Lyrical Interview: Leah Clifford

Today Leah Clifford stopped by the blog to answer some of my questions using songs lyrics. Leah is celebrating her second book A Touch Morbid release which is the second in the A Touch Trilogy.

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Describe A Touch Morbid

The whole song of Zero Sum by Nine Inch Nails describes A Touch Morbid pretty perfectly, so
I’ll just link to the youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euu9Ty-5NZA

How was it like writing the second book in the A Touch Trilogy?

A catch in my throat, choke,
Torn into pieces, I won't. No.
I don't want to be this but
I won't let this build up inside of me
Vermillion Part 2 --Slipknot

Describe how you feel about the cover of A Touch Morbid

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're lovely and you're perfect
And that somebody wants you
I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're priceless and you're precious
Even when you are not new
FNT--Semisonic

Give us a hint on your favorite scene you wrote in A Touch Morbid

I'm…trying to hold it together
Head is lighter than a feather
Looks like I'm not getting better
Not getting better
Wait, I'm coming undone
Unlaced, I'm coming undone
Too late, I'm coming undone
What looks so strong, so delicate
Coming Undone--Korn

What is one song you can't stop listening to right now?

Born to Die by Lana Del Rey The video is amazing too! I’ve had it on repeat for days.

Author This or That: Liz Reinhardt

Liz Reinhardt stops by the blog today answering few of this or that. She is the author of Double Clutch.


Sweet or Salty:
The two combined! Chocolate covered pretzels, popcorn and Goobers, hot cocoa with sea salt…I love it all!


Facebook or Twitter:
Definitely Facebook! I’m on Twitter, but it feels like my brain will blow up when I try to figure out all the conversations…then again, it took me a good five months to figure out Facebook, so maybe I just need more time.


Love Triangles or Cross star lovers:
I would have said star-crossed, hands down…then I started reading books with love triangles and got addicted. Reading New Moon really inspired Double Clutch, because I thought Jacob Black got such a raw deal. I started to wonder what would happen if a girl really cared about two guys…and the rest is history!


Macbook or PCs:
I work on a PC but lust after a Mac!


Coffee or Tea:
Tea, lots of milk and sugar, like a little kid.


Summer or Winter:
I love the coziness and celebrations of winter, but now that I live in the South, the weather really throws me. I haven’t seen snow fall in six years! So I think I’m definitely missing winter right now!


Bookstores or online bookstores:
Online. I love browsing, but I hate going all the way to a place for a certain book, and it isn’t there! What I love about online is each book is right at my fingertips, anytime. I’ve read SO much more since I got an ereader, and that makes me very happy!


Vampire or werewolves:
Werewolves!! I love the warm, fiery tempered, animalistic nature!


iPhone or Blackberry:
Um. My phone is super, super old. Like it folds over. And has no internet access! But I want an iPhone just for the hilarious autocorrect options!


Talking on the phone or Texting:
99% texting, because it’s quick, direct, and lets me get right back to work writing. BUT I need my talking time with my friends/sister/mom/gram or I’d go crazy.


England or Paris:
Ooooh!! Tough one! I’d have to say Paris for it’s amazing food and wine…but I’m totally sneaking over to England to bask where so many of my favourite authors wrote ;)!


Blue or Purple:
Purple. That may be because I have a five year old, and she LOVES purple. I see a lot of it!

The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams- Interview and Giveaway

The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams is the story of four best friends: Piper,Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy--the misfits of Paris, Texas. Their whole lives, they’ve dreamed of escaping small-town life and seeing the world. So when Piper is the victim of an embarrassing prank that goes viral online, she gets the idea that the girls should escape via the school’s international exchange program, in search of fun, love and internet redemption.

Emily McKay, Shellee Roberts and Tracy Deebs write under the pseudonym Ivy Adams.

They shop, gossip and watch movies in Austin, Texas.

Around the World in 80 Kisses: Smooch Stop #47

1.If you would describe The International Kissing Club book in a

sentence, what would it be?

Four best friends go international and have a fun, flirty, romantic time.

2.How is it like to write with three other writers? What are some of the

criteria that needed to be in an author to write with others?

There are actually three writers who wrote IKC—Shellee Roberts, Emily McKay

and myself. It was amazing fun, to be honest, but also a lot of hard work. I

think if you’re collaborating on a book, you need to be organized and have good

communication skills. You also must be flexible and have a lot of discipline. We

were great with the first three and lousy with the last one. Most of our meetings

ended up being two hours of fashion/movie/gossip talk followed by an hour of

frantic work, lol;)

3.Since the girls from The International Kissing Club uses Facebook

page anonymously to stay connected with each other, do you think its the

best method for the girls to update one another using a facebook page or not?

Why?

I think it worked for the girls really well, simply because it was a venue that all four could

use to keep up with each other at the same time—something texting and IMing doesn’t

really provide. Also, it accommodated for their very different time zones/schedules, so

that one could log on leave a message and then the others could pick it up whenever

they got the chance.

4.In the book ,The International Kissing Club, each girl travels to a different

country, so what is the one country you cant wait to visit?

I’ve been to a lot of countries all ready—most of Europe, parts of Africa, Latin

America. But if I had to choose one country (besides France, where my girl

goes and where I’ve already been) to visit, I guess it would be Brazil. I would

love to see Rio during Carnaval.

5. What inspired the idea behind The International Kissing Club?

We were actually at another writer’s house for a Chinese dumpling party and

we were sitting around talking about a friend’s love life (she’s kissed a guy from

like twenty-five different countries) and Shellee pipes up with “Geez, you’re a

veritable International Kissing Club.” Emily and I looked at each other across

the table and said, “That is an incredible title.” The party went on, but we

couldn’t let the title go and within two weeks we’d plotted out The International

Kissing Club :)

Thanks for having me today.

Giveaway:

Now tell me your favorite way to keep up with friends in the comment section (leave your email so we can

contact you) to be entered to win the Around the World In 80 Kisses daily and weekly

prize and also become eligible to win the Grand Prize, a Kindle Fire. For a list of all our

Smooch Posts you can visit and earn more entries to win, visit us here.

Author Interview with Molly E. Johnson

I  asked a couple of questions to the author, of  Spartacus and the Circus Shadows, Molly E. Johnson and here is the full interview. 

What should readers take out of Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows story?
Under all the ridiculousness, there is kind of an adult message: not everything is always as it seems, and that includes people—even people you think you know really well, like family. This is something I think we’re constantly learning, over and over again, but no one really emphasizes how important the message is: Knowing that you could be wrong doesn’t mean failure; in fact, it opens your world up to every sort of possibility. 

What inspired the world of Spartacus and the circus?
The locations came from places I’ve been or lived. I moved to a small Oregon town when I was twelve. I created Brenville to match the views I had about the town when I just moved there, before I figured out there were people—and more than one radio station. And because I grew up with an older brother much like Spartacus’s brother, I definitely knew what it felt like to be trapped in the middle of nowhere with someone who knew I was very gullible. That being said, most of the running away parts came from daydreams I had as a kid, of escaping home with a bag of essentials. In the daydreams I was always part-spy, part-ninja, part-action hero. I tried to feed that longing into Spartacus’s character. 


And as for the circus, I’m a huge fan of Cirque du Soleil, and that’s the feeling I was hoping to give to Bartholomew’s. I always liked the allure of regular circuses, even as a kid. But to me, it was really just the idea of a circus that was more romantic and interesting than the actual event itself. The striped tents, the travelers, the fake glamour with a dirty underbelly. A circus was a place where you could go as a kid where you knew there was more happening than you could comprehend. There was something happening behind the scenes and if you were clever enough, you might be able it figure it out. Like being seven and watching a mall Santa from a distance—there must be some trick, but what is it?? 


If you were to give an advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?
I know this seems lame there is so much to be said about putting your head down and just writing. I can’t say how much time I’ve wasted, wanting to be a writer but simply not writing like someone who wanted to be a writer. So write. And when you’re done with one thing, start something else. And when you’re done with that, find a fellow writer you trust you give you feedback. Rewrite, edit, and repeat. And repeat… 


What are your rituals (if any) you follow during writing, editing, revising?
I can’t ever sit down to something I’m in the middle of without revising what I wrote the session before. With a clear head, you can see flaws you didn’t see before. And while this sometimes (often) leads to me not creating anything new during that session, it really tightens the writing for next time. 


But I enjoy being in the middle of something. I like having something to work from—which means I really hate starting new stories. It actually scares me to sit down and start something new. I know, unheard of, right? And if I do start something, I’ll more than likely spend a good part of the writing session deleting. Since I have no editing/revising self-control, I’ve started writing new stories on a typewriter. That way, I can’t go anywhere but forward—and there is nothing better than giving into that sweet, sweet typewriter flow. After a few hours, I’ll have written maybe thirty pages and will have created at least one idea, one conversation, or one character that I like. I then use the best parts of that writing session to start from the next time I write. 


'It's up to Spartacus to be the hero'... what quality he needs to become a hero to find his mother?
I know this is generally not listed amongst traits of middle grade heroes but the key to finding his mother is critical thinking. Spartacus is walking a tightrope of trust issues (trusting himself, his best friend, and strangers), while juggling bravery and his gut feelings that something is wrong—but without the ability to logically think things through, he’d never have a chance to save anyone. This is something he begins to develop toward the end of the book, but as with all of us, it's a work in progress. 

Author Interview: Naima Robert

I Interviewed Na'ima Robert as part of The Teen Book Scene blog tour. We chatted about things that really effect her latest book's character, Boy vs. Girl. You can follow this link to check out my review for the book. 

1.Farhana did her own list to be accomplished during Ramadan, what is
your own list for Ramadan?

My intentions were to complete reading the Qur’an (Koran) in Arabic, increasing in remembrance, reading more religious material, sharing this
 spiritual experience with my family and purifying my soul - phew!

2.Faraz has gotten himself in trouble, what do you think the
government, community, etc should do to help teens like Faraz keep away
from streets?

Wow, what a question! Well, my personal view is that it starts in the home: an open yet principled and morally sound upbringing, parents who set clear boundaries while listening to their children, encouragement in ‘halal’ outlets for young people’s energy. And discussion about why these limits are there - is it cultural, community, reputation or faith-based?

The community should take responsibility for the nurturing of the youth by providing programmes for young people. Our societies need to take a long, hard look at what choices and role models we are offering young people like Faraz, as the recent riots in the UK have shown.

3.What is your advice to girls who are struggling to wear Hijab
fearing their peers' reaction to it?

I’d ask her to examine why she is wearing it, the true reason. If it is for the sake of Allah (God), she should hold on to that and make that her focus. There will be difficulties, no doubt, as Farhana realises in Boy vs. Girl, but if you renew your intention and remind yourself of the reason you are wearing hijab, praying or any other Islamic duty, you will become stronger and more able to deal with the tests that come your way.

4.What is the main message you want your readers to get out of this book?

For Muslim readers, I wanted to show that you can be strong enough to do what you know to be right, that faith is more important than popularity, and that you are not alone in your struggles - others are going through them too,
For non-Muslim readers, I hoped to share a little of the flavour of life as a young Muslim, to show some of the challenges they face, some of the ways in which they are similar, in order to aid in understanding the diversity of the societies we inhabit.

5.What are some titles you are planning to read this fall?

Umm Zakiyyah's 'Heart we lost' and Leila Aboulela’s award-winning ‘Lyrics Alley’ (I am a big fan of her other books) are on my list. My younger reading list includes ‘Guantanamo Boy’ by Anna Pereira. I'd also like to read the rest of the Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman as well as Keren David's new book 'Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery'.
On the non-fiction side, I have a book about on the sciences of the Qur’an, a biography of Usman dan Fodio, the Hausa leader of Northern Nigerian and ‘7 Habits of highly effective families’ on my bedside table.
I am also working on finishing up my next novel about young Black British teens accepting Islam in South London - so I will have to curtail my novel reading, especially as I will be going back to full-time Arabic studies in addition to running SISTERS, a magazine for Muslim women :)
www.naimabrobert.co.uk