Mundie Moms

Monday, December 13, 2010

City of Fallen Angels Cover Reveal is Tomorrow!


Stay tuned tomorrow morning when the cover for City of Fallen Angels will be revealed here. We are literally bouncing with excitement. What do you think, Mundie Moms, who will be on the cover??

Author Interview with Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss


















Today we are so excited to have debut author, Stephanie Perkins on our site! Stephanie is the author of Anna and the French Kiss and let us just say, this is one book we HIGHLY recommend picking up. It quickly made it's way on to our Favorite Reads for 2010! It's one of those books you sit down to read, and you quickly find yourself completely swept away into the story.



I absolutely love Anna and the French Kiss, the characters are real and the setting made me feel like I'd just had a private tour of Paris. What inspired you to choose Paris as your setting and have you ever been before?
Thank you! The inspiration arrived in a dream — a beautiful boy with a French name and an English accent sitting on the steps of the Panthéon — and it was impossible to resist. Or, more accurately, THE BOY was impossible to resist.

I’d only visited Paris when I was very young, so my memories weren’t exactly reliable. And when I got this idea, my husband and I didn’t have the money to travel. This meant years of research — books, film, music, food, language classes, etc. Anything and everything French that I could get my hands on! Last January, I was fortunate enough to have spent an entire (glorious, glorious) month in the center of Paris, but by that point, Anna’s story was already said and done.
In other words, it was all research. Never underestimate the power of good research!

I'm having a hard time picking a favorite character from Anna and the French Kiss, as not only are Anna and St. Clair fabulous, relatable characters, but so are the secondary characters. Which character surprised you the most in terms of how much they grew from the beginning of the story to the end?
Oh my word, definitely Anna. Story-wise AND process-wise. In my first draft, she was an empty character. I knew who St. Clair was, but I had no idea what type of person his ideal match would be. I rounded her out by giving her several of my own obsessions — both positive and negative. In fact, I gave her TOO MANY of my negative habits! My editor and I worked hard to scale things back again, to make her both likeable and worthy of such an interesting boy.

I think St Clair is a modern day Mr. Darcy, as he's the good looking, real, down to earth guy who has some quirkiness to him. Who inspired his character?
THAT IS THE MOST AWESOME COMPLIMENT EVER.
Ah hem.
Well, of course, the boy in my dream was the biggest influence. I was lucky in that Étienne St. Clair arrived nearly fully formed! But I fleshed him out with romantic influences, that’s for sure. To be honest, there’s definitely some Darcy in him. A dash of Meg Cabot’s Michael Moscovitz. And a heaping tablespoon of one particular actor who shall remain nameless!

We know that writing can be a rewarding, and a painfully satisfying journey. How do you over come the days you feel that your scenes just aren't coming together?
Truthfully, I have more hard days than good days. I’m a slow writer, and I get frustrated easily. I feel like there’s this universal, silly idea that writing should be some kind of magical, mystical experience, but . . . no. It’s a job. And jobs mean WORK.
And sometimes work isn’t fun.
When my scenes aren’t coming together, I’ll step back from my computer — take a shower or a walk — and then return in an hour or two. If I haven’t thought of a solution, it’s time to brainstorm on paper. Instead of trying to think up ONE idea, now I’ll try to think up five or seven or ten, even if they’re stupid. If I force my brain to speed up, often I’ll hit upon something good. And if I STILL don’t know what to do, I’ll either work on a different scene or discuss the problem with a critique partner.
The only key? Don’t stop. Keep moving forward.

Do you have any favorite reads from this past year?
Oh, I love this question! Thank you for asking. My favorite read this year was Elizabeth Hand’s Illyria, a gorgeous, quiet, magical, intense romance about (*cough cough*) cousins. Daisy Whitney’s powerful, hopeful The Mockingbirds was my favorite contemporary debut. And I loved, loved, loved Julie Halpern’s hilarious and romantic Into the Wild Nerd Yonder.

Thank you for your time Stephanie and congratulations on your debut release!
Thank you for having me here! I’m so honored. I hope you and your readers all have a wonderful holiday season!
_____________________________
You can find out more about Stephanie & her writing by visiting her site here: http://www.stephanieperkins.com/
You can read our 5 star review of Anna and the French Kiss here http://tinyurl.com/22uytyz
Thank you to Stephanie Perkins and Anna with Penguin for their time. Thank you to Penguin, we have an awesome giveaway!! A SIGNED copy of Anna and the French Kiss!

Our 2010 Favorite Reads- Books From A Series

This week we wanted to share our favorite reads from 2010 with you. Since we read so many wonderful books this year, and had a fabulous team of reviewers, I thought it would be fun to break down our lists. Each day we're going to post some of our favorite reads, along with other reads we really liked. At the end of the week we'll share each of our top 10 favorite reads from 2010, and we'll also have some giveaways based off our Favorite Reads for 2010.

Today's posts is our favorite reads from a series:

Our Favorite 2010 Established Authors In A Series:




























































* Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
* The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
* Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
* The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
* Matched by Ally Condie
* Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
* Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink
* Demons Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
* Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
* Deadly Little Lies by Laura Stolarz
* GONE by Lisa McMann

Our Favorite 2010 Debut Authors In A Series (either new authors or established authors new to the genre):













































* Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
* Firelight by Sophie Jordan
* Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
* Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
* Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
* Mistwood by Leah Cypress
* The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
* Shadow Of The Sun by Laura Kreitzer
* Lunarmorte by Samantha Young


Other Books In A Series We Enjoyed:

Established Authors In A Series:

* Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
* Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
* White Cat by Holly Black
* Everlasting by Angie Frazier
* Torment by Lauren Kate
* The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
* Captivate by Carrie Jones
* The Lost Saint by Bree Despain
* Spells by Aprilynne Pike
* Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
* The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
* Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Debut Authors In A Series:

* Awakened by Ednah Walters
* Stork by Wendy DelSol
* 13 To Life by Shannon Delaney
* Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson
* The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
* The Heist Society of Ally Carter
* Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
* Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

What are some of your favorite 2010 books from a series?

We also have a GIVEAWAY!!! We have a signed The Body Finder book plate, a signed Melissa Marr book mark and a signed Firelight book mark. To enter, please fill out this form below *open to US & International followers*


Tomorrow we'll be sharing more of our favorite reads with our favorite Debut Authors.

*This list is from a combined list of favorites/ 4.5-5 stars reviews from 7 Mundie Moms reviewers.

Mundane Monday #63

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!!!


His steady gaze held hers. His blue eyes were very dark, uniquely so. She had known people before with blue eyes, but they had always been light blue. Will's were the color of the sky just on the edge of night. His long lashes veiled them as he said, "Sometimes, when I have to do something I don't want to do, I pretend I'm a character from a book. It's easier to know what they would do."

-Clockwork Angel, page 224

Don't forget to head over to Hollywood's Crush to vote for Clockwork Angel as one of this years favorite reads! Vote here

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