Meeting Cinder author Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: January 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
ISBN: 0312641893
Pages: Hardcover, 390 pgs


Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

Synopsis: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future


About Author: read her blog, follow her on twitter and become like her facebook page.

Photo courtesy of Jenni Elyse.

Meeting the author:

I had the privilege of getting to participate in a book blogger interview with Marissa Meyer while she was in Utah for a few signings. These smaller intimate gatherings are AMAZING. I realize authors are real people too but there is just something about getting to sit down and visit with someone who has created this incredible masterpiece. It was a real pleasure. She even brought along her husband Jesse who was kind enough to let us ask him some questions too.


The great thing about finding a good book is when there are others that follow. There will be four books in this series. Scarlet (Red Riding Hood), Crest (Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White) which will all follow the Lunar. All books will be released a year apart.

It seems that a lot of people associate music with writing so the question came up but Marissa said she'd prefer not to write to music. However when she's trying to brainstorm she'll lay on the floor and listen to classic or alternative rock.

After the blogger gathering Marissa Meyer then spoke to the crowd that had gathered for the signing. And told us more stories about her path to publication which included once writing over 150,000 words in a month to try to win a walk on roll to Star Trek. Ok back up. 150,000 in a month? Are we all aware that that is around 5000 words in a DAY! This woman amazes me.

One of my favorite stories she told us was the day of the release she drove over to a local bookstore to sign some stock but the owner could only find all the copies but one. Later, on her way out, she noticed a patron sitting in the chairs at the store reading her book, the missing one they couldn't find. On the day of it's release. At 8:30 in the morning!

Author Interview with Annette Lyon

Remember that chocolate cook book I'm giving away this week? You have just a couple of days left to enter. But while we wait to find out the winner let me introduce you to my friend Annette Lyon.

I first met Annette when I signed up to take her two-month-long writing workshop with my pals Susan and Olivia where I learned some of the ins and outs of the writing and publishing world and got all sorts of great tips & tricks to writing and got a lot of encouragement and writing exercise ideas. I've also gotten to see her around at several of the events I've gone to as she's very active in the local author community.

She was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions to share with all of you. Enjoy!

•Q: What was the best advice you got before you were published (or on your writing journey)?

A: Join a critique group. Mine is fantastic, and I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.

• Q: If you could be one of your characters for a day, who would you be and why?
A: Hard one. I put my characters through the wringer, so I don’t know that I’d want to be in their shoes! If pressed, I’d probably say either Tabitha (Tower of Strength) or Bethany (Spires of Stone). They have a level of strength and spunk that I don’t. Tabitha is more like me as far as personality and temperament goes.

• Q: If you could meet one of your characters for lunch who would it be and what would you talk to them about?
A: Probably Abe (House on the Hill). His story in that book grew a ton from the first draft to the end as I learned more about his past. I have a feeling there’s more I don’t know about. He’s my readers’ favorite hero, hands down. I'm not sure why--maybe because he’s so complex?--but he's one of my favorites too.

• Q: What’s been a fun perk of being published?
A: One big perk I didn’t anticipate is the opportunity to meet new people and attend events that wouldn’t have been open to me before. I’ve had the chance to rub shoulders with some pretty amazing people.

Also, it may sound odd after almost a decade, but I still get a bit of a thrill at seeing books on the shelf at a store with my name on them.

• Q: Looking forward to anything in the future? (signing events, new book coming out, conferences attending?)

A: May 7th I find out if I won a Whitney award for my last novel, Band of Sisters. It’s currently a finalist for Best General Novel. At the LDStorymakers conference prior to the award gala, I’ll be teaching three classes, moderating a panel, and running a publisher-attendee event.
Edited to add: CONGRATS to Annette who won the Whitney award for Best General Novel!!

I’m working on several projects right now, although I have no solid release dates for them. I will likely have a fourth book available on the Kindle in the next couple of months. My first two books (out of print elsewhere) are already there, as is my grammar guide. This next one will be a middle-grade fantasy.

•Q: Any upcoming events I can tell my readers about?
A: June will be the 3rd annual Teen Writers Conference, which has been a ball to be part of. I’ll be teaching there as well—and I have teens of my own to bring along, so it’s a mom-kid day!

• Q: Biggest/hardest change since being published? (in writing or life, etc)
A: One of the hardest things is the realization that getting a book contract is not even almost the end of the road. It’s the beginning of an entirely new journey, and if you don’t work just as hard (or even harder—the clock is now ticking with releases and readers waiting), you’ll fall behind and lose what you worked so hard for.

• Q: What’s a good book you’ve read this year that you’d recommend to others?
A: The Book Thief, by Markus Zuzak, was so great. (And it was the first book I bought for my shiny new Kindle!) Beautiful writing, great story, fascinating technique.

I also got to read Variant, by Robison Wells, which is a great YA. It was a pre-press version, so everyone else has to wait until this fall. (A perk to being in a great critique group!)

• Q: If your load was lightened, what is a guilty pleasure you would partake in?
A: Nap. Hire a housekeeper and/or cook. Travel. Get pedicures.

• Q: If you had to rewrite a nursery rhyme which one would you choose/why/how would you make it your own/fun to read?
A: “Old Mother Hubbard” might be fun to novelize. WHY was her cupboard bare? She must have known food had been there—she wouldn’t have checked otherwise. So what happened to it?

Oh gosh those were some great answers! Thanks so much Annette for letting me ask you some questions. Be sure to stop by Annette's blog and if you haven't yet enter to win her cookbook here on my blog!

*May is Utah Author Month

Author Interview with Becca Wilhite

I'm totally honored to have Becca Wilhite on my blog today!

I first ran across Becca when I found her book at the bookstore. I read the synopsis and thought it was a sounded like a fun book. I wasn't disappointed. I loved the characters and the humor. Later I had the chance to sit in on a class Becca taught at the UVU Conference I blogged about earlier. It was there that I saw she had another book, and you know me, I had to buy it and get it signed so I could add it to my collection.

I asked Becca if I could spotlight her and her great books on my blog and she kindly agreed. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

• What was the best advice you got before you were published (or on your writing journey) ? The best advice I've been given on writing is to write. Writers write. Every day, if they have any sort of character whatsoever. Write while you're waiting for acceptance or rejection. Write in the fifteen unscheduled minutes you have. Write about what you love.

• If you could be one of your characters for a day who would you be and why? I think I'd like to be Betsy from Bright Blue Miracle. I've always wondered what it would feel like to live inside a beauty's head. What is she really afraid of? What are her insecurities? (And, you know, so people look twice.)

• If you could meet one of your characters for lunch who would it be and what would you talk to them about? I'd meet Sarah from My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions. We'd eat something on white bread and I'd listen to her recount the voices in her head. We'd laugh a lot, and then we'd order ice cream. Lots of ice cream.

• What’s been a fun perk of being published? I get to teach at writer's conferences and visit classrooms to talk about writing. I love to teach (just not every day) and it is so fun for me to hang with writers and students.

• Looking forward to anything in the future? I'm looking forward to everything in the future. :) I have a manuscript out right now with a publisher, and we'll see if it turns into a Real Live Book.

• Any upcoming events I can tell my readers about? I'm teaching a class on truth and Fiction at the LDS Storymaker's conference in May. If you come, you will laugh. *Unless you have no sense of humor, in which case I make no guarantees. And also, I'm sorry for you.

• Biggest/hardest change since being published (in writing or life, etc)? Reality is a little tough. I thought that being published meant making a great deal of money. It doesn't. But that's okay. I love to write and that's the best part.

• What's a good book you've read this year that you'd recommend to others? "Matched" by Ally Condie, "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin, and "Paranormalcy" by Kiersten White.

• If your load was lightened what is a guilty pleasure you would partake in? My load is so light. I love to read. And watch movies. I think if I could, I'd go to see a musical every week. How bout it? Want to join me?

• I’ve heard you read stories aloud and it was so enjoyable. Have you ever thought about doing voice acting? I love reading aloud. It is one of my favorite things. I read to all my kids way after they learned to read by themselves. I think I just enjoy the sound of my own voice... :) I also love to act, although I've never done any voice-talent stuff, I do get on stage once in a while.

• In your book My Ridiculous Romantic Obsession, Sarah’s a total romantic. Did you pull any of her personality traits from yourself (current or past) ? Pretty much all of Sarah's insecurities are mine. Also the British voices in her head. But I'm not so much a romance-novel reader. (As if I'd tell you if I were!)

• Do you wear a certain pair of shoes when you write? Do you have a favorite? I write in socks. I love socks. Cotton ones. Or wool. But I do love shoes. Someday, I'll own loads of them. Loads.

• Do your kids think you are as funny as I do? Aw, shucks. My kids think I have the capacity for funny. They're actually pretty fond of me (which is really saying something when you consider that two of them are teenage girls). We do have a lot of fun at our house. Come on over. We eat dinner every night at six.

• I heard you were working on a different kind of novel than you’ve done in the past. Are you enjoying the process so far? I've actually finished a draft (and a half) of an early-chapter reader. It's a blast, but in a way, a shorter book is harder to write. All the words count. I can't just write a thousand junk words, thinking I can always cut them later. A thousand words is ten percent of the finished product. So the process is different. Also, I get to read lots of that kind of books, which is way fun. Franny K. Stein, anyone? Oh, the wit.

Thank you, Debbie, for having me visit on Cranberry Fries!

Add her books to your: Goodreads | Shelfari

Buy her books: The Kings English | The Book Depository

Amazon | Indie Bound

WIN IT!

I love to help spread the love of great books. Comment on this post (by Nov 19th) and I'll pick one lucky person to win their choice of Bright Blue Miracle or My Ridiculous Romantic Obsession.