Alexandra Monir's Blog: Words by Alexandra, page 3
November 1, 2016
Pre-Order Giveaway Alert!
Pre-order a copy of The Girl in the Picture to receive a bundle of signed swag in the mail from me (personalized bookplates, bookmarks and more!) AND be entered to win one of two $50 Barnes & Noble gift cards! Simply email proof of purchase (from ANY store or retail site) and your mailing address to alexandramonirbooks@gmail.com, and you'll receive your swag within 30 days + be entered in the contest!
Good luck and happy reading! :)
October 3, 2016
YA Scavenger Hunt- Fall 2016
Post Title: YA Scavenger Hunt
Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the ORANGE TEAM, but there is also a red team, a green team, a blue team, a purple team, and a gold team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!
If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the orange team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by OCTOBER 9TH, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
And now, I'm excited to present the author I get to host today: Megan Crewe!
Like many authors, Megan Crewe finds writing about herself much more difficult than making things up. A few definite facts: she lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and son (and does on occasion say “eh”), she’s always planning some new trip around the world, and she’s spent the last six years studying kung fu, so you should probably be nice to her. She has been making up stories about magic and spirits and other what ifs since before she knew how to write words on paper. These days the stories are just a lot longer. Along with her recent YA fantasy A MORTAL SONG, she's also the author of the Earth & Sky trilogy, the Fallen World series, and GIVE UP THE GHOST.
For the Hunt, Megan is sharing with us an exclusive deleted prologue from A Mortal Song. Check it out below!
***
I learned the story of my birth as a child, perched on Ayame’s lap while she combed my hair. She liked to talk about our great purpose as the kami people: to answer the prayers of those who called out for help, to ensure nature’s cycles followed their proper course, and to mind the boundaries between the corporal world of living creatures and the ethereal world of spirits, as beings not quite one nor the other ourselves. “It’s a life more of giving than taking, my little princess,” she said. “But if you give enough to the Earth, it gives you joy in return. Look at you. You are the joy it gave your parents.”
Kami live for hundreds of years, which according to Ayame was why our marriages rarely resulted in a child. I was the only one born on the sacred mountain in as long as she could remember, a blessing for the chosen rulers of our people. “When your mother and father announced they were expecting, the celebrations lasted for weeks,” she told me. And in the days after I had come into the world, kami from far and wide had traveled to offer me their respects.
“You will do all of us proud, Sora,” Ayame always finished. “Look how strong you are already.”
Her words made me beam with a joy of my own. I remembered them every time my parents called me their “gift,” every time the other kami in the palace bowed to me, every time I stood on the mountainside and felt its power echo through me. The Earth itself had brought me into being, to live and love and do its work. I was meant to be there, to fulfill that promise.
I had no reason not to believe it. Until the day I discovered that the most important part of the story had been a lie.
***
So good!! To find out more about Megan, visit www.megancrewe.com, and learn more about A MORTAL SONG at http://smarturl.it/AMortalSong.
And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Megan Crewe, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 16. (After all, I was born on June 16th!) Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the orange team and you'll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT!
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author: Suzanne Lazear! www.suzannelazear.com
P.S. Want to enter to win an advance copy of my next book, The Girl in the Picture, with annotated notes from me? Follow me at www.twitter.com/TimelessAlex and tweet "Enter me to win #TheGirlInThePicture!"
May 9, 2016
Smiling in the Face of Adversity: The Paula Hickey Story
What would you do if your life was a series of battles to be fought, between you and your body? How would you handle the crushing weight of a prognosis that threatens to separate you from your peers, that seems intent on holding you back from your dreams? Human nature tells us that the most common reaction would be to surrender—to live your life at the mercy of the brutal curveball thrown your way. It’s natural, understandable. And that’s what makes it so astounding when you meet someone who looks that same curveball in the face…and laughs.
In the short time that I’ve gotten to know Paula Hickey, I’ve found her to be a revelation. Listening to her bright, cheerful voice and her words of optimism and wisdom, it seems impossible that she is speaking to me from a hospice bed. And I found myself wondering…how is it that a woman facing death seems so much more present, more alive, than many of the healthy, able-bodied people I’ve met over the years? As I set out to discover Paula’s secret to living with joy, in spite of the deck of cards she’s been dealt, I was humbled by the realization that millions of us take for granted the privileges that Paula and so many others have never had—chief among them, the privilege of a healthy body, free from pain. Yet she has achieved the success and happiness that elude thousands of people with far less obstacles.
So what sets the fighters, the winners, apart? What makes a life truly worth living, even in the face of pain and fear? In speaking to Paula, I discovered five key traits that allowed her to write her own story—to live life on her terms.
#1. Find The Humor…In Everything
While the other kids her age were busy with school, playdates, and after-school sports, Paula was forced to spend her childhood in and out of hospitals. She endured two major heart surgeries before the age of seven, one of which resulted in her developing scoliosis after the doctors cut her breastbone to perform the surgery and subsequently realigned her spine. “So on top of being the sick kid, I had scoliosis!“ Paula told me with a chuckle, as she described wearing a brace for seven years. “It sucked, but I always found the humor in it.” The day after fourteen-year-old Paula was finally rid of her back brace, she had to promptly get dental braces. “That’s why I can laugh— because it’s funny!” she said. And after a traumatic brain aneurysm burst in her head at age nineteen, Paula’s go-to joke became, “I need that like I need a hole in my head!”
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, or self-conscious in front of her classmates, Paula took the remarkable approach of looking at life as a comedy. She was nobody’s victim; she was like the star of her own quirky sitcom. And that’s what drew people toward her.
#2. Let Go of What Other People Think
When your tomorrows are hanging in the balance, it becomes irrelevant what so-and-so thinks of you, or whether you’re popular/pretty/cool enough. All the surface self-consciousness melts away, leaving you to be your true self…and Paula found freedom in that. “My freshman year, I shaved my head and I didn’t care what anyone thought,” she told me. Paula’s take on adolescent cruelty and bullying? “Nothing you can say or do to me is ever going to be worse than what I’ve been through. So go ahead and give it your best shot—but you’re never going to hurt me.”
Paula’s brave perspective came from hard-earned experience, but what if there was a way we could all look at the opinions of others in a similar manner? My conversations with Paula showed me that we have the power to decide the importance of what other people say, think, or do. We can just as easily choose to let it go…and, like Paula, be our true selves.
#3. As Winston Churchill said- “Never, never, never give up.”
Growing up, Paula’s parents told her that, due to her medical conditions, the only college she’d ever be able to attend was “the university of the kitchen table.” But Paula wouldn’t accept it. “I deserve better. I deserve more, I deserve the best education I can get,” she insisted. And as her friends say, “If Paula wants it, she’ll do anything to get it!” Sure enough, Paula made it to college—and when everyone doubted that she would graduate after her brain hemorrhage at age nineteen, which caused her to lose her math skills and regressed her reading level to that of a fifth grader, Paula was resolute in her desire to not be a statistic. “I was determined to make something of my life, so I picked myself up and graduated college within three-and-a-half years… I’ve never given up. I’ve always kicked my own butt.”
No one expected Paula to work, either, but she dreamed of having a career. She worked as a Human Resources consultant for ten years, flying across the country and growing from four clients to three-hundred, all while never disclosing her illness. When she was finally forced to go on long-term disability, Paula’s boss was shocked to learn that she was sick. She never made it a defining characteristic, because, as she told me- “I never wanted anyone to treat me differently.”
If there was ever someone with a perfectly good excuse to drop out of school, to not bother working, it was Paula—and yet she once again refused to be a victim, refused to give up on the life she deserved. Her story is a reminder to always get back up after a fall, to keep pushing yourself and your life as far as you can. To never, never, never give up.
#4. The Power of Selflessness
Paula married her high-school sweetheart and best friend, Sean, and the couple experienced several years of wedded bliss. But as time went on, Paula was increasingly troubled by the sensation of the clock ticking. Not her clock…his. She couldn’t forget something Sean had told her back when they were kids playing in the park: that his dream was to find the perfect mother for his children. Paula’s medical conditions meant that she wouldn’t be able to have children, and she was terrified that she would leave him widowed at a time when it would be too late for him to find someone new and start a family. Incredibly, her love for Sean superseded any of her own self-interests. “I saw City Slickers soon after my brain hemorrhage, and there’s a great line in there about how everyone should get a do-over. I thought about that all the time—that Sean needs a do-over,” Paula told me. “I don’t get a do-over, but he gets a do-over, and I owe him that.” And so Paula asked him for a divorce.
“I love him now more than I did before, because I love to watch him be a husband and a father,” Paula said, her voice filled with emotion. “It just warms my heart… It gives me such great comfort.” They remain best friends today.
This is what I found most incredible about Paula—that she is the living embodiment of finding joy in the happiness of others. It’s a rare person who can make the sacrifice Paula did, and I doubt I will ever meet someone so selfless again. But something it taught me in my own life, is to look at relationships from the point of view of, “What can I give?“ rather than “What can I get?”
#5. Gratitude
When I asked Paula what is the one thing she would like to leave people with, her answer blew me away.
“Life is a gift.”
You wouldn’t expect those four words from a woman who is facing the untimely end of her life. You wouldn’t expect it from someone who had to struggle with sickness since childhood. And yet, she has an appreciation and a true gratitude for life. She is grateful for each and every day, and makes the most of it.
Imagine what we could do, be, and experience if we all looked at life the same way. This is my goal from here on out: to look at life the way Paula does, with the eyes of appreciation.
Will you join me?
* Paula and I were introduced by Dream Foundation, the only national dream-granting organization for terminally-ill adults. For more information, please visit dreamfoundation.org
This article was originally published by The Huffington Post (now HuffPost): Smiling in the Face of Adversity.
The post Smiling in the Face of Adversity: The Paula Hickey Story appeared first on Alexandra Monir.
December 13, 2015
Announcing My New Book!!
http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/20...
The book has just gone up on Goodreads, so you can now add it to your shelf! The Girl in the Picture
And if you're looking for a book you can get your hands on now, my most recent novel, SUSPICION, just came out in paperback this week! http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/boo...
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on SUSPICION and the cover reveal of GIRL IN THE PICTURE! Best wishes and happy reading. :)
April 1, 2015
YA Scavenger Hunt!
If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage, http://yascavengerhunt.blogspot.com
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
DIRECTIONS: Somewhere in my post below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number! Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on Team Gold, and then add them up.
ENTRY FORM: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here (http://yascavengerhunt.blogspot.com/p...) to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
RULES: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by SUNDAY, APRIL 5TH, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
Now for the fun! I'm happy to be hosting the author of Sugar, the lovely Deirdre Riordan Hall. Deirdre is the author of upper young adult and new adult fiction. She spends her days writing at the custom-made desk her husband crafted, with her family, or seaside, pretending she's a mermaid. (Love it!) For the scavenger hunt, she’s sharing some exclusive content with us from SUGAR- and here it is below!
***
I wipe my brow with a damp rag. Sweat pools in the crevice between my chest, and I'm sure the white shirt I wear as part of my uniform at The Scoop and Sprinkle sports pit stains, along with a smear of chocolate from the fudge ripple that refused to stay put on the cone. It's on my belly, like a punctuation mark: look at me, I'm Sugar's belly, in case you didn't notice! I notice. Every. Single. Day. Like a good co-worker, Gina laughed while I had to squat down and clean the gooey mess off the floor. The stain probably won't come out of the shirt.
Then, before her fifteen-minute break even started, she and some guy she's been flirting with all week disappeared to the woods past the outhouses just out of view of the lake. Good riddance. But I can't help wonder what it would be like to inhabit her body: tall, thin, not a blemish, anywhere. Though, I suppose it would be exhausting to try to keep up with that kind of perfection. I'm about ten miles south of flawless and it's exhausting enough being me.
I tug my hair off my neck, wind it into a bun, and pin it on top my head. I fan myself, not in any hurry to wait on any more demanding customers, teasing kids, and families on vacation.
A shadow crosses over the register. I feel a pair of eyes on me, glance to the order window, and the person suddenly looks away. I push up the rickety wooden frame. "Can I help you?" I ask. The glare of the sun blinds me from a clear view of who's out there. I'm used to people staring at me. I should charge them by the minute, at least then I'd get something out of the deal.
The customer clears his throat. All I can see is how he scuffs his boots in the dusty parking lot. "Uh, yeah, I'd like, a uh, a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of chocolate."
"Size?" I ask, so ready for my shift to be over.
"Uh, um, medium."
"Sugar cone, waffle, cake cone, or in a bowl?" It irritates me that can't people be prepared with this information. The sign hung outside clearly says, 1. Pick your size, 2. Pick a container or cone, 3. Choose from 25 delicious flavors, Sprinkles are on us! All with the detailed options and prices below. Duh.
"A cone. Um, sugar, please," he says.
Even though Sugar isn't my given name, it's the one I answer to. When he says it, I squint through the undersized window, but still can't see him clearly. He stands near the napkin dispenser. The way he pronounced my name, like it's something sweet, but not to eat choruses in my ears. Before I can lose myself in the honey of his voice, Gina comes in laughing and rosy-cheeked. She pushes me out of the way, extends her arm out the window, and waves to the guy who she was just fooling around with in the woods. I doubt she even knows his name.
"I get off at eight. Don't be late," she calls, loudly, in my ear.
He mumbles something about getting off and just as loudly, I call out the window to my waiting customer. "Did you want complimentary sprinkles?" I ask, dunking the metal scoop in the water bath so the ice cream is easier to dig out of the vat in the cooler.
"Rainbow, please," he answers.
I'm not quick enough to figure out a way to get him to say sugar again and don't have a chance to get a good look at him as Gina barges through, poking her head out the window, ready to flirt with anyone with a Y-chromosome. She rattles on about her fifteen-minute break and the wonders of the woods. I pass the cone out the window, self-conscious of my flabby arm, and feeling hopeless about the big fat nothing that I'll be doing at eight tonight.
***
Did you enjoy it? :) If so, you’ll have to read the whole thing! You can buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Deirdre-R... and learn more about Deirdre at http://www.deirdreriordanhall.com.
Now don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Deirdre Riordan Hall, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 11! (At least for now- my favorite number seems to constantly change!) Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the Gold Team and you'll have all the secret codes to enter for the grand prize!
Speaking of prizes, I am gifting a signed copy of my newest novel, SUSPICION to one lucky reader! :) Tweet me @TimelessAlex to be entered in the contest. The winner will be announced on April 6th!
To keep going on your quest for the hunt--and to find the hidden sneak peek of my next YA novel for Random House, THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE--check out the next author! http://pjhoover.blogspot.com
January 7, 2015
January 8th in NYC!
November 30, 2014
NEW BOOK!!!
For all of you Timeless fans, this month I also released the paperback version of Timekeeper- and it includes an all-new Michele & Philip short story at the end!! It was a magical experience returning to their story for a bit, and I can't wait to hear what you think of it.
I'll be doing a bunch of events in support of SUSPICION for the next 6 months, and I would love to meet as many of you as possible! Follow me on Twitter @TimelessAlex or visit my website at www.alexandramonir.com to find out my tour dates. Take care, and Happy Reading!
Best Wishes,
Alexandra
November 18, 2014
My Top Five Mystery Reads
After spending this past weekend discussing what makes a truly great mystery novel at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, I found myself analyzing my favorites. Why did these particular books have such a hold on my imagination? How did they keep me guessing, and why were they so impossible to put down? Something else I discovered was that, coincidentally, all my favorites happened to be written by female authors. In an industry often rife with gender discrimination, it makes me beyond happy to celebrate these five game-changing female authors below. Check out my Top 5 master list and then let me know your favorites!
#1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
I’ll never forget the summer I turned 13—the summer I found Rebecca. From the opening pages of the prologue, I was swept up in du Maurier’s gorgeous writing and the chilling atmosphere of the setting, Manderley. I rooted for the nameless narrator, I feared Mrs. Danvers, and my mind spun trying to unravel the mystery that was Rebecca herself. Published in 1938, Rebecca is a classic that is just as readable and thrilling today as it would have been seventy-six years ago. Daphne du Maurier truly paved the way for female authors of suspense, and I can feel her influence in many other works that came after her. My own upcoming YA novel, Suspicion, pays homage to Rebecca, and I’ll always be grateful to du Maurier for introducing me—and generations of readers—to a love of mystery and suspense.
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#2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Published just one year after Rebecca came another masterpiece by a legendary female novelist, Agatha Christie. This is a book generations of us have read with all the lights on, trembling under the covers as one character after the next was killed off. And Then There Were None is not just an incredibly fun, deliciously scary read, but it’s also a great study in brilliant plot twists and surprise endings.
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#3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Since her stellar 2009 debut, Kate Morton has established herself as today’s preeminent author of historical fiction mysteries. The House at Riverton is set in World War I-era England and features a complex, fascinating cast of characters—with not just one, but multiple revelations at the end of the twisty tale.
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#4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I think of Gone Girl as a worthy successor to Rebecca. From the unreliable narration to the shocking twist and uniquely original, not-exactly-likable characters, Gone Girl is a book that really makes you think—including about how brilliant Gillian Flynn is!
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#5. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
This YA favorite took the reading world by storm this year, and for good reason. Lockhart’s writing is stunning and the Big Twist that everyone is talking about in this novel is both heartbreaking, and a well-crafted sleight of hand. This is a book you will want to read all over again, as soon as you’ve gotten to That Ending!
That’s my top five—what are yours? I’m now hungry for a new killer mystery to read, so share your thoughts in the comments!
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This article was originally published by The Huffington Post (now HuffPost): My Top Five Mystery Reads.
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The post My Top Five Mystery Reads appeared first on Alexandra Monir.
March 20, 2014
NYC Teen Author Festival!
SATURDAY, MARCH 22
"Walking the Tightrope: Finding the Way Through Secrets, Lies, and Other Treachery." A panel discussion about writing mysteries in YA.
2:40-3:20 PM
The New York Public Library on 42nd St. & 5th Ave, Berger Forum, 2nd Floor
SUNDAY, MARCH 23
"No-Foolin' Mega-Signing." A group signing at Books of Wonder.
18 W. 18th St.
I'm giving away signed ARCs of my new book, SUSPICION, from 1-1:30 PM!
I hope to meet many of you Tri-State readers! :)
May 22, 2013
A Mentor Is a Girl’s Best Friend
A couple months ago, I had the surreal experience of walking into a Manhattan Barnes & Noble and finding my second novel, Timekeeper, on the Teen New Releases shelf along with Kirsten Smith’s second book, Trinkets. Seeing your book on the shelf is a pinch-me moment no matter how you slice it, but sharing that experience with one of your closest friends — and the person who inspired you to write — makes it all the more magical. It also reminded me how important a mentor can be in pointing you towards success, especially when you’re a young ‘un just starting out.
As a teenager dreaming of a writing career, I was inspired to discover that two of my all-time favorite movies, Legally Blonde and 10 Things I Hate About You, were both written by a female team: Kirsten and her writing partner, Karen McCullah. I had no clue if they’d take an unpublished, unproduced kid writer like me seriously, but I wanted to meet them badly enough that I gathered my courage and wrote Kirsten a fangirl email — also letting her know that I had a romantic comedy idea I wanted to pitch her and Karen, and would they be willing to meet with me? It was a lofty request coming from a teen upstart to a pair of Hollywood powerhouses, and I know the majority in their position wouldn’t have bothered replying. But instead, twelve days after I sent the email, I received a warm reply from Kirsten — who from that point on became known to me as “Kiwi.” Her email included this line, which was so thrilling that it resulted in me jumping up from my computer chair and doing a little maniacal happy dance in my bedroom. “Karen and I would be honored to meet you and to hear more about everything you’re working on.”
I mean, what a gift! As I wrote in my reply, “Omg!! I just about screamed and had a heart attack when I read your email!” We met for dinner the following week at the now-defunct Alex Restaurant on Melrose, and after a three-hour meal filled with laughs, sisterly advice, and rom-com pitching, a friendship was born. Amazingly enough, Kiwi and Karen loved the idea I pitched them — and though we didn’t end up making the movie, that hardly mattered in the end. Their belief in my ideas at the earliest stage of my career is something I’ll never forget; it’s what made me believe that yes, I could really do this, I could be a legitimate writer too. And more importantly, our friendship is still going strong all these years later. In fact, Kiwi is the first person who ever suggested I write a YA novel. In a serendipitous twist, she gave me this advice while we were standing in the Teens section of Barnes & Noble, a place where several years later our books would sit together on the shelves.
I wish every budding young writer had a Kiwi in their life to help guide them on their way — so I figured the least I could do is share her wisdom! Recently, I asked Kiwi her secret to success.
“Watching a lot of movies, loving movies, reading a lot of scripts, and continuing to learn as much as possible,” Kiwi answered. “Whether it’s pitching ideas to people, reading books, or reading interviews from other writers, you never finish learning. I’m learning things all the time and always trying to improve.” Kiwi also emphasizes finding the joy in brainstorming, by coming up with ideas with your friends, looking at life as a possible series of stories, and just staying open to the possibility that something could be a movie or a book.
“Even if you don’t have the idea before you sit down to write, just start and conquer the blank page,” she recommends. “It’s always a battle to start writing, but you just have to push yourself to do it, because once you do, you always feel better when you’re writing than when you’re not writing.”
And this is something Kiwi knows well. With six star-studded studio movies, a YA novel-in-verse called The Geography of Girlhood, and her new release Trinkets under her belt, Kiwi is a constant reminder of all you can achieve when you just, as she puts it, sit down and conquer the blank page.
As I looked at our books hanging out together on the bookstore shelf, I once again thought how glad I was that I sent that email years ago. If you’re reading this and you too have an idol who you would love to be mentored by — reach out and ask! That might be all it takes to set you on the path to your dreams.
This article was originally published by The Huffington Post (now HuffPost): A Mentor is a Girl’s Best Friend.
The post A Mentor Is a Girl’s Best Friend appeared first on Alexandra Monir.
