MAGISTERIUM GIVEAWAY, ASK THE EXPERT INTERVIEW, AND MY NEWS

Hi Everyone! I think I'll start out with my news. No, it's nothing related to publishing, but it's very exciting. As many of you know, my daughter is adopted from China. I'm taking her for a heritage tour to China over the Christmas holidays! It's sponsored by our adoption agency, Chinese Children Adoption International. The Chinese government wants its adopted kids to come back and learn of their heritage so the trip for my daughter except for her airfare there is free. Isn't that awesome? It'll be just my daughter and me because it'd be too hard for my husband to travel there with his health.

I can't believe we leave in less than two weeks! 

We'll be gone for ten days. We'll be going to Beijing, Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers and a Panda reserve where my daughter gets to hold a baby panda (It's one of her dreams), Guilin, and Yangshuo. It sounds so fabulous and we'll be with a group with teenagers so it should be really fun for my daughter.

I considered taking my computer and maybe blogging about some of my trip with Casey's help posting the pictures as you can't do that on Blogger while in China. But then I talked to a friend yesterday who went this summer. You have to carry it with you everywhere so I'm not going take it.

I thought I'd also share my stats for this year and announce a little change for next year.

I've given away 111 books this year. This does not include the interviews and giveaways Casey did. I'm excited that I've shared so many good books with you all. And authors and publishers have been very generous in providing me with ARCs.

As you can imagine, the postage is quite expensive, especially sending books to my wonderful International followers. I've sent packages to many places, including England, France, Indonesia, India, and South America. I'm constantly replenishing my stack of customs slips for the post office. To cut the costs a bit, some of my giveaways next year will be for U.S. and Canada only. I'll just play it by ear depending on how many International winners there are and will try to keep all the really popular giveaways International. I hope you guys understand.

Finally, we just hit 3000 followers this week. I'm SO excited! Thank you all for being such great followers. We're busy here through January so we'll do something in February to celebrate this awesome milestone.

So moving on, I have a few winners to announce and then I'll get to my fantastic interview today.

The winner of RENEGADE is CRICKET!

The winner of WRITING IRRISISTABLE KIDLIT is WILL OVERBY!

The winner of PASSION BLUE is HINATA!

The winner of TOUCHED is STEPHANIE GARBER!

Congrats! E-mail me your address so I  can send you your book. Please e-mail me by the end of Wednesday or I'll have to pick a new winner.

Today I’m excited to interview Adam Quinn, a 8^th grader who is also an aspiring author and blogger for my ASK THE EXPERT series. And his mom is Susan Quinn, the author of the awesome MINDJACK series and has an awesome blog you can check out here. 

Hi Adam. Thanks so much for joining us.

1.  Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your school, and what you like to read.

            True story: I spent twenty-five minutes thinking about how to start this answer before coming up with the trick you just read. So, anyway, I’m known at my school (Plum Grove Junior High) mainly for these five things, in this order: Writing, Mathematics, CAD, Fencing, and playing the clarinet (and no, I’m not known for putting up fences). Put the traits required for each of those five together, and you’ve got a good picture of my personality. Moving on to Plum Grove itself, it’s a nice place. The teachers are talented and kind, and many of the students are equally so. At the same time, they offer advanced reading, writing, and math, so (most of the time) the curriculum is challenging. Finally, what I like to read. Science fiction is my favorite genre, hands down, but there are few things I won’t read. The only two that immediately come to mind are romance and horror.

2.  Wow! You really thought about that. And it sounds like you're super busy and have lots of awesome interests. I know you’re an aspiring author, self-published a book, and are a blogger too. Tell us a bit about your book and how you juggle writing with a busy middle school life.

            Actually, I’ve published two books: Adventures at and Around the Galaxy, and its sequel, The Undercover War. Both are space operas, where the MCs (main characters) are Galactic Government special forces who find out that the GG they serve has been largely corrupted by a powerful underground cult. As for how I balance my writing with school stuff, that’s a problem I’m still working on. My current model (by no means a perfect one) is this: School work always comes first. If I have time on weekends, during Writers Club, or after I’ve finished my homework, I’ll work on my next short story. Over breaks (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring, Summer) I’ll work on my next novel.

3.  Your books sound awesome. Wish I could say I'd written two books. Good to know school comes first. Share a bit about your blog.

            First off, I blog sporadically, so don’t expect regular weekly updates (post #s). When I do post, I’m usually either A, reviewing a book, B, releasing a book (or an edition), C, releasing bonus content (which you can find here), or D, running competitions or polls. Other features of my blog include links to where you can buy my books in almost every format available, information on all of my published books, a chat box for leaving comments, and a helpful overview with an introduction in all six official languages of the UN.

4. Sounds like there's lots of good stuff there when you do blog. Before you started writing, how did you find out about the books you read? What about new books coming out?

            Back then, I usually found books the old-fashioned way—by browsing a library. If the cover and title looked interesting, I checked the short description. If that sounded good too, I checked it out. If I didn’t get a book that way, I either bought it, got it as a gift, or was referred to it. If I wanted to read new books, I checked the “New Releases” section at the library. However, since libraries aren’t generally the first places to receive new releases, most of the “new new books” I got were based on referrals or as gifts.

5.  I love discovering books and authors at the library. How has writing changed what you read, if at all? What about the fact that your mom is a writer?

            Actually, it’s almost the other way around—my taste in reading heavily influenced my decision to write Sci-fi. I’m not sure if the fact that my mom is a writer really influences my reading, but I do read a lot of books that she suggests to me, including but not limited to her own books (which I also critique).

6.  It's important to read in your genre as a writer, which it sounds like you're doing. What books are you waiting to be released?

            I’m not actually waiting on a whole lot. The only two books that come to mind are Shadows Alive by Orson Scott Card and the next book in the I Am Number Four series. I’m sure there are many more books that I will want to read when they come out, but I am not actively waiting on them, per se.

7.  I love the I AM NUMBER FOUR series too. Do you buy most of your books or get them at the library? How often do you go to a bookstore? 

            As I said in #4, I used to get most of my books from the library, only visiting a bookstore when I receive a gift card or something similar. Today, though, you will rarely see me at either. I buy almost all of my books on my Nook Simple, which I am very happy with.

8.  Do you read any teen book blogs, author blogs, or author or publisher websites? Become a fan of an author on Facebook? Why? Has this changed at all since you started writing?

            No, not really. The only blog that I read (besides my own) is my mom’s, and I only do that occasionally. I’m not on Facebook, and I don’t really want to be.

9.  I can't imagine you have much time to read blogs. Have any of your teachers recommended any blogs or websites to your class or to you?

            They do “recommend” websites, but only for academic purposes (i.e. my history teacher recommended the BBC site for further learning about World War I and Trench Warfare).

10.  Are there things your favorite authors could do that would make you more likely to visit their website, their blog, or become a fan on Facebook?

            No.

11.  Have any authors visited your school? Who? Is there anything you’d recommend that an author do to make their presentation more interesting to you and other kids at your school?

            A few authors visited Pleasant Hill (my elementary school), none of which I remember clearly. The only author who ever visited Plum Grove was Neal Schusterman, the author of Unwind. I think the most attractive feature of his presentation was that he provided a lot of question and answer time. You can’t tailor your speech for everyone, but during question and answer time, you can let them tailor it for you.

Thanks Adam for sharing all your great advice. 

Guys, I'm looking for kids who are in 5th through 12th grade for my ASK THE EXPERT series starting in March. If you know anyone interested, please e-mail me at rmarma2@yahoo.com.

Today, I'm also giving away an ARC of MAGISTERIUM  by Jeff Hirsch. 

Here's a description from Goodreads:

On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn's only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn't for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn's mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father's work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run---with only one place to go.

With MAGISTERIUM, Jeff Hirsch brings us the story of a complex, captivating world that will leave readers breathless until the very last page.

I'll try to keep my review short because I know this post is getting long.

One of the things I loved about this is that Glenn lives in a really technical, dystopian world of the Colloquium and then crosses over to the unknown beyond the Rift, which is governed by magic. I loved the blending of the two genres.

Right away we learn what Glenn wants--to go on a space mission that she'll never return from but will fulfill her career dreams. And right away, she can't have it. Her dad, who seems slightly obsessed and maybe a bit crazy, designs this device that might be able to be used to rescue Glenn's mom who disappeared over the Rift that divides the two worlds. Glenn screws things up right away and gets here dad arrested and has to flee with her friend Kevin into the Rift and the unknown.

The world building is fantastic. The Colloquium is a technological, rule governed world. The world beyond the Rift has magical, human-like warriors and magic governs the world, not all the good kind. Technology doesn't work in this magical world and magic doesn't work in the Colloquium.

Glenn is so sympathetic as a character. She's alone except for Kevin in this strange world that forces her to question everything about her world and discover secrets about her family. And while she's questioning where she fits in, Kevin is totally drawn into this new world and changes in ways that Glenn isn't sure she likes. This creates tension between them and there's a not overdone romantic tension between them.

This is a fast-paced quick read that I think those of you who like dystopian and/or fantasy will enjoy.

Scholastic generously provided this ARC for a giveaway.  To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment on Adam's interview by midnight on January 5th. I’ll announce the winner on January 7th. If your e-mail is not on Blogger, please list it in your comment.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. International entries are welcome.

Here's what's coming up.

On Thursday, I'm participating in THE FALLING KINGDOM blog tour. It's a new fantasy by Morgan Rhode about four teenagers whose lives are intertwined in a world filled with magic, bloodshed, and political intrigue. I can't wait to read it.

Next Monday Laura  Pauling will be sharing her advice and giving away a copy of her new middle grade book, HOW TO SURVIVE ANCIENT SPELLS AND CRAZY KINGS, an adventure story set in the Mayan ruins of Tikal and involving skeletons from the underworld, a backstabbing princess, and an ancient prophecy. I love anything dealing with the Mayans so am super excited about this.

Next Wednesday, I have a surprise post. That's all I'll say for now.

Then I'm on a break until January 7th unless I post from China. January is going to be AWESOME! On January 7th, I interview debut author Ellen Oh and give away an ARC of PROPHECY, her new fantasy set in a Korean-like world. In January, I'll also be sharing and giving away an ARC of SHADES OF EARTH, Beth Revis' new book, interviewing Marie Lu and giving away an ARC of PRODIGY, and interviewing Leigh Moore and giving away a copy of ROUGE, her new edgy contemporary romance. This is just some of what's coming up.

And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you on Thursday!