Because You Exist Blitz and Giveaway

Because You Exist (Light in the Dark Series, #1)

by Tiffany Truitt

Release Date: 11/11/14

Limitless Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:

Life is good for LOGAN MIDDLETON. He’s quarterback of the Shepherd High football team, nephew of the town’s most successful lawyer, and boyfriend of Jenna Maples, a girl who has finally agreed to take their relationship to the next level. But nothing good lasts forever.

With only a few minutes of last period English left between him and a weekend alone with Jenna, Logan blacks out. When he awakens, he finds himself in a future where Shepherd High lies in ruins, nothing is what it seems, and everyone he loves is dead. Logan is a shifter. Chosen to travel through time, it’s up to him to figure out how to stop the terrible events that claimed his once perfect life.

Of course, all of this might be easier if he wasn’t paired with the one girl who’d rather see him dead than help him, JOSEPHINE. A girl he tormented during childhood. Strong-willed with biting wit, who lives in the shadows. Tough and dark, Jo is Shepherd High’s most notorious outcast and Logan’s opposite in every way. Together the two must overcome their many differences to figure out why they’ve been selected for such an overwhelming task, and who selected them in the first place.

Before it’s too late… 

Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Limitless Publishing

About the Author

Tiffany Truitt received her MA in literature from Old Dominion University. Her debut Chosen Ones, first in the Lost Souls trilogy, is a searing look at what it means to be other and how we define humanity, as well as a celebration of the dangerously wonderful feeling of falling in love.

Author Links:

   

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Author Interview with Will McIntosh

This interview is part of SciFi Month, hosted by Rinn Reads and Oh, The Books. Today I'm thrilled to interview Will McIntosh, who is best known for his Love Minus Eighty book. I'm so excited to get my hands on this ALA winner. Library hurry up!! 

Tell us about yourself!

I was a psychology professor before resigning to become a full-time writer. I still teach one large (300 student) section of Introductory Psychology each semester at William and Mary. My wife, our twins and I moved to Williamsburg, Virginia from southeast Georgia a few years ago. I’m originally from suburban New York.

To date I've published four novels. I tend to write near-future SF. On SF Book Reviews, Nate Hawthorne characterized my work by saying I write “love stories with high body counts”, and I kind of like that. I won a Hugo Award for my short story “Bridesicle”, which is the basis for the novel, Love Minus Eighty.

                                     

How did you get started writing?

It was basically just on a lark. I was in my mid-thirties, and I had a cool SF dream and thought, that would make a good story! So I wrote it. It was terrible, because I had absolutely no experience writing fiction, but I had such a blast writing it that immediately began another, and pretty much haven’t stopped since then.

Why Science Fiction?

I’m of the mind that loving SF is linked to some specific chromosome. I’ve loved monsters, robots, and elves for as long as I can remember.

Who or what are your influences as a writer?

The SF/F masters, like Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison. Classic SF films, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Planet of the Apes. And periodicals like The New York Times, and The Atlantic Magazine, which provide fodder for ideas, by describing recent scientific breakthroughs in words I can understand.

You write a lot of (great) short stories. Do you prefer short or full length? 

Thanks! At this point I think I prefer novels, because I get to spend plenty of time with a cast of characters and can develop them more fully. Short stories provide a nice break between novels, and for me they very often serve as tryouts for ideas I might want to pursue at novel length.

Your third novel, Love Minus Eighty, was named the best sci fi novel of the year by ALA, how does that feel? :)

Awesome. To have librarians single out my work is very, very cool.

I always love seeing the behind-the-scenes of authors and bloggers, so tell us: What does your writing space look like?

I write in a recliner, believe it or not. I had serious back issues that have mostly subsided, but by now it feels strange to sit at a desk. I prop my laptop on a little lap desk, with the recliner facing a bank of windows looking into our back yard. It’s a pretty view, with a weeping willow, bird feeders, and beyond that a county-maintained hiking trail through the woods, so I catch glimpses of people walking and jogging by all day.

Can you tell us about what you have coming up next?

My first young adult novel, Burning Midnight, is coming out via Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House) in early 2016. It’s based on “Midnight Blue”, a short story published in Asimov’s. I should have news very soon regarding my next adult novel, titled Faller.

What 5 sci fi novels would you recommend to the readers?

Hyperion, Dan Simmons

Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop

Replay, Ken Grimwood

A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis

Tell us your favorite sci fi movie/TV recommendations!

Some indy/sleeper films that SF fans might have missed: Perfect Sense, Vanishing on Seventh Street, Dark City, The Host, Miracle Mile, The Nines, The Prestige.

***
Well I know my reading list just greatly expanded! Thanks Will for stopping by and sharing about your work and passion!! 

Favorite Who Quotes Pinterest Style

I. LOVE. DOCTOR. WHO.

Ten is my favorite and I am still against Twelve. That is me in a nutshell :)

But I also love Pinterest. I save all my favorites on my most popular board. So of course the only natural thing to do during Sci-Fi November is to share my favorite combinations with you. Here. Now.

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Don't they just make you happy?? If you have a favorite quote, or awesome Pinterest board, share it below in the comments!

Knife of Never Letting Go Review

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Visit the Author's website HERE
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publishing Date: July 14, 2009
Goodreads Summary: 

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

I received a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own. Buy a copy from Book Depository  today. 

My Thoughts:
This was my first foray into Patrick Ness. The ladies at Oh the Books! rave about Ness all the time so I picked up 'Knife' with high expectations. Picking it up from the library was a major plus and helps me move closer to my secret goal of utilizing the library more frequently.

The expectations were set high so Ness would need to do some amazing things to meet them. The writing and the story were completely original. I couldn't liken it to anything except possibly Firefly because it has that same gritty, New-Frontier-Meets-Future that our beloved Firefly does. And while the telling is new, at it's base 'Knife' is about a boy trying to become a man, albeit in a violent and crazy new land.

Yet while reading it, I found myself frequently wondering why I was reading it. Large parts move at a snail's pace and feel quite survivalist (think 'Hatchet', which I hate). I forced myself to push through to the next bit of action which was always vibrant and violent. Reflecting on this, I am not sure I could quite recommend the book to anyone I know. At 500 pages, it can be a reallly slooow read.

Immediately after closing the cover, I wasn't sure 'Knife' had been my type. Events really ramp up in the latter portions of the book and end in a way I am sure leads the reader right into book two. The book is dark, wandering, and leaves it's characters with zero hope. Would I want to continue on with book two? Did Todd really grab me? Nope. 'Nope' was my realistic and immediate answer. I returned the book to the library and picked up the next adventure.

After much reflection however, I see how the book holds a lot of meaning. It is the story of how a boy truly becomes a man. Heavy topic. But it is also the story of the bond between man and dog. Touching! And what was that title all about? The story was about the knife of choices; all the choices made were good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark. Which side of the knife would Todd fall on with each decision made?

Overall, the high expectations did not feel met for me in this novel. It also wasn't bad by any means. My review leaves out SO much, things I don't want to spoil accidentally. All I can truly say is 'Knife' is an experience everyone should take for themselves. Rating? I had better stick with 3.5 stars. I could recommend it to those who can handle hopelessness, violence, decisions, and sadness. Also if you like longer adventures with a touch of the sci-fi. 'Knife' should be your choice.

Sci Fi Month Kicks Off!

It is FINALLY here! I think I signed up MONTHS ago for this: Sci-Fi November hosted by Rinn Reads and Oh, the Books! 

A brief history of me: I was born bright and early at 7:47 am on January the First, 1988......just kidding. Well, I was born then but I won't give you gory details. Yes, that DOES make me 26 years old, pretty much a full ten years older than most book bloggers...why is that?? I am an independant consultant with Usborne Books and More, otherwise I stay at home with my favorite two year old daughter. I married my high school sweetheart 5 years ago and sadly, very sadly, he is not much of a reader. Although, he HAS read 5 books this year!! WOW

I taught myself to read when I was what Mom, three? Four? I've never stopped. I LOVED fantasy stories from the beginning. Anything with princesses, fairies, elves, unicorns: I'm in. I think my sci-fi career really started with Animorphs. My older sister and I devoured that series! 

Sci-Fi Nov is super exciting for me because I am dying to get back into sci fi and fantasy novels. I read a LOT of non-fic this year. Out of the 21 books I read January through March, only FOUR were fiction reads. FOUR. Be shocked. It's okay. Just don't hate me. 

So I am excited to see what everyone will be posting about and I am read to get all nerdy again. 

Live Long and Prosper.