Mundie Moms

Friday, September 19, 2014

FREEBIE FRIDAY aka The Belated Giveaway!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!
I've got an exciting ONE DAY only giveaway happening here on the blog! 
One lucky winner will be entered to win these....


This was a giveaway I had originally planned on hosting a couple of weeks ago, but the craziness of life happened, and my giveaway never got posted. I'm doing a one day giveaway, as I'd like to get these arcs out ASAP, despite the fact a couple of these books have already been released. 

The Giveaway Details
  • 1 winner will receive the entire stack of arcs featured in the picture. That's 7 newly released and soon to be released books.
  • Fill out the form below to enter to win.
  • PLEASE READ THE TERMS & CONDITIONS via the entry form below, before entering.
ENTER TO WIN
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

* Thank you to Simon Teen, Little Brown, Fierce Reads, and Harper Teen for the arcs.

Interview with Marie Lu, Author of The Young Elites

Marie Lu is on the blog today! 


Recently I had the chance, along with a few other fellow bloggers, to have a phone interview with Marie Lu, author of the upcoming release, THE YOUNG ELITES (hitting shelves on October 7th). 
She was more than gracious with her time, because we had a lot of questions for her. Have I mentioned before on here on much I adore Marie!?! If not, I do. She's one of the sweetest people I've had the chance of meeting. Okay, back to the interview. Before I share part of the interview, here is a little bit about her upcoming release:

ABOUT THE BOOK

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

*Photo credit: Paul Gregory 

Katie (Mundie Moms):  Hey, Marie.  How are you?
Marie Lu:  Good.  How are you?
Katie (Mundie Moms):  Good. Thank you.
So, my question is, I really love the title of your book, The Young Elites.  Can you talk a little bit about your process and how you chose that?  Was it something that came to you over the course of writing the story, or was the title something you already had in mind?  Or, is it something that, after you finished writing the story, you picked out a title?  
Marie Lu:  For this in particular, I definitely thought of The Young Elites first.  That's not always the case.  Sometimes I just have placeholder names, but for this one I felt like I couldn't quite get into the right mindset to write it.  Like, I didn't want to call them, like, super awesome people, being that [unintelligible].  
So, I'm thinking back to see what exactly made me think of that name.  I think honestly I saw it online.  It was the name of some sort of conference, like some international conference for young people, and it was called The Young Elites.  And I can't remember where I saw it, but that kind of stuck to me.  
And after I thought about it for a while, I was like, "Gosh, it would really fit this world and the people that are living in this world," because they're--they are extraordinary, but they're very, very young.  And that bleeds very much into who they are in terms of their powers and how they're treated by their families.  
And so, those two things kind of came together.  And I wanted to give them a name that was--that sounded kind of positive, 'cause they do have very derogatory and negative names attached to them too that basically points to the same thing.  So, I wanted them to have a name that's like, "No, we're amazing and we're also very, very young."  So, that's where The Young Elites came about.  
Katie (Mundie Moms): Thank you.

Check out other fellow blogger interviews with Marie Lu: 
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More With Marie

In addition to our phone interview, I recently had the chance to ask Marie a few more questions about The Young Elites:

MMs: In The Young Elites, which element did you have the most fun creating - the action, drama, romance, fantasy element etc?


Marie Lu: Hmm, the most fun.....I had a ton of fun designing the fantasy world. Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, and I really loved creating my pantheon of gods, creating crazy flying creatures, and making up the Elites' powers. It makes me feel like a kid again. I also didn't mind writing the romance..... ;)


MMs: Out of all your characters (from The Young Elites to your previous books), which character do you easily identify with?


Marie Lu: By the end of the Legend series, I identified the most with June. Even though she and I are very different people, I realized by the time I wrote Champion that I was putting a lot of pieces of my personality in her. In The Young Elites, I identify the most with Adelina, which is very unsettling for me! I mean, I don't identify with her whole "I hate the world I want revenge" part, but I do very much sympathize with her insecurities about herself and her desire to be loved and accepted.

MMs: Thank you Marie!
Marie Lu: Thanks so much again, Katie! <3>

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MORE ABOUT THE BOOK
Read an excerpt. Find out more about The Young Elites here.

Retailer links for Pre-Order:
·         Amazon & Kindle
·         Barnes & Noble & Nook
·         IndieBound
·         Apple
·         Kobo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marie Lu is the author of the New York Times bestselling Legend series. She spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing Assassin’s Creed, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with one boyfriend, one Chihuahua mix, and two Pembroke Welsh corgis.

Learn More at her Official Website

Marie’s NYT-bestselling Legend series will be available in paperback after September 7th. Reviews on the Legend series:

“Legend doesn’t merely survive the hype, it deserves it.” –The New York Times

“Marie Lu’s dystopian novel is a ‘Legend’ in the making.” –USA Today

“An action packed-love story full of inventive details.” -The Los Angeles Times


*Thank you to Marie Lu, Penguin Teen & BHM for making this interview possible.

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