Genies, passion, faith, and sacrifice…

Samosa and Stone try to live together as a normal couple but quickly learn that is not quite possible. Stone is a genie and Samosa is a divorcee trying to complete school.  Their sensuous relationship brims over into something that can  kill them both. Samosa’s ex, her own unnatural cravings and Stone’s secrets  prove to be stumbling blocks.

Kiss of Stone is the continuing saga of  a human and a genie and the obstacles they must overcome in order to survive.

Kiss of Stone will be available May 2013.

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The affects of war,

Are hard to ignore.

Okay forget my amateur poetry for a second but “Collateral” by Ellen Hopkins, her second adult novel to date is a stunning story told in verse poetry. If there is an appropriate message I can get from this book is that military wives suffer just as greatly as their soldier boyfriends and husbands. Their war is a battle of hope. Grief. Mental anguish.

Ashley loves Cole. Cole is a Marine- the type Ashley swore she would never go out with. But how can she ignore his golden eyes, sweet poetry and the fact he is the most sensual/sexual person she has ever been with?

Soon, Cole must go off to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and slowly…little by little, a piece of who he is to her chips away. Hopkins does a beautiful job having Ashley’s voice within the pages and Cole’s poetry scattered throughout. In defense of Cole, what he has seen and done begins to color his poetry and perspective over the course of five years. In the book there are plenty of clues not voiced in the free verse as to his fidelity and how much damage he has really done to his “collateral”-a.k.a Ashley. (Read more of my review on Amazon)

Heather Burch/Zondervan(Book 3 in the Halflings series)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of posting up my recent interview with Heather Burch, the author of “Halflings”- in this interview we discussed everything from time management in writing, to Nikki’s choice in young men and finally, will there be more in the series? If you are at all curious, you may wish to read the rest. Here’s a clip:

NCFE: In the ‘Halflings’ series Mace is the leader type and he is sensitive to Nikki’s abilities and her feelings-sometimes. Raven, the “bad boy” unleashes the wild side of her prompting her to new heights, helping her let go. In your opinion, which boy would be right for Nikki and why?

Heather Burch: In many ways they are both right … and wrong for her. I loved introducing this dynamic because we get to feel every emotion right along with Nikki. I’ve had many reviewers say they ALWAYS know which boy is the right one. But not with the Halflings Series. Either one could be right. Or wrong. I love involving readers. I love it when they have to sit back and say, “Hm. What do I think of this guy? Is he right for Nikki?”

NCFE: I simply love the titles in the series. Tell me, how did you come up with them? (Besides the obvious first book in the series, LOL!)

HB: In the very beginning, the first three books were titled, Pure, Dark and Risen. Of course, it was still the Halflings Series. It never occurred to me to title book 1 Halflings. That came from my fabulous publisher. (They’re so much smarter than me.)

NCFE: Have your books been compared to other teen series(Christian or not) and if so how do you feel about it?

HB: Halflings gets compared to Twilight often. I think the love triangle factors in on that. Also, book one has a little less action than two and three. I love it when people compare. It means they’re thinking about it, considering it against other YA books.

NCFE: At first the Halfling girls did not accept Nikki and I felt bad for Nikki, however one Halfling girl has her eye on Raven. Will we see more of his story unfold in future books?(Read more on Norfolk Christian Fiction Examiner)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I guess Kristina did not learn in “Crank” about what crank, a.k.a. The Monster is really capable of. So much has happened here so I’ll be brief and leave out some really juicy parts.

In “Glass”-the follow up to Crank, Kristina has a beautiful baby boy, named Hunter Seth and he looks like his father(the handsome lifeguard from “Crank” who forced himself on Kristina). She lives with her mom and her step-dad and brother. Her sister Leigh lives with her partner, Heather.

All seems to float easy on the surface…but we are privy to Kristina’s internal dialogue:

“So it will come /at no surprise to you that lately/I have been hearing the plea/of the monster, distant/at first but creeping closer…”(Hopkins,2007, p.20: Glass).

She gets a few sniffs, some puffs, smokes and finds herself leaving behind baby Hunter in the wake of her trysts with The Monster and the monster brings along a few “friends”: Brad, Trey, and a few faces she never thought she’d see again.

She falls for Trey- hard. He is everything to her and he walks around with the monster. He says he loves her too, but what Kristina will learn is that loving someone and caring for the person you love are two different things…even when they should not be.

If you liked Crank, Glass is another important book about the power of addiction.

View all my reviews

Image made by Lee Jordan for Flickr.com

Churning like warm butter

Churning like ice cream

hands quicken

my fragile

breath…

*

A day, an hour

drew fine points of light

in a fine memory

of

Wedding Bells ’08

*

Cutting deeper

are your words

no longer pensive

sharp pencils

jabbing your forgive me letters

*

Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff for you, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

The Twilight Mold

The Hunger Games Mold

The Twilight mold has a basic plotline like this:

Girl meets boy

Boy turns out to be supernatural

Possible love triangle?

The Hunger Games Mold:

Dystopian present

Dystopian future

Fighting for survival(some supernatural slant possible)

I can not fault authors who write within the paranormal or dystopian lines. Their storylines are basically original and the characters are unique so I can not be mad. However if teens are feeling as if their reading choices have become stale,  what can we do to shake it up?

I crawled around on Examiner.com and Amazon to find some unique reviews. I will list some of the books here that will hopefully wake up your enjoyment to YA reading again.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Halflings by Heather Burch(Twilight fans will love this, but at least it has the faith factor for Christian Readers)

River of Time Series by Lisa Tawn Bergren

The Bluford Series-recommended to librarians and schools)

Monster and other great books by Christopher Pike

I hear that another book, Divergent is swinging on the mountain of success as well.

*If you have read any of these books, please share here.  Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an interesting book! Fiction told using verses.

Kristina seems to be the Speaker/Protagonist in this work. She comes from a pretty normal family but in spared words tells us: her sister is a lesbian and her brother is too young to be a confidant and her mother is more focused on her looks and writing her books and her boyfriends.

Eventually, she spends a few weeks with her dad and she finds his neighbor is a hot looking guy named Adam but people call him “Buddy”- so she hooks up with Adam and he introduces Kristina(who calls her alter ego, “Bree”) to crank. A.K.A. crack or cocaine. She begins a downward spiral drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and eventually moved on to something more hardcore towards the end of the book. But all the while, Kristina-“Bree” is battling more than one Monster: her hormones, her thoughts, the boys,and her family.

The subject matters tackled: Teen drug use. Teen abuse. Family matters. Sex. Certainly a book worth reading.

As I understand it, “Glass” and “Fallout” are the sequels to this very powerful book.

View all my reviews

*For an in-depth review of the Crank story and how men play a vital role in Kristina’s life, please head to “Crank Review” on my hub

40s Beauty by Jan Farthing for Flickr.com

From Samosa’s POV: Samosa appears in “Mark of Fortune” which is the prequel to Ring of Stone. Ring of Stone is underway right now, until then, these poems will be clues to Samosa and Stone’s new life together; it will be as dramatic and as sensual as the first!

Sad (New) Creature

You made me hungry with

and enticing, sugary kiss

and I was made to know you

on that velvet night-

you set me free

and now I stand

a part of you

apart from you

a new creature who smiles

for no reason

and who is catty with her remarks

concerning you and

this is new

even Mom is afraid of

what have you done to me

Stone?

I am now a mirror of

my own bad habits left off

from something whittled off

a stump.

*If you would like an exclusive peek and free download of the first chapter of “Ring of Stone” when it becomes available, please sign up to subscribe to this blog

Bless You!

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you have not read “The Promise”, you should read it then begin The Search. These adaptations to the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series are following a smooth order which ultimately leads to “The Legend of Korra” which aired last year on Nickleodeon. It is a fun way to learn what happened to Team Avatar all those years before Korra drops on the scene.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search Part 1, the novel starts immediately with a flashback to Hira’a- the Fire Nation land from many years ago. This was the year of Ursa(Zuko and Azula’s mom) falling in love. Not with Ozai. But with a childhood friend named Ikem. Unfortunately her parents allowed Firelord Ozai’s father to marry them because he was much richer and more powerful than Ikem. It is a tale too sad to bear but we must press onward to more mysteries in this book.

Read more of my review on The Norfolk Animation Examiner.

*Book received for my unbiased review from Netgalley.

View all my reviews

Within each section are poems from Rodriguez’s life as a young man growing up in a land full of racism, gang violence, and everything else in between. Each are a snapshot of  what it means to be Chicano in America and the pain it is survive where you are.

A poem in particular that touched me was “Running to America” from the first stanza beginning with: “They are night shadows violating borders/fingers curled through chain-link fences.” Pulls us into the world of the immigrants who hold on to what could possibly hold them back and the next line is chilling: “Hiding from infra-red eyes, dodging 30-30 bullets” and every few stanzas the one liner: “Running to America” presses the images and the anxious tone in your heart as these cutting lines continue again in tandem to the speaker’s words stranglehold for a “hungry people who have no country”.

Rodriguez’s style of poetry tells a story and when you really pay attention, you are hit by the tragedy of his past and the hope deferred and he does not hold back on the imagery and his tone is sharp and real.  He comes across as shrewd and sensitive to the people’s struggles. Below you will find a sample of his poem for his son Ramiro called “The Wanton Life”

*Book received for my unbiased review from Netgalley for Open Road Integrated Media

Luis J. Rodríguez (b. 1954) is a poet, journalist, memoirist, and author of children’s books, short stories, and novels. His documentation of urban and Mexican immigrant life has made him one of the most prominent Chicano literary voices in the United States. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican immigrant parents, Rodríguez grew up in Los Angeles, where in his teen yearshe joined a gang, lived on the streets, and became addicted to heroin. In his twenties, after turning his back on gang violence and drugs, Rodríguez began his career as a journalist and then award-winning poet, writing such books as the memoir Always Running (1993), and the poetry collections The Concrete River (1991), Poems Across the Pavement (1989), and Trochemoche (1998). He has also written the short story collection The Republic of East L.A. (2002). Rodríguez maintains an arts center, bookstore, and poetry press in L.A., where he continues writing and working to mediate gang violence.