Review: Fairy, Texas by Margo Bond Collins

I'm entirely confused about the cover,
having read the book and all,
but it looks nifty.

If every I've come to you with mixed feelings, it's today. Well, and that time I reviewed the book about the modern retelling of the Phantom of the Opera in a dance school environment. Incidentally, Im torn for some of the same reasons.

To start with, here's a quick run down on what Fairy, TX is about.
Laney Harris thinks there might be monsters in Fairy, Texas.

She's right.

When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that "boring" would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see. And then there were Josh and Mason, two gorgeous glimmering-eyed classmates whose interest in her might not be for the reasons she hoped. Not to mention that dead guy she nearly tripped over in gym class.

Boring takes on an entirely new dimension in Fairy, Texas.

If she's going to survive in this small town, she'll have to learn to wing it.

Got it? What could possibly simultaneously give me pause and endear this title?

Well, let's start with endear. Many moons ago, I relocated from a relatively urban setting to a minuscule town in Texas, and it might as well have been Fairy. It was tiny. Rumours bloomed out of the bluebonnets and were carried along on the wind. You only had to walk into a new business and suddenly everyone would tell you who you were, where you came from, and whose house you'd moved into. Note, as a transplant, it was never going to be your house. It would forever be "Lola Jenkins' house." After all, it's not like transplants thrived there.

So when I first delved into Fairy, Texas, I was immediately taken by how well Margo Bond Collins captures the experience of an urban girl moving to the middle of Nowhere, just twenty miles out of Never Gonna Be Nowhere. It was familiar and difficult, and not overplayed.

The main character, Laney, manages to have enough snark that she seems like her own person, but just enough blandness that it's easy to identify with her. That said, she does fall back on some of my least favorite women in literature flaws- she follows the lead of the men guiding her, even when she's bucking their authority on the surface and questioning the rationality of their suggestions, there she is, doing as they asked and letting the plot happen to her. I admit, I like a girl who saves herself earlier than later.

Laney has a strong voice through the story, which is written from a perspective I haven't run into much lately. She tells her tale in the first person conversational past. Basically, it's like sitting down with a good friend you desperately need to catch up with and listening to her narrate what happened not so long ago, only with hindsight commentary thrown in for effect. If nothing else, even at the most tense of moments, it reminds you "hey, she has to live to be talking to me right now," and "at least she never lost her sense of humor." It's not a perspective I read often, and certainly more accessible than the times when I have run into it (see: House of Leaves), and that's rather refreshing.

Now, the down points. The stereotypical tropeyness is strong, so if that bothers you, be advised. But most importantly, do not read this for book club unless you're prepared for book club to turn into a full on discussion about rape culture, women's bodies as commodities, slut shaming, religious and cultural gender based subjugation, patriarchy, expendability, and whether or not using near rape as a means of building trust is skeevy.

So yeah, it's paranormal and interesting, and I read it in one sitting. It is a page turner, but at times I felt guilty for reading about the abuses suffered by the various characters, for my entertainment. Of course, I was entertained (maybe guilty pleasure level entertained?) so at least they didn't suffer for nothing, right?

Retelling the Tale by Vicki Weavil + GIVEAWAY!

On the blog today, I am super pleased to have Vicki Weavil, author of the YA fantasy novel Crown of Ice. Vicki is such a wonderful cheerleader for other Month9Books authors (me and Dorothy included), and she was kind enough to stop by and share a bit of her writing process with us. But first, a quick peek at her book ...

Title: Crown of Ice

Publication date: September 9, 2014

Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.

Author: Vicki L. Weavil

Thyra Winther’s seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can’t reassemble a shattered

enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she’s doomed to spend eternity as a wraith.

Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal.

A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai’s childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra’s willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts — to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup’s devotion and the fire of a young man’s desire, the thawing of Thyra’s frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing.

CROWN OF ICE is a YA Fantasy that reinvents Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” from the perspective of a young woman who discovers that the greatest threat to her survival may be her own humanity.

         

               

Retelling the Tale

by Vicki Weavil

CROWN OF ICE is a retelling of a fairy tale—a type of writing project that brings with it special challenges and rewards. On the one hand, I had the benefit of inheriting the framework of a story, some basic characters, and thematic elements. On the other hand, I had to find a way to tell an original story that still referenced its source material in a believable, and respectful, way.

Before I started writing CROWN OF ICE, I re-read the original story, “The Snow Queen”, by Hans Christian Andersen. First published in 1844, this was a story I’d discovered when I went through my fairy tale reading phase as a child. (I also went through a myth and legends phase, a folk tale phase, and … well, you get the idea). I’d always loved Andersen’s literary fairy tales and “The Snow Queen” was my favorite. However, it had been some time since I’d read it, so I knew I had to familiarize myself with the details again, just to see it this tale would work as the basis for a Young Adult fantasy.

The major challenge was the Snow Queen herself. In Andersen’s story, she’s basically a force of nature, with few human characteristics. She looks like a lovely woman, but has no real personality beyond her power over the elements and her icy exterior. She isn’t truly evil, or good, because she’s a construct, not a person.

In order to tell the story from the point-of-view of the Snow Queen, I had to turn her into a real, human, character. This brought up a whole range of issues, such as—why is the Snow Queen only seventeen? Is she immortal, or is she human? If this young woman is only the last in a long line of Snow Queens, what happened to the girls who came before her?

The interesting aspect of this questioning is that it led to some of my favorite elements in CROWN OF ICE, including the concept that my protagonist, Thyra Winther, was a human girl who had been transformed into the Snow Queen by a powerful sorcerer. This not only brought in a new character to play the role of villain, it also allowed Thyra to be fully human, but a human who could become immortal if she completed the sorcerer’s task—reconstructing a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday. Of course, it also led me to create the consequences—if Thyra fails, she must spend eternity as a mindless, disembodied, wraith. The idea of this consequence also explained what happened to the previous Snow Queens, and allowed me to populate Thyra’s isolated, icy palace with some spooky fellow inhabitants.

In writing CROWN OF ICE, I didn’t follow Andersen’s plot exactly, but I did include references to many aspects of his story. If you look closely, you can see reflections of the original fairy tale laced throughout my book, including an enchanted mirror, a magical flower garden, crows (ravens in the original), a group of wanderers, and, most obviously, a talking reindeer named Bae.  I also kept the basic thematic elements of intellect versus heart, sacrifice versus selfishness, and the power of love (and not just of the romantic variety).

It was actually a wonderful experience to write this book as both a reflection and a reinterpretation of a classic fairy tale. As I have done in other posts, I encourage everyone to read the original story. It is in the public domain and thus freely available online, at sites such as Wall of Thorns: http://wallofthorns.com/snowqueen/snowqueentitle.html

CROWN OF ICE would not exist without the inspiration of “The Snow Queen,” written by a brilliant storyteller from the nineteenth century. So I must conclude by saying (as I do in the acknowledgements for my book) “Thank you, Mr. Hans Christian Andersen.”

About the Author

Vicki Lemp Weavil was raised in a farming community in Virginia, where her life was shaped by a wonderful family, the culture of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and an obsession with reading. Since obtaining her undergraduate degree in Theatre from the University of Virginia, she’s gone on to acquire two masters degrees, living in places as diverse as New York City and rural North Carolina. She’s currently the library director for a performing an visual arts university.  Vicki loves good writing in any genre, and has been known to read seven books in as many days. She enjoys travel, gardening, and the arts. Vicki lives in North Carolina with her husband, son, and some very spoiled cats.

            

And now ... the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Memory's Wake, by Selina Fenech

Her memory may have been stolen, but her tale is unforgettable.

Complete with excellent illustrations, Memory's Wake draws you in until you forget yourself in the story of Memory, a girl who seems to have been ripped out of the mundane world and thrust into a world of the fae, dragons, magic, and a girl with a secret, on the run.

In classic adventure style, they set off on a high-stakes quest, to reunite Eloryn with the only family she knows, and to help Memory find herself. With turns of fate that echo well loved fairy tale themes, Memory's Wake is an immersion in the world of possibilities.

Surprisingly, Memory's Wake has made me feel unusually thankful for the mundane predictability of the humdrum day to day life. We can't gain consciousness halfway into another realm, hit the ground sore and confused, but hit it running nonetheless. No, that sort of relentless fleeing and then dogged determination is reserved for the young and the fictional, and Fenech captures the energy as well as the depletion well.

Available on Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and Kobo.

Interview with H. D. Hunter

The wind is howling and the snow is piling up, here in southern Pennsylvania. So, grab a cup of hot cocoa (yes, even those of you lucky enough to live in warmer places. You can play along, too!) and help us welcome H. D. Hunter to We Do Write. 

Thank you for joining us today, H. D. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks! I’m happy to be here.

Let’s see … I’ll try to keep this quick and interesting. I was born and raised in Alaska. Yes, I have seen my fair share of bears, and no, I would not advise getting too close to them. A few of my favorite things are: Dalton Trumbo, Rush, Listerine toothpaste, and spiders. And Risin’ Sun is my first book.

Alaska, huh? Okay, no more complaining about the wind and snow. How long have you been writing?

I don’t think there was any moment where I consciously decided to start writing; I’ve been coming up with stories as long as I can remember and writing them down as long as I learned to write. I started writing RISIN' SUN, in particular, at the end of 8^th grade.

That's awesome! In 8th grade, all I was doing was writing crappy poetry and reading horror novels under my desk. I'm impressed.

What’s RISIN' SUN about?

RISIN' SUN is the first in the Legends of Eonia series and follows a young aristocrat on a less-than-pleasant journey to find her way home. The blurb on the back sums it up pretty well:

Lily Towell has never been one to follow the rules. She has an unfortunate habit of disregarding anything that is considered proper and expected of a young lady, despite coming from a wealthy family in the late 19th century Great Britain. In fact, her preferred pastimes include daydreaming, not paying attention in her lessons, and making a game of manipulating her younger brother, Liam. Simply put, she leads a comfortable, albeit dull, life.

But her life is thrown into turmoil when she has an unorthodox meeting with Jasper, a “homeless,” self-proclaimed sorcerer from a different dimension. Soon, Lily finds herself in a world very unlike her own, one that is fully equipped with creatures she thought—or rather, hoped—didn’t exist. As if the trauma of being in a place where humans aren’t at the top of the food chain isn’t enough, Lily has a bigger problem: Jasper, the red-headed, freckle-faced vagabond, is her key to getting home … assuming they can survive long enough for him to remember the way. 

RISIN' SUN is a dark fairytale full of magic and mischief, beauties and beasts—and just a touch of nonsense.

Very cool! I'm a sucker for dark fairytales. How did the idea for RISIN' SUN come to you?

I was sitting in class one day in middle school, staring at a blank computer screen because I had already finished my assignment when I decided to pull up Microsoft word just for the heck of it. Why not? I didn’t even think about what I was writing. It was just for fun, after all, so I just typed whatever popped into my mind. Then the bell rang. I thought about just closing out of the program, but instead, I printed the half-page I’d written and scrambled to my next class. That half-page hid in a folder over the summer after 8^thgrade, but when I found it again just before the start of my freshman year of high school, I copied it into a little journal and wrote on it every chance I got. By the time sophomore year came around, RISIN' SUN was finished, and I set to work on book two, then a year and a half later, book three. I have 5 journals filled with the legends of Eonia so far.

Wow! The story ideas for this series must have really spoken to you. Tell me a bit about your writing process. Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I do most of the editing myself, but I do have a few beta readers to help with ideas and catch the stuff I miss. I certainly wouldn’t mind giving a critique group a try, though.

I would definitely recommend a critique group/partner. That's how I met the amazing Dorothy Dreyer! Are you a plotter or a pantser?

It really depends on the story. For the Legends of Eonia, I didn’t start thinking about where the storyline was going until the first draft of RISIN' SUN was done. It’s always just kind of written itself. I do plot to some extent with other stories, but it seems like the book just ends up going in a completely different direction if I try to stick to an outline too much. So, most of the time, I just let it go wherever it’s going to go.

Don't you just love it when a story writes itself? I wish they all did that. What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Writing a beginning!  Before I set to work on RISIN' SUN, I used to think up what I thought were great ideas for books, but I would always start off knowing how I wanted the story to end before I had even written the beginning. And so they always withered into short stories because I didn’t know how to get to the ending.

So, now, I’m trying to train myself to just start writing and keep going before even thinking about how the story will end. It’s hard!

I also have a love-hate relationship with editing. I ALWAYS want to add more, but I’ve read RISIN' SUN so many times that I practically have it memorized. It’s difficult for me to finally just stop, and say, “Just let it be.”

Yes. This is why beta-readers are the greatest people on Earth. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

A notebook and a pencil. I write notes like a crazy person, so if a new scene or idea pops into my head while I’m writing a different scene, I can jot it down and go back to it later.

And a nice hot cup of tea is good to have nearby, too.

Okay, quick question time. If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I would love to have some kind of universal communication. Or flight.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

I wouldn’t say it’s the weirdest but I recently googled how spiders reproduce.

Ha! That's pretty weird. And quite creepy.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: rising, sensibility, and bistro.

I watched as she stared intently at the bread rising in the bistro windows and knew that her sensibility was probably stronger than mine … and then I realized that I was watching her just as intently as she was watching the bread.

Oh, good one. Now I want to know what happens next. 

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ... 

Drawing, painting, reading—anything artistic! I’m also a fan of spending some quality time outdoors. Hiking, boating, jogging, etc.

Is there anyone you'd like to thank for supporting you?

I’d like to thank my wonderful friends and family, who have all been so supportive, as well as my brother and sister, to whom the book is dedicated. I love you all.

Thanks to Kallie Bass Photography for the author portrait.

A huge thank you to everyone at Mirror Publishing, especially Mr. Neal Wooten, who has given me this chance to share this story with the world. I’m so grateful for this opportunity.

Thanks to everyone who has bought and/or read RISIN' SUN. It’s such a great joy to hear when someone enjoys something that I created.

And of course, thank you for giving me a little space on your fabulous blog to rant about my book a little! You’re wonderful!

It's our pleasure! Thank you for joining us, H. D. 

H. D. Hunter can be found online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/legendsofeonia

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16247943-risin-sun

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Risin-Sun-H-D-Hunter/dp/1612251595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362522247&sr=8-1&keywords=risin%27+sun

BarnesandNoble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/risin-sun-h-d-hunter/1113946562?ean=9781612251592

Website/Blog: hdhunter.wordpress.com