I hope everyone had a great Christmas! 

So, what is the blog news?  I’m joining forces with another blogger.  We both felt like we weren’t posting often enough on our own so our hope is that we can keep each other accountable but also with the two of us reviewing there should be more of them posted then. 

I’m really looking forward to working with someone else.  I think we will have a lot of fun creating new things on the blog.  So, be sure to check it out here.  I will start posting there Jan. 1, 2011.

I will also start to move my author interviews, guest posts and reviews to the new blog.  I’ll have to decide what I want to do after that with this blog.  For now know that the majority of my posting will be on the other blog.

I wish everyone the best in the new year. 

Be sure to check out my current contest for my ARC of Z by Michael Thomas Ford and Teeth: Vampire Tales by mulitple authors.

From Night Owl Reviews:

• The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
• Falling Under by Gwen Hayes (which I’m so glad NOR had because I actually tried to get a copy from the publisher but apparently they have had a lot of requests for this one)

Bought:

• The Sight (2 Novels: Premonitions and Disappearance) by Judy Blundell
• Crave by Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz
• Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Thanks to everyone that entered the giveaway for my ARC of The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

There were 13 entries and 12 extra entries.

The Winner is Jessica B. 

Thanks again ya’ll have a great day!  Be sure to check out my newest contest for 2 ARCs.  Go to my home page and click on The Bleeding Heart Contest post.

It starts tomorrow on the 28th and ends Oct.31 at midnight.  Must Read Faster is hosting.

So, what’s on my list? I’m currently reading Skin by Ted Dekker and Teeth: Vampire Tales by multiple authors so I will try to finish those and then we will just see what else I can add.

This will be stickied so new posts will be underneath.

I LOVE horror, supernatural, creepy kind of stories.  This contest is inspired by a creepy real story.  The other day someone linked this story on twitter and said that it could make for a really good story for an author to use.  I read it and thought she was right.

The article is titled:  Human hearts with couples’ photos pinned to them found in Colma cemetry.  Just the title itself seems creepy and only something like you would find in a book, movie or TV.

I thought it would make for a fun contest to see what some creative people could come up with.  For this, write something from the title wether it is for the victim, victim families or maybe even from the one who took the hearts.  It should be at least 200 words and try to not be more than 800.

I wrote something from the POV of the one who took the hearts.  When I mentioned it to my mom and how the jars had embalming fluid in them we thought it had to be someone that had connections somehow to a morgue.   I’m sure someone could write something better than what I have but this is just a short example.  Give me something creepy from the murderer or heartbreaking from the victims family or gutwrenching from the victim themselves. 

Here is my example: It is hard to describe the feeling. The feeling you get when you hold a heart in your hand. Each one feels like the first time. If you are the one to take it out the first time you hold it, take a sec and breathe deep and you can almost feel the last essence of their life leave their heart. You only learn so much about the last moments of their life so the wheels start turning about everything before it. Putting it in a jar, sealing it tight with a picture of them on the front makes you feel for a moment that they will live on here among the others.

I know mine isn’t 200 but it is only an example.  So, the big question what is up for grabs to win….I have an ARC of Z by Michael Thomas Ford (came out Sept. 2010) and an ARC of Teeth: Vampire Tales by Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black and Many More (comes out April 2011).

I got Z from the publisher as a surprise and because it was one I didn’t know what to expect but I actually enjoyed it.  I will be posting my review soon, I have to get caught up on my reviews.  I’m currently reading Teeth for Night Owl Reviews so not much to say yet on this one.

• Open to US only because of shipping, sorry
• 200-800 words
• Open from Oct. 24th – Nov. 24th midnight central time
• Fill out this form

I didn’t get around to doing one last week so this is from the last two weeks.  But first be sure to check out my Halloween giveaway for my ARC of The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff.

From Teens@Random: The Prophet of Yonwood (3rd in Book of Ember Series)

I haven’t read this series before but this one is actually a prequel of the first two in the series so I thought I would read this one first.

From Night Owl Reviews: Teeth: Vampire Tales with contributions from Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black and more

I read the first story already and for me it isn’t off to a good start.  Hopefully the others are better.

For Review from Wayne Josephson: Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Emm and the Vampires

He has taken Classics and slightly edited them to make them easier to read.  If you click on his name you will see his quest post he did about them.

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by.  It feels like it has flown by.  I want to say thank you to all the authors that have done interviews and guest posts.  I had so much fun doing the interviews and learned a lot too.  I also can’t believe that I got to do an interview with one of my newest favorite actresses, Kat Graham.  It also just so happens that her interview has been one of my top posts this year.

Be sure to check out the next post cause it is for a Blogoversary/Halloween Giveaway.

I’m wanting to start in January something that I’ve wanted to start for a while now.  I want to highlight a Charity each month.  So, if you know of a Charity that you think should be highlighted then fill out THIS FORM and tell me about it.  Each month I want to do a couple of posts about that charity to get word out about it.  I have a few in mind that I want to do but I would love to know about others.

According to the Blog Stats my top 10 posts are:

• Katerina Graham – A Rising Star Part 1
• Katerina Graham – A Rising Star Part 2
• Review: Vampire Academy – Frostbite
• Vampire Thursday
• Haven – Butterfly
• Guset Post: Christmas Q&A
• To Write Love on Her Arms
• Author Interview: Kimberly Derting
• Review: New Moon the movie
• Author Interview: Lauren Oliver

Reviews that have scored between 25-30:

• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 25/30
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 30/30
• Escape from the Island of Aquarius by Frank Peretti 29/30
• The Tombs of Anak by Frank Peretti 26/30
• Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea by Frank Peretti 27/30
• The Secret of the Desert Stone by Frank Peretti 25/30
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare 26/30
• In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth 26/30
• Asking for Trouble by Sandra Byrd 25/30
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa 30/30
• The Legend of Annie Murphy by Frank Peretti 26/30
• Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia 29/30
• Mayday at Two Thousand Five Hundred by Frank Peretti 29/30
• The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa 28/30
• The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff  26/30
• The Mermaid’s Mirror by L.K. Madigan  29/30

Interviews:

• Katerina Graham Part 1  Part 2
• Irene Latham
• Dia Reeves
• Jennifer Hubbard
• Jen Nadol
• Suzanne Young
• Loretta Ellsworth
• C.J. Omololu
• Julie Kagawa
• Estevan Vega
• Lauren Oliver
• Kimberly Derting
• Lindsey Leavitt
• Sandra Byrd
• Sarah DeFord Williams
• Jennifer Murgia
• Brenna Yovanoff
• Kiersten White

Guest Post:

• Christmas Q&A with Jennifer Murgia
• A Valentine Day Crush-A-Thon with Julie Kagawa
• A Fairytale with Kersten Hamilton
• Readable Classics – Making Literature Less Frustrating with Wayne Josephson

Weekly Posts Started This Year:  (Although I haven’t done a good job at actually doing it every week)

• Vampire Thursday
• Fanfiction Friday:  Refuge
• Angelic Angel Sunday
• Cover Fancy

Special:

• Character Chat: Angel Star

Author Appreciation Week:

Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4     Day 5

I took part in National Poetry Month in April but because of unexpected health problems I wasn’t able to do something everyday like I wanted.

Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4     Day 5     Day 6     Day 7     Day 8     Day 9     Day 10     Day 11     Day 12     Day 14     Day 15     Day16    Day17     Day18     Day19     Day22     Day 23     Day24     Day25      Day26     Day27     Day30

I’ve had some financial stuff come up so I can’t do all the contests that I wanted but I can at least do this.  I’m going to do a contest of my ARC of The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff.  I really enjoyed this one.

This is a combination celebration of Halloween and my first blogoversary.  It is hard to believe that a year has past already.  Check out my previous post to see this first year in review.

Description: Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret – he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

You will be able to get extra entries by commenting on my interview with Brenna and on my review.  (Links below) If you are going to take part in them then please do so BEFORE filling out the form because I will be asking for commenting name to double check.  If you don’t then put N/A in that spot on the form.

• open to US residents only
• open from Oct. 17th – Oct. 30th at midnight central time
• +1 comment on Brenna Yovanoff Interview
• +1 comment on The Replacement Review
• +1 for filling out This Form (3 total entries possible)

Author Site

Last year, when my 10^th grade son was assigned The Scarlet Letter in English, he moaned and groaned and went online to SparkNotes. That took me back to my own high school days, when I did the same thing to avoid reading Moby Dick, and got a C on the exam.

That gave me an idea. I gently edited The Scarlet Letter to flow more smoothly and make it less frustrating. It still felt like the original because, essentially, it still was the original—I just made it more readable.

My son read my version alongside the original, chapter by chapter, and was able to understand and appreciate it. He got an A on the exam. I published the book.

Readable Classics was born.

I was on a roll. I had a score to settle with my past. So I rewrote Moby Dick. With the brooding obsession of Captain Ahab, I conquered my nemesis, the White Whale.

Then I rewrote Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and The Odyssey. I’m now working on The Red Badge of Courage. The reviews on Amazon are glowing–even the literary purists like them. And students are ecstatic.

I also recently published a mashup, Emma and the Vampires, with the intent of introducing a gently-edited Jane Austen to young adult readers in a friendly way, laced with Twilight-type vampires.

My work is challenging, enjoyable and satisfying. The classics have opened up a whole new world to me. I finally understand why these books have been continuously published for two hundred years–they have something important to say.

Jane Eyre was the first novel in English literature where a woman was the hero. Pride and Prejudice was the first novel to challenge the ridiculous notion that women were second-class citizens.

But the best part of writing Readable Classics? Students and adults have told me that my books have helped them overcome their fear of great literature. And that is the most rewarding part of all.

Finished:

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater  (REALLY enjoyed this one)

Currently reading: (didn’t do much after Shiver)

• Skin by Ted Dekker
• Trickster’s Girl by Hilari Bell

Coming Up:

• Black by Ted Dekker
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Reviewed on the blog this week:

• The Mermaid’s Mirror by L.K. Madigan

Take a look at my Clearing Space page.  I just updated it with a bunch of books I’m selling.