Bubba and I are back from vacation now (we actually got back this weekend but I was exhausted, so I extended my bloggy vaca by a couple days). We had a great time relaxing at the lake and catching up with family and friends. Not to mention eating a ton of great food (seriously, my step-dad is a great cook).

I have a couple book reviews to put up tomorrow and Friday and then!….starting Monday, I will be a full-time writer!! Whoa. That’s weird.

How have y’all been since I left? Anything exciting happening in your lives? Comment away!

Not that I am leaving forever or anything. But I am taking off to spend a week in the greatest place ever (admittedly, despite being a nomad for a few years, my travel experience is limited to my view might be biased). Tonight, I will turn my computer off…and then leave it off for more than a week! It is going to be great to get away.

Don’t miss me too much. I will be back in the cyberwebs soon enough.

I admit it: I love this movie. I just adore Sandra.

First…it is a kind of bittersweet day for me. Today is the day I give my two weeks notice at work. (Really, three week…but one of those weeks I am on vacation, so it can’t really count, can it?) I am excited to be able to stay home and write and thrilled that it is possible, but I really do love my job. I was lucky to have found it in the first place. My coworkers are great, the work is fun (most of the time), and I enjoy talking to our clients and the film companies. Pretty much it is the perfect job for me.

I know a lot of my friends (and probably my mom–Hi, Mom!) will think I am crazy for giving this job up. And you all are right–I am a little bit crazy for letting it go. It is a GREAT job. The work is interesting–I get to learn fun stuff about movies and watch trailers and stuff before anyone else! The pay is good, and the perks are wonderful. Really, if things were different, I could see myself working my way up and making a career as a film buyer.

But, things are not different. As much as I love this job, there is something missing, because what I really want to be doing is writing. Yes, I know. whine, whine, whine. People write and sell books all the time while still having a day job. I know that. But here’s the thing–I also like to spend as much time with Bubba as humanly possible after work. Which takes a big chunk of writing time away. Maybe it is because we have only been married a couple years, but we are one of those couples who just spends almost all of our time together. I feel bad going home from work and then hopping right on the computer for the night.

We are in a place now where I can really take the time to pursue my dream and put a full-time effort into my writing, so why wouldn’t I, regardless of how great my job is? So, even though I will be sad to leave it behind, I really think it is the best thing to do. Who knows, maybe I will regret this in the future. I doubt it though.

Secondly…this is kinda a rant, so if you want to skip it…go right ahead!

The internet is a big place. It is easy to get lost browsing around. But the blogosphere–especially the author/aspiring author blogosphere–is pretty small and tight-knit. So if you do something like, say, close your Twitter account and delete your blog and tell a friend you did it because you “just wanted to get away from a few things”, but really you just transferred your blog to a different domain and got a new Twitter account, you probably should know that the lie is not going to hold up.

Just sayin’.

When I first read the book, despite how much I loved it, I couldn’t help but thinking, can someone really be that duplicitous? I had a hard time wrapping my mind around how someone could seem to the people closest to her to be one person, but in reality be someone else.

You know what’s weird about when you doubt something? Life has this strange tendency to find a way (often unpleasant) to let you know, hey, it’s true, that kind of stuff really DOES happen in real life.

About a week and a half after I finished reading Beautiful Malice, I got my confirmation that people really can be just as two-sided as Alice was. Here’s the story:*

***

A few years ago, I was really close friends with this person. We did nearly everything together, and I could probably count the days in a six month period that we didn’t see each other on one hand. I knew this person inside and out. Or so I thought.

Recently I learned that this old friend of mine did something terrible. Like, really, really, makes-you-ill-to-hear-about-it terrible. And it wasn’t a one-time slip-up (though, honestly, I don’t think those exist in a case like this); it was something that had been going on for years. And nobody know. On the outside, this person was still the same wonderful, charming, fun person I knew back then. But beneath the person everyone saw, there was another, completely different person. A person who could do things that the person I knew never would. And even though the two of us have not been friends for four years, it still really made me question a lot about our friendship and my ability to see people for who they are.

My first thoughts–after the initial shock–were along the lines of what has changed? How could the person I knew have changed into this other person in the few years since we were so close? The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that I don’t know that this old friend of mine has really changed. On the surface, people still saw the person I knew. There wasn’t a different person there as far as anyone–even those closest to this person–could tell.

After realizing this, my thought process changed. Now I wonder how long? How long has this person been living a lie? How could I not tell what was going on beneath the surface in all the time we were together? I know I shouldn’t beat myself up about it–I mean, everyone else was fooled by the same act that fooled me. But at the same time, I can’t help it. I guess I am still just in a little bit of shock.

In the end though, one thing I do know is that Rebecca James got it right when she wrote Beautiful Malice. People like Alice really do exist. This is not a comforting thought.

***

*Yeah, so I tried to keep the story as ambiguous as possible while still getting my point across. Maybe I just made a confusing mess of what I was trying to say. If so, sorry about that. I just didn’t want to spell out details about what happened. Many of my readers already know who and what I am talking about (and many more of you can probably take a pretty close guess at the what based on what I wrote), but I feel no need to be specific.

Is it possible to love someone too much? Is it possible to love them so much you wish them dead?

Katherine Patterson wishes she could disappear. Instead, she does the next best thing. After the death of her talented younger sister, Katherine leaves her grieving parents to the media’s merciless scrutiny and moves to a new city and enrolls in a new school. Wary and alone, she seeks nothing more than anonymity. What she finds instead is the last thing she expected: a friend.

Alice Parrie is the most popular and magnetic girl in school. Extroverted, gorgeous, flirtatious, and unpredictable, she is everything that Katherine is not. Her enthusiasm is infectious, her candor sometimes unsettling, and she is impossible to resist. She takes it upon herself to involve Katherine in an entirely different life of parties and trips. She introduces Katherine to Robbie, her soulful on-again, off-again boyfriend. She becomes as close to Katherine as a sister can be, maybe even closer.

But Alice has secrets darker than anyone can imagine, and Katherine will soon discover the darkest of them all.

For Katherine Patterson, there is no escaping her past – only a descent into a trap far more sinister…and infinitely more seductive.

Beautiful Malice is another book I got to reading on a Traveling ARC Tour basis. I actually finished this one quite some time ago, but I had to wait a while to be able to write about it because it haunted me!

I don’t know that any review I give this book will do it real justice. The story is heartbreaking, the characters real, the emotions tangible. From the very first line – I didn’t go to Alice’s funeral. – I was absolutely hooked. There is no wonder in my mind why this book has sold in so many territories already (something like 33); it is just that amazing.

I can’t say much, because I don’t want to give much away. But I will say: this book releases in the US next week, and you all should run out to get it! Just make sure you are ready for a few sleepless nights, because this is a story that will not let go of you.

Today, at work, a coworker and I watched the ending of the Lindsay Lohan Trial online.

Ick. I can’t believe I actually watched it. But we just had to know whether she was going to be sent to jail or not (um, yes, for 90 days…any bets on how long she actually has to stay?). Anyway, after the judge found Lindsay to be in violation of her probation (um, duh), Lindsay’s lawyer went on and on, essentially grasping at straws, saying anything she could come up with in an attempt, I think, to delay the sentencing. But, somewhere, amidst all her babble, she actually said something that stuck with me:

I remember once, I was riding in the car with my mom. We came up to a stop sign and saw a cop, so my mom stopped. When she took back off, the cop pulled her over because, “you only stopped because you saw me.” (paraphrase)

The lawyers point was that it didn’t matter WHY her mom stopped, only that she DID stop. Which really got me thinking…

Why do we do the things we do? Do we do something because it is how we have been taught and is what society and the law tells us do do, or do we do something because we genuinely believe it is the right things to do?

Looking at this from a writing/reading view: when you are writing a character reaction, is the reaction what it is because that is how things would be in the life YOU live, or is the reaction really, truly what the character would do?

Why do we (and our characters) do the things we do?

BUT!

I have someone else’s fabulousness to share, so it’s all good.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harrie has a cover!!! And it is AMAZING. I love it so much – I would definitely pick this up just based on the cover (though I already wanted to read it before the cover). I can’t wait to have one on my shelf at home.

Behold, Bad Taste in Boys:

Amazing, right? Now head on over to Carrie’s blog and SQUEE! with her.

So, yeah. There’s a new movie hitting theatres tonight at midnight. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? I won’t even lie: I am pretty excited to go see it. I am even more excited that it is opening because that means I am done dealing with it at work, though. Because of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, this is what my morning looked like:

(Ahem…this might be a little vent-y. And Ramble-y. And whatever-y. Read at your own risk.)

8:25AM:

The phone rings. I have barely been in the office ten minutes, so I am still trying to get things set up for the day. Nobody ever calls this early (Hollywood doesn’t wake up until after 9:00 my time), so I know it is a problem. I answer.

FRANTIC THEATER OWNER: I just got to my theatre, and I don’t have Eclipse yet, and ohmygosh! I have to have this movie!

YOURS TRULY: Okay. I will call your film shipper and see where it’s at. I will call you back in 5 minutes.

I hang up on the poor man and immediately dial his film shipper. They explain what is going on. I call the theatre owner back.

YT: You can relax. Your truck is just running a little late. See, there was this fire-

FTO: Oh right. Yeah, I heard about the fire.

YT: you mean, you knew about this and are still freaking out?!?! Well, they had to shut some of their docks so the fire crew could work on the building next door. It slowed things down, but your print is on the truck on its way to you right now, okay?

FTO: Yeah! Thanks so much!

Crisis one: averted.

8:45AM:

I get another call. Again, it is pretty early for the phone to be ringing. This can’t be good.

SLIGHTLY-MORE-FRANTIC THEATRE OWNER: Hi. I, um, just got to my theatre, and my courier has been here, and we don’t have Eclipse yet, and I have a midnight show tonight, and I really have to have it!

YT: Okay, we’ve had some problems with this one already this morning. Let me call your shipper and I will track it down for you.

I hang up on another frantic theatre owner and call a film shipper (different shipper, as these theatres are in different states).

FILM SHIPPER: Yeah, we have his movie here. It is on the deck waiting for the truck to pick it up. He will get it in an hour or so.

Crisis two: averted.

9:10AM

The phone rings again. I figure it is someone from a film company calling about bookings or something. Oh how wrong I was.

PERFECTLY CALM THEATRE OWNER: Rachel? It looks like we don’t have Eclipse yet. Can you call and find out where it is?

YT: Of course! We have had a couple other theatres getting theirs late, so it is probably on its way. I will call you back in 5 minutes.

9:12AM

FILM SHIPPER: Um, so I looked in our system and it says that print is still in the depot. You might want to call Summit.

9:14AM

SUMMIT CASHIER: Yeah, I haven’t let that one go yet. The theatre needed to pay an advance on it, and we don’t have the money in the bank yet.

TY: WTF?!?! Why did you not tell me about this in time to get anything done?? Um, okay. I will call the theatre owner and get a wire transfer confirmation for you.

9:25AM

I send the wire transfer confirmation to Summit-the transfer was made well in advance, so there should be no problems at all.

SUMMIT CASHIER: Um, yeah. See how section 6 on this form is not filled out? I can’t do anything with this until section 6 is filled out.

YT: What? that part is what the bank fills out after the customer has left. These confirmations never have Section 6 filled out.

SC: . . .

YT: Okay, okay. I will have the owner go back to the bank and ask them to dig up the completed form from last week. (At this point I am trying my absolute hardest to still be calm with this cashier. He is just doing his job, after all.)

10:00AM

I send another wire transfer confirmation.

SUMMIT CASHIER: Um, yeah. This is all filled out and everything, but the money is still not in my bank, so there is nothing I can do.

YT: You couldn’t tell me that half an hour ago before we spent all this time tracking it down? Really? (Yeah, the calm was rapidly leaving.)

SC: Okay, tell you what. I will take this confirmation to the branch manager and see what I can get him to do.

YT: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! You are the best. (Okay, so I start to feel a little bad for being rude to him. Oops.)

11:25AM

The branch manager finally calls. He asks to speak to my boss. I am more than happy to pass this whole ordeal off to him at this point. As he is trying his best bargaining tactics, I get another call.

MYSTERY CALLER: Hi, this is Mr. Branch President from Small Town Branch of a Big Name Bank in Middle-of-Nowhere, Wyoming.

YT: Um, hi?

Mr. BP: It seems we made a mistake here at the bank. See, last Friday we started this wire transfer for your theatre. Then, for some reason-I don’t know why-the transfer was reversed. So this is our fault, not the theatre owner’s.

At this point, my brain starts to short-circuit. I pass the call on to my boss, and I take the call from the Summit branch manager so I can explain to him what is going on now.

————

In the end, the print was released from the depot. Shortly after my brain exploded. But, our theatre has a midnight showing tonight, and by the time they released his movie, there wasn’t a courier out there that would get it to him in time. This is where the why small towns are kinda cool thing comes in.

The bank branch president down in Middle-of-Nowhere, WY felt really bad about the mess-up. He also knew that, given the demographics of his town, Eclipse will be the most successful movie they will have at that theatre this year (okay, so someone might have impressed that upon him ). So, at 12:30PM, the bank president hopped in his car to drive the 4 hours to Salt Lake City, UT, pick up the movie, and drive the 4 hours back so the theatre could get it just in time to put it together and play a midnight show.

That wouldn’t happen in a big city. Yeah, small towns rock.

/rant

2. You think I am antsy now? When we were growing up, my sister Brittney and I would have our bags packed and ready for the annual lake trip by this point. And we would pack WAY more than we could possibly need in the one week we would be there. So, for the last month before we would leave, Brittney and I would be stuck wearing the dregs of our wardrobes because we just HAD to be super-duper ready for the lake.

3. I am beginning to think Brittney and I should have tried harder to have lives when we were younger. I mean, the lake is great and all (who am I kidding? It is like the greatest thing ever!), but really? Packing a month early? Lame. I will be lucky to be done packing the night before we leave this year.

4. Okay, enough about the lake (’cause, yeah…I’m totally not as obsessed as I was when I used to pack so early, right?). What else? Today I had to go to the post office to mail off a couple of books. I was packing them up because, being the slacker that I am, I didn’t do it before I went. So there I am, standing at the long counter, addressing my envelopes. Now, this is one of those super long Post Office counters. You know–the ones that usually have 20 people next to them waiting their turn. Pretty much a REALLY long counter. But, this is Montana, so instead of 20 people waiting in line, there was one lady at the register and me–all alone–finishing things up at the counter. Then another woman walks in. She needs to put together a box to pack up, so she comes up to the counter as well (side note–I love that our post office is slow enough during the day that I can take my sweet time packaging things and nobody gets flustered)–and stands right next to me. I am talking almost on top of me. I could hear her breathing as she put her box together, bumping into my arm every time she turned it over. Now, I am not one who has personal space issues and needs people to stay out of my bubble at all times, but seriously? There was like 20 feet of empty counter space. Was it really necessary for her to stand that close?

5. I bought a new swimsuit last weekend. I was lucky enough to find one pretty quick–mostly because I only had one stipulation and wasn’t picky beyond that point. But now I shall vent: I had to get a plus-sized top. Which isn’t a problem in and of itself. The plus-sized tops are actually quite cute, and it’s about time clothing companies started giving bigger women stylish clothes. But, I am not plus-sized. I wear a size 6 pant, and medium top. I know it doesn’t matter what the tag says, but here’s the problem: I had to find a plus-sized swim top because the regular sizes aren’t big enough for my boobs (unless I want to look like Pamela Anderson, with a strip of fabric covering almost nothing, and flesh–er, silicone–spilling out the sides. No, thank you). But, the plus-sized top, while it fits my chest, is loose around my stomach. Last I checked, swimsuits were fitted, not baggy. Oh well, it is still cute, and really, really comfortable. And it is easily the most supportive swim top I have ever worn, so that says something. Mostly I am just frustrated that swimsuit designers think that in order to have a big chest, one has to be a big person (or, I guess, that if a smaller person has a big chest, it is automatically fake and therefore does not need silly things like support or coverage). Grrr. That is all.

1. Seeley Lake, Montana

A picture can’t really do Seeley Lake justice. It is beautiful, yes, but there is so much more than what a camera can capture. The sounds, the smells, the bloody 4:00 winds: all of it comes together to make Seeley Lake the most wonderful place ever.

2. Wilmington, NC

It has been entirely too long since I have been to Wilmington, but I still count it as a favorite. I love pretty much everything about this city – the culture (the food!) the sights (Cape Fear River, ICW, Atlantic Ocean!) the weather (warm and HUMID!!!) – I just love it all and can’t wait to go back again.

I know the blog has been quite quiet the last couple weeks. That doesn’t mean I love my wonderful readers any less; I adore each one of you.

Someday soon I will explain why it has been so darn boring over in my corner of the interwebs. Until then: don’t miss me too much. I promise I will be back in full force soon.

For today’s two for Tuesday, I have an announcement about 2 pretty amazing contests. Either would be awesome to win, so go sign up!

1. Kick-off contest

One lucky winner will win a dozen (that’s right – 12!) YA books. There are hardcovers and ARCs, spanning all genres. The contest ends Friday, so be sure to enter right away.

2. LINGER and MATCHED ARC giveaway

Two of the most anticipated YA books of the year – how exciting?! Linger, of course, is the sequel to Shiver (which is just fabulous – read it if you haven’t). Matched is the big publisher debut from Ally Condie, who has published many titles with smaller publishers. Matched has been drawing quite a lot of attention since Penguin dropped 7 figures on it at auction. People are calling it “the dystopic Twilight“.

This contest ends June 16th, so hurry your way over to sign up.

How do you know when a project will work out, and when it won’t?

Have you ever been in love? I have, but if you were to ask me what love feels like, I wouldn’t be able to express that to you. One would think that, as a writer, I would be well equipped to paint a word picture of love. And I can to a certain extent. My writing can lead a reader to believe that two characters are in love; on a good day, my writing may even stir up some emotions in a reader.

But I still can’t tell you what love feels like. Yet I know I love my husband. Weird how that works, isn’t it?

For me, writing is much the same way. When I get a shiny new idea and start toying with it, I usually know pretty quickly (within a few thousand words) whether it is an idea I will pursue or not. There is no solid way for me to know why an idea is or isn’t right, but I can always just tell.

Now, this is not to say that if a project gets rough,  I just abandon it. If that were the case, I would never finish anything. Every project gets tough at one time or another, but deep down I can still feel that it is one worth writing, so I push through.

Alright…how was that for a non-answer?

Thank you all for participating in Beach Scene Blogfest. I am having such a fun time reading over the entries. I haven’t gotten to everyone yet, as the last few days have been unexpectedly hectic, but I expect to finish reading entries tonight or tomorrow.

2. Prize!!

I decided sometime last week what the participation prize will be. You ready?

…drumroll…

Full manuscript critique!!

The crit will cover both a general overview of characters, plot, pacing, etc. and an more specific line edit.

If I draw your name and you don’t have a manuscript ready for critique, or you just don’t want to send that baby over, just let me know – we can work out an alternative prize. I am easy like that.

Okay, drawing a name now…

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

And our winner is:

Abby Stevens!!!

The drawing was totally random, but I am very excited Abby won because:

1) Abby has been reading and commenting on my blog for a while now. I like when people I know (in the sense that we have actually conversed online before) win things.

2) I won Abby’s very first blog contest. This is kinda fun turnaround.

3) When I first suggested maybe making a manuscript critique a prize, Abby commented that she thought it was a great idea.

So, Abby: get in touch and we will figure things out!

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

And thus concludes another episode of Two For Tuesday. Tune in next time: same bad time, same bad channel.

But…so far there is no beachiness in So97. So I sat down this morning and took about 15 minutes to pound out a scene specifically for this. It uses the characters from So97 and at some point might make it into the actual manuscript (I am sure some seriously edited variation of it will), but for now it is just a free-standing scene.

Enjoy!

“We’re almost there.” Weston looked over his shoulder at me, his grin like a little kid’s. I had never seen him like this before; normally he was all business and propriety.

I stepped over another log – probably the 5th in as many minutes – and checked my watch: 11:15. “Um, where is there exactly? We have a ride in half an hour and we still need to saddle up.”

Weston laughed. Really? Mister We-have-to-make-this-place-more-professional laughed at me wanting to be on time? I will never understand some people. He hopped onto another log, nestled between two bushes, and turned to face me.

“Relax, Sam. The Worthingtons cancelled. We are free for the afternoon. Thus,” he held his hand out to me, “a picnic. I found this little place when I was surveying the grounds last week and thought it would be perfect.”

I took his hand and followed him over the log. Past the bushes, it was like entering a different world; in one stride, we put the forest behind us.

The sun glinted off the water, making each ripple glitter. The beach itself was only about twenty feet wide and completely surrounded by bushes, but the sand was pure and golden, like it had been untouched. I looked around, but from the beach I see no boats, no cabins, nobody. It’s like we’re completely alone in the world.

My gaze followed Weston as he crossed the beach and sat on a sun-bleached log. Wait. I recognized that log. I looked around again, and it slowly came back to me.

“Dead-Fish Beach.”

“What?” I looked at Weston, who was looking at me like I was crazy.

“Dead-Fish Beach,” I repeated, more loudly. “When we were little, we would all have competitions to see who could find the most fresh-water clams. One year, Rory and I sneaked off into the woods and found this place. We totally won – there were so many clams out there.”

Weston looked a little crestfallen. Was he trying to show me something new here? I realized then that it must be hard for him trying to fit in with a group of people who practically grew up here. It probably didn’t help that Rory and Karissa treated him like a total outsider. And, okay, so did I.

He cleared his throat. “So, um, why Dead-Fish Beach?” His smile looked forced. Did it really upset him that I had been here before?

“When we first found this place, there was a dead fish on it.”

“Creative.”

“Whatever. We were eight.”

He laughed, and suddenly he was back to normal. Maybe I had been imagining that he was upset. We sat together on the log and ate the lunch he brought – egg-salad sandwiches, chips, watermelon, and (I couldn’t help but notice) two fruit roll-ups for me.

When we finished, Weston gestured toward the water. “I’ve decided we can’t go back until you find me ten clams.”

“What?” He couldn’t be serious.

“Hey, you are the one who was bragging about how many clams are out there. Prove it.” His smile held a hint of a challenge.

“Okay, fine.” I kicked my shoes off and rolled my pant legs up to my knees. I loved wading in the water; if we didn’t have to work, this was a pretty good way to spend my time.

Seven clams later, the wind picked up. My hair blew around my face – why did I grow it long, again? – and stuck to my lip gloss. Seriously, I am talking half a head of hair stuck to my mouth here. And my hands totally covered with mud. After a few attempts of brushing the hair away with my shoulders, I admitted defeat and turned to Weston.

“A little help here?”

He was already taking his shoes off.

He waded out to me, and stood a little closer than necessary. Not that I minded. He swept my hair out of my face, but didn’t take his hand back. He locked eyes with me, that look of hunger I am so familiar with on his face, as he cupped my neck in his hand. His warmth radiated around me, and the old tingling sensation began in the pit of my stomach. I forgot how much I loved that feeling.

I took a step closer to him, letting our bodies touch just barely. The tingling left my stomach and traveled through my whole body; my skin buzzed with goose-bumps. Did he feel it too?

Weston lowered his head to mine. We stood there, forehead-to-forehead, for almost longer than I could stand. Each breath he took caressed my skin, and my body screamed for him. I lifted my head to finally take the kiss I needed so badly.

Our lips brushed slightly, and then it was over. Weston’s hand was no longer on my neck, I couldn’t feel him near me at all. I opened my eyes to see him backing away from me.

“Rory,” is all he said. He was stopping because of Rory? Sure, maybe there was something between Rory and I, but we definitely weren’t together. I was free to kiss anyone I wanted. I opened my mouth to tell West this – to tell him that I wanted to kiss him, but he motioned with his head to a spot behind me.

I turned around to see Rory coming around the bend in a canoe.

Now go read everyone else’s scenes! I am going to work on editing this beast.

That gives you a couple days to whip your beachiest beach scene into shape before Saturday! So far we only have 15 people signed up to play along, and I know a lot of people think a blogfest with only 15 entries is an unsuccessful blogfest. But you know what? I always preferred small gatherings to big parties, so I think 15 is perfectly fine. And fun!

Here’s the list so far. Feel free to add your name if you were on the fence before and have decided to join in on the festivities. I think I have figured out what the fabulous prize(s) will be, so be excited.

I am excited to read all your fabulous entries on Saturday!

What’s the best book you read in May?

I actually only read a few books last month, so I don’t have as many to sift through as I did last time they asked this question. I read one book for YA book club, beta-read one, reread one, and read one ARC copy.

One really, really sticks out in my mind:

Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

What an intriguing concept! I got this book as part of a Traveling ARC Tour, and I am so thrilled that I got to read it early.

When I first started this book, I thought I wasn’t going to like it much, despite the premise. It opens with Haven looking in the mirror, describing her appearance, which instantly turned me off. I mean, not only is that an overdone thing, it just seems like lazy writing.

But…I kept reading. And by the second or third page I learned that there is a very specific reason why Haven is using the old mirror trick – that person she is looking at in the mirror is not the same person she sees in the mirror every day, but rather the one she sees only in her visions and dreams. Suddenly the mirror thing didn’t bother me so much.

As Haven’s visions come more frequently, she becomes more and more sure she is seeing memories of a past life. At the same time, her grandmother–and much of her small, bible-thumping Tennessee town–becomes more sure she has been possessed by a demon.

I won’t say much more about the plot, but I will tell you I loved it. While it is a love story, it didn’t cross into that realm where the romance is all that matters. In fact, most of the time I was way more caught up in the action than I was in the love story. Because there is great action, and great pacing to move the reader along through the action. I kept thinking I had the twists and turns figured out, but it turns out I am just not that clever. The Eternal Ones kept me guessing.

With all my raving about the plot, it might be hard for you to believe that it wasn’t my favorite part about The Eternal Ones. What was my favorite part, you ask? The characters! Kirsten Miller did such a great job on her characters. A lot of times when I read a book (especially a YA book), I notice that the main character and the love interest and maybe a secondary character or two are nicely fleshed-out, while the rest of the characters are really one-dimensional and flat. Pretty much they are just a bunch of cardboard cutouts standing in the background of what the main characters are doing.

This is SO not the case with The Eternal Ones. I love the attention Kirsten Miller gave to her characters–even ones we don’t see much in the book. Sure, there were things about Haven that irritated me (really, girl! Do you believe everything anyone tells you?!), but that doesn’t make her any less a real character. Probably I was so irritated by some of her actions because I know people like that–she was real enough to annoy me. It’s like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix–sure, Harry is a bratty little hormonal teenager in that book….but what 15-year-old boy isn’t?

Wow. I just compared The Eternal Ones to Harry Potter. It must really be good!

The Eternal Ones will be released in August by Razorbill. I highly recommend it. To read a excerpt now (how fun!) check out TheEternalOnes.com.

1. Bleck.

I have been sick for over a week now. I am on the uphill now, but last week was miserable. Thus the bloggy silence. Sorry, buddies. I didn’t mean to give you withdrawal pain (you know who you are). I am really over this whole being sick thing. If y’all could convince this illness to let me be already, that would be great.

2. No fair!

So, in case you haven’t heard, I am really freakin’ excited for Sisters Red. It releases June 7th. I thought about preordering it on Amazon.com or someplace but then thought to myself, naw…I will support my local shop and get it there. Except now people have had their Amazon preordered copies for weeks now. Also, I have friends all over the country who have spotted it on store shelves already and nabbed copies. My local shop I wanted to support? Still doesn’t have it on the shelves. Sure, they are getting copies (I definitely asked a LONG time ago), but I want mine now!

*sigh* This was a kinda bleak post, wasn’t it? Sorry friends. I will chipper up in time for my next post.

Why?

Because…to celebrate their first bloggy birthday, they are having an EPIC giveaway.

So ignore my blog, and head over to YA Highway and enter their contest!

Bubba had to catch a plane yesterday at the same time our church service starts, so we went to an earlier one yesterday. One of the speakers (our church has members of the congregation give talks on Sundays, rather than having a paid preacher) is a judge. He spoke about serving the poor and needy. After he sat down, instead of ending the meeting like we expected, the man presiding over the meeting took a few minutes to share something with us.

He wanted us to know that this judge was not teaching us a principle that he doesn’t practice; he shared this with us:

A couple years ago, a woman appeared in court before this judge. She was charged with a case of animal at large, a minor charge, but nonetheless one she was guilty of. The judge knew the woman had very little money, and was missing work to be in court that day. At the same time, he knew she was guilty and he couldn’t just let her off because she was poor. Being a just judge, he fined her the appropriate amount.

This woman had never been in trouble with the law before, and had already taken care of the issue she was in court for. So, when the judge finished for the day, he went to the bank and withdrew money from his personal account. He found the woman and gave her the money she needed to pay her fine.

This judge’s compassion helped a woman who was desperate and did not have the means to take care of her fine on her own. I found the story to be absolutely amazing; I hope I will remember it and that it will help me to be more compassionate towards others.