Thanks so much to Annabelle Marie Veronica over at Sparkles and Lightning for giving me the "Lovely Blog" Award! It is much appreciated. :)
Also, a brief update. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things have been busy and I don't have as much time to toil over formatting on my blog when I write reviews (something always goes wrong D:). I will try harder to make the time, though if you would like to be on the lookout for any new reviews I post I always have them uploaded on Goodreads. (the formatting there is super easy and I dont end up wanting to cry and/or kill my computer by the time i've finished my post.)
**Patti Roberts has kindly offered to supply an ebook copy (International) and a paperback copy (U.S. Only) of her book Paradox: The Angels Are Here for my very first GIVEAWAY! **
Have you ever wondered about the existence of Angels, if there was a Heaven? And if you had a Guardian Angel, would they come from Heaven or Hell? What if Heaven and myths, magic and legends were real! And what if Heaven was at war and threatened our own existence here on earth…
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
It was never a conscience decision. I just started writing. For me it was therapy after a break-up. It turned out to be great therapy. So for me it just happened. What would you say is the hardest part about writing a book?
Knowing how to finish the book and begin on the next in the series.
What would you say is the best part about writing a book?
The wonderful feeling of accomplishment when you have finished. And secondly, readers reviews that goes something like…. "Loved it. Can't wait for the next book." That is pretty awesome.
Where do you get your inspiration?
History – old and new, myths, dreams, legends, and the real world. There is so much about this world that inspires. And imagination. With imagination, there are no limits.
Are there any authors you look up to that influenced your writing?
For the Ancient world parts in Paradox I was inspired by the writing style of George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones).
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Read, read, read books from lots of different authors, and write everyday. Learn the difference between criticism and constructive criticism. Never be afraid of constructive criticism. Constructive criticism is a great learning tool. With out it your writing will not grow.
Describe your book in 3 words.
Emotions, emotions, emotions.
What sort of activities do you enjoy outside of writing?
Dinner with friends, movie nights and a good game of chess.
Say you fell down a rabbit hole and found yourself in a world much like the one in your book. What would be the first thing you’d do?
What a great question. I must use that one! Um… Find out who the good guys are and learn how to fight!
Watch the Book Trailer here!
To find out more about Patti and her books, go to these links:
Author Bio: 23 year old Megan Wilson and her sister Halita, 27, grew up in a military home where their father was out to sea a lot with the Navy. Because of this they moved a lot which made it hard to get to know people and make friends. Since friends were few, they became best friends and developed wonderful imaginations with the help of their mother. Never letting their situation take away their fun spirit they began to write individual books until one day two church friends asked them to write a play for their bible study group. Halita and Megan combined forces and created a play that was hilarious. After the bible study group heard it and they realized just how much fun they had writing the play - they decided to create the Oooka Chewobie series just to make people laugh. Even though they enjoy writing stories together, they are also branching off on their own. Halita has a poetry book out and Megan has two Children's books out as well as a Young Adult series in the works. No matter what happens and no matter where they go - their love for each other and for writing will always be a part of them. Through thick and thin these sisters have each other's backs. -Interview- Tell us a little bit about your books. Oooka Chewobie is a hilariously random made-up world. Taking parodies of celebrities, the writers have created a world where their online friends and family can meet and fall in love with their own celebrity. Each chapter is a different short story about how two specific characters meet and fall in love though it is never quite what you are expecting. Always expect the unexpected with Oooka Chewobie for anything goes! The writers are planning on writing another three volumes - the first two are already published and ready to be bought.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Megan - I never really thought about being a writer until I was in middle school. There I met my best friend Samantha and we just started writing books together. After writing them, we destroyed them but I realized that I enjoyed writing a lot. So, once I realized that I just kept writing though often struggling with writer's block. Even still I have at least fifteen unfinished stories sitting in my notebooks around my room.
Halita - When I was five I used to tell crazy stories and ever since I have wanted to be a writer.
What would you say is the hardest part about writing a book? Megan - Hardest thing is actually finishing the book, but it is worth all the writer's block and annoyances just to be able to hold your book in your hand and be like "I actually did it!" Halita - Writer's Block is the hardest part! It is evil!
What would you say is the best part about writing a book? Megan - There are two parts that I love about writing a book. One is the emotions that people feel when reading the book and the second is just conversing with the characters. It may sound weird to people who are not writers, but characters talk to you. They tell you what they like and what they dislike, what they want to be changed and what they agree with you about. I have fights with my characters all the time and yet they normally are the ones who win for it is ultimately their story to tell. Again, you would have to be a writer to understand what I am talking about, but the characters are probably the best part of writing a book. You grow to love them and some you grow to hate - they become sort of like family to you. Halita - Getting to be creative and using my mind in a very weird way. Not having to have people understand me.
Where do you get your inspiration? Megan - I get my inspiration from everything. A song will play on the radio and boom I have an idea. I have a strange dream and boom there is another idea. Although I can't lie, most of my inspiration comes from the people I come in contact with every day. It may be something as simple as an older couple walking hand in hand at the mall and I could make a story from it. A lot of my stories have characters that are very similar to people I have known in my life. Halita - From everything!
Are there any authors you look up to that influenced your writing? Megan - Stephenie Meyer. I know a lot of people have varying opinions about her, but I love the fact that she just wrote a book and never expected it to blow up like it did. I am not saying I am expecting to become famous or anything like that for that is just crazy, but I love the fact that she was just a normal person who wrote a book. One of the main character in the Oooka Chewobie series is Rabbi Polar - he is based on Robert Pattinson who I would never have gotten to know as an actor if not for Twilight. Also, because I am a Twilight fan - we have stuck little shout outs to the series in the Oooka Chewobie series. Now they aren't very noticeable, but if you are a true fan, you could pick up on them. So, while Stephenie didn't really influence my writing - I do look up to her. Halita - Emily Dickinson.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? Megan - Just write what you enjoy writing about. Who cares if it is not something everyone will enjoy. First and foremost write for yourself. Don't write to become famous - write for the joy of writing. Halita - Keep following your heart, use your imagination, ignore the haters.
Describe your book in 3 words: Megan - Hilarious, Strange, Adorable Halita - Funky, Weird, Out-of-this-world.
What sort of activities do you enjoy outside of writing? Megan - I love photography and am currently taking lessons. I also enjoy knitting, watching television, reading, playing games, spending time with loved ones. Laughing, dancing, and singing as well but the dancing and singing are only at home as I don't like people staring at me. Halita - Playing board games, reading, working, going to school.
Say you fell down a rabbit hole and found yourself in a world much like the one in your book. What would be the first thing you’d do? Megan - Oh my goodness. There are just so many things I would love to do in Oooka Chewobie, but I think the first thing would be to go find Rusty the Walrus and hang out with him. He is a delightful character that would make for a fantastic friend. So yeah, I would go find and hang out with Rusty. Halita - Probably run around and find Roxie Moonshine to explore her cave of doom or I would go dancing with Rabbi Polar!
We all have those books. We buy them, win them, they're gifted to us.. Then we put them up on a bookshelf and there they stay, collecting dust, waiting for the time when we'll finally decide to pick them up..
Join us on a quest to dust off your TBR Pile and read all the books you've been telling yourself you'll read next time you'll get a chance.. This is your chance! And we've got PRIZES!!! :D
Challenge guidelines:
This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
You can move up levels, but no moving down.
Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
At the end of each month one of the hosts will post awrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.
If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL.
You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!
Levels:
1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children
January - Donna (Theme: Let It Snow + Book Cover Challenge) February - Nicole (Theme: Un-requited Love/Love Gone Wrong + Advice Column Challenge) March - Rie (Theme: Green or Pinched + Green Cover Challenge) April - Bonnie (Theme: Easter + Mini Challenge) May - Christa (Theme: MayDay - Disaster Books! + Cover Disaster Challenge) June - Jenna ( Theme: Camping + Sentence Challenge) July - Rie (Theme: International Day + Cover Comparison Challenge) August - Angel (Theme: Summer Memories + Send Your Fav Character On Vacation Challenge) September - Nicole (Theme: Life Changing Books + Mini Challenge) October - Caitlin (Theme: Thanksgiving Theme + Share-A-Book Challenge) November - Vicky (Theme: Spooky Halloween + Book Puzzle Challenge) December - Evie (Theme: Xmas Bliss + Book Bachelor Challenge)
Cornell DeVille grew up in the Kansas City area, where he lives today with his wife, Rosie, their bichon-poodle Hannah, and a Himalayan Persian cat named Billy. DeVille considers himself an Imagination Director. His writing leads the reader on a journey that allows them to escape the real world and venture into a special realm where anything can happen. In addition to writing, DeVille is a professional musician and a nationally distributed wildlife artist.
Interview:
Q: Tell us a little bit about your book, Lost in the Bayou.
A: Lost in the Bayou is set in the sixties in Louisiana. It’s a hot, muggy day as the story begins, and Robin and her brother Andy are on the veranda of their southern mansion, waiting for their Uncle Conrad to arrive. Their parents’ small plane disappeared a week ago, and the wreckage has never been found. Conrad has been named guardian and executor of the estate.
That evening, Conrad reveals the fact that he’s planning on killing both of them so he can inherit the huge Sherwood fortune. Robin and Andy decide to run away before he can kill them, and their only choice of places to hide is the dark and mysterious bayou. Things get very scary once they get there, and a trip to the Voodoo Swamp reveals something they never expected.
Q: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
A: It was in Mrs. Carmichael’s third grade class. I had written a story called Flipper the Fawn. She told me it was excellent and that I should consider being a writer. I said I would.
Q: What would you say is the hardest part about writing a book?
The hardest part for me is coming up with the original idea that the story revolves around. Once that’s done, the actual writing is fairly easy, especially once the characters start taking over and moving the story the way they want it to go.
Q: What would you say is the best part about writing a book?
A: I think the best part is getting to know the characters. It’s as if you’ve created a new entity that never existed before and you can watch them grow and develop as the story unfolds. And sometimes, you end up loving them so much that you simply have to write a sequel just to spend more time with them.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration? A: I actually have no idea where my inspiration comes from. Perhaps for Lost in the Bayou I was inspired by the spooky Spanish moss I saw hanging from the trees when my family took a vacation in Louisiana back in 1959. Granted, that’s a long time for an idea to percolate inside your head, but that’s the only source for the story that I can think of.
Q: Are there any authors you look up to that influenced your writing? A: Definitely. As a young reader, I fell in love with the work of Jules Verne. A Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea were two of my favorites. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, and the Island Stallion books by Walter Farley were others. I also enjoyed Tolkein. Since then I’ve become a huge fan of Stephen King. I’m also very impressed with the work and the huge success of J K Rowling and Suzanne Collins.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? A: I’ll repeat the same thing every other author advises: read. You’ve got to read as much as possible, especially the genre you’re wanting to write in. I’ll add one other piece of advice, and that is to simply stop editing at some point. We have a tendency of wanting to change our writing every time we read it. If we’re not careful, we can edit the voice out of it. Know when it’s time to stop.
Q: Describe your book in 3 words. A: Definite page turner.
Q: What sort of activities do you enjoy outside of writing? A: I’m a professional musician and I love to fish.
Q: Say you fell down a rabbit hole and found yourself in a world much like the one in your book. What would be the first thing you’d do?
A: Try to figure out where Uncle Conrad is so I could avoid him and his claw hand.
Other Works by Cornell Deville:
A Tale of Two Hearts Scary Night Music Cannibal Island Star Wishes Skullhaven
Déjà Vu
Musa Publishing will release Cannibal Island in March, 2012. It is a turn-of-the-century steampunk adventure and the first installment in The Golden Disk Adventures, a continuing time-travel series.
For more information on Deville and his books, go to:
