I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Butternut Summer” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. Realising this was a second novel within a series, I requested a copy of the first novel “Up at Butternut Lake” in order to understand the continuity of the characters & the story. I received a complimentary copy of the novel direct from the publisher William Morrow without an obligation to post a review. Whereas I received a complimentary copy of “Butternut Summer” direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
Stories of second chances have always held fast to my heart, as life has this beautiful way of giving us a bit more than we’re expecting it to yield most of the time. The idea that there are ways to have a renewal of our lives through a second chance or a new beginning elsewhere from whence we are currently has a very alluring appeal! I have been an appreciator of Contemporary Romance & Contemporary Women’s Fiction for a good 20 years now, as I snuggled into a fierce appreciation for Debbie MacComber originally when I first started noticing both of these genres. Sherryl Woods followed 15 years later when I discovered the small towne of Serenity, and the series the Sweet Magnolias (although I personally refer to that series as ‘Serenity’). MacComber’s Angel series drew me into her narrative arcs, followed closely by the Cedar Cove series and Blossom Street; as I appreciated her style of story and the homespun sincerity of her characters. Being that both MacComber & Woods are going to have series based off their novels on the Hallmark Channel within the next year or so, humbles me a bit as I have this history of discovering both authors ahead of their newfound popularity. I even knew Debbie MacComber’s works would find a home on Hallmark Channel, but that’s a story for another time, perhaps!
I had started to curate a List on Riffle entitled: Contemporary Romances : Returning back to the Modern Eraas I wanted to walk back into an area of literature I have started to negate reading. When I first had the opportunity to have a library card after a considerable absence, my checkout queue looked quite hyperactively complied! I simply couldn’t wait to grab this or that novel, and try this or that author! I started so many wicked awesome series by new-to-me authors, I have a list a mile long of ‘next reads’ to continue the happiness I had begun five years ago! Then, I started to shift my wanderings a bit, exploring new genres and/or committing to new styles of the craft of storytelling itself. My wanderings are always a bit decidedly serendipitous in their nature, but as much as I have a niche for being addicted to the historical past, I am equally entranced by the modern era!
I may or may not have highlighted my joy of giving back to deployed servicemen & women as much as I have a deep appreciation for the sacrifices and hard work they give whilst they dedicate their lives to others. Military fiction was a branch of literature I was attracted too as a young teen, and likewise, my passion for watching JAG, NCIS, NCIS: LA, & NCIS: NOLA originated out of my love of Jack Ryan stories (by Tom Clancy). Hallmark Channel has a lovely Romance with Lori Loughlin entitled: Meet My Mom of which I loved for bringing a realistic story to their offerings and shining a positive light on today’s military families.
As soon as I read the book synopsis, I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to read both of these novels, whilst being wicked happy the third novel: Moonlight on Butterlake releases in 2015!
In the tradition of Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs, Mary McNear introduces readers to the town of Butternut Lake and to the unforgettable people who call it home.
It’s summer, and after ten years away, Allie Beckett has returned to her family’s cabin beside tranquil Butternut Lake, where as a teenager she spent so many carefree days. She’s promised her five-year-old son, Wyatt, they will be happy there. She’s promised herself this is the place to begin again after her husband’s death in Afghanistan. The cabin holds so many wonderful memories, but from the moment she crosses its threshold Allie is seized with doubts. Has she done the right thing uprooting her little boy from the only home he’s ever known?
Allie and her son are embraced by the townsfolk, and her reunions with old acquaintances—her friend Jax, now a young mother of three with one more on the way, and Caroline, the owner of the local coffee shop—are joyous ones. And then there are newcomers like Walker Ford, who mostly keeps to himself—until he takes a shine to Wyatt . . . and to Allie.
Everyone knows that moving forward is never easy, and as the long, lazy days of summer take hold, Allie must learn to unlock the hidden longings of her heart, and to accept that in order to face the future she must also confront—and understand—what has come before.
Mary McNear lives in San Francisco with her husband, two teenage children, and a high-strung, minuscule white dog named Macaroon. She writes her novels in a local doughnut shop, where she sips Diet Pepsi, observes the hubbub of neighborhood life, and tries to resist the constant temptation of freshly made doughnuts. She bases her novels on a lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the northern Midwest.
Picking up the pieces : from loss & tribulations:
One of the hardest obstacles about living our lives forward without the benefit of understanding the events that will take place in the future, is being able to dig deep into our wells of strength and fortitude to accept the hope that our lives will start to turn back around. The thematics which are strongly represented in Up at Butternut Lake are an evolving exploration of Change (questions of destiny, permanence, and stability – of not only the mind, heart, and spirit but the physical locale of where your life will be lived); where each character who takes a central focus is at a turning point in their lives. Where they can choose to move forward and let go of the past that is weighing them down, or they can continue as they are without moving forward at all.
The complaisance’s of life arise out of the complexities of a cobweb’s worth of lies, spun innocently enough at the time they are created but woven into the texture of your life can become a haunting self-reminder of how untruthful of a life you’re actually living. Within the thematics of the story, this kernel of truth is an underscore that affects different characters in different ways, as the lies we tell ourselves to recover from something we feel we cannot face head-on are just as damaging as the lies which remain unspoken or proven untrue through the wrinkles of time itself.
I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “Drone Games” direct from the publisher Sweetwater Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Interest to Read:
I started reading military fiction, espionage stories, and action / adventure novels when I was between middle school and high school; as I was seeking stories with a bit more fodder to chew than my regular choices of literary faire. I warmed to Jack Ryan through the novel Red Storm Rising but I appreciated the cutting espionage style of Gayle Lynds in her Masquerade. I was always meant to continue reading this particular genre of interest – yet time and life took me away and down different patterns of interest inside my reading life. I cannot even fathom to know how many writer’s and novel titles I have written down on scraps of paper whilst wandering through bookshoppes, seeking out my next read and being genuinely curious where the genre has gone since I last visited it’s shelves.
I started to realise that although certain aspects of my reading life have been garnishing a spotlight of attention this past year I’ve been a book blogger, there are a heap of other areas of my literary wanderings that are being excluded. I wanted to make sure that throughout my year as a 2nd Year Book Blogger I would seek to establish a bit more balance, and a more of an active dance through all my beloved genres. This includes being open and keenly interested in re-establishing myself in certain styles of thought and story that I might not have had the proper chance to read since I was 18 years old!
I think most of us have heard of the scuttlebutt surrounding ‘drones’ and know a bit about modern warfare, to the level that as fast as we are moving forward there are a few carry-over concerns about how fast we move and how we shift away from the past. Technology changes at such an alarming rate it is hard to keep track of all the innovations and all the churning tides of how to secure defense whilst being mindful of peace. Peacekeepers have a very difficult balance on their hands between where technology can take them and knowing how best to use the technology that is being advanced past anything we knew of previously being possible. At first I wasn’t sure if I was ready to jump back into the military fiction arm of literature, but after I read the premise and explored the author’s website, I felt perhaps this would be good start back into it. It is rooted in a story on the fringes of Current Events and Affairs, and I think that gives it a hearty start on a conversation that will grow out of it’s popularity of being found.
The research alone that it took to write a convincible novel such as this one was impressive enough!
While millions of Americans go about their daily lives, a deadly new terror plot is hatched halfway across the world. It's unthinkable in its devastation. It's brilliantly easy in its execution. And it's capable of bypassing all the security measures the United States implemented in the decade since 9/11.
First, a Delta flight crashes into Lake Michigan. Eight hours later, a United aircraft comes down over western Iowa. For the second time since flying was invented in 1903, the US airline industry is forced to a standstill.
The message is clear. Stop flying -- ruin the economy. Keep flying -- more people will die.
Now Homeland Security Director of Counter-Intelligence Jack Riley must lead an FBI task force in a frantic search to discover and eliminate the plot before more people are killed or the economy crashes permanently. The clock is ticking. . .
Joel Narlock was born in La Crosse, WI and grew up hunting, fishing and raising a beautiful family. He’s experienced in corporate finance and small business management. He plays guitar and has performed in various local venues. He wrote his first novel about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in 2003. He and his wife, Terri have two wonderful adult children and two wonderful grandchildren. He lives in Key West and took first place in Key West’s 2013 Mystery Fest Short Story Contest. He and his wife are active members of the Key West Sunrise Rotary Club. He enjoys an annual Canadian fishing trip with family and friends.
I am happily welcoming Cara Bertrand, the writer of the Sententia series to Jorie Loves A Story tonight as I decided to opt-out of reading her second novel “Second Thoughts” and host an Author Q&A instead — as if you read my ruminations on behalf of the first novel in this parapsychological series you will have noted my angst in finding such a confluence of frequency in regards to the strong words peppered throughout the text itself.
Take a moment to visit with us as we discuss the origins of the first novel as well as the parapsychological building blocks for the series overall! The topic is one that I have always keenly attracted to conversing about and therein lies the joy of hosting this Q&A!
She's going crazy. Everyone thinks she has severe migraines from stress and exhaustion. What she really has are visions of how people died - or are going to die. When doctors insist she needs a new and stable environment to recover, Lainey's game to spend two years at a private New England boarding school. She doesn't really think it will cure her problem, and she's half right. There is no cure, but she's not actually crazy.
Almost everyone at Northbrook Academy has a secret too. Half the students and nearly all of the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted. A vision of another student's impending death confirms Lainey is one of them. When she's finally getting comfortable with her gift of divining deaths, and with Carter Penrose, a recent Academy graduate and resident school crush, they uncover her true Sententia heritage. Now Lainey has a real secret.
Once it's spilled, she'll be forced to forget protecting secrets and start protecting herself.
Book Synopsis for Book Two of the Sententia Series:
The continuing adventures of an ordinary teenage girl with extraordinary mental abilities, perfect for readers who love books and series such as “Vampire Academy,” “Spellbound” and “Sweet Peril.”
Secrets, lies and looming deaths – all things Lainey Young deals with in a typical day of high school. In her senior year at Northbrook Academy – a New England boarding school where the majority of the students and nearly all the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted – Lainey has even more to worry about, things like classes, college, her boyfriend and, of course, the vision she glimpsed of her impending death. But to her surprise, Lainey finds one worry she can cross off her list, namely Sen. Daniel Astor, the leader of the Sententia.
After a shocking discovery when they finally meet, Lainey realizes maybe she was wrong to distrust the senator. She relaxes even further when he seems to accept her refusal to work for him after graduation. But with her secrets mounting and the time to solve them running out, there’s a final enigma Lainey hasn’t yet encountered: Daniel Astor doesn’t take no for an answer. Ever.
Author Biography:
Cara Bertrand is a former middle school literacy teacher who now lives in the woods outside Boston with: one awesome husband, two large dogs, one small daughter, and lots of words. LOST IN THOUGHT is her first novel and was a finalist for the Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award.
Your titling for ‘Lost in Thought’ is a bit of a play on words and eludes to the general notion that ‘thoughts are things’ and it is always a bit wise to be cautious where our thoughts can lead us. Especially when considering the differences between Light & Dark / Good vs Evil; did you originally seek out to have a title of a series start with a thought provoking impetus or did it naturally piece together as you wrote the story itself?
Bertrand responds: The title was, in fact, the most difficult and literally last thing I applied to the story. I wish I could say it was a grand design or an act of forethought (heh heh), but it was the product of a furious chat session with my best friend when I needed a title and didn’t have one. It’s an interplay of the concept of Thought—the power wielded by all Sententia—and a scene in the book where Lainey contemplates feeling lost in her new, unfamiliar world.
You have a very unique perspective on the parapyschological gifts your characters are given in ‘Lost in Thought’. Specifically what drew me into the background of how their gifts manifested was the consideration of whom the gifter of the gifts actually is. Did you intend to impart a sense of faith and centering on a celestially being to have an omnipresence in the background or was this a naturally line of thought woven into the sequences of how the story unfolded?
Bertrand responds: From the beginning, I knew the Sententia origins. What they can do is beyond science, but in the modern world we no longer call those things magic. There’s a higher power involved, something bigger and broader than all of us that connects all of us. The Sententia acknowledge this, but they don’t worship it. Sometimes they call this higher power God, but it’s semantic more than anything. The story is not rooted in faith in the Christian God or any particular god at all. Faith as a concept, however, plays heavily throughout the stories—faith in oneself, one’s choices, one’s abilities, faith in each other, faith in what we know of the world. Lainey’s faith in things is tested constantly, and she responds, sometimes well, sometimes not, to these tests. She learns.
Lainey has a very interesting take on the theory of the Grim Reaper, which I previously uncovered in a different spin in the BBC series Mulberry. I was curious how the plausible aspects of her talent for being in such a unique position was curated and if there was a lesson in of itself on the gift Lainey was given?
Bertrand responds: Being so intimately connected to death is a burden Lainey didn’t ask for and certainly doesn’t want. Throughout not just Lost in Thought but the whole series, she struggles to come to terms with what she can do. It’s a process, because that’s what life is. Self-acceptance is a tricky thing, and it can take years to accept parts of ourselves that we don’t like or don’t know how to focus. I wanted Lainey’s journey to reflect that. In Lost in Thought she makes a bold promise to use her abilities for good, and this is her struggle—to find a positive way to wield an ability that doesn’t seem to have any positive aspects.
What kind of research did you conduct for this novel as I was quite impressed with the accuracy of the parapsychological aspects of the backstories? Did you perchance contact the parapsychologists who are actively researching the same types of gifts featured in your novel? Or perhaps visit The Rhine (Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina)?
Bertrand responds: The real question is will you be more or less impressed when I admit I did none of those things? Readers regularly ask me if I’ve had first-hand paranormal/parapsychological experience, and the answer is no. In fact, if pressed, I’d say that I’m barely even a believer. I think if I were, if I had been touched by the parapsychological, it would change my ability to write about it. I did very limited reading on different kinds of extra-sensory abilities, and the rest I let my imagination shape.
What was the impetus which gravitated you into writing? And, when did this occur? Who was your best cheerleader?
Bertrand responds: I wasn’t a creative writer until very recently, though I am a life-long reader and lover of stories. When I was young, I always thought being a writer would be great, but it was an idea not a goal. I never did anything more than dream about it. Instead, I did what so many lovers of words do—I became a teacher. Eventually I left the profession, but I never stopped reading. One day while in the car with my husband, telling him about whatever I was reading at the time—and I can tell you exactly where we were on the highway, though not what day it was, where we were going, nor even what book I was talking about—he said, “I’m surprised you never wrote a book.” I answered, “I don’t think I could finish one,” which, later, made me angry. See, I’d never tried writing a book, so how did I know if I could finish? So I set out to prove myself wrong. And I have, going on 4x at this point. That conversation was in the summer of 2010. Undoubtedly my husband was and remains my best cheerleader, but I couldn’t do this without the continued encouragement of my parents, my best friend and first reader, and the love and enthusiasm from the rest of my family and friends. And, of course, the readers.
What are your favorite tools to use whilst writing? And, where do you write to gain the most inspiration?
Bertrand responds: My tools for writing are: my laptop, a pair of wrist braces (an unfortunate necessity), and Scrivener. That’s it. Helpful additives are: sunshine, coffee, and time. I spend most of my writing time split between my home and my local coffee shop (where I pen this now!). I like to be by windows, so I can see outside. Or to be outside, if it’s nice enough. Lately, I write best first thing in the morning, though, honestly, that’s by demand not nature. For most of my life, I’ve been a night owl fighting to survive in a daytime world.
What do you foresee as the best takeaway a story set in this captivating world of ‘thought’ generating gifted souls could teach the minds of those who are seeking a different kind of adventure in Young Adult Fiction?
Bertrand responds: We spend a lot of time seeking adventure outside ourselves, or in books looking for mythical creatures and different worlds—and believe me, I’m no exception. So when I started writing, I wanted to go in a slightly different direction, to look inside rather than out, so to speak. There’s magic in us, too, hiding in our everyday world.
I found it beyond incredible to have learnt through this conversation with the writer herself that she is practically a skeptic of parapsychology and yet has such a curious ability to breathe truism into this aspect of her book series? It made me suspect that she is naturally aware of things that perhaps she has not yet chosen to accept as plausible because this was one part to the novel Lost in Thought that had me at ‘hallo’ as they say and pulled me into the theory of origins for the Sententia themselves. It was a very cleverly writ back-story and one that felt grounded and true to it’s own accord of perimeters to exist.
I was also struck with a bit of shock on the explanation of where the origins originated from for the Sententia, as I never read a story that evoked the name of God not to be a direct reference of whom we would all attribute the name to be referring to directly. I walked away with a different perception of understanding than what was revealed in this Q&A as I actually disagree with this as a reader from the point of view that I read something different in the pages of the book itself. Whether it was ever intended to have this reaction or understanding from a reader, I cannot comment on, but I can say, that where the book led me to alight my thoughts is now counter-current to where the writer intended me too. I also found it odd that it was referred that God is only related to Christianity whereas throughout all my readings of World Religions this is simply not the case at all. Nor was I referencing a connection to Christianity in my review, as faith and religion goes beyond denominations.
I think it was quite brilliant how her husband encouraged her to pursue something she did not entirely have the confidence to do without his inspiring words of motivation. We all need cheerleaders in our lives and people to rally behind us when our own confidence falters. I never fail to smile whilst reading the answers to this particular question I love to ask writers I interview!
I do agree with her sentiments on the last Question I asked, as sometimes the greatest journey we can all take is within us all along. I was simply a bit surprised by some of her replies, as I had alighted a different level of understanding on a few things, but I accept too, that she came from a different place of thought when she penned the stories. It is a direct instance of where once a story leaves a writer’s mind & heart, the readers who pick up the story will have their own interpretations of where the story takes them; even if where the reader’s mind goes is opposite of where a writer intended them to travel. Stories are constantly evolving experiences as they fuse and shape differently inside the mind of whom reads them and carries a different piece of their message as they are read.
I am thankful I could interview Ms. Bertrand and provide a bit of a back-story to the Sententia series for my readers & visitors alike! I do hope everyone has clicked through to the rest of the tour stops and enjoyed this introduction to Luminis Books!
I hosted two authors for the Luminis Books Blog Tour:
Happily click-through to visit each stop on the tour & leave a note behind for either myself or the two authors I happily hosted for Luminis Books! It was such an esteemed honour to have both of them on my book blog! It was a great experience to host a new Publisher I had not yet discovered and gathering a sense about the type of stories they are publishing under the umbrella of Children’s Lit!
Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.
I positively *love!* comments in the threads below each of my posts, and as CommentLuv only requires Email to leave a note for me I cannot wait to see what starts to populate below! Kindly know that I appreciate each thought you want to share with me and all the posts on my blog are open to new comments & commentary! Short or long, I appreciate the time you spent to leave behind a note of your visit! Return again soon!
{SOURCES: The tour badge & Book Synopsis for “Second Thoughts” were provided by JKS Communications and used with permission. Book Cover Art for “Lost in Thought” & “Second Thoughts”, Author Biography & Book Synopsis of “Lost in Thought” were provided by the author Cara Bertrand and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets are embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.}
Today, I am welcoming to Jorie Loves A Story a New Adult novelist S.B. Alexander as I started to realise that the best way to understand the changing market of Young Adult & New Adult novels is to seek out writers who are penning the stories and thereby finding a way to understand how the market is continuing to yield to the demand for stories that relate to today’s youth and emerging adults during the University years as much as provide a positive contribution to the craft of stories for growing minds. What interested me the most about S.B. Alexander’s Dare to Kiss novel is how diversely unique her lead character Lacey Robinson is inside the story itself.
Alexander tackles the brutality of domestic violence and murder of loved ones whilst honouring the anguish of surviving through the loss by giving her character an upward climb back into her reality. PTSD is a living issue affecting so many people right now, that I was surprised that it is not spoken about more in today’s fiction, as it is not only limited to returning servicemen and women anymore. Extreme trauma and stress can affect anyone who is attempting to resolve what is unthinkable and unfathomable to accept. I appreciated seeing the bold choice in Lacey’s mental health affliction as much as the courage to show through the strength of a sport she was passionately a part of she could grow a bit of distance from what shattered her life, and fuse a period of re-building and grace out of sorrow.
I originally had planned to read this novel for review for the blog tour, however, a print edition was not available which is why I opted instead to host a Book Spotlight & Author Q&A. I regularly speak about how I applaud the continuance of Equality in Literature & Diversity in Literature and I believe the more realistic stories can formulate a bridge towards understanding, empathy, and acceptance of what people are facing in today’s world, the better chance we all have towards a healthier community of people who not only respect each other but can offer a kindness that might otherwise have gone unseen. We’re all a part of the living mecca of life on Earth, but there are times where I think sometimes our differences can overstep our ability to see how our similarities will always knit us close together and allow us to enjoy each others company.
Without further adieu, here are the Questions I elected to ask of S.B. Alexander on behalf of her writing style and voice as well as the story inside Daring to Kiss:
I love how your writing novels in different genres and not keeping yourself strictly inside the Paranormal & Fantasy genres but exploring another avenue such as New Adult. I have noticed that authors of New Adult are classifying their novels in this genre on two distinctive branches of the fold: either with explicit language included and stories without explicit language. As I am a reader who prefers less brass language, how do you approach the genre for those readers who enjoy reading Young Adult but do not want to read the coarse words often found in today’s modern Adult fiction? Do you temper how much you include?
Alexander responds: In the Young Adult genre I do temper the strong language. I limit it as much as I can unless a scene calls for an out of character moment or it reflects a character’s personality.
At the heart of the story is a girl who is attempting to understand and live with her PTSD after having lost part of her family from homicide – what was the kernel of inspiration to breathe life into a character whose anguish of loss gave her such a difficult path to sort through as she walked forward from the tragic death of her Mum and sister?
Alexander responds: I had a hard road growing up, and went through something similar to the protagonist. When I was five-years-old, my dad had picked me up for the weekend, and we were going to spend it at his best friends house. I was so excited to see his best friend that I tore out of the car and ran into the house. When I did I found the man, who my dad loved dearly, dead in such a way that I had nightmares for the longest time.
By focusing on a sport she has a passion for such as baseball, I could almost see how she could put the pieces of her life back together by fusing her focus with something altogether outside the deep layers of her grief. What connected Lacey to the game originally and do you share a similar passion for baseball as well?
Alexander responds: Lacey’s older brother played baseball, and he taught her everything about the game, from the positions to the pitches. They’d sit for hours, watching the Dodgers, talking about how to throw a curveball, a fastball and a slider. After so much talking and learning the game, she wanted to try her hand at pitching. Once she slipped her fingers into the glove and threw her first fastball, she was hooked.
Like Lacey, baseball has always been a sport I’ve loved. For me, as a little girl my nighttime prayers consisted of two things. I prayed for a better life, and I prayed that when I woke up in the morning I’d be a boy and not a girl. Sure, it was a crazy prayer or wish, but I hated when the boys in my neighborhood told me I couldn’t play baseball or any sport for that matter. “Go play with your dolls,” they had said. I didn’t want to play with dolls or dress up pretty. Nope, I wanted holey jeans, a T-shirt, a bat, a glove and a baseball. I wanted to get dirty, run around bases, hit a ball, and play the game. After all these years I’m still hooked on the game. My favorite team is the Boston Red Sox.
What kind of research did you conduct for this novel as it is a step outside your regular releases?
Alexander responds: As far as baseball, I know the game so well. Even though I’ve never had the luxury of playing baseball, I follow the sport religiously. So the sport aspect for me was easy. However, I did do a lot of research on PTSD.
What was the impetus which gravitated you into writing? And, when did this occur? Who was your best cheerleader?
Alexander responds: I’ve written in a diary since I can remember. I’ve always found writing cathartic, a way to release my emotions. Still, I’ve always had the story idea of a girl playing baseball in a male dominated sport. I tried several times to weave the idea together, but after a few attempts I shelved the story due to the career path I followed. It wasn’t until two years ago when I decided to get really serious about writing. An employee whom I managed at the time, his wife was striving to be a writer. Her and I used to talk about stories and writing. From those conversations, she motivated me to stop talking about writing a book and just do it. So I put all my effort into the learning the craft. I took online classes, and found an editor who loved my writing. She was my cheerleader as I began my writing journey, and still is.
What are your favorite tools to use whilst writing? And, where do you write to gain the most inspiration?
Alexander responds: I love to begin my outline and my first chapter the old fashion way—a notebook and a good pen. I’ll work this way until I have the plot somewhat worked out. Then I switch to my Mac. I don’t use any of the special software for writing. I use Microsoft Word for all my stories. I also keep a binder with character descriptions, themes and any research I do along with a summary for each chapter.
Most of my ideas stem from getting out of my office and not thinking about the plot or the characters. I find whether I’m in my car or on a plane an idea will come to me, especially if I’ve been struggling to figure out the next scene. I also find that sitting in front of the TV with my laptop works wonders for my inspiration.
As you have mentioned previously you write the story first and settle where the story fits on the shelf later, are there any stories you have yet to explore that are outside Young Adult & New Adult audiences?
Alexander responds: I do have a mystery lurking in the depths of my subconscious.
I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Second Thoughts” virtual book tour through JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm. As this was the second novel in a book series, I was able to put in a request to receive the first novel Lost in Thought of which I received a complimentary copy of direct from the publisher Luminis Books without obligation to review. I received my complimentary copy of Second Thoughts direct from JKS Communications in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
I am a bit of a quirky bookish soul on the level of being attracted to a particular style of paranormal stories which may or may not fit into the norm as far as industry standard selections on a per annum basis might include. I am particularly particular in my choices of both vocal styling of characters within the paranormal genre and the nature of how the undertone of these types of stories will befall. I am a reader who has a penchant for light being a fuelled undertone to novels, and thus, I am forever and a half seeking out the few paranormal stories out there that match my idealistic impression of the genre and the reality of what is being written. I nearly tucked tail out of the paranormal genre completely due to my previous interactions with other Adult Paranormal stories which tipped the scale in an unfavourable way.
I decided to forego seeking Adult Paranormal titles for blog tours and/or off-tour reviews and focus instead on the YA portion of the selections being published quite readily. Even then, I find myself not attracted to the heavier end of the spectrum but rather the intuitive side of YA Paranormal Fiction. I have always amassed a certain propensity for parapsychological story-lines (in both books & tv series/motion pictures), but my inclination of what I elect to read or to watch are a far cry outside the ones you’d expect I would have been drawn to read OR watch. Part of my participation in Horror October (by Oh! The Books) will carve out the dance I walk on the fringes of a supremely popular genre.
What drew my eye immediately into this book series was the premise – as I have to admit I was the girl in the darkened front row of The Sixth Sense who had worked herself up into a bit of a panic frenzy of not being able to handle half of the film; untila kind-hearted young bloke next to me (of whom I never knew previously or had the chance to properly thank afterwards; he disappeared that quickly!) told me *exactly!* when to ‘watch’ and when to ‘duck your eyes’; he clearly had been a groupie of the film director’s having seen this particular release 10x within the first few days of it’s release! I, on the other hand was a causality of a last-minute duck & dive into the theater with my best friend and as ill planned as we were, the front seats were the very last available to be had. Aside from the wicked horror of seeing it too close to the screen, what I appreciated was the premise of the film (perhaps not the straight-up horror bits mind you!) as a thesis of a theory of what happens when people see the dead amongst us. It is a thematic I was attracted too most intrinsically as forementioned on my blog having a connection to a field close-to that of a medical examiner. (see review of Daughter of the Gods).
Death by nature is always presented either in the light of faith-based stories or the gruesome after effects of being newly deceased on medical examiner series and/or police procedurals or detective mysteries. It is quite rare to find offerings of where the dead are alongside the living in a way that is representative of who they are after they pass and in such a way as to honour the spirit of the person who had died. Hence why I positively love watching Ghost Whisperer via seasonal dvds I loan through ILL’ing at my local library. The curiosity was always perked to find stories and characters who walk amongst the dead and/or are in communication with the dead on a parallel plane of acknowledgement as I think it has a bevy of choice as to how to portray not only the characters speaking to the dead but how to illuminate the dead themselves.
Now imagine my excitement on having discovered the Sententia series!
And, the blessing to read the series from Book 1 straight into Book 2!
Lost in Thought : First Book of the Sententia
Lainey Young has a secret . . .
She's going crazy. Everyone thinks she has severe migraines from stress and exhaustion. What she really has are visions of how people died - or are going to die. When doctors insist she needs a new and stable environment to recover, Lainey's game to spend two years at a private New England boarding school. She doesn't really think it will cure her problem, and she's half right. There is no cure, but she's not actually crazy.
Almost everyone at Northbrook Academy has a secret too. Half the students and nearly all of the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted. A vision of another student's impending death confirms Lainey is one of them. When she's finally getting comfortable with her gift of divining deaths, and with Carter Penrose, a recent Academy graduate and resident school crush, they uncover her true Sententia heritage. Now Lainey has a real secret.
Once it's spilled, she'll be forced to forget protecting secrets and start protecting herself.
Cara Bertrand is a former middle school literacy teacher who now lives in the woods outside Boston with: one awesome husband, two large dogs, one small daughter, and lots of words. LOST IN THOUGHT is her first novel and was a finalist for the Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award.
Teenagers are not naturally attracted to antiques?:
I was a bit surprised to read this sentiment being expressed in the opening bits of learning more of Lainey’s past, a smirk of a recognition seeing a bit of myself in Lainey, if truth be told. I fell in love with antiques as a young girl as I grew up in a home and family of whom appreciated unique pieces and aged eclectic finds. By thirteen I was attending auctions regularly and getting the feel for discerning what was worth bidding on and what was worth letting slide by. I always appreciated the subtle differences in glass, china, and dishware – not only for distinction of style but for the artistry of where the pieces originally came from. We even had a factory of sculpture straight out of Italy nearby from where I was attending high school, so you could say, I grew up not only surrounded by art, music, and cultural events but a proper sense of ageless curiosity about curios!
Wandering around emporiums of antiques in tucked away small townes is simply a day ‘out’ I can always drink in with a smile, a nod to the out-of-doors walking paths, and a happy spirit. I love the spontaneous conversations evolving around something I find my eye is drawn to learn a bit more about and how each antique shoppe has it’s very own unique way of putting everything on display. I love the photographs which are framed and hung on the wall as much as the shoeboxes stuffed to the gills with individual photos you can purchase in large batches or separately if you want to go for the ‘unfamiliar relations’ mosaic. The furniture of the 1800s is intermixed with pre-1950s and early 20th Century, and the moment of anticipation to check out the estate jewelry in the cases is always a bit of happenstance glowing excitement! Yet, it is the furniture and the kick knacks I personally adore the most (except for how my mind wanders about sorting through the ‘china’ room to percolate a personal style of ‘necessary items’ in the dining room), as you can find such an array of hand-crafted artisan quality separates! One of my favourite finds are the pull down drawer desks and of course, an armoire that can fit and bemuse a woman’s wardrobe!
Hmm, yes, I do suppose being into antiques is not fashionably akin to being a teenager, but then who says you have to lead a conventional life!? I love Lainey’s spunk and her individualism!
My Review of Lost in Thought:
Realising you have a gift (especially a parapsychological gift) is innocuous enough, but to fully fathom how to encompass the truth of how far your gift can take you is quite another matter entirely! The paradoxical internal conflict at the jump-start of Lost in Thought set me inside the head of Lainey and etched out a time vortex to be wholly absent from my own living hours for the duration of her story to be told. There is something alluring about murder mysteries and to have orientated her revelation to know the dead through an act of murder was quite an ingenious hook for a potential reader to find on page 1! Of course, to be truthful, the reader would have to be a life-long appreciator ‘of murder mysteries’ such as myself to become rooted in their chair!
We quickly shift directly into Lainey’s life as she starts to end her gypsy life with her Aunt and takes up residence at a boarding school to finish out her tenure of high school. We start to watch her blossom by being able to have a bit of a routine rather than an unorthodox existence of following her Aunt Tessa around as she tours the country as a professional artist. It is whilst she is starting to settle into the Academy as a student we start to see her develop more as a person who is not only curious about what caused her headaches originally but if there was any truth to the origins therein. Her doctors always felt she was living too much out of sync with the normalcy other teens experienced during adolescence but she was never quite certain if her doctors understood her as they never had the fuller truth of what caused her the most duress. Lainey is a girl on the verge of understand who she is and why she was endowed with the gifts she has inside her, but there is always a pinch of foreshadow inside the story — alluring to a bit of a darker truth outside of the light.
I appreciated seeing the central core of the Sententia having roots in spirituality and watching how ethically they were attempting to do what was right whilst walking the fine line between interference with free will and observation. The internal core of the novel reminded me a bit of the Prime Directive from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek and seeing theology discussed inside the novel was an unexpected surprise as I personally appreciated of whom the credit was given for having given the gifts to the Sententia. Each world is built differently inside the Fantasy genre, but what drew me to appreciate the Sententia is how humanistic they were whilst they understood a higher plane of existence. They are a bit advanced at discovering natural bourne gifts and how to wield them; yet they are a bit of a mystery to the outside world at large. This brought together an interesting proposition to the story’s central threads as they (the Sententia) are a unique sub-culture of humanity living on the fringes of ordinary society.
Lainey’s best friend Amy (who is also her roommate at the Academy) reminds me so much of Kit from Pretty Woman because she has her energetic enthused way of celebrating her roomie’s life that made me flash to mind her persona each time Amy walks into view or is wrapped up in a conversation with Lainey; which points closer to how this novel read more adult to me than high school teen; a bit more college than secondary school at least. Lainey never had a grounding of a friendship with a peer before due to all her expeditions but what she was truly gaining was further insight into who she was as an individual and how she wanted to proceed forward into her future. She is at the age where being given a gift came with certain responsibilities and certain consequences and I appreciated seeing how she was trying to align the balance she wanted in her life. Balance between trusting those who knew more than she did about the Sententia and trusting her gut instincts about everything else.
The only thing I was truly disappointed about aside from the strong language is that the story took an unexpected turn from what I had originally felt it was being projected as going towards — as far as the dead and the living are concerned. This is a story that is about the dead but it isn’t about helping the dead as I first had perceived but rather a unique bent on another vein of thought that walks alongside the dead and a bit on the level of the theory of the Grim Reaper if truth be told. Yet that isn’t entirely what it is about either. It is a very interesting story-line threaded through parapsychological phenomena that doesn’t allow you to fully guess where this novel is taking you; even when you think you understand everything you need to know about Lainey and her friends. Bertrand weaves in a twist or two that you are not expecting nor do you fully understand as this first installment ends on the tip of a cliffhanger; but not one that is hard to swallow but rather one that is most foreboding in where we shall enter Lainey’s life in “Second Thoughts”; because the title of the series itself is a leading clue to what lies within.
On the writing style of Cara Bertrand:
Bertrand excells at painting a story that feels real and is lush on descriptive narrative as much as sense of place for Lainey and the other students at the Academy; straight down to the local haunt of the bookshoppe. She has a knack for carving out a setting that feels as real as breathing and gives the YA genre a solid footing as far as how to paint the whole of the world whilst developing the characters inside it. The only flaw I found was the inclusion of a brass word early-on when Lainey met her roommate which not only felt out of step with the rest of the story but was a deep disappointment for me, as I was thinking I had finally found a writer who had curbed using strong language and left the genre to stand on the merit of the story and their characters without falling into the pattern of where modern YA is taking younger audiences.
I personally do not consider any novel YA or for an audience of Children if it is going to include strong language. I am going to start to talk more about this on my blog as I index my reviews, but what is disappointing to me is why there appears to be such a need to include the words at all? Despite my grievances for the language choices within this novel, I did appreciate the story as the words were flittered about like those flies I mentioned on previous reviews and not the total distractment they could have become. Evenso, I would not be recommending this to a teenager as the language for me puts this firmly in the Adult Lit category; similar to how I have felt each time I pick up a (supposed) YA title and find the same inside their pages.
I’m disappointed writers feel they have to add these words in order to find an audience because to me literature should stand as an example that improves our lives rather than detract from the causal way in which language has become outside literature and school. It is sad to me because when I find a wordsmith who breathes such a breath of positive narrative prose into her books, I am regrettably saddened to see words flicker onto the page that make me inwardly cringe. Their absence would not deflect from the message of the story but their absence would be applauded for carrying a story without abrasive words to narrow the audience the story could have had. I truly love the way in which Bertrand writes her stories, and the few intermittently brassier words do not reflect her writing as a whole.
Especially considering how much effort she put into having ‘cursing’ occurring ‘off-camera’ in some instances and/or finding unique phrases to ‘cover-up’ a stronger explicit phrase. I was a bit confused why more than half the book is writ with a young mind in consideration and the other half letting certain words erupt onto the page? It was quite confusing to me as like I said, she has a singularly strong strength in writing the voice of a teenager and in evoking what a teen’s mind, heart, and process of thought will entreat whilst dealing with a personal crisis and a revelation of identity. To say reading this story left me betwixt reactions is putting it mildly; especially considering when the coarse words started escalating in both frequency of appearance and the choice of which ones would be included.
Fly in the Ointment : is it me, or are there two versions of YA?
Is it me or has the book world gone upturnt crazy, lately!? Now, I have already established I purposely stopped reviewing Adult Paranormal novels for my blog with the express reason to avoid vulgarity in stories yet what curious little word did you think I found on page 18? It wasn’t the worst of the worst (of which I have absolutely positively no tolerance for at all) but it was still a word I wasn’t expecting to find in a novel branding itself as YA! I mean, isn’t the point of being a Young Adult novel to adhere to a certain ground rule of exclusion for explicit vulgarity and violence? Am I missing the boat OR is literature becoming so muddled these days it is growing harder to know which way is up? Sighs. And, here I was thinking this would be the one book series I would not be composing a Fly in the Ointment on!
I run searches on this topic every blue moon as I had tonight to check to see if my definition had miraculously changed since I first picked up Young Adult fiction as a young adult myself over a decade and a half ago! The results of which run the full gambit of if your not exclusively akin to reading vulgar words in literature you are either: too sensitive, too prudish, too religious, or too blind to see where society has taken our youth. I do not concur with any of the statements, because of the mere fact when I was in high school (and quite frankly elementary & middle too!) we had our own set of perimeters on language. If you heard foul words flying out of the mouth of a classmate you knew to give them a wide birth and they were never one to emulate. I admit to overhearing teens in my own towne sporting words out of their mouths which make me wonder what has changed since I graduated, but that aside, my main concern is the habit of finding there is no longer a ‘filter’ for Children’s Literature and the young minds of whom pick up the books.
I read a comment tonight from a concerned reader (who sounded a lot like me; open-minded but with a conscience) who lamented about how the ‘age’ of who regularly reads Young Adult novels are not teens but rather graduating elementary schoolers and run of the mill middle schoolers. The teens already graduating into adult fiction and/or pursuing interests outside of literature completely. As a future parent I am finding more angst in finding vulgarity in Young Adult fiction than as a reader who has appreciated YA fiction for most of her life. I never ran into any of this in the 1980s through mid-1990s which begs the question: what exactly has changed and why are certain words so rabid inside modern literature? As a book blogger — I never fathomed I’d have to find over 30 ways to Sunday to opine my discontempt for vulgarity in literature!
I’d never advocate for banning books but I do advocate for books to be marked with explicit content for language as a method of understanding what we will find inside and therefore start to curb our disillusioned disappointment. If they can mark books for science fiction & fantasy as much as lyrics in music, I am thinking it is time to start marking books with ‘strong language included’ and ‘explicit violence’ if the case might be as well.
What was more puzzling for me is the mission of the publisher (Luminis Books) is to curate books which are meaningful as they are thought-provoking, yet how can a novel be meaningful if the language is brought down by the commonality of cursing and using abrasive words where they could have been tempered and softly spoken by more creative means? I am not sure I am appreciating YA novels being overrun with language that parents and teachers alike are trying so very hard to discern them from using on a regular basis. Even on my own behalf in the not so far off future, I am not going to allow my children to talk with such reckless abandon; it was not how I was raised nor is it how I will be raising my children. Teens can feel anger and they can feel vehemently overwhelmed, as who didn’t feel that way as a teenager? The anguish and angst of growing up is always deeply wrought and felt, but we were always told to use our words and to express our emotions by choosing words which helped to douse the flames of the fires we felt surging inside us. To find better ways to express what we wanted to say and to own who we were without muddling our speaking voices with the words of sailors as the saying used to go.
I am not certain what has changed or why certain books are being found with such inclusions, but I personally will rally behind each writer of YA who doesn’t use language in a negative way but rather uses language to teach a more appropriate way to understand our world. The stories with stronger language I will advocate for adult readers only.
Stay tuned!
Next I will be hosting an Author Q&A with Cara Bertrand:
I positively *love!* comments in the threads below each of my posts, and as CommentLuv only requires Email to leave a note for me I cannot wait to see what starts to populate below! Kindly know that I appreciate each thought you want to share with me and all the posts on my blog are open to new comments & commentary! Short or long, I appreciate the time you spent to leave behind a note of your visit! Return again soon!
{SOURCES: The tour badge was provided by JKS Communications and used with permission. Book Cover Art for “Lost in Thought” & “Second Thoughts”, Author Biography & Book Synopsis provided by the author Cara Bertrand and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets are embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.}
Being into antiques is not fashionably akin to being a teenager, but then who says you have to lead a conventional life!? #SententiaSeries
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 26, 2014
#amreading title of #newbook am soaking inside is aptly named: Lost in Thought, as this #bookblogger is EXACTLY that ‘lost in her thoughts’!