Laini Taylor Signing

Blog Challenge Day 4!

Did I mention I got to see my favourite author? 

Well I did. And my little fangirl heart almost couldn’t handle it.

Laini Taylor was in South Hadley Massachusetts. Odyssey Bookshop sponsored her being at the local college. And me being me didn’t mind driving 4 and a half hours for it. Mind you this time included traffic and don’t forget the “lovely” Connecticut drivers on CT-15!! Gosh gotta love Connecticut drivers and their inability to use proper following distances at 70mph. It’s just lovely…… not.

But what was lovely was the fact that I got to see Laini Taylor. She’s legit the most down to earth person. And the questions asked were really good ones. For instance they wanted to know what kind of Chimera she would be, Madrigal (if you were curious).

I had asked for advice for finding an agent. She said she found hers by going to a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference. I’d never heard of the SCBWI before so it was insanely helpful to me. Since then I’ve done my research, there’s the New Jersey chapter of the SCBWI conference in June, the deadline is next month for registration. Needless to say I’m getting my shit together to try and make it. For that information alone it was worth the drive.

What made the day the best? I got books signed! It’s my newest addiction is to have signed books. I bought the whole Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. It’s going to look amazing on my book shelf! Woo!

I think I did really good acting my age when she was signing my books…. I tried. 

Plus it was really cool to hear her talk on her writing habits and what not. Because here’s the thing I don’t know any other people who are writers. So I don’t have a baseline to see if what I do is normal or not. And to hear another author speak about their habits and have the run pretty close to mine was a relief. It also makes me want to go to a coffee shop to start writing a bit.

Because lately I’ve been thinking about how my mind literally is always on writing. And then I was like well do most people just sit down and write in a linear fashion. Because I tend not to. I like to write up cool scenes and save them for later and link them in. I mean yeah I sort of write linearly but if something really good comes in my head I just have to write it before I lose it. I’ve lost some good scenes by not writing them down when I first entertained them, oh well guess they weren’t good enough for my books then. So to hear Laini Taylor talk about her writing style and how she came up with the idea for Daughter of Smoke and bone I was like, cool I’m totally normal.

All in all it was a really great day and I had a blast and a half! I need to manifest more of my favourite authors to come to the east coast! I’m so addicted to seeing them.

Cheers,

Top 10 Favorite Characters

Sup,

Okay so this post is going to be sort of fun for me because I’m going to tell you all about my top ten favorite characters of all time. Yes they are listed from most favorite to least favorite. Now this is what I’m going to do… you’ll get the character’s name, the author, and a little bit of why I like them.

1) Drizzt Do’Urden – R.A. Salvatore – I love Drizzt because he’s such an interesting person. He acts upon his emotions and what he stands for. Plus he’s got wicked sword skills and he uses scimitars how awesome.

2) Kvothe – Patrick Rothfuss - Kvothe is just such a dynamic character that you can’t help but love him. Even after all the things he goes through he’s still him and he uses his resources and wit to get him through tight spots.

3) Nazgrim – Micah English – here’s a quick side note this is a series on elfwood and not a published book… as far as I know – Nazgrim is so awesome because he’s self-centered and full of himself yet he has no issue helping others and the power that he has just makes or an awesome character

4) Malus Darkblade – Dan Abnett & Mike Lee – now who doesn’t love a backstabbing demon possessed dark elf? I love reading these stories because they have some amazing gory scenes and sometimes I just want some hack and slash! Plus there’s a plot to the murder which makes it even better and fun to read

5) Lestat – Anne Rice – now Lestat is a REAL vampire, none of the bullshit sparkling in the sun. he kicks butt and isn’t afraid to do what he wants to do. Plus he’s a vampire and I’m a sucker for a well written vamp.

6) Achmed – Elizabeth Haydon – okay assassins are awesome nuff said. Haha okay so Achmed is nifty because he always keeps his cool and knows what to do at just the right time. Plus he’s smart and the weapons he make are awesome as sin!

7) Dustfinger – Cornelia Funke – Dustfinger is a fire eater and that’s just soooo cool. Plus his character is so lovable and even though he’s not a main character he does so much to further the whole plot and he plays the hero in so any situations that you can’t help but love him

8) Magpie WIndwitch – Laini Taylor – yes the only girl to make my top ten list… why? Because she is strong willed and way smart. Plus she has not only the inner strength to do what she needs but also the outer strength where it’s hard to outmatch her with her combo of traits

9) Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle – dective stories aren’t really my cup of tea but Sherlock is so brilliant how he just figures it all out with so little and deducts so much.

10) Darren Shan – Darren Shan – again another vampire who’s kinda cool and old school sort of. Plus Darren is a teenager and he kicks soo much butt in the series and the ending is way cool and Darren just rocks cause ya he’s a vamp

And there you have it! Ta da! So I’ll post tomorrow updating you all on my writing!

Laters,
T.V.

Book Reviews!

Hi all,

Okay so I decided to do something different. I read Patrick Rothfuss’s and Laini Taylor’s blogs on a regular basis and I saw that they both did this. They would review one of their favorite books and I thought that was so way cool. So I wanted to do one too. Then it came to the question of what book to review… now that’s a tough one because I have so many favorite books. So I decided to make it easy and review Rothfuss’s “Name of The Wind” and Laini Taylor’s “Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer” since they are both HUGE inspirations for me because I want to be just like them in a few years! So here it goes…

The Name of The Wind

Okay this book was actually recommended and lent to me by my friend Ryan. Best thing he has done in my life because it’s a really amazing book. I read it in like two or three days because it’s so darn addicting! I wanted to reread it but I had to give it to my older brother so he could read it and get the book back to Ryan. So I went out and bought it. Anyhow…

Kvothe (“pronounced nearly the same as "quothe."”) is the main character and since it’s the first in a trilogy you only get a dose of his early life and you’re left hungering for more. The book opens in The Waystone Inn where you the innkeeper Kote and some towns people talking about the Chandrain. Their conversations are interrupted when Carter comes in with quite the tale to tell about being attacked by huge spider thingys. Kote takes one look at the one Carter brought into his inn and knows exactly what it is. That’s when he leaves the inn to go find more of the Scrael. And it’s in that scene that you find out the Kote is more then a simple innkeeper. It’s also where the whole story starts because Kote runs into someone who knows who he is. Chronicler insists that the great Kvothe tells his tale to him so that he can write it down. And that my friend is where you delve into Kvothe’s life.

It’s written in first person. Now let me tell you usually I hate first person books. But Patrick Rothfuss his writing is so fantastic and precise that I didn’t care it was first person because it was written so eloquently. But the fact that it was eloquent did not make it any harder to read. I found it easy to read and understand and Rothfuss develops Kvothe in the most amazing ways that makes him one of my favorite characters of all time! Plus Rothfuss has a really unique voice throughout the book that makes it even more lovable. Plus here’s another amazing thing about Mr. Rothfuss. The Name of the is published in six countries…. Correct me if I’m wrong. So ya go out and buy Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss and read it cause it rocks. And I’m waiting patiently for the second book The Wise Mans Fear to come out (there is no release date yet).
P.s. Check out Patrick’s site:: http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

So I spend the summer on LBI and the Ocean County Library is amazing so I spend a lot of time there. And one day when I went I was on a quest for a good book. And I saw this one and I was totally intrigued because I love faeries and anything faerie like. So I picked it up and read it in a day. Yes it is that good.

Magpie Windwitch is no ordinary faerie. She doesn’t live in Dreamdark with the rest of the faeries instead she travels the world with her group of crows to fight and kill devils. Magpie is also the granddaughter of the West Wind (I think that’s way cool). So one day when they are out hunting a particularly nasty devil they find something very bad. They try to follow the devil but that doesn’t work because the devil left no trail so they had to make guesses and search the world for traces of it. It’s not long before the clues of this mysterious devil show Magpie that she must return to the place of her birth. So it’s off to Dreamdark for Magpie and her crow friends. But when they get to Dreamdark they find that things are much worse then they first thought. The devil that they have been hunting is the legendary Blackbringer. So how does one kill a devil that was thought to be a child’s tale? That’s a question Magpie Windwitch must answer.

Okay so I loved this book it was a fast read because Laini Taylor does a fantastic job of writing in easy sentences. Now that’s not a diss it’s quite the opposite. Because if you have hard sentences then only people who can understand hard sentences without reading them twice will like the book. While Ms. Taylor does a great job of writing a book that a wide range of people can read and enjoy and that’s what I want my books to be like. Plus the story line is so enchanting and surreal yet tangible… if that makes any sense. Oh and she has three books out. I hope I can get to a bookstore soon to pick them up. Cause they both look realllllllly good plus it’s Laini Taylor. So check out any of her books Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, Faeries of Dreamdark: Silksinger, or Lips Touch: Three Times.

And another p.s. check her sight out! http://www.lainitaylor.com/

So I think that’ll do it for now.. hope you liked it! Read the books cause they rock!

Laters,
T.V.