Write Stuff: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Pausing to Remember Things I Am Grateful For

I try to live my life remembering to be grateful every day. I'm not always very good at this, but I try :) But sometimes it helps to write it down and remember the good, especially in the face of difficulties and so many other things going on. So, today, here are some of the things I've been amazingly blessed by:

My mom and my sister will be visiting next week. Need I say more? I can't wait! Girl time in excess FTW!
Summer!! I get to work on my own research, and I get to set my own hours (which means I don't feel so guilty about my natural night-owl tendencies). But it's also warm and beautiful and the river is amazing, and gah, I just love this season :)
My job. Spring semester did try to throw me down a flight of stairs and laugh about it, but that over, and in the fall I'll start my tenure-track line. This bump is like winning the academic lottery. And I am both humbled beyond belief to be here, and totally excited. (And I get my own lab!! It's so exciting I can't even begin to tell you!!)
Summer concerts. A friend and I went and saw The Decemberists last Sunday and it was just amazing. I didn't want it to end and wanted to be swallowed by the music. If you get a chance to see them live, they really put on an amazing show! And there are several more bands planning on stopping in Missoula this summer and it's going to be great :)

These are my major moments of gratitude right now, though there are a ton more little things (like, thank heavens for indoor plumbing--something I really don't think gets enough love ;), but obviously I can't write them all down. But I like to remind myself of those things I'm really luck for :)

What are you grateful for today?

Cover Reveal: LIBRARY JUMPERS by Brenda Drake

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

Library Jumpers

by Brenda Drake

Release Date: January 2016

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble

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About the Author

Brenda Drake, the youngest of three children, grew up an Air Force brat and the continual new kid at school until her family settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Brenda’s fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write young adult and middle grade novels with a bend toward the fantastical. When Brenda’s not writing or doing the social media thing, she’s haunting libraries, bookstores,and coffee shops or reading someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

Author Links:

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Cover Reveal Organized by:

Teaser Tuesday: TRAVELERS Cover Art! #teaserTuesday #timetravel

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

I have a tiny little teaser for the cover of my August release, TRAVELERS, to share today. It's just a tiny bit, but I have to say that of all my covers this one is just utterly amazing and I can't wait to share it all!!

TRAVELERS is a time-travel mystery and romance, full of tons and twists and turns (along with some romps through time). The awesome editors at BookFish Books and I are working hard at getting everything ready, and I hope people enjoy it!

Okay, enough procrastinating. Here's a little hint on the full cover:

The rest of the cover is sooooo fun! I hope to share it soon!

After Reading: AT THE WATER'S EDGE by Sara Gruen

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

In her stunning new novel, Gruen returns to the kind of storytelling she excelled at in Water for Elephants: a historical timeframe in an unusual setting with a moving love story. Think Scottish Downton Abbey.
After embarrassing themselves at the social event of the year in high society Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve of 1942, Maddie and Ellis Hyde are cut off financially by Ellis’s father, a former army Colonel who is already embarrassed by his son’s inability to serve in WWII due to his being colorblind. To Maddie’s horror, Ellis decides that the only way to regain his father’s favor is to succeed in a venture his father attempted and very publicly failed at: he will hunt the famous Loch Ness monster and when he finds it he will restore his father’s name and return to his father’s good graces (and pocketbook). Joined by their friend Hank, a wealthy socialite, the three make their way to Scotland in the midst of war. Each day the two men go off to hunt the monster, while another monster, Hitler, is devastating Europe. And Maddie, now alone in a foreign country, must begin to figure out who she is and what she wants. The novel tells of Maddie’s social awakening: to the harsh realities of life, to the beauties of nature, to a connection with forces larger than herself, to female friendship, and finally, to love. (Goodreads)

It's a book review week as I'm so behind on revisions for my summer release that I haven't had time to think about much else, let alone come up with anything intelligent to say (though of course that's assuming I say anything intelligent to begin with, and that's highly suspect). Anyhow, if you come across this, it's probably me:

On to the book, and thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for awarding me a copy in exchange for my honest review:

I have a confession: I haven't read Water for Elephants, nor have I seen the film. It's just not something I've been particularly interested in. However, throw in the Lock Ness monster, Scotland, and WWII? Well, that's another thing altogether. I went into this really excited, but I soon found myself a little less than enthused about Maddie. Let's be honest: she's kind of frustrating, particularly at the beginning. Self-centered, entitled, way too rich--pretty much characteristics that leave me a little put-off. She does grow quite a bit throughout the novel, and did grow on me as well, though I still found her a bit weak, even at the end. However, I don't think that all female characters must be crazy strong, as diversity in strength of character is needed as well. I just don't do so well with weaker females. Still, I did find her situation interesting and enjoyed her transformation. Her husband is horrific and I felt that part of the novel was particularly well done, even if it left a sour taste in my mouth. The romance left something to be desired, as I really didn't feel like the characters got to know one another at all and it almost came off as insta-love. Now, a strong Scottish man can pull this off, but Outlander has set the bar too high to be reached by many other Highlander men ;)

Overall, this was an interesting read and insight into a different social strata and way of life during the war. I found it engaging and definitely ripped through the novel, though overall I did find parts of it lacking.

Has Outlander set your sights high on kilted men? Do you believe in the Loch Ness monster? Shout it out in the comments!

After Reading: DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS by Laini Taylor

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.
At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter? (Goodreads)

You know how there are some series that just kind of suck you in and don't let go? That leave you thinking about the characters for ages after you've finished? That make you re-read multiple times? This is one of those series for me. I love the writing, the world, the intrigue, Karou and Akiva (though I thought I might scream at the two of them a couple of times), and just the loveliness of it all. Mixed in with a whole lot of darkness, but let's be honest, I like that too :) It's amazing when I come across books that just seem to "get" me, and these definitely were. I put off this last book in the series for quite a while, mainly because I couldn't face the end. I loved it too much. (This is a dangerous habit of mine--something I do a little too often.) I'm glad I finally set aside some time to just delve into the world though, and I enjoyed seeing how everyone managed to work things out. I did think there were some added complications that seemed to be added in more for complication's sake than because they felt true to the story, but that's fine. I pretty much would read anything set in this world, so I really can't complain. And the ending left me hoping that somewhere down the line Taylor might share another fun tale from Eretz!

Have you had a chance to check out this series? What did you think?

Release Day for EMPATH by S. Usher Evans #dragons

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

A quick shout-out today for this awesome release from a great author! And who doesn't like dragons on a Tuesday? :)

About the Book

Lauren Dailey is in break-up hell.

Stuck between moving on and letting go, she puts on a brave face while crying herself to sleep at night. But when a mysterious voice promises escape from her sadness, she is suddenly transported to a new world. And in this place, the slightest touch pulls her out of her tortured emotions into the mind of another - an empath.

The villagers - sweet Aerona and her mischievous twins, wise Siors, and hunky Cefin - welcome her and the blessings her empath powers bring. But this world is not without its dangers. The Anghenfil, a fire-breathing monster, has haunted the village for decades, and has a taste for empaths. And that mysterious voice promising escape from sadness? It's sounding more like a whisper tinged with smoke and embers.

Preorder:

About the Author

S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in a small, suburban town in northwest Florida, she was seventeen before she realized that not all beach sand is white. From a young age, she has always been a long-winded individual, first verbally (to the chagrin of her ever-loving parents) and then eventually channeled into the many novels that dotted her Windows 98 computer in the early 2000s. After high school, she got the hell outta dodge and went to school near the nation's capital, where she somehow landed jobs at National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the British Broadcasting Corporation, capping off her educational career with delivering the commencement address to 20,000 of her closest friends. She determined she'd goofed off long enough with that television nonsense and got a "real job" as an IT consultant. Yet she continued to write, developing 20 page standard operating procedures and then coming home to write novels about bounty hunters, teenage magic users, and other nonsense. After a severe quarter life crisis at age twenty-seven, she decided to finally get a move on and share those novels with the world in hopes that she will never have to write another SOP again.

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Monday Mishmash

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

I have a potential cover for Travelers, my summer time-travel release! I can't wait to share it as is it EPIC!! :)
One. More. Week. It's final's week, and I just have to get through it and reach the awesomeness of summer break and I will finally be able to sleeeeeep!! :) It's sad when that's the thing I'm seriously most excited about!
I'm currently looking for a new place to live. I've come to a point in my life where being in a basement apartment with no windows is no longer something I can deal with (and is indicative of how how horribly they pay teachers and professors these days). I may hate moving, but the thought of finding a better place is seriously amazing!
It is gloriously spring and warm and beautiful here now! Montana in the spring and summer, as short as they may be, really can't be beat!
In grading papers (and papers and more papers...) this little gem came up in my Human Biological Variation stack and I thought I'd share for some giggles today:

What's going on in your world this week?

After Reading: RED EQUINOX by Douglas Wynne

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

The Red Equinox has dawned, and the old gods who have slept for aeons are stirring.

Urban explorer and photographer Becca Philips was raised in the shadow of Miskatonic University, steeped in the mysteries of her late grandmother’s work in occult studies. But what she thought was myth becomes all too real when cultists unleash terror on the city of Boston. Now she’s caught between a shadowy government agency called SPECTRA and the followers of an apocalyptic faith bent on awakening an ancient evil.
As urban warfare breaks out between eldritch monsters and an emerging police state, she must uncover the secrets of a family heirloom known as the Fire of Cairo to banish the rising tide of darkness before the balance tips irrevocably at the Red Equinox. (Goodreads)

Honestly, I don't think I've ever read something quite like this. I enjoyed it, but it was distinctly different, both in the mythology that was used, as well as the voice. Becca was an interesting character, flawed but relatable. Her growth was definitely done well. That being said, I never felt a deep connection with her, though perhaps that's just me. The story itself was creepy and fascinating, and the way the pieces wound together kept me reading. I did find myself wishing I knew a little more about Becca's family and background, as they were all kinds of different, though Wynne was quite good at giving enough details to allow the reader to figure out what was necessary for the story. Overall, it was an interesting read and well written. I'd pick up one of Wynne's other books for sure.

Thanks to LibraryThing for the copy en exchange for a review!

#FlashFiction: The Probability of the Impossible

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

It's that time again: I have a short story up over on the Lightening Quick Reads blog :) This months' theme is the Unbelievable, and I figured I'd have a little fun with super powers. (And because I'm a total nerd, they had to develop in a way that was actually maybe, kinda possible...kinda :). Check out the rest here, and be sure to leave a comment over there, as there's a giveaway going on!

***

Source

The world is flat. The sun orbits the earth. Lead can be turned into gold. Continents don’t move. People can’t read each other’s thoughts.

Or so people used to think.

Not that anyone understood was my great, great, great, great (I’ve lost track—there’s supposed to be eight [or ten?] great’s) uncle Leonard could do. He just seemed to have a good sense of intuition with those he was close to.

And he and his wife had a ton of kids. Ten or something like that. And their kids who also had a bunch of kids? They were the ones who were like their dad.

The real surprise happened when two third cousins met and got married. They hadn’t even realized they were related (I mean, think about it—do you know your third cousins?). Their kids were the first ones where people took notice. When the scientists stepped in. The government.

None of us have really been free since then. Not until two years ago when I broke out with the rest of the group.

I gripped the steering wheel with my gloved hands. The leather squeaked under the pressure. It was the only clue to anyone paying attention. I hated any accidental touch with a stranger.

Hate’s a funny thing though. The scientists back at the lab told me the original mutation had been some random fluke. That was how it always worked—an accident in their DNA. An accident that allowed them to hold us all hostage. To breed us like cattle. To force us to work for them. Nothing compared to the hate I felt for them.

I took a deep breath. Thinking about that too much left me with a raging headache, and tonight I had to keep my focus. I was on a supply run (first time I’d been allowed back in public). We needed things and I had to get out and get back without anyone tracking me, or guessing who I was.

Not that most of the public knew about us. Sure, a couple of generations ago there had been news stories. Wild claims about what we could do, strange comparisons to those impossible mutations that people glorified in comic books. Reality was so much less fun.

The store was still lit, just twenty minutes until closing. Just as I’d timed it. I parked next to a lifted truck with a bumper stick proclaiming that the driver hunted wolves. I resisted the urge to take my key to it.

I had to peel off my gloves when I walked through the sliding doors. It was a little too warm for that to be normal.

The list in my pocket, on a crumpled piece of paper, had twenty items on it. That allowed me to take the express lane, and anything more might tip someone off that I was up to something.

Canned goods first. Mostly veggies, and a few fresh things as well. My mouth watered at the thought of a baked potato loaded with everything on it. How long since I’d had something that filling?

Too long. But it was worth it. Better than being a lab rat.

The medicine aisle gave me some trouble. I had to walk through it several times until I found the right stuff. The cold medicine would be invaluable at the compound, if only because it stunted our abilities. In a community of mind-readers, that meant peace unlike most of us could hope for.

I threw in chapstick before I could stop myself. My lips cracked and bled every day or two and I couldn’t handle it any longer.

Finally, I walked to the front. This was the hardest part. I could load my cart without ever having to speak with someone, but this store didn’t have self-checkout lanes. Which was why I’d been the one sent here. It had things we needed the other stores didn’t, but there were so many risks.

My cart had a wobbly wheel that listed to the right and squeaked as I walked to the front. Five minutes until closing.

The woman behind the conveyor belt read a magazine and glanced at her watch as I approached. Unloading my cart, she began ringing up my items as the register let out muted beeps.

I managed a weak grin as I walked up to pay. I had five crisp twenties in my wallet, each stolen, but I didn’t like to think of it that way. I’d spent the majority of my life working for the scientists without any kind of compensation. Same went for my parents, and everyone else back at the compound. Taking what was my due seemed like a much better way to phrase it.

The woman was efficient. Already most everything had been settled into white plastic bags, ready for me to collect. She didn’t do much more than glance at me as I waited.

I hoped the sweat gathering in my pits, along my lower back, didn’t show through.

Finally, she finished and turned the little screen with the total toward me without saying anything. I counted out the twenties on the little counter and let her collect them. Her hands stayed a safe distance from mine.

My total didn’t register until she counted it out for me, bills along the counter, which I snatched up and replaced in my wallet.

But the change. The total had included three cents, which I didn’t have, and meant I had $0.97 cents to contend with. And no way was she going to scatter that across her counter.

Go check out the blog to see what's got the MC so freaked out :) And leave a comment there to enter for a $10 giftcard! (And one here, too, if you're so inclined, but no giftcard giveaway here at the moment...)