Archive | February, 2010

GOING BOVINE By Libba Bray

28 Feb

Plot Summary (taken from book jacket)

All sixteen-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school – and life in general – with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask.

But that’s before he’s given some bad news: He’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks.

Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel / possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure – if he’s willing to go in search of it.

With the help of Gonzo, a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf, and a yard gnome who just might be the Viking god Balder, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America of smoothie-drinking happiness cults, parallel-universe-hopping physicists, mythic New Orleans jazz musicians, whacked-out television game shows, snow-globe vigilantes, and disenfranchised, fame-hungry teens into the heart of what matters most.

My Take

This book reminds me a lot of another novel called The Divided Kingdom. I reviewed it on my original blog, but unfortunately lost that review in the Great Google Debacle of 2009. Anyway, the reason it reminded me of that book was that they both take you on this winding, almost dizzying trip through a country (in this case, the US) that resembles reality and yet is nothing like it. There are incidents that seem very random and disjointed, but that all end up connecting together somehow.

Because of the mini-plots that pop up just about every other chapter, you’re always trying to guess what will come next – and you never get it right. The characters are great – especially Balder, the yard gnome-slash-Viking god. It’s a really entertaining story, beginning to end.

My main complaint – and y’all will think this is really funny because I doubt ANYONE BUT ME would actually care about this – but her dwarf character, Gonzo, is hispanic. (No, that is not my complaint. Hang on a sec. I’m getting there.) Also, in the beginning of the book, Cameron is in Spanish class. In both cases, Libba Bray actually includes Spanish in her character’s conversations.

Which is all fine and good.

EXCEPT THAT THE SPANISH IS TERRIBLE.

This really bugs me for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I think she really should have made sure her translations (which I feel confident she got from an online translator) were correct. Or, even if she didn’t check them, someone should have. I mean, Spanish isn’t exactly an obscure language. People do speak it. For example, yours truly. So I was a bit bothered by her lack of research there, but in the end, I built a bridge and got over it.

Alrighty. Moving on.

Aside from the epic foreign language failure, everything about the book is fantastic. I really liked Cameron and his snarkiness, and the cast of characters Bray introduces throughout the story is just plain genius. She’s a fabulous writer and her voice hooked me from page one. The action never stops and I never found myself wondering how many more pages there were till the next chapter. All in all, I’m really glad I picked this one up!

Book Rating: R for bad language, some teenage hormonal sexual stuff, and some drugs. Oh yeah, and a little surprise plot twist at the end involving Gonzo that I totally did not see coming.

Recommended for: People who like stories that jump around a lot and keep you guessing till the end, road trip addicts, recovering hypochondriacs, and yard gnomes looking for an adventure.

Not recommended for: (This is not meant to be funny) Anyone who is sensitive to the issue of fatal illness. Cameron makes a lot of jokes about his mad cow disease, and while his voice is funny, the subject matter is not.

Week In Links 2.26.10

26 Feb

You know what I’ve realized recently? That we, as aspiring authors – or even as published authors, in some (lucky) cases – cannot afford to underestimate the value of good publicity.

I mean, at the end of the day, our level of appeal to the public and the extent to which our names are known has a lot to do with how much success we can expect as authors. Not to say our writing isn’t the *big* thing, but PR and marketing sure are important.

The tough part – for me, at least – is effectively engaging in the marketing/PR side of things without coming off like a total narcissist.

This is the reason I’ve chosen to do the Pre-Famous Author Series here on the blog. It’s a way to connect all of us writers to each other, and it’s a way for you, dear Readers, to find writer friends you wouldn’t otherwise know about – without anyone having to toot their own horn.That’s right! Give me your horn and I’ll toot it for you!

(That sounded just a little bit dirty, but I really didn’t mean for it to.)Anyway. I’ve decided to implement a new feature on the blog, in addition to the Pre-Famous Interviews, that will (I hope) accomplish the following things:

  1. Foster more awareness of other writers out there in Internet World.
  2. Encourage interaction among said writers. And finally,
  3. Possibly initiate more blog wars for my own entertainment.

So what is this new feature, you ask? Well. Feast your eyes upon THIS! *yanks curtain back to reveal new “Week in Links” series, which sparkles and causes crowd to gasp and squint in the sudden light*

The new Week in Links feature is exactly what it sounds like. As the week progresses, I’ll make a note of any blog posts, articles, or tweets that I feel are especially helpful to us as writers, helpful to us as human beings, emotionally moving, or just plain entertaining. Then, on Friday nights, or maybe Saturday mornings, I will post those links for your enjoyment. Hopefully, this will also be helpful to those of you who are unbelievably busy and just might not make it to the blog world that week.
By the way, I am operating under the assumption that everyone would like to be linked to. I am, however, aware of what happens when one assumes, so please tell me if you would prefer not to be linked to and I will happily oblige.
Do I have links for today, you ask? Why, as a matter of fact, I do! And boy, are we kicking it off right!
  • Sara McClung posted a cat video that got me so tickled I made my ugly laugh/cry face. In front of people. At work. It’s almost 8 minutes long, but it’s worth every second.
  • Heather Trese blogged about finding the elusive teen voice in your writing. This one is directed at YA authors, particularly those whose protagonists are teen girls.
  • Kiersten White wrote a parody screenplay for a fake episode of Lost that had me giggling all the way through – and I don’t even watch the show!
  • J. Koyanagi blogged about author branding and how she came up with her logo. It’s fascinating, and it’s something we all need to think about.
Alright, that’s all for today, folks. I know there was so much more genius stuff out there this week, but I didn’t keep up with all of it the way I should have. Hopefully, you saw it anyway. Have a great weekend!

Pre-Famous Author Interview: Heather Trese

25 Feb

Heather Trese (who sent me two pictures to choose from… really, Heather, was there ever a chance I wouldn’t pick this one?) has kindly consented to be my next Pre-Famous Author interviewee! I’ve gotten to know Heather on blogs and Twitter, which I guess is an okay substitute for knowing her in real life. Before we get to the interview, here’s some background on Heather.

A Clearwater, Florida resident (by way of Pennsylvania and New Jersey), Heather works as the associate editor of an extremely exciting business-to-business insurance magazine. Basically, her life is the female version of Jason Bourne, if Jason Bourne worked for a magazine. She spends a lot of time beating up evil insurance adjustors and breaking into hotels to uncover the latest health benefits available, which she then passes on to businesses and companies via the magazine.
Okay, maybe not. But we can pretend.
When she’s not working or writing, she reads. Or eats. Or makes food that she will eat later. She doesn’t have cable, so she watches a lot of Hulu and is really into Lost. Also, she and I are kindred spirits because she enjoys Arrested Development, which is basically the best show in the world. (There’s always money in the banana stand, right Heather?)
After having her first 25 pages torn apart at a writer’s conference, she’s currently editing her WIP, which she describes as a “YA novel set in a dystopian future where there’s no natural disease or death. So the government creates a way to control the population, which our lovely female MC is involved in, and chaos ensues.” Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?
Alright. Ready to get to know her a little better? Me too!
*          *          *
Anne: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Heather: This is a tough question. I studied abroad in Italy and I loved it there, so that’s my first instinct. But I love to travel, and I would want to have my friends with me everywhere I went, so I would probably just move every six months to different places all around the world. That way I could visit the people I know who live all over the world. Some days I feel like a city girl, other days I feel like a country girl. I would love to live in the mountains. I live five minutes from the beach right now but I almost never go (and it shows), so I would probably skip the islands.
A: Suppose you could only have one book for the rest of your life. You would choose…?
H: Since they haven’t released the complete Harry Potter series in a single-bound edition yet, I guess that doesn’t count as one book. So I’ll say Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I’ll also say that I think this is a very mean question, because having only one book for the rest of my life would be torture (even if it was Harry Potter).
A: You’re right. But secretly, I enjoy torturing people like that. *evil cackle* No, just kidding, don’t leave! Okay, next question, before I scare you again. What is your biggest quirk?
H: All of the money in my wallet has to be facing forward, upright, and in numerical order (smallest bills toward me). It can’t even go in the wallet the wrong way for a few seconds. I’ve held up lines trying to put it in the right way when cashiers hand it to me all messy.
A: Um, remember how I said we were kindred spirits because of the Arrested Development thing? It looks like we share the same OCD tendency, as well. Hmm. Anyway, what other unique thing about yourself can you share with us?
H: I married my high school sweetheart, who I met on a blind date…at Denny’s…when we were 16. My best friend, who is still my best friend, and was my maid of honor, set us up.
A: That is great! It’s like a movie or something. Bless. And at Denny’s, too. Moving on… What is one thing you would never, ever do?
H: Um…crystal meth? Honestly, I’m in the camp of “I’ll try almost anything once,” so even though there are things that truly terrify me, I would still try them, especially if I had some friends along with me.
A: Wow. You’re braver than I am. And I think it’s cool that you would try anything once. Unless that thing is crystal meth, in which case I suggest you stay far, far away. On a completely different topic, who is the author you admire the most?

H: I admire a lot of authors for different reasons. I admire J.K. Rowling for her world-building, charity work, and general awesomeness. I admire Megan McCafferty for the fan outreach she does, especially through social networking. I admire the tenners, who really put themselves out there and are promoting themselves like crazy. I admire Justine Larbelestier because she’s so outspoken (in an intelligent way) on her blog. I really could go on and on…and if I love a book, I admire the author who wrote it, just for being incredible.

A: What about the characters you write? Which one do you identify with the most?

H: There is definitely a little bit of me in all of my characters. For this WIP, I would say Finley, who is the female MC’s best friend. I have one for a future project who reminds me more of myself than anyone in my current WIP. I used her character in the scene I wrote for the No-Kiss blogfest.

A: Ah, the No-Kiss Blogfest. Good times. So, what would you say is your biggest challenge as a writer?

H: Plot comes pretty easy to me. I think my biggest challenge is being descriptive without being cheesy. I stay away from adverbs and all that jazz, but I still have to revise my descriptions repeatedly before I think they’re good enough to show anyone, and even then I get comments back that make me think they’re not working. But I’m getting better; the more you write the more you learn, so all I can do is keep writing.

A: So true. Good luck Heather, and keep in touch with us in the future!

Isn’t she fun? I have loved getting to know Heather, and I know you will too! Here’s how you can find her out there on the interweb:

Do yourselves a favor and stay in contact with this girl – she’s going to make it big someday!

If you would like to participate in the Pre-Famous Author Interview series, let me know by leaving me a comment on this page, tweeting me @AnneRiley, or emailing me at annerileybooks AT gmail DOT com. I would love to interview you!

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