Interview: Carolyn MacCullough

We seem to be on a bit of a roll with authors of paranormal/magic these last few interviews, so let's keep the balling rolling with another one! After all, three is a pretty magical number. Presenting... Carolyn MacCullough!

Let's kick it off with a little fun - tell us about ONCE A WITCH in twenty words, and try to toss in as many alliterations as you can. Once upon a time there was a wicked warlock who wanted to win the heart of a winsome witch . . . er, okay, I've gotten away from the plot entirely. Twenty words? Tamsin Greene is a teen who comes from a long line of witches, yet she herself has no magical power...or so she thinks until one rainy August evening...

Ooh... The concept of witches has been around for a very long time, but each author puts a unique spin on them. What differentiates the ones in your book?
They're modern day witches (yes, it's been done before) who are still practicing their witchy ways in a world that's definitely unaware of them. This causes some conflict and tension for Tamsin, the protagonist--how does she function in the "normal" world and the "paranormal" world of her family.

Definitely quite the dilemna to be in. ONCE A WITCH - quite the title there. Care to share how that came about?
I don't know! I think I just love the phrase once a Witch, always a Witch--by the way, Always a Witch is the title of the sequel.

Phrased like that, the two titles connect beautifully! There's no denying that ONCE A WITCH is cauldron-ful of interesting characters. If you could chillax with one of them for a day, who would it be, and what would you guys do?
Ah, my pick would be Gabriel. I love him! And I have a soft spot for musicians, so since he is one, I'd definitely like to hang out in some funky jazz bar in the Village and have him explain jazz to me. (Since I'm woefully ignorant on it).

Haha, sounds like it would be tons of fun! Any literary crushes?
Neil Gaiman. For sure, Neil Gaiman.

Great pick. Are there any details about ALWAYS A WITCH that you're currently at liberty to share with us?
Of course! In Always a Witch, the adventures of Tamsin and Gabriel continue. Rowena is a complete bridezilla and luckily for Tamsin there's more time travel--a lot more this time--a huge chunk of the book is set in Victorian New York of the 1800's where we get to meet the evil Knight family.

Really looking forward to see how the story spins further in the sequel. Anything else to add?
Come visit me at http://www.onceawitch.com/ for quizzes, an excerpt of the book, and an awesome book trailer.

Thanks for dropping by, Carolyn - it was great fun having you!

My review for Once a Witch can be found here.

Orianthi

I don't know about you guys, but for me there's always a trill of excitement upon finding new music, new artists, whose work just clicks. Something about the sound, the charisma, the stage presence, the mannerisms - when it all just meshes, it's a beautiful thing.

Discovered a couple of artists recently who are pretty amazing, and figured I'd share with the findings with you guys over the upcoming weeks. First up is Orianthi, a 24-year-old Australian guitarist.

I find her admirable for a number of reasons. First off, rockin' female guitarist = respect in my book, any day of the week. The fact that she's probably on track to join a long line of guitarists on whole nother level set for the history books only augments the allure. (See her website and Wikipedia article for more information.)

"She's opened for her hero (Steve Vai), backed an Idol (Carrie Underwood), traded solos with a legend (Carlos Santana) and shared the stage with the King of Pop (Michael Jackson)."
-from her website bio

Now after all this great background information, I'm sure you guys can't wait to check out some of her music. The first (and so far, only, actually) song of hers that I was introduced to was According to You. It's got one of those catchy sort of beats, and the music video is pretty cool as well. Enjoy:

Writing Contest

Now, I know there's a large portion of you among the YA blogosphere (and elsewhere) who are either aspiring writers or write as a hobby. In any case, if you fit either one of those criteria, your interest will definitely be piqued by the awesome writing contest fabulous writing duo Daniel & Dina Nayeri (Another Faust, 2009 - review can be found here) are hosting. You can find more information on this blog entry of their's, or see below for more details.

Dina and Daniel are happy to open the doors to their very first “retelling” contest!

Okay, so here’s how this works. First of all, we want EVERYONE to enter (assuming, of course, that you’re not a professional. Unpublished writers only). You don’t have to be a longtime writer, or even an aspiring writer, or a certain age or live in any particular country (this is an international contest). You DO have to write fluently in English (sorry! Though if you write in any of the languages we are trying to learn, we will read your story just for fun and practice)…

Here are the rules:

1) Write a 3000 word (max) retelling of the Faustian Bargain (”Another Another Faust”) set in any time, place, dimension, or world. Your story can be from any viewpoint, and you can get as creative as you’d like! Don’t exceed 3000 words, but don’t give us filler either. You can certainly tell an amazing story in just a few words.

2) Paste your story in the body of an email (attachments will not be opened). There should be no greeting or any other text besides the story in the body of the email. No need to explain the story background. The writing will say it all!

3) The subject line of the email should be in all-caps “WRITING CONTEST ENTRY - JOHN SMITH.” Replace John Smith with your name.

4) Send the story to dviergutz@gmail.com by January 31, 2010. If your entry doesn’t meet any of the above rules, it will not be read!

5) Five finalists will be selected by February 28, 2010. We will post all five finalists on our website for people to admire and comment. But in the end, D&D will choose the winner. The grand-prize winner will be announced in mid-March.

Now, here’s what you’re playing for:

A signed copy of Another Faust

A handwritten deleted scene

A featured article & interview on our website

An author’s galley of the sequel Another Pan

(And hey, impress us, you never know what can happen!)

Best of luck to everyone who participates, and have fun!

In My Mailbox [24]

Brought to you by Alea & Kristi, Lucid Conspiracy presents In My Mailbox #24...

Quality over quantity, for sure! This week I got Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush, which was really exciting. For one thing, this is a book that's generated a ton of buzz lately - a lot of it extravagant praise, some of it not-so-positive. So it'll be really interesting to formulate my own opinion and see where I stand on this one. The cover image is definitely gorgeous and very striking!

So now that you've seen the contents of mine, your turn. What was in your mailbox this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (6) (+ Contest News)

The Mark - Jen Nadol
*January 19th, 2010 Bloomsbury

Sixteen-year old Cassie Renfield has seen the mark since forever: a glow around certain people as if a candle were held behind their back.

The one time she pointed it out taught her she shouldn't do it again, so Cassie has kept quiet, considering its rare appearances odd, but insignificant. Until she watches a man die. Mining her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person's imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Cassie searches her past, her philosophy lessons, even her new boyfriend for answers, always careful to keep her secret. How does the mark work? Why her? Most importantly, if you know today is someone's last, should you tell?

So in addition to a really awesome cover, the premise of The Mark definitely sounds very intriguing! Something about the ethical and decision aspects of this sounds a little TOK-esque, and thought-provoking is always interesting in that it pushes the envelope.

By this point, I bet you guys have perked ears as well, and are eager to learn more. Speaking of wonderful timing, the awesome Jen Nadol just so happens to have a contest going on at the moment to win an ARC of The Mark, swag, or other great stuff. Pop by here to check it out and enter!

But now that you've seen my pick, what are you waiting on, this Wednesday?

*WoW is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Devoured Review

Devoured - Amanda Marrone
*September 22nd, 2009 SimonPulse

Megan’s twin sister Remy died in an accident nine years ago, and she’s been haunting her ever since. Knowing how crazy that sounds, Megan keeps this secret to herself and tries to lead a normal life. But when she takes a summer job at Land of Enchantment to keep an eye on her new boyfriend and his lovesick best friend, Samantha, she meets fellow employee Luke who can see Remy, too. Things get even twistier because Megan’s new friend Ari is sporting a massive crush on Luke, who seems to be developing a massive crush on Megan…making for a love triangle that’s positively possessed.

Megan wants to keep her distance from Luke, but when Remy’s visions get crazy violent; she knows she needs his help. Because someone’s definitely in danger...the only question is who?

With Devoured, Amanda has brought a whole new facet to the concept of the fractured fairytale - and is it ever refreshing! Disregarding the apple on the cover/spine, the lack of mention of fairytale roots otherwise might have one not even making that connection initially. And in this case, it seems to work best this way - for those who are fans of Snow White, it adds a little extra zing; for those who aren't, it still works great as a stand-alone YA paranormal/romance/mystery/and so much else.

I'll admit, the paranormal mysterious aspect of the premise is what intrigued me at first. But then, having read the book and going back to the synopsis on the back - it doesn't really do the story justice. From that description it sounds like a more contemporary type of tale, but it's really not as superficial as the middle section makes it out to be.

In the case of Devoured, I would say that incorporation was definitely one of Marrone's fortes. The way that threads of the Snow White were intertwined with the story, the way that contemporary elements were incorporated, the way that the paranormal elements were injected - it all made for a fun read. Remy's appearances and spooky prophetic warnings were definitely one of the strong points; they added suspense, spookiness, and intrigue. The only thing that could've been introduced a little more smoothly would've been one of the foreshadowing symbols, as it seems a little too sudden and hard-hitting.

Although there are tragic elements to it, overall as a novel, Devoured is a pretty fun read. And in keeping with that, most of the principal characters had interesting traits. Ari, Megan, Remy... they were all very interesting and well-portrayed. It might've been nice to get a little more insight into some of the minor characters as well though, but that's not a major factor. The pacing could have been a little smoother, but at the same time, as it is contemporary, things don't always happen on a linear, constant, timeline, so it could make sense that way. Once you get into it, the story moves along nicely though.

With an intriguing premise, beautiful incorporation of Snow White and chilling elements, Marrone's Devoured is a spooky fun read. And what great timing, especially with Halloween right around the corner?

Goodreads Amanda Marrone IndieBound

In My Mailbox [23]

So firstly, huge apologies for being so absent lately! School, work, extra-curriculars... it just got all really hectic all of a sudden. Basically averaging around four to five hours of sleep a night recently. But - because of Thanksgiving and all, we get Monday off, so hopefully I'll be able to pre-schedule some posts then, get caught up on the backlog of e-mails, etc. (Really sorry if you're waiting on a response - will get on that soon!) Wish me luck ;)

Now, for our regularly scheduled programming - brought to you by Alea & Kristi, Lucid Conspiracy presents In My Mailbox #23...

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl,
and
Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Super-duper excited about both of these, for a number of reasons. First off, I'd basically given up and didn't expect them to arrive at all anymore, so imagine what a pleasant surprise it was when they showed up on the doorstep! Secondly, there's been so much great feedback about both of these so far, so I'm really interested to see what I think of them as well. Furthermore, the authors of both are absolutely awesome, so all in all, it's an unbeatable combination.

Now, for some linkage for more information (because I know you're all eager to find out more):
`Beautiful Creatures
`Kami Garcia
`Margaret Stohl
`Jennifer Brown

So there's my week in a nutshell. Your turn now - what was in your mailbox this week?

In My Mailbox [22]

Brought to you by Alea & Kristi, Lucid Conspiracy presents In My Mailbox #22... So, no books this week, but I did get a handful of Chasing Brooklyn bookmarks (all signed!) and a Far From You/I Heart You, You Haunt Me postcard (personalized & also autographed). They're all super glossy and really cool! Isn't the cover for Chasing Brooklyn just awesome? The summary sounds great as well. (It comes out January 2010 from Simon Pulse.) Thanks a bunch, Lisa and The Here, The Now, and The Books!

But now it's your turn. What was in your mailbox this week?