C.J. Redwine's Blog, page 12

Trailer Tuesday: INSURGENT

Like many others, I was totally captivated by Veronica Roth's DIVERGENT. Now, the sequel INSURGENT hits the shelves May 1st, and I can't wait. Here's the trailer. What do you think?

Oh Yeah. We Went There.

Today, for your entertainment, I bring you a transcript of a chat I had last Thursday night with Jodi Meadows. I often tell her we should make some of our transcripts public, though we've both wondered if that might be social suicide.

So ... throwing caution to the wind and acknowledging that my deadline is fast approaching and my creative brain cells are all focused on my manuscript and so this is as close to a personally written blog post as you're likely to see from me for a bit, I give you what happens when I ask Jodi a very innocent grammar question.

C.J. Redwine: oh bugger me ... it's stupid question time!

C.J. Redwine: is it "gentler" or "more gentle"?

Jodi Meadows: gentler

C.J. Redwine: that's what I typed

C.J. Redwine: but now it all looks wrong

Jodi Meadows: hee

C.J. Redwine: gentle looks like the worst word every made

Jodi Meadows: yes

C.J. Redwine: it still isn't as bad as moist

C.J. Redwine: ugh

C.J. Redwine: I can't even type it without sneering

Jodi Meadows: nothing is as bad as moist

C.J. Redwine: nothing

C.J. Redwine: except maybe moister

C.J. Redwine: and moistest

Jodi Meadows: moistiest

Jodi Meadows: moisty

C.J. Redwine: ahahahahahahah

C.J. Redwine: MOISTY

Jodi Meadows: :D

C.J. Redwine: that could be profanity

C.J. Redwine: son of a moistier!

C.J. Redwine: what the moist?

Jodi Meadows: it should be profanity!

Jodi Meadows: go moist yourself

C.J. Redwine: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

C.J. Redwine: *gags*

Jodi Meadows: *ded*

C.J. Redwine: moist off

Jodi Meadows: *laffs and laffs*

C.J. Redwine: ha!

Jodi Meadows: *laughs moistily*

C.J. Redwine: gags even more moistierly*

Jodi Meadows: MOISTIERLY

C.J. Redwine: you know, if we ever put transcripts of our chats up on our blogs, we'd either gain a ton of followers or lose them all

C.J. Redwine: they'd call us the Moist Sisters

Jodi Meadows: soooooo gross!

C.J. Redwine: and the movie would be Career Suicide: Go Moist Yourself

Jodi Meadows: who would play us?

Jodi Meadows: I hope they would get Hans Zimmer to do the original score

C.J. Redwine: Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams

C.J. Redwine: oh we'd insist

Jodi Meadows: oh niiiice

C.J. Redwine: he would tell his musicians to play moistly

C.J. Redwine: and the trombone players would be all "Um ... duh"

Jodi Meadows: spit flying out the ends of flutes

C.J. Redwine: spit flying everywhere

Jodi Meadows: and trumpet players would be all "yeah" *empties spit valve*

C.J. Redwine: and all the clarinets and oboes would have moist reeds

C.J. Redwine: it would all work

Jodi Meadows: yes

C.J. Redwine: I have to go puke up my dinner now.

Jodi Meadows: okay

Jodi Meadows: that should be moist

C.J. Redwine: AHAHHHHHHHHH

Jodi Meadows: you're welcome

C.J. Redwine: *literal gagging*

C.J. Redwine: *sigh*

C.J. Redwine: see what happens when I ask for one simple little word?

Jodi Meadows: chaos

Jodi Meadows: moist chaos!

C.J. Redwine: DESIST

Jodi Meadows: like a bog

C.J. Redwine: *GAGS*

Jodi Meadows: or a swamp

C.J. Redwine: I am going to call you in a minute

C.J. Redwine: and all I'm going to do is gag in your ear

Jodi Meadows: or a stagnant pond

Jodi Meadows: LOL

C.J. Redwine: I'm told it sounds remarkably like a pregnant moose

Jodi Meadows: if you do, I will probably go puke too

C.J. Redwine: JUSTICE

Movie Friday: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

When I went to see the Hunger Games (for the second time) this past week, I saw a movie trailer for the book to movie adaptation of the incredible ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER book. Haven't read it yet? You really, really should. Here's the trailer. What do you think?

Author Mad Libs: E.C. Myers

Today's Author Mad Libs guest is E.C. Myers whose book FAIR COIN (which has garnered some very stellar reviews!) hit the shelves this week. I sent E.C. a parts of speech list. He sent back words. This is the result.





Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is _bounced_ when he comes home from school and finds his _sloth_ unconscious at the kitchen _ninja_, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide _tricycle_ is even more dis­turbing: she thought she'd identified Ephraim's _waffle_ at the hospital that day.

Among his dead double's_clowns_, Ephraim finds a _woeful_ coin--a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his _dolphin_, he can turn his alcoholic mother into an _industrious_ parent and catch the eye of the _turducken_ he's liked since second grade. But the coin doesn't always change _chopsticks_ for the better. And a bad flip can destroy other people's _banshees_ as easily as it rebuilds his own.

The coin could _investigate_ Ephraim everything he's ever wanted--if he learns to _zoom_its power before his luck runs out.

 
 
Thank you, E.C., for joining in the fun! To learn more about E.C., go here. To purchase FAIR COIN head to Indie Bound, Books a Million, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
 

Interview with Elizabeth Norris

Today's guest is Elizabeth Norris, author of the upcoming debut novel UNRAVELING (April 24th!). I met Elizabeth through our editor, Kristin, and was privileged to read an advance copy of her book. It had me at the edge of my seat from the word Go! If Fringe and Veronica Mars had a baby, this book would be it. Full of heart-stopping action, fringe-y science, mystery, romance, and characters who are both complicated and relatable, this is a book worth devouring. If that doesn't convince you, let me add this. 1. There's a debate scene that will melt your face off. 2. There's a countdown. Literally. To the end of the world. 3. You won't see the ending coming.

Here's a peek at UNRAVELING:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.


But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

Elizabeth decided to take on the ever-suave Captain Jack Sparrow. Let's meet today's guests.


Captain Jack Sparrow



Elizabeth Norris
Of course, before we get to the interview itself, we get to see the cupcake my hubby designed in honor of UNRAVELING. I mentioned a countdown (literally) to the end of the world, right? Well, my hubby decided to make an end of the world cupcake. It is both edible and apocalyptic. Without further ado, I give you Elizabeth vs. Captain Jack and the cupcake that will end the world in 3 - 2 - 1.




1. Would you classify yourself as a pirate or a member of Her Majesty's Royal navy? Why?


Pirate. Most of the time I tend to deviate from rules and structure. For instance, I don't even like to write in chronological order. I'll write scenes, snippets of dialogue, and descriptions, and then eventually throw them into the manuscript somewhere. I'm also a big fan individualism.


2. Darling, I like your style. What's your favorite thing to do in Tortuga?

Pirate watch! I'm more on the introverted side anyway, which means that in large groups of people, I do more observing than anything else. I love to people watch wherever I go (Time Square is another great place to just watch people and what they're doing). Unique clothing and hairstyles, interesting behavior—it all captivates my attention and sometimes is really inspiring.

3. I'm all for watching people, as long as we're keeping a running tally of all the shiny valuables we're planning to remove from their personage in the very near future. I'm offering you free passage aboard my ship to anywhere in the world. Where shall we go, love?

Oh, this is tough. I'd be game for going just about anywhere. I'm a huge fan of sun, sand, and warm water so there are a number of tropical islands I'm dying to vacation to (like Fiji, Tahiti, St. Lucia, etc). I'd also love to take an Alaskan cruise because I've heard how lovely some of the views are. But I guess if I had to pick just one place I'm dying to go, it would be Greece. (I actually tried to go once when I was studying abroad in college, but I was traveling by bus and ended up having to go back to Budapest where I was staying instead). In addition to the beautiful setting, it has so much history and culture that I'd love to be able to see firsthand.

4. I know this lovely string of islands where the tediously loyal members of His Majesty's Royal Navy never visit. Who is the hero of your story most like: me (savvy, debonair, and unquestionably smooth with the ladies), the insufferably honorable Will Turner, or that deceptive little minx Elizabeth?

My main character, Janelle Tenner, is probably a mix of all three. She's definitely savvy. Her dad is in the FBI so she knows a lot of things that he taught her and a few things he didn't. But she's also pretty honorable and definitely focused on saving the people she loves.

5. Savvy and honorable? An intriguing combination. Rum? Or more rum?

The more the merrier.

6. A woman after my own callous heart. Which leads me to the age old question: Why is the rum always gone?

Probably because it's good.

7. *gives you the side eye* You're a lovely wench, there's no denying. But if you consume all of my rum, I'll strand you on a deserted island faster than you can say Tortuga. What's the most piratish thing you've ever done?

When I was a senior in high school, my English teacher had a lot of boxes that she needed to load into her car. She asked me and two of my friends to carry them out to the parking lot and put them in her trunk. We did.

But we couldn't just stop there. To play a joke on her, I drove her car around the back of the school and parked it in substitute parking.

Luckily she was the kind of teacher who loved a good prank. The next day my desk was missing from our classroom and she told me she walked around for fifteen minutes looking for it so I'd have to stand all period.

It was worth it.

8. You have potential, my dear. A true pirate would've driven to the nearest chop shop, sold the car for parts, and then used the money for more rum. Are they rules? Or more like guidelines?

Guidelines. If we listened to every rule and never challenged those rules, nothing in our society would ever change. We'd still be ruled by Her Majesty!

When I was in high school, I read Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and he said "[A person] has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws" and that always stuck with me.

9. I find any law that denies me what I want to be highly unjust. I understand you're a story-teller. Any undead monkeys in your stories?

No undead monkeys in Unraveling, but there is a sequel so maybe one will turn up there.

10. Any curses? Heartless monsters? Irritating women who insist on taking matters into their own hands?

No curses or monsters. Unraveling is pretty grounded in reality (and then some science fiction). But it does have a countdown that's possibly to the end of the world and an Unidentified Improvised Explosive Device, which is a fancy way of saying a potential bomb that no one can figure out how to stop.

And Janelle is definitely one of those girls who insists on taking matters into her own hands (I'm a huge fan of those girls, after all I am one). She's also someone who is aware of her own limitations. There are even several times that she recognizes that she's gotten in over her head, but at the same time, she knows this is a mystery she has to see through to the end—she has to solve it.

11. Usually, I'm not a fan of women taking matters into their own hands. The last one who did that landed me in the belly of the Kraken. But since this one is trying to save me from the end of the world, I'll make an exception. One of my favorite words is "egregious." Care to share one of yours, love?

I love the word "sporadic." I love the way it sounds and I love anything without a pattern.

12. Parlay? Or draw your sword?

I always try to parlay first, but I won't hesitate to draw my sword if it's needed.

13. That's my girl. You've got a crowd of cursed sailors and a nasty sea monster on your trail. How do you escape?

I would hope one of my best friends was with me. She's the type to walk into a room and always plan exactly how she's going to escape if the zombie apocalypse starts. I'm not a big planner when it comes to escapes, but I am a pretty good runner and a really good swimmer, so I'd hopefully be able to use one of those skills.

14. I say toss your friend to the monsters and then swim for it while they're distracted. Romantic night in? Or adventure on the high seas?

Why not both? Adventure first, then some quiet time alone. There's nothing like adventure to get your heart rate up and make you appreciate the people you love.

15. Both it is. My personal motto is: Take what you want, give nothing back. What's yours?

"This above all: to thine own self be true."



Thank you, Elizabeth, for such an entertaining interview. To learn more about Elizabeth, visit her site. To pre-order your copy of UNRAVELING, visit Indie Bound, Books a Million, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

Of course, the fun isn't over yet! Elizabeth is offering a pre-order of UNRAVELING to one lucky commenter. To enter, simply fill out the form below and be sure to leave a comment in the Blogger comment box at the end of the post. The contest is open to North American residents and will run until 8 p.m. Central Time Monday, April 2nd.

Good luck and happy reading!

Trailer Tuesday: PRETTY CROOKED

Here's a book that just hit the shelves last month. I'm usually not drawn to contemporaries, but who can resist a modern day Robin Hood? What do you think?

Author Mad Libs: Jodi Meadows

Today's Author Mad Libs guest is Jodi Meadows, author of the lovely and compelling fantasy INCARNATE. The book is available now! I sent Jodi a parts of speech list. She sent back words. This is the result.






 
 
NEWSOUL


Ana is _slimy_. For thousands of _knitting needles_ in Range, a million _coffee cups_ have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their _tissues_ and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul _plopped_, and no one knows why.
NOSOUL

Even Ana's own _cloud_ thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of _shimmery_ things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her _bear_ and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana _crunches_ to the city of Heart, but its _ferrets_ are suspicious and afraid of what her _pushpin_ means. When dragons and sylph _squelch_the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART

Sam believes Ana's new soul is _joyful_ and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their _yarn_ blooms. But can he love someone who may _grunt_ only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and _the Force_ alike—let them be together? Ana needs to _spin_ the mistake that gave her someone else's _bunny_, but will her quest threaten the _hair_ of Heart and destroy the promise of _blankets_ for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly _splats_ soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an _orange_tale of new life.


Thank you, Jodi, for playing along! To learn more about Jodi, visit her site. To purchase your copy of INCARNATE, head to Indie Bound, Books a Million, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

Trailer Tuesday: Double Feature!

Today's book trailer is for CROAK, which came out in March. I love this trailer like I love munching on cookies while watching Grimm. High praise indeed. What do you think?





Also, today I bring you the extended movie trailer for one of my most anticipated movies of this year: Snow White and the Huntsman. Can't WAIT. What do you think?

Causing a Scene

1. Oh, look! My children summed up in one pithy little picture.

2. I just typed a list all the way out to ... #19? 20? Forgot to look. And then deleted it.

3. It wasn't truly entertaining, and there are just some things that no matter how hard I try to clearly communicate, end up sounding like maybe I need to visit a proctologist and have the uptight precociousness surgically removed from my never you mind.

4. So.

5. I will leave you all to wonder what that lovely piece of writing was and move on.

6. To something that I think has shoved my hubby one large step closer to never taking me out in public again.

7. You'll recall that a few weeks ago, we had media passes to a sneak peek of John Carter, and he had to drag me out of the aisle after the movie ended so I wouldn't cause a scene with the incredibly rude person sitting behind us.

8. Well.

9. First, please understand that I don't actually go looking to cause a scene whenever I leave the house.

10. Most days.

11. Second, please understand that while there are many things that are special to me, few things are as sacred as a basket of still-warm chips and a bowl of delicious salsa.

12. It is a very foolish person who comes between me and my chips and salsa.

13. My hubby and I have been so busy lately, we've had very little time together. So, the other night we decided to go on a date.

14. We had dinner at Chuy's, a restaurant whose dips are, frankly, right up there with Johnny Depp and titanium sporks.

15. Halfway through, the waiter refilled our basket of chips. And then returned to the table a bit later to clear our plates.

16. Which was fine. I was done with my dinner.

17. But then.

18. THEN.

19. He grabbed the basket of still-warm chips and started to take those as well.

20. I didn't even think. I just reached out, grabbed the basket as it rose off the table, slammed it back down, and said "NOT THE CHIPS."

21. He thought it was funny.

22. My hubby looked like he wanted to either laugh or have the floor swallow him whole.

23. *sigh*

24. But he knows he gets me unfiltered and often unintentionally inappropriate.

25. And he goes out with me anyway, so really, it's half his fault.

26. =D

27. I will end this post by telling you that Harper pulled stuff from my blog to put together my bio. (Shockingly enough they left out any reference to were-llamas and unintentional injuries) It's a nice, brief bio, and the second I showed our group of friends my ARC, they began mocking my hubby over it.

28. Why?

29. Because it says I live in Nashville with my amazing husband ... etc.

30. So, naturally, every guy in the room had to go up to my hubby, slap him on the back, and say "Oh, Clint. You're just so amazing."

31. I'm going to leave it.

32. Half because he really is amazing.

33. Half because I enjoy watching him squirm.

Who's Responsible?

Two nights ago, I saw the following picture on Pinterest.  (Link to original pic and comment trail here.)



It took maybe 2.5 nanoseconds for anger to kick in. Because honestly? This is a dangerous, dangerous statement. It's a slap in the face to both men and women. I figured others would immediately see that, but the comment trail proved otherwise. Not only was this posted by a woman, but other women commented their approval. (And thousands of people repinned this.) In the comments, sprinkled in among outrage and disagreement, were statements defining what it means to be a lady (dressing up to go grocery shopping, smiling when you feel like crying, deceiving your husband into thinking he has the power ... all of those were mentioned).

And it occurred to me that the underlying assumptions in this statement are still firmly rooted in our culture, and are therefore being passed down to the next generation. So, I want to take a stand. Explain why the statement above is a dangerous lie and why I feel so strongly about it. If the discussion I opened on Twitter about this issue is any indication, there are many who have feelings about this, one way or the other. You are welcome to share your opinions in the comment trail. I welcome a respectful discussion.

Here's what is wrong with that statement:

1. Assumption #1: Men are sheep with a surplus of moral bankruptcy who cannot figure out how to behave unless a girl shows them the way.

This is a lie. Men and women alike are perfectly equipped to understand the difference between right and wrong. And they are able to choose their actions for themselves. There are men who choose to be jerks. Men who choose to be honorable. The key word is choice. A man of integrity treats others with respect, regardless of that person's appearance, economic status, behavior, culture, or beliefs. An honorable man does not allow his behavior to be dictated by the behavior of another. There are many, many men who daily live honorable lives. The men who choose not to live honorably do so for reasons far more complex than the fact that the woman they are treating like a piece of crap isn't wearing a dress to the grocery store. And a man who chooses to behave dishonourably is not going to suddenly "feel challenged" to change his ways simply because a woman is willing to "act like a lady."

2. Assumption #2: There is one perfect ideal that all women must strive to fulfill.

What's your definition of a lady? Maybe it's the same as mine. Maybe it isn't. If you look at the comment trail under the original post, you see that definitions swung wildly from "putting one's best foot forward every day" to "dressing up when you leave the house." Which is right? And what does it mean, specifically, to put one's best foot forward every day? Or, for that matter, what items of clothing are specifically required to count as being "dressed up" when one leaves the house?

Do you see the problem here? With no specific definition for "lady," we slide deeper and deeper into the dangerous "well, she deserved it" territory. And we remove all responsibility for a man's actions from his shoulders and shove it at the woman instead.

3. Assumption #3: The woman is responsible for the man's actions.

This is the most dangerous underlying assumption in the quote. If a woman must be willing to change herself in order to challenge a man to step up to the plate and start behaving like a gentleman, then the reverse is also true: when he fails to behave like a gentleman, it's because she hasn't sufficiently altered her own behavior.

It becomes her fault.

Several commenters couldn't seem to see past the "dress up and more men would step up to open a door for you" mentality to the real sickness that lies inside of this assumption. When men don't behave like gentlemen, they do a lot more than fail to open a door for a girl. They beat her with their fists. They tear her down with their words. They rape her.

According to this way of thinking, those actions are the woman's fault. Before you leap forward and say I'm taking this too far, that people don't actually mean that, allow me to open your eyes. I'm a rape survivor (my story). And I then went on to date an abusive boy who hit me and regularly tore my self-esteem to shreds with his words. Guess what both abusers had in common? They both blamed me for their actions.

But it doesn't stop there. Throughout the years, I've encountered people who after hearing my story say things like "But what were you wearing?" or "Well, you must have done something to set him off."

Why are they saying things like this? Because deep down they believe that if I'd acted more like a lady, the abusers in my life would've been challenged to behave like gentlemen.

And that is a dangerous, dangerous lie.

It's a LIE.

I want to be so very clear about that. Because some of you reading this post have a man in your life who tells you what he does to you is your fault. And he is lying . Some of you have abuse in your past and you can't look past the moment where you're sure if you'd just done THIS instead of THAT, the entire landscape of your life would have changed. And that is a lie, too. The question isn't "What could I have done to change the way this man hurt me?"

The question is "What kind of sick freak would hurt a woman in the first place?"

Listen to me. Please. Until we rid ourselves of the belief that a man is constantly controlled by his desires and his baser instincts and cannot be held responsible because a woman was "asking for it" or was "allowing it," we will continue to raise girls who don't realize they have the right to be respected. We will continue to have debates over whether a woman dressed up to go clubbing deserved to be raped. We will continue to question how a smart girl could be telling the truth when she says she told her boyfriend no.

Here's the TRUTH: We are each of us fully responsible for our own actions. Fully responsible. I am raising my boys to treat everyone with respect. I am raising my girl to do the same. And I am raising all of my children to understand that if someone hurts them or disrespects them, they should walk away because they deserve better. Not because they fit a certain image of lady or gentleman, but because every person has a right to be treated with dignity and honor.

It's hard to believe we still have debates about mutual respect and responsibility, but apparently we must. Because until asinine statements like the one above disappear from our culture, those of us who see the danger inherent in this line of thinking must step up and speak out.

Feel free to join the discussion in the comments.

One last note: If you (man or woman) are in a situation where someone is hurting you--emotionally or physically--or someone in your past has hurt you, there's help and hope available. Here's a place to get started: RAINN