Michelle

Thanks for the review - I've been seeing this on twitter, and as you've seen, it's in my wishlist. I also fancy the Iron Fey series. Sigh, too many good looking books, not enough time!

I've been busy recently with reading, reviewing, sorting competitions etc! I'm now up to 20 books read (or listened to) but I also have quite a few on hold. I'm trying desperately to prioritise review books, but I have some great books yelling at me from my recent TBR pile!

Kimberley Derting is well known for her Body Finder series, but in her next series she brings something very different. The Pledge is a YA fantasy series, in a dystopian land controlled by female queens. There is a very strict class system, with each class having it’s own language. To look at someone in a higher class when they are using their own language can result in death. Charlaina has a special ‘gift’ which means that she can understand every language, something she obviously has to be very careful to keep hidden. In addition to this, there’s a magical element. The ruling queen has actually reigned for many hundreds of years, each time persuading a daughter to accept her soul. This has now come to an end, as there are no daughters, and male heirs mean nothing, and cannot inherit. Charlaina’s life appears normal when we first meet her, apart from her ability – she has friends, attends school, puts up with bullying and helps her parents. This all begins to change when she’s taken to an underground club by her friend, and when she overhears Max, who speaks a language she’s never heard before. From here, things soon change, and Kimberley has produced a fast paced story full of surprises. There’s a gentle romance story, but also some powerful scenes of war as things break down. For me, the star of the book is Charlaina’s young sister, Angelina, as she’s just adorable.. and the relationship between the two sisters is powerful and heart-warming. It’s suggested that she’ll play a bigger role in the second book, so I’m hoping. The story is complete in itself, but it’s also the first part in a trilogy – there’s a slightly darker feel towards the end of the book, and Kimberley has said there’s more darkness to come. The only thing I really struggled with was the combination of dystopia and magic, because they are two genres I’ve not seen together. The magical element is however necessary for the story progression, and I think it’ll seem much more natural by book two. Kimberley Derting now offers two very different series for the YA market, both of which I feel can be enjoyed by older adults too. With the genres of thriller and now fantasy covered, I wonder what she’ll bring us next!

Andie, I know it's a general comment as well, but as far as the forum is concerned, we had to reach a consensus on how to divide the genres, without confusing people with too many sections. It was changed slightly, but this is just what we finally decided on.

Adam is on Facebook, you could try contacting him to ask?

This is just a one-off interview vf. I know she's really busy at the moment, but I might be able to get her to pop in at some point. I'll let you know.

They're basically an erotic series, including BDSM. There are some interesting articles around about them.

A quick search found: Interview: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/10106-author-interview-adam-nevill/page__hl__nevill__fromsearch__1 review of Apartment 16: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6047-apartment-16-by-adam-nevill/page__hl__nevill__fromsearch__1 Review of Banquet For The Damned: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2492-banquet-for-the-damned-by-adam-lg-nevill/page__hl__nevill__fromsearch__1

Kimberley Derting is best known for her Body Finder series, which in my opinion reached a brilliant new level in book 3, The Last Echo. She's also started a new series, which starts with The Pledge. Q. To start us off, please tell us a little about your books. A. The Body Finder is a series about a teen named Violet, who has the ability to sense the bodies of those who have been murdered. She can also tell who has killed each victim because both the victim and the killer share the same unique echo / imprint. There’s also a boy named Jay...and there may be some kissing. I like kissing. The Pledge is about seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Charlie), who lives in the violent country of Ludania, where the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before and her secret is almost exposed. And there may be kissing...you know, because I like kissing. Q. Tell us a little more about The Body Finder – where did the idea come from? A. The initial idea first came from my husband when he asked me: “What if there was a kid who could find dead bodies?” In his head “the kid” was a middle-grade boy, but it was actually a great idea, so I changed his kid to a sixteen-year-old girl, and came up with the idea for the echoes. And then there was Jay, of course! Q. In The Last Echo you introduce some more characters, with different abilities – how long are you hoping to write about them for? A. As of now, there are four books scheduled for the Body Finder series, but who knows what the future holds. I love spending time with Violet and Jay, but I’ve also got some other ideas that I’m very excited to explore. Only time will tell! Q. The Pledge is a different type of book completely – would you class them as dystopian or fantasy... is it meant to be a future world, or a completely different one? A. This is a great question because most people who read it seem to assume that it’s set in our future. I’ve only ever clarified it when asked because I don’t think it really matters one way or the other. To me, though, the world is an alternate version of ours—the way ours might have developed had there been magic in our royal bloodlines. As far as classification, because of the magic, I consider it fantasy set in a dystopic society. (Try finding that genre in a bookstore!) Q. You end The Pledge on a darker note – does this mean there’s more to come? A. Yes, there are two more books in the trilogy...and a lot of darker notes to come! Q. Have you always been a writer, and how did it feel to have your first book published? A. I started writing when I was a teenager and actually had my first agent in my early 20s. When my first manuscript didn’t get picked up, I did everything from going to school with the hopes of becoming a doctor one day to being a stay-at-home mom for several years. As for my first book getting published, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Q. Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on at the moment...are you continuing the two series already started, or do you have something new? A. The fourth book in the Body Finder series and the second book in The Pledge trilogy are finished. I’m currently working on some edits for both of those, and also writing the final Pledge novel. After that, I have some plans in the works, but hey, a girl has to have her secrets, doesn’t she??? Q. You’re currently in the middle of a busy schedule, doing talks and signings, and you’re active on twitter. Do you enjoy being in contact with your readers? A. I love it! For me, it’s one of the most rewarding things about being an author. I’ve always been very social, so having the chance to connect (online or in person) with some of my brilliant readers has been amazing! I know some authors who just want to write in a cabin in the woods somewhere and never come out of their homes. I’m the exact opposite. I will not only come out of my house, I might just show up at your house one day for tea. Q. A little about yourself...what do you like to read, and what’s on your bedside table right now? A. I recently finished CARNIVAL OF SOULS by Melissa Marr, which was an absolute thrill-ride of a read by a brilliant author! I’m just finishing up BLACK HEART (the final book in the CURSE WORKERS trilogy) by Holly Black, and because of this series, Holly is my reigning author crush! Also, I’ve just started VELVETEEN by Daniel Marks, and so far it has everything I could want: a sadistic serial killer, a badass ghost bent on revenge, and a super snarky tone! LOVING. IT. Q. And when you’re not writing, reading, or tweeting...what else keeps you busy? A. Shockingly, I’ve become someone who goes camping a lot. I say shockingly because those who know me wouldn’t consider me the outdoorsy type. But my husband figured out a way to make camping fun for me. By buying an RV, he’s made sure that I have access to hot tea, hot showers, and my flat iron, so it’s all good! You can find Kimerley at http://kimberlyderting.com/

Today is launch day for Tanya Byrne's début book, Heart-Shaped Bruise, and reviews so far are pointing to it being an excellent book. Mine can be found here. Q. Let’s start at the beginning – tell us in your own words about Heart-Shaped Bruise, and about Emily A. Heart-Shaped Bruise is the story of Emily Koll, the most infamous inmate at Archway Young Offenders’ Institution. The daughter of North London gangster Harry Koll, everybody knows who she is and what she did to get sent to Archway, but after months of being written about in the newspapers and gossiped about at bus stops, she wants to tell her side of the story. So she begins writing it down in a notebook that she keeps hidden on top of the wardrobe in her cell. In the journal she explains why she did what she did and why she isn’t sorry at all. Q. Where did your ideas for the novel come from? A. Everywhere. Songs. Conversations I’ve overheard. The idea for Emily’s journal came from an article about Hurricane Katrina I read in a newspaper. There was a photograph of a battered wooden house with ‘Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes’ spray-painted onto the side of it. That’s what I made Emily do. Q. Was it tempting to stick to the ‘normal’ YA subjects, or did you always want to write something different and darker? A. I’m not sure there is a ‘normal’ YA subject, that’s the joy of YA. I’ve read books about everything from angels to anorexia. But I did set out to write something English. As much as I love authors like Laurie Halse Anderson and Sara Zarr and wish I’d had their books when I was a teenager, every time I finished one of their books I’d think, ‘Imagine if this was set in London!’ Then I read a quote from Toni Morrison that said: If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. So that’s what I did, I wrote a book about what it’s like to be a teenager in London, about having to get the bus and going to parties because clubs are so expensive and wandering around parks on a Wednesday afternoon because there’s nothing else to do. And that’s what Heart-Shaped Bruise is: it’s like every other YA book in that it’s about needing to be grown up when you don’t know how to be yet, but with more chips and onion vinegar. Q. You chose a difficult subject to write about – what sort of research did you need to carry out? A. I had to do a lot of research, not just into what life in a young offenders’ institution would be like, but also into Emily’s mental illness. As the story unravels it’s easy to forget that she’s in a psychiatric unit, but she’s there because it’s thought that she has borderline personality disorder. She’s yet to be diagnosed; BPD is usually only diagnosed in adults, not in children or adolescents because the symptoms – mood swings, intense fear of abandonment, unstable sense of identity – may go away with maturity. So instead of saying that Emily has BPD, I had to show you. All the symptoms are there – her paranoia, her confusion about who she is, the bookish, cello-playing school girl or the gangster’s daughter, feeling like she doesn't belong, whether it’s at the gig with Sid and Juliet or at her old boarding school, doing things without thinking about the consequences, like what she did to get sent to Archway. Emily puts this down to being evil, something she refers to herself as constantly in Heart-Shaped Bruise, and while the reader may not know that she has BPD, by the end of the book it should become clear that it’s so much more than Emily being evil. As always, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Q. Have you always wanted to be a writer, or was it something you came to recently? A. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I didn’t think I could, that girls like me, girls from East London who didn’t go to UEA could write book. I mean, I liked words and I knew what to do with them sometimes, in what order to put them in, but I didn’t think I could write a book, and even then, I didn’t think anyone would publish it. Turns out, all I had to do was try. There’s a lot to be said for being practical – sensible – but you’ll never know if something is within your grasp if you don’t try and reach for it. Q. What comes next for you, can you tell us anything about your next project? A. I’m currently working on my second book, which is another psychological thriller, this time about a teenage girl who goes missing. It’s more of mystery, but it has a twist at the end, like Heart-Shaped Bruise. Q. You’re active on twitter – do you think an internet presence is important for an author – and do you try to have both personal and an author account, or do you combine? A. This is an odd one. I’ve been on twitter for years, before I even started writing Heart-Shaped Bruise. I only finished the book last October, so it feels like I’m still making the transition from someone who reads YA books to someone who writes them. I don’t feel like I’m making an effort to do anything different; I was friends with book bloggers before. Yeah, I tweet about my book, but I don’t have a private account, so 95% of what I say is what I tweeted about before, usually who I fancy or what I’m watching on the telly. How important that is, I don’t know, I just know that I enjoy the banter on twitter, especially now I’m working on home. And if people see me as being approachable because I’m on there, that can’t be a bad thing. Q. You’re attending an author event at Foyles in May – do you enjoy the contact with your readers? A. It’s my first event, so ask me afterwards! Seriously though, I’m very much looking forward to it. I’m not sure how many people are going for me, but I hope they say hello if they do. Q. Do you like reading yourself? Who are your favourite authors, and what’s on your bedside table right now? A. I love reading. I read everything – Kurt Vonnegut, Virginia Woolf, John Green, Hilary Mantel, Sarah Dessen, Zadie Smith. I’ve just read Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez and on my bedside table I currently have Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and James Dawson’s Hollow Pike. Q. And what else do you like to do in your spare time, when you’re not writing, reading or tweeting? A. I work from home now so I need to see people, whether it’s friends for dinner or the theatre or the woman at the café at the top of my road who lets me talk her ear off whenever I go in!

It's probably worth pointing out that the Fifty Shades books are very adult!

There are 4 recent blog posts on www.mjmoore.co.uk, including a rant, and my book buying exploits!

I've had a busy few days on twitter, 'meeting' various publishers and authors. My wishlist has grown, especially in the YA category, and amazon took some money off me at the weekend! Some have been bought specifically to take with me on Saturday, to get signed for give aways - so stay tuned! ('ll be blogging about it in a bit, so will return with the link)

You'll find usernames in this section. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/54-our-extended-community/

I've finished Hollow Pike - great YA book, review to follow. I'm also enjoying Insurgent, but I don't think it's as good as Divergent. I often find middle books are a little slower, and this is still a great series, so I still recommend, and with the standard of writing, I think the third should be great.

Keep going with it, it does change.

I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while yet - it's HUGE!

I've just bought Insurgent in audio - I may have to put my current listen on hold to start listening tonight.

Ahh.. that's one of the things I really liked.. a nice lack of teen angst!

Yep - I loved the whole trilogy, although some say they're not so keen on the third.