Kelly Hashway's Blog, page 111

Humor, Every Novel Needs Some

I love to laugh. Who doesn't? So when I pick up a book, it doesn't matter what the genre, I expect to get a laugh somewhere along the way. Even the saddest book or the most dramatic needs comic relief. (Yes, this is my opinion. Feel free to disagree because reading is subjective.)


So, when I write, I make sure I have comic relief. I just finished revising a sequel, and I took a considerable amount of time between drafting and revising. The result was a good laugh. Seriously, it was in a good way. I have a character who drops one-liners, and she had me laughing up a storm while revising. I forgot how funny she can be.


And even the narration had some funny moments. I wish I could remember what I was doing when I wrote those chapters because I don't think I'm very funny, and yet I created characters who are.


What's your opinion on humor in books? Should all books have some?[image error]

Monday Mishmash

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:

Giveaway winner!  Congrats to Amber Garcia. She won the zombie deer, compact mirror, bookmark, and sticker. Amber, I've emailed you to get your mailing address.Edits  Last week was an intense few days of editing for Touch of Death, but it's finished! Yay!Back to planning  While I wait for edits on the sequel to Touch of Death, I'll be continuing to plan the next manuscript I have in mind. Planning is so exciting!Reading  Last week was really busy for me and my reading suffered. I'm hoping to catch up this week.Picture book sketches  My editor told me I'd get to see sketches for one of my upcoming picture books this week. Seeing how an illustrator pictures my characters is always exciting.That's it for me. What's on your mind today?[image error]

Movie or TV Series Adaptations

Recently, I've been wondering what's better, books made into movies or books made into TV series? I loved the Percy Jackson books and movie. I loved the Harry Potter books and movies. I also really enjoyed the Vampire Diaries books and the TV series (although they are very different). And while I never read The Nine Lives of Chloe King books, I did enjoy the TV series while it lasted for one brief season. (So sad. I miss you Alec.)


But... I'm not a fan of The Secret Circle, the TV series. It might be the actors, but I'm really hoping the books are better. I think when books are made into movies things have to be cut. But when books are made into TV series, more can be kept in. The problem is that because TV series (if they do well) can run for a long time, extra things are added. This can really change the series from the books. 


So, today I'm posing the question to you: Which is better, when a book is made into a movie or when a book is made into a TV series?


*Don't forget today is the last day to enter to win a zombie deer and other amazing Touch of Death SWAG.

My Heart Be Damned by Chanelle Gray (Review)

Summary:
If you're a Hunter, there are only three things you must know about the Damned. The Damned can't lie, can't live without a body, and can't leave you alone.

Amerie Carter has the blood of a Hunter, unfortunately. She is one of a rare line of women who, upon her sixteenth birthday, will come into extraordinary powers used to hunt the Damned; escaped souls from Hell who take up residence in human bodies. It's supposed to be her sweet sixteen, but Amerie has never dreaded a day more, and her worst fears are confirmed as the celebration turns tragic when her mother is killed.

Grief-stricken, Amerie vows to never hunt a day in her life. She's determined to hide behind normalcy, attending school, hanging out with her friends and working an after-school job at The Hut. All Amerie wants is to be left alone. But try telling the Damned that. The harder Amerie tries to ignore her powers, the more the Damned come looking for her.

When an attack leaves one of Amerie's friends in the hospital, and endangers the lives of her fellow students, she knows she has no choice: Hunt or Be Hunted. Thankfully, the gorgeous, secretive, and so-off-limits Marshall offers to train Amerie to take out her supernatural enemies. But training with Marshall means lying to her friends, her family, and confronting the mysterious circumstances surrounding her mother's death.

Amerie soon discovers she's not the only one with something to hide, Marshall's secrets might kill her before the Damned get the chance.

My Thoughts:
The last thing Amerie wants to do is be a Hunter. She doesn't want to end up like her mom—dead. But she finds herself in the graveyard looking for Damned anyway. And when she meets the mysterious Marshall, he proves that even if she doesn't want to fight, she has to or she'll die. Amerie is being hunted—ironic, right? A powerful Damned named Seal has discovered a ritual that will give him immortality and he needs Amerie's blood to complete it. 


While Amerie is busy training with hot-then-cold Marshall, she winds up falling for him. Only he pushes her away just as much as he reels her in. She's on an emotional roller coaster. And her life as a Hunter isn't the only thing tearing her apart. Her father, who became a drunken shell of a person after Amerie's mother died, has finally moved on. He moves Amerie and her brother in with his new girlfriend, and Amerie isn't happy about it at all. She can't get past her mother's death, especially since she's afraid of ending up just like her Hunter mom.


My favorite part was the ending, which had lots of great plot twists. This was a really quick read with lots of emotional highs and lows. There are also a ton of great action scenes to keep the pages turning.


Just for fun: 
Amerie struggles to keep her life as a Hunter from hurting her family and friends. If you knew your destiny could kill everyone around you, would you distance yourself from everyone?


*Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a zombie deer and other great Touch of Death SWAG.

Monday Mishmash and a Giveaway

Happy Monday! This mishmash will be short because I have a giveaway for you!


1. New Cover for Inbetween  Tara Fuller's upcoming YA release, Inbetween, has a new cover:


2. Picture book edits  I'm working on edits for one of my upcoming picture books. The toughest part is the publisher wants the title change. Eek! Did I mention I'm not very good with titles?


3. Only 6 months until Touch of Death!  Yesterday marked exactly 6 months until the release of my debut YA! Eep! I'm excited, so I'm doing a giveaway. What can you win? I have the typical SWAG (bookmarks and stickers) and some not so typical SWAG: a compact mirror with the 13th sign of the zodiac and a zombie deer. Yes, I said zombie deer. So, Jodi, my MC, is a necromancer and the first thing she brings back to life is a deer. My amazing editor Trisha Wooldridge kiddingly said I should giveaway zombie deer. So I am! My very talented sister, Heather DeRobertis, owns a company called True Poison, and she specializes in all things creepy and totally awesome. She made this deer—the only of it's kind—for me. I loved it and asked for more. The others are a little different. This is the only one that has intestines falling out of it. Are you grossed out? Well, it's actually adorable. Check it out:



Who wouldn't want to cuddle up with that? So, fill out the rafflecopter form below to enter to win. This contest is open until Friday, and I'll announce the winner on next week's mishmash.
a Rafflecopter giveaway 
And since it's Monday, what's on your mind today?

Pacing Yourself as a Writer

When 2012 began, I set a goal to write three novels this year. So far, I've written four. My pace picked up to an insane speed. I couldn't stop writing. But then editing jobs forced me to take a break because I can't edit and fast draft at the same time. When I fast draft, I like to have nothing else on my plate.


Well, after I drafted manuscript four, I realized I couldn't keep up this pace or I'd burn out before September. So, I did something I never thought I'd do. I took a break from writing novels. I focused on editing and writing short stories. Now, I'm getting that itch again. But I can't give in to it. Soon, I'll have edits coming in for the sequel to Touch of Death. My summer is going to be busy, but not in the same way as when I'm drafting.


Still, I'm trying to hold off on this new idea I have. I'm plotting it and attempting to keep from drafting until my daughter starts school at the end of August. The question is, can I make it?


How do you pace yourself so you aren't writing too much or not enough?

White Walls by Lauren Hammond

Synopsis:
Adelaide Carmichael knows that she's lost her mind.

She's aware that she's being sent to The Oakhill Institution, but she's been told that she's being sent there to get better. She's been told that the staff is there to help.

And it doesn't take Adelaide long to discover that she was very, very wrong about The Oakhill Institution. Patients roam the halls like zombies. Electric currents vibrate through the plaster walls. Patients are fed sedatives like mashed potatoes and now Adelaide knows one thing for sure, she wants out.

And she'll do whatever she can to escape.



My thoughts:I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. It's the sequel to INSANITY, which released earlier this year. I loved INSANITY because it was insanely good! White Walls takes place before INSANITY, and it clears up some mysteries about Addy and her past. I loved the way things unfolded, again using the Before and After chapters. Lauren mixes the two so seamlessly I was in awe. I think this format really lends itself to Addy's tortured mind as well. We get to see a much more coherent Addy in this book. And while Damien is still in the book, it focuses more on Elijah and how Addy meets him. I loved Elijah's character. He's what I call perfectly flawed. That's my favorite kind of fictional guy.
I know there will be more books in this series, and with the way this book ended, I can just imagine what Lauren has in store for us.
*I also want to mention that this is a New Adult title, not Young Adult, though it would be appropriate for mature teens.*
Just for fun:Talking to Lauren, I knew she was concerned with how to portray Elijah so readers loved him as much as Damien. I think she pulls it off perfectly, but I'm posing this question to you: What is it about a first love that makes him/her so unforgettable and maybe even impossible to top?

Monday Mishmash and More Blog Awards

Happy Monday! My mishmash of thoughts is short today because it includes two more blog awards.




Revisions  I'm almost finished with this round of revisions on my WIP. Yay!Month9Books  I got to speak with Georgia McBride and Brittany Howard, two people from Month9Books, my amazing publisher for my MG series. I had a great conversation with them and am really excited to get to work on Curse of the Granville Fortune. :)Reading  I'm making a big effort to read more and get caught up on my TBR list. I feel like I might actually be making progress. Now if I could just stop adding more books to the pile. ;PSisterhood of World Bloggers and Tell Me About Yourself Blog Award  I received these two awards from Michele Berger. Thanks, Michele. I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself, but I'm not sure there's anything left to tell. I'm kind of an open book. So, here are the 7 bloggers I'm passing the awards on to:Katrina DeLalloBeverly Stowe McClureKatie ClarkDiane CarlisleLexa CainAuden JohnsonElizabeth Prats

That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Booker Award and Blog Ribbon

The lovely Diane Carlisle awarded me with two awards this week. The first is the Booker Award, and this may be my favorite because it's just plain awesome.


To receive this award the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing). 
I also get to share my top 5 favorite books:Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Titan's Curse by Rick RiordanCrescendo by Becca FitzpatrickBetrayed by Ednah WaltersHe Loves Me, He Loves You Not by Lauren HammondDelirium by Lauren Oliver
I also received the Fabulous Blog Ribbon. I get to post lots of great 5s with this one.5 Fabulous Moments:The birth of my daughterThe day I got marriedThe day I signed with my agentThe day Touch of Death was offered on by Spencer Hill PressThe day I won a 5K race for the women and placed top three overall, meaning only 2 men beat me. (I came in right behind my husband.)
5 Things I Love:My familyMy jobs (writing and editing rock!)Books (both reading and writing them)The caribbean CoffeeActing like a kid5 Things I Dislike:SnakesGrumpy peopleTrafficThe state of the economyMy lack of patience at timesAnd here are the five people I'm passing these two awards on to:Brenda MoguezMirka BreenC. Lee McKenzieCatherine StineAdrianne RussellYour turn. What are your top 5 books or 5 things you love?

Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout (Review)

Synopsis:
Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is. 


My thoughts:
This book has been all the talk on blogs everywhere. The Daemon craze is crazy. To be honest, when I dove into the book, I didn't like Daemon. Now coming from me, that's not a criticism. I love to dislike characters. I think if an author can make me feel any emotion strongly enough, that's a good thing. So, yes, I didn't like Daemon. He was nasty to poor Katy. Of course, as the book progresses, we learn he's acting this way for her own protection as well as for his family's protection. So, okay, I like Daemon now.
The tension between him and Katy is intense! There are some really swoon-worthy moments in this book. The divide between the alien world and the human world was portrayed really well and created plenty of conflict. And having written about aliens, I'm a fan of beings from other places, so I felt very at home in the world Jennifer created.
I read the book while sick and having the worst few days I've had in a while and really, it cheered me up. If you haven't read Obsidian yet, I'd highly recommend it.


Just for fun:
Katy and Daemon are obviously attracted to each other, yet they fight like crazy. Have you ever been in a relationship like that where one minute you wanted to hit the person and the next you wanted to make out with them?