Beth Revis's Blog, page 44

Three Videos

Come over here and sit for a spell: I've got three awesome videos lined up for your viewing pleasure :)



The first is a music video made by Efehan based on the song "Ancestors" by Jed Whedon. I think you'll be able to immediately tell why I (and any SF fan) would like this music vid.





Ancestors (Jed Whedon and the Willing) from Efehan on Vimeo.



Found via @MollyQuinn93



Next, here is a longer (10 min) video told through images instead of sound: a tragic steampunk love story.








Found via Epbot.



Finally, here's a sand art video. I adore sand art, but the ending of this one made me especially happy.





Found via Angela Wallace.



Which one did you like the best? Have any other recs for me?

My Muse

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In other news:




Emails are going to be slow to be answered
I'm so far behind on @-replies on Twitter that I think the bird has it in for me
My Facebook has wrinkles
Things will eventually get done
After the writing
Oh, btw.
The charms came in!
Will be in the mail to you by the end of the week

How to Make a Boy Hot

I recently read a review of a book I'm reading (FRACTURE by Megan Miranda, out in January) and the reviewer said that the lead boy, Decker, is "hot."



It made me pause.



Now, Decker's not ugly--it's not like people run screaming from him whenever he shows up on the page--but I didn't really get the impression that he's hot. There's another boy in the book, Carson, who's often specifically described as the good looking one of the group of friends, not Decker. In fact, if I were to try to think of what Decker looked like specifically...I couldn't. Not that the author does a bad job of describing him, just that his looks are not really a part of the story and aren't dwelt on.



Decker's the good guy of the novel. There's a bit of a love triangle (not an angsty, over-done one--a realistic one) with another character, Troy, who's the bad boy. Troy's dangerous and older and not good for the main female character. Decker's the boy-next-door (literally) and he's good and kind and he really loves the main female character for who she is. He wants only good things for her--even if that means he misses out on his chance with her.



But he's not hot.





So what made the reviewer think that Decker was "hot?"



I was thinking about that a lot this morning, in part because I got a fan letter from someone who said that my main character, Elder, is hot. Elder's not bad looking--but he's also not deliciously-muscle-bound-contractually-obligated-to-take-his-shirt-off-in-every-scene-oh-boy hot. I took care to describe him physically in order to show his ethnicity--dark skin, dark hair, high cheek bones, almond-shaped dark eyes, etc. But Amy's not instantly physically attracted to him, and I really didn't want their romance to be based on hot-people-making-out. I wanted the romance to be based on two characters who treat each other with respect and whose love develops from friendship as well as attraction.



Which is why, I realized, Elder's hot. And Decker.



They're hot not because of their physical descriptions--they're hot because they're the good guys. They do good things. They are sincere and true.



They are beautiful on the inside, and that makes them hot on the outside.



Which, honestly, makes me happy. I've never been one to like the bad boy--not the really bad boy. This is why I had a hard time liking Edward Cullen: he's physically hot, but he treats Bella rather poorly in the beginning of the first novel, and that made me not like him. (I realize later it's proven that he's actually good, and his meanness was done to protect Bella. I'm just telling you my initial impression of the character; his actions cancelled out his appearance to me.) There are several characters in YA recently who are the "bad boys"--hot, but often mean or even cruel. I've never liked these characters--I don't mind a bad boy with a heart of gold (hello, Captain Mal), but I don't like the unremittingly-kick-the-cat-and-spit-on-your-grandma bad boys.



Give me a good boy. That's what makes a boy really hot.

Bookanista Interview with Michelle Hodkin, author of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER

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To wrap up my week of MARA DYER, I've got an interview with the lovely author herself. I was lucky enough to meet Michelle in NYC (she took me to this fab restaurant and coerced me into eating squid-ink pasta, and then she followed it up by taking me to a place called Pomme Frites which serves the BEST french fries EVAR). Then, Michelle was a guest stop at two of the Ash to Nash events, which was fantastic!




Still, I hadn't really had a chance to pick her brain specifically about Mara, so today, we're going to do just that!







YOU

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We can read all about your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

I am a champion food-orderer at restaurants. A skill appreciated by no one but my dining companions, but a skill nonetheless. 

As a kid, what was your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up? 
As a little little kid? The Joss Bird by Sarah Garland (about this bird that infiltrates a museum to retrieve her stolen egg). As an elementary-school kid, anything in the Fear Street saga by RL Stine. As a middle-schooler? Anything by Stephen King or Michael Crichton. As a high schooler? LOLITA and GEEK LOVE. As an adult, those books are still my top two favorites, I still think Fear Street is frightening (and awesome) and I still veer towards the dark and disturbing; the more dark and disturbing, the better. 

Did you draw anything in your book, THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, from your real life? 
The Ebola incident (see e.g. 41-42)
A sketchy dog incident not unlike page 70 for reasons referenced on p.197
The jhbjhjhbb  gggggggggggggggggggggggggg and hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.                            
Err, actually, my lawyer told me not to answer that. 





YOUR BOOK





It's the inevitable question: what inspired THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER? 
Short answer: I was inspired by true events.
Long answer: will be posted on www.maradyer.com when it goes live :)

You are unflinching with your words—unafraid to graphically describe hard situations or censor your characters. Can you talk a little about how you came up with this style of writing, and why you chose to tell your story in this way?



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First: thank you. That means a lot, coming from a writer whose raw, emotional prose has made me a) cry b) laugh and c) scream in the span of a few hundred pages. 

I don't censor my characters because I know they would sound false if I did. How do I know? 

I tried it. 

I was told by some people that choosing to use certain words (usually consisting of four letters, sometimes beginning with the letters f and s) would limit my audience. Which I didn't really want. So I tried substituting the words out, changing the sentences, and dancing around the words to try and achieve the same emotional content of the scene without using the same language. 

It didn't work. 

The truth? I personally believe that words are just words, and they only have the power that we give them. The f-word is no more inherently evil than the word "melon." But when it's used in the book, it's used to convey emotion in a way that would be real to the teens in the story—Mara (the protagonist), who has been through events so traumatic that she hallucinates and has unconsciously self-harmed; Noah (the male main character), who really couldn't give a *&^% what other people think of him; and Jamie (Mara's only friend in Miami), who is loud, obnoxious, and brutally honest no matter what. Eagle Scouts my characters are not. That's how they roll, and those are the words they would use at the points that I used them. Daniel (Mara's older brother) wouldn't use those words, and so…he doesn't. And he even comments (negatively) on Mara's use of them. 

As far as describing hard situations, I felt (and feel) that my main responsibility was to always firmly stay in Mara's perspective while I wrote the book. She has suffered through some tough stuff. Glossing over it would do the book, and it's readers, a great disservice. 

That said, it is recommended for readers 14 , and I do strongly believe that teenagers (and their parents) should decide what kind of content they're ready for. Is it a dark book? Yes. Is it a sexy book? I like to think so. And will the sequel get darker and sexier? Definitely. So if dark and edgy isn't your thing? This may not be the book for you. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER?
It took me ten months from writing my first words of fiction ever (on May 15, 2009) to the day I submitted it to a handful of agents in March 2010. I signed with an agent a month later, worked on a few revisions over the course of a few of weeks, and then Simon & Schuster bought MARA DYER in a two book deal at auction on May 25th, 2010. It happened crazily (and unusually) fast. 





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If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, what would you want it to be?
I just hope that people have fun reading it!

Beyond that, I wouldn't complain if it made even one person rethink the (silly) idea that pit bulls should be banned from towns, cities, states, and even countries. And that statement will make no sense to anyone who hasn't read the book. 




YOUR WRITING

What's the most surprising thing you've learned since becoming a writer?
The fact that I can write books. Seriously, I'm still getting used to the idea that I wrote a book. It's still reaaaaallllly really surreal. Really surreal. 

Beyond the typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best advice you'd like to give another writer?
Write the story that only you can write. And finish the book. 

What do you think are your strongest and weakest points in writing?
I'm proud of my characterization. I had no idea how tough it would be to write an unreliable narrator until I was in far too deep to quit, but I think that my legal experience helped me stay firmly in her perspective (which isn't easy when you're writing in the first person) even when I was painfully aware that what she was noticing, experiencing, thinking, feeling, or opining wasn't accurate in the story's context. Keeping track of who knows X, who believes Y, and who's lying about Z was a juggling act, but I think I did the characters justice. I hope readers agree—especially when they read the sequel. 

Structure, on the other hand, was an enormous challenge. It's kind of mathematical to me, which means I had to call in reinforcements (like my brother) to offer their assistance. I'm lucky to have readers whose strengths compliment my weaknesses. 







Don't forget! You can enter to win a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER until October 3rd! And if you'd like to read what the other Bookanistas are reading, check it out here:






Elana Johnson interviews Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise
Christine Fonseca  is wowed by The White Assassin
Shannon Whitney Messenger loves Lola & the Boy Next Door – with giveaway
Beth Revis delights in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – with giveaway
Shelli Johannes-Wells falls for Fracture
Carolina Valdez Miller adores Ashfall – with giveaway
Jessi Kirby marvels at The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Shana Silver steps up to Audition
Corrine Jackson is crazy about Cracked
Stasia Ward Kehoe swoons for Swan and To Dance

Review of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER + Giveaway!

So yesterday I posted an announcement about how I'm giving away a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER--if you haven't entered yet, you might want to get on that ;)



Tomorrow I'll be interviewing the lovely Michelle, so make sure you tune in tomorrow as well. Meanwhile today I'm going to be reviewing this remarkable book...but keep in mind that if I'd written this review as soon as I finished the novel, my reaction would have just been a bunch of exclamation marks interspersed with appropriate emoticons. Like this: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *__*  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGWTFBBQ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Now for a more appropriate review:





First: That cover! Man! I promise I don't just pick books to blurb that have pretty covers, but...I'm totally two for two right now.



Second: It is creeptastic. I'm so glad this novel's coming out in time for Halloween. It's the perfect story to read on a spooky, stormy, dark fall night. In fact, I wish you dark and stormy nights in which to read this book, just to set the mood.



Third: A truly surprising end. I'm not even worried about hyping this up, because you are NOT going to see the end coming. Not at all. I'm not saying it comes out of left-field--this isn't something random and crazy--I'm just saying Agatha Christie couldn't guess this twist.



Fourth: Realistic dialog and teens interactions. That sounds boring. It's not. I'm just saying, this book sounds real. A lot of adults write for teens, and sometimes the teens come across as wooden or old or preachy or whatever. In this book, the teens sound like teens.



Fifth: Did I mention creeptastic? Because that. Again.




Sixth: No one's perfect. Don't you hate the perfect guy? In real life or fiction, the perfect guy is annoying. I want characters flawed. And in Mara's world, no one is perfect...not even Mara.



Seventh: Strong pacing. I wanted to put this book down. I read until 4 am. I was tired. But I could not put it down, and that's mostly due to the strong pacing. Every time the action slowed down, the emotion ramped up. Every time I though Mara was okay emotionally, something dramatic happened.



Enticed enough yet? Don't forget to enter yesterday's contest for a chance to get a signed copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER! Or pick up your copy, available in bookstores today! :)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Launch! Celebrate and Win!

Do you know what day it is? No?



Today is the launch of the fabulous Michelle Hodkin's debut: THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER!!!!!!







I got this book late one day--I was super busy, but thought Hey, I'll check out the first chapter. I then read until 4 in the morning, and as soon as I was done, I texted Michelle and demanded MORE RIGHT NOW.



She laughed at me.



And I have yet to break into her house and/or mind and steal the sequel. BUT I WILL.



Meanwhile, I did give THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER my second ever blurb.




"WOW. Michelle Hodkin's debut will keep

you guessing until the last page--

and long after."




Trufax. I am still making guesses about what's going to happen next...and what actually did happen in the story I read. That last page? Will blow your mind. 




Want a hint about what the story's about? Check out the creeptastic trailer:









I'll be doing a complete review tomorrow, but in the meantime, check the book out online at these places:


 Michelle's website
Official  MARA DYER website
MARA DYER on GoodReads
MARA DYER fansite
Buy signed copies of MARA DYER here



Also: Michelle is awesome. I know this. You know this. Know how you know this? Because she's donated a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER (an ARC) for YOU! Yes, YOU! To enter, the only thing I ask of you is that you check out the book--you could click on one of the links above, or watch the trailer, or drop by a bookstore and pick it up. 




Just fill out the form below, and you're entered for a drawing for a signed copy of Michelle Hodkin's THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER.




And since Michelle's the one who donated the copy for you to win, drop her a comment here to say how much you like the book, the trailer, or how much you want to read this. Show her some love for donating the prize! :) <3




Additional contest information:


Open internationally
Entrants must be 13 years old or older
Only one entry per person
Contest closes on October 3rd, 2011


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Some Updates!

This weekend, I will be a part of the Smart Chicks Kick It tour!! I'm dropping in on the Portland and Vancouver stops, so if you're in the area, please come by and see me! I will sign your book, give you some swag, and/or sign THAT shiny poster over there



<<<------- THAT ONE



(Which you can download and print out for just such a thing here.)



I am. SO. Freaking. Excited about this.



Also? If you live in Portland, Vancouver, or anywhere in between, let me know about cool places to see, neat restaurants to chow down at, or whatever else is cool--because I'm actually going to be driving from Portland to Vancouver and would love a mini adventure on the trip.



Some other updates:




Between this and the conference I just presented at, I am VERY behind on email. Like, over a hundred emails behind. If I owe you email correspondence, please be patient with me. If it's super important, please yell at me and tell me to answer your super important email. 
I got an email from the guy who is shipping the charms for the creative contest. They are supposed to ship to me this week, and I'm taking cards with me on the road so I can get them made and written over the weekend and therefore get them back to you! Sorry this is taking so long, but please keep in mind that I was not originally prepared to award 50 prizes! I had no idea you guys were so awesome!
I am also super-slow on Twitter right now. I'm sorry. I should catch up after the trips and such. 
Giveaway! Yes! Coming tomorrow! 
And another one! In October! 
And another one! In November! My biggest giveaway to date!
And another one! In December! Even bigger than the November one!

Banned Books Week and Doctor Who

So I just did my post on the League for today--and it was about Banned Books weeks. I'm rather proud of it--I got quite a little rant on--and I realized that there was a perfect quote for me to use for that post:

You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! This room's the greatest arsenal we could have - arm yourselves!

So, I decided of course I should just embed the Doctor Who video with that quote! Of course! So I trotted off to YouTube and looked up one of the best episodes ever, "Silence in the Library."







And...then I watched the whole darn episode, despite the fact that I have a house to clean and a book to write and a dog to wash and a million other things.



 Thing is, the weapons quote isn't in that episode. It's in "Tooth and Claw."



 I regret nothing.

As Easy As Falling In Love

A lot of times people ask me when I know that a work is ready, complete and to the point where I need to submit it for publication. Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry answer to this, but I can tell you what it tends to be like for me:



Dread and Hate: There is a moment--usually brief--before I start writing that I am filled with dread and hate for the project. I have this vague, wispy idea of what it should be, and I know I'll never achieve the ideal, and so it sort of makes me sick to my stomach to think about writing it. 




Falling in Love: Somewhere along the way, usually within the first fifty pages of the manuscript, I start falling in love with it. The words sing, the characters are vivid, and the story's zinging along. 




Blind Love: ...and then I start having this sort of blind love for the project. I think every words perfect. I get very self satisfied. This feeling typically lasts all the way to when I write THE END...and as I stare at the whole manuscript, I have this sort of "this-is-the-best-book-ever-written-and-I-am-a-genius" sort of attitude. 




I've learned, after years of trial and error and a ton of rejections, that this is NOT the time to submit a manuscript for publication. This is the time to submit a manuscript to peers for critique. 




So, then I submit the manuscript for crits. And my feelings when I get back the critiques--which have NEVER said that the manuscript is perfect and I am a genius and deserve a cupcake--my feelings are this:




Anger and Denial: My initial reaction, no matter how much I love and respect my critique readers, is that they are WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And MEAN. And they're out to get me. So I usually read a crit, then give it a day before I feel...




Determination: I think this comes from my Southrn upbringing--I get this bull-headed attitude where I want to prove the critiquers wrong, and I'll write the best frexing book there ever was no matter how hard it is, so I pull up my boot straps and get to work. 




Until...




Falling in Love...Again: When I get to the point where I've started to fall back in love with the manuscript--that's when I know it's ready. I no longer have blind love for it, I can see the flaws, and I can see the bandages I used to patch it up after I broke it down, but for the most part, I love it again. 




And that's when I send it out.

My Little Ponies...in SPACE!

Here are some things you might not know about me:




When I was a kid, I was obsessed with My Little Ponies. I had dozens of ponies, I had the knock-off ponies (sea-ponies, anyone?), I had a barn made of popsicle sticks, I had audio books on cassette tape...I was obsessed.
I am totally hooked on the re-boot of the show and have seen every episode at least five times each.


So, when I saw that Rebecca was holding a contest for a custom-made My Little Pony based on a character of a novel, I just had to jump on that band wagon!




The only problem? I couldn't decide which of my characters would make the best pony! So I made THREE using this really fun pony-maker.








Amy Pony!

Type of pony: Earth Pony--because as much as she wants to fly away, 

she's stuck on the ground ship

Body type: short

Body Color: blue, for the sky she misses

Eye color: bright bottle green, just like the real Amy

Mane and tail: red and gold, just like the real Amy

Cutie-mark: an hourglass, to symbolize how she's out of time

Note: yup, that's the same hourglass of Doctor Whooves

Other details: freckles, to symbolize her fair complexion, 

and shoes, because she's a runner!







Elder Pony!

Type of pony: Unicorn, because he's the leader

Body type: tall

Body color: dark brown, just like his real skin

Eye color: blue, like the sky he longs for

Mane and tail: black, like the real Elder

Cutie-mark: a series of stars, because once he sees them, he can never be the same

Other details: I gave him a stern expression, to show how he's trying to be a leader





















Harley Pony!

Type of pony: Pegasus--he wants to fly through the stars

(I did a screenshot without the wings, though, so you could see his cutie mark)

Body type: average

Body color: blue and yellow spatters--like the sea and the stars at the same time

Eye color: gold, to represent his heart of gold

Mane and tail: What I really wanted was a rainbow colored mane and tail, like Rainbow Dash has. BUT I couldn't do that in the generator, and I was too lazy to edit it in Gimp

Cutie-mark: A koi fish, of course

Other details: Of course Harley would be laughing!




What do you think? I know it's silly, but I had so much fun doing this! If you have a character you would like pony-ize, then go to this website for a pony generator, and don't forget to enter Rebecca's contest yourself!




Speaking of, I have to pick ONE pony to enter into the contest...but I can't decide which. Which one is your favorite?







<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/5517506/&qu... is the Best Pony?</a>