Hidden Blog Tour - Marianne Curley Guest Post

Hello everyone! Today I have Marianne Curley, Aussie author of Hidden on the blog to share her favourite books when she was a teenager. I would also like to thank Sonia from Bloomsbury for putting this blog tour together! Without further ado...here's Marianne's guest post!

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This is a huge topic for me because when I was a teenager I was into books in a BIG way. I was born in 1959, so my teenage years covered the entire seventies decade. And since I lived on a farm without close neighbours and my house was a substantial distance from my school, I was relatively isolated from the social community and my network of friends. There was no Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. What am I saying? There were no computers yet!

By the time I was a teenager I was already an avid reader and spent every spare minute I could find immersed in my favourite pastime. And since I wanted to remain with the characters long after I turned the last page, I looked for books of considerable length. And yet, there still never seemed to be enough to read. There were fewer books with themes for young adults than today. The seventies was an emerging adolescent market. Bookstores and libraries were only starting to create Young Adult sections distinct from children’s or adult’s literature.

I remember spending many lunch hours sorting through the shelves of my school libraries, where I was drawn almost always to epic novels like James A Michener’s Hawaii; historical fiction, which is still a favourite theme of mine, such as Anya Seton’s Katherine; and the long romantic sagas like Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.

I wasn’t able to buy many books while I attended school. Living on a farm, away from local shops and general commerce, I didn’t have the benefit of a part-time job, so I relied on pocket money and the occasional birthday or Christmas gift. But I began full-time work as a legal stenographer at sixteen, and that’s when I started to build my personal library.

Back in the seventies I had heaps of favourite authors and couldn’t wait for their new novels to appear in the stores. Many of them remain on my bookshelves today, including Leon Uris’s Holocaust, Mila 18, Battle Cry, QBVII and Exodus. Stephen King’s The Shining, Carrie and Salem’s Lot, to name a few. Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy – a brilliant biography of the remarkable 15^th Century artist Michelangelo, and Henry Charriere’s Papillion were other favourites.

Some books I enjoyed reading more than once, such as Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War, Irving Wallace’s The Word, Alex Haley’s Roots. I fell in love with William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, and found myself caught up in the humour of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, both hugely different genres. I also can’t forget how much I enjoyed the tension in Arthur Hailey’s Airport, and the supernatural suspense of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.

But sitting on the top of my teenage favourite books were: Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds; Morris West’s The Devil’s Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman; Erich Segal’s Love Story, Mario Puzo’s series of The Godfather, and one book that I have already mentioned, a novel I read over and over during my teenage years - Anya Seton’s Katherine.

Add the book: 

Goodreads 

Where to buy? 

Fishpond | The Book Depository | Amazon

Find Marianne Curley at:

Website

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I haven't read most of the books on Marianne's list but I have heard of Gone with the Wind! (I sure do want to read it someday) Hope you guys enjoyed the guest post and if you haven't read Hidden, be sure to check it out. Thank you Marianne for the guest post and Sonia for the putting the blog tour together!

Dance of Shadows Blog Tour - "The Beauty of Ballet"

Hi everyone! Today I have Yelena Black, author of Dance of Shadows on the blog to share her thoughts on ballet and its beauty. You can check out my review here. I used to take ballet lessons and I sure loved it, particularly that moment when I first wore my pointe shoes! I would also like to thank Sonia from Bloomsbury for putting this blog tour together!

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I can still remember the very first time I saw The Nutcracker when I was a little girl. I was eight years old, and my parents took me and my brother into Manhattan to see the New York City Ballet. The entire city was lit up with lights and decorations, but the real magic happened inside the theatre—when the stage came to life and I was thrilled by the wondrous flurry of dancing before my eyes. The Nutcracker, choreographed by the legendary George Balachine with music by Tchaikovsky, is still one of my favorite ballets. There is nothing like the snowstorm of ballerinas that grace the stage, sweeping the audience away to exotic and fanciful locales in the Land of Sweets. With beautiful costumes and talented performers, this ballet is what made me fall in love with dance in the first place.

Since I’ve grown older, I have had the privilege of studying dance myself and seeing many performances. My favorite ballerina—Margot Fonteyne—thrilled me with her performance in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. (Granted, I saw it online and not in person, but it was still unbelievable. If you haven’t seen her dance this with incredible Rudolf Nurejev, you must look up clips online. It will stop your heart.) Swan Lake is a tale of doomed, forbidden love and is one of my favorite ballets, and I had the privilege of seeing Matthew Bourne’s modern interpretation of this classical piece twice—once on Broadway, and most recently at City Center. This is more of a ballet-influenced piece of contemporary dance, which takes the basic premise of the Russian ballet and turns it on its head by having all of the swans portrayed by male dancers, who bring a certain ferocity to the creatures that I’d never before seen onstage. It has the distinction of being the longest running ballet on Broadway and in the West End, and its star, Adam Cooper is (in my opinion) one of the best male dancers working today.

I could go on and list dozens more of my favorite ballets (which include Cinderella, Don Quixote, and Romeo and Juliet) but really is the art of ballet that thrills me: the timeless stories, the incredible, soaring music, and the grace and power of the dancers that make a night out at the ballet so thrilling and so worthwhile. This is also what inspires my characters, especially my protagonist Vanessa Adler. I hope you enjoy all of the dancing in my debut novel, Dance of Shadows, and if you haven’t recently … go out and see a dance performance!

  

Add the book: 

Goodreads 

Where to buy? 

Fishpond / The Book Depository / Amazon

Find Yelena Black at:

Twitter / Facebook

Check out the book trailer!

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How I adore Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Definitely two of my all-time favourite ballet performances! Which reminds me, just like how Yelena recommended, I might need to go out and see a dance performance soon! Hope you guys enjoyed the guest post and if you haven't read Dance of Shadows, be sure to check it out. Thank you Yelena for the guest post and Sonia for the putting the blog tour together!

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf Blog Tour - Ambelin's Top 5 Scenes

  
Hey guys! As a part of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf's blog tour, I have a lovely post from Ambelin, the author, on her top 5 scenes in the book! I would also like to thank Peta from Walker Books Australia for putting this blog tour together! Without further ado, here are her top 5 scenes:

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First off - SPOILER ALERT! I’ve tried not to give too much away but there’s definitely some reveals below. So consider yourselves duly warned… 
 
The walk down the hallway that begins the book.
I love this moment because it’s the first scene I ever wrote, the one that drew me into the story. It was also the scene that kept me writing, because I was so afraid for Ash. She had to get of the detention centre, but how? And there’s immediately hints that things are not quite what they seem…what was going on? I didn’t know the answer to those questions when I began writing the book. I discovered the truth slowly, in the same way that Ash does, as the story progressed. I could always see that first scene so clearly in my head – Ash so frail and scared, but defiant still, dressed in the white detainee uniform, and Connor all distant in his black enforcer uniform, pacing by her side.
Some people ask me if I listen to music while I’m writing. I don’t, because I find it distracting, I’ve just never been able to listen to music when I’m trying to put a story together. But I hear the sounds of the book as I write, and some of it gets incorporated into the text. In this scene, I could hear how Ashala’s and Connor’s footsteps sounded as they walked down the long, silent hallway, and that made it into the chapter – “my feet seemed to be making a muddled, shuffling sort of Noise: a pathetic contrast to the clear, measured pace of the guard beside me.”
 
Any scene in which Jaz appears
Jaz was the character who was the easiest to write. I always knew what he was thinking – or, rather, not thinking, since he tends to act without considering the consequences, most of the time. He’s irrepressible, maddening, reckless, and very close to Ash’s heart. In Jaz’s words, Ash is more of a mum to him than his own mu ever was, and that’s something she takes very seriously. In The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf, we meet and interact with Jaz as a part of Ash’s story. But, if I ever went back to this world once the Tribe series was finished, it would be to tell Jaz’s story.  
 
When Georgie and Ashala meet the saurs.
This is a pivotal moment in the book, the very beginning of Ashala’s life in the Firstwood. I love the drama and tension of this scene, that moment when the huge saur comes tearing across the grasslands towards Georgie, and Ash runs out to save her. And I love, too, that the two of them manage to meet the only carnivorous lizard who won’t eat them on the spot – Wanders-too-Far, the inquisitive, mischievous, maverick of the saurs. Of course, it wasn’t an accident that they met the right saur, because Georgie understood how that moment would play out. But Ash doesn’t realise then, and perhaps doesn’t even understand by the end of the book, the degree to which Georgie knows things that she doesn’t tell. 
 
When Ashala meets Connor
The cave, and the dim light of the lamp, and that moment when Connor says to her, “you are the reason I came here, Ashala Wolf…” How could this not be a favourite? And what I love about this is both that it is the beginning of the Connor/Ashala relationship, and the way it kicks off the overall dynamic between Ash, Connor and Ember. Because, really, Ember would’ve much preferred that Ash fell for someone other than Connor, someone not quite so dangerous. Ember gets over it later in the book, but I don’t think she’ll ever be completely thrilled about Ashala’s choice of boyfriend. That’s okay, though. Not to give too much away about book two, but Ashala’s going to positively loathe the guy Ember falls for…
 
The last trip to the machine, when Ashala thinks all is lost
This is the part when Ashala is walking through the centre, believing she is about to die. The wind brings her the scent of eucalyptus from the Firstwood, and she sends her thoughts out to the trees, thinking If I could make it back to you, I would. To me this is one of the most profound moments in the book. This is when Ashala’s towering tuarts, and the ancient spirit of the forest, reach out to comfort her in a moment of terrible loneliness and fear. It encapsulates Ashala’s relationship with the forest, the way she and the trees are connected, and how they take care of each other.
 

Add the book:

Goodreads 

 

Where to buy? 

Fishpond

Find Ambelin Kwaymullina at:

Website |   Facebook

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Can I just say YES to every scenes? I really really loved all the scenes Ambelin mentioned on her post! If you have not heard of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf, absolutely check it out! I think it is one of the best Aussie YA dystopian novels! Thank you Ambelin for taking her time to write the post and thank you Peta from Walker Books Australia for putting this blog tour together!   

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Would you like to win a copy of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf? Just leave a comment below before 15th of September with your name and email! Giveaway is only open to AUS/NZ. Sorry International people! Winners will be chosen with random.org. Good luck!

Be sure to stop by Badass Bookie for the next stop in the blog tour! 

Forget me not blog tour: Sue Lawson - Guest Post

Hiya guys! Guess what date is it now? It's April Fools Day! Well, it's decided that I am going to fool you into reading something awesome, and that is a guest post from the lovely Sue Lawson, author of Forget me not which I really enjoyed reading about! Check out my review here! Now, the guest post today is about Titanic's importance in history and what makes it unforgettable? Here are Sue's answers to the topic! Now go read it and you can get a free ticket to climb on board a ship as luxurious as Titanic! ;) I would also like to thank Jennifer from Walker Books Australia for putting this blog tour together!

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Thanks so much for hosting the Forget Me Not Blog tour. It’s great to be here especially with our matching titles! Thank you too for your topic – it’s a ripper and one that has made me think!

So, why is the Titanic so important in history and why is it unforgettable?

I have to admit before I started writing Forget Me Not, I didn’t know much about the Titanic, apart from the obvious – it was big, hit an iceberg, sank and the wreck was found in the last twenty or so year. But even though I didn’t know much, I did the interest it generated fascinating.

A few years ago I visited the Melbourne Museum, where I was bitten by the Titanic bug. Walking down the passage, seeing the replica of the grand staircase and seeing the fragments of people’s lives, lifted from the wreck site, was truly moving. I wanted to know more.

When discussing the exhibition with my publisher, Andrew Kelly, he asked if I would like to write about it, which of course I did and after dipping my toe into the research, I was hooked. The Titanic story is now well and truly under my skin. But it wasn’t until I received your question that I started to think about why such a tragedy loomed so large in the world’s history and why it continues to remain imbedded in our hearts.

I guess on one level, the whole Edwardian era, the time when the Titanic was built, sailed and foundered, looms large for Western civilization as it was a time of enormous change on the social, political and industrial fronts. Barriers between classes and sexes were beginning to crack and mankind achieved  engineering feats thought to have been impossible. For instance, the Wright Brothers completed the first sustained airplane flight and the first Model T Ford car was produced in America.

It was also a time of splendour with sumptuous clothing, ornate jewelry and flamboyant furniture the norm for upper and middle class families. These trappings were certainly present on RMS Titanic, a ship noted not only for its size but for the attention to detail and grandeur of its décor.


I think beyond all of that, it’s the stories about people – stories of survival, loss and courage, which keep the Titanic so much in our hearts. I can’t imagine the panic and fear people would have felt once it became clear the ship was sinking, nor can I imagine how survivors who lost everything – money, documents and possessions – would be able to start again, and it’s impossible to understand the rollercoaster of emotions the passengers and crew, families waiting and society as a whole experienced from the time of the ship’s launch to its sinking. Then there were the incredible acts of arrogance and selfishness. It’s fair to say every human emotion, from excitement, courage and stoicism to terror, selfishness and panic was exhibited.

The stories of fathers waving families farewell with promises of following on the lifeboat, even though they knew that was not going to happen, are incredibly moving. Yet at the same, the reported acts of stupidity that occurred – if only the ice warning had reached the bridge, if only there had been more lifeboats on board – are heart breaking.

While era in history plays a part in our insatiable appetite for stories about the Titanic, in the end I am sure it’s the human stories that have made the Titanic such an important and moving part of our history. And it was the human stories that inspired me while writing Forget Me Not.

Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet certainly didn’t hurt matters either. ;) And there was definitely room on that door for Jack!

 

Add the book:

Goodreads 

 

Where to buy? 

Fishpond

Find Sue Lawson at:

Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

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Oh yes, I absolutely agree with everything Sue mentioned in the guest post! Titanic is a story of hopes, survival, loss and courage and it leaves a deep mark in every one of us which makes it so unforgettable and important in history. I hope this guest post also convinced you to read the wonderful Forget me not which tells the story of a family's voyage on the Titanic! Thank you Sue for writing the guest post and Jennifer from Walker Books Australia for putting this blog tour together!