BLOG TOUR: CURED by Bethany Wiggins!

Yesterday on Operation Awesome, Michelle featured and interviewed Bethany Wiggins, author of the new and exciting STUNG companion, CURED! 

Blurb: Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders. Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family—details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life. Bethany Wiggins’s reimagining of our world after an environmental catastrophe won’t fail to stun readers. -from Goodreads

Bethany Wiggins's website

Today Bethany is here at my little blog to answer a few questions. But first I just want to say a few words about the world of STUNG which Bethany has created. When I read STUNG, I was floored by the fast pace and the intense conflict. Lots of that conflict surrounds a sweet boy Fiona has known from childhood who suddenly treats her like she might go zombie apocalypse on him at any moment and she doesn't quite understand why. There's a gritty, raw quality to the dystopia Bethany's created, and it continues in CURED. Fans of THE MAZE RUNNER will find tons to love in STUNG and CURED. I'm very excited to have Bethany with me today. Here's that interview:

Katrina: I always have to ask, will there be a SHIFTING sequel?

Bethany: I won't say no, because there is always the possibility that I will write a SHIFTING 2, but not any time in the near future.  

K: Your books always have unpredictable twists. Are these all plotted out in advance or do you sometimes surprise yourself?

Bethany: Some of them are thought out in advance (but not really plotted) and others surprise me just as much as they surprise the reader. I'll be sitting down, writing a scene, when something totally surprising hits me and I write it down. It's like the story takes on a life of its own. 

K: The truly terrifying thing about these books is the reality in which they are based, the idea that they could really happen. What do you think is the most realistic or true-to-life aspect of STUNG and CURED?

Bethany: I think the most true to life aspect of STUNG and CURED is the possibility of a natural disaster (earthquake, flood, extinction of bees etc.) drastically changing the way we live, and us having to all of a sudden start living our lives in a totally primitive way. Where would we get food and water? How would we stay warm? Who would we trust? We see this all the time around the world. Hopefully it will never happen, but you never know.

K: What's next for you? Any exciting new projects you can tell us about?

Bethany: I am taking a short break from writing because I just had my fifth baby, but there are a few story ideas brewing in my head right now. It is only a matter of time before I start writing one. 

K: Congratulations on the new baby! 

What's one thing you must have with you when you write? A certain snack, music, or a mascot?

Bethany: Music! Music is my most important inspiration.

K: Thank you for answering my questions and for writing books I love to read!

If you all haven't gotten your mitts on either of these books yet, I highly recommend you hightail it to your nearest bookstore or e-reader and get started. Trust me, you won't be able to put it down.

 

THE DEATHS OF TAO Cover Love!

The Deaths of Tao, sequel to The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, has a COVER and it's just as awesome as the first:

Add on goodreads

The sequel to The Lives of Tao.

The Prophus and the Genjix are at war. For centuries they have sought a way off-planet, guiding humanity’s social and technological development to the stage where space travel is possible. The end is now in sight, and both factions have plans to leave the Earth, but the Genjix method will mean the destruction of the human race.

That’s a price they’re willing to pay.

It’s up to Roen and Tao to save the world. Oh, dear…

It's out from Angry Robot Books October 29th 2013. Looking forward to reading this with the hubz! 

If you missed it, check out Jessica Brooks's Afterglow Review of The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay.

UV, W, X, Y, and Z -- Mysteries of Science Explained by Electricity

UV, W, X, Y, and Z, the last days of the A to Z April Challenge.

Yes, obviously, I failed a little at the challenge, but at least I failed with flare! This last installment includes fascinating links from around the web! Since I'm a huge fan of speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, I thought I'd share some of my research links with y'all. These articles/videos are a great way to kickstart your imagination if it's been dormant (like while line-editing) for a while.

From the sun to water vapor to ancient artifacts to futuristic bandaids, electricity rules the world

Electric Currents Create Magnetic Fields in the Sun 
(okay, this doesn't start with u or v, but UV rays... from the sun... get it? 



Let it Rain - how electricity governs our Weather


Robot finds mysterious spheres in ancient temple in MeXico < See what I did there? (This discovery is beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which is connected with electric plasma theory/unified theory of myth/ancient cosmology)


ElectricitY Can Help Heal Wounds (Dnews video) 


The Mysterious NaZca Lines video (More photos here) These are also possibly lightning-related



Hope you enjoyed the science and archaeology tour! Be sure to head over to Operation Awesome tomorrow morning bright and early for our Mystery Agent one-sentence pitch contest.

Q, R, S, T: Quasing, Roen, Sonya, and Tao

Spies and aliens: a match made in heaven.

Go read The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (Couple's Review)

It's my first couple's review with my husband after we used THE LIVES OF TAO for our date book over the course of the past month. A chapter or two each date night kept us laughing and intrigued. But last night we couldn't put it down after our usual few chapters. There was too much at stake! We read for a couple hours and both very much loved the ending.

Quasing from Quasar

The Quasing are an alien life force that relies on a host for survival. They feed off enzymes in carbon-based life forms and also get protection from wind, cold, and heat within our relatively harder casings. Without a host, their thin membranes can be shattered by a strong gust of wind, scattered to the Eternal Seas. What's intriguing about these aliens? They've been here on Earth since before mankind, and have been instrumental in mankind's evolution. Once mankind reached an evolutionary stage where they could be equal partners, the Quasing split into two political factions: The Genjix and The Prophus. The Prophus tend to consider humans as partners worth protecting. The Genjix consider humans a means to an end. They are supremacists at the core. Author Wesley Chu did a thorough job creating this alien race. Hardcore sci-fi fans will find plenty to love in The Lives of Tao.



Roen Tan

One reviewer compared our protagonist Roen Tan to Brendan Fraser, such is the quirky lovable nature of his character. Much of the humor in the first half of the book is drawn from alien Tao's attempts at getting couch-potato Roen out on a running trail, or out of an attempted assassination alive. With all his faults, Roen is lovable because he is humble, compassionate, and loyal to friends. Also, the man can't lie to save his life... literally. Not exactly the type of person you'd cast in the role of international man of mystery. And yet it works so well in The Lives of Tao.



Sonya Lyte

Sonya shows up at Roen's door to train him in hand-to-hand combat and fire arms. Well matched to his goofy sense of humor, she also knows when to get deadly serious. Unlike Roen, she is not an accidental host, but the daughter of her quasing's former host. She was raised for this, and it's intensely personal for her. Like Roen comments at one point in the book, she would never be a Bond girl, but she'd be the one kicking James Bond's butt.



Tao

Formerly known as Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and the creator of Tai Chi, Tao has been influencing human politics since before human politics existed. He has millennia-old enemies who hold millennia-old grudges, and his chubby, uninitiated host Roen Tan gets to deal with all of it. Tao has a few things in common with Roen. He's fiercely loyal to his hosts and his friends, even to a fault. He's compassionate, too, seeing his host as an equal partner and allowing Roen to choose whether or not he takes a wise, ancient alien's advice. Their relationship is mostly humorous at first, but deeply bound by shared loyalties and mutual appreciation in the end.

(Letters and concept of A to Z April challenge here)

READ AN EXCERPT at TOR.com 

Buy on Amazon: The Lives of Tao

E is for Ender Wiggin

the challenge

E is for Ender Wiggin

Asa Butterfield, who will play Ender in the coming movie

Of course the actor isn't as young and baby-faced as this pic anymore, but he does still have quite the baby face, making it almost okay that the movie doesn't seem to begin when Ender is six years old.

Add on goodreads

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. 

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. 

Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

The movie site

First glimpses

Who else can't wait for November?

Share your writing play lists with Becky at Operation Awesome today.

THE HOST (the movie) is finally here! #TheHostArt

I've been enjoying all the tumblr treasures at #TheHostArt:

According to The Soul Center, Stephenie Meyer will chose her favorite next week after this weekend's release of THE MOVIE!!! Squee!

I never win these things, naturally, because I am one of those people who LOVES art, has an eye for what she likes, but can't make it to save her life. Well, I can fake making it. So here it is, my Pixlr-aided creations!

My fan art for #TheHostArt contest.

It’s a revamp of the book cover image to reflect the story in its pages. Half in light, half in shadow, two parts in conflict.

~

This one’s my own eye, copying the concept from the book cover and using a quote from The Host:

“Perhaps there could be no joy on this planet without an equal weight of pain to balance it out on some unknown scale.” — Stephenie Meyer (The Host (The Host, #1))

P.S. Did you know Goodreads and Amazon are like, the same thing now? Yeah. Happy Easter.

Blog Chain: Why I Love Speculative Fiction (in pictures)

Topic from Michelle McLean: 

What elements in your favorite genre make it your favorite? For instance, if your favorite genre is romance, what elements do you like in a romance story? A tortured hero? A spunky heroine? Steamy love scenes? Sweet romance? If your fave genre is sci-fi, what elements do you love the most (the characters, the science, the possibilities?), etc?

My favorite genre is kind of an umbrella genre: 

It's speculative fiction. 

This spans widely between sci-fi, dystopia, fantasy, paranormal, and just a touch of magical realism. What do I love about it?

List time!

• hello, it's magic! Or science stretched to the limits of imagination. Either way, it's a heck of a lot cooler than what generally goes down at the 7-11... or Circle K.

Something is afoot at the Circle K.

• symbolism. Contemporary and literary novels can also have symbolism, and it's done really well by those genres all the time, but nobody does symbols like speculative fiction does. There's just so much freedom to run wild with them (A Wrinkle in Time). Sometimes it's downright allegorical (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien). Love it!

Wrath of the Ents (Lord of the Rings)

Inner courage and beauty (Chronicles of Narnia)

The Old Ones, wisdom (A Wrinkle in Time)

• larger-than-life conflicts really force me to suspend my disbelief and let me get completely lost in the story.

• unfamiliar settings, often exotic and/or terrifying. The setting also often provides the main source, or an additional source, of conflict (see above).

Peeta Mellark in the Hunger Games arena

Diagram of the ship Godspeed in Across the Universe
(it looks spacious, but you can't ever leave!)

• character diversity - speculative fiction gives us an opportunity to delve into sensitive subjects like racism and other forms of prejudice in a safe place where the reader doesn't feel judged by the author. Many of my favorite books deal with these kinds of war-scale conflicts between groups who hate each other just for one shared trait, like a certain magical power (Beautiful Creatures) or descent (Star Trek, Twilight and Harry Potter), or maybe the district they were born into (Hunger Games).

Statue in the Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter)

Star Trek - know your alien races

• gadgetry! Yes, I'm confessing. I'm something of a gadget geek. Whether it's science fiction, futuristic dystopian, or even steampunk and fantasy, there are often gadgets of some kind or another involved. A holly wood wand with a phoenix feather core (Harry Potter), a pill that erases only traumatic memories that have just been shared (Memento Nora), automatons that may or may not be trying to kill you (Soulless), a well-designed spaceship that doubles as the claustrophobic setting (Across the Universe).

Couldn't resist adding my favorite doctor with his sonic screwdriver

Plush pill (this one won't make you forget)

Holly wood wand with phoenix feather core

These automatons look murderous

These are the main reasons I love speculative fiction, which is why I love working for Month9Books! It's all speculative fiction all the time, and in my favorite categories: MG and YA.

What's your favorite genre, and why?

Next stop by

 Christine Fonseca's blog to see yesterday's blog chain post, 

and check out Demitria Lunetta's tomorrow.

Also don't miss the BLOG TOURS going on right now for Sidekick: The Misadventures of the New Scarlet Knight and Pity Isn't an Option (both tours linked at the top of my sidebar as well). There are giveaways involved!

THE LIVES OF TAO by Wesley Chu: Cover Reveal!!

Sharing the awesome! Operation Awesome's very own Wesley Chu has his cover for his SF book.  Introducing...

THE LIVES OF TAO

Seriously, just stare at this for a minute if you're not laughing yet. It goes perfectly with the book.

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. 

He wasn’t. 

He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. 

Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…

~~~~~~~

Here is the link on good reads: HERE

It comes out in just a few short months (April 30th) so add it to your list.

Or go ahead and PREORDER it now!

~~~~~~


Wesley Chu was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was just a pup. It was there he became a Kung Fu master and gymnast.

Wesley is an avid gamer and a contributing writer for the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. A former stunt man and a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he can also be seen in film and television playing roles such as “Banzai Chef” in Fred Claus and putting out Oscar worthy performances as a bank teller in Chicago Blackhawks commercials.

Besides working as an Associate Vice President at a bank, he spends his time writing and hanging out with his wife Paula Kim and their Airedale Terrier, Eva.



OKAY, now don't forget the always awesome MYSTERY AGENT CONTEST on March 1st. We've got an agent who specializes in children's books (PB, MG, YA) with specifics here.

Why I Prefer Fantasy

Pic from this site

Why do you write in your genre?

I've been pondering this question lately and I've come to this conclusion:

I don't like reality. That is to say, I don't like other people's ideas of what my reality should be. When I read most YA contemporary literature today, I'm thrown back to high school. Not Forks High School where something interesting and creepy was going on at the Cullen's house in the woods. No. My high school, where the popular kids who dictated the school's fashions, music, and dance themes were so far removed from my taste in fashion, music, and dance themes that I felt like a social outcast. Why would I want to feel that way again?

Exactly. And that's why I don't read a lot of contemp YA. It's also why the ideas that pop into my head tend to be about a much more interesting high school than my own where freedom of thought may not have been the norm, but it was the exception for one girl or one boy who knew the world was bigger than the inane social rituals of a bunch of shallow people.

Yeah, I was that girl in high school. And that's why I write fantasy for young adults. I want to build worlds where anything is possible and you aren't restricted by your wardrobe. I want characters with something more weighty to consider than whether to take Trig or AP Pre-Calc. And I don't want my books to be all about teens getting drunk, having sex, and basically behaving in a way that's as foreign to me now as it was when I was 15.

I'm a snob about contemp YA. I'll be the first to admit it. I just flat-out prefer fantasy and sci-fi. Take one look at my bookshelves and you'll understand that. It doesn't mean I don't ever enjoy a contemporary novel or realistic historical fiction. In fact, there's one YA contemp that's so unique, I can't wait for it to come out.

But it does mean I'll probably never write one.

If you're a contemp writer, why do you prefer it to fantasy? (I stand ready to take notes.)

If you're a fantasy/scifi writer, what are your reasons for eschewing the 'real world'?