Winter Warmers Event - Karen Sandler picks her debut read of 2011



Winter Warmers



For today's winter warmer author of Tankborn, Karen Sandler takes centre stage to tell us about her favourite debut read of the year:

My favorite debut read in 2011: MATCHED by Ally Condie






In a post on my blog, karensandler.wordpress.com, I described MATCHED as "The book I was most annoyed that I couldn’t read the sequel to right away." Condie's dystopian society was fascinating and creepy and her main character Cassia grows nicely from beginning to end. Very much looking forward to CROSSED.

So what is Matched all about? Here's a brief outline of the story...

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Matched went on to win the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2011. The sequel Crossed was released on the 24th November and you can find more information on the Matched series @ http://www.matched-book.com/

Winter Warmers Event ~ Amy Plum highlights Myra McEntire's Hourglass



Winter Warmers



Today we hand over to Amy Plum, who is herself a debut author of 2011, as she tells us why Myra McEntire's Hourglass has stood out for her this year.

So without further ado, we will hand over to Amy.....





I picked up HOURGLASS after meeting the author, Myra McEntire on Twitter, and was so swept into her story that I read the book in two sittings.



What I loved about it:
~I'm a sucker for time travel stories, and I really enjoyed the idea of ripples in time - or "rips" - that her protagonist Emerson experiences.

~I love Myra's sense of humor - it adds yet another enjoyable dimension to the story.

~I want to live in Emerson's town and her buildings and go to her coffee shop.

~The characters were well drawn, especially Emerson & Michael, Emerson's brother and sister-in-law, and Kaleb and Ava.


~Em and Michael have great chemistry - I enjoyed their budding romance...and its stumbling blocks. But as usual, I was most intrigued by the bad boy - Kaleb.


Myra McEntire



Myra is a truly gifted storyteller. I am not only anxiously awaiting the sequel to HOURGLASS, but will be reading anything this debut author brings out in the future!

Hourglass:

One hour to rewrite the past . . .
 
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.



Hourglass

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.


You can learn more about Myra McEntire here. Or follow her on twitter here.


Amy Plum


You can also lean more about Amy Plum who we love here at Midnight Reads on twitter here and over at her website here.

We would like to say a big thank you to Amy Plum for sharing her thoughts about Hourglass, we know she she super busy at the moment!

Winter Warmers Event ~ Mireille Chester meets debut author Robert Eaton



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Today marks the first day of our Winter Warmers Event here at Midnight Reads. To start things off author Mireille Chester will be sharing her interview with debut author Robert Eaton followed by her review of his book, The Hero Always Wins.
Over to Mireille........


Hello, everyone! My name is Mireille Chester and I must say, I am very excited to be doing this interview for a few reasons. One, when Midnight Reads sent out the request asking authors to showcase debut authors I was all for it. What a great thing to do! Authors helping authors… it’s something I try to do every day, whether it be retweeting or reviewing and this was another great opportunity to get involved. Two, as I thought about who I would showcase, I kept coming back to one author; Robert Eaton. Robert and I met on Twitter and I was so excited to learn he was an epic fantasy author. I love fantasy (obviously, since that’s what I write), but in this day and age, it seems as though more and more people are turning to paranormal. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that’s a great genre too… but I am and always will be an epic fantasy nut. For this reason, I picked Robert. The third reason I am so excited to be showcasing him is that, well, his book is fantastic! So let’s get right to it! Everyone, I am pleased to present to you Robert Eaton, author of The Hero Always Wins.

Me: Hello Robert!

Robert: Hi Mireille, pleased to be here.

Me: I suppose we should start with the obvious first question… tell us a little about yourself.

Robert: I write epic fantasy, as you already know. I also love rock music; I sing, play guitar, and attend a lot of concerts. I burn off stress by lifting weights. Any other spare time I have goes to playing video games, watching sports, or hanging out with friends and family.

Me: Have you always known you wanted to be a novelist?

Robert: No. I grew up watching MTV and wanted to be a rock star. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was more nerd than musician, so novelist seemed a better fit.

Me: How long did it take you to write The Hero Always Wins?

Robert: Calendar time? Seven or eight years, but there was a lot of procrastination built in there. I have no idea how much time I spent at the keyboard.

Me: Now I know I've told you this before, but your story was fantastic. It had all the elements I look for in an epic fantasy novel: knights, magic, good versus evil... What made you pick that genre and are there any particular authors that inspired you to do so?

Robert: Fantasy has always been my favorite genre. I love epic series, and my biggest influences include J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, and Terry Goodkind. I’ve also drawn on video games for inspiration; Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, and Warcraft have fed my love for fantasy every bit as much as any book.


Me: One of my favorite things when I’m reading is a twist in the story. The twist in yours was phenomenal. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, but when I finally figured out what was happening, I actually swore out loud. Did you write the story around the twist, or did you just start writing and then decide to throw that in?

Robert: I came up with the twist fairly early on, but it originally wasn’t as central to the story as it ultimately became. My original concept for the book was based on the video game Dragon Warrior IV. The concept was a series of short stories, each built around a different character, followed by a main story in which all the earlier characters came together. However, when I actually got to writing, I found one story was just more interesting than the others. That led to scrapping the short story concept and building around one central storyline, with a twist.

Me: When the book ended, all I could think was there had to be a sequel. Will there be a follow up book or books and if so, do you know when the next novel will be released?


Robert: As I said, I love epic series! There will definitely be multiple sequels to The Hero Always Wins. Don't worry, it won't be a never ending story. I have a spectacular ending planned, but it will take a few books to get there. I hope to have the second insta;lment out early next year.


Me: J Alright, so, I always end my interviews with these quick little questions.

Do you have a favorite color?
Robert: Black

Me: Favorite song?
Robert: You Give Love a Bad Name

 Me: Favorite animal?
Robert: The drummer from the Muppets.

Me: Favorite book?
Robert: The Hero Always Wins. Second place to Fellowship of the Ring.

Me: And last but not least… if you could kiss any character from any book who would it be?
Robert: That gorgeous guy in the black and white photo on the very last page.Me: Lol. Yes, he is a handsome bugger, isn't he!

ME: Robert, it has been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much for doing this interview! Good luck with your future projects.

Robert: It's been a blast. Thank you, Mireille, for taking the time to talk to me. I appreciate the opportunity to spread the word about The Hero Always Wins to fantasy readers everywhere.

 Me: For those of you who haven’t checked out Robert’s website, you can find out all about this great author and his book just by clicking on this link http://www.roberteaton.net .






The knight's oath is barely off Darcy's tongue, and already the world is collapsing around him. As the demon hordes of Angra-Jyn slaughter their way toward the city, betrayal amongst the knights' own ranks threatens to destroy them before they can even make their stand. But the blood of a hero flows in Darcy's veins. He will not be discouraged by the war he is losing. He will not be dissuaded by the traitorous assassin who continues to strike in the night. He will not give up, even as friends start to doubt him and sanity begins to slip beyond his grasp. Why? Because victory is his destiny. Because he is the hero, and the hero always wins.

Mireille's review:

What can I say, but to start off by saying they don't call it epic fantasy just for the hell of it. I grew up on Tolkien. My bed time stories when I was young were 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'. Fantasy is and always will be my favorite genre, so when I met Robert Eaton on Twitter, I was excited. Another fantasy writer! I quickly downloaded his book and finally got to it about three months later.

'The Hero Always Wins' is fantastic. It has warlocks, knights, wyrms, healers, magic... if you want it, it's in there. What I absolutely loved was the twist. I can't go into it because it will give away a big part of the story, but let me tell you this: when I finally realized what was happening, my jaw dropped, and I swore out loud, which earned me a raised eyebrow from my husband.
Eaton's characters are real. Their range of emotion is fantastic... you never end a scene wondering how that particular character has handled it emotionally. The descriptions of the landscapes and places are phenomenal.

This book is Robert's debut novel... and I never would have guessed it had I not known. A lot of debut novels (mine included) seem to have that 'I'm getting comfortable with my author skin' feel to them. 'The Hero Always Wins' doesn't. It starts off well written and it ends well written. I can't wait for the next one to come out! Happy reading and stay safe, everyone!

You can learn more about Mireille Chester here. 

We would like to thank both Mireille and Robert for taking the time out to produce this amazing post to kick off our Winter Warmers Event. It's brilliant, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Don't forget to pop by tomorrow to see which debut author is being highlighted.