Meradeth Houston's Blog, page 52

After Reading: A TOUCH MORTAL by Leah Clifford

Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.
And that's only the beginning of the end. (Goodreads)

I picked this book up thinking, "Wow, this is exactly the kind of thing I'll enjoy!" I mean, angels, romance, strange immortals, well, those are things I generally really find fun in a book. And then I started reading. And I honestly couldn't get into this book at all. I really hate to say this, but I don't know why I bothered finishing it. By halfway through, I knew it wasn't going to get any better. I just have a hard time putting a book down. It's like I'm failing it or something :) Anyhow, I really had no connection with any of the characters, felt like the explanations for the Siders, and their random "touch" were not explained at all, and well, just really couldn't get into it. And a few times I wanted to just tell the characters to stop fighting--that they just needed to grow up a bit. (Okay, yeah, I know, they're teens, but they were acting much younger...) Anyhow, yeah, just really not my kind of book. Not at all interested in seeing what happens in the next books either. I hate writing reviews like this, but honestly, I definitely should have just put this one down and read something else.

Anyone else have trouble putting down a book they're not enjoying? Can you put it aside easily?

Friday Photos

It's been one of those crazy long weeks, and, well, I've got nothin' :) So, I thought I'd share a few photos from the last week. Hope you enjoy! (Oh, and I'm on instagram, if you want to find me there! It's one of my favorite social networks at the moment, I must admit--in case you haven't figured out that I love photography!)

Hiking in the Rattlesnake Canyon (which, btw, is really not the most appealing of names. I figure there aren't any snakes around in the snow at least...)
This came out way better than I thought it would. Random, I know, but it's the little things sometimes :)
I got a Silhouette Cameo about a week ago and I must admit that I have been having a BLAST with it. So many fun projects. Including a billion feathers that are now pasted to my walls. These are Gabby's--which will make a whole lot more sense when Surrender the Sky releases. I'm thinking of making feather bookmarks. Cute? Or just weird? One of my other Silhouette projects. I have an irrational love of this, I have to admit. Also, I have found that I can't spell 'Silhouette' to save my life...

Wednesday Wondering: writer's block

[image error] Okay, I've heard about writer's block for ages. I honestly don't think there's an author out there who hasn't :) It's not something I have had a whole lot of struggles with, though it hits from time to time. That whole staring at a blank page and going "ugh, why is this so hard?" Or my personal favorite "ugh, everything on this page sucks, why am I bothering?" I seem to get that last one a lot...

So, yeah, I'm curious about those writers who follow this blog: what gives you writer's block? And what do you do about it? I try and tell myself that if I can just get through ten minutes, I can quit, but I have to put in the ten minutes. Of course, by the end of the ten, I'm usually feeling some energy and willing to keep going. Sometimes at least :)

Though, lately, finding even a spare ten minutes is a struggle. But, yeah, won't go there...

Anyhow, I always love hearing about other's writing process, so let me know what you think and how you deal. I'm curious! And if you're not a writer, I think writer's block hits in other forms, like procrastinating a big project (because, really, in some ways that's what writer's block is, in some instances at least).

I'm all ears! (Or eyes, since I'm reading this...yeah, welcome to random this Wednesday!)

Cover Reveal for FAERY MARKED by Mary Waibel!

Today I am thrilled to be a part of the cover reveal for FAERY MARKED, a YA Paranormal Romance by Mary Waibel releasing this summer from BookFish Books. The cover was designed by the amazingly talented Anita B. Carroll from Race-Point.com. Learn more about the behind the scenes of this cover, as well as about Anita herself, at Waibel's World. 


Book Blurb:
No one ever warned her magic came with a price.
When Callie Rycroft wakes to purple flames on the ceiling, she discovers that not only does the Faery realm exist, but she is the human who must save it. Chosen as Champion by the Faery Queen, Callie is tasked with finding the Cordial, a magical elixir to strengthen the portal between the Human and Faery realms.
The upside? Reece Michaels, the boy she's been crushing on for years, is assigned as her Guardian. Callie hopes by spending time together, he'll start to see her as more than just his best friend's sister.

The downside? She's in a race not only against time, but another Champion and Guardian--a Guardian who stands to threaten her developing relationship with Reece.
Magic, mistaken identities, and hidden agendas are the least of Callie's worries when she learns the Cordial requires a sacrifice. Will Callie be willing to risk all, even Reece, to complete her task as Champion, or will she let the portal fall, destroying both realms?
And now, the cover for FAERY MARKED.



And here' the entire cover:
Isn't it just gorgeous?? 

After Reading: THE SPACE BETWEEN by Brenna Yovanoff

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be. (Goodreads)

I'm off to a bit of a slow start with book reviews this year! Dang. Let's just say that real life, and my next release, are making it hard to eek out a whole lot of time :) So, yeah, can I just say that the picture of this cover doesn't do it much justice? It really is utterly amazing IRL. The book itself was also good. Very, very interesting take on the afterlife and demons. I liked Daphne from the start, and enjoyed the way she grew throughout the story. The depiction of Hell was fascinating. And Truman, dang, what a poor, lost soul. Let's just say I didn't see one of the twists at the end coming at all. Which is always a good sign. I did feel that the end was a little rushed in places. I'm still not terribly sure I understand everything that happened (which may be because I was reading well after midnight...on a school night...smart move, right?), but it did feel right for the two characters. Anyhow, worth a read!

Have you read this? How about Yovanoff's other book, The Replacements?

Guest Post by Nora on Characterization

Happy Valentine's Day! I have a really special treat today that I can't wait to share! The library here has a writing group that I participate in and utterly love. The members are amazing and have wonderful stories and great writing that I look forward to talking about twice a month. Nora has been a regular since I first started attending and she has a really introspective and interesting post to share with you all today. I know we'd both love to hear your thoughts so be sure to drop a comment! 

I procrastinate by reading Amazon reviews, and I'm always surprised at how five-star reviews of pretty much any popular novel admire the sympathetic, well-drawn characters with psychological depth who grow and change and the one-star reviews of the same book complain about boring, one-dimensional characters who never grow and in addition are raving Mary Sues or eternal bratty adolescents. It seems that 1) characterization makes or breaks readers' experience of a book and 2) the qualities people react to aren't adequately covered by the usual formulas. 

So I tried to figure out some of the factors that go into this, from my perspective:

1. Descriptions of characters. In high school English classes, I'd be surprised at how my classmates would completely ignore authors' complex, thoughtful descriptions of *what kind of people the characters were* and judge the characters entirely based on how they acted. Probably because I'm lazy, I actually prefer telling to showing.  A well-written character portrait goes much further toward making me feel that a character is a distinctive individual than a set of choices, especially when those choices fall well within the conventions of the genre.  I realized at some point on the way to my English degree that that's the reason I liked A Portrait of a Lady by Henry James when it's what I think I hate in a book--pure realism, people ruining their lives over their stupid love lives. The narrator and all of the characters are always describing one another, so instead of having to build impressions of characters from the ground up, I can try to form a more complete picture from a variety of different people's clever ideas. So a character described in great detail might strike me as well-developed and another person as flat.

2. The flip side of that -- what the character does and what happens to them, viewed from the outside.  Unless the author has a main character do something really unusual, I tend to feel that that character is just being a generic person doing the things main characters are expected to do-- experiencing grief, being courageous in spite of fear, falling in love, etcetera -- unless the author or another character points out the implications of her actions explicitly. That character would strike me as flat, while a different reader would see lots of depth and change.
For me, this is Chekhov. I remember one college seminar where I thought "these boring people are falling in love and it's never going to work because it's Chekhov, and also btw the only women he doesn't hold in contempt are sensitive waifs who never do anything coarse like gulp down water or think they're smart" (ok, maybe I'm being a little unfair and off-topic, but…) and when I got to class everyone had these amazing comments that brought out all sorts of subtleties of emotion and relationship dynamics I would never have thought of, because Chekhov is much heavier on showing than telling.
3. Type of language the narrator or character uses to describe characters' feelings and ideas. Different people, different social groups express the same thoughts and feelings in very different ways. What seems deep to one person may be opaque or hackneyed to the next because they're speaking in different cultural codes.

4. Overlap of the reader's emotions and experiences. I think we judge characters on whether we're like them (in decision-making processes, life story, tastes, coping mechanisms, emotions, what have you). Characters too different from us can seem shallow, infuriating, or hard to believe.

5. Detail about psychological states--or more generally, how vividly and in what ways the author evokes the feeling of what it is like to be the character. A character whose author doesn't let you into their body or their head very much may seem shallow or boring to one reader because that reader really wants to get into the character's skin, while other readers might feel distracted from the big picture by too much psychological or emotional detail.

6. Differentiation. Can the author write many different kinds of people or do the characters all deal with the same sets of issues, speak the same language, think the same types of thoughts? 
7. Universality versus uniqueness. I tend to find characters well-developed when they are very distinctive and I can look at what they do and say "Yes, that's exactly so-and-so." Whereas some people, I think, find greater depth in more anonymous characters who are defined not by the ways their heads work but by the experiences they have -- experiences that shape them in "universally" human, relatable ways.
Just some thoughts…. I'd be very interested in other people's ideas or examples on this!

Cover Reveal for HOLD ME TIGHT by Faith Sullivan

It's Valentine's Day! So how about some awesome cover love? :) Definitely looking forward to more of this awesome series!!

Release Date: April 30, 2014


HOLD ME TIGHT synopsis:

He loves me. He loves me not. 

Ivy's heart shatters upon hearing Eric's crushing ultimatum. Despite how much she cares for him, she won't give in to his demands. She has no choice but to leave, even if it's the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

She loves me. She loves me not. 

When Ivy walks out, Eric can't help feeling betrayed. Unwilling to put her at risk, he values her safety above all else. By refusing to compromise, he's blindsided when she moves in with a man who's already stolen so much from him.

I love you. You love me not. 

Lauren sees Eric and Ivy's split as an opportunity to end their relationship once and for all. When Ivy places herself at the mercy of Eric's rival, Lauren plots to destroy the fragile tie binding them together, even if she endangers Ivy's life in the process.


What readers are saying about HOLD ME TIGHT:

"Seriously - I'm considering sending Faith Sullivan an email every week until the next book is released. I need to know what happens!"
- Elnora Romness

"I’m really hoping Eric and Ivy can find a way to work things out, and that fate will give them a bit of a break—but if there’s one thing this series has proved to me, it’s that Faith Sullivan’s books will take us to places unexpected and impossible to predict."
- Stephanie Parent

"Faith Sullivan is so good at keeping me guessing and making me eagerly anticipate this book. Looking forward to see what's in store for Ivy and Eric."
- Kelly Hashway

"I so totally love Faith's books. Honestly, it's such a treat to nab them up and enjoy them."
- Meradeth Houston

"I really can't wait to read the conclusion to this series...I think it's going to be even better than the first two books!"
- Kelli Nash
Books in this New Adult Contemporary Romance trilogy:
  


About the Author:
Faith Sullivan is an author of New Adult contemporary romances including the HEARTBEAT trilogy, the TAKE ME NOW series and the 9/11 novel, UNEXPECTED .


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Book Spotlight: NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH by Stuart R. West

I love getting the chance to host some of my favorite authors here on the blog, and Stuart is definitely one of those! He has a new release out, and I can't wait to read it! He also has a great blog that you should check out if you have a second. Take it away, Stuart:

Hey, Meradeth, thanks so much for having me back on your blog. You’re the best(est).

My new supernatural thriller, Neighborhood Watch, just came out. I hear you asking, “Hey, what makes this ‘Neighborhood Watch’ any different from the 6,000 other books out there with the same
title?” For one thing it’s priced at .99 for the initial two weeks. The other thing is “shut up for a minute and I’ll tell you.” (So impatient…)

Meet Derek and Toni, a happily married middle-aged couple living in a Kansas City suburb. Their lives are nice, quiet, content…boring, really. But that’s quite all right with Derek. The problem is things change. The new neighbors move in around the same time the elderly neighbors start dying off at an alarming rate. At first Derek is put off by the new neighbors’ attitude. Brash, rude, anti-social. But there’s something else about them, something Derek can’t quite put his finger on. Something sinister.

Without giving away spoilers, I’ll just drop a few key words and phrases: Something’s in the basement; Ghosts; Murder; Haunted land; Mental breakdowns; Native-American folklore; Annoying psychiatrists; Timid ghost-hunters; Barbeque; Satan worshippers; Tornadoes; Secret smoking…in other words, lots of fun!

Secret confession time…the two main characters are based on my marriage. I haven’t even let my wife read this book yet because…well, I could be in trouble when she does. I’ll let you know. But that’s us in the book, more or less (although I haven’t ever suffered a mental breakdown like Derek has. Been close a couple times, mind you! Being a parent will do that). So it was an odd book to write.

But the true genesis of the book came from my new neighbors across the street. That’s them in the book, as well. They annoy the crap outta’ me and the red-hoodied wife is downright rude. Pretends like she can’t hear me when I holler “hello.” (I’ve reached the point where I’ve made it a game. My daughter’s impressed it took me four “hellos” before I got the woman to acknowledge me. My daughter held the record previously with three “hellos.”) Anyway, I don’t like ‘em. Not one bit. But…I kicked it up a notch, started asking “what if” questions.

Voila! Neighborhood Watch!

Neighborhood Watch is my ode to great paranoia thrillers such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Stepford Wives. Done up Kansas suburbia style, of course. There are some fun scares to be had, nice subtle spooky ones, I hope. I like spooky. So drop a buck, curl up and take the Winter chill off with…um…a chilling book.
Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads!

What do you all think? Have you written a book that relates to real life? Or used a person close to you as a character? :)

MOONLESS Book Release Blogfest

I'm super excited to be taking part in Crystal's book release blog fest! Have you had a chance to check out MOONLESS yet?

In the English society of 1768 where women are bred to marry, unattractive Alexia, just sixteen, believes she will end up alone. But on the county doorstep of a neighbor’s estate, she meets a man straight out of her nightmares, one whose blue eyes threaten to consume her whole world—especially when she discovers him standing over her murdered host in the middle of the night.

Her nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless.
BUY IT HERE
So here's the question: If you lived in a society where arranged marriages were a la mode, whom would you beg your parents to set you up with? Why? (Literary characters and celebrities welcomed.) 

Okay, this is NOT an easy question to answer! I mean, how does one pick?? :) After sitting here trying to come up with answers, I'm going to actually have two--one that's familiar, and one that's not. The first would be Jassen, who is the male lead in my next release (Surrender the Sky, due out in a few months!!), because, well, he's kind of my imagination's favorite character. You all will just have to wait to meet him! As for someone a little more familiar, I'm rather partial to Jem from the Infernal Devices books by Cassandra Clair. Sign me up for one of those! :)

Okay, your turn: who would you pick??

The rest of the entries should be awesome, and don't forget to join in on the giveaway!

And, Crystal's publisher is offering a $2.00 coupon for those who are interested. Check it: 
Book link: https://www.createspace.com/4550104
Coupon code: LQJM3F84

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Funnies

I think it's time for a lighter post on here, what about you? Don't forget, I'm looking for guest bloggers, if you're interested! Email on the sidebar :)

Snow: highly overrated. I actually called customer service for Netflix, asking if I could turn this damn feature off. I don't want insta-start, tyvm! They said I was out of luck... Yeah, my morbid sense of humor :) Hey, I never said *I* wasn't a mad scientist! Realistic Barbie knows what I want to do this weekend...Soooo, what are you up to this weekend??