I just took down the last of my Favorite’s Giveaways and it made me a little sad so I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who came out and participated in My Favorite’s Month! All of the giveaways had a fantastic turn out (still waiting to hear back from a couple of the winners) and overall it was just so, so much fun! I’m a little sad that it’s over but my mind is already whirring away on another idea for something to entertain the blogosophere.
<3 You All!
Synopsis: Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she’d taken on a seemingly impossible job — teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious as any wild animal. But Helen Keller needed more than a teacher. She needed someone daring enough to work a miracle. And if anyone was a match for Helen, it was the girl they used to call Miss Spitfire. -Goodreads
Review: I learned of Sarah Miller’s debut novel ‘Miss Spitfire- Reaching Helen Keller’ while searching the internet for information about her more recent ‘The Lost Crown’. Between these two books there is no question that Sarah Miller is a great author with a passion for history. Most of us know the story of Annie Sullivan and her student Hellen Keller, so breathing life into this story for a new generation is no small feat.
The novel focuses on Annie and Helen in their first few weeks together. Helen is a spoiled, willful child with no discipline and Annie’s entire future hinges on being able to reach her. Although the stakes are especially high since she would have no where else to go if she cannot figure out how to teach six year old Helen, she is equally headstrong and truly empathizes with the frustration she knows her charge must be feeling. As a reader I could easily connect to Annie Sullivan, and only through her connect to a girl who would grow up to be come a household name.
If I can fault this story anything it would be that I wish it hadn’t ended quite so soon. I won’t giveaway the ending here but anyone who knows the story will be able to guess fairly early on what the climax of the story would be. I would have liked to see a little more follow up, to see how Helen’s personality and the relationship between the two main characters developed from that pivotal point.
Overall though, a beautiful story that I would recommened to anyone. I don’t know for sure, but I think this book was written for the 9-12 age group, so for a lot of people it will be a pretty quick read but still totally worthwhile. I can’t wait to see which historical figure Sarah Miller lends her talented voice too next.
Rating
Second Opinions
@ Becky’s Book Reviews
@ Sonderbooks
Enter to win a signed copy of Matthew C. Plourde’s The Antaran Legacy, Book 1: For Duty!
To enter for your chance to win a signed copy of For Duty, leave a comment on this post with the following…
-Your name
-Your email address
This contest is open to everyone :) Enjoy!
Read the first part of the interview here.
ReaWrite– How many drafts did For Duty take to complete? How long did it take you to write?
Matt– I’m not sure on the exact count – perhaps 6 drafts? In total, the novel took about half a year to write. The first draft took only 2 months. I was in a great place health-wise and had some large chunks of time off. Those 2 facts made all the difference! If I didn’t have to put food on the table, I could easily wite a novel every few months. Yup, that’s a guarantee! :)
ReaWrite– When creating the three races that your story would be based around, how did you decide on their cultures and physical traits?
Matt– Well, I watch/read a ton of sci-fi. I even dabble in earthly science via internet research, the Science channel and close-to-real-life fiction. I’m a huge consumer of all data surrounding String and Holographic theory. I’m also a huge Firefly geek. Intelligent life equal to or above our own may be a few dozen light years away from us, or much more distant. Seeing as how close we are to really “scanning” nearby (less than 100 light years) planets for life and intelligent life, I’m a believer that there is either no intelligent life nearby or it’s of such a vastly different composure, we’re not close to detecting it.
ReaWrite– Which character in For Duty did you most enjoy writing?
Matt– I’ve listened to my wife and observed her interactions with her sister for many years now. I’m constantly amazed at how their family interacts and I was quite excited to write about Helena and her sisters. By far, the sisterly dialogs were most enjoyable. If you’ve read either of my books or any of my flash fiction, you’ll notice them laced with plenty of dialog. Writing the sisters’ dialog was pure joy throughout.
ReaWrite– Where are you planning to take the series next?
Matt– For Duty is actually the back story to a spontaneous story I told my wife one night, about 9 years ago. So, I have plenty of ideas to continue writing in this universe – and I plan to. The only problem is time. Fiction doesn’t pay the bills, so it’s usually sacrificed when push comes to shove. Currently, I’m working on the follow-up to Eden and I hope to continue The Antaran Legacy of books this year or next. I’m a huge fan of picking up right where the last story left off, so expect to follow Helena and her sisters as they attempt to rescue Terentia and save their refugee population. Of course, Connor is the wildcard in everything – what role does he have left to play in Helena’s heart?
Today, we have a special treat. Author of For Duty has answered a few questions for ReaWrite about himself, the book and writing.
ReaWrite– Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?
Matt-First off – thank you for taking the time to read For Duty and posting your thoughts on my novel. I do like to hear when someone was entertained by one of my worlds.
Synopsis: Caught in the middle of a war in which they have no voice, the neutral planet of Antares launches a desperate plot to end the conflict that threatens their world. The seven royal daughters of Emperor Agreios face both their enemies and challenges to their resolve. The universe will shake from their actions.
The Antaran Legacy begins with the choices facing the small planet of Antares during the Human-Proxan War.-Goodreads
Review: For Duty is a sensational beginning to The Antaran Legacy series. Right from the opening scene it was the epitome of smart science fiction. Not smart as in throwing too much scientific jargon at the reader or focusing more on the facts than the story, but in that Matthew C. Plourde obviously has crafted a well fleshed-out future for humanity, created intelligent characters and managed to draw the reader into his novel right from the first chapter.
Synopsis: It’s been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever.
Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other. -Goodreads
Review: Somehow this book was completely different than what I expected. I’m not sure how I convinced myself of it, but I went into this book expecting something different (the same story as ‘If I Stay’ but told from Adam’s perspective) and that made for a really cool reading experience. Sometimes you need to have your expectations shaken up and just go into a book willing to take things as they come. So, it may not have been what I thought I was getting into, but I loved this story.
While part of the credit goes to meeting Adam in the first book, he is unquestionably a character with a strong voice. Right away the reader gets pulled into his head space and into all the drama and emotion that comes with him and because you know his history you are rooting his his happiness right from the first paragraph.
While not that original Adam’s unhappiness is hard to relate too. Oh, poor rock star, just wants to be normal. But the story is still well done and you can understand how someone like Adam wouldn’t be cut out for the high-flying celebrity lifestyle. Either way the plot matters a lot less than the emotion that is behind every thought and action.
The scenes between Mia and Adam are perfect. In the first book we only got to see the two of them interacting through flashbacks so you always knew how things were going to end up. Now there is a real history between these two characters and anything can happen… teen fiction at its best!
If you read and enjoyed the first book then it is pretty much mandatory that you read this one as Mia and Adams story just isn’t finished with one book.
Rating
Second Opinions
@A Lovely Little Book Blog
@Infinite Shelf
@Annette’s Book Spot
Synopsis: The narrator of Delirium suffers from a romantic malady that feels like it could be fatal; something most teens can understand. A powerful trilogy launch volume. (Hand-selling tip: Lauren Oliver is an author to watch. The film rights for her first novel have just been optioned and her eponymous website continues to gain fans.) -Goodreads
Review: Love as a disease… interesting. Love as a curable disease, dark and intriguing. Love as a disease with a mandatory cure, dystopia through and through. I borrowed this book from work as part of mission ‘Borrow as many books as possible while you still work at a bookstore’, and I’m so glad I did. This book has been getting a lot of hype and for very good reason.
While it’s starting to feel like I’ve seen a lot of this particular story line (and will see even more of it in the future), it was still really well done, enjoyable, a little suspenseful and not overly predictable.
Lena is an interesting POV character as she starts out very brain washed and timid. It’s her best friend that seems to be questioning their societies rules long before Lena even considers it so it’s interesting to see her gradual transition. The supporting characters, especially her family were really interesting to read as many of them have been ‘cured’ so while they’re still fully functioning they’re always just a little creepy. The one character I would have liked to see better fleshed out was Alex. I didn’t find him nearly as swoon worthy as a lot of the other YA boy toys. To be fair, that’s an area where it’s really hard to stand out now a days. Nice hair and a lop sided grin just doesn’t cut it anymore.
There were a couple pretty unforgettable moments in Delirium. At least one that was genuinely touching and another that was gruesome and heartless, which really showed off the darker side of Deliriums America. *shudder* Overall, the whole thing was really well written and the story flowed seamlessly from beginning to the heartbreaking conclusion.
If I had read this a few months down the line it may have been stale and over done but this was a great summer read and I’m definitely glad I picked it up.
Rating:
Second Opinions
@ Helen’s Book Blog
@ Reading is Bliss
@ She Known as Jess
Synopsis: Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear. . .
Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation–one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril. . . -Goodreads
Review: This book was AWESOME and I LOVED IT! I’m not even going to give a super lengthy review because I think you should all just read this awesome series, and this is by far the best book of the three so far! The plot has a little bit of everything, there was some great and unexpected character growth and the pacing was absolutely perfect. (Please forgive my gushtastic review, I almost never do this so I figure I’m allowed) =D I’m not sure I felt this way through the whole book but the ending was just so shocking and well done that I can’t help but love this entire book now.
I’ll be honest though, I don’t always like the main character Eugenie, sometimes I can’t stand her. She makes the same mistakes over and over and is too impulsive considering how much her decisions affect other people. Yet, because of all this she at times seems more real than a lot of other female leads and you know she genuinely cares about all of the people in her life and she’s genuinely doing the best she can.
A lot of you are already Richelle Mead fans because of Vampire Academy, so you know what a fantastic writer she is. Every book in this series is a lot of fun and this is the best of the bunch. The concept is a lot of fun, the characters are fun and not all walking cliches and really… well, just read it already!
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Second Opinions:
@Feeling Fictional
@Gone with the Words
@Pimpin’ Reads
This summer I took over a rival fae kingdom before becoming pregnant with the child destined to conquer the human world.
This summer I helped the mob find the culprit responsible for creating their dopplegansters.
This summer I stepped out from under the shadow of my super hero parents.
This summer I hosted a supernatural radio talk show while trying to hold my pack together.
This summer I helped an enemy family figure out who was murdering their children while trying to keep my own teenage charge safe from harm.
This summer… I didn’t read enough Urban Fantasy!
<3
