Alyssa Goodnight's Blog, page 8

Our Jane Austen Pet Peeves: Austenesque Extravaganza (Part 2)

Welcome to the halfway point on this week’s Traveling Tuesday, a segment of this year’s Austenesque Extravaganza!   You’ve stumbled onto Part 2 of a three-part roundtable discussion that begins at Lori Smith’s blog and ends at KaraLynne Mackory’s.  So, if you feel a little lost, be sure to go back and read Lori Smith’s blog first.  I’ll be here when you get back…

 

The continuation of

A Discussion of Some Oh-So-Minor Pet Peeves with Jane Austen’s Novels…

 

Lori Smith: Another pet peeve — occasionally, at critical points in the stories, Austen doesn’t show us the whole scene.  As when Knightley proposes.  Austen doesn’t give us Emma’s response, just says, “She said everything that a lady would say…” or something like that.  This happens a couple other times.  Like Austen didn’t want to write that particular bit of dialog, perhaps?

KaraLynne Mackrory: Oh and when Darcy proposes “He reacted as a man violently in love can be expected to.”

KaraLynne Mackrory: Urgg that does bother me.

Lori Smith: Exactly, KaraLynne!

Alyssa Goodnight: I have to admit, I kind of like that.  I guess I’m in the minority.

Lori Smith: Maybe it leaves a little up to the imagination?

Alyssa Goodnight: I feel like the scene is wide open with possibility–that it’s so romantic and heartfelt that it can’t even be captured.

Lori Smith: I like that perspective, Alyssa.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Yes, and that is how the reader is left feeling, Alyssa, which is probably why her books are so loved – we get to create a bit of the scene in our heads and imagine that part for ourselves.

KaraLynne Mackrory: I am left asking…”so how violently did Mr. Darcy act?….rarrr!”

Alyssa Goodnight: Perhaps the scene you need to write…

Lori Smith: Sort of like when she says of both Darcy and Knightley, something like “If I felt things less I might be able to talk about them more.”

KaraLynne Mackrory: Yes.

Alyssa Goodnight: YES!!

Alyssa Goodnight: And I think Colin Firth embodied those scenes (in P&P) beautifully because he filled all those silences with angsty, brooding stares.  And we all sighed, imagining what he must be thinking.  What he wanted to say, but couldn’t.

Lori Smith: Oh, love his brooding stares.  Like when she’s helping Georgiana, turning pages for her while she plays the piano?  My fave scene.

KaraLynne Mackrory: But I have to admit, sometimes it is disappointing because she does give clues as to the men’s “violence of love” – Darcy makes the wicked comment about admiring her figure from where he sits and Knightley comments that “indeed” they are not brother and sister.

KaraLynne Mackrory: So when they say things so leading and then the big moment happens and we are all ……. oh, I guess I have to imagine that part.

Alyssa Goodnight: But they are true gentleman, KaraLynne!

Lori Smith: Yes, it’s a little funny.  Like the whole book leads up to that point, but the scene is still in some way shrouded in secrecy.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Well I wouldn’t want Jane to describe any physical passion – that wasn’t her thing – but they were good with words and even a gentleman can say charming things that are indicative of their thoughts and feelings.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Lori – maybe JA was giving them some privacy.

Lori Smith: She does some of the same thing with Anne and Wentworth.  They talk over everything on the gravel walk, but she doesn’t tell us much of that.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Or blushing herself as a maiden writing the scenes.

Alyssa Goodnight: Maybe she didn’t trust herself to write those sorts of scenes…  I don’t really know her personal history and what experience she had with men.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Ok, so it sounds like I expected them to make out but I’m not saying that.  You guys get what I mean, right?

Alyssa Goodnight: Definitely!

KaraLynne Mackrory: I mean something more along the lines of “I ardently admire and love you -” without the “even though your family is crappy and you are poor and way beneath me.

Lori Smith: Totally get what you mean, KaraLynne!

Lori Smith: She received at least one proposal, likely two.  The first she accepted, then changed her mind and withdrew the next morning.  (She and her sister had to leave the house in disgrace.)  The second proposal she didn’t accept.  The perhaps love of her life (a man she met while vacationing by the sea) died suddenly without being able to propose.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Ohh poor Jane.

Lori Smith: The first proposal, he was rich, but she didn’t love him, so she just couldn’t do it.  Even though he was a good family friend.

Lori Smith: Most women back then would have married him anyway.

Lori Smith: She just thought marrying without love was evil.

KaraLynne Mackrory: Maybe his brooding stares weren’t that good.

Lori Smith:

KaraLynne Mackrory: I think her sticking to her convictions makes her truly magnificent especially considering the time (cough, cough Charlotte being a good example of what was common)

Lori Smith: YES — I’ve always felt that!

Lori Smith: And agree, KaraLynne.

Alyssa Goodnight: I agree, KaraLynne (and Lori), but I feel so sorry that she never married.

Lori Smith: Me too.  But she was very happy.

 

Be sure to hop over to KaraLynne Mackory’s blog to read the end of the discussion, and please feel free to play along!  What do you wish Jane had done differently?

 

 Before you go…I have a giveaway!  With my next book, AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY, coming out in late January, I want to celebrate by giving away a trade paperback copy of AUSTENTATIOUS (Shipping to the US only.  Sorry!)  There are three ways to enter.

1.  Add AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY to your to-be-read shelf on Goodreads.

2. Follow me on Twitter, so you can get all the deets as the release date gets closer (a_goodnight).

3.  Help me in making my dream come true.  Tweet the following and send me the link:

“I want to see AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY by @a_goodnight on @TheEllenShow! #EllenDancesWithAO”

Entries will be accepted through October 2nd, and I will choose a winner on October 3rd!  Good luck!

 

 

 

I Have A Dream…

Summer is now officially over, if you go by the school calendar, which I do.  Monday was the first day of school here, and I celebrated the peace and quiet with a lunch of fish tacos and Imperial Scandal by Tracy Grant.  Divine.

So now, it’s back to work.  I made hardly any writing progress over the summer, but I’m much better organized than I was in early June, so perhaps the trade-off was worth it.  I’m working on a new series that involves a supper club, and that’s all I want to say about it for now, since it’s still in the brainstorming stages.  Write a little, brainstorm a little…  Obviously, these books will be a little ways off.

But!

I do have a book coming out in January.  AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY is finally up on Amazon (although no Kindle version yet) after being listed, for the longest time, as “Untitled 2″ with no cover image, but having the correct release date: January 29, 2013.  It’s also up on Goodreads, but no one has added it yet, and it’s sooo lonely over there!  So, if you do plan to read it, or aren’t above a pity add, please click over and add it to your reading list.  You’ll have my undying gratitude.

I’m supposed to get galleys in late September, so I will be doing a giveaway on Goodreads (hoping to bump up my stats!) and probably one here too.

It’s weird, but when I imagine my highest aspirations for this book, it’s not what you might think.  Of course I would LOVE to have it hit the New York Times Bestseller List…or really any bestseller list.  I’d love to have it picked up by bookclubs all across the country, be mentioned in magazines, and touted by celebrities, but when I imagine that pinnacle moment, it’s simple.

 

I picture Ellen DeGeneres dancing with a copy of my book on her show.

Picture it…

Awesome, huh?

And then…everyone in the audience goes home with a copy!

I only picture the book on the show, not me.  The latter, I can’t even imagine.  It is far, far, far off the edges of my (occasionally) vivid imagination.  But I can see AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY there, dancing.

Simple perfection.

So.  If you know anyone involved with The Ellen DeGeneres Show (the producer would be GREAT!), first of all, I’m flattered you’re reading my blog.  Secondly, maybe you could put in a good word…   It’s a really photogenic cover.  I’m not good enough with Photoshop, or I’d totally find a picture of Ellen and edit my book right in there.  Sounds like my husband has a project when he gets home…

I’ll do the easy part.  I’m starting a bulletin board on Twitter, with the hashtag #EllenDancesWithAO (not the greatest choice in the world, but that’s all I’ve got).  If you want to help pass the word, use the hashtag.  Maybe (just maybe) it’ll trend, Ellen will see it, get inspired, and feel like dancing.

It could totally happen!

So get out there, and let’s make this happen!

 

Austen All Around

Summer is still crazy here, but it’s winding down.  Only two more weeks left before school starts up again, and I’m ready!  In the mean time, I wanted to let you know about two online Austen events I’ll be participating in (along with many othe Austen-inspired authors) in the coming weeks.

The first is The Book Rat’s Austen in August, starting August 15th, and including a Persuasion Read-along, and the second is the Second Annual Austenesque Extravaganza, planned for September, which includes Sociable Sunday, Wednesday Word Games, and much more!  Both have lots of fun things planned, so please come visit if you get a chance!

In Three Words…

I’ve gotten a good amount of reading in so far this summer.  Reading on our trip to Colorado, when my older son was COMPLETELY preoccupied with geo-caching and my younger son was COMPLETELY preoccupied with my sister-in-law’s cat, reading at the almost-daily, two hour water polo practices, reading at the pool, etc.  Here’s my list so far:

 

THREE TIMES LUCKY The middle-grade novel I mentioned in a previous post.  I LOVED it.  In three words, it was funny, quirky, and wise.

CODE NAME VERITY  Easily my favorite read in months (and I’ve read some great books!).  It’s a WWII spy novel, but not at all in the way you’d expect.   In three words, it was intense, heart-breaking, and uplifting.

THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD  My Agatha Christie throw-back.  Had a tough time getting into this one.  In three words, it was clever, confusing, and surprising.

BEAUTIFUL CHAOS  The third book in the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series.  In three words: Southern, dark, and desperate.

BEAUTIFUL DAYS  The second book in the BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS series, about three gorgeous girls taking on New York City during Prohibition.  In three words: glamourous, languorous, and dangerous.

 

Next up?  Probably THE PROPHET by Amanda Stevens, the second in THE GRAVEYARD QUEEN series.  My prediction in three words?  Creepy, shocking, and spine-chilling.  I’ll have to be careful reading this one after dark…

On the horizon?  JOY FOR BEGINNERS by Erica Bauermeister.  I loved THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS!  And I love the premise of this one: six friends make a pact–each will accomplish something that scares them within a year .

What are you reading?  And what’s on your list?

 

Winner!

Thank you all so very much for entering the AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY galley giveaway!!   The winner, selected by Random.org, is Krista of Book Review Club!  Congratulations!  For those of you who didn’t win, I can offer you the backcover blurb…

 

Steamy, funky, and thoroughly modern, Austin, Texas isn’t much like the gardened country estates of Jane Austen’s work. But there might be a few similarities in its inhabitants…

Cate Kendall is no stranger to daydreams of brooding men and fancy parties—after all, she teaches one of her beloved Jane Austen novels in her English classes every year. But as for romance or adventure in her own life, the highlight of most weeks is Scrabble with her cute coworker, Ethan, and he draws the line at witty banter.  But Cate is ready for a change. When she finds a mysterious journal that seems to have a link to the soul of the great Jane Austen herself, she knows it’s her chance. And she grabs on with both hands…

Before she knows it, Cate has invented an alter ego with an attitude, attended some seriously chic soirees, and gotten tangled up with a delicious mystery man. And she’s uncovered enough unexpected secrets about Ethan that her Scrabble partner has taken to brooding looks and unfathomable silences. It’s a positively Austenite predicament, and Cate is sure she’ll land in hot water and heartbreak—but maybe not with Jane herself to guide her…

 

I hope this piques your interest!

AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY should be available for pre-order on Amazon soon, and hopefully up on Goodreads too, so you can mark it ‘To-Read.’

(And book bloggers, I’ve got you on my list!)

COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY!

I’ve been waiting weeks to reveal the cover for my January 2013 release, and finally I have been given permission.  So, may I present AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY.  Its release date is January 29, 2013, which is exactly two hundred years and ONE DAY after the publication of Pride & Prejudice!!

So? What do you think? I think it pairs well with AUSTENTATIOUS, and I love the colors!

The cover model definitely looks up to something! And I am THRILLED to have that quote from Sophie Jordan, whom Kensington clearly thinks is well-known enough as to make credentials superfluous. I hope so!

I don’t have galleys to give away yet, but I’m holding a giveaway anyway!

There is more than one way to enter (of course).

1. Leave me a comment here on the blog, letting me know what you think.

2. Post this giveaway to your Facebook page.

3. Post this giveaway to Twitter:  I just saw the cover of  AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY and entered @a_goodnight’s galley giveaway! http://bitly.com/KEs8yu

4. Pin the cover of AUSTENSIBLY ORDINARY onto one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Share the cover or post the giveaway on your blog.

Each effort is worth one entry. If you’re the random winner drawn on July 4th, I will ship you out a galley as soon as I have them in my hot little hands.

And book bloggers: if you’re interested in receiving a galley for review, please let me know!

#DessertedReads

The brains behind this fun, summer Twitter-inspired idea is Jenny Martin.   She came up with the idea to pair the hashtag (a Twitter thing) #DessertedReads with a recipe and review.  The combo #DessertedReads, as I understood it, was intended to include an ‘oldie but a goodie’…a book that you love but maybe is languishing, forgotten, on your bookshelves.  A book you’d like to highlight and recommend, paired with a dessert recipe to share.  I have been looking forward to posting my pair all week.

My book?  WELCOME TO TEMPTATION by Jennifer Crusie.  I remember buying this book.  I was in Target, just browsing, and I saw this bright red cover, with a glossy red apple on it.  An apple with a bite out of it!  It compelled me to pick it up.  I read the back blurb and was excited.  This was a book I was going to like.  And I did!  I loved it!  And after that I was a Jennifer Crusie Fan Girl, and I spent no time in getting my hands on her other novels.  (And snatching up the new ones as they came out.)  Isn’t it interesting how they switched to a mostly-eaten apple when the book was published in trade paperback?

There is something very distinctive about a Jenny Crusie book.  But it’s hard to put your finger on it.  Something beyond the spunky heroines and their sexy co-stars.  I love the cohesiveness of her books, the quirky characters, the motifs, the sassy one-liners.  I love it all!  WELCOME TO TEMPTATION is your classic small town scenario: porn star comes home to shoot a movie, someone gets murdered, small town politics go awry, two seemingly mismatched individuals hook up, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.  So go get yourself a Dove Bar (the main character’s choice of decadent treat) and settle in for a really funny, really fun read.  And then go get all the rest of the Crusie books!

My recipe (for when you’re done with the Dove Bar), which has nothing to do with WELCOME TO TEMPTATION beyond being quite the tempting dessert, is for Coconut Cake.  I love this cake.  It is both light enough for a summer party and sweet enough for a fancy affair.  I haven’t had it since before discovering I have celiac disease, but I am confident that I will be able to ‘convert’ the recipe to be gluten free for my family.

So, here it is…

Coconut Cake

1 box white cake mix (and ingredients needed to make it)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 small can cream of coconut (look for it near the margarita mix)

1 medium or large container of Cool Whip

1 pkg shredded coconut

Prepare cake mix according to directions.  Cook in a 9″ x 13″ pan.  Mix together sweetened condensed milk and cream of coconut.  Pierce hot cake with a fork and pour coconut mixture over hot cake.  After cake is cool, “ice” with the Cool Whip.  Sprinkle top with coconut and pat in.  Store in the refrigerator.

image via

Summer Sand Pail List

Finally!  A day with time to just sit at the computer and catch-up on things.  To pin a few summer recipes.  To lazily retweet a couple of other peoples’ tweets…  You get the idea.  Just time.

In an effort to make sure I squeeze in all the good stuff this summer, I’m going to record a Summer Sand Pail List (a really laid-back, summery version of the bucket list…)  And I’m going to start the list off with things already accomplished before this moment, at the end of Week 2, Summer 2012.

Visit a waterpark…done!

Go horseback riding…done!

Go hiking in the Rocky Mountains…done!

Discover geo-caching…done!

Enjoy a date-night with my husband, which included the BEST gluten-free dessert I’ve had to date:  molten chocolate soufflé cake from White Chocolate Grill

Try a Mango Julius…done! (We don’t have Orange Julius in Houston, so this was a not-to-be-missed chance in Estes Park)

Read a book on vacation…done!  (THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage.  LOVED it!)

Had a go-kart/video game party with friends…done!

Visit a pick-your-own orchard…done!

Have at least ten snowcones (read: shaved ice in a cup)…one down.

Finally, finally, finally update my swimsuit.  I think I may have done it!  Bought one I really like from Target today.

Make Italian sodas at home.

Spend part of at least two days a week at the pool.

Have an Olympics-themed party.

Go see Brave in the theater.

Split my summer reading between new discoveries and old favorites.

Watch the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the first time!!

Catch up on Season 2 of Downton Abbey.

Spend time everyday writing.

Tackle one room in my house a month–cleaning, updating, reinventing…whatever!  Office is first!  It was on my 2011 Resolutions list.  Still not done.

Go ice-skating.

Visit the zoo.

Become members of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (and see the Titanic exhibit).

Watch the fireworks on the 4th of July.

Try at least fifteen new recipes.

Show off the cover of my February 2013 release (hoping any day now…)

 

Hmmm…that’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m currently reading CODE NAME VERITY and loving it!  It’s intense but riveting.  I bought it on my Kindle while on vacation–right after I read THREE TIMES LUCKY.   This is the first time I’ve pulled my Kindle out in months!

So…what are you doing??  What’s on your list?

 

 

 

 

Book Review Club ~ June 2012

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@Barrie Summy

For this month’s Book Review Club, I couldn’t pick just one book, so I’m offering up recommendations for two really stellar novels. It’s June–the start of summer–I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time at the beach…or the pool…or the lake to kick back with a page-turner and escape to another time…

I read the following two books back-to-back, with very little time on my hands.  I squeezed in every opportunity to escape to another century, a rougher, more dangerous time, and I loved every single minute!  The books?  GRAVE MERCY by R.L. LaFevers (whose Theodosia Throckmorton series I also love) and SCARLET by A.C. Gaughen.

The summary for GRAVE MERCY, from Amazon:

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.      Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Why did I love it?  I loved the blurb and cover.  A teenage assassin?  A handmaiden to Death!  Um…yeah!  And I was pulled in from the very first page by the tension surrounding Ismae’s arranged marriage, her scars, presumed to be given to her by Death himself, and then, her training in the arts of killing, and finally her pivotal assignment in the political intrigues of fifteenth-century Brittany.  I was as glued to the pages as I could afford to be.  As it was, I finished this 560 page book in record time (for me).  The story had me absolutely enthralled, but the writing was beautiful as well–the metaphors particularly, were beautifully crafted.  And there was romance…which I love.

If this brief, but gushing, review is not enough for you.  Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and School Library Journal all gave it a starred review!  And it’s the first in a trilogy…so there are two more novels to come in the His Fair Assassin series–I cannot wait!

The summary for SCARLET, from Amazon:

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

Why did I love it?  I’m smitten with that cover!  I couldn’t help but turn back to it over and over while reading.  And the deception involved in a female member of Robin Hood’s band?  Color me intrigued!  I loved the comradery among the bandmates, and Robin Hood was excellent hero material, but it was Scarlet who made the story.  She was so well-written, so complicated, so multi-faceted, so courageous and selfless… And the stakes are so very high.  The tension is racheted up over and over, with only brief passages time allotted for emotional catharthis.  This story is intense!  Scarlet has a lot of secrets, and they are very slowly parceled out–so you can’t help but keep reading!  This would make a really excellent movie (honestly, both books would).

Both of these novels are classified as Young Adult, but they have undeniable crossover appeal–adults would be completely drawn in.  I recommend them both very, very highly.  R. L. LaFevers is already one of my favorite authors, and I will definitely be on the lookout for A.C. Gaughen’s next book!

If you’re looking for other recommendations for your summer reading, click on the typewriter above and swing over to Barrie Summy’s blog!

Week at a Glance

Whew!  Last week was even crazier than normal.  As the PTA Literacy Chair for my younger son’s school, it was my job to run the last Scholastic book fair of the year, and it was a LOT of work.  I was at the school almost every day from 7:45ish to 4:00.  Because who can resist a buy-one-get-one bookfair??

I took the day ‘off’ Wednesday to chaperone my son’s 4th grade field trip to the San Jacinto monument.  The field trip consisted of treking around the fields where the Texans and the Mexicans made camp before the Battle of San Jacinto (quite the pivotal battle in Texas history, which I’d forgotten about…)  The kids then took the elevator up to the top of the monument, which I think is as tall as the Washington monument.  Going to go check that…  I’m back!  And it’s actually taller by about 12 feet!  Anyways, there was the typical Texas heat, a dose of mosquitoes, and the disappointment (only mine) of not getting to go to the top of the monument.  But there were a gazillion baby frogs to catch, so the kids were in heaven!

Here’s the photo I took from the bottom…

Then on Saturday, I drove up to Austin to participate in an Austen in Austin event at BookPeople with Jennifer Ziegler and Patrice Sarath.  We had a thirty minute panel discussion, led by a lovely moderator, and then a couple questions from the audience, and then a signing.  Plus, they had iced tea and scones and butter cookies galore.  I thought it went very well.  Plus, several old friends came out to see me, including a friend from my long-ago work days, who was the inspiration for Gabe in AUSTENTATIOUS.  It was great!  The BookPeople staff was wonderful.

This week, I’m back to the old routine, and I’m LOVING it!  Just having time to go to the grocery store without having to hurry back to the book fair is such a nice feeling.  Better still, I had lunch today at Berryhill, which I try to frequent on Mondays due to their scrumptious $1.99 grilled fish taco deal.  Today, I became a regular!  When I walked in, there was a line of about five people, and a regular server of mine walked up to me, told me she had me covered and that I could go sit down.  (Admittedly she subbed my favored Dr Pepper with Diet Coke, but she quickly remedied that.)  When she brought me the check, she said, “Have a great day, and see you next week!”  I thought that was all kinds of awesome!

This week:  Field Day.  It’s expected to be about 90 degrees.  Awesome!