Happy New Year & Re-Draw Winners

Happy (Belated) New Year guys! I hope that 2011 will be an amazing one and that if you have any resolutions, you will accomplish them! I look forward to whatever has to be offered this year because I find life to be so exciting now that I am in university and have much more freedom than I did before.

I apologize for the lack of reviews lately because life is a little hectic. I thought I was going to catch up on reading during my winter break but I was forced to work pretty much all week every week. If you are curious what I have soon to be reviewed, they are: Death by Denim, Kamisama Kiss!, Paranormalcy (almost finished reading!) and the latest hit movie, TRON.

Anyway, I know you are all dying for the re-draw winners, so here they are:

oO Mariana Oo for Heavenly
MarionG for School of Fear
mariska for David Inside Out
Cass (Words on Paper) for The Poison Diaries
linaramz for You Had Me at a Halo or Zombie Queen of Newbury High (email choice)
Kulsuma for Explorer X-Alpha
Liviania for Little Vampire Women
Saynaz for Silver Phoenix

Nova & Liviania for Death Mill Mansion: A Lighthearted Comedy

Email me your address with the prize(s) you've won at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com ASAP. I don't want to end up doing another redraw! Congrats to winners!

PS. Those crossed out means that they have reached me.

Enter the Re-Draw, Quickly!

Hey guys! It's only two more days after this one that my re-draw for the blogoversary contests will be closing! I changed my mind about entering those that entered previously because god knows if you will come back if you had no idea about the redraw. So click this link now to see what books are up for grabs and enter for the ones you want to win! Good luck~

Blogoversary Contests Re-Draw!

Hey guys! As you may know, I had my 2nd blogoversary over the summer. It took me awhile to draw out the winners due to my first year at university but I eventually got around to it. You may also know that many winners did not claim their prizes. I gave them quite a bit of time to claim but they never did. So! I am doing redraws! Those that already joined during the summer do not need to enter again because you have already done so. But this gives those who came in after a chance to join!

I want you to comment in this post which of the following books below you want to win (can be all if you'd like). And in order to get extra entries (per contest):

+1 Be a new/old follower (MANDATORY or no entries)

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll (link)

As you can see, there are quite a lot left unclaimed! I am going to let this run until December 31st, right before New Years! Please come back to check if you have won because I definitely don't want to redraw all over again!

Edit: I forgot to list the eligibility! So here they are:

Heavenly - International

School of Fear - International

David Inside Out - International

The Poison Diaries - International

Amanda Ashby books - International

Explorer X - Alpha - International

Little Vampire Women - US only

Silver Phoenix - US and Canada only

Death Mill Mansion: A Lighthearted Comedy - US only

Good luck~

Last Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Sorry for the delay guys! School got hectic, life in general got hectic. But I have finally drawn the last winners for my blogoversary! There are many unclaimed prizes, so please check now by clicking here to see if you have won any previous contests.

I am giving about maybe two weeks to claim prizes. After that, the unclaimed prizes will be redrawn again. I will be giving the chance for people who haven't gotten the opportunity to enter my blogoversary to enter to and win the unclaimed prizes. (There are quite a bit).

So here are the winners for this last batch! (Names crossed out are those who have contacted me). Please claim ASAP by emailing me what prize you have won and your address to faked_sugartone at hotmail.com

Audrey for Breathe

The Itzel Library for Hollywood Carwash

deltay for School of Fear

Judit for Heavenly

Anne Royce for A Season of Eden

4th Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Guys, click here to see if you have won previous contests. Those crossed out meant that they have contacted me. Contact me ASAP with your address at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com.

New winners are:

Nova for Titus and Atreus
Brooke for Mystyx
misha1989 for Skinned
Liviania for The Blood Confession

3rd Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Many people have yet to claim their prizes. Please click here to see if you won the other contests! Winners, email me the prize you won and address ASAP to faked_sugartone at hotmail.com!

linz for The Poison Diaries

EVA SB for David Inside Out

throuthehaze for Never Slow Dance with a Zombie

Cass for Ballads of Suburbia

2nd Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Here is my 2nd batch of winners! Email me ASAP at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com with your address and prize you won! And also, please check 1st batch of winners to see if you won by clicking here!

Wanda for Explorer X- Alpha
Yan for Sucks to Be Me

linaramz for She's So Money

Dominique for either Zombie Queen of Newbury High OR You Had Me at a Halo (Email choice)

1st Batch of Blogoversary Winners

So here's the deal: University is hectic as hell right now. I have midterms and essays that I must deal within the month. I know for sure that I wouldn't be able to ever get the blogoversary winners drawn if I was to do it all at once.

So I'm going to do them 4 at a time. This way, there is less delay in winners being announced and I can get it done with one at a time. So expect four more posts regarding blogoversary winners. I don't know when the next post will be. I might have a couple of new reviews before the second one comes along. I'm trying my best so please forgive me!

If winners do not claim their prizes after I have drawn all winners, will redraw at the end.

Winners for the first four contests are...

Just Your Typical Book Blog, Lora1967, and Aik for Death Mill Mansion: A Light-Hearted Comedy

Debbie F for Invisible Touch

Briana for Silver Phoenix

Maddie McPhail for Little Vampire Women

Congrats and email me the book you won and address at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com pronto!

Jennifer Laurens: Celebrate

Jennifer Laurens, Author of Heavenly series

Celebrate! You're leaving behind the catty, cliquey, trendy, insignificant things in life forever more. Right?

I hope this moment is as freeing for you as it was for me: standing on the precipice of all of your dreams.

It's an exciting, synergistic time. The sooner you solidify the direction you want to go in, the better. No more comparing your goals and dreams with anyone else's. This is your time to do what you want.

At this juncture in my life I knew exactly what I wanted and, all these years later, I am standing exactly where I saw myself being. For those of you who don't know anything about me, I didn't set out to be an author. My foremost goal was to be a mother with a big family, because I was an only child.

I attended college, married and have 6 children - one has autism, and is the inspiration for my HEAVENLY series about a teenage girl who falls in love with her autistic sister's guardian angel. My point is, looking back I didn't set out to be an author, I set out to be a great mother. I have loved being there for my children, and there is nothing that compares to the countless things I've learned from them and the growth I've experienced because of this choice.

I've always loved writing and took it up again when my youngest entered school.

And, here I am - years later, writing what my heart desires.

Is it possible to have all your dreams come true? My life says YES!

We make what we want happen, if we truly want it enough. Take each dream as it comes and make it come true.

~~~

You can read my review of Heavenly here!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of Heavenly and 1 copy of A Season of Eden

# of Winners: 2

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Gitty Daneshvari: Suggestions, not advices

Gitty Daneshvari, Author of The Makedown and School of Fear

I am not one for giving advice (mostly because I tend not to follow it no matter how sound) so instead I am sending you a list of three suggestions as you prepare to enter college.

1. Don’t eat your roommate’s food, even if they tell you it’s ok. Eventually this will really annoy them. Plus, this will lead to them eating your food, which will of course inevitably irritate you. Play it safe and keep separate pantries.

2. Don’t buy papers online. While I never did this, a roommate of mine did, and the results were wholeheartedly disappointing. She bought a paper by a person who was actually MORE intellectually challenged than she was and received a C-. There are also dire consequences both morally and educationally to doing this, but you already know that.

3. Don’t sign up for a credit card when you don’t have a job. There were always booths near my college bookstore each Fall where eager faced people tried to explain the importance of building credit at a young age. Trust me it can wait until you have a job.

~~~

I love Gitty's hilarious adult novel The Makedown that I highly recommend! You can read the review of it here! You can win her latest tween novel, School of Fear, today!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of School of Fear

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Lori Culwell: Things I wish I knew back then

Lori Culwell, Author of Hollywood Car Wash

Things I Wish I Knew Back Then

I was just talking to one of my friends from high school (who I’m still friends with even now), mostly about how the more time goes by after high school, the more a couple of things happen:

-- You look back at the high school version of yourself and think “what a bonehead.”

-- You stop making such a big deal out of everything because, frankly, you’ve seen most of it before and you know that eventually things get better.

I don’t mean to be blasé in my attitude toward high school students, because frankly, I find today’s teenagers to be much more mature and worldly than I ever was. In a way I guess that’s also kind of sad, because whereas I had years to marinate in life experience before I did anything like, say, start a business, or write a blog, or have a real relationship, it seems like everyone is doing all of those things these days, all before they get out of high school. That’s too fast, man! I didn’t do any of those things in high school (at least not successfully) because, as I have mentioned, I was a bonehead back then.

Actually, if I have to be honest, I feel more like myself now than I did back then, mostly because I have a better handle on my emotions. I can actually laugh at things that are ridiculously frustrating. If there is an emergency, I’m pretty confident I can figure out a solution. I have done things like get books published, work at jobs for long periods of time, buy real estate, and travel to many and various locations. I have driven across the United States—by myself.

Here are some other pieces of insight I wish I could have told myself back when I was 17:

1. Calm down. No really—calm down. Things are going to turn out ok.

2. Relationships are important. Don’t take people for granted. If you have regrets later in life, they will be based not on material things you did or didn’t do/ get/ achieve, but on time—time with people, with loved ones, with friends. That is the one thing you never get back. Take the time. Do nice things for people when you think about it.

3. One day, you might face a hard choice on the road of your life, and there will actually be no clear right answer (no matter how many people tell you to “trust your gut”). If this occurs, the solution is simple: take the option that is the shortest and least painful, put your head down, and do the time. The lesson: sometimes things just suck, and then they don’t.

On the bright side, the more years you get in your rearview mirror from high school, the more opportunities you have to reconnect with people who meant something to you then (and who mean something to you now). That is one of the things I love most about the internet—everyone is connected in a way we never have been before, and really, it’s good to still be friends with people who met me when I was a bonehead. It is even nicer to know you again now that I am an even better version of myself.

~~~

I absolutely adore Hollywood Car Wash! An amazing novel that I highly recommend! Read my review of it here.

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 2 copies of Hollywood Car Wash

# of Winners: 2

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Gayle Nobel: Ready to launch

Gayle Nobel, Author of Breathe & Co-author of It’s All About Attitude

The end of high school is the beginning of the rest of your life! Now what?

What if you left high school and there were no college opportunities waiting for you, no job possibilities, and you had no ability to express yourself and make a choice regarding what you might want to do with the rest of your life?

I am writing about my son Kyle. He is 26 years old and severely affected by autism and several other developmental issues. He was able to stay in high school until the age of 21 because he was in special education. After that, I was left to figure out how to create a meaningful life for him. Unfortunately, the options are very limited for adults with special needs.

It can feel overwhelming because it seems like we have to know everything all at once rather than just taking the next best step. As a parent, it’s scary too because we know we will not always be around to make these important decisions for our child.

At the risk of giving away the ending, here’s a piece from my newest book, Breathe.

Epilogue

Ready to Launch

Throughout this book, I have endeavored to provide you with oxygen-rich tools to help you love and live well with your child. I hope you have found them valuable and useful.

Yet, as I write this final chapter, I realize I have left one very big challenge unaddressed – launching our children from the nest. When will they be ready? When will we? Where will they go?

These are tough questions. I wonder when Kyle will be ready to launch. More accurately, I wonder when I will be ready to launch Kyle.

With my daughter, Rachel, there is no question. She is ready to launch. With college graduation just behind her, she is beginning her adult life. She has worked hard to get to this point, and I am excited for her. Even in these uncertain economic times, her future is bright with opportunity. I don’t worry about her. I have full confidence that she is prepared to face the world and will thrive wherever she ends up.

With Kyle, I am frequently asked whether he will be able to live independently. Kyle does not have the skills or the judgment to take care of himself, so the answer is no. I do not have the same confidence in Kyle’s future as I do in Rachel’s.

This is a scary place for me, and one I have not delved into very deeply. I am not yet ready to launch Kyle, but am keenly aware that the day will come when, ready or not, I must face the decision. Where will he live, and who will take care of him? These are the questions that remain tucked away for future consideration.

So, I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I hope for the best, trusting the answer lies in the future. With so many children being diagnosed these days, there will eventually be a flood of adults who need supported-living situations -- new opportunities that have yet to come into existence.

For now, Kyle waits on the launch pad, and I stand firmly beside him. I release the need to know right now. When the time comes, I trust I will be able to let go and allow Kyle to move forward with grace and ease. In the meantime, I hope, pray, and trust.

Oxygen-Rich Tool

Here is what I have to offer you: hope, pray, and trust. Believe that the best will happen for your child. Let go. Love. Most importantly, breathe.

Gayle Nobel, Bio

Breathe is poetic, yet practical: not just for parents of children with autism, but as a guide for living and parenting.

Gayle Nobel is the coauthor of It’s All About Attitude: Loving and Living Well with Autism and author of Breathe: 52 Oxygen-Rich Tools for Loving and Living Well with Autism.

She holds a BA in Special Education, and directed an intensive home therapy program for 11 years for her autistic son Kyle, who is now 26. During that time she trained over 100 volunteer therapists and aides in the attitude she writes and speaks about.

Originally from New York, Gayle is an author, inspirational speaker, and also a sister to a 50 year-old brother with autism. Her book, Breathe is for anyone wanting to move beyond the autism cure books. She offers support, inspiration, and hand-on tools in every chapter for living well with life's challenges. To learn more visit http://www.autismwithattitude.com.

~~~

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of Breathe

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US only

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Giveaway: The Blood Confession by Alisa M. Libby

Title: The Blood Confession

Author: Alisa M. Libby

Description: Erzebet Bizecka lives in a remote castle in the Carpathian mountains, the only child of the Count and Countess Bizecka. Born under the omen of a falling star, Erzebet is a child of prophecy: the predictions of a scryer tell of a child whose days will end quickly, or whose days will have no end. As a teenager, Erzebet strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young village girl, Marianna, but even her dearest friend can not understand her overwhelming fears of growing older and losing her beauty. The only one who does understand her is Sinestra, the beautiful, mysterious stranger who visits Erzebet and assures her that there are ways to determine her own destiny. With the Biblical passage “The life of the flesh is in the blood” he successfully lures her into a dark world of blood rituals in order to preserve her youth and beauty for eternity. But will the blood treatments—exacted from willing servant girls—be enough to keep her safe forever? How far will Erzebet be willing to go to sever her life from the predestined path God has chosen for her?

~~~

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of The Blood Confession

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US and Canada

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Robin Wasserman: Happily ever after

Robin Wasserman, Author of the Skinned Trilogy and Seven Deadly Sins series

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

So I’m told I’m supposed to offer advice about life after high school. Just one thing: I don’t have any. Except possibly: ENJOY.

You’re talking to someone who spent her teens psychotically desperate to get into college and her early twenties psychotically desperate to get back there. So I’ve got plenty of advice about what to do in those situations (although I guess most of the advice boils down to: This too shall pass). But as far as I’m concerned, college – despite all the melodramatic lows that go along with the many (let’s just say metaphorical) highs – is, after the tyranny and monotony of high school, pretty much a ridiculous paradise of free choice.

The whole point of life after high school is that, unlike in high school, no one can tell you what to do.

Your life is suddenly your own. Everything terrifying, exhilarating minute of it.

That said, I have to admit that as an embarrassingly huge pop culture addict, my life post-graduation wasn’t entirely my own. I’m not saying I modeled my college life after Saved By the Bell: The College Years . . . but I’ll admit there are a select number of pop cultural entities that pretty much shaped my entire understanding of life after high school. So in that spirit (with the full knowledge that I’m dating myself), a list:

1. How I Got Into College

2. The Freshmen

3. Can’t Hardly Wait

4. Dead Man on Campus

5. Wear Sunscreen

6. Conan O’Brien’s Harvard Commencement Speech

7. Back to School (Because the only thing that could improve college would be the presence of Robert Downey, Jr.)

8. PCU; (starring a manic, pre-Entourage Jeremy Piven)

9. The Secret History

10. And, of course one of the all time greatest college movies . . . Real Genius (You thought I was going to say Animal House, didn’t you? Apparently, you didn’t know me in high school. The linked-to clip, one of the greatest scenes of the movie, should fill you in.)

~~~

You can read my review of Skinned here and Crashed here. I can not wait for Wired!

Giveaway Item(s): A copy of Skinned
# of Winners: 1
Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Artist Arthur: Show up and participate

Artist Arthur, Author of the Mystyx series

LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL – SHOW UP AND PARTICIPATE

For ten years you’ve done nothing but fantasize about this moment in time. I say ten because kindergarten and first grade you’re still too young and excited about doing something other than sitting in the house or daycare all day to realize what you’re getting into. So you’ve gone through elementary with the huge crayons and recess, migrated on to middle school with your first social cliques and changing clothes in a room full of girls for P.E. and then ventured into the pre-adult emotional rollercoaster otherwise known as high school. All the while there was an adult, a teacher, there every day telling you to just show up and participate and all would be well. What in the world were they talking about?

Well, doesn’t matter because now you’re finished!

Yaaaayyy!!! Party like a rock star for about a week and then you’ll wake up one day and wonder, what now?

If you’re like me you spent the last ten years just trying to make it through to the next day, making future plans wasn’t really high on your priority list. And your parents, what the heck happened to them? Why aren’t they smiling at you in the morning asking if you’ve had breakfast anymore? Welcome to life after school!

I remember enrolling for college and thinking, “Ugh, didn’t I just finish with school.” I wasn’t eager to sit in another classroom and yet, I wasn’t in the mood to party anymore. I just generally didn’t know what to make of this new stage in life. The years following are sort of a blur to me now, but what I carry with me everyday is the fact that I am not now who I was then. Sounds way too philosophical right? I know, that comes with age too. LOL But what I’m trying to say is take the time to grow up. As with those twelve years of school you found out who you were and the limits you had during that time. Now there’s an entirely new landscape in front of you, how you navigate it is going to be tricky. There’s no textbook and not a lot of guidance that you’ll be willing to receive at the moment. But if you’re lucky you’ve learned something about yourself in your last twelve years and that’s what will mold you in the years to come.

Life after high school can be exhilarating, scary, uncertain and sometimes candidly cruel, but there’s gold at the end of the rainbow. Happily ever after is attainable. You just have to show and participate to get there.

~~~

Read my review of Manifest here. A cool series for paranormal lovers!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): A Manifest prize pack

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US only

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Meridi Myers: Summer work

Meridi Myers, Author of Titus and Atreus

Adventures of an Impoverished High School Graduate

There are a lot of good things about going away to college for the first time. There’s the freedom of being on your own and (finally!) being away from your parents; there’s the fun of meeting a whole host of brand new people; and of course the excitement of (hopefully) studying something that interests you. There’s one thing, however, that is not so good:

Paying for all of the freedom, fun, and excitement that is the college experience.

Okay. So it wasn’t really that bad for me; my loans and scholarships covered most of the major stuff. But I was faced with living expenses. I needed to furnish my dorm room; I needed ridiculously expensive textbooks; and most importantly, I needed to eat. (My college allotted us a certain number of meals each week, but I knew it wouldn’t be nearly enough for me. I have the metabolism of a hummingbird, and get very cranky when my blood sugar levels drop.)

That meant that to cover these new living expenses, I would need to find a summer job after graduating high school. Unfortunately, most places are not looking to hire a seventeen-year-old for two months out of the year. I spent weeks applying for jobs and was about to concede that my dorm room would consist solely of a bare mattress, when a friend of mine discovered a place that was not only hiring, but was hiring just for the summer. Whoa! Sounds perfect, right? I thought so too.

I got the job at the Girl Scout camp. I’m not sure what the requirements were, or if there really were any at all, but I passed the test. I was thrilled to have a place to work for the summer, and even more thrilled that I’d be working alongside two of my high school friends, who’d also applied and been accepted. I’d spend the next couple of weeks making funky lanyards and bottle cap belts, and by the end of it, I’d have a good chunk of change to spend as I pleased. It was going to be a piece of cake! I already knew how to take care of kids (I have a much younger brother whom I babysat all the time), I liked being outside, and I sort of enjoyed being crafty. I had all the makings of world-class camp counselor.

Needless to say, my illusion of the job being a cakewalk was soon shattered. Allow me to condense my experience into two lists: The Good—or, the perks of being a camp counselor—and The Bad—or, reasons why I will never ever be a camp counselor again.

The Good:

1) Free, all-you-can-eat Girl Scout cookies. (Okay, this might count for two points. . . . Maybe.)

2) Having an income for two months.

The Bad:

WARNING: The following list has not been exaggerated in any way. Proceed with caution.

1) Never receiving the “required” week-long training to become a camp counselor, since you applied after training ended.

2) Forgetting what “air conditioning” even means.

3) Relocating 20 seven-year-old girls to a new lodge at midnight because there is a bat—that may or may not have rabies—flying around your current shelter.

4) Waking up to find your sleeping bag covered in ice crystals because the temperature inexplicably plummeted overnight.

5) Having to start a fire in a thunderstorm in order to make dinner for yourself and your troop. (I’m absolutely not kidding about this. It really happened. And yes, by some stroke of luck, I did get that fire going, damn it!)

6) Carrying a four-year-old up a steep half-mile long hill because she’s too young to be at camp and can’t walk it herself. (Seriously, parents, what are you thinking?)

7) Asking one of your girls to please wear her bug repellent before she goes hiking, and having her respond by going into a completely unwarranted meltdown.

8) Having to teach six girls how to row a boat when you yourself have had no prior rowing experience.

9) One word: outhouses.

10) Rarely seeing either one of your high school friends because they were never given the same schedule as you were.

11) Trying to comfort crying, homesick scouts (that are not even yours) before they wake the rest of the tent up and start a chain reaction that you know you will not be able to control.

12) Being woken in the middle of the night because one of your girls is getting sick and needs her medication ASAP. (But, of course, you’re not allowed to carry her medication on your person, which would be the smartest and most convenient thing to do; no, it must be left at the hospital tent, which is, of course, on the other side of camp.)

13) The unidentified, but definitely large and dangerous, creatures watching you from the woods, waiting to spring as soon as you leave the tent at 4AM to pee. (Don’t laugh! That camp was creepy after sundown.)

The Bad list could go on.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much about my experience, though; after all, I accomplished what I originally set out to do: get a job and make a little money. I weathered through the seven weeks of hell—I mean, camp—and when August finally came around and I was on my way to college, I had my textbooks, extra money on my meal card, and enough décor to furnish half the rooms on my floor. And I had a nice tan. ;)

Congrats, Diana, and best of luck with all your post-high school adventures!

~~~

Read my review of Titus and Atreus here! A great fantasy novel I definitely recommend!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): A signed copy of Titus and Atreus + Bookmark

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US and Canada

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Giveaway: Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Title: Ballads of Suburbia

Author: Stephanie Kuehnert

Description: Kara hasn't been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park....

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.

~~~

This is an amazing novel that I highly recommend! Read my review of it here.

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): A signed copy of Ballads of Suburbia

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US only

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

E. Van Lowe: I'm smart!

E. Van Lowe, Author of Never Slow Dance with a Zombie

I'm Smart!

In the iconic film, The Godfather Part II, when Fredo Corleone is confronted by his kid brother, and mafia chief, Michael, for going out on his own, Fredo lashes out.

"I'm your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over!"
"That's the way pop wanted it," Michael cooly replies.
"It ain't the way I wanted it!" Fredo decries. "I'm smart! Not like everybody says..."

Of course, everyone in the audience knew, Fredo was an idiot.

Back when I was in high school in the inner city, being smart was not a badge of honor--not if you wanted to be hip, and cool, and in. Back then, intelligence was a curse. Somehow my peers had rigged it that being smart was a sign of weakness. And because I was smart, and had dreams, but still wanted to be accepted, I became a Fredo.

In elementary school I was quick to raise my hand, happily answering all my teacher's questions. But by the time I was in the seventh grade, amidst taunts of "teacher's pet," and "brown nose," my hand steadily came down.

By the ninth grade, knowing many of the answers and just sitting there was getting old. So, I did something to keep myself entertained, and (hopefully) to step up my popularity--I became a wise-ass. Now, when my hand went up in class, you could feel the energy in the room shift. Small smiles and giddy looks appeared on the faces of my classmates as they wondered "what the heck is he going to say now."

When my geometry teachers was explaining a tangent, my hand shot up:
"Yes, Mr. Van Lowe?"
"What does a piece of fruit, shaped like an orange, have to do with geometry?" I asked, my voice indignant. Yes, I know it was juvenile (I was fourteen), but it got the desired effect. Laughter all around. Of course, it meant detention for me (since I'd been warned several times about my answers), but it was worth it. I was welcomed into the bad boys, the jocks, the hip kids. Everyone thought I was so funny.

The toughest part of this charade is that I still had to get good grades, or I was going to get killed at home. When my teachers handed back my test papers, I would look at them, and then crumple them into a ball. Sometimes I'd glance at my classmates with a twinkle in my eye and say: "I got a ten. I was shooting for a zero, but I got my name right." More laughter. Everyone assumed I was failing--which I wasn't.

There was a gorgeous girl in my history class named Beverly. Beverly was late for class every day, and she was so ditzy. I usually don't go for the dumb type, but when Beverly wore tight skirts to school, she got my fourteen year-old juices flowing. I wanted to hang out with her. But talking to Beverly was like talking to a brick. She was that dense. Still, I dreamed of Beverly being my girlfriend.

One day in class, my history teacher was in a particularly good mood. The class, as a whole, had done much better on his most recent exam than he'd expected.

"And, of course, our best student always gets an A," he said, stopping by Beverly's desk. A hush fell over the class as we all awaited the punch line. But there wasn't one. He handed Beverly her test paper and moved on to the next student. She sat silent, the look on her face saying it all--sheer and utter embarrassment.

Well I'll be. Beverly was a Fredo.

I was elated. This was my in. I could be smart around Beverly. We could be smart around each other. One day after serving detention, as I was leaving school, I saw her. The corridor was empty--just her and me. My heart began pounding in my chest.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"I'm a writer," I said. It was all I could think of to let her know I was a Fredo, too. She shot me her ditzy look. I wanted to say: "It's okay. I know you're smart. And I don't care."

After several moments of me babbling about something to keep her from walking away, she said: "I'm going to medical school." Our eyes met. Mine filled with hope that gorgeous Beverly was going to be my girlfriend; hers held a warning.

We hung out a few times after that, but she never allowed me to get too close. She worked extra hard to win her ditzy rep back in history. Then she graduated with honors, and went on to a good college. I don't know what became of Beverly, but I'm sure she did well for herself.

Isn't it amazing what peer pressure can do to a kid? High school is tough enough without having to pretend you are dumb. But that's what me and Beverly, and I'm sure many others did to survive. I hope things have changed.

By the way, what the heck is a tangent, anyway?

Yes, I know. I'm still trying to be funny. Old habits die hard.


END

~~~

Read my review of the hilarious zombie novel Never Slow Dance with a Zombie here.

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Lee Bantle: A letter

Lee Bantle, Author of David Inside Out

NOTES TO MY NIECE ON HER EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY

Dear Anne:

An eighteenth birthday is a turning point in life. Not only are you recognized in law as an adult, but it marks the year in which you will leave behind day-to-day life with your family, go off to college and begin a new period of great independence. For me, it was a long-awaited moment. I was so eager to get out of the house and away from the parental eye always looking over my shoulder.

I did not actually leave home until my sophomore year in college, which was, I think, a mistake. You cannot immerse yourself in college life or get the full value out of it when you are commuting from home each day. Living on campus changes the dynamic in a dramatic (and fun) way. Even if you choose to go to a local school, I hope you will live on (or near) campus from the start. Your parents will miss you greatly when you move out, but I think they are free from the worry that you are leaving while still in need of their supervision. You have shown yourself to be reliable and mature beyond your years. Which isn’t to say that you will never do wild and crazy things during your college days. I hope you will. But, I have faith in your uncommon good sense.

As you ponder which college to attend, I will throw in my humble opinion. I have always regretted going to a large state school. I suppose the education I received was adequate, but it was too huge, too impersonal, and too close to home. In comparing notes with others over the years, those who rave most about their undergraduate experience went to small, private colleges in pastoral settings. For reasons not hard to discern, this type of college promotes bonding among the students, close interactions with the faculty, and freedom from outside world distractions.

While college is a means to a degree and a career, it can be so much more than that. It presents a unique opportunity to spend four years pursuing knowledge and meaning for their own sake. I’m afraid that I was rather goal-oriented in my undergraduate days. What curriculum requirements had to be satisfied? What books did I have to read and what papers did I have to submit to get A’s? (One teacher actually wrote a note to me which said: “good understanding is more important than good grades.”) Looking back, I wish I had spent more time steeped in art, music, philosophy and literature, all of which ennoble and make sense of the human experience. There are only so many chances in life to sit under a tree on a weekday afternoon reading George Elliot or Henry James (to name two of my favorite novelists) and then to discuss their writings at seminar. Good grades and graduation will come naturally to you. Forget about them and seek out understanding. (If your bent is toward science, I would certainly encourage that. But physics and chemistry need to be balanced with a little Emily Dickinson.)

Life at college is, of course, highly social. Many say it is the best time in life. I am not so willing to write off everything that comes after, but I agree that those years were a highlight. I still have close friends from college. Perhaps you are a little more shy than I was, but no matter. If you look, you will find your soul mates. I hope you will seek out people who are very different from you as well as those who come from similar backgrounds. It is fascinating to learn how people of different races, ethnicity and national origin perceive life. The more time I spend in New York City, the more enthralled I become with its diversity or what former Mayor David Dinkins called our “gorgeous mosaic.” I am sure you have encountered diversity in your high school. College will increase the opportunity to find it.

And if you really want to meet a lot of people from far flung places, why not spend a semester or a whole year studying abroad? At the very least, you should plan some travel in and around the United States and beyond during your college years. (It wouldn’t bother me if you took off a year from college and knocked around Europe or South America. This would also make for a great year following graduation.) The coming years are your time to see the world--before the obligations of career and family take hold. I don’t understand why people who have spent virtually every friggin’ moment of their lives in the Twin Cities are so self-satisfied. Every Minnesotan should be required to spend a summer on one of the coasts and a summer abroad before inertia lands them in a three bedroom split level in the suburbs. Don’t let this happen to you. Explore the world before you decide where to settle down.

College is a time to experiment, to sample the unknown, to try out new behaviors, new ways of thinking. I received a Christmas card this year from my friend, Gary, who is an artist. It was a big yellow sheet of construction paper which had two large words printed on it: “Be Bold!” I can think of no better words of encouragement to give a freshman leaving for college. Take risks. Lots of them. Talk up during class discussion. (It gets easier after you have broken the ice a few times.) Invite that student from the Ivory Coast out to tea.. Go to a meeting of Anarchists for a New Social Order. Knock on the door of that cute boy in your dorm. Be Bold!

Anne, I could go on, but I’ve probably already given you more advice than you wanted (and certainly more than you asked for). I can’t believe you are all grown up and planning to leave for college. I remember, like it was yesterday, looking at your bald head and laughingly calling you the moon baby. Now you are an adult. The thought of you going off to college is so exciting. I think you are going to love it. I know you are going to excel. I look forward to hearing about it.

With love,

Uncle Lee

~~~

Click to read my review of David Inside Out here! This is actually the first LGBT novel I have read. And it's pretty good!

Lee wants you guys to know that he and Lauren from Shooting Stars Mag came together to make a new blog called Lets Get Beyond Tolerance, where it focuses on LGBT themes. Stop by! http://letsgetbeyondtolerance.blogspot.com/

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