C.J. Redwine's Blog, page 10

Trailer for THE BOOK THIEF

I've heard nothing but praise for this book and now that I've seen the trailer, I'm even more excited to read it. What do you think?

AwkwardFlail FTW

1. Oh, reader.

2. I had my first official author event this past weekend.

3. It was a trial run which should probably be titled "C.J. Tries To Be Authorly In Public."

4. The subtitle is "AwkwardFlail."

5. The fine print reads "If you invite C.J. to an event, and you haven't done your research, you deserve the spectacle you're about to witness."

6. What happened, you ask?

7. I was invited by the lovely people in the Heart of Dixie RWA chapter to host one of the tables at their annual Reader Appreciate Luncheon.

8. The event was wonderful. Fun, high energy, and very well attended.

9. There was a meet and greet beforehand, and then a fancy catered lunch, and then gift baskets and door prizes etc.

10. And there were photo ops.

11. Sadly, I believe my table was treated to more photo ops than anyone else.

12. I should come with a warning label. Something along the lines of "Read her blog BEFORE you meet her, and then sit near her at your own risk."

13. But I didn't have a warning label.

14. So innocent people who wanted to meet a new YA author sat at my table.

15. And brought their teenage daughters with them.

16. The lunch went something like this.

17. We all sat down at our table. The caterers had already placed glasses of tea and water by our knives, and had also set a selection of desserts around the table.

18. I began talking to the two teenage girls seated to my left.

19. I gesture as I talk.

20. At one point, I leaned forward to say something, and I slapped my hand SMACK DAB in the middle of a piece of pie.

21. I was covered in whipped cream and shame.

22. Well, not so much shame because I ran out of that about a decade and a half ago when I realized that growing up didn't necessarily mean I was going to grow out of general klutziness and epic fails.

23. But whipped cream? Oh yes. My hand was covered.

24. I could see the others at the table were trying to choose the correct response.

25. I can't blame them. I don't think there's a bylaw in the Social Etiquette Handbook that tells you how to act when a gregarious girl slams her hand into a piece of strawberry whipped cream pie.

26. So, I chose the response for them.

27. I very solemnly said, "That will be my piece."

28. And then I assured the girls that I do stuff like that all the time, and that they should feel free to laugh and find me slightly ridiculous.

29. The conversation moved on, and one of the girls told me she was being bullied at school for being different.

30. As she was saying that, the waiter set salads in front of us.

31. I assured the girl that the small-minded morons who bully others in school find themselves adrift without a victim or a vision when they graduate because outside of school, those of us with different brains and strange dreams are the ones who go on to greatness.

32. And then, dear reader, I took a bite of salad.

33. The fool of a chef who thought bite-sized pieces of lettuce were for wimps and who then followed that egregious error with a whopping half a bottle of dressing for a tiny pile of greens is on my LIST.

34. Because I forked up a bite of salad.

35. And the leaves were too big to fit completely in my mouth.

36. As you may have surmised, I have a big mouth. So these leaves of lettuce? HUGE.

37. Realizing I couldn't fit the entire bite in without stabbing the back of my throat with my fork, I closed my lips over the half-inserted leaf.

38. There is a law of physics that applies here.

39. I don't know the official name, but it has to do with leverage, and momentum, and copious amounts of salad dressing.

40. I bit down, the un-inserted end of the lettuce leaf shot up toward my mouth, and all of that extra salad dressing?

41. ALL OVER MY FACE.

42. And worse?

43. IN MY EYE.

44. I may be the only person in the entire world who can shoot herself in the eye with salad dressing using nothing more than a fork, a leaf of lettuce, and her own lips.

45. Here is the truly sad part of this tale.

46. I was so concerned with the dressing to my eye (Balsamic vinegar burns ... just a little bit), I failed to even realize there was dressing anywhere else.

47. Everywhere else.

48. I gently dabbed my eye and said something to the effect of "Crap. I shot salad dressing into my eye."

49. And when I looked up, everyone at the table was trying to signal to me.

50. Surreptitious swipes against their foreheads. Pointed glances at my cheekbones. Finally, one of the ladies just said "You have some on your face, too."

51. Hurray for understatement!

52. It was on my forehead. Both sides. On my nose. And on my cheeks.

53. I had to use my fancy cloth napkin to just wipe my whole face.

54. And then I turned to the girl beside me and said, "See? You can be awkward like WHOA, and your dreams can still come true. And then people will pay to come sit by you at lunch and think you're cool even though you've insulted a piece of pie and done terrible injury to yourself with salad dressing. People like us? Teenage years are torture. But the rest of life? It's wide open possibility."

55. And her mother said, "I told you C.J. was cool!"

56. Somehow, losing a poorly planned battle for my dignity with a plate of salad equalled cool. Those kind of things don't happen when you're a teenager. But when you're an adult? And you've learned to laugh at yourself? (Because hey, food was around. SOMETHING was bound to happen, but it doesn't have to derail you.) When you've learned to embrace the things that make you different, and when you value the stuff that once made you want to crawl into a hole and die from the awkwardflailness of it all, you win. You attract people who like you because you aren't afraid to just BE you.

57. And when you aren't afraid to BE you? Anything is possible.

58. Still, for all that pep talk, I think my publicist will read this and probably issue a memo to all future events instructing the organizers to keep me far, far away from food.

Trailer for WHITE CAT

This is the first in the Curse Workers series by Holly Black. I like this trailer, but having read the book, I can tell you I'm not sure the trailer fully does the book justice. It is an AMAZING book, and you should read it. :) What do you think?

Monday Fun

I'm still writing like a ... like ... like a person who writes a lot. A LOT. (And also like a person whose entire store of creative words has gone straight into the manuscript leaving nothing behind for the blog!) I've written 12k in the past 34 hours, and I have two more scenes to go before the rough draft is finished.

So for your Monday blog reading today, I thought I'd give you two things that recently gave me a much needed pick me up while I've been drafting. Your mileage may vary.

CALL ME MAYBE (Warning! Highly addictive!)




ELLEN READS 50 SHADES OF GREY (This will only be funny to you if you're familiar with the book, so click at your own risk. :) )

Avengers, 80's Style!

Cuz your foes don't fight, and if they won't fight, well then, they're no foes of mine.

*Credit for this photo: I saw it on a friend's page on Facebook. I have no idea who first designed it. :)

Top 5 Reasons Why You Need UNRAVELING

Yesterday, UNRAVELING hit the shelves. I was privileged to read an ARC, and so I thought if you were wondering what book you should pick up next time you head to the bookstore (or, yanno, NOW from Indie Bound, Amazon, or B &N), I'd give you my top five reasons for choosing UNRAVELING.

1. Fringe meets Veronica Mars! Do I even have to elaborate? It's FRINGE meets VERONICA MARS. There is no universe in which that pairing doesn't produce something amazing. Sci-fi, FBI, and a girl with guts, ambition, and brains trying desperately to unravel a mystery before the world ends. Yes, please.

2. Secrets! Think you have it figured out? Think again. Better set aside a chunk of time. You're going to need it. As the mystery unfolds, and the secrets are revealed, you won't want to stop reading.

3. Elizabeth Norris might secretly be Dean Koontz! Okay, no. She isn't. BUT if Dean Koontz wrote YA, I imagine it would be something like UNRAVELING. This book is a thrilling, grab-you-by-the-throat ride from the first chapter to the unbelievable finish. The writing is polished, the pacing is superb, and the romance is woven in around heart-stopping drama with an expert touch.


4. Hellooooo Classroom Debate! Don't think a debate between two high school students sounds like intense, swoony fun? Trust me. The romance in UNRAVELING will change your mind, and the way you look at debates, forever. Um, also? You will never look at washing machines again without fanning your face. So. There's that.

5. Characters FTW! Not only is Janelle an authentic, well-drawn character, the rest of the cast are just as fully developed. Be prepared to become attached. Like white-knuckle-grip attached. Just remember that I have dibs on Ben. I mean, after Janelle's dibs. But totally before yours.

Trailer Tuesday: The Immortal Rules

Julie Kagawa has already wowed the world with her incredible Iron Fey series. Now, she takes on vampires. I thought I was over the whole vampire thing, BUT it's Julie Kagawa. And this really does look good. I'm going to give it a try. What do you think?

Drive-by Blogging

1. I wish I could promise to be a good Monday blogger for the next few weeks, but I can't.

2. It's not that entertaining stuff isn't happening on a daily basis!

3. Why just yesterday, I witnessed a friend of mine lean down and PINCH A SPIDER between his BARE FINGERS to kill it rather than do what the rest of us do and grab 32384923 pieces of tissue to avoid even a hint of crunch...

4. I gagged out loud.

5. And I believe I'm probably traumatized for life.

6. Yesterday is also the day when I headed toward my mouth with a spoonful of ice cream and somehow slung it directly into my cleavage instead.

7. Followed immediately by another spoonful of ice cream to the crotch.

8. So, it's not like there aren't ample blogging topics to amuse and delight you.

9. The problem is my brain. You see, THIS is my brain most of the time.



10. Well, if you add in a giant dash of peculiar ...

11. But right now, I'm on deadline for Defiance's sequel. And THIS, my friends, is my brain on deadline.



12. Oh, yeah. I'm sexy and I know it.

13. So that is why you'll have to bear with me. I have FUN news for you, a giveaway planned in May (Um ... anyone want an ARC???), author interviews, trailers, and Mad Libs coming up. But my own personal brand of weird post will be put on hold for just a couple more weeks.

14. Look at that pic and have pity.

Trailer for WHAT LIES BENEATH

Today's book trailer is for WHAT LIES BENEATH, which comes out this June. I'm intrigued! What do you think?

Winner of BORN WICKED

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway of a signed hardback of Jessica Spotswood's BORN WICKED. There were 109 entries, and as always, I used random.org to choose the winning entry. And the lucky winner is:


Donnas
Congratulations, Donnas! You will receive a confirmation email from me shortly. Thanks for entering and happy reading!