Slightly Off-Topic: Nothing Is Better

There is nothing better than...

... lemon ice on a too-hot day.

.... a book so good you want to reread it as soon as you finish it the first time.

... finding out that the person you secretly have a crush on secretly has a crush on you, too.

... a baby that was crying half an hour ago falling sound asleep on your shoulder.

... a friend who just "gets" you.

Now it's your turn.  Complete this thought:  Nothing is better than...

Fun Finds: Bookmarks

Kokeshi Girl Magnetic  by Tiges and Weince

Fabric Covered Button by La Dolce Boutique

Pick Me Letterpress by Sweet Harvey

Queen of Hearts by Suzie Chaney Art

You Are Here by AnnieWHERE

Interview: Author Angela Morrison

Welcome to my tour stop on the blog tour for Sing Me to Sleep by  Angela Morrison.  Today I'll be talking with the author herself.  Times like this I really love being a blogger.

First off, let's play three truths and a lie. Tell us four facts about yourself, one of which is fictional. (Readers, scroll down to the end of the interview to discover the lie.)

1. My ancestors were Mormon pioneers who walked across the Great Plains to Utah.

2. I met my editor at a retreat held in a castle in Italy.

3. I got rejected hundreds of times before I finally signed with Penguin.

4. I wear pink ballet shoes when I feel like dancing.

If you were not a writer, you would most likely be....

I always wanted to be an editor, but wow, that is a tough, tough job. Now that I know more about what these amazing people do, I think I'd still go for it. I love words. I think I'll keep my writing gig, though. I love going to work in my jammies.

What was the inspiration behind SING ME TO SLEEP?

My daughter sang with the Junior Amabile Singers when we lived in London, Ontario. I always wanted to set a story in the competitive youth choir world. The senior Amabile choirs are incredible, and we fell quite in love with the whole Amabile family. When we moved to Switzerland, it was my daughter's Amabile friends who kept in touch and kept her going through a hard first year. Then something happened to one of her closest friends in the young men's choir that motivated me to start writing. Be sure to read the dedication and Author's note at the end of the book.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

It's is always a kick to create intense guys characters that girls will fall in love with. Mine are all amazingly creative kissers. But Derek is way more complex than any of my other heros because he was inspired by a young man that so many people love. That made creating his character more challenging and more rewarding than any other character I've written about. This is fiction, so Derek isn't Matt. But the inspiration I got from Matt filled in the cracks and made Derek breathe.

How do you feel your faith has influenced your writing?

At first I tried to write stuff sanitized of my faith. It was awful. I started searching for help. In TAKE JOY, Jane Yolen says stories must have a writer's inner truth at their heart. She is so right. It's hard to write from a place of belief, though, and not give in to the temptation to bend your art to didactic purposes. That ends up even worse than no truth at all.

As I wrestled with this dichotomy, I studied the brilliant, believing Katherine Paterson. She says our faith should be the "bones and sinews" of our work. I managed to do that in SING ME TO SLEEP. My faith seeps quietly into the story and turns heartbreak to hope.

You mention in your bio that you're a compulsive reader. What are some of your favorite books and authors?

Katherine Paterson, of course. I especially love her historical novels. Try OF NIGHTINGALES THAT WEEP. I'm a big Tolstoy fan. Jane Austen freak. Into the Brontes. Have you ever read Charlottes VILLETTE? It's amazing. I love escaping into Mary Stewart's romances, like MY BROTHER MICHAEL, have a complete collection of C.S. Forester's HORNBLOWER books, and highly recommend Ursula LeGuin's fantasy. My favorite American author is Willa Cather. Read O, PIONEERS and you will cry your eyes out.

I love and honor Norma Fox Mazer, the fairy godmother of modern YA, who recently passed away--AFTER THE RAIN, SILVER, GOOD NIGHT, MAMAN. We will all miss her.

Markus Suzak's THE BOOK THEIF is still my favorite YA novel. And I highly recommend everything Martine Leavitt writes. I wish I could write with the beauty and grace of my mentor at Vermont College, Susan Fletcher.

Of those twenty novels you want to write, what are you working on next?

I just finished the sequel to TAKEN BY STORM, UNBROKEN CONNECTION. I hope to be revising it soon, but I haven't heard back from Penguin yet. I have one more book to write about Leesie and Michael called CAYMAN SUMMER. Watch ChatSpot on my website for news.

Perhaps you can tell from my list of favorites that my true passion is historical novels and fantasy with strong historical influence. I'm revising my first novel in a series of coming of age romantic novels based on my Scottish coal mining roots. It's called MY ONLY LOVE. And I have a YA timeslip adventure/romance, MY TIME ASSASSIN, that I'm reworking. It's going to be JANE EYRE meets the TERMINATOR--but this guy is nothing like a robot. Every high school I visit, gives me fresh inspiration. I think those twenty novels are closer to thirty now.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thanks so much for hosting me, Vanessa. Getting to meet you and your followers is one of the best parts of my job as an author. If you have more questions, I'd be happy to stop by and answer them through the next day or two. Thanks for the support and happy reading!

P.S. Writers, don't be shy. If you have questions about writing, please, ask away.

P.P.S #2 is the lie. I met my editor at a retreat held in an abbey north of Paris.

Thank you for the interview, Angela.  Readers, as you can see, Angela has graciously agreed to check back and answer questions that you leave in the comments.  Don't be shy!

Enter to win a signed copy of SING ME TO SLEEP.

Sing Me to Sleep Giveaway!

Thanks to the delightful Angela Morrison, I am able to give you all a chance to win a signed hardcover copy of Sing Me to Sleep.  Just fill out the form below.  There are lots of chances for extra entries, so read carefully.  You can repost the book trailer on your own blog, and be sure to comment on my book review and interview with Angela.

If you are one of the first 20 people to fill out the form with their mailing address, I will send you a signed Angela Morrison bookmark!  You don't have to include your mailing address to enter to win the book, though.  I'll contact the big winner by email.

Review: Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison

Last word first: Beautifully written and perfectly heartbreaking.  I cried. (4/5)

Preorder now:  Sing Me to Sleep $11.55 (March 4)

Summary: Beth is "the Beast" and just about everyone at her high school torments her accordingly.  Her only escape is the exclusive girl's choir she's a part of, but even there she's shoved in the back row.  That is, until the soloist has a breakdown and Beth wins the solo.  Suddenly, everything changes.  Beth gets a makeover, and she's headed with the choir to Switzerland.  There she meets Derek, a mysterious young man who might just change Beth's life even more.

My thoughts: Who doesn't love a story of an underdog made good?  Sing Me to Sleep opens with a scene of Beth being mercilessly teased at her high school, and it did a great job of aligning me with the character instantly.  Once I got to know her, I liked her even more.  Beth is not a paragon of virtue - the character has flaws, for sure.  But she feels real, and I loved that.

In a very Phantom of the Opera way, a large portion of the emotional plot development takes place in the form of song lyrics.  I am not an overly romantic person, and I have never aspired to have someone write songs for me, but this book might just change my mind.  The words, emotion, the writing- all of it pure and beautiful.  Angela Morrison, should you ever be inclined to write song lyrics for me...

There was a section in the middle of the book where the story almost lost me.  At certain points, the relationship dynamics made me crazy and I wanted to give Beth, Derek and Scott a collective slap across the face.  Stop being so clingy!  Stop being so controlling! Stop being so whiny!  I love to start a book with very little idea what it's like or how it will end up, and so I honestly didn't know what was going on with some of the characters.  After a key revelation, it all made sense and I was once again completely hooked.

So, to recap: great writing, relatable characters, and romance.  Mix in a little mystery and the overhanging threat of tragedy, and you have a surefire winner.  If you can read this book without getting at least a little misty-eyed, you have a heart of stone. 

Angela Morrison in her own words:  "I graduated, fled the pig farm for Brigham Young University, and fell in love with Keats, Donne, Eugene England, and a dark-haired returned missionary from Ottawa, Ontario, who I promptly married."  (borrowed from the excellent bio on Angela's website.)

Come back tomorrow to read my interview with Angela.
You can watch the SING ME TO SLEEP book trailer here.  It's fantastic!
Click the SING ME TO SLEEP badge in the top of the right-hand sidebar to see the other tour stops and learn more about this great book.

Teaser Tuesday: Sing Me to Sleep

Today's Teaser is from Sing Me to Sleep by Angela Morrison.

Derek polishes off four pink-frosted, candy-sprinkled donuts.

"That's not a very manly choice."

"You're so sexist." He picks up his last donut and bites into it.  "Pink? I thought you'd get it.  In honor of Meadow."

I'll be posting my interview with Angela Morrison tomorrow, as part of her Sing Me to Sleep blog tour.  Stay tuned!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!

Mini Reviews (6)

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris (3.5/5)

Long story short: Harper and Tolliver are off to North Carolina, where they uncover their most chilling crime to date.  Harper finds the bodies of eight teen boys who were tortured to death.  The worst part is, it seems the killer is still on the loose, and none to happy about having his trophies discovered...

My thoughts:  An Ice Cold Grave is more intense than the previous two books of this series, but I really enjoyed it.  The storyline is well-plotted and not too easy to figure out, and the cast of extras for North Carolina is lots of fun.  Best of all, I'm really starting to enjoy the characters of Harper and Tolliver- they have a unique dynamic.   However, this book is perhaps most memorable for comparing sex to cable television and for having one of most gag-worthy lines ever uttered during a love scene: "For you baby, HBO."

Smile by Raina Telgemeier (3/5)

Long story short: Raina just wants to be a normal, invisible sixth grader.  But after she knocks out her two front teeth, she's anything but invisible.  What follows is a nightmare of surgery, braces, and headgear... and that's just the dental stuff!  Don't forget first crushes, frienemies, earthquakes and starting middle school.

My thoughts:  This is a very cute book.  The artwork reminds me a bit of old For Better or For Worse comics, don't you agree?  Raina is an adorable kid, and you just can't help but cheer for her as she deals with all the cringe-inducing problems.  Very highly recommended for readers of a similar age to Raina, though I don't see this graphic novel having a lot of crossover appeal to adult readers. 

Never After Winner!

And the winner is:  distractedmusician!

Congratulations! I'll be emailing you shortly.

Didn't win?  You can still buy Never After from Amazon ($9.99)

Slightly Off-Topic: National Handwriting Day

January 23 is John Hancock's birthday, and also National Handwriting Day in the US. Even though I live in Canada, I'm always willing to swipe a reason to goof off. To celebrate, I thought we could do a little amateur handwriting analysis.  What can I say?  I'm addicted to Sherlock Holmes and CSI.

My handwriting looks like this:

At least, it would if I ever wrote in cursive.  Normally, I print, and the only time you will ever see me write in cursive is if I'm attempting to impersonate a 4th-grader.

So, what does this writing sample say about me? 

1. Pressure on the pen indicates emotional energy. I used a medium amount of pressure, which means I " usually have enough energy to make it through the day."  Haha. WRONG!  I am lucky if I can stay awake until my kids go to bed.

2. Slant Angle.  This is the #1 thing my mother used to give me heck for when she was trying to teach me cursive... my writing slants all over the place.  It's mostly straight up and down or slanted to the right, though.  That means my mind rules my heart, but I respond strongly to emotional situations.  Does that seem contradictory to anyone else?

So, maybe that wasn't the most scientific analysis in the world, but it was fun!  Though computers and email play a huge part in our day-to-day lives, I think it's fun to take some time to actually hand write a note or a diary every once in a while.

Do you ever write by hand?

Resources: 

Your Handwriting-- what does it tell about you? This is the article I used to analyze my handwriting.

Free Online Handwriting Analysis - give a small writing sample, and analyze it using a few simple, multiple-choice questions.  Voila! Your personality will be revealed to you.  Silly, perhaps, but fun.

How To Celebrate National Handwriting Day

Article - Make Handwriting Day an educational opportunity for your children.

Crayola coloring page and worksheet downloads for Handwriting Day.

Review: Crippen by John Boyne

Last word first: Very well written and interesting, but slightly on the slow side. (3.5/5)

Acquire it: Crippen by John Boyne ($11.86)

Long story short: In July of 1910, an inspector from Scotland Yard makes a gruesome discovery in the cellar of Dr. Hawley Crippen.  He finds the body of the doctor's wife, cut into pieces and hidden under the cellar floor.  The doctor and his mistress have already fled, and a manhunt begins.

Meanwhile, Mr. John Robinson and his teenage son Edmund are boarding the steam ship Montrose, bound for Canada.  They get along well with their fellow passengers, but the vessel's captain begins to suspect that they are not exactly who they seem to be.

My thoughts: One of my favorite things about Crippen is that it's a fictionalization of a true story.  Hawley Crippen (who is a bit bug-eyed to be such a ladies man, if you ask me) really did murder his wife, and the great cross-ocean manhunt really did happen.  That just makes the whole story that much more exciting for me. 

And it really is an exciting story, when you think about it.  The book alternates between the present (that is, 1910) in which Crippen is a pursued criminal, and the past, telling his backstory and the events that foreshadow the gruesome future. 

The problem is that, as I was reading the book, it didn't feel as exciting as it could have.  It was actually a little on the slow side.  Yes, they're crossing the ocean in a steam ship, and yes, I understand that takes a long time.  But really, does it need to feel that long?  This book took me four days to read (which is forever for me) because it just couldn't hold my attention for long periods of time.

That said, I actually do recommend this book.  Boyne has a beautiful way with words, and the settings and characters are described in a way that makes them feel vividly alive.  There's also a subtle humor in the social commentary that was vaguely Austen-esque, though significantly more morbid in topic than, say, Emma.  So, give Crippen a try, just don't expect it to grip you and keep you at the edge of your seat the way some murder mysteries do.

About John Boyne: Born in Dublin, Ireland, he has published numerous short stories, and seven novels.  The one you've most likely heard of is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Sing Me To Sleep Book Trailer (Contest Alert!)

Today marks the official start of the blog tour for Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison. I'll be posting my review of this book next week (in short, I really liked it!) along with an author interview and yes, a giveaway.  Angela is offering up a signed hardcover to one lucky reader of this blog. 

To kick off the blog tour, here's the newly released trailer for Sing Me To Sleep.  Watch it, bask in the awesomeness for a couple of minutes, and then repost it on your own blog to get extra giveaway entries.  The official giveaway entry form will be up next week, so you have a few days to get yourself organized. 

If you, like me, fall in love with the book trailer's soundtrack, Angela wants me to let you know that the single will be available on Itunes soon.  The song is actually "Beth's Song" from the book, performed by the Amabile Young Men's Ensemble, just like in the book!  A soprano from the Amabile girl's choir performs Beth's part.  How amazing is that?

Ok, without further ado, here's the trailer:

Teaser Tuesday: Crippen

This week's teaser comes from Crippen by John Boyne.

"The things is, my wife was a rather unusual case in that she had a number of, how shall I put this... pseudonyms."

Slow going so far, but a really well written and enjoyable book.

Book Description: July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.

Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun.

Across the Channel in Antwerp, the S.S. Montrose has just set off on its two-week voyage to North America. Slipping in among the first-class passengers is a Mr. John Robinson, accompanied by his teenage son, Edmund. The pair may be hoping for a quiet, private voyage, but in the close confines of a luxury ocean liner, anonymity is rare. And with others aboard looking for romance, or violence, or escape from their past in Europe, it will take more than just luck for the Robinsons to survive the voyage unnoticed.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!

Dreaming Anastasia Book Trailer

Just saw this over on Joy Preble's blog.  There's a trailer for Dreaming Anastasia! Here's what the story's about:

Anastasia Romanov knows she should be dead; she watched her family fall in a hail of gunfire. Instead, something, or someone, saved her. Trapped and scared in a magical hut with a witch who may be friend or foe, she begins to come to grips with the truth about her situation: that some fates are WORSE than death.


In her dreams, sixteen year old Anne Michaelson is somewhere else. She is someone else. The dreams feel as real as her waking life and they terrify her. Aside from that, Anne thinks her life is pretty ordinary – until she runs into handsome, mysterious, and (okay) annoying Ethan on her way to chemistry class. Now Anne has powers she doesn’t understand, a history-altering mission she doesn’t want, and a growing attraction to a blue-eyed stranger that seems to be stalking her! And when Ethan realizes that Anne is the girl he’s been searching for, things start to get a little more intense.

You can also have a  look at my review, and my interview with Joy Preble.  But first, watch the trailer:

Mini-Reviews (5)

Green Witch by Alice Hoffman (4/5)

Long story short: (Sequel to Green Angel) Green might be free from her prison of grief, but is the rest of the world ready to make a new start with her?  The world is full of half-shattered survivors, still oppressed by the enemy who tried to destroy them.  In order to rediscover the truth about hope, love, and magic, she ventures away from her home, collecting the stories of a group of women who have been branded as witches.

My thoughts: Reading Green Witch, I frequently found myself pausing to mull over a phrase, because the wording was just so pretty.  The continuing saga of Green and her world is told in poetic, allegorical style that is mesmerizing.  I just wish it had been longer.

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris (3/5)

Long story short: Harper Connelly has what you might call an unusual job description.  She finds dead people.  And not using scent dogs, either.  Even the people who hire her often look askance at Harper for her unusual talent, so she's used to skipping town as soon as her work is done.  In Sarne, Arkansas, however, Harper finds herself trapped in a mystery that's far from being solved.

My thoughts: It seems January is going to be unofficial Charlaine Harris month here at Today's Adventure.  I've been having a hard time getting my hands on the most recent books in the Sookie series, so I decided to give Harper Connelly a try in the meantime.  And I have to say, it's not bad.  A little on the slow side, perhaps, and I had the murderer pegged within a couple of chapters.  But Harper seems like she'll make for an interesting and unique heroine, so I'm willing to try another book in the series.

Slightly Off-Topic: Book Snobs (you know who you are)

I hate smart people.  Or maybe what I mean is I hate people who think they're smarter than I am based on the books we read.  I call them book snobs.

You know who I'm talking about.   It's the woman who's all excited to see a fellow reader, until you pull out your Charlaine Harris novel- then suddenly she looks like she bit into a lemon.  It's the friend who's always trying to get you to read her Oprah's book club picks, but is never ever interested in your recommendations.  Perhaps it's a spouse who constantly asks you, "How can you stand to read that crap?"

Considering that recreational readers are a bit of an endangered species, you would think we could stick together a little more.  Diversity is a good thing here, as it is in so many other situations.  I love that everyone has different tastes in reading, and I love hearing about what others have enjoyed.  I would never have read The Pillars of the Earth unless a friend had recommended it, and it was fantastic!  But she wasn't trying to make me feel inferior over my own reading choices, either.  I gave her Twilight and she gobbled it up.  The person who annoys me is the one who spent half an hour talking my ear off about a biography of Mao.  Then, when he had finally worn himself out, he asked if I'd read anything good lately, then smirked and changed the subject when I started to tell him about The Hunger Games.  If I had a dollar for every time I've heard, "Isn't that a teen book?" I would be lounging on a beach in Mexico right now.

My main goal in reading is enjoyment.  I read for fun, and it's just not fun for me to punish myself with a miserable story about miserable people who have miserable lives, the end.  No matter how "well-written" or "insightful to the human condition" it might be, I'm just not going to do it.  Maybe that is fun for you, and I respect that.  Just don't try to claim it as a virtue.  And that goes as well for all of you who go out and watch all the Oscar-nominated films, but only AFTER they've been nominated.   Would it really be so wrong to just watch the movies and read the books that interest you?

I guess all I'm saying is that we should all just live and let live.  Maybe you don't read paranormal fiction, but you watch America's Next Top Model or The Bachelorette religiously.  Perhaps not a week goes by without you getting your fix of US magazine.  Maybe you love James Bond movies.  We all have our little "vices."  If you don't, I question your mental health!

Fun Finds: Bookish Baubles

OK, I'm enjoying these Fun Finds posts a lot.  Hopefully you are too.

This week- book-themed jewelry.  It needs no further introduction.  On to the eye candy!

Winged Diary Locket by Cosmic Girl

Literary Poets Charm Bracelet by kimarijewelry

Banned Books Pendant by jjbackman

Whodunit Charm Bracelet by ALikelyStory

Leather Book Necklace by  TheBlackSpotBooks

Which one is your favorite?