Gone by Lisa McMann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was super lucky to get ARC copy of this book to read. I've been waiting for months just like the rest of Lisa's fans, patiently. I got the chance to meet her, in one of the readings of her tour. Amazing treat.

Here are my thought about this book. From all 3 books on the trilogy Wake has to be favorite, the plot was really outstanding. Keeps unfolding until it chokes you, and you can't breath until you figure out the puzzle.
But Gone was different. Gone is the story of Janie's final decision. She has two choices with her gift. Reclusion and safety. Or Social life by the hand of becoming a cripple taken over by blindness. This book is not solving a crime, getting the crooks to come clean, or being the narc she was on Wake. This book is about growing. The narrative felt different, more adult, even the tone in some cases sounded more like a grown up Janie. She deals with her mom's alcoholism issues, a new found character that lays on a bed, but has so much in common with her, DNA being biggest one, that makes it hard not to relate to her pain, and her struggle. What can you say to someone that meets her dying father, after 18 years of knowing nothing about him, to find out that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Not far at all.

Janie decides. Takes the biggest decision of her life when everything she's known collapses under her feet, learning a new truth. What is that? You are going to have to pick this book to find out!! I'm not giving anything out.

Even thought this book is the perfect closure to the trilogy, and doesn't leave you hanging at all...as a reader, I was hoping for more. I love Lisa's writing, I'm a HUGE Fan. I guess I wanted more from the plot to self discovery, feel like I was  part of it, finding new things about her relationship with Cabe, her own self rightness, her father, her relationship with the captain, and her mother's struggles. Instead I found myself detach from time to time, like Janie was trying to get away from me too, but maybe is all set on the readers perception, maybe that's something that only happened to me while reading and not others.

Still the Dream Catcher series, is definitely a must read. I think the book is great and fans of the series will be enjoying this read. Gone will be released on February 9th 2010. Enjoy!! View all my reviews >>

From a design perspective, I love the simple take on this books. I was a big taken by surprise, when the first 2 books were on the blue color pallete, and this one was Green. Still I think the Gone refers not to Janie directly but her father being gone from her life... So the different take on the book colors make sense. I guess I'm one of the only people that has those kind of questions in mind right? Maybe?

Cheers. My friends. Later gators. 

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
My rating: 5 of 5 starsOkay so where do I start. What to say to a book that leaves you without words.
“It's were amazing meets probable.”

This book is one of the most OUT OF THE BOX (with capital letters) I've ever read. Some people call it dark and weird... I thought it was crazy beautiful.Makes you think a different way about anything you knew about reading. Makes you connect with parts of yourself, you haven't seen in a while.You go through Hanna’s emotions like they are your own, at least I did.

I read Bleeding Violet in 2 days staying until 3 am because I couldn't put it down. I had no ideas what was going to happen next, and I needed to know, because in the life of someone like Hanna, the sky is the limit, and I wanted to see her Sky so badly. Literally.
The narrative is believable, spunky, so much fun I was giggling in and out. I could hear Hanna's voice in my own head.
Dia Reeves, takes you on ride you'll never forget, and you are for sure going to want to read this book and live over again.
I don't think Bleeding Violet is for the people that are looking for a tame, low key YA-paranormal romance novel. It’s not. This book is about life long relationships changing. Family. Belonging. Love to the core of the characters bones, passion and conviction.
What would you do to gain the love of your mother when she’s pushed you aside for 16 years? When all you want in the world is her acceptance?When all you want it’s to be loved by someone that might allow you to fit in the life you've been living? and maybe belong to a place that is as weird as you are? What if your problem is where you've been not who you are?

Bleeding Violet is the story of Hanna a 16 year old girl, that after her father’s death, escapes her aunt’s care, by knocking her unconscious, to run to her mother’s doorstep, in Portero,Texas. Hanna has never met her mother, the only thing she has from her birth mother it’s a postcard from 10 years ago.Hanna for the last 16 years was raised by a really straight forward father that she still sees and talks to even thought he is dead. Hanna was diagnosed as a maniac depressive. She has a cabinet full of medication that she's been given over the years for her hallucinations, and several diagnosis. Hanna has an obsession with the color violet, in the honor of it being her belated father's favorite color. Since the day he passed, Violet- Purple is the only color she wears.Her mother, Rosalee pushes to kick her out, as soon as she walks into the house, telling her Portero, Texas is not a place for her. After much negotiation Rosalee allows Hanna to stay for 2 week, to show her how much she doesn't belong there. Portero (door man in Spanish) brought me back to my loved Sunnydale, where monsters are the rulers and people are trying to get by.Hanna's first day of school, turns really bizarre. First she meets Wyatt. The other only person in the school that is wearing color other than her. Green. Why everybody else is wearing black? Why people wears ear plugs at school? Why is there blood splats on the glass doors, and random glass looking statues all around the school? What are the meaning of the keys everyone is wearing? What is a Lure? Why does everyone call her "Transy"?

Grab a copy of Bleeding Violet, and take this fascinating ride, through Hanna's mind. You won't regret it. Believe me, you won't be able to put it down. And most of all it's like nothing you ever read before.View all my reviews >> 

 Design Notes: I Loved the cover of course, by Cara Petrus, it's nothing like I've seen before, Part of me thought that this cover and The Divine were alike. But this cover is the most fitting for this book. The flow light feeting, following the shape of the fabric flowing on the cover to the spine and back. It's super attractive. 

So this morning my brilliant editor Beth Brezenoff sent me a link  to a contest by Nathan Bransford. Huge Literary agent. Here is the contest for any of you that might want to participate. Check it out!
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/
I read the contest twice. Silence.

Didn't type anything back about the contest other than.
" I want that book. I heard it’s really good..."
To that she answered. "You should enter the contest"
I let out a sigh...saw that it had already 350 entries and typed back to her
"Let me see if I can come out with anything over lunch...It's due today?..."
" It’s worth a shot, I’ll edit what you write if you do it by the end of the day...” She answered.
"You sure? I don’t know what to write about" I typed. <Yes I'm really insecure>
“You could just do something from Elle’s diary, doesn’t have to be from the book but using her as the character...but don’t feel pressured, if it doesn’t come there will be other contests and opportunities!” She is always such a doll.
"Okay... Let me see what comes out.."
------ Resuming this is what happened over lunch... You know I've been writing for a year and half for fun and games. Not that long compare to most. I write because I simply love writing, and can't image living without it. It's my drug of choice, and no, I don't write for living, as you can tell by my writing. =)
Sometimes I'm amazed I had the crazy drive to finished writing the first novel in the trilogy. That was 3 months ago. Now Beth has the novel in Google Docs under her power spell to edit.  Plus I started book 2 where 1 off... So what ifsss. Keep looking forward right? I have 4 girlfriend reading as I write... It's been a CRAZY but Amazing experience.
So over lunch I decided to let Elle do her entry, go wild and see what came out of it... Here it's. Edited by Beth's Magic touch the full 799 words of the entry before she cut it to the requirements that were 500. Ouch... but then again an awesome exercise for us as a dream team. God there is nothing better to a person that loves to write, than an amazing, understanding and supporting editor. Cheers to you Beth. ------

---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------

Dear me,
I’m writing this to remind you to forget it. Forget about everything you want it to be, and give it up. Life is not fair, so stop pretending it is. Things have changed. And there’s no going back. This is you. This is what you are, and always will be. So stop pretending to be normal. There is no normal in your life. Normal days are over, finito, terminado, gone. Quit whining. Chin up, straighten your shoulders, wipe your tears off, and breathe.

Let’s talk about the good stuff. What you got out of this.

1- You got to date a guy who liked you for a while. Big plus: Now you know what first base is all about. (Okay, sure, there’s a minus: He left you heartbroken and hating mankind. Moving on...)

2- You now, for the first time ever, have an ex-boyfriend! Someone to hate and obsess over. You didn’t have one of those before, when you were invisible, remember? You didn’t have anybody, other than Sam and Livvy. (Now you wish you could keep them away in a safe box, so they wouldn’t get hurt again. Hurt by your purpose in life. Hurt by what you are and what they want out of you, who they want you to become. The monster. The judge, the executioner. But I digress.)

3- This one is a HUGE advantage. You can drink! Cheers! Livvy, if she were still talking to you, would be SO jealous!

4- You get to carry weapons. Always a plus.

5- You get to physically hurt creeps as part of the job. Come on. That’s an awesome plus.

6- You get to wear funny looking leather gloves in summer, so that you don’t induce people into a coma at the mere touch of your hands... Okay. This one is tricky. Honestly, I can’t think of any good side to this one, other than maybe making some kind of stupid fashion statement—and we all know fashion isn’t your strong suit.

7- You get to have a guardian. (Plus: it’s nice to have someone watch your back. Minus: remember that ex? Yeah, same guy.)

8- You get to drive nice cars. Fast. Why? Because you can.

9- People have a tendency to stare, because of what you are...you are NOT INVISIBLE ANYMORE

10- You have the council working for you. Yeah, you heard it. Old folks listen to you. Yeah, you’re 17, but they think you’re a prodigy. So you get your way a lot. Even when you’re wrong.

Enough with the list. Look, Elle, I know if you’re reading this diary, it’s because you miss how things used to be. How simple it was to be invisible, live through other lives, watch your friends have the interesting lives. While you wait. While you hide in a corner, reading another chapter of yet another imaginary life while you feel bad for your loser self.

Don’t you remember? Come on. Admit it. You were a loser. Krissy was right every time she said it. You lived afraid of everything, afraid of saying the wrong thing, doing something else that would make more people talk about how big of a freak you were. You lived afraid of living.
The irony is that now you live afraid of dying. Funny how things change.

The fact, is you should. Be afraid of dying, I mean.

Here’s what I want to say to you. Me. Take what’s happening to you as a good thing. Not everybody has that power. In fact, nobody else has the power to reach out to people’s minds. Yeah, it feels like a curse. Yeah, it sucks to know more than what you want to know about people. To keep your hands to yourself.  
But it’s a gift. Your hands, even though they are some kind of tool of deliverance, or whatever they call them. Your hands are pretty cool. All that power.

I’m writing this here so I (you) remember it. Invisible is not good. Invisible is being a zero. Admit it. Being someone’s soldier is the best thing that has ever happened to you.

Now is better than before. Now you can feel. You can speak. You can be you (me). With all your creepy quirks, funny hands, and bad hair. You. Me. Elle. Helena. Because deep inside you already accepted that truth, which is why you’re reading this entry for the hundredth time. You know this is the real YOU. Being the Sacred One is only part of it. Being Helena is what matters. Everything else is secondary.

You’re different from everyone else in the entire world. Accept it. Live it. Embrace it. Now close this book and move on. Be you and go shake things up. Take care of you. Me.

----------------------------------
--------------------------------
Cheers Elle Sawyer, We love you.

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

My rating: 5 of 5 starsWow. This book, has been the most creative book I've ever read. More outside of the box, beyond compare. I've never read a fairytale so convincingly unique and attractive in all aspects.The writing was gorgeous, the characters so colorful, and intriguing the plot completely out of the books. Plus when you live like a I do surrounded by Ice for 4 months out of the year, I live in MN, some of Cassie's ideas touch close to home... Plus I call my man Bear. (But that's another note that you are not interested in knowing...)

Ice is the story of Cassie, the daughter of a research Arctic Scientist, that has lived her whole life, surrounded by gadget, research colleagues of her father's. Cassie's mother disappeared when she was too young to remember, she has no memories of her, only stories her grandma told her a fairy tales. An interesting story about the daughter of the wind being sent to ends of the earth, by the North wind (her father) when instead of marrying the Bear King, as promised by her father, she decided to take a human men instead. The wind's daughter promised the King Bear, the hand on her daughter as long as he kept them, her and her husband from harm and away from the Winds. The Bear King was successful for only a couple years, the North wind capture his daughter and took her to the ends of the earth, east of the sun and west of the moon, were he kept her captive in a Troll's castle.

Cassie always thought about the story, as a good way to explain her mother's death, but still every time her grandma told her the story before bed she would ask something... "So that's where Mom is?" and her grandma would answer "Yes, she is..."

Cassie's life changes the day, is about to turn 18, and get's to meet someone very special. Bear. Since that day, she learns to let her real life adventure unfold, and discover the true nature of who she really is... Pick up a copy of this great book by Sarah Beth Durst you won't regret any second of it. This book is a must read.View all my reviews >>

Design Notes: Nothing says Ice like the design of this book. It has little details like like the Soft strokes of the illustrations, the flakes, that merge in with it. The metal ink paper finish in this cover is breath taking, and the Special Ink on the words ICE make you want to touch it over and over again. The spine design, makes you want to pull the book out from the bookshelve and read it again, it's stands out from others. The only thing that through me off a bit was the back cover, but it had a reason to be that way... Cold dessert and plain.. just like the artic. =) Amazing book, great design by Debra Sfetsios for S&S. The beautiful illustration is by Cliff Neilsen.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars I haven't read a book this good in a couple months. Bree does an excellent job to keep you engaged, investigating where the plot is going to land, and believe me... you are wrong. You won't know until the end of the book, which leaves you wanting more, but satisfied and ready for the next one. The Dark Divine is the Story of Grace, a pastor's daughter, that's lived a sheltered life in, MN. (FYI for people that live in the MN area like me, 30 minutes from Apple Valley, the book made giggle a couple times with the mention of the A V. mall and Super Target)

Gracie, has an older brother Jude and 2 younger siblings. She goes to a christian school, and acts like a good pastor's daughter would. watching the way she talks, the way she dresses, her attitude towards others. Her brother Jude, is her protector. They are less than a year apart, and have this great relationship with each other.

Daniel is the add ball. He was Jude's best friend since childhood, and they both let Gracie tag along when they were kids. Grace has been secretly crushing on Daniel for ages, and Daniel, well, has been irritating her for that long. But something terrible happened to them 3 years ago... since then, they haven't seen Daniel, or known his whereabouts of his mysteriously disappearance, the only thing they know is that Jude made it to their front porch, horribly hurt, bleeding almost unconscious. Since then, Daniel's been gone, and his name has been avoided, erased from conversation, torn from people's minds, until that day he re appears in Gracie's Art class. He is looking for something... he looks hungry... and scarily different... Something has changed... Pick up a copy of this wonderful read and figure it out yourself! Make sure you have a couple hours for it, because you won't be able to put it down!! View all my reviews >> 

 From a design perspective: It's a beautiful put together book. Very attractive, and memorable from a visual perspective.

The Vitamin String Quaret - Tribute to Cold Play - Yellow 

This  is one of those songs that you can't stop listening to once, you figure out what it does for you when writing. Amazing!

It's here!! I can't believe it . I have in my hands one of the first copies released of Finn Reeder Flu Fighter, his diary.

This is the first book I've ever illustrated. The book looks so amazing. Completly beyond my expectations! The design fits perfectly, colors stayed true to the original color pencils in the pages, the illustrations are bright and the concept of the book overall is so different or anything I've seen. Believe me I've seen a lot.

For more info check out about this book. Check out http://www.capstonepub.com/promo/h1n1/

It's like something I've never seen. I'm a proud girl what can I say?

Cheers and Enjoy!

Love
*Kay*

Soulstice by Simon Holt

My rating: 4 of 5 starsThis book was great find. I read the first book on the series, and was excited to read the second. Soulstice explores the depth of Reggie's abilities, which are so interesting through and through. From the physics of it to the myth behind it. So different and intriguing, compare to other paranormal stories.The concept of the book is so entertaining, and different from anything I've ever read. I really enjoyed the crazy images that come to life drawn by fear, and the way characters, relate to their own sense self preservation, inside and outside of their head. How fears really come alive, making you feel exposed to the world by your ghostly figures in the back of your mind.I can't wait to read the next book!View all my reviews >>

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

My rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars Loved Michelle's writing. It's beautiful. Really enjoyed getting immerse in this time period. Learn about who the sisters are. I was sincerely expecting more of the plot, and the concept, it felt a bit short. It was definitely one of the most visual books I've read in a long time.  I recommend this book to readers of this genre. It's a great read. View all my reviews >>

The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

My rating: 3 of 5 starsI was really excited to read this book, for many reasons. First I love how thick it's. I love having a lot of information about he story I'm reading.. can't help it I'm a big fan of 400 + books.Also I like Rosemary's writing from her Maggie Queen books. This story was something completely different thought. Sylvie reminded me so much of myself at times made me laugh. The story was great and entertaining until i hit the paranormal side of it. I'm not going to lie I guess i was a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I recommend this book because it did kept me interested for 600 pages to know what happens next. It's a page turner, but i guess I was disappointed with the answers to some of the most rhetorical questions the book ask.They don't feel quite answered. I do recommend other loves of the genre to hop on the boat, and go for the ride. View all my reviews >>

This post was inspired on a message sent to one of my favourite writers today... with some minor changes, not to disclose who that is... =)

"Authors,

I believe that what you are writing in your stories is poetry, something so beautiful that touches the reader's soul when you read it, the afterward... after you become so close to someone with words, while so far away physically... You make something change at the seems... I consider you a gift. The gift to all of us readers... To all of us wanna be writers... Mostly because your writing shows the world, who you are on the inside, and it's an honor to know you the way I do.

Thank you for changing me."

-K-

It's been a long time, since my last post for many reasons, here is the download update:

1 - Finished my first novel, and found a uber-talented editor to work on it.

2 - I'm 120 pages into writing the second book.

3 - I've been working long hours doing the closing of the season for Stone Arch.

The big HUGE news are. At SAB they decided to do this project that needed a turn around in 1 month and half. The author. Erik Stevens (aka Steve Brezenoff's alter ego, wrote the brilliant story in 2.5 weeks. Beth edited in a flash ! She is a ridiculously talented. Beth and I mapped the book, and i took the chance and illustrated it. My creative Director Heather Kinseth liked the style, and we run crazy with it. I illustrated the whole book in 3 days of LONG LONG HOURS. Then scanned for hours, cleaned up images, and start designing! Took me another 3 days to put the whole puzzle together. It's by far one of the most challenging projects I've ever had to deal with for many reasons. One of them being, dealing my with own fears, working on my illustrating skills that were rusty... Took me 2 days to be comfortable using a pencil!  Sad, oh so Sad! But well worth it!! It was an amazing experience! The team effort was fabulous!!

Here it's!!

http://www.capstonepub.com/promo/h1n1/ 

 The book can be downloaded until Jan 1!!!  Check it out! Enjoy my first ever illustrated and Designed book.

Love Kay*