Interview with YA Authors Natalie Zaman & Charlotte Bennardo

Today I'm pleased to have Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman visiting us. Their debut YA novel, "Sirenz",  was released last month. Mix teenage girls, fashion, and Greek Gods, shake and you get -

SIRENZ:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when they find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes—with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades—the god of the underworld—himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld any individual whose unholy contract is up.

But just because they have an otherworldly part-time job now doesn’t mean Meg and Shar can ignore life’s drudgeries (work) or pleasures (fashion!). Finding that delicate balance between their old and new responsibilities turns out to be harder than they expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their contracts . . . 

Natalie Zaman is the co-author of Sirenz, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series published by Flux. Her work has appeared in various magazines, newspapers, e-zines and anthologies for adults and children. She's currently plotting disasters for the characters of Sirenz and working on a Victorian steampunk fantasy for teens. Natalie lives in central New Jersey with her family and several fine looking chickens.

 Charlotte Bennardo is also a co-author of Sirenz, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series published by Flux. When not contemplating embarrassing situations for the characters in the sequels, she works on her own YA, MG and adult level novels. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, e-zines and anthologies. She is held captive in New Jersey by three sons, husband, cat and friends.
 

Hi ladies, welcome to the Nook and thank you both for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions. First, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves? BTW Natalie, the picture on your blog of you with pink hair is wonderful. The color actually works on you. Was it really that color or did the photographer photoshop it?

Nat: Thanks!! I USED to have pink hair for real—about a million years ago—but the pic on my blog was photo-shopped by fellow Elevensies Lisa and Laura Roeker. I had them pink me up for the launch of their book THE LIAR SOCIETY earlier this year :)

How and where did you two meet? What led to your writing together as a team?

Nat: I was at one of our NJSCBWI mentor sessions (our chapter does all sorts of great things for its members—mentor sessions are retreats where authors can meet/get advice/crits from agents and editors), and mentioned to the critique group coordinator that I was looking for a group to join. She told me she had the perfect one for me—because she could see that I took criticism well (LOL!). Char and I became friends after that—our kids are very close to the same age—the youngest are the same age. Then one summer I asked if she would rabbit sit for me...

Char: And the ungrateful wretch bit me. I made him ‘email’ his mother and confess. Nat was ‘busy’ so the ‘cat’ answered, telling him to stop whining. That was our first project- E-Meow. It was fun, but it didn’t go anywhere. Realizing we worked well as a team, we hashed ideas around to write a full length novel. (OMG, LMAO. I'd enjoy reading that. - Bea)

Why writing? Would you all continue to write if you were no longer published?

Nat: I have to write. For years, I kept (and still keep) a journal, so I've always written just for myself. I'll always write, even if its just a to do list :)

Char: If I couldn’t write, I’d go insane- I HAVE TO write. Even if I didn’t get published (although I’d keep trying) I’d write novels, stories, articles, poems, letters to the editors… anything!

What is your favorite part of writing? What is your least favorite part?

Nat: I LOVE revising. Love, love love it. The initial write is always hard for me, but I get it done—but when I get to go back and fix things—add, take away, enhance—I feel like I'm really in my element.

Char: I ADORE the writing- especially the initial draft. I feel the muse and write like a demon. Revising- first one, ok. After that, I’d rather have root canal. 

How do you write as a team? Are each of you responsible for certain characters, do you each do a chapter, how does it work for the two of you?

Nat: For this project, we each wrote the initial draft for a specific character; Char did Shar and I did Meg. From there we would go back and forth—Char would send her chapter to me, I would edit it, then write my chapter based on what happened in hers (and according to our plot-planning), then send it to her. She would mark up my chapter. We would physically get together to go over changes every five chapters or so and go over any changes before putting them in—then it was onto the next chapter chunk.

Char:  From the beginning we knew it would be alternating POV with two main characters, so we didn’t foresee many problems.

Would you describe yourselves as planners when writing or do you wing it?

Nat: I think we started out winging, and then we had to plan—to make sure the story had an end. On my own, I come up with an idea and then take a lot of time to write the first ¼ to 1/3 of the book, then plan and outline.

Char:  I’m a semi-winger; I get an idea, but I generally know the ending and certain scenes that will take place. For SIRENZ, we had to plan because the story was going all over the place. Books 2 and 3 in the SIRENZ series were outlined (SIRENZ Back in Fashion, due out 2012, is already written and Book 3 is roughly outlined.)

Your take on mythology is …. different. Was that deliberate or did it evolve as you wrote? Did either or both of you enjoy reading mythology growing up?

Nat: From the start we wanted to put the gods in a modern setting—so it was totally deliberate. And we wanted them to have a stylish edge. I always loved mythology and fairy tales—I think the similarities between cultures is both telling and interesting. So many of us have the same story to tell; we're all interconnected.

Char:  I’ve always loved a good mythology, whether it was Greek, Roman, or other. However, there were some things, like Hades being ugly and totally evil that we didn’t like. Personally, I think he got a bit of a bum rap.

Has there been someone who was, or is, particularly helpful to you? Was there someone who inspired you in your writing? In what way(s)?

Nat: Char and I wouldn't have met if it wasn't for the NJSCBWI (the New Jersey chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). We met through the organization (see above). Lyn Sirota (author of  several nonfiction books for children) was the critique group coordinator who hooked us up, and our Regional Adviser Kathy Temean and the Assistant Regional Adviser Laurie Walmark, provided us with so many opportunities to present and polish SIRENZ. We can't thank them enough.

Char:  I’d have to add our friends Yvonne Ventresca and Elisa Roland, who read many of the drafts of SIRENZ.  And they still bought the book! 

Natalie, you have a Twitter account, a facebook account, and a blog. Do you think those are important for today’s authors, particularly a YA author? 

Nat: I really think twitter has helped us get the word out about SIRENZ—more than any other social networking site. I really should blog more often than I do, but there's only a finite number of hours to get it all in (hours I share with my husband, mom and three kids!). Hopefully this will change come the fall as Shar and Meg will be launching a Sirenz life and style blog. Hopefully a little discipline (and cutting off sleep time) will do the trick! I think it is important for today's authors to have a web presence—but make no mistake, it's all about making connections with people, not about selling yourself. The minute you start doing that (only talking about things you're doing, only talking about your book etc. etc.) it turns people off. It's a delicate balance to strike—being out there, but still maintaining the personal. For YA authors, I think it's even more of a must. Kids live online.

Charlotte, what do you think? You’re fairly active on Twitter but your blog is quieter. Time is a problem I’m sure. I know it’s an issue for me with mine.

Char:  Guilty of neglecting the blog! (You can be sure I’ll update it before this comes out!).  Especially now that we have to do PR for SIRENZ and I have other projects I’m working on, kid going to college, etc., I find Twitter and FB the easiest to keep up on. I’m not as tech savvy as Nat, but she and my son are trying to school me.

Do the two you prefer paper books or ebooks? Why?

Nat: I am finally succumbing and getting a reader—though I haven't decided which one yet. I LOVE paper books and have a serious library, but it's getting hard to store, care for and keep track of things. I think I'll still buy paper books (don't think I'll be using a reader for cooking!), but I'll just have more options (and thus can buy more books!).

Char:  I love my Kindle, but there’s nothing like the feel of a book in your hand. For books that I know I’ll want to keep, like books in a series I’ve started, or a favorite author, or a friend’s book that I’ll get signed, I want the physical book. For other books I only want to read, I’ll get the e version. (I do the same; I have a Kindle :D - Bea)

If each of you could be a character in a book, which one would it be, and what part would you play? (Romantic lead, sidekick, etc)

Nat: Ooooo tough one—cause there's lots. I wouldn't mind being a hobbit—not one bit. They live on one floor, dress to kill and have second breakfasts. What's not to like?

Char:  So many choices…  Hated high school, so I don’t think I’d want to relive THAT time again! I’m not keen on living in times with no bathrooms or anesthesia, I’m really afraid of horror and getting shot, so maybe a nice fantasy where there’s a kick ass heroine, a sexy guy and a happily ever after. May have to write that one.

Thank you, Natalie. Thank you, Charlotte. This has been fun. I'm not a hobbit (though that IS one of my favorite books) but you are both welcome to drop in for tea any time. We can discuss mythology, that was the main reason I picked up your book. I almost majored in mythology and folk lore in college.

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 Giveaway!!!

Natalie and Charlotte have put together an awesome package for giveaway; it includes a copy of the book, and fun swag such as buttons, bookmarks and stickers. The pictures below show what the winner will receive. 

  

Now, the gory details:

the giveaway is open internationally; you must leave a comment answering the following question - what is your favorite myth? It can be from any mythology around the world; leave a way to contact you - email, twitter name, Blogger profile, etc. 

The giveaway is open until 11:59PM EST, Friday July 15th, 2011

See all giveaway rules and policies here. 

That's it! Good luck and happy reading. :) 

Review of Sirenz by Natalie Zaman and Charlotte Bennardo

Publisher: Flux

Release Date: June 8, 2011

More Info: Amazon    The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they've done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there's the matter of the fine print in their own contracts...

My Thoughts:

"Sirenz" is fun and funny, and had me laughing out loud many times. Meg and Shar have been thrown together as roommates at an alternative high school that offers residential, college style housing, to it's top students, and it's been a bumpy ride; they are dissimilar and they barely tolerate each other but the school's policy is clear: irreconcilable differences = removal from the program.

While spending time some together shopping over the Christmas school break, in an attempt at bonding, they find themselves arguing over the same pair of red shoes and a cute guy; the latter is named "Bad-ass jacket" by Meg and "Sweet Jeans" by Shar. Guys and fashion, what every pair of BFF's can enjoy, even if their styles are different. "Sweet Jeans" aka Jeremy reappears later in the story and is crucial to the overall plot.

Their arguing leads to an unfortunate event and out of nowhere, Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, appears and offers to help them out. Of course, there's a catch - if they fail to achieve the job he offers them, they will turn into Sirens - bird shaped women who act on his behalf to bring him mortals who have sold their soul to him a la Faust. After much talk and negotiation, a deal is struck, and they have 2 weeks to complete their assignment.

Hades, in Bennardo and Zaman's world, is a lot like the Christian Satan, with a bit of Loki, the Norse god of, among other things, tricks, thrown in. True to classical Greek mythology, Hades is sneaky, lecherous, and not to be trusted. Bennardo and Zaman give us a new spin on the Demeter, Persephone and Hades story, giving us a modern update.None of the gods we meet are particularly nice or trustworthy, straight out of classical mythology.

The girls are stuck together while they work on this job and it doesn't always go smoothly but they keep trying. Along the way, they live in a fabulous condo, enjoy shopping sprees, try to resist temptation, and discover that they can work together and even get along.

The story has twists and turns, the occasional cliche, snappy dialogue, and a fun, original take on Greek mythology. There's a happy ending, but we know that life will not be a smooth ride as the second book is already written. I'm looking forward to it.

I received this paperback from the authors for review as part of a Bewitching Books Blog Tour.

Winner of Creed's Honor!

 

 The winner of "Creed's Honor" by Linda Lael Miller is....bookwormfamily!! Congratulations. I hope you will enjoy it.

If you want another chance to win, BookHounds Blog is giving away all three books in the Creed Cowboys trilogy. It ends on the 12th so don't wait. Giveaway. Thanks to bookwormfamily for letting me know. :)

Giveaway & Review of How to Seduce A Scoundrel by Vicky Dreiling

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Release Date: July 1, 2011


More Info:  Amazon   The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

When Lady Julianne Gatewick realizes the rake of her dreams thinks of her as practically his sister, she decides it's time to get even. The charming Marc Darcett, Earl of Hawkfield, is every lady's fantasy, but he's determined to evade virgins and their matrimonial traps - especially his best friend's sister.

Hawk reluctantly agrees to be Julianne's guardian for the season, but he's having trouble resisting his gorgeous ward. Worse still, she's taunting him by flirting with every scoundrel in London - and he's sworn to protect her! Certain she's learned her tricks from the authoress of that scandalous publication "The Secrets of Seduction", Hawk sets out to uncover the writer's identity. But he never expects to find the formerly angelic Julianne behind the mask - and between his sheets.

My Thoughts:

The book description is slightly misleading, which always annoys the heck out of me. The publication of the scandalous document occurs late in the book, well after Julianne's "shenanigans" nor does Hawk set out to uncover the writer's identity. I did like the idea of the publication and would have enjoyed seeing it as even larger part of the story than it was.

Lady Julianne has had a crush, as we modern folks would put it, on her older brother's good friend, Hawk, since she was a small girl. For years, she has dreamed that he would fall in love with her and propose, despite all evidence to the contrary. She made her debut in society four years ago and has rejected a dozen marriage proposals, holding out for Hawk, the man she thinks that she loves. He, on the other hand, for reasons that take Dreiling far too long to reveal, has no desire to marry.

Hawk treats her as his friend's baby sister, and not as a woman. As the book goes on, his thinking changes and he views her physically as a woman but gives little or no credence to her thoughts or feelings. That changes slowly over the course of the book, but even so, he's not an enlightened male. I know that women being treated as adults and reasoning, thinking beings is a relatively recent development in world history but I really could have done without that particular bit of historical accuracy. At one point, after Julie gets drunk, Hawk was so arrogant and condescending that I wanted to throw the book out my window. To be fair, Julie spends much of the book acting immaturely and childishly and she was surprisingly naive. I found it hard at times to believe that she was 21, she acted more like a modern-day 15 year old. I also found it unlikely that her family would have tolerated her still being unmarried at her age; that was unusual back then and we aren't given any reason to believe that her family is progressive, or even just eccentric.

Most of the book is a dance; Julie and Hawk circle around each other, flirting, teasing, enraging, tantruming, but always coming back to each other in some fashion.  There are secrets, which Dreiling takes too much time to reveal and by the time they were revealed, I didn't really care. The book could easily have had a third of it cut and been the better for it. It meandered, drifted, repeated, and took forever to tell what was really a simple love story. It gets dressed up in family issues and societal morals but it really boils down to can these two individuals grow up, accept responsibility, and convince each other of their love.

It's not a bad book but definitely not one I'll read again.

I received a print ARC for review.

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Giveaway!!!

I am giving away my ARC of this book to one commenter. Please leave a comment about either the book or the review and make sure that I have a way to contact you - Blogger profile, email, Twitter handle, etc. 

I'm sorry but this is open only to readers in the US and Canada. 

The giveaway runs through 11:59PM EST of Friday July 15, 2011.

Please read my giveaway policy and rules here.

Thank you and good luck. :)

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Some fun links that the author and her publisher provided as part of the blog tour. Look for yourself and see what you think.

• Author Article: Vicky Dreiling's Guide to Writing and Publishing a First Novel The Accidental Way
• Author Article: How To Seduce a Scoundrel
• Five Fun Facts 
• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads

NetGalley Month at Red House Books

One of the first connections I made when I started blogging and reviewing was NetGalley, an amazing on-line site that connects reviewers (including bloggers), teachers (raises hand again), and librarians with free digital ARC's of upcoming books from a large, and ever expanding, list of publishing houses.

Red House Books blog has declared July to be NetGalley month. The idea is to read as many NetGalley books in July as you can. That works for me as I'm behind on my NetGalley ARC's and had already arranged the blog calendar so that many of the reviews in July, August and September would be from my shamefully large TBR pile. I will read as many titles as I can this month, though the reviews may not appear for a month or two. I'm behind on many reviews, not just my NetGalley ones, and am using the summer to catch up.

NetGalley is working with RHB to set this up; there will be prizes, Tweet chats, etc. For more details, see the post here. on the Red House Books blog.

Review of The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters by Sierra Dean

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Release Date: July 19, 2011

Series: #0.5 in the Secret McQueen series


More Info:   Amazon   Samhain Publishing

Book Blurb:

Are blind dates supposed to be this bloody?

A Secret McQueen story

They say it's impossible to find a man in New York City. Secret McQueen needs to find two in one night. Of course, it’ll mean pulling off the impossible—find and kill a displaced rogue vampire without disrupting the first promising date she’s had in ages. As a werewolf hybrid used to walking a fine line of survival in the vampire world, though, Secret eats impossible for breakfast.

Somewhere between hello and the first round of drinks, Secret makes her move. Her target, Hollywood’s biggest star, shouldn’t be hard to spot. Just look for swarms of fans. Except every time her vampire liaison, Holden, helps keep her mission on track, her date runs further off the rails.

Either Holden has a hidden agenda, or he knows more than he’s letting on about her quarry. One way or another, Secret is determined to get her man, and meet Mr. Right. Or die trying. 

Product Warnings:


This book contains a sword-wielding assassin whose barbs are sharper than her blade, a vampire with serious brooding issues but a skilled tongue, and an A-lister with a bad habit of eating his fans.   This novella takes place approximately one year prior to the events of Something Secret This Way Comes.


My Thoughts:

In this prequel, we get to see what a day is like for Secret: what she goes through as an employee for the Vampire Council and just getting through a day. We also get a little more background on both Secret and Holden. The story has action, humor, a very hot kissing scene, and an awesome sword. If you have already read the novella, "Something Secret This Way Comes", the infamous subway scene is detailed in here.


Her friend, detective Mercedes, bullies her into going on a blind date with another detective. Naturally, complications immediately set in. Her liaison with the council, Holden, shows up with a job that needs to be completed immediately. He seems disgruntled about her date and throughout the story, delights in sabotaging it, all in the name of of work of course. Secret is actually quite interested in her date, once they meet, and watching her juggle her date and her work, was entertaining, if frustrating for poor Secret.



I enjoyed this story quite a lot, more so even than than the first book. I am looking forward to the next book, "A Bloody Good Secret", coming out in September.

I received an eARC for review from the author.

Silver Girl Winner!

 

And the winner is Tiffany Drew! I emailed you so be sure to let me know where to send it. Thanks for stopping by and entering.

Giveaway & Review of Creed's Honor by Linda Lael Miller

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: May 31, 2011

Series: #2 in The Creed Cowboys

More Info:  Amazon    The Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn't his dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life.

Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend…. 

My Thoughts:

 I've seen and heard about Linda Lael Miller's books for years and I think I may have read a book or two of hers when I was in college (probably borrowed from my stepmother). I know several people who like her books, though one feels that her westerns aren't her books. Based on this story, I'm inclined to agree.

The book is marketed as a romance but the romance, what there was of it, felt like it was actually secondary to the story. Most of the story is taken up with Conner's relationship with his twin brother and Tricia's relationships with her matchmaking grandmother, Natty, and her best friends ten year old daughter and Tricia's god-daughter, Sasha.

Conner and his twin have been estranged for about 10 years though we are not given much detail about why. There are hints and accusations but it was frustratingly vague. I didn't read the first book in this trilogy, "A Creed in Stone Creek", so possibly there was more information in there; this trilogy, The Creed Cowboys, is a spin off of an earlier trilogy, The Montana Creeds.

Conner is bitter about the event that drove them apart, and bitter and angry about Brody, his twin, being gone for so long and leaving all the work of running the ranch in Conner's hands. He doesn't trust Brody, doesn't understand why he's back, and spends most of his time arguing with him. He wants Brody gone again, despite the extra work that means for him, while simultaneously there's a part of him that's glad not to be alone any more. He feels lonely and is bitter about being stuck on the ranch while Brody is out playing on the rodeo circuit. 

Meanwhile Tricia shares a house with her grandmother Natty, her late father's mother, while she runs his businesses until she can sell them and move back to Seattle. She left Seattle approximately eighteen months earlier to deal with his estate and live with Natty. Her parents divorced when she was little and she spent every summer while growing up in Lonesome Bend with her father. She's not quite a local but not quite an outsider. She doesn't have any friends locally and few connections; we are told repeatedly how shy she is but it doesn't really come across. She chats, she volunteers to help with the local fundraising event, etc. She comes off at times as a bit of a loner, which is different from being shy.

Tricia and Conner bump into each other while Natty is away visiting her sister in Denver. They were acquainted as children but apparently haven't seen each other around since Tricia's been back. He smirks, she's awkward, we're told that they are attracted to each other but I never felt it. They bump into each off and throughout the story, he bullies her into eating lunch with him a few times,  smirks at her often, she ruminates about how honorable he is, he wonders why she's still single and gets angry because she, *gasp*, wants to go back to Seattle and follow her dreams.

Natty thinks that Conner and Tricia are perfect for each other and plots to bring them together but there's actually not a lot of time in the story devoted to them as a couple. Mostly they are off doing their own thing and when the pace finally picks up, then Miller shifts gears and it happens so quickly it's like being hit by a truck. The ending was rushed and only mildly believable.

Miller also spends a fair amount of time setting up the next story, laying the groundwork for Brody and his HEA. That's not unusual in a series and I don't mind as long the focus is on the main romantic couple but in this case, it detracted from the main story.

I wanted to like "Creed's Honor"; I like romances, and Miller has a good reputation, but this book just didn't do it for me.


I received this paperback from the publisher for review. 

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Thanks to Tricia (yes, really, that's her name :D) at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations I have one paperback copy of "Creed's Honor" to give away to one commenter. Just leave a comment about the review or book to enter; make sure I have a way to contact you - twitter name, Blogger profile, email, etc.

The giveaway will run through 11:59PM EST of Friday, July 8th, 2011. I will use random.org to choose a winner.  I'm sorry but this is only open within the US and Canada.   

See giveaway policy here. 

Thanks and good luck!