Triple Threat Blog Tour - Top Ten Things Author Megan Miranda Loves About Hysteria

Welcome to our stop along the Bloomsbury Teens Triple Threat Blog Tour! I've (Jana) already participated in this tour on my own blog for Dance of Shadows, and am super excited to have Megan Miranda here today for a special guest post, Broke and Bookish style. Megan knows how much we love our top ten lists here, and has decided to participate with her own list on the top ten things she loves about her book! I'm petty sure she will inspire you to dash away from your computer and run to the nearest bookstore. Thanks for stopping by, Megan!

Top Ten Things Author Megan Miranda Loves About Hysteria

1. The first line. “My mother hid the knife block” was the prompt I gave myself to set the tone and get started. I had a very vague sense of the premise, but a pretty good idea of characters. Surprisingly, the line made it all the way through to the final draft.

2. The relationship between Mallory & Colleen. Colleen may have been my favorite character ever, and the bond between the two of them is the element I love most about the story.

3. The cover. Both the US and the UK versions. I adore them both. And even though they are very different, they both fit the story so well.

4. Reid. I like him a lot. So does Mallory.

5. The combining of past and present storylines. This wasn’t something I set out to do at the start of the book, but it became obvious that what had started out as a series of flashbacks was becoming a story of its own, and that both storylines would, eventually, intersect. I loved that moment when I realized how it would happen… and what it would mean.

6. Using familiar settings. I grew up in NJ and spent a lot of time at the shore each summer, which is where the story begins. But I also went to a boarding school (though not in NH, like this story, and my school was nothing like Monroe), and spent a lot of family vacations hiking in NH. I combined the two a bit (and upped the creep factor) to make the second setting.

7. There’s a reference to an Edgar Allan Poe story in the first chapter. I loved reading his stories when I was in high school, and there’s definitely an influence from it in here.

8. My favorite line of the book. Sometimes, when I’m writing, I randomly write a line where I stop and think, okay, that pretty much captures the story. Again, I was thrilled when it made it into the final draft. This is the line(s): 

“So I let him whisper in my ear and put his hands on my hips. And I listened to him list all the ways in which I was slowly killing him. None of which turned out to be the actual way that I killed him.”

9. Writing the “unknown” factor: I love elements that are unknown in books—where you’re unsure if something is really happening, in some paranormal way, or if it’s only happening in the character’s mind… and it was really fun to be on the writing-end of it this time.

10. The ending. Without giving anything away, I’m happy with where all the characters end up. And I hope others will be happy about it, too 


About the Author: Megan Miranda

Megan is a scientist - turned - teacher - turned - stay-at-home-mom - turned - writer. She is not nearly as indecisive as she sounds. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational Counselor, does the mom thing by day, and writes by night.

Her first novel, FRACTURE, was published in January 2012 by Walker/Bloomsbury. HYSTERIA, a YA psychological thriller, will be published in February 2013. VENGEANCE, a companion/sequel to FRACTURE, will follow in 2014.

Guest Post: Author Henry Massie Discusses His Inspiration

Welcome to our stop along the Pump Up Your Book Virtual Tour for Henry Massie's new book, Felice's Worlds! It's a pleasure to have Henry here on the blog today so he can discuss what inspired him to write his book.

Dr. Henry Massie is a psychiatrist, award-winning author, and pioneering researcher in the field of autism. FELICE'S WORLDS--From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art, is the a memoir and biography of his mother, a brilliant and beautiful woman who participated in many of the most critical periods of the 20th Century.

First she escaped the Holocaust and the poverty of the shtetl. After that, she moved in many worlds. And in every one she made her mark.

Felice Massie was a student in France, caught up in the horrors of Naziism when she was 20 years old.  Cut off by the war from her family living in a small village in Poland, she shifted from one country to another attempting to find a home for herself and a means to rescue her parents, brother and sister.  As the Holocaust descended on her shtetl, she arrived penniless in America.  Over time she raised a family and amassed one of foremost collections of American modern art.  Her boldness and resilience became a beacon of hope and inspiration for others.

What Inspired Me to Write    
Felice's Worlds: From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art
 

My mother entertained me with her adventures from the time I was a small child.  She was a great story teller and I had a very dramatic vision of her and her life and times. As I grew older I wanted to share her stories with others.  Sometimes she would tell an episode around our family dinner table.  Sometimes she would launch into an adventure when we were with guests.  At times she shared them with me alone, especially as she grew older after my father passed away.

There were many different parts and periods to her life, and her stories revealed her as a  bold, colorful, impulsive, brilliant woman who knew how to seize a moment and make it hers.  The experiences she recounted brought to life bygone eras better than any history book, more completely than any movie.

For example, I learned about life in the poor farming village of her girlhood in Poland near the Russian border.  I learned what it was like to be singled out as "the pretty one, sprightly, special little girl whose father, the mayor, sent her away to get an education."   She became the first girl from her village to go to university.  I learned how she came of age in the 1930s and used the ruse of a false marriage to escape from the Nazis and enter Palestine.  There she received the death threats from both Jews and Arabs because she treated everybody equally.  Bitterly disappointment by the violence there, America beckoned her.  I saw her descending the gangplank at Ellis Island in 1937, a young,  penniless  woman with a mission to send back money to rescue her family.  She placed an  ad offering child-care in the New Haven, Connecticut newspaper.  Within days she moved into the home of the President of Yale University to be his daughter's governess and French and Latin tutor.  This was her first work in America; her last work was as a philanthropist.  In between she gathered one of the foremost collections of American Abstract Expressionist Art anywhere.  Toward the end of her life she told me the tragedy of the death of her first love when she was a student in France, which she had kept secret.

I was born in St. Louis, Missouri the day the Nazis marched into her little village and decimated the townspeople.  Thus another reason I wrote FELICE'S WORLDS was to recount how the trauma of the Holocaust imprinted itself on her and how she passed this emotional trauma on to the next generation.  I knew how her losses affected my mother because I heard her nightmares and her pacing at night.  However only as I wrote her memoir, often in her very words, did I understand for the first time how I too had been affected by her experiences.  The writing also became my memoir, and the insights about the psychological trauma of war as well as her resilience seemed important to share with others. 

Buy Felice's Worlds    ∣    Add it to Goodreads

52 Reasons To Love Jessica Brody Blog Tour

1 of the 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books….

  Jessica's next novel, Unremembered, is a sci-fi thriller. Something very
  different for her.

For 51 other reasons, visit Book Addict (September 10th), Bestsellers World (September 12th), and Electrifying Reviews  (September 13th),  and stay tuned for more!

About 52 Reasons to Hate My Father (FSG, July 2012):

 Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

Other things to check out:

* 52 Reasons to Hate My Father Excerpt:

* 52 Reasons to Hate My Father Trailer:

* The Making of the 52 Reasons to Hate My Father Book Trailer

* Info about Unremembered

Guest TTT: Top Ten Books I Have Lied About

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.

This week we have Pam of Bookalicious here as a special Top Ten Tuesday guest! Here are her top ten books she's lied about. Oh, and don't forget to visit her at her blog and say hello! And click here to see future Top Ten Tuesday topics. And now without further ado!

We all have done it. Lied about reading a book in some way. I would love to tell the world I never read Twilight, or that I didn’t enjoy the first book in the Saga (LOL Saga) at all, however that is not the case. I kind of liked the first book, but don’t tell anyone. It’s kind of my little literary secret. 

So here are my Top Ten Books I have Lied About:

10: Crime and Punishment: There was a boy in the lit department at college, he talked about the work all the time. I read the Cliff’s Notes and faked it. 

9. Romance novels: yes all of them. I would never admit to reading Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. (You should totes read this)

8. Ranger’s Apprentice: I am a 31 year old woman, wth am I doing reading MG boy books? So yeah I lie.

7. Sookie Stackhouse: No one knows I am up to date on this series. NO ONE!

6. Cather in the Rye: yup I never read it. I didn’t do required reading and this book still sticks out in my head as DANGER DANGER YOU MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING. If you ask I read it and loved it though.

5. To Kill a Mockingbird: Same as Catcher, no teacher will make me learn something DAMNIT.

4. Matthew Shardlake Series. These are my dirty little secret. Sherlokian type mystery set in Tudor times with Cromwell pulling the strings. Oh yeah baby.

3.  The Sisters Grim: Again what am I doing at my age reading this?

2. Decision Points: Yes my fair weather friends I read former President George W. Bush’s work. I even preordered it to my Nook. Please don’t tell anyone.

1. Darcy Fiction: I know for sure none of you have ever heard of my latest obsession. Darcy literature. Please don’t tell anyone.

So that was my favorite books to lie about. What are yours?

Guest Review: "The Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running" by Dagny Scott

Title: The Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running
Author: Dagny Scott
Publisher: Rodale Books, 2007

Hi everyone! Tahleen here. Today, my friend Sara has agreed to do a guest review. People seem to be getting into running lately, at least in our neck of the woods, most likely because of the Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day. Thinking about taking up the pastime? Here's Sara's review of The Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running, which she says is essential for all women who want to start running or who are runners but want to improve. She should know, she's training for a half marathon.

Review:

Perhaps you're already a runner. Maybe you're looking for a way to stay active and better your health. Perhaps last week, you stood along Boylston cheering and screaming for the Boston Marathon runners, and suddenly it occurred to you that running just might be something more than a huffy, painful, dreaded workout. Perhaps you're working up to one mile; perhaps you were one of those Boston marathoners placing one last victorious foot in front of the other after 26.2 miles. It doesn't really matter what stage you're at physically or mentally when it comes to running—The Complete Book of Women's Running can serve as a both mini-bible the marathoner and, most importantly, a place to start for the beginner.

I picked up this book years ago, during my initial curiosity with running. In my head, I wanted to run 3 miles, and I wanted to do so as soon as possible. From a beginner's standpoint, the book provided a thorough introduction to the world of running, from what to wear, to the importance of a good running shoe, to goal setting, to stretching, and the whys behind each. On top of offering a comprehensive look at the basic elements of running, the book touched upon the important mental principles that accompany running and attaining goals. I was able to step back from my inflated, 3-mile expectations and understand that each of our bodies are built in their own way, and that running is about slowly building endurance and strength, and not instant gratification. The book emphasized not only the physical but the mental challenge of running and how to overcome both, which I feel is essential for all beginner runners to understand before they lace up their sneakers.

The language in the book is especially useful for beginners —it is simple, sensible, and easy to follow, and broken up with women's personal stories in relation to the particular topic (racing, safety, balancing running with careers and family). The outline and overall flow of the book are effective in creating a friendly, quick read, while the chapters, divided by topic, help the book serve as a quick-reference for the more experienced runner.

Of particular importance to the overeager beginner (myself, several years ago), the book offers a 6-week walking-to-running training plan that builds your body up to 30 minutes of continuous running. Short vignettes, anecdotes and tips written by women runners of all ages discuss the hurdles they faced in overcoming their own beginner's challenges, and I found myself gathering motivation and inspiration from these stories, especially when I felt the overwhelming urge to just quit. These personal stories, placed throughout each chapter and pertaining to various topics and issues, really helped break up the text and were effective in making the topics easy to relate to and accessible to a beginner. I was struck by not only the contagious motivation within each personal story, but also by the in-depth perspective it provided on running as a whole.

For the more experienced runner looking to increase their speed and distance, the book also offers training plans for 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon distances, all with thorough explanations and smart guidelines to help runners work toward goals and avoid injury.

Why the specific emphasis on women and running? This is where the book continues to go above and beyond the quick-reference-guide level. Not only does it provide the basics of running on topics such as stretching, speed workouts and nutrition, easily accessible by all (male or female) runners, it tackles larger issues that often sit closer to home with women. Pregnancy and running. Caring for your body. Body image issues. I felt these particular topics also highlighted a sense of camaraderie and wisdom among women and presented running as something to bond over and derive strength. The book covers all grounds in an informative, concise way, and I appreciated its particular focus on not only attaining physical health, but mental health as well, specifically as a female runner. As Scott writes in her eloquent, simple introduction, "my goal was to impart the breadth and depth of what running can mean to women: more than just fitness or friendship or sanity but rather all those things together."

I am currently using this book as I train for my very first half marathon. As I've increased my mileage, I've referred to the book for guidance in stretching properly, eating well to fuel my body, and the specifics of different types of workouts, including Fartlek runs, long runs, and tempo runs. I can see my own running story woven throughout the book in the voices of other women runners who have attained or are reaching for goals, and every time I use the book to look up that specific how-to, I am reminded that yes, there is something in running and that yes, I can do it, that anyone can.

If you're looking for a great place to start or want to tackle that marathon once and for all, The Complete Book of Women's Running is a solid place to find not only information and facts, but also a deeper look into why it is that so many love to run.