L.R. Lam's Blog, page 17

False Hearts on US Netgalley, Goodreads Giveaway & Pre-order Information

Most of this has already been announced on various social media outlets, but I’m collating it all into one place here.

A preview excerpt of False Hearts is up on US netgalley for book bloggers, librarians, and booksellers. I don’t think it’s location dependent. If you’re in the UK/EU, you can still request the full galley here. There’s also a giveaway on Goodreads for a chance to win one of 10 copies (US/Canada only).

Pre order links (these really help authors):

Indiebound / Book Depository / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Powells /Booksamillion / Waterstones / Fishpond / Kobo / iBooks / Hive

US cover copy:



A near-future thriller of underworld intrigue, murder, mistaken identity, shared dreams, and next-generation biotechnology.

Twin sisters Taema and Tila, conjoined until the age of sixteen, are in their midtwenties when they’re drawn into a deadly battle for control of a drug that facilitates a disturbing form of lucid dreaming.

One night Tila stumbles home, terrified and covered in blood. She’s arrested for murder, the first homicide by a civilian in decades. The San Francisco police suspect involvement with Verve, an illicit narcotic that allows violent minds to enact their darkest desires in a terrifying dreamscape, and they offer her twin, Taema, a chilling deal. If Taema assumes Tila’s identity and obtains the information needed to take down the city’s drug syndicate, the police may let her sister live. But Taema’s investigation stir up ghosts from the twins’ past.

Raised in the closed cult of Mana’s Heart and denied access to modern technology, Taema and Tila dared to dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they shared began to fail, the twins escaped to San Francisco, where they were surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursued lives beyond anything they could have potentially imagined.

But that freedom comes with a price; once unable to keep secrets from each other, Taema and Tila learn the true cost of lies.

UK cover copy:

One night Tila stumbles home, terrified and covered in blood.

She’s then arrested for murder, the first by a civilian in decades. The San Francisco police suspect involvement with Verve, a powerful drug, and offer her twin sister Taema a chilling deal. Taema must assume Tila’s identity and gather information to bring down the drug syndicate. The police may then let her sister live. However, Taema’s investigation raises ghosts from the twins’ past.

The sisters were raised by a cult, which banned modern medicine – yet as conjoined twins, they needed surgery to replace their failing heart. And with help from co-conspirators, they escaped. Taema now discovers that Tila had found links between the cult and the city’s criminal underworld. The twins were once unable to keep secrets, but will learn the true cost of lies.

False Hearts will be out on June 14th in the US and June 16th in the UK.

Books Read in March

1. Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World – Rachel Swaby

Fifty-two inspiring and insightful profiles of history’s brightest female scientists.

In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites in orbit, and had recently been awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Among the questions the obituary—and consequent outcry—prompted were, Who are the role models for today’s female scientists, and where can we find the stories that cast them in their true light?      



Headstrong delivers a powerful, global, and engaging response. Covering Nobel Prize winners and major innovators, as well as lesser-known but hugely significant scientists who influence our every day, Rachel Swaby’s vibrant profiles span centuries of courageous thinkers and illustrate how each one’s ideas developed, from their first moment of scientific engagement through the research and discovery for which they’re best known. This fascinating tour reveals these 52 women at their best—while encouraging and inspiring a new generation of girls to put on their lab coats.

2. Starborn (The Worldbreaker Trilogy #1) – Lucy Hounsom

Death and destruction will bar her way…

Kyndra’s fate holds betrayal and salvation, but the journey starts in her small village. On the day she comes of age, she accidentally disrupts an ancient ceremony, ending centuries of tradition. So when an unnatur

al storm targets her superstitious community, Kyndra is blamed. She fears for her life until two strangers save her, by wielding powers not seen for an age – powers fuelled by the sun and the moon.

Together, they flee to the hidden citadel of Naris. And here, Kyndra experiences disturbing visions of the past, showing war and one man’s terrifying response. She’ll learn more in the city’s subterranean chambers, amongst fanatics and rebels. But first Kyndra will be brutally tested in a bid to unlock her own magic.

If she survives the ordeal, she’ll discover a force greater than she could ever have imagined. But could it create as well as destroy? And can she control it, to right an ancient wrong?

Book One of the Worldmaker Trilogy

3. Carry On – Rainbow Rowell (with thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley copy. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Fangirl or Eleanor & Park, but I did end up warming to it and really enjoying once I settled into the world. Baz

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

4. All of the Above – Juno Dawson

This is a funny and moving love story about friends, first loves and self-discovery by Queen of Teen 2014. When sixteen-year-old Toria Bland arrives at her new school she needs to work out who her friends are in a crazy whirl of worry, exam pressure and anxiety over fitting in. Things start looking up when Toria meets the funny and foul-mouthed Polly, who’s the coolest girl that Toria has ever seen. Polly and the rest of the ‘alternative’ kids take Toria under their wing. And that’s when she meets the irresistible Nico Mancini, lead singer of a local band – and it’s instalove at first sight! Toria likes Nico, Nico likes Toria, but then there’s Polly…love and friendship have a funny way of going round in circles.

5. Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Shoshone – Charles River Editors

A short book about the Shoshone (Newe) people.

6. Before I Go to Sleep – S.J. Watson

As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I’m still a child, thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me…

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love–all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine’s life.

7. The Winner’s Kiss (The Winner’s Curse #3) – Marie Rutkoski (with thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley copy. An excellent conclusion to a fantastic fantasy trilogy.)

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

8. Beloved – Tony Morrison (re-read)

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

9. Prodigy (Legend #2) – Marie Lu

Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots – a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

10. The Terracotta Bride – Zen Cho

A tale of first love, bad theology and robot reincarnation in the Chinese afterlife.

In the tenth court of hell, spirits wealthy enough to bribe the bureaucrats of the underworld can avoid both the torments of hell and the irreversible change of reincarnation.

It’s a comfortable undeath … even for Siew Tsin. She didn’t choose to be married to the richest man in hell, but she’s reconciled. Until her husband brings home a new bride.

Yonghua is an artificial woman crafted from terracotta. What she is may change hell for good. Who she is will transform Siew Tsin. And as they grow closer, the mystery of Yonghua’s creation will draw Siew Tsin into a conspiracy where the stakes are eternal life – or a very final death.

The Terracotta Bride is an 11,000-word standalone fantasy novelette.

Total in 2016 so far: 26 books

Tracking my Reading:

Character diversity (fiction): Starborn (blind viewpoint character), Carry On (m/m leads and SCD – secondary character diversity), None of the Above (bi lead and SCD), Before I Go to Sleep (amnesiac lead), Beloved (all POC characters), The Winner’s Kiss (SCD such as a gay, black and disabled character), Prodigy (one viewpoint character is part Mongolian & has a prosthetic leg, SCD), The Terracotta Bride (all POC characters)

Books by POC, queer, or disabled writers (as far as I know): All of the Above, Beloved, Prodigy, The Terracotta Bride

Books by female authors: Headstrong, Starborn, Carry On, All of the Above, The Winner’s Kiss, Beloved, Prodigy, The Terracotta Bride (8/10, one unclear as the publisher is listed as the author)

Books by people I know : Starborn, All of the Above, The Terracotta Bride

Nonfiction: Headstrong, the book on the Shoshone

Books on my bookshelf I own but have not read, or something that’s been on my TBR list for absolutely ages: Have been meaning to re-read Beloved for years as I first read it in high school (more than 10 years ago–whut). Plus Starborn and All of the Above.

Friday Photo: March 25th, 2016

Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

Last week, I went to Edinburgh for a visit to Napier University. Afterwards, I wandered around the city and popped into the National Gallery.

This week I also got my new author photos taken while I was there by Elizabeth May, and I’ve put them up on the about me page. Pink hair is…very pink.

Friday Photo: March 18th, 2016

Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

Another selfie this week. I dyed my hair bright pink and I love it! Hair’s also a bit shorter as well. I always said I’d dye my hair a super bright colour when I could be a full-time author–took me 16 months but here it is.

I’ve been quiet aside from Friday photos on this blog, but I’ve been under an intense editing deadline and had a weird week of ups and downs. 2016 is going to be a year of big changes. Starting with my hair.

Friday Photo: March 11th, 2016 & False Hearts Playlist

Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

Last Friday, I went to a Buffy-themed birthday party for my friend Lorna. I haven’t watched much Buffy, so I basically used the party as an excuse to dress like American Horror Story: Coven mixed with Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

Also, last week I wrote a post on the Author Allsorts blog. On Monday, I reblogged it but forgot that the Allsorts site is linked to my old WordPress site, rather than my self-hosted one. So, ICYMI, here are some of the songs that inspired False Hearts.

Friday Photo: March 4th, 2016 & Pantomime Readalong

Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

Today’s the food part of my instagram. I’d fallen off cooking meals from scratch, but last week I made a sweet potato, black bean, kidney bean chipotle chili, with some yoghurt instead of sour cream, cheese, and avocado. It was delicious.

Also, Virginie of LaChouett is doing a Pantomime readalong this month. Follow her on Twitter as I think that’s where most of the discussion will be happening. Pantomime’s £2.99 on Kindle at the moment (and I think a similar price on all other retailers), so it’s pretty cheap! Would love for some more readers to step into R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic. It’s a chapter a day, but chapter 1 is super short, so it’d be easy to catch up.

Have a good weekend!

Monthly Roundup: February 2016

 

And the second month of the year has been and gone. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Writing:

Writing was down a bit from January, mostly thanks to a wicked cold/flu hybrid that killed pretty much any productivity for almost a week. I wrote 18,765 words of prose and planning and 4506 words of nonfic stuff, for a monthly total of 23,421 words and a yearly total so far of 55,708 words. I worked a bit on Memory Book, a tiny bit on Shiny Project, but mostly I was reoutlining and replanning Shattered Minds, my June 2017 book, as I’ve gotten my edit letter. It’s a fairly big structural edit, though not so much plot things as character motivation and worldbuilding. Outside of writing, I applied for a few part-time jobs, finished the first issue of the art magazine I edit, started editing a YA novel for a client, and had a school visit at Doon Academy in Ayrshire. Here’s a write up of my visit by the school librarian, Chris Kelso, on the Scottish Book Trust website.

Travel & Life:

My travel this month was down to Edinburgh and Dalmellington for the school visit. It was nice to see my friend and co-conspirator Elizabeth May either side of the visit. I still wasn’t feeling 100% better and Elizabeth was under a deadline, so we didn’t do much exploring, but we had afternoon tea and prosecco, which is always a win.

Life-wise, things have been pretty good. I’ve been keeping up with my art classes, practicing French on Duolingo, reading a bunch, exercising when I wasn’t constantly coughing and sniffling, watched a lot of RuPaul’s Drag Race when I was. Saw some friends this month and went to see Deadpool twice, which I enjoyed. Pretty lowkey month, which is nice, as things are only going to get busier here on out.

Plans for Next Month:

Things for March are kicking off: I have at least 2 school/university visits (possibly 4 as I’m in talks with a librarian to settle on a date for another 2 sessions), have to finish editing the YA novel, and have to edit at least 10k a week of Shattered Minds. I might be getting Masquerade edits this month too, and both manuscripts are due back to my publisher in June. As a result, I’m cutting down a lot on my faffing-about-on-social-media time, simply because I have to knuckle down at get to work. On the 29th, I’m away on holiday (to Mauritius!!), so trying to clear the decks as much as possible before then.

What’s your plan for March?

Books Read in February

1. The End of the World Running Club – Adrian J. Walker (I was sent this by the publisher, and enjoyed it enough to blurb it, so recommended).

Edgar Hill is 35 and caught in his own headlock. Overweight slob, under-performing husband and reluctant father – for Ed, the world may as well have already ended.

So when it does end in a catastrophic asteroid strike and Edgar and his family find refuge in an Edinburgh army barracks, it comes as something of a relief. His world becomes simpler, life becomes easier, things might just be looking up.

But nothing’s ever that simple. Returning from a salvage run in the city, Edgar finds his family gone, taken to the south coast for evacuation by an international task force.  Suddenly he finds himself facing a gruelling journey on foot across a devastated United Kingdom. Accompanied by a group of misfits that include a large, hairy tattoo artist and an old man who claims to have run around Australia, Edgar must race against time and overcome his own short-comings, not to mention 100 mile canyons and a very strange council estate, to find the people he loves before he loses them forever.

A vivid, gripping story of hope, long-distance running and how we break the limits of our own endurance.

2. Dreams (Sarah Midnight #1) – Daniela Sacerdoti

Ever since her thirteenth birthday, seventeen-year-old Sarah Midnight’s dreams have been plagued by demons—but unlike most people’s nightmares, Sarah’s come true. Her dreams guide her parents’ hunt as Sarah remains in bed, terrified but safe, sheltered from the true horrors of the Midnight legacy. But all this is about to change. After the murder of her parents, she is cruelly thrust into a secret world of unimaginable danger as she is forced to take up their mission. Alone and unprepared for the fight that lies before her, Sarah must learn how to use the powers she’s inherited and decide whom to trust before it’s too late…

3. Kindred – Octavia Butler

The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.

4. Did I Mention I Love You? – Estelle Maskame

When sixteen-year-old Eden Munro agrees to spend the summer with her estranged father in the beachfront city of Santa Monica, California, she has no idea what she’s letting herself in for. Eden’s parents are divorced and have gone their separate ways, and now her father has a brand new family. For Eden, this means she’s about to meet three new step-brothers. The eldest of the three is Tyler Bruce, a troubled teenager with a short temper and a huge ego. Complete polar opposites, Eden quickly finds herself thrust into a world full of new experiences as Tyler’s group of friends take her under their wing. But the one thing she just can’t understand is Tyler, and the more she presses to figure out the truth about him, the more she finds herself falling for the one person she shouldn’t – her step-brother.

Throw in Tyler’s clingy girlfriend and a guy who has his eyes set on Eden, and there’s secrets, lies and a whole lot of drama. But how can Eden keep her feelings under control? And can she ever work out the truth about Tyler?

Did I Mention I Love You is the first book in the phenomenal DIMILY trilogy, following the lives of Eden Munro and Tyler Bruce as they try to find their way in an increasingly confusing world.

5. Legend (Legend #1) – Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

6. Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) – Dahlia Adler

Josh Chester loves being a Hollywood bad boy, coasting on his good looks, his parties, his parents’ wealth, and the occasional modeling gig. But his laid-back lifestyle is about to change. To help out his best friend, Liam, he joins his hit teen TV show,Daylight Falls … opposite Vanessa Park, the one actor immune to his charms. (Not that he’s trying to charm her, of course.) Meanwhile, his drama-queen mother blackmails him into a new family reality TV show, with Josh in the starring role. Now that he’s in the spotlight—on everyone’s terms but his own—Josh has to decide whether a life as a superstar is the one he really wants.

Vanessa Park has always been certain about her path as an actor, despite her parents’ disapproval. But with all her relationships currently in upheaval, she’s painfully uncertain about everything else. When she meets her new career handler, Brianna, Van is relieved to have found someone she can rely on, now that her BFF, Ally, is at college across the country. But as feelings unexpectedly evolve beyond friendship, Van’s life reaches a whole new level of confusing. And she’ll have to choose between the one thing she’s always loved … and the person she never imagined she could.

7. One – Sarah Crossan

Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body.

Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy.

But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi.

How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives?

8. One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal – Alice Domurat Dreger (re-read, and still conflicted because I have learned a lot from her academic work but am sad she has said transphobic stuff)

Must children born with socially challenging anatomies have their bodies changed because others cannot be expected to change their minds? “One of Us” views conjoined twinning and other “abnormalities” from the point of view of people living with such anatomies, and considers these issues within the larger historical context of anatomical politics. Anatomy matters, Alice Domurat Dreger tells us, because the senses we possess, the muscles we control, and the resources we require to keep our bodies alive limit and guide what we experience in any given context. Her deeply thought-provoking and compassionate work exposes the breadth and depth of that context–the extent of the social frame upon which we construct the “normal.” In doing so, the book calls into question assumptions about anatomy and normality, and transforms our understanding of how we are all intricately and inextricably joined.

Total in 2016 so far: 18

Monthly goals:

(At least) one QUILTBAG book (Under the Lights – f/f)

(At least) one book by a POC, queer, or disabled writer (will aim for more than one) (Kindred, Under the Lights, Legend)

(At least) one book by someone I know (the list of my author friends’ books I haven’t had a chance to read yet is very long) (Under the Lights)

(At least) one nonfiction book (One of Us)

(At least) one book on my bookshelf I’ve own but have not read, or something that’s been on my TBR list for absolutely ages (have been meaning to read Kindred since college, and Under the Lights & Legend have been on the list for a long time)

Friday Photo: February 26th, 2016

Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

Here’s my art from today’s life drawing class. This was our first week with a female model. Compare it to week 1, and it’s clear I’ve come a fair ways. My proportions still aren’t quite right, but I’m less terrified of looking at a model and being totally unsure where to start. I’m also just really enjoying having a hobby again. Art is hard and creative in an entirely different way to writing.

Friday Photo (on a Saturday): February 20th, 2016

I meant to do this yesterday, but I have been laid low with a flu/cold hybrid thing. Every week, I post a photo with something I got up to recently. More are on my instagram, which usually consists of cats, food, art, books, and travel.

This is a photo from Spectra Aberdeen, which was a light show that took place in my hometown Feb 11th to 14th. My favourite thing was this giant circle of smaller lights that changed colour when you jumped on them. The wee kids adored them, and adults had fun, too. From afar, it looked like a giant crop circle or fairy ring. More photos of the light show are on Instagram or searching social media for #spectraABDN.

In this photo I’m also wearing my new faux leather jacket, which makes me feel like Jessica Jones.