Beth Revis's Blog, page 18

LOVE MINUS EIGHTY Review

It takes a lot for a book to totally engross me the way Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh did.



Book Info | Author Info 



I first heard about this book through io9, which featured a free first chapter read. I rarely bother with first chapter reads, but this one snagged my attention. Then, when I tried to order this one, I saw it wasn't out yet and only available for pre-order. I rarely bother with preordering books from authors I don't know, but something made me buy this one anyway.



And I am so, so, so glad I did.



This book has kept me reading for hours into each night. The concept itself is pretty straight-forward: in the future, if you're hot enough and female and young and...dead...you are selected for the "bridesicle" program: rather than truly dying, you're stuck into a cryogenic program where you will be revived for paid "dates" with men, and then, if one likes you enough, the man will pay for your entire revivification. In return for your life back, you become his wife. Which, in this situation, means you become his property.







But guys. This book. I just couldn't put it down.



I've spent the past ten minutes trying to put my finger on the exact thing that made this book such a great read, and I've come to the conclusion that it's not one single thing. It's all of them put together. The characters, who are each complex and unique, with realistic motivations, reactions, goals. The plot, which, while straight-forward enough, always kept me guessing. The philosophical questions raised by the program, which the author leaves to the reader to truly answer.



I particularly loved that the story is about many different characters, none of whom seem connected. Ostensibly, Love Minus Eighty is a love story. After a crushing break-up, Rob, a generally good guy, isn't paying attention while driving in the city and strikes and kills a beautiful young woman, Winter. Winter is put into the Minus Eighty bridesicle program, and Rob, wracked with guilt, works to earn enough money to visit her and apologize. What follows is the unlikeliest love story ever. Meanwhile, Veronika, a love coach, hides a crush from Nathan, her best friend, and, coincidentally, the ex-boyfriend of Winter. And then there's Lycan, the brilliant man who tried to kill himself. And Sunali, the former bridesicle stuck in a horrible family situation that includes Lorelei, a girl who's turned her life into a drama-filled money-spinner. Throughout the book, there's also Mira, the longest-frozen bride in the program. Her stories in particular seem to be disconnected from everyone else.



But in the end, much like a tapestry woven together by many seemingly unmatching threads, the author pulls all the characters together into one glorious story. Don't be afraid by the size of the cast--it's easy to keep up with, and every character plays an important role.



I think, though, that one of my favorite things about this book is the ambiguous philosophy. Will McIntosh raises some very important questions in the story, and he doesn't provide any answers--not really. The bridesicle program, for example, is horrid--the women selected for revivification are essentially slaves to the men who buy them...but the alternative is death.



But it was the implications of what love really is that has kept this book so present in my mind. I think the most lasting impression I have of the book is when Rob's father tells Rob about how his love with his wife isn't the ideal fairy-tale Rob seems to think it is...and how he's okay with that. This was something that particularly played through my mind with Veronika's character, and how she finally ends up. Love is not always the blinding passion and burning flame the songs tell us it is. Even with the example of True Love in the book, the two characters have been forced into a situation where, without it, that love might not exist, despite their compatibility together.



In the end, I guess I can only say this: this book is a combination of the best things in sci fi--an engrossing story told by fascinating characters in the future that raises questions for the reader now. It has the best bits of a Philip K. Dick novel and a Twilight Zone episode, and I couldn't put it down.



***



For my YA-preferring readers, this novel is classified as adult, and the language in particular may offend some readers, as well as some of the deeper contextual issues touched on. However, in terms of writing pace, style, and content, I think many YA readers will love this novel as much as I did. For general appeal, I think readers who felt like Ready Player One was a cross-over novel between adult and YA will feel the same way about Love Minus Eighty.

Star Cursed Blog Tour!

Welcome to the STAR CURSED blog tour! 









With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.

In the highly anticipated sequel to BORN WICKED, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.




As part of the blog tour, each day Jess is revealing an annotated snippet from STAR CURSED. 












If you add up the page number from each stop during the tour, you can enter to win a one-of-a-kind annotated ARC plus a star trio necklace! Find the other stops below, and on June 21, enter the Rafflecopter here:





Mon, 6/3:  Good Books & Good Wine

Tues, 6/4:  Ex Libris Kate 

Wed, 6/5:  Mundie Moms 

Thurs, 6/6:  Presenting Lenore

Fri, 6/7:  Hobbitsies




Mon, 6/10:  Green Bean Teen Queen 

Tues, 6/11:  I Read Banned Books

Wed, 6/12:  Two Chicks on Books

Thurs, 6/13:  Forever Young Adult

Fri, 6/14:  The Story Siren




Mon, 6/17:  YA Bibliophile

Tues, 6/18:  Marie Lu 

Wed, 6/19:  Beth Revis

Thurs, 6/20:  Veronica Rossi

Fri, 6/21:  Marissa Meyer





STAR CURSED releases on June 18. You can read the first chapter here. 




Pre-order links: Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon




Find Jess online: blog | Twitter | Facebook | Cahill Witch Inspiration pinboard

A Day of Many Great Launches!

There are a ton of good books coming out today, but there are three special ones I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight.







  Star Cursed

By Jessica Spotswood

Author Website

More info



I adore Jess--she's one of my favorite people. AND she writes wonderful books. This is the second in the Cahill Witch Chronicles, an alt-history trilogy where 1800s New England is a world of witches and brotherhoods. The best part about these books isn't the magic, though, it's the complex world that touches on themes of identity, love, morality, sexism, and more.



Bonus! Tomorrow, there's a guest post by Jess as part of her brilliant blog tour, so don't miss it!




  Solstice

By PJ Hoover

Author Website

More Info




Tricia Hoover is a fantastic person, and I'm so happy for her release of Solstice.  I was lucky enough to read this early on as a manuscript, and loved it then. I can't wait to see what it's become since then. 




Solstice is a world of myth and dystopian--two traits you don't see often, but it totally works. And dude. The romance. HOT. 




Bonus! Tricia is giving away forty-two books in celebration of the book's launch! Check it out here.











Defy the Dark

Edited by Saundra Mitchell

Author Website

More Info



I was so honored to be invited to contribute to this anthology! Saundra is an awesome person, and the idea behind this antho--all the stories take place at night--is equally awesome.



My story is called "Night Swimming" and is about Kayleigh, told from the point of view of a narrator. Who's the narrator? Well, it's someone who loves Kayleigh. But it's not Harley. Figuring out the rest is up to you...



This antho also features a story by a debut author--Saundra ran a contest for unpublished authors, and one lucky winner is included!



Bonus! Next week, I'll be featuring Defy the Dark in a special contest!



As you can see, there are a lot of awesome books coming out today! Get thee to a bookstore or library and check them out!

On Tragedy & Comedy

The saddest (fictional) thing I've ever seen was in a cartoon.







Futurama is funny and sardonic and typically makes me laugh. It's famous for catch-phrases and hilarious characters and funny one-liners, and unique characters, and well-written plot lines.



And for the saddest fictional story line in the history of ever.



"Jurassic Bark" has all the things that make up a classic episode of Futurama: there's the science fiction bits (time travel and a futuristic world), there's the funny stuff, and...



Well. There's a tragedy. That's not typical of Futurama. This is a show that's quick to poke fun of society, people, and the world in general, but it keeps the tragic on the low end.



But this episode.



Man. This episode.



The tragedy comes out of freaking no where. No one--well, at least not me--expected it. I was blind-sided by what happened--and by my emotional response to it. Even now, if I see this episode playing, I shut off the television and run to the other room.



Something similar happened last year when I was watching Adventure Time, my current obsession. Adventure Time is just carefree fun--there are people made of candy, there's silly plot lines, it's just pretty much hilarious fun.



Until...









The Ice King is annoying, stupid, insipid, and just plain weird. Always the (bumbling) villain, never the hero. No one likes him--not even he likes himself. 




But then there was this episode, "I Remember You." And it gave just a tiny hint of his backstory, a visceral example of why and how he became the pathetic thing he was in the show. 


Seeing this episode gutted me. And it got me thinking: why was my emotional response to these two episodes so strong? Just hearing the music from "I Remember You" or the opening scene of "Jurassic Bark" makes me tear up--in shows that typically make me laugh.



And that, I realized, is the key. Futurama and Adventure Time are both really light-hearted comedies. They're cartoons for Pete's sake! Which means when I see the really, truly, tragic side of the worlds in these shows, I'm blindsided.



A tragic story can't be tragic all the time. The power behind the punches in "Jurassic Bark" and "I Remember You" comes in part because they're not expected. Light, funny, amusing stories and then bam! something tragic. That's the sort of emotional blind-siding that will last in a reader.



The same is true, by the way, of comedy. JK Rowling was particularly brilliant at this. The overall plot of the Harry Potter books is actually quite drama-filled: a boy must sacrifice himself and others in an effort to take down evil. But she liberally sprinkles the world with bursts of funny--a line of dialog there, a fun bit of magic here. And, of course, the coup de gras:







Of course there are ways to make a tragic--or comic--story in other ways. But for me, I've personally found the most meaningful, most resonating, and most emotional stories come from books where you don't expect the emotion. If you want to make a lasting impression on the reader, couch your tragic story in a comedy; put something comic within the tragedy.

AMA--Ask Me Anything on Reddit, today at noon!

Today at noon, I'll be doing an AMA on Reddit with author Julie Cross, who writes the Tempest trilogy and recently announced a self-publishing venture with her new contemporary novel, Letters to Nowhere.



I've had several people ask me what Reddit and AMAs are, so here's my (much abbreviated) explanation of the community:



If you've never heard of Reddit before, you should definitely consider joining the community! Reddit is called the "front page of the Internet" for a reason--everything is there. Basically, Reddit gathers together "subreddits," which are focused places for people to discuss things they like. For example, there are subreddits for fandoms like Doctor Who and Firefly; there are ones that are instructional and informational, like Writing and Travel; and there are ones where you can ask questions, such as AskHistorians and IAMA.



IAMA is short for the phrase "I am a..." and AMA is short for "ask me anything." So people who have a unique experience or interesting job or what-have-you, will go to the IAMA subreddit and offer for people to "ask me anything." This is what I'm doing today with Julie Cross--it's essentially a forum for people to ask us anything.



If you're still on the fence about joining Reddit, I also want to point out two very awesome subreddits. YALit is a place where people go to discuss YA books and literature, and YAWriters is a place specifically for those who want to write YA, or are interested in YA publication. I'm actually one of the mods of YAWriters. We recently did query critiques for all the members, and we have a full schedule of events, including future AMAs with authors, agents, and more; pitch and sample critiques, scheduled discussions, etc. So if you're interested in writing for a YA audience, consider joining us!



And meanwhile, feel free to ask us anything! (Our AMA link won't go live until noon, EST, and we'll be taking questions all day and answering as many as possible.)

Celebrate Transparent's Release: Art & Words

Today on the blog I have the very great pleasure and honor of hosting an author I've admired for years. Natalie Whippleis the author of TRANSPARENT, a book about a girl who's born invisible in a world where having super powers can be very dangerous indeed. It made me cry on the airplane. Twice. And it also made me laugh. On the airplane. Once, while I was also crying. The people sitting next to me thought I was insane, and I have never seen anyone leap up out of their seats so quickly after landing.



While I loved the set-up of the book--invisible people are awesome, yo!--the scene that was the most powerful to me was also the most human, and had nothing at all to do with super powers. Hurry up and read this book so I can talk to you about how awesome that scene was (which, sadly, is also totally spoilerific and I can't talk about it here).



In addition to being a brilliant author, Natalie's also a fantastic blogger (hers is one of the blogs I read pretty dedicatedly), she looks great in heels, and she's an amazing artist! And Natalie's here today to talk about the connection between art and words--and to showcase a beautiful piece of original art she made for TRANSPARENT's release! (Which is today. So, you know. GO BUY IT NOW PLEASE.)









Art And Words

by Natalie Whipple




When most authors are asked what their characters look like, I imagine they have “real people” references. Actors, models, singers—I see writers compare their characters to famous, good looking people. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I have a confession to make:




I see all my characters as cartoons.




This is an inevitability, since animation has been a big part of my life. Okay, it still is. Give me an animated “kiddie” show, and I will gladly watch it and revel in the art and how it gives mood to the story. Let me watch anime over CW dramas. Please, for the love, don’t make me “grow up” and stop watching cartoons.




The truth is, I’m pretty sure animation has had a bigger impact on my writing than books. I wasn’t a ravenous reader growing up, like many of my fellow writers. Don’t get me wrong—I loved stories—but I found something infinitely more interesting when it was a piece of art, whether moving or still.




I gravitated to comics adapted into animated TV shows, like my beloved X-men and Spiderman. I gobbled up fun stuff like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, Dexter’s Laboratory, Rugrats, Invader Zim, and The Powerpuff Girls. I had to see every Disney movie, and I still remember when Pixar released Toy Story. Blew. My. Mind. Anime entered my life fairly early on, thanks to my mom finding My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Castle In The Skylong before Disney bought rights to them (and subsequently butchered the English dub of Totoro with the Fanning sisters, ugh). Then I found Sailor Moon, and it was all over.






Anime became my art of choice from about 12 years old and on. I devoured any anime I could get my hands on. I pretty much dedicated my teen years to becoming a better cartoonist, creating dozens and dozens of characters that I swore someday I’d write a real story for. And I did. The people I drew inspired me to write “episodes” of the anime I would someday create. My friends would read them and beg for more. I still have some of those old, horribly written pages—my first real attempt at long fiction. Eventually those episodes became chapters, and the chapters became books.




My first published novel, Transparent, is debuting now, and I think it’s safe to say that anyone who reads it will see the comic/anime influences. Honestly, all my writing is unavoidably infused with the art I’ve spent so much of my life creating. Scenes unfold like comic action sequences in my head. My characters have exaggerated cartoon features when I imagine them. I think even my chapters end where I imagine a “commercial break” would come.




So yeah, my writing is very much informed by my art, and I suppose my art is informed by my stories. They’ve always gone together for me, and I think it gives my books a unique flavor.




And since I’m talking art and words today, I had to draw something special. The picture in this post is from Transparent,specifically Fiona’s first day of school. I had a lot of fun trying to create an image for an invisible girl. All these years I haven’t actually drawn her because I wasn’t sure I could do it justice, but I hope you like what I came up with.




Thanks so much, Beth, for hosting me today. It means a lot that you’d let me use your blog space to talk about myself. You’re so generous like that.

May & June Thingies!

There are many thingies happening in the immediate future! Thingies that I want to make sure to share with you!



First: Charleston. Or, as I will no doubt be calling it, Chah'ston. Like "dahling."




May 23

5:30-7:30pm

ICONS Tour with Margie Stohl

Featuring: Kathy Reichs, Michelle Hodkins, and Beth Revis

at Blue Bicycle Books

More info




If you're in the Charleston area, please come say hi! And also--I won't be at this year's Y'all Fest, and this is the only thing I've got planned for the area this year. Just a heads up, since I've been at all the previous Y'all Fests. 




Second: Spartanburg, SC. I'll be a part of their teencentric events. Here's more information from their website:  




TEENS Teen Summer Reading kicks off with bang at our first after-hours teen event. Skype with authors Heather Brewer and Michael Grant, and meet author Beth Revis in person. We’ll also have a photo booth, a caricaturist, a DJ, snacks, a free autographed book for each teen and lots of other fun stuff. For teens ages 12-18 or entering grades 7-12 only. Attendance is limited to 200 teens. Contact Name: Susan Myers. Contact Phone: 864-596-3506. Contact Email: teens@infodepot.org.Saturday, June 1, 2013, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Headquarters Library.



June 1

7:00pm-10:00pm

TeenCentric Kickoff

Featuring via Skype Heather Brewer and Michael Grant, and me, in person

at the main Spartanburg Library 

More info




Next! A book launch! For DEFY THE DARK, an anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell, featuring a short story by me, called "Night Swimming." The anthology features some of my favorite YA authors, as well as one of my last stories set in the world of Godspeed, called "Night Swimming," about Kayleigh and Harley and an unnamed (and gender ambiguous) narrator. 








Get the Defy the Dark widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)




June 18

Defy the Dark on sale!




And finally, I have one more event. This is in my hometown area of Asheville, NC, and I'll be with two of my favorite people!






June 24

starting at 7:00pm

Book Signing

With Nova Ren Suma, Stephanie Perkins, and me!

at Malaprops Bookstore

More info




I'm super excited about this one--I love having awesome people like Nova coming to my home turf :) And I believe this is her first trip to Asheville....we'll have to do something special her to welcome her to town. 




I'm still working on a handful of summer events, but I'll be doing less travel throughout the end of the year as I get ready for the next big thing...  

Carrie Ryan's "What Once We Feared"

Yesterday, author Carrie Ryan released a new e-short set in THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH world. The story, "What Once We Feared," is available now, and it has my husband, the resident zombie expert, saying:




"I really liked the ending. It was realistic. It's not like everyone ended up driving off in a Winnebago into the sunset. It was cool. It was the way a zombie apocalypse would actually happen. It's the best one of her short stories I've ever read. I don't know. I just really liked it. When you type that all up, make it fancy and make it sound good. I don't word. I don't know how to say it. 

I just really liked it."

--The Husband, Resident Zombie Expert


For the record, this is my fave Carrie Ryan story, too :) You can read more about Carrie's inspiration for the story here and you can buy your own copy here--just $1.99!

On Plot Holes

So, the husband and I were recently watching Doctor Who, as we are wont to do.



And we noticed something.



Something big.



And glaring.



And, sadly, rather frequent.



A plot hole.



Well, actually, several of them. Sadly, in the past few seasons, the Doctor's been riddled with them. Rules are established in one episode and ignored in another. Characters feel one way, then change their minds with seemingly no reason. Logic sometimes fails.



Now, first things first: no writer is perfect (and no show is, either). But thinking about my issues with Doctor Who led me to this comment showrunner Steven Moffat tweeted, and that led me to the idea for this post.





Found via stfu-moffat.tumblr.com
(Also more here.)



Moffat makes an excellent point here--actually, several. First: All stories have plot holes.



True.



Cracked has a great (nsfw) article on 5 Gaping Plot Holes many movies have that we easily forgive. Of course we don't really question why all the bad stuff happens to the same guy in all the Die Hard movies. Despite the fact that Joss Whedon made fun of it in Cabin in the Woods, we forgive the horror movie victims when they split up and go down the dark alley alone.



All stories have plot holes.



But.



One of my favorite quotes when thinking of stories is by Mark Twain: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't.” 



When creating a story, one thing the writer must consider is believability. All stories require the reader to suspend his or her disbelief for a certain amount of time. And the reader will forgive certain things. Is it really likely that everything happens to the main character in a short amount of time? No. Is it really likely that a teenager can solve all the problems in a YA novel? Honestly, not really. But the thing is, in a story, we're likely forgive certain things. We know we're reading a story, so we're okay with the timeline being shortened or the characters being quick witted, because we want the story. 



There is, of course, a limit to the reader's suspension of disbelief. In a fantasy, we'll believe in magic for that world, but there needs to be a system to how that magic works--you can't just wave your wand and have everything fall into place. In a sci fi, we'll believe in warp drive, but (unless you're Anne McCaffery) don't add dragons. And a contemporary romance can have a happily ever after, but probably not Jedi mind tricks. 



It comes back to logic. There's a famous principle applied to writing called "Chekhov's Gun"--it comes from Chekhov's famous quote in which he says that if you see a gun in the first act of a play, it must be fired before the end. In this conversation, what it means is that you have to layer in the clues. You need to show the possibilities before the characters live them. If you set rules for your world, you have to follow them. 



Let's go back to the second part of Moffat's tweet: "[plot holes] are only visible to the bored." 



As long as the reader is entertained, the suspension of disbelief works. When I'm reading a romance, I want my happily-ever-after, and I'll forgive a pile of coincidences to make it happen. But every reader has a limit. When the reader reaches that limit, however, there's no going back. Therefore, establish the rules, the logic, the world, and the characters, and follow the rules you, as a writer, make. 



That said: story comes first. While it is true that I've descended into a loop of pointing out the plot holes in Doctor Who with my husband, it's also true that I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one. Plot holes exist in all fiction. How many and how big is a judgment call on the part of the writer--just be aware of what you're doing, and the choices you make as a writer. 










This post is a part of my series on writing. 





You can find the rest of the writing tips and information here. 

YA ICONS TOUR: Take me to Your Reader!

Friends don’t let friends tour alone!  That’s right, in honor of the May 7th launch of ICONS, Margaret Stohl’s new sci fi series; she’s called up some of her most iconic friends – who also happen to be some of your favorite authors. And so, if you happen to live in LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Provo, NYC or Charleston – they’re coming to you! The tour launches on May 7th in San Francisco at Books Inc.




Icons is set in a post invasion world where people fear the unseen aliens that now control them. The story follows Dol a grass girl who leads a simple life away from the Hole, what used to be Los Angeles. Dol is not a normal teen, she somehow survived The Day when no one else in her family did. Along with Ro, another orphan from The Day, she stays hidden from the world at the Mission. But not all is what it seems with Dol and Ro. They are a secret hidden away from the Ambassador and the rest of the world.



When Dol and Ro are taken to the Embassy they discover they are not the only ones who are special. Caught between the known and unknown Dol must decide who she trusts and just how far she is willing to go to save the only home she knows.

Check out the interactive map and tour stops below. Also be sure to enter the giveaway which includes a Kindle, autographed copy of Icons and much more






View YA ICONS TOUR: TAKE ME TO YOUR READER! in a larger map








YA ICONS TOUR EVENTS

San Francisco – Tuesday May 7 at 7:30 pm – Icons Launch at Books Inc – A Not Your Mother’s Book Club (NYMBC) event – Margaret Stohl with Andrea Cremer, David Levithan, NinaLaCour.



San Francisco area – Wednesday May 8 – Keplers – Margaret Stohl with Melissa de la Cruz, Leigh Bardugo, Kim Derting, Kami Garcia.



Seattle – Thursday May 9 at 7:00 pm – Pierce County Library – Margaret Stohl with Leigh Bardugo, Kim Derting, Marissa Meyer.



Seattle – Friday May 10th at 6:30 PM – Third Place Books – Margaret Stohl and Kim Derting in conversation with a Special Guest Moderator.  Details TBA.



Los Angeles – Saturday May 11th – Dark Delicacies – Margaret Stohl with Melissa de la Cruz, 5 pm, Signing only.



Los Angeles – Sunday May 12th – venue TBA – Margaret Stohl with Ransom Riggs, TaherehMafi, Melissa de la Cruz, Marie Lu, Alyson Noel, Kami Garcia.



Salt Lake City – Tuesday May 14th – the King’s English – Margaret Stohl with Ally Condie, Shannon Hale and Stephanie Perkins.



Provo – Wednesday May 15th – Provo Library – Margaret Stohl in conversation with Stephanie Perkins.



Rochester Teen Book Festival – Saturday May 18th, all day – Nazareth College, Rochester, NY - see website for more information.



New York Area (Long Island) – Sunday May 19th – Barnes & Noble Carle Place –  2 pm - Margaret Stohl in conversation with Eliot Schrefer and Barry Lyga.



New York City – Monday May 20th – 7 PM - Books of Wonder – Margaret Stohl with Gayle Forman, E. Lockhart, Robin Wasserman, Barry Lyga and Tonya Hurley.



Charleston, SC- Thursday May 23rd – Blue Bicycle Books – Margaret Stohl with Beth Revis, Michelle Hodkin, Kathy Reichs and Brendon Reichs – A Yallfest event!




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