If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

  After years and years of saying, "I have got to read Gayle Forman's If I Stay," I've finally done it, and boy was it worth the wait.
  Before I started If I Stay, my mother informed me that I would either love the characters in the book, or be incredibly annoyed by them (since I am annoyed by female characters very easily). I have to say, that intrigued me quite a bit.
  About a week ago, I decided I was going to read the two Forman books, one right after the other, and I would get back to my Stephen King/Robert Galbraith binge.
  Little did I know that these books would deeply affect me, and give me a lasting book hangover. In fact, such a lasting book hangover, that when I listened to A Great Big World's "Say Something" on the radio this afternoon, I almost curled into a ball and cried my heart out because I miss Mia and Adam so much.
  If I Stay is about a young girl, Mia, who has to make the choice between living and dying. After a fatal car accident involving a truck and her family's car, Mia has been transported out of her body, witnessing the frantic panic of the car accident's aftermath.
  Will Mia choose to move on to whatever awaits us after we die, or will she stay and live?
  Where She Went is about what happened to Mia after she made her choice, and most of all (since it's told in his perspective) what happened to her boyfriend, Adam.
  If I Stay is probably one of the most beautifully written and told books I have ever read. It left such a huge impact on me, I just cannot get over it. I feel as if reading this book committed me to a long-term relationship with my one true love, my soul mate, and when it ended, I felt betrayed that it would end without so much as a "goodbye."
  I never expected to fall in love with this book as much as I did.
  That being said, I was incredibly hesitant to start Where She Went, knowing that the book was told in Adam's perspective, not Mia's.
  I love Mia. I wanted her to tell me what happened to her after she made her choice. Not Adam.
  But I continued on. I had to know what happened.
  At around a hundred pages, I became emotionally invested in Adam's story. I cared about his outcome and his future, and...well, I became an emotional wreck because of him.
  At one point in the book (I won't say when, where, or what happened because as you all know, I keep my book reviews spoiler-free), I almost choked on my sobs. Not because something terrible or tragic happened, but because I was so overwrought with Adam's emotional turmoil, I couldn't stand it.
  Gayle Forman is a genius, an artist, and a master at writing such amazing stories. She made me feel as if I were right in the middle of this story, feeling what the characters felt, and experiencing every human's worst fears.
  There is rarely a time where I add books to my "Books I'll Recommend to Literally EVERYONE" list, but I'll make an exception this time. Just as I do with John Green's, Susanna Kearsley's, and Markus Zusak's books, Gayle Forman's books will be recommended to my nearest and dearest.
  If I Stay and Where She Went are some of the best books I have ever read. I am positively, absolutely, 100% in love with them, Gayle Forman, Mia, and Adam.
A+

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Click here for A Great Big World's "Say Something."

An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author, Deborah Harkness

When I had the immense pleasure of meeting Ms Harkness last month at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida, I asked her if it was at all possible for her to honor my blog with an interview about her All Souls Trilogy books.

She said yes.

My friends, I truly cannot tell you how much of an honor this is. Deborah Harkness is one of the kindest, most caring authors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. 

I hope you enjoy this little conversation between the wonderful Deborah Harkness and myself! 

Goodness knows I had a blast setting it up.

Enjoy!

The Literary Connoisseur: Deborah, thank you so much for stopping by The Literary Connoisseur, and for answering some questions for me, your fans, and my blog. If you're ready, let's begin. Let's start with a few questions about yourself first. Have you always wanted to be a writer? 

Deborah Harkness: Not at all. I wanted to be a dancer, or an actress, or an archaeologist LONG before I wanted to be anything else.


The Literary Connoisseur: What made you fall in love with history? 

Deborah Harkness: I’ve loved history ever since I was a small child. My parents took us to historical sites every vacation—battlefields, historic houses, Colonial Williamsburg, English castles. I’ve been fascinated with the past ever since.


The Literary Connoisseur: Do you have a favorite place to sit down and write? Outside? A writing desk, perhaps?

Deborah Harkness: Airplanes. My second favorite place is hotel rooms. I tend to be easily distracted when I write at home. And it’s much too sunny to write outside in southern California!


The Literary Connoisseur: Countries other than America are very common in your books... Where are some of your favorite places to see when you travel? 

Deborah Harkness: Whenever I’m traveling, I try to visit museums. I especially love art museums. When I was on Houston on book tour I was able to spend an hour there visiting their special exhibition on the English Country House. It was fantastic.


The Literary Connoisseur: You've recently been traveling for The Book of Life, your final book in the All Souls Trilogy. How has it been for you on the road so far? Are you having fun?

Deborah Harkness: I always have fun meeting readers, and talking with them about their experiences with the trilogy. I only wish I had ruby slippers so I could magically go from my hotel to the airplane with no hours of waiting in airports.  


The Literary Connoisseur: Which of your All Souls Trilogy characters has been the most fun to write so far? Diana? Matthew? Ysabeau? Marcus, perhaps? 

Deborah Harkness: Gallowglass is the most fun to write, without question. Miriam is pretty entertaining, too. I never know what she’s going to say next.


The Literary Connoisseur: Family is a key theme in your books. Please tell us about the importance of family when writing such beautiful stories. 

Deborah Harkness: My families are traditional families, in the sense that they are not about blood or marriage but include all the people you scoop up along the way who need some love and compassion and a soft place to land. You hear a lot of misinformed commentary on “traditional” families these days. Historically speaking, families have always been blended and they’ve never been limited to blood relatives. 


The Literary Connoisseur: Now that you've finished writing the All Souls Trilogy, what would you say you're going to miss about Diana and Matthew the most? 

Deborah Harkness: Everything. 


The Literary Connoisseur: Are you planning on taking a long vacation after your book tour is over? Or is a "staycation" more on your "to do" list? 

Deborah Harkness: No vacations for me! I am touring for most of the autumn, and then am back in the classroom in January. Next summer I’ll be out promoting the paperback. So additional travel doesn’t seem very attractive as a leisure pursuit!


The Literary Connoisseur: Do you have your next writing project all planned out? If so, would you like to give your readers a hint as to what they'll be reading about in the future? 

Deborah Harkness: I’m deliberately not making any future plans at the moment. After the paperback tour, when I’m back in the classroom for fall semester 2015, I’ll begin to think about it. Until then, I’m just going to focus on recharging my creative batteries.

Deborah's Books:

A Discovery of Witches

When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.

For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.

Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well.

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Shadow of Night

A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Drawn to one another despite longstanding taboos, and in pursuit of Diana’s spellbound powers, the two embark upon a time-walking journey.

Book Two of the All Souls Trilogy plunges Diana and Matthew into  Elizabethan London, a world of spies and subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night.  The mission is to locate a witch to tutor  Diana and to find traces of Ashmole 782, but as the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them they embark on a very different journey, one that takes them into heart of the 1,500 year old vampire’s shadowed history and secrets. For Matthew Clairmont, time travel is no simple matter; nor is Diana’s search for the key to understanding her legacy.

Shadow of Night brings us a rich and splendid tapestry of alchemy, magic, and history, taking us through the loop of time to deliver a deepening love story, a tale of blood, passion, and the knotted strands of the past.



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The Book of Life

 After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.



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About the Author

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and have lived in western Massachusetts, the Chicago area, Northern California, upstate New York, and Southern California. In other words, I’ve lived in three out of five time zones in the US! I’ve also lived in the United Kingdom in the cities of Oxford and London.

For the past twenty-eight years I’ve been a student and scholar of history, and received degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. During that time I researched the history of magic and science in Europe, especially during the period from 1500 to 1700. The libraries I’ve worked in include Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the All Souls College Library at Oxford, the British Library, London’s Guildhall Library, the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Newberry Library—proving that I know my way around a card catalogue or the computerized equivalent. These experiences have given me a deep and abiding love of libraries and a deep respect for librarians. Currently, I teach European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

My previous books include two works of non-fiction: John Dee’s Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature(Cambridge University Press, 1999) and The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (Yale University Press, 2007). It has been my privilege to receive fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Humanities Center. And I was honored to receive accolades for my historical work from the History of Science Society, the North American Conference on British Studies, and the Longman’s/History Today Prize Committee.

In 2006, I took up my keyboard and entered the world of blogging and Twitter. My wine blog, Good Wine Under $20, is an online record of my search for the best, most affordable wines. These efforts have been applauded by the American Wine Blog Awards, Saveur.com, Wine & Spirits magazine, and Food & Wine magazine. My wine writing has also appeared on the website Serious Eats and in Wine & Spirits magazine.

My career in fiction began in September 2008 when I began to wonder “if there really are vampires, what do they do for a living?” A Discovery of Witches is the unexpected answer to that question. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, and was also a bestseller in the UK, France, and Germany. Thirty-eight foreign editions and translations will be published. The story of Diana and Matthew continues in Shadow of Night(published in 2012, it debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list)  and coming on July 15, 2014, The Book of Life,  the third book of the All Souls Trilogy.

For more on Deborah Harkness, check out her website here!

Enter Eternity by Honey Boudreaux

  It didn't take long for me to become interested in Honey Boudreaux's Enter Eternity. As soon as she approached me to read her book in exchange for an honest review, I read her synopsis, and was immediately intrigued with her story.
  Jillian knows the boy is in trouble as soon as she sees that he is alone and struggling to stay above water. She looks around, and doesn't spot the boy's mother anywhere.
  Jillian knows what she has to do. She rushes into the water and saves the boy, but this heroic act of bravery costs Jillian her life.
  She now has to Enter Eternity.
  Experience Jillian's many past lives with her, as she transitions from a married Native American woman fighting to keep her family safe, to a slave girl who is tired of being abused by her master, to a doctor in the future, struggling to put an end to a warped world. These are just a few of Jillian's past lives.
  Not only was I interested in the story enough to start it immediately, I became deeply involved with the characters and concerned with their safety as soon as I started the first chapter. As soon as I got a taste of Enter Eternity, I could not stop reading. As one life morphed into another, I found myself transfixed with Honey Boudreaux's words. Her characters' incredibly raw emotions and their struggles were so real and heart-wrenching, I can only applaud Ms Boudreaux for making me feel as desperate, strong, brave, and as terrified as her characters.
  Enter Eternity will have such a powerful effect on you, you will find yourself wanting to change the way you live, for the better. The only issue I had with this book is that I wish each section went into more detail, and we as readers could go deeper into each character's story.
  This book was beautifully done. I only wish it were longer.

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End of Days by Meg Collett Box Set Release

End of Days

Box Set Release

By: Meg Collett

Paranormal Romance

Available Exclusively on Amazon

All Images by Adrienne McNellis Photography

Editors: Courtney Koschel and Elizabeth Phelps

Released on August 11th, 2014

Description:

The Hunted One: Archangel Michaela, Heaven’s General, learns that one simple mistake can have a thousand consequences. Framed for crimes she didn’t commit against Heaven, Michaela must prove her innocence. But the line between right and wrong is ever shifting, and Michaela, disgraced and wingless, discovers the holy angels have their own plan for Heaven, and it is one that may prove to be the End of the Days.

The Lost One: A group of rogue angels controlling Heaven have turned their attention to the End of Days, and they won’t rest until they obtain the tools of Earth's final destruction: the Seven Seals. But Archangel Michaela knows the secret about the seals, and she'll fight to the death to protect them. Even amidst the devastation on Earth, Michaela struggles with her love for Gabriel, a recently fallen angel. 

The Only One: In the final installment of the End of Days series, a heavenly civil war breaks out amongst the angels, and the stakes are higher than ever before. It’s the war Michaela wanted, but she’s realizing it might not be the one she’s meant to fight. What is mercy and sacrifice in the face of tyranny and madness? It’s a lesson Michaela might not live long enough to fully understand.

Buy the ebook set:

About the Author

Meg Collett lives deep in the hills of Tennessee where the the cell phone service is a blessing and the Internet is a myth of epic proportions. She is the mother of one giant horse named Elle and two dogs named Wylla and Mandy. Her husband is a saint for putting up with her ragtag life. End of Days is her first series.

 

Hobo: A Horror Short Story by Thomas Flowers

  There is nothing I love more than finding a story in the world of literature that can chill my spine like a Popsicle. Anything haunting, spooky, hair-raising, creepy, or anything remotely scary, I will devour in no time.
  I love a spooky story.
  When Thomas Flowers approached me to read his short story "Hobo," I was more than interested to see how spooky it truly was, and if it would haunt me as I tried to go to sleep that night.
  He succeeded.
  When I started Mr Flowers' short story, I was thrown off by the main character's name. Her name is one I read in a Stephen King novel recently, and I couldn't shake off the thought of picturing that character in this new role. I have to be honest, it threw me off a bit.
  Although, I was quickly sucked into Mr Flowers' story, and was very easily creeped out by what was occurring with the characters.
  If his intention was to creep his readers out, it worked.
  Imagine yourself in Beverly Marsh's position; you stop at a traffic light and you find that a homeless person is walking closer and closer to your car. Even though you can afford it, you decide not to give him money, or food. (Which, personally, I cannot even imagine. How charitable, Bev.)
  Now this person follows you home, and wants something in exchange for the money you gypped him out of...this person wants you.
  The only way to find out what happens is to read the book!
  But...I warn you. If you have a weak stomach, take some caution.
  You're going to need it.

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An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author, Carrie Ryan

Each and every time one of my favorite authors and role models agrees to do an interview for my pride and joy, The Literary Connoisseur, I am more and more honored by their kindness and willingness to make my dreams come true.

There was Ellen Hopkins, who first agreed to do an interview for my blog...

Then Marissa Meyer, who not only did an interview with me, she put aside time on her book tour to get back to me in a matter of days...

Next, L.J. Smith took time from her busy schedule of writing in Vampire's Diaries to answer a countless amount of questions for me...

And now, my blog has been blessed with the very words of Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Not only have I been a fan of Ms Ryan for years, and not only have I devoured every single one of her Young Adult zombie stories, I have had the pleasure of meeting her in person as well. She is such a sweet, caring, and kind soul, and I could not be more thrilled to have exchanged so many words with her.

Her books are incredible, I highly recommend them.






I hope everyone enjoys reading this interview as much as I enjoyed setting it up! Thank you all, again, for your endless support and love for The Literary Connoisseur and for me. Every page view, every like, and every word of encouragement solidifies the fact that this is my dream. Working with authors and spreading the joy of reading is what I'm supposed to do with my life, and it's all thanks to you and your dedication. Enjoy!

An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author, Carrie Ryan

The Literary Connoisseur: Ms Ryan, thank you so much for stopping by The Literary Connoisseur, and for answering some questions about your life as an author, your writing, and yourself. If you're ready, let's begin! Let's start with a few questions about you first, Carrie. When would you say that your love of writing started?

Carrie Ryan: Growing up, I was a huge reader and authors were like rock stars to me, but it never occurred to me I could be one. Then one day I read an interview with Jude Deveraux (one of my favorite authors at the time) where she said she started writing because she finished a book and thought, “I could do that.” I remember thinking, “Wait, that’s all it takes? Well, then, I can do that too!” So I started writing. I found that I loved being on the other side of the story – it was just as easy to become absorbed and lose time. I knew then that this is what I wanted to do more than anything else!


The Literary Connoisseur: Are you a reader as well as a writer? What do you enjoy reading?

Carrie Ryan: My love of reading came long before my love of writing. I still have such vivid memories of staying up late on the weekends reading RL Stine and Christopher Pike (no surprise where my love of horror comes from!). For the past few years I’ve been reading mostly YA and have been challenging myself to read more widely so these days I go through a lot of middle grade, romance, and nonfiction.


The Literary Connoisseur: How did you come up with the plot for The Forest of Hands and Teeth?

Carrie Ryan: Various pieces of the plot came at different times. I was already obsessed with zombies, but it never occurred to me to write about them. Then over lunch one day, my husband and I started batting around the idea of the Forest of Hands and Teeth – a forest full of zombies with a town in the middle of it. The world in his mind existed several years after the Return, but in my mind it was generations later – to the point where zombies had become an accepted part of life.Though I still had no intention of writing about it, this world stuck in my mind. It wasn’t until weeks later when I was walking home from work and thinking about memory and how easy it is for things we take for granted to disappear, when the first line to the book popped in my head. When I got home, I started writing – intentionally keeping the voice unlike any of my previous books and just seeing where it took me. For me the setting, the characters, and the voice were like the first three dominos in an elaborate pattern – once I had those and knocked them down, it was just a matter of seeing where they fell and what the consequences were. Of course I say that looking back on it – at the time the plot didn’t seem nearly as easy – lol!


The Literary Connoisseur: What is your favorite thing about being an author? Or what are you favorite things about being an author?

Carrie Ryan: Being an author is my absolute dream job and I still pinch myself that this is what I get to do for a living. There are obvious day to day things that I love about being an author – working from home, having a flexible schedule, getting to make up stories all day and getting to meet some of the authors I’m a huge fan of. But I think more than anything else I love those moments when someone tells me that they fell in love with reading because of one of my books. Reading has played such a central role in my life and to think that I could play a small part in bringing that to someone else’s life is very humbling and a true honor.


The Literary Connoisseur: What would you like to say to fans of your books?

Carrie Ryan: Thank you! I feel like I should be able to say it more eloquently than that, but more than anything else I’m so very grateful to my fans. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love.


The Literary Connoisseur: How does it feel being able to walk into Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble and seeing your books on the shelves?

Carrie Ryan: It’s crazy! The very first time I went to a store to find my book I got all dressed up and was so nervous! I have no idea why, but my hands were shaking and I teared up – it was just so overwhelming! And then it was terrifying because it being on the shelf meant that other people would read it! I still get excited seeing my books and I hope it never gets old.


The Literary Connoisseur: Out of the three main characters, Mary from The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Gabry from The Dead-Tossed Waves, and Annah from The Dark and Hollow Places, who would you say you can relate to the most?

Carrie Ryan: I think I relate to them all in different ways. The point of view for those books is such a deep first person that I had to really get inside their heads and hearts -- I had to figure out how to relate to them so that I could write about them. One thing they all have in common is the desire to figure out who they are and what their place is in the world. Because this was a question on my mind a lot growing up (and still is even now!), I could understand their journey of trying to figure it out.


The Literary Connoisseur: Which of your books do you feel was most fun to write?

Carrie Ryan: I loved writing The Forest of Hands and Teeth because it was such a different voice than I’d been writing in before. I started the book on a lark – I was so convinced it would never sell that I totally wrote it for myself and for my husband (he’s the one who introduced me to zombies). However, The Map to Everywhere is the book that made me laugh the most as I was working on it. It’s the first in a middle grade series my husband and I are co-writing and it’s set in a huge magical world. Our entire goal with the story was to have fun – to write the kind of book we’d have loved to read as kids. So if we weren’t having fun with it, we knew we were doing something wrong.


The Literary Connoisseur: If you could say anything to aspiring writers and authors who look up to you and your writing, what would you say?

Carrie Ryan: First, I would say that you can do it. Growing up I didn’t think that normal people like me could become authors and thankfully, I was wrong. The key to becoming an author is to write. Write a lot – experiment and try new voices. And don’t forget your love of writing.


The Literary Connoisseur: Are you currently working on any new projects?

Carrie Ryan: I am! Right now I’m revising the second book in the middle grade series I’m co-writing with my husband. The first book in that series, The Map to Everywhere, is coming out November 4, 2014 and I’m crazy excited about it! I also just turned in revisions for a new young adult romantic thriller that will be coming out summer 2015. It’s a contemporary standalone – no zombies, but lots of revenge!

About the Author

Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Forest of Hands and Teeth series, which has been translated into over eighteen languages and is in development as a major motion picture. She is also the editor of the anthology Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction, as well as author of Infinity Ring: Divide and Conquer, the second book in Scholastic's new multi-author/multi-platform series for middle grade readers. 

Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time. She lives with her writer/lawyer husband, two fat cats and one large rescue mutt in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse. 

Carrie's Books:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth 

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The Dead-Tossed Waves

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The Dark and Hollow Places

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From the World of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

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Find more about Carrie Ryan on her website here!