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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

It was Love

I'm writing right now... literally... at this very moment. Although I guess that's obvious since I'm writing this blog post. What I mean is, I'm writing this book I've been working on the past few months right now (Before and after writing this blog... and in my head while writing this blog). And while writing I came to a realization. The love interests I've developed for June, all 48342 of them (OK there's actually only 3), must seem schizophrenic. One page they're so lovable and charming and the next they're whiny, clingy, and awful. I think when you read this new book (assuming it gets published... though if it doesn't I'll just publish it myself I suppose... but let's not get into that now) you'll definitely be able to tell when I'm annoyed with a love interest. Daily I change my mind on who I actually want June to end up with so every few pages her love interests change their personalities a bit. It's probably very distracting to read. For example, when I was writing yesterday I was thinking "Man, Joseph is being such a whiny baby in this book. No one's going to want her to end up with him." And today I'm thinking "Isn't Joseph so charming? I need to write a cute scene for him. He's just so sweet." So what it really comes down to is that I'm the one with far too many personalities and my poor characters are the ones getting the blame for it. So June... and your many love interests, I'm sorry. Just pretend you're very dynamic characters with layered personalities.

Until next time,

Shannen

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Don't judge a book by... well... nevermind, go ahead

Let me start off by saying, this post is NOT about my book cover. Don't worry, you'll definitely know when it's about my book cover. No, this post is about other book covers. More specifically, the lovely book series I just finished after purchasing the first book based solely on the fact that the covers were interesting and the girls on them had 'pretty dresses' on. Now I'm not proud of the fact that I almost ALWAYS judge a book by its cover (Hunger Games... really?) but I will say that it's led me to read some pretty amazing books, ie Uglies, Suite Scarlett, Witch Child, A Great and Terrible Beauty, An Abundance of Katherines, and, the books which inspired me to write this post, The Luxe Series.



These books are charming. I love any book that shows a culture different from mine and the New York social scene in 1900 is definitely different from my every day experiences. I loved reading a book told from the point of view of four different girls (and one boy) in very different stations. I loved reading about how they were all trapped by their social rules regardless of if they were dirt broke or the richest girls in New York. Reading about the feeling of complete lack of control over your own life and what you can do about it was fascinating. I love relating to the characters (I fancy myself to be Diana Holland... but really I'm probably more like her sister Elizabeth Holland) and how they handle themselves in certain situations. Of course, the gorgeously described gowns and angelic faces with bee stung lips didn't really hurt to make this an easy read either.



But my point in writing all of this (besides the obvious point of GO READ LUXE NOW!) is that we can throw the old adage out the window every once in a while. Judge a book by its cover. Go read something just because the picture on the front is pretty. It may just be worth your while. But on that note I make a footnote, which is don't judge a book (meaning a person) by it's cover (meaning their appearance). Just thought I'd clarify that I'm not telling everyone to go out there and become shallow. Mostly I'm just trying to say you should read Luxe. And that's all I have to say about that.


As an extra side note I will say that this book might not be appropriate for young kids. In fact it's definitely not (not that it's a horribly scandalous book... just not young kid appropriate). So no Luxe bedtime stories.

Until next time (hopefully with some exciting book news)

Shannen