Mundie Moms

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Until I Die Blog Tour: Author Interview


I'm excited to have Until I Die author, Amy Plum on the blog today! Amy stopped by to answer a few questions I had for her about her newest release, which came out yesterday!


Welcome back to Mundie Moms Amy! Congratulations on yesterday's release of Until I Die. With the growth of your series, is there a character that continues to surprise you with how much they keep changing?

I think as far as personal development goes, Georgia and Charlotte are the two who change the most from Book 1 to 2 to 3. Georgia, although she can’t help being uber-Georgia, is learning the hard way how to judge human (or unhuman, rather) nature and what is important to her. She will always be the sociable party girl, but is beginning to see her own weaknesses and is starting to think about how important family and loved ones are to her.

And Charlotte is losing her starry-eyed hope and is beginning to come to terms with the reality about a certain unrequited love that she has harbored for decades.

Which character have you enjoyed getting to know more about?

Gaspard. He is truly one of my favorites, and his back-story has come to me little by little. The more I know him the more I love him.

I love the cover for Until I Die. Did you get a say in your covers? What was your first thought when you saw Until I Die's cover?

Little, Brown/Atom actually let me participate this time in the choosing of the girl they used. They asked me if I liked the street scene and thought it was appropriate for the story in Book 2. And then Johanna Basford just went to town again with those beautiful swirls. So I felt lucky to have been asked for my feedback, although that design team really know what they’re doing.

I have totally fallen in with your Paris setting. What's one of your favorite places in Paris to visit?

In UNTIL I DIE I place a wedding scene in la Sainte-Chapelle. That is truly one of my favorite places in Paris. It’s such a small place, and is completely swallowed up by these wall-to-wall stained glass windows. It’s like being in a jewelry box.


Are you able to tell us a little bit about book 3 or tell us what we can expect to happen?

Ooh...let’s see. Book 3 picks up exactly where book 2 left off. Same place, same second. Some of the characters in Book 3 travel to another country, and a few chapters are set in another major world city. There are some really hot kissing scenes. And a couple of our revenants die...for good.

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Thank you for stopping by today Amy! Don't miss the Until I Die blog tour! Be sure to follow along and collect the scavenger hunt words on each stop to entire the grand prize on Amy's site.


Today's word is: Violettes


By: Amy Plum
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: May 8th, 2012
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Series: Revenants #2

Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.

As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.

In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series -quoted from Goodreads



Guest Post from Anna of AnnaReadsBooks: COLS Launch Party Re-Cap & Giveaway

Happy Day After COLS Release Day! Last night was Cassie's COLS Launch Party and the lovely Anna from AnnaReadsBooks was there! I'm so thrilled to have Anna on the blog today to talk about last night's events. I've also included a few pics she sent me from the party.


Here's ANNA: 


Just got back (last night) from the Cassie Clare release party and had such a blast. There were 400 signing tickets given -- and even more people there -- so I was counting my lucky stars to be one of the first in line at #11! Not to mention how lucky I was that Cassie's only U.S. signing for City of Lost Souls was so close to sweet home Chicago!


The event started with the City of Lost Souls playing on the big screen in the concert hall. The crowd was gasping and hooting throughout! Then, the actor who plays Jace (who is also the cover model on the book) came out to intro Cassie, the star of the night.

(the actor who plays Jace with one of the fans at the event)

She asked the crowd some trivia questions, like asking us to name on item on the menu at the restaurant they're always frequenting in the books. (Correct answer: Coconut pancakes.) And we found out people flew in from as far as Fort Worth, Philadelphia and L.A. just for the event. Amazing!

A few tidbits from the Q&A:

- Cassie always planned for Simon and Isabelle to get together because she loved doing a gender swap on the typical "tortured boy and shy girl" storyline.

- Someone in the crowd asked about the incest storyline and Cassie joked," I just got to the end and I was like: 'I know! INCEST!'" But in all seriousness, she had it planned all along and got the idea from a documentary she saw about a man and woman who were both adopted, married and later found out they were actually siblings. On Jace and Clary at that point she says: "This is REALLY forbidden love."

- There was a lot of talk about manga. And good manga. I could not follow along and only learned that I've been pronouncing "manga" wrong for a VERY long time. Whoops?

- Cassie said she wrote much of City of Bones while working at a New York City tabloid. The news would only come in late at night, so while everyone else sat around and shopped online, she wrote.

- Will's hatred for ducks comes from a real-life experience in London with author Sarah Rees Brennan in which she and Cassie accidentally fed duck pie to a bunch of "cannibal ducks," who then proceeded to chase them. "Never trust a duck!"

- Will or Jem? "If I were Tessa, I'd run off with Magnus," Cassie says.

- She says she has "a zillion" cast updates but can't talk about any of them yet. Though, she did say that they auditioned about 100 actors for Magnus this week.

- The idea for City of Bones came to her in a tattoo shop belonging to the woman who now designs the runes for the books.

- SPOILER ALERT FOR CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE: At least one major character will die.

- If she wasn't an author, she would be a "crazy cat lady." Joking! She said she'd just like to work with animals.

- Simon and Jace's "bromance" is a bit off in City of Lost Souls for obvious reasons...but it will be back on in City of Heavenly Fire.

- A fan asked what type of character Cassie would be, and she replied: "You want to be like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. But you'd probably be like Edmund in Chronicles of Narnia." Everyone wants to be a hero, she says, but that's not how it always works out.

- Magnus was based on her friend John, who had "the magical ability for glitter that would never wear off." One night, they were grabbing a soda at a pizza joint after a night of clubbing, when the woman behind the counter turned around, saw John and promptly dropped his drink, proclaiming, "Never in my life has I seen such a shining man." And, thus, Magnus was born.

- Simon and Tessa are the characters most like Cassie, and Magnus is the most fun to write.

- Church is an homage to Holly Black's angry cat.

- Why is Magnus banned from Peru? Cassie imagines its has to do with the Nazca Lines in Peru, huge and mysterious drawings in the ground that are said to have magical powers and are now a protected "wonder of the world"-type site. "Magnus got drunk and threw up on them."

- She hasn't nothing against adult novels and would consider one if she had a good idea once all her current series are finished. She'd likely do something high fantasy, along the lines of Game of Thrones.


Phew! So much good info, and Cassie was just hilarious and delightful. And now I have all my books signed, so I am such a happy camper.

While people waited for their numbers to be called for the signing, they could take photos with "Jace" or get runes "tattooed" on their backs. So fun and cute.

(Anna with Cassie)

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Thank you SO MUCH Anna for this post and giving us a sneak peak over all the fun of last night's COLS launch party. 

Thank you to Anna, we're giving away these two COLS goodies from last night's party.


Dreamless by Josephine Angelini Blog Tour


I'm so excited to be hosting the official blog tour for Josephine Angelini's Dreamless, the second book in her Starcrossed series. This tour is kicking off on May 22nd and will end on June 5th. You'll find a combination of spoiler free reviews, a variety of interviews with both the author and the characters, guest posts and a few spoiler free excerpts during this blog tour.

Follow the tour here:

May:
23rd- Super Natural Snark, character interview
24th- Mundie Moms, excerpt 
25th- Books with Bite, review
26th- Girls in the Stacks, author interview
27th-  Book Nerd (Jean), guest post
28th- Good Choice Reading, excerpt
29th- A Book & A Latte, guest post
30th- Reading Lark, interview
31st- Reading Teen, review

June:
1st- YA Bibliophile, excerpt
2nd- The Story Siren, author interview,
3rd- Once Upon A Twilight, review
4th- YA Book Nerd, guest post
5th- Bookaclious Pam, review



Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: May 29th, 2012
Can true love be forgotten?

As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.



Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling STARCROSSED delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds expectation -quoted from Goodreads


Follow Josephine on her Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

EXTRAS
The Giveaway


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Thank you to Amber of Page Turners blog for creating the blog tour banner and blog button!

Waiting on Wednesday: Darkness Before Dawn


By: J.A. London
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: May 29th, 2012
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won. 


Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters.... 


Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series

Not only do I really like the cover of this book, but I'm totally intrigued that it's a blend of paranormal and dystopian. I also like the fact that the vampires won the war. I'm totally moving this book up on my reading list! I can't wait feature this on the blog later on in the month. What book are your waiting to get your hands on? 

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