the final book in the series, or do you have more Percy Parker planned?

Leanna: Perilous Prophecy is a prequel novel, going back to 1867 to explain some of the how and why of my world-building, and show just how many brave, romantic, traumatic things were done to prepare for Prophecy and the spectral war as seen in books 1 and 2. My novella starring Headmistress Rebecca Thompson and Vicar Michael Carroll, featured in A MIDWINTER FANTASY will release in Trade Paperback in October, and the final book in the series, book 4, will likely release sometime in 2012, which will actually cross the 20th century with the Rychman family and familiar friends, to the bitter end of the Victorian Era during World War I. I’d like to write a follow-up novella between the two releases for two of my other popular side characters, Elijah and Josephine. But after the fourth book, with the Victorian Era coming to a close, so must the series.

BUT, since I can’t get enough of the 19th century, I’m launching a new Victorian Paranormal intrigue with Sourcebooks’ Fire imprint. MAGIC MOST FOUL takes place in 1880s New York City. Filled with old fashioned black magic and nightmares, murder and mayhem; the tale hinges on two star-crossed lovers: a spirited girl who suffers from Selective Mutism and the soul of a young English Lord trapped in a painting. Natalie must find her voice else her compelling Lord Denbury remain forever cursed while his possessed body wreaks havoc in the underbelly of New York. Look for it this November.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to be here, Jennifer, it’s greatly appreciated!

About the Book

What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

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Reading with Tequila's review of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker