Mundie Moms

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mundie Moms Author Chat with Kiersten White TONIGHT @ 8 pm CST


*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.

*Please know that we will be discussing Paranormalcy by Kiersten White!

*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, so that Kiersten can answer your questions. With the high volume of guests expected tonight, not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat. If that is the case, we will be sure to send them to Kiersten so that she can answer them, after which we will post them on the blog and our forum.

*In respect to Kiersten's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to their current writings, and book.

*We will not post any personal questions or comments.

* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.

*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!


**No part of this chat is allowed to be used with out our permission**

Book Blurb- The Faerie Ring

I have just read an amazing book that I can't help but blurb on Mundie Moms. Next fall Kiki Hamilton's debut book, The Faerie Ring will be released by Tor Books. I highly recommend this. It's such a unique faerie book, and has all the wonderful elements I look for in a 5 star book.

Here's a brief summary of The Faerie Ring:

London, 1871

Orphaned and living in an abandoned clockmaker’s shop adjoining Charing Cross railway station, sixteen year old Tiki picks the pockets of passing travelers to survive. Her efforts support not only herself, but her ‘family’ of orphans, including fragile five year old Clara.

When Tiki steals the Queen’s ring, she thinks she’s solved their problems. That is, until Rieker, a tough from the north end, shows up in Charing Cross and informs her that the ring is really a reservoir that holds an age-old truce between the world of faerie and man. Unless guarded, faeries will search for the ring and destroy it, as well as anyone who has knowledge of the ring’s location... (from goodreads)

The Faerie Ring is an intriguing, beautifully written, blend of historical fiction, mixed with the perfect dose of romance, mystery, and faerie lore, all set within the time period of Victorian London. I was completely enraptured with the story that I couldn't devour this debut novel fast enough.

I absolutely loved reading this! I will be sharing my full review closer to the release date next year.

You can read more about The Faerie Ring and Kiki Hamilton's books here http://kikihamilton.blogspot.com

Clare B Dunkle's, The House Of Dead Maids Blog Tour

Today we are thrilled to be the next stop on Clare B Dunkle's The House of Dead Maids blog tour. The House of Dead Maids is written in such a way, that it reads like a prequel to Wuthering Heights. I was very intrigued on how Clare was able to capture the same feeling that Wuthering Heights has.

"Was it hard making The House of Dead Maids setting similar to the classic, Wuthering Height?"

When I first read Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, I remember how vividly that house stood out in my mind, with its narrow windows, thick walls, and exposed, stormy location. I felt as if I had taken a good look around each room and would be able to recognize the place if I came across it later.

When I decided to write The House of Dead Maids, a prequel to that classic novel, I wanted to create a house as memorable as the original. This is a tall order! Brontë’s rough-edged old farmhouse is a very disturbing place because it traps characters inside it and changes their destinies. Newcomers feel unwelcome there but are unable to leave, creating the perfect emotional atmosphere for ghosts. No wonder the dead Cathy comes wandering across the moor to tap at her old bedroom window.

Scholars believe that Emily Brontë may have found her inspiration for Wuthering Heights in a particularly bizarre old house she visited: High Sunderland, which stood only a short distance from Law Hill School, and which she could see from her window while she was teaching there. It was covered on the outside with grotesque carvings and odd mottos, such as “This place hates profligacy -- loves peace -- punishes crimes -- preserves justice -- honours the good” and “Confide Deo, diffide tibi” (Trust God, distrust yourself). So I learned everything I could about High Sunderland, and when I read that a secret spiral staircase had been discovered there behind one of the stone fireplaces, I filed that detail away to put into my book.

Like Wuthering Heights and High Sunderland, my “house of dead maids” has words chiseled over the front door, but Tabby, my narrator, can’t read them. (I put this trouble in Tabby’s way because it is a factor in Wuthering Heights: Hareton Earnshaw experiences many frustrations connected with his illiteracy and can’t even read his own name over the door.) Another character tells Tabby that the inscription she’s looking at is SELDOM HOUSE, the name of the place, but Tabby doesn’t trust this. She knows more is written there, but she can’t figure out what it is. My editor wanted to figure this out too, so I told her that the writing Tabby can’t read is RARO PRAEVISA RARO PRAEVENTA (seldom foreseen, seldom forestalled), the Latin motto of the masters of Seldom House.

High Sunderland is gone now, so I couldn’t visit it, but I did tour houses of a similar age. One of the houses I visited, Ripley Castle, has been the home of the Ingilby family for seven hundred years. The opportunity to walk down hallways and peek in rooms where almost thirty generations of people have lived out their lives was invaluable for my research. I noticed, for instance, how certain zones of a house would be used for a while and then left alone for several generations. They might then be redecorated and adapted for a new use: the medieval armor room might become a modern study or new pantry, for example.

(Photographs from my research trip are here: http://www.claredunkle.com/Design/maidsphotoindex.htm.)

In my book, different characters have found corners of large, inhospitable Seldom House to modify into small “homes within a home.” If Seldom House were cozier or friendlier, characters wouldn’t feel the need to do this, but living in the place is almost like living in a barn—a very spooky, poorly lit barn. These “homes within a home” have taken on the character of their individual owners: Miss Winter’s suite of rooms is clean, modern, and comfortable, and Mrs. Sexton’s haven, the kitchen, is warm and practical. Even the children have managed to modify their antiquated bedroom as well as they can. Down the years, they have collaborated to put together a hidden hoard of playthings.

Ultimately, the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights belongs to the dead more than to the living. Cathy’s bed foreshadows the modified coffin in which she and Heathcliff will sleep together. And ultimately, my House of Dead Maids is nothing but a simple grave—although it is a grave surrounded by the most elaborate of monuments.

Thank you Clare for stopping by and talking to us about the research that you did to get the perfect setting for The House Of Dead Maids! Now we have a special Brontë-themed giveaway to tell you about:

One Grand Prize winner will receive The House of Dead Maids, a gorgeous Brontë sisters pocket mirror, and the HarperTeen edition of Wuthering Heights! Two lucky runners-up will receive the two books. To enter, send an email to DeadMaidsBook@gmail.com with your name, email address, and shipping address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on October 31. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on November 1 and notified via email.

Don't forget to visit Clare's next stop at Jenn's Bookshelves at http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/.

Thoughtful Thursday- National Book Foundation & Lights On After School Rally


Books offer a freedom that we all deserve to enjoy. They allow us to travel to exotic places and imaginative destinations we only wished existed. They rekindle feelings from our childhood, or help us cope with adolescent years. They make us laugh, cry, empower us and most of all, books offer something else- the gift of imagination. It's often said that "Reading is Knowledge, and Knowledge is Power." In honoring the gift of reading and National Book Month, we're spotlighting the National Book Foundation.

The mission of the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand it's audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. (quoted from their site).

Their History:
On March 16, 1950, publishers, editors, writers, and critics gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to celebrate the first annual National Book Awards, an award given to writers by writers. The American Book Publisher’s Council, The Book Manufacturers’ Institute, and The American Booksellers’ Association jointly sponsored the Awards, bringing together the American literary community for the first time to honor the year’s best work in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. As the Boston Herald reported the following day, “literary history was indeed in the making.” (quoted from their site)

Today, they have given awards in over 48 categories! Of course I was curious to see who won in the YA Literature group for the past three years and here's who won:
2007: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2008: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
2009: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

On October 13th, 2010 the 20 Finalists for Young Adult Literature, Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction will be announced. If you'd like to learn more about the National Book Foundation, please visit them here http://www.nationalbook.org/
Not only can you find the list of awards dating back to 1950, but you can find current events, and their latest news. AND they're holding their 11th annual Lights on Afterschool event on October 21st.

The Lights on Afterschool national rally is to bring attention for the need for more after school resources and programs. What to learn more? You can find a local event, the history of the rally and register here http://tinyurl.com/n588rg I'm surprised I'm just now learning about this, as Austin has a huge list of places supporting this amazing and much needed rally. Be sure to visit the link and see what places in your area are joining the rally.

Need A Little Boost To Get Through Today?

It's not often we post stuff like this, but we couldn't help ourselves. If you need a little boost to get through the day, than we've got just the thing for you....


I know, you guys are wondering how you get Daniel to come clean your houses aren't you!?!

Thank you Jen L for giving us the boost we needed yesterday with this video!

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