Hey! Welcome to my Tour Stop for
Pretty In Black by Rae Hachton
hosted by Supagurl Tours!
We are so excited to have author Rae Hachton stop by and talk to us
about her favorite story involving a couple destined for each other..
Also, be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
But first, a little bit about Pretty In Black!
Some Things are Pretty. Some Things are Black. Love is both.
[Ellie Piper]
She wanted to die. He arose from the grave. He was sent to kill her. She was trained to kill those of his kind. But fate had other plans. He searched for 119 years to find her. & There’s no way in hell he’s letting her go. Dead or Alive. They’re fated.
[Marcus Marble]
How far would you go to be with the one you love? Would you die for her? Would you kill for her? What if the only reason you’re still alive is because of her? What if the reason you came back from the dead, was to be with her? But what if your job was to kill her, but you fell in love instead? And now you’re being hunted by your own kind?
Destroy? Or be Destroyed?
What is your favorite story of characters who are destined for each other, and why?
I have always been a major fan of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. That is my favorite story of characters who are destined for each other, even though it ends tragically. I’m obsessed with this story. I’ve read it umpteen times. I love the language, and everything that Romeo and Juliet say to each other. It’s just so beautiful & tragic.
A few years back, when I was still in high school, Romeo & Juliet, the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio, would come on every other Wednesday night on this one channel, and my brother and I—yes, my brother freaking loves this story too!—would always watch it, never missed it. [That was probably one of our most watched movies that year, besides The Rocky Horror Picture Show]
When I first started Film School, I wrote a Script called Amaranthine and it was basically the vampire version of Romeo & Juliet. It was good, but amateurish and not very original, but nonetheless it was really, really fun.
Star Cross’d Lovers is a major theme I like to write about, and will most likely continue to turn up in my stories.
An interesting thing is, that the character Marcus Marble was extracted from the Amaranthine Script. At the time, Marcus Marble was not his name, not in the script, but after a while, when Marcus started talking to me, I realized the male lead from the script was really him, and that he had some really awesome lines. This is kind of interesting because some of the lines you’ve read in Pretty in Black used to be lines from Amaranthine. I extracted a few of them from the script, because I thought they were good and I didn’t want them to go to waste. :)
The opening of Pretty in Black is the same opening to the script, Amaranthine, only it’s been taken and translated into novel form. So, for everyone who likes Marcus, here’s some of his creation history: He was once the Romeo of a vampire movie script I’d written for a class.
Pretty in Black, both the e-book and paperback are getting a layout makeover and I have added my favorite Romeo & Juliet passages, one per book in the series, that match thePretty in Black story line.
Now that I think about it, Pretty in Black has really had a LOT of influences. Romeo & Juliet is just one of them.
This is totally unrelated, but I’m excited, so I’m just going to toss in that I’m in love with the third book in this series, more than all the rest. One reason, is that it is 85% from Marcus’s POV! And I’m really excited about that, because I feel more comfortable channeling a male voice than a female one. Ellie was really challenging to write, because I’m not that great with the female voice, and I prefer male narrators. The other reason? Everything about him is darker in this book. So, I’m definitely keeping the last two books in his voice. Just wanted to toss that out there for anyone who is curious. Some people have said Marcus made a lot more sense and they preferred him; just wanted to say that I do, too.
Be sure to check out the other participating blogs which can be found HERE!
Hey! Welcome to my Tour Stop for
SWIPE by Evan Angler
hosted by YA Bound!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post
to win your very own copy of SWIPE.
Everyone gets the Mark. It gives all the benefits of citizenship. Yet if getting the Mark is such a good thing, then why does it feel so wrong?
Set in a future North America that is struggling to recover after famine and global war, Swipe follows the lives of three kids caught in the middle of a conflict they didn’t even know existed. United under a charismatic leader, every citizen of the American Union is required to get the Mark on their 13th birthday in order to gain the benefits of citizenship.
The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It’s almost Logan Langly’s 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn’t been able to shake the feeling he’s being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago . . . and never came back.
When Logan and his friends discover the truth behind the Mark, will they ever be able to go back to being normal teenagers? Find out in the first book of this exciting series that is Left Behind meets Matched for middle-grade readers.
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
** This book was provided to us by the publisher for an honest review.We were in no way paid for our opinion **
If you are looking for an intriguing Middle Grade Dystopian read, look no further. Swipe by Evan Angler is a book that left me thinking and craving the next installment. It was a book full of paranoia, suspense, and courage.
Main character, Logan Langly has had to live with the knowledge that his sister, Lily, had disappeared on the day she was Marked. From that day on, Logan has been living a life of paranoia…believing that he is constantly being watched and followed by an unknown person and for reasons unknown. The day that he confirms that the reason for his paranoia is real, Logan and his new friend, Erin Arbitor, make it their mission to find out who these kidnappers/murderers are and why they are targeting teens that are on the verge of Pledging and receiving their Mark.
The world is not as it used to be. In order to survive and live in this new world, one must be Marked. What does it mean to be Marked? Once a teen turns the age of thirteen, they Pledge themselves and received a Mark on their wrist … which is like getting a matrix of intertwined numbers tattooed to your wrist. This would then allow you to get a job, make purchases, ride a bus…pretty much becoming an adult who can now take care of themselves. For those that choose not to Pledge and become Marked, they are basically banished from society, and forced to live in the slums, scavenging for food and shelter.
The world that author, Evan Angler, has created in Swipe is one of despair and false hope. I found myself totally engrossed in this new world, and was easily able to picture everything through the eyes of main protagonist, Logan Langly. I loved that the storyline had me feeling paranoid alongside Logan. As his heartbeat faster after discovering signs of an unknown threat, I felt my heart pick up as well. I really enjoyed how the story jumped back and forth between sides…from Logan/Erin to the enemy’s in question, Blake/Peck and his crew. It really helped build up the suspense in the novel, which was what really captured my attention, and kept it. I was constantly guessing why Logan was being targeted, and wondering when his number would be up.
The different plot twists and turns that are found in Swipe had me glued to the pages, right to the very end. What I found very interesting was that long after the end of the story, the “About The Author” section found at the end of the book still keep up the feeling of paranoia…directed to the reader! Well played Mr. Angler…well played. I cannot wait for the next book in this series entitled Sneak, due out in the Fall of 2012. Pick up a copy today, and join in on the paranoia that is Swipe.
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.
No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?
Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.
And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?
Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.
This book was everything I hoped it would be although I felt like there just weren’t enough of those swoon worthy Jcae one liners, but with good reason. I did, however, find Clary extra annoying…as well as Alec. But these alone did not sway my love and appreciation for this newest installment to Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series, City of Lost Souls.
Cassandra Clare brings us right back into the world of Shadowhunters and downworlders. I didn’t realize how much I had truely missed this world Cassandra Clare had created until I started the first chapter. It pretty much picks up a few months after where the last book, City of Fallen Angels ended. The search for Jace and Sebastian have been ongoing, with no results, and is now being considered as non-priority. But this announcement from the Clave doesn’t deter our scooby gang into taking matters into their own hands.
Because both Jace and Sebastian are bound to each other, we see a different side of Jace that is completely gasp worthy and gag worthy – since Sebastian is basically aware of what Jace and Clary do with each other (romance wise) (hello brother/sister!) We also are treated to some of the sweetest words ever to come from Jace’s mouth, that totally made me sigh out loud.
In City of Lost Souls, we see ALOT of deception. You are left wondering, throughout the book, who is to be trusted and who is on the side of good and evil, and what the heck is Sebastian up too?? We witness the different sacrifices that the characters in the book make, all for the greater good. We also bear witness to just how blinding love can be and how the decisions made have dire consequences.
We see alot of lose and hope, and the twists and turns that Cassandra Clare has weaved into City of Lost Souls are absolutely mind blowing and heart breaking. I can’t wait until the next one! It is seriously going to feel like years and years. I already need a Jace fix – STAT!
A wonderful follow up to The Mortal Instruments series that will leave fans breathless and yearning for more.
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine,
and specifically spotlights upcoming
novels we can’t wait to read.
Our WoW for this week is…
“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”
Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.
England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.
Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.
Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.
Expected Release Date: August 21, 2012
Publisher: Random House
While you’re here, why not check out our various giveaways which can be found on our right! What book are you waiting for?
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Teen,aspiring writer, big sister, dedicated
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