DBF or "How I Fangirled For Two Days & Didn't Get Kicked Out"

Last weekend I bribed convinced my husband to take me to the Decatur Book Festival. All I had to hear was the word "book" and I was sold, but then I found out that Rachel Hawkins and Cassie Clare would be there. I think my head might have exploded from the awesome. I also may have ordered a Hot Boys With Swords bag. And I may have convinced several authors to sign it. (Picture at the end of the post!)


Let me tell you: they all lived up to it. I couldn't believe how genuinely NICE all of the authors were! They were funny, they were insightful, and they were real. (I touched a few of them!!) (*fangirls*) See?

Me (Leigh), Myra McEntire, and Victoria Schwab taking a ninja-stealth-pic with Cassie Clare

Saundra Mitchell and Jessica Verday were absolutely adorable talking about what went into creating their fantasy worlds. (I mean adorable in the best sense of the word, by the way.) Saundra explained her not-at-all-creepy use of Google Maps Street View: she used it to pick the spot on the highway to make her fake town for Shadowed Summer.


Rachel Hawkins and Nancy Werlin were wonderful as they discussed their (sometimes different) views on paranormal literature. Rachel had a TON of perfect examples/quotes. She pointed out that Buffy took a normal teen experience ("I slept with my boyfriend and now he won't talk to me") and turned it into: "I slept with my boyfriend and now he wants to kill me." Nancy talked book covers for a bit, and about how even if a book cover doesn't fit a book (*cough* there's-no-cat-in-Hex-Hall *cough), that doesn't mean it's not a good cover. If you've read the book and can COMPLAIN that it's not right, then the cover did it's job. So, it was the right cover. Deep, no?

Also? Rachel let me touch her blue streaks. Because she is.. wait for it... AMAZEBALLS!

Rachel Hawkins, who says I didn't scare her off

Of course, I also got to listen to Cassie Clare read from CoFA and have her sign my book! AND my Hot Boys With Swords bag. She is every bit as awesome as you have heard, and she spent at least two hours sitting in the heat signing books. She deserves her #1 on the NYT bestseller list and THEN some.

"Team 'They Should Be Doing It" - Cassie Clare, "Yes!" - Nancy Werlin, and "Caspian FTW! HBWS + RH = 4-eva!" - Rachel Hawkins

But most of all? I just flat-out had fun meeting a TON of people who I recognized from the blog, from Twitter, and just from their general good-taste-in-books! Vania, who makes awesome book trailers, is so nice! (I've already decided I want her to do my headshot someday!) You should all watch out for these debut authors (who were so ridiculously sweet and I can't WAIT to read their books!): Myra McEntyre (Hourglass), Victoria Schwab (The Near Witch), and Michelle Hodkin (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer).

In short? I loved it, loved them, and so incredibly lucky to have had the chance to meet everyone who was there. Book people ROCK!

Reading Rainbow: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.

I hope you don't feel I'm yelling at you. I just feel very passionate about this: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins is one of my new favorites.



One of the things I liked best about this book is that it had me giggling (and instantly hooked) in the Prologue. The Prologue. You know, the normally boring part of a book that makes no sense until you get to the end so you just skim through it? Not the case in Hex Hall. I was laughing out loud and just knew I would love this book.

This book is so full of snark that you'll find yourself laughing throughout. The great thing is that it is snark done well. I've read a few YA books that attempt humor, and sometimes it works once or twice, but Rachel Hawkins makes it work from start to finish. It's inventive and sarcastic, and I loved it.

In addition to being funny, Hex Hall is also a great story. Witches, vampires, shapeshifters, and evil humans who want to kill them, all within a boarding school for wayward supernaturals. It's also twisty and turnsy, which you all know I love. Any book that can make my jaw drop in surprise is a good one, and Hex Hall delivers in that respect too.

Trust me on this: GO. READ. THIS. BOOK. *grins*


Full synopsis for Hex Hall at Goodreads

Follow Rachel Hawkins on twitter - @LadyHawkins

Waiting on Wednesday: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

This week's Waiting on Wednesday is a mutual pick on our parts (and probably on yours, as well): Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins!

It was already way high on my list, but then the cover came out and made me all "OMGWTFBBQ WELLIES!"




*takes a break from entering Demonglass ARC contests* I LOVE THE NEW COVER!! And, I love even more that the cat made it on to the cover again. The elusive mystery cat!




Oh, the cat. I LOVE the cat. Rachel Hawkins apparently gets lots of emails about the cat. (I think she should do a middle-grade spin-off based on the cat's adventures.)

I was able to watch an interview with both Rachel and her agent, Holly Root last month. When asked about the cat, they both said that they LOVED it and that it was added to the first cover on purpose because they "wanted something that nodded at witchcraft without using a black pointy hat." So, if you're a cat-on-the-cover-hater, don't you feel bad now?

Wow. I'm glad I didn't say I hated the cat.






How can you hate the cat? He's mysterious and obviously magical, since Sophie is in London on the cover of Demonglass. He's a magic traveling cat.





I don't hate the cat! I love the cat!

Moving on from the magical, mysterious cat... Aside from the cover release, we also learned this week that THE RELEASE DATE HAS BEEN MOVED UP FOR DEMONGLASS! I can hardly wait until February 15, 2011!

Seriously. I really can't wait. *goes back to entering Demonglass ARC contests* *stops to remind you that you can win, too, by entering the contest here*

Pre-order Demonglass from Amazon, Powell's Books, or Indie Bound!

Are you waiting impatiently for Demonglass, too? What do you think of the cover? Let us know!

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

Reading Rainbow: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

I feel a little silly recommending Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins. I am pretty sure you all knew that I would love this book. I mean, Leigh and I discussed Hex Hall (and our love for it) enough for you to know this. But, I got to thinking that perhaps you didn't know it had been released? Or perhaps you were thinking, "Oh, Demonglass is out. I will put that on my TBR." And to that I say, "No, no, no. Do not put it on your TBR. Get the book and read it right now." Sorry, sometimes I have to be bossy.


From Goodreads:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Honestly, this book could have been about nothing and I would have loved it. I thoroughly enjoy reading books by Rachel Hawkins - her writing style is just so much fun. I honestly laughed throughout Demonglass, even though it wasn't really a happy-go-lucky book. Sophie faces some serious situations, both personally, and involving her friends and family, but she does so with snark and sass. I kind of love her.

The great thing about Demonglass is that things do happen. Lots of things. Dangerous things. Exciting things. Kissy things. Dangerous and exciting kissy things. What? I don't want to give away the farm here, but I promise you some Archer and even some Cal - remember him? The quiet groundskeeper at Hex Hall? Yeah, Cal. *swoons a bit* And aside from the hot boys (with veritable swords this time!), there is Jenna , and I love her even more than I did after reading Hex Hall (and that was a whole bunch).

So, GO! You know you want a fun read with lots of action and kissing, right? Yes, you do. And please come back and tell me what you thought. Are you once again pining for the next installment of Hex Hall? Did the ending drive you insane? Do tell!

Lazy Book Club for May: Hex Hall Discussion

**SPOILER ALERT**

This is our discussion of Hex Hall. If you haven't finished yet (this is a LAZY Book Club, after all) please just bookmark this post and come back. We'd hate to spoil any surprises for you. And trust us, there are surprises. We've handled this post with a handy-dandy "Read More" link, so if you stumbled here and haven't read yet, DON'T CLICK THE READ MORE BUTTON!!

Read more »

WriteOnCon: Humor, Drama, and Pies

Some of you may have seen us tweeting and discussing an amazing online writer's conference that's taking place right now, called WriteOnCon. What you may not realize is that even though this is a conference by industry pros and geared toward YA writers, a lot of our favorite authors are contributing really insightful posts. Since the conference is free and open to all, we thought you might want to know about a few of the highlights involving some of our favorite authors.

Rachel Hawkins, author of Hex Hall, wrote a brilliant post about using humor in a novel (and how the humor in Hex Hall took her by surprise.) You can find the post here: http://writeoncon.com/2010/08/bringing-the-funny-by-author-rachel-hawkins/

Rosemary Clement-Moore, author of the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series, posted a very funny vlog about understanding character reactions. The fact that she did it with pie is what makes it so entertaining. Even if you're not a writer, you should totally check it out. (Also? Mmmm.... Pie....) You can find it posted here: http://writeoncon.com/2010/08/pie-in-the-face-how-characters-react-to-situations-by-author-rosemary-clement-moore/

Now, I admit that I'm a little biased because I have GIANT girl-crushes on both of these lovely ladies, but I think you'll agree with me. Even if you aren't a writer, be sure to check out the other posts and events on WriteOnCon.

As Stacie and I were watching a webcast from the conference last night, she messaged me and said: "This is such geek porn to me." Yup. It really is that awesome.

Reading Rainbow: Three Great Series!

I've been a super-happy reader lately as some of my favorite series of books have come out with new, fantastic books.  I thought you should know about three of them in particular, so I'm sharing them all in one, big (but not too big) post!

I'm going to start with a series that I love, and have recommended before: The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter.

If you've never heard of Ally Carter, then you must sit down and listen: She is amazing.  Her writing is so well-done that you'll find yourself wondering just how she managed to "do that" and still make it cohesive, funny, and leave you wanting more.  A word I've used to describe her writing: seamless.

Add to that the genius storylines she throws at you, and you're hooked.  Gallagher Girls is a smart, fun, romantic series that I cannot get enough of.  Honestly, I never thought I'd say that about YA books about a school for teen spies, but there it is.  The most recent book, Out of Sight, Out of Time, is a great addition to the series, and never once did I feel that things were getting too slow, or even a little boring, as often happens as a series gets past three books. And if that's not enough to win you over to this series, let me just say one word: ZACH.  That is all.

(Read my original rec of The Gallagher Girls here)

Moving on, if you haven't read Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, then it's obvious that you don't trust our judgement here at WhimFic.  Leigh and I have gushed extensively about our mutual love of this series in the past. And now, with Spell Bound, we've reached that point that is both exciting and a bit sad - the conclusion of the series.

I am very sad to be saying goodbye to Sophie (and Jenna! The best sidekick ever!).  These books were so much fun, I honestly cannot wait to see what Rachel Hawkins comes up with next! 

(You can see all of the gushing from Leigh and I here)

And finally, one of my favorite series out there: The Curse Workers by Holly Black.  Black Heart is coming out next week (!!!) and I had the privelege to read it early.  Let me tell you all - it is PERFECT.

I love it when a final book in a series doesn't just conclude, but throws crazy-new things at us and still manages to make it all work in the end.  Black Heart does just that.  And, there's so much Casselishness to look forward to in this book - trust me and read this whole series just for Cassel.  He's worth it. 

(Read more Cassel-love in my rec for the series, and some from Sophie too, here.)

Whimsical Book-ery

Often when Rain reviews a book it inspires me to read it (which great, since that's the point and all.) I'm sure that sometimes you, the reader, feel the same way. And then I want to talk about the book, because I love both books AND talking. I'm sure this happens to you all too, but we've already talked it about it on the blog. I could dig through the old posts and comment on it, but that seems so futile. There's very little chance of actual discussion. So, what's a wordy girl to do?

Well, if you're a wordy girl with a blog and a very well-read partner, you start a virtual book club! Now, I have to be honest, I don't usually "do" the book club thing because of the commitment of time, energy, and the possibility that the book blows. But a virtual (and Whimsical!) club means no responsibility. If you don't want to participate, no big deal! If you've already read the book, here's your chance to discuss it with us!

I love this idea for so many reasons! Mainly because I have a deep fear of the commitment that "normal" book clubs require, but with the Whimsical Fic-ery book club, we can be... well... whimsical about the whole thing. You want to read the book? Great! If not, maybe next month! You want to leave a comment for us? Even better! If not, we're none the wiser! No commitments and you're allowed to be lazy about reading - what could be better? And we promise to pick books that don't blow. *grins*

So, here's the deal:
Once a month we'll pick a book to read and set a "discussion" date. Anytime during the month, stop by the site and leave your thoughts on your progress in the "comment box" which we be on our sidebar soon. (It'll go to a hidden spreadsheet so don't worry about posting spoilers for your fellow readers.)



Then, on the given day, Rain and I will discuss the book and include some of your comments. We'll continue the discussion into the comments on that day's post.

And, if you'd like to recommend a book for the book club, feel free to email us with your suggestions! We have a few in mind for this summer, but we're always open to book recommendations from you all.

Meadow and I have decided our first book will be Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. I did a rec for it here, and you can find out more about Rachel and her books at her blog (which is so funny, I kept getting distracted when I went to get the link for you all).


So, what do you all think? Does this sound like your kind of book club? Feel free to leave suggestions for the book club here as well! And the Comment Box will be up starting in May, so you'll be able to leave your comments about Hex Hall soon. Happy reading!

Get your copy of Hex Hall:
Powell's Books
Amazon
IndieBound

Readers, Writers, and Castles: A Labor of Love

*waving* Hi guys! It's just me today. Rain is out of the country for a little over a week and she left me in charge. (I know, I thought it was foolish of her too.)

I co-write this blog with her because I adore reading. I've come to realize that as a reader I've really underestimated the amount of work that goes into creating a novel. Sure, I've always admired the talent that it must take to be able to create characters like Sam and Grace or Ash and Mehgan, but I've never really thought about the process. Until now.

Some of you may be aware that I'm currently writing a book. Some of you may ALSO be aware that I'm a 30ish stay-at-home-mom, so writing a book may seem like a forgone conclusion. They hand out blank notebooks and smencils when you leave the hospital with your second child, after all. Besides, if Stephenie Meyer can do it while her kids are swimming, it can't be that hard, right? I read Twilight and thought "Dude! I'm just like Stephenie Meyer with my amazing ideas, except that I drink and swear!"

Then I started to write, and read blogs about writing, and talk to other authors about writing, and it hit me. Writing is a LOT of work.

It's like cooking Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, salad, sweet potato casserole, and homemade rolls...  just to find out that the turkey is still frozen, the gravy is lumpy, and you need to throw out the mashed potatoes completely and start them from scratch while the turkey cooks for another 3 hours. Oh, and that pumpkin pie that you slaved over? It's lovely and delicious and doesn't fit on the table, so throw it in the trash. 

Is it worth it in the end when you have an amazing dinner? Of course it is! Does your husband really understand why you don't want to even LOOK at the kitchen for the next week? Of course not.

If you take all of this work and end up a Certified Big Deal (like J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer, for example) the payoff is obvious. And, since we're human, we may even question the scope of their success.* But most authors don't hit Certified Big Deal status.  During #YALitChat** last week I found out how much a typical author makes off of that debut novel: $10 - $15 thousand dollars. That's before taxes, expenses, agent fees, and whatever else is thrown in. Which is why, when you talk to most authors or read their blogs, they'll tell you that they don't write for the money. It's a labor of love.

And after thinking about all of this, I've come to the following conclusion:

J.K. Rowling deserves her effing castle.*** In fact, I think that Maggie Stiefvater, Julie Kagawa, Rachel Hawkins, and all the other authors we gush over on here deserve one too.

xoxo,



*Well, if you're heartless and mean, anyway. I'd never make snide jokes about how nice it must be to make so much money off of a book that uses the word "moats" wrong. Because that would be bitchy.
**YALitChat is a weekly twitter chat where authors, agents, and all sorts of other people get together and talk about YA lit. If you're ever bored, throw up a hashtag search. You might see some of your favorite authors discussing how they write.
***Okay, so it's not REALLY a castle. It's just a GIANT HOUSE THAT IS REALLY OLD AND FABULOUS.

First Blogoversary Giveaway!

Huzzah! Today Whim-Fic is ONE!! To pay homage to how we began, we thought we'd give you all a look at what went into creating today's post. (Kinda like we did in our FIRST post, which you can see here. Get it?)

**Here we are discussing the picture, which Stacie made for the post**

Let's say something funny with this picture. Like "And we're more excited about it than we look!"





Yes, definitely. I know - our pictures leave much to be desired.






But they are OUR pictures. We slaved over them! I had to balance a camera on my TOWEL RACK in my bathroom! I love them!





I mean in the way of expressions of happiness. We look surly. Or drunk.






No! We are serious. These aren't the faces of women who constantly ponder which YA couples should be doin' it. Nope. WE ARE SERIOUS REVIEWERS.





Yes. Serious. Very serious.






*whispers* Serious about which YA couples should be doin' it. *giggles*

*****

So, as you can see, not much has changed for us. Except, you know, our names (we came out!) and our list of MUST-HAVE books.


Which we want to share with you!






That's right, we're going to give one lucky commenter their choice of one of our top 9 books of 2010, in honor of our blogoversary. Just leave a comment with your favorite book from the past year, and you're entered!

Gee Stacie, why isn't it a top 10?


*glares at Leigh* Um... because we're whimsical? That works for everything, right? And technically, there are 10 books on the list, but we combined The Iron King and The Iron Daughter. SO THERE. TOP 10!

Okay, so here is our list (with links to our rec's) in order of their release dates (because we couldn't possibly pick any one over another).

The Iron King and The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Matched by Ally Condie

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

So, there you have it! We joined the Top 10 club! Don't forget to comment with your favorite (or favorites, if picking one is too much pressure) so you'll be entered in the giveaway. We'll announce the winner Friday, January 7th. Good luck!