Goddess Event: Book Blogging 101 (I'm in a panel!)

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I should probably think of what to call this type of announcement, but anyway!

I have two major events this month, Filipino ReaderCon and a talk, both related to books and book blogging and I'd like to let you, my readers, know in case any of you are interested.

The first time I was in a panel was two years ago, and that was one of the most terrifying and fulfilling moments of my life as a book blogger. Two years later, I have been invited again to talk about book blogging once more! This is exciting since I never thought once that I'll be invited to speak in front of a crowd again.

Without further ado, here are the details of the event:


Some points to remember:

- This is a FREE event. There's no need to pay for or purchase anything to attend.
- This is also NOT limited to Southville International School and Colleges students. Anyone can attend the event and I highly encourage you to do so if you are interested to know more about book blogging, book reviews, interacting with publishers and other things about running a blog.

I will be with three other YA book bloggers whose names I know you're all familiar of: Hazel of Stay Bookish, Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs and Jesselle of The Life Long Bookworm, so if you have time and you're near the place, come see us! We'll try to make the talk as fun as we can. (And hopefully not be too awkward.)

If you have questions, just send me a tweet (@amaterasureads) or an e-mail and I'll be happy to answer them!

I hope to see some of you there!


[Cover Reveal] Bloodcraft (Bloodspell #2) by Amalie Howard + giveaway!

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I am a BIG FAN of Amalie Howard, and Bloodspell is the first book of hers that I've read which I loved. Not convinced? Check my review and see how excited I am for the sequel and after 4 years, we're finally getting one! *pumps fists*

Today, I reveal the cover for Bloodcraft, the second book in the Bloodspell series. Check out the post below!


Yes, the wait is finally over!

BLOODCRAFT by Amalie Howard, the sequel to BLOODSPELL (available NOW for only $2.99), will be releasing on December 15th, 2015!

Author Amalie Howard is also giving away TWO signed paperback copies of BLOODSPELL (book one- OPEN INTERNATIONALLY), and TWO eARC copies of BLOODCRAFT to TWO lucky readers. Contest details can be found at the end of this post.

And now... here is the cover to BLOODCRAFT.


BLOODCRAFT
Release: December 15th, 2015
Cover design by Alan Pranke

All magic has its price, and no one knows that better than Victoria Warrick. Gifted with a centuries-old blood curse, Tori has finally learned to master her blood’s demands and has emerged triumphant with Christian Devereux, a vampire overlord, at her side.

But the worst is yet to come …

In the infamous City of Lights, home to both the Witch Clans and the Vampire Council, Tori enrolls at the exclusive Belles Fontaines school in Paris, where she is faced with a devastating choice: choose Christian and be an outcast, or choose the coven and secure her place with the witches.

When the fate of the supernatural world is targeted by a sinister new threat, Christian and Victoria must unite their two warring species to defeat it. Their bond will be tested, twisted, and sorely weakened, and Tori will find herself in uncharted territory—a dangerous place to be when her blood’s magic has its own dark agenda.

But to save them all, she may have no choice but to invoke its deadly power.


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If you'd like to be a part of the Blog Tour, you can sign-up HERE.

For those new to the series, copies of Bloodspell will be provided, as well as Bloodcraft. Limited paperback copies of Bloodspell will be provided.


ABOUT BLOODSPELL


The spell was simple...

Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)

But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?

Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.

What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...

Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?

AVAILABLE ON

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AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island (Trinidad & Tobago) where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn’t entirely convinced which takes more guts.

An aspiring writer from a young age, Amalie’s poem “The Candle,” written at age twelve, was published in a University of Warwick journal. At fifteen, she was a recipient of a Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Award (a global youth writing competition). A Colby College graduate, she completed simultaneous Honors Theses in both French and International Studies, and graduated Summa Cum Laude/Phi Beta Kappa. At Colby, she was cited for research and criticism in Raffael Scheck’s article, “German Conservatism and Female Political Activism in the Early Weimar Republic,” and his subsequent book, Mothers of the Nation. She also received a distinction in English Literature from the University of Cambridge (A-levels) as well as a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. Traveling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, marketing representative, teen speaker and global sales executive.

She is the author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid’s INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller and a Seventeen Magazine Summer Read. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children. She is represented by the Liza Royce Agency and is a member of SCBWI.



GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Win 2 Signed paperback copies of Bloodspell (INT) & 2 eARC copies of BLOODCRAFT!

• This giveaway is sponsored by author Amalie Howard.
• This giveaway is open to INTERNATIONALLY
• Author Amalie Howard nor Good Choice Reading are responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged mail.
• Winner will be chosen at random.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or else a new winner will be chosen.
• Winner will be announced/contacted on rafflecopter, Amalie Facebook/Twitter, and via email.


If you haven't read the book yet, GO BUY A COPY! So worth it!


#CarryOnPHLaunch details + Giveaway!

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Huzzah! I am back with more posts!

So a few of my blogger friends and I got together and organized a book event for Rainbow Rowell's Carry On! The book is already out here in the Philippines (you can purchase your copies from National Bookstore!) and we will be having a small party this weekend, October 10th!

RSVP on the event page here!
(Banner by the amazing Hazel of Stay Bookish!)

Quick Q&A:

Give me some details, woman!

When: October 10, 2015 3 to 5 pm
Where: Powerbooks Greenbelt

Registration starts at 2pm so better be there early!

Is there a limit for registration?
Nope. As long as we can fit in the venue, you can come and hang out with us!

Do we need to buy anything to join?
No you don't. You don't even need to pay a registration fee to attend the event. Just bring yourself and a friend or two and be prepared to meet other Rainbow Rowell fans and fellow book worms and do fun stuff with us!

What do you mean by fun stuff?
By fun stuff we mean there will be games and giveaways. You can win a Rainbow Rowell shirt, phone cases with any Rainbow Rowell quote you want (just 1 sentence though!), special edition Rainbow Rowell books. Did I say books? I also mean you can win books other than Rainbow Rowell's.

And? There's more?
We'll play the Carry On playlist! You'll see the book trailers! We'll also have tea! And blue and yellow drinks (For Simon and Baz! No booze, sorry!), there'll be cupcakes, balloons, temporary tattoos and since adult coloring books are in right now, we have the next best thing. You'll get a chance to color your own dust jacket of Carry On so go bring some coloring pens with you and destress with us!

Since we're gearing up for the launch which happens in two days, Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs and yours truly went ahead and started the ball rolling by giving away a Carry On shirt. What does it look like, you wonder? *points down*


GIVEAWAY ALERT!
WIN A CARRY ON SHIRT!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It would be awesome to meet fellow fans at the event! So if you have time, drop by Powerbooks Greenbelt and grab a copy of Carry On and party with us!

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

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If I'd known Nicola Yoon's book will get me out of my year long reading slump, I would've done anything to get it in my hands sooner. I owe this book a lot. And it owes me a whole set of neon tabs and a box of tissues for my tears.

Title: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Release Date: September 1st 2015
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher (Thanks Claire!)

Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Maddy is allergic to the outside world, and has since lived in the safety of her home all her life. Now 18, Maddy was supposed to live her life just like every other year, safe, in an environment her mother can control. That is, until a new family moved next door. And then Maddy finds herself helplessly drawn to the boy next door who climbs roofs and wears black and makes her want to set foot outside and explore the world. But what can she do if the very thing she wants just might be the one which will kill her?

Maddy has SCID, a very rare disease where she can be allergic to anything, even the air she breathes. My first reaction was to pity her, because who would want to spend their lives bound to the four walls of her house? Her world was very limited, but you know what? I came to love Maddy because of who she is. Her sense of humor, her love for reading, as she understands that all too familiar feeling of existing in another world just by reading stories and it made me identify with her easily. And maybe because she has been confined all her life, she has this yearning for more, which she tries to reign in most of the time because it's hard to hope and she knew she's incurable. There's this growing thirst in her to explore that just makes me want to watch and see what she will do. Take a risk? Accept her fate and live all her life in a bubble or take the leap? She's intriguing in her own way.

And that kind of personality is what draws her to Olly. Ah, Olly... the boy who can't seem to stand still, always moving and leaping to places and climbing on walls. The boy who prefers limericks over haikus and loves math, chaos theory and how it can be related to our lives. What's not to love there? He's sweet and supportive, though a little jaded with life over the abuse he, his sister and his mom receives from his dad. I love how their chemistry eventually worked out, from being funny to cute to something worthy enough to swoon over, the push and pull, the "we can't" and "we can". The chats they exchanged made me laugh so much and it's just wonderful to see Maddy living her life with all the firsts she has encountered and many of which she shared with and is sometimes because of Olly.

The book is a wonderful mix of everything, from Maddy's illustrations, lists, word definitions, and the diversity is evident in each page which gave the novel an extra special feeling for me. It didn't matter if Maddy's father is African American and her mother is Japanese American. She's just Maddy who's in love with the boy with eyes as blue as the Atlantic Ocean. As much as I was looking forward to where Olly and Maddy's love will take them, it wouldn't be possible without Carla. The oh so lovable Carla, a fountain of wisdom with so much love to give and lessons to impart with to Maddy.

The fluff and the sweetness of firsts were enough to keep me fascinated with Everything, Everything but it turns out Nicola Yoon had more in store for her readers. The last 50 or so pages of the book made me snatch the tissue box and grip the book so hard. There is a twist, dear readers. If you are perceptive and are open to the thought then the twist has always been there, but then it happens. What if it's not just Maddy who has a problem? I loved how Nicola Yoon presented that part to her readers, and I loved how Maddy faced that possibility that turned out to be the truth and how she dealt with it. It felt truthful to me, though some might disagree. Some choices you just have to make though it is hard.

What else is there to say? There was no need for fanciful words to make a story so good and appealing to the readers. Nicola Yoon wove feelings and emotions in each and every word of Everything, Everything and filled it with characters experiencing such life changing moments that they felt so alive. I got hooked before I knew it. I was quietly sitting in front of my study table and in the next moment I was totally immersed in the story and until now I have no idea what happened.

Kai's favorite quote:

“I decided then that love is a terrible, terrible thing. Loving someone as fiercely as my mom loves me must be like wearing your heart outside of your body with no skin, no bones, no nothing to protect it.”

Content (plot, story flow, character):
A heartfelt, very emotional read filled with firsts, about love and family and taking risks and living the life we want to live. This won't be the last Nicola Yoon book that I will read, that's for sure. I want more!

Stunning: Worthy of a Goddess' Praise!


Book Cover:
I love everything about that cover.


New Adult Queens: #CTCinPH signing recap

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The year is coming to a close but no rest for the bookish community as this time the New Adult trio of Colleen Hoover, Tarryn Fisher and fellow Filipino Christine Brae captivated the country in this latest book signing event organized by National Bookstore.


Again, don't ask about my sleeping patterns because it was crazy the night before, as always. I have to admit that I've only read a handful of New Adult novels and I was so curious to know how my encounter with the trio will turn out and surprisingly I had a lot of fun!


There were lots of swooning and screaming that happened when all three of them walked in and then we started the Q&A. My question was for all three authors, which was:

You’ve co-written a book, can you share with us what the experience was like and will you consider doing it again? And if you ever want to collaborate with another author, who would it be and why?

Tarryn: It was the easiest thing (with Colleen). We just get along. I feel like we're both low maintenance. We pretend not to be. She pretends that she's annoyed with me but it's not the truth. So it was a really enjoyable experience, we did it for fun and then we thought we'd share it to the readers. I dunno that I can co-author with anyone else. I think she may be it for me.

Colleen: I paid her to say all of that. No, it's true. It really was an easy experience, you know. It wasn't something that we have on deadlines so we just kind of you know, we kind of just send back and forth as we finish our chapters and we don't rush and it's been a lot of fun to work on and we're still working on it and the third one releases in January so, we're hoping in the future to do it again. We had so much fun so why not?

Tarryn: Yeah, we just wanna do one book next time. We had a good series this time but with contract limitations and publishers so, we really would like to do just a novel next time.

Colleen: Oh, if I could co-write? I dunno that I could either. I feel like it's very, very hard to rely on someone. Even when I wrote Maybe Someday and I had to rely on Griffin and we got along really, really well but I feel like I lucked out with Griffin and Tarryn and that does not always happen. I see other authors who co-wrote together who now don't speak, it's that stressful. I wouldn't wanna risk any friendships.

Christine: I don't think I can co-write right now just because my schedule is crazy and I can't go by someone else's schedule. It has to be by my schedule because I don't really have time to do much.

On self-publishing:

For Christine, writing is a lonely process and so is self-publishing. You need to have your own resources and do it all on your own. It's a good experience but it's one that you have to do by yourself.

For Tarryn, self-publishing is kind of bad-ass. People initially told them that they weren't good enough but they just went ahead and did it anyway and it was successful. It's a defiant movement where they got to create their own success. It's what Tarryn loves about self-publishing, doing it on her own and showing people that she could.

For Colleen, self-publishing is a life changer. A lot changed because of it. What's vexing in it is for new authors to get noticed. There are a lot of NA books being released every day and it's hard to break into it these days.

November 9 has the biggest twist since Hopeless. It also releases November 10th. :)

On writing New Adult:

Colleen didn't know what she was writing, she just wrote a book. When she writes she doesn't know what genre it's gonna end up in and leaves it out to her publishers. What's important for her is to write the story she's interested in writing and the characters in it. Genre doesn't matter. Colleen hasn't even heard of NA when she started self-publishing. She thought NA means "Not Applicable". :3

Tarryn was told six months into the release of her book that what she wrote was NA. Tarryn just writes what she wants and determine what the genre is after.

On their writing processes:

Tarryn waits to feel something and just goes with it and a whole book seems to form around those emotions. She tries to set aside a few hours and write every day. Tarryn likes to get in the minds of her characters and live it out, makes it authentic.

Colleen is manic when she writes and lock herself up in a room for several days. She doesn't really have a schedule and she says she's disorganized. Colleen cannot end her writing with a sad or depressing scene because that's how she'll end up feeling until she finishes writing, so she writes until her characters are happy. As her books are mostly sad, she tries to put humor in every once in a while so she can stop writing.

Christine writes whatever it is she's feeling. She reads the end of every book she's written. Christine knows how she wants her books to end and she moves backwards.

On character names:

The names of the characters in Christine's books have meanings. She'd look up names on the internet and what they mean. Every last name has a meaning. She doesn't go by what clicks in a name, every name has to have a meaning for her.

When Tarryn writes, the name just falls in her head. She'll be typing and it just happens. Tarryn never think hard about the names.

The names are the most important part for Colleen, she cannot start a new book until she had a character's name and their personalities. Colleen currently has a severe case of writer's block because she doesn't know the name of her female character so she can't write a story though she has an idea for a book. The name shapes the scenes for her. What's important in NA is to pick a name for a boy that no one else has as you want the guy's name to stand out.

Trivia: Sydney is a filler name for Colleen's book, Maybe Someday.

Carving a niche in the market:

Luck is not enough, for Colleen, it's also timing. Any one thing you can do to stand out from the rest is a combination of working hard and putting everything out there, writing a good story and trying to market it as best as you can (without being annoying) and hoping it sticks.

Tarryn doesn't agree with Colleen, because Colleen is being humble despite being an excellent storyteller. You have to have a combination of believable characters, tell a good story and do it with really strong, beautiful words. The readers respond to that. It is not luck. Developing a style is also important and reading as much as you can then incorporating what you love to your own style.

Try to take a new perspective on something that's been done a million times before. Only you can see the world like you see it, according to Tarryn.

Christine just writes and that's it. She tells the truth.

And probably the most important thing any author has mentioned (courtesy of Colleen Hoover): "I try to make myself happy. I feel like if I can't make myself happy and I'm not happy with the characters in my book then I don't care if it's the New York Times or it sells a lot of copies, it's not gonna matter to me."

And here we go with the photos!

With my lovely blogger friends, because they're awesome:

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on


And the tradition continues as I again attempt to take a Kai selfie. See the progression below. I apologize in advance because I have zero skills in photography. :D


Before we took the "perfect" shot, where my face wasn't even shown, in this case:

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on


I tried. But whatever, at least you can see Tarryn, Colleen and Christine there.. somewhere. Up top? I think. :D

Bonus: a video with such heartfelt messages from Colleen, Tarryn and fellow Filipina, Christine!


Again, thank you so much National Book Store for being so amazing and always giving us the opportunity to interact with such great people even for a short while. This event definitely made me want to read more NA books because they had such amazing authors I didn't even know exists. I had a lot of fun talking to my fellow bloggers and sharing such a once in a lifetime experience with such wonderful people. Wow.

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on

How was your signing experience? Share it with me! :)


YA contemporary Heaven, also known as #KMRinPH signing recap!

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Even though I enjoy reading sci-fi and dystopia, sometimes I sit down and just read a good contemporary YA novel and all is right in the world. And the three ladies who graced Manila with their presence more than a week ago just make us want to say: "Ahh, so this is what YA contemporary heaven feels like."

I was unusually in high spirits (though I woke up around 3 am) as I was mainly looking forward to seeing Robyn Schneider, because I love and worship her writing and The Beginning of Everything moved me so much but I got more than what I was expecting. They were a riot! It was one of the longest Q&A's we've had and one filled with so much laughter!


It's been a while since I've been starstruck and made speechless but when all three of them walked towards the stage I was just that and I know I just had this huge grin on my face because they were there sitting in front of me, answering questions fielded by bloggers.

So what has been asked and how were they answered? Read on for some of the most interesting Q&As in the forum.

Is there a genre all three of them would like to explore other than contemporary? 

Katie is most interested in realistic contemporary because the problems she experiences in life are small and interpersonal, plus she's not really fighting the government OR blasting into space. But she is interested in fantasy and magical realism.

Melissa would love to write historical fiction though it's daunting for her because of the amount of research she needs to do. She does love reading fantasy and science fiction though.

Robyn had to clear up that Extraordinary Means is NOT dystopian. Though it is set in an alternate present, with tumblr still existing but a world where the kind of TB (which was medication resistant) in her book exists. That kind of story gave Robyn the appetite to explore "strange currents", like writing contemporary realistic (ish) but also has horror and/or fantasy elements. (Example: Doctor Who or Buffy with real world problems.)

As for tough reads with mixed reviews, Katie experienced it on both her books. Characters who make lots of mistakes are what feels real for her and that's what she's interested in telling stories about, that's what speaks to her. She's not interested in stories about perfect people with perfect lives.

There is a quote in The Beginning of Everything which goes: “Everyone’s life, no matter how unremarkable, has a moment when it will become extraordinary – a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen.".

Robyn wasn't sure when that moment was for her. She used to think she knew but she didn't, and that was where the book came from, the idea of what her big moment was and then realizing that becoming a doctor, changing what she was studying, working really hard to accomplish it, suddenly felt like not the best idea in hindsight. Her big life changing moment was deciding to finish writing The Beginning of Everything. She stopped writing, said she couldn't do it and threw the book away and a few days later crept back to it. When she decided to pick it back up and see if it can be fixed, Robyn thinks that was her moment. In retrospect, those moments are small every day decisions. You never know what it'll be.

So what drew them to YA?

Katie fell into YA, as she started writing her first book when she was 16 when she was still in high school and she just wanted to write a story about a cute boy and a girl whose her age going through the same things she's going through (with feelings of not being seen and watching a guy from across the room and knowing you're not in his radar at all). What kept her writing YA is that feeling of everything being so important as a teenager. It's a rich ground for telling stories.

It's the same thing with Melissa, because of a friend of hers who is a YA editor and told her to try writing YA. Teenagers, like Katie said, are allowed to feel each huge decisions, are allowed to feel devastated as adults dismiss them saying they're just kids. Some of the most emotional things happen to you when you're a teen. Unlike when you're an adult, then you just have to deal with it. For Melissa, writing that is what's exciting, in a way that writing adults wouldn't work. 

For Robyn, there's an exciting factor in YA. Writing YA gives her an opportunity to write really impactful firsts, and she's obsessed with that. Everybody always remembers their firsts. Like first kiss, when you won't even remember your seventh. Robyn won't even remember the name of some boy she kissed at a party when she was 24, but the first boy she ever kissed, every single book she'll write will secretly about that. (Or not so secretly.) It's a great opportunity to remember what it was like to try to find a part of herself in a book or a song or a line of text. You don't get adults highlighting the books they're reading or writing quotes on their notebook, they read to past time while teenagers needed to find themselves and find answers about who they are in the world, which was so cool for Robyn.

As for their creative process...

Katie's took a very long time as she worked on her first book when she was 16, which didn't get published until she was almost 30. She worked on it and put it aside for two years and work on it for a week and a half which went on for years. It's a patchwork quilt of her experience for 10 years.

Once Melissa has the initial idea, she outlines. For Melissa, it's important to figure out the process that works for a person and then seeing how it's most fruitful. Melissa doesn't like to sit down and write for the day if she doesn't know what's going to happen, but other people will want to sit down and discover for themselves.

When Robyn comes up with an idea for a story she also has this tiny spark of what could happen and she figures out who it happens to. It's not just the one character. You're not who you are without an input from your best friend or boyfriend or sister. Just figuring out who the character is isn't enough, she has to build a world for that character. A lot of the time it's trial and error but oftentimes she pulls from her own life or start asking her friends about a certain theme. She gathers her materials and just fill in the fine lines of her characters and once she knows what she's working with she writes the story. It's usually a little different than what she initially thought because people are different than they are when she first meets them and it's also true for book characters.

Do any of the guys in their books come from any place in particular? Movie stars? Partners? Past partners?

The guys in Robyn's books are portraits of herself. The girls she writes she has no idea where they came from but the guys would be her if she was a guy. Ezra is very much like her when she was in high school and Lane was like her when she was in college. (And Robyn goes "Oh, this is how I am. What's going on? Why is my psyche coming out fictionally male?" and we all loved her again.)

A character in Melissa's book, The Break-Up Bible, was based on an ex-boyfriend. A friend read it and said it was based on Melissa's ex-boyfriend Andy, but was actually based on a guy named Steve, which was another ex-boyfriend of hers. People will attribute names to their book's characters whether an author choose to do that, people assume that they did.

In Katie's case, she wasn't sure if any of the boys in her books were based in real life, but she met her husband when she was in high school (they're together for 15 years!) and she feels that portraying the experience of falling in love in her books and what it feels like was based on her own life.

Their favorite parts in writing contemporary romance?

Melissa loves writing kissing scenes, the 'I saw him across a crowded room' scenes. Katie also loves to write kissing scenes, but for her it's also about figuring out how to feel about things in the world. Writing contemporary helps Katie understand the world. Robyn loved writing pop culture references and fandom moments! (And then Robyn goes on about how her life is exactly like Seth Cohen from The OC and laments the fact that she's not cool.) Robyn thinks it's fun writing nerdy pop culture references.

What two important things has Katie learned while writing contemporary romance?

The first thing Katie learned goes back to writing complicated characters, the idea of writing a character that people weren't going to like was scary. The idea of putting a character in the world feels like having a child, having spent so much time creating them and people aren't crazy about them. What she learned was all she can do was write a book that she'd want to read. The other thing was? You can never have too many make-out scenes.

(Katie's next book is coming out next spring, still without a title. It's a tragic romance! It takes place in the 1990's in Orlando, Florida about two young not quite famous popstars with a star cross romance!)

And for my question, which was asking Robyn what it was like to write in a male perspective and what the experience was like to write Ezra and then Lane. (I insisted that she had answered it at some point, but Robyn said 'That has not been asked yet!'.)

Robyn prefers writing from a male perspective (she doesn't know what it says about her but she just does!) because she knows the character is not her. It's like writing fantasy. She tries to make the story not too close to home because it's not her, it's somebody else. Ezra is so much easier for her to write as she's really drawn to his brokenness, she understood the story in a really deep way. It was harder to relate to Lane (as of course she's not dying of tuberculosis) but she very much understood his personality as Lane is like a version of herself that she's horrified to turn around one day and find out that she had become, she wanted to write through that.

When Robyn wrote The Begininng of Everything she was writing it for herself. She didn't have a book deal and she was just a student. It was what she did because a boy broke her heart and she was sitting in a coffee shop all summer. Extraordinary Means is what she wrote for her publisher, for her fans and it's a lot harder to do. It's harder to write from a teenage perspective than it is to switch gender. (And then she had to ask why no one was asking her how hard it was to write a character who's 15 years younger than ask how hard it was to write a character without boobs. :D) Robyn likes the double challenge it presents.

If they were to write a book about their lives, what would its title be and why?

Melissa's would be "Don't Press Send", because she spent a good part of her life wishing she hadn't sent some of what she had written via e-mail.

For Katie it would be "Places I Have Fallen Down and Injured Myself". As she is very clumsy and not in a charming, romantic comedy way but in an 'I'll fall down the stairs on a subway station and break my arm' kind of way. A chapter would be dedicated to an injury she got.

For Robyn, it's The Beginning of Everything, because it's pretty much an autobiography to her teenage years. She doesn't want to write a book about her life, but many small books in a two year period about her life, which was what she's trying to do right now with her books. But if she had to give a title to her book it would be "#ihatehashtags". She herself was so baffled by how internet savvy she is but how angry internet culture makes her.

You can listen to the full audio here.

Highlights of the signing:

I tried doing this thing I call "#kaiselfie" (because I'm very creative and can't think of a better name for it) where I take a selfie during each blogger forum and see how many people I can fit in, and see if it won't be blurry or if any one of my blogger friends had funny facial expressions when I take photos. But! For this edition, we had a record of 18 people and one very sneaky author who I didn't realize was there until they were about to leave.

Robyn: I hope I got in on your selfie! *waves*
Me: Wait, what? *checks photo* OMG she's here!

Which is the photo you'll see below:


We almost got Melissa Kantor in the frame as well, but she got lost in the sea of eager bloggers when I took the second trial shot. I'll get better next time. Haha!

I also have an ARC of #TBoE with the original title (still called "Severed Heads, Broken Hearts") and cover and Robyn signed it for me, bless her. She was so fascinated when she saw I had marked some passages and she keeps on saying "Wow, I wrote this sentence!", sounding so giddy every time she takes a peek. Aww.

A photo posted by Kai A. (@amaterasureads) on

Once again, thank you to National Bookstore for this great opportunity to meet such wonderful authors. I got a birthday greeting from Katie Cotugno and got to talk to Melissa Kantor who was so nice and got to take a couple of photos with Robyn Schneider and just chat with her for as long as we could. Wow.


Group photo with the #PHYaBookBloggers and three lovely authors!

And a bonus video of Katie, Melissa and Robyn giving a message to their Philippine readers. Sorry if it's shaky.


And for the giveaway!

WIN A SIGNED ARC OF MELISSA KANTOR'S BETTER THAN PERFECT + SIGNED BOOKMARKS! (PH ONLY)


I have an ARC of Better Than Perfect lying around and had Melissa sign it to give away. I also had 2 bookmarks signed by all three authors and I'll be giving them away as well.

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Leigh Bardugo in PH signing recap! #LeighBardugoinPH

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And National Bookstore woke up the book blogger in me (who was on hiatus) with this signing. Meeting Leigh Bardugo has officially kick started the 2nd half of my year with a very big bang. All I can say is? Again, wow.

As you all know, I still couldn't sleep the night before and coupled with exhaustion from being at Toycon 2015 on Saturday, I summoned what little energy I had left to attend and IT WAS WELL WORTH IT. Leigh was such a darling!


I've actually read Shadow & Bone a solid year right after it was released, so whatever hype there was has pretty much died down by then, and the second book was just released. And yet I was pretty sure I was hit with the same impact other readers got when they've read it the year before I did, so meeting Leigh was something I was looking forward to because I really loved Shadow & Bone. The bloggers started asking questions, but not before Leigh tried to tell us which Filipino words and phrases she had learned over the course of her visit here. Yep, she managed to say "Magandang hapon" and "Salamat" just right. :)

As for the Q&A, here's a rundown:

- Asked which amplifier she'd like to have and why, Leigh immediately said no, because she'd have to kill an animal, which was incidentally one of the hardest scenes for her to write. But if she really had to, she'd choose the third amplifier, the Firebird. (If you've read Ruin & Rising you know why.)

- If she were to collaborate with an author, she'd like to co-write with Laini Taylor though their writing process differs. Leigh likes to outline and Laini writes, re-reads what she writes and goes back to it. She'd also love to write with JK Rowling, but she'll probably just watch her write.

- Aside from writing high fantasy stories, Leigh has a horror story written in the anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, whose cover is one of her favorites because it's so creepy. She has also written a contemporary story included in Stephanie Perkins' anthology Summer Days, Summer Nights, set in a small town in New England with a fantastical element to it.

- Leigh will NEVER cut a steamy scene. She writes following an outline so she rarely cuts a scene. Her books tend to get longer on revision though because of gaps that had to be filled in. Some events that were supposed to be in Siege & Storm were included in the middle of Ruin & Rising. Leigh dreams of having a secret fanfiction account and just write secret, sexy fanfics of her characters.

-  Leigh is a huge Game of Thrones fan and most of what she'd read growing up used Medieval England as a setting and so with Russia she wanted to take her readers someplace different. As for why it's in the 1800s is because Leigh wants to show the tension between the rise of modern military technology and magic. As for choosing to write in the same world as the Grisha, Leigh knew she had a story to tell set in Kerch so she did.

- Six of Crows was different for Leigh because the setting existed fully in her mind before she started writing the story. It's different than Shadow & Bone in a sense that it has 5 POVs, flashbacks, a heist, a prison break, and 6 kids trying to pull off a suicide mission. Shadow & Bone is a classic "chosen one" story, whereas the kids Six of Crows do not have grand destinies, not chosen ones, not Kings or Queens, and they'll never be. They aren't looking to start a revolution, they just want to survive.

- Louisse asked Leigh to create a haiku for Six of Crows, which was:

Six deadly outcasts, 
One impossible heist, yeah!
You should order it.

- To clear things off, Leigh MIGHT write a book for Sturmhond but it won't happen for a few years since she's writing the sequel for Six of Crows and she will then take a break from the Grisha world. But Leigh already knows how his story will go and who he's gonna end up with. As for why Sturmhond? There was so much darkness in the book and here was this guy with confidence and optimism compared to other characters who was just keeping Leigh company. She loved writing about him.

- As for the inspiration for the Grishaverse, it was when Leigh was working as a make-up artist and had to do free make-up for three straight hours while a Halloween party was happening. She was so mad after that she stayed home after, read a book, fell asleep and was greeted with total darkness when she woke up. So after freaking out, turning on every light in the house and checking everywhere, Leigh realized that no matter how old you get or how smart a person was, the fear of the dark never goes away. And she thought what if Darkness was a place? What if the creatures you imagined in the dark were real and you had to fight them in your own territory? What would the place and creatures look like? What kind of magic would you use to fight them and why go there? That inspired the Shadowfold and every idea in the series sprang from that moment.

- Did she mean for the Darkling to be mean and sexy? Yes. Because the most dangerous people in our lives don't walk in with a sign that says "Hey I'm evil, ignore me.". They walk in being beautiful and brooding and charismatic and they know how to manipulate you. The challenge for Leigh was to make the readers to judge the Darkling not for what he says or how compelling he is but by what he actually does. If Leigh had read her books when she was younger she would have shipped The Darkling and Alina too, but alas, that is what fanfiction is for.

- And yes, The Darkling IS a MAIN love interest. One can be a love interest and an antagonist at the same time.

- A notable line from Leigh: "I don't set out to write love interests, I set out to write characters."

- Somewhere down the line, Leigh might write a novella about Alina's origins as there are a lot of threads in the story that can be expanded. This will probably happen after she has written Sturmhond's book.

- Did Leigh created her own languages for Shadow & Bone? Nope. She creates languages to suit the moment of the world, unlike Tolkien who happens to be a linguist and really created his own languages. Ravka takes its cue from Tsarist Russia, Kerch takes its cue from the Dutch Republic of the 1700s and Fjerdan is Scandinavian.

- Life has changed so much for Leigh since Shadow & Bone. 4 years ago, she was broke. She had a job she didn't like, a career she didn't want to be in and now she has her dream job she had dreamed when she was a kid. A friend of hers drew a picture of Leigh in a book signing for her 14th birthday (she still has it) and now she gets to travel to countries she's never been before, meet people and talk about her stories. It is the most unreal, magical, incredible thing.

Leigh might have teared up a little bit in the end, which was a first for us, and we were all just so happy for her.

Watch a video of Leigh sharing a short message to her readers:


And I am sharing a few photos with my blogger friends since it has been too long since we last saw each other and of course we just had to catch up and bond over out massive mutual love for books.


Also known as #kaiselfie where I try to take a photo with as much people squeezed in the frame. Count: 16 people.

The result: this one.



Whew. And now showing the actual signing. We got ARCs of Six of Crows just as Leigh was signing our trilogies and believe me when I said we all fawned over our copies.



A group shot where I, for the first time, wasn't there. I had to leave early since it's Father's Day and I had to go have lunch with my family.


GIVEAWAY TIME!
WIN A SIGNED COPY OF SHADOW AND BONE!

I made a last minute decision and grabbed a paperback copy of Shadow & Bone and had it signed for a giveaway. Hazel and I were actually paying for our copies at the cashier when Leigh arrived and we had to run to our seats to grab our phones and start taking photos / recording.

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