Mundie Moms

Monday, August 31, 2015

SMOKED by Mari Mancusi / Blog Tour: Author Guest Post | Enter To WIN!





Hello and welcome to today's blog tour stop for SMOKED, the third book in Mari Mancusi's Scorched series. Today I'm thrilled to have Mari on the blog to share a list of her favorite dragon books. Enter for your chance to win a copy of SMOKED! Check out the giveaway at the bottom of the post. 


Favorite Dragon Books
By Mari Mancusi


There used to be this commercial for a hair-growth company for men. The man in the commercial became famous for his line, “I’m not only the president, I’m also a client.”


I always think of that when it comes to my own writing career. As in, I’m not only a writer of a dragon fiction—I’m also a huge fan.


That’s the great thing, actually, about being an author. You can choose to write books based on what you like to read—or what you would like to read more of but can’t find enough. You can take elements from various fandoms and mash them together into a work of your own imagination. When I started writing the Scorched series, I had already been a reader of fantasy fiction for years and was excited about the idea of creating a dragon mythos of my very own.


I’m often asked, now, what other dragon books are out there that I would recommend for others to read. There are so many great entries—it’s really hard to narrow them down, and a lot of them depend on what you’re looking for in your particular dragon fiction. Some people like a traditional tale, set in a fantasy kingdom. Some like a twist, with dragons invading our every day life, like I tried to do with Scorched. Still others may prefer dragon shape shifters like Julie Kagawa’s Talon series or Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina.


For this blog, I was asked to narrow it down to three recommendations. Not an easy task. So I decided to award winners in three unique categories.


Best Standalone:


HERO AND THE CROWN
Robin McKinley
This was a book I picked up from the Scholastic Book Club, back when I was a kid. I hadn’t read any other books by Robin McKinley at the time, but when I saw the cover and read the description I knew I had to have it. It’s about a princess who takes it upon herself to become a dragon slayer, inventing a burn salve that will protect her from the beasts’ fire. She is so determined and so kick-ass—I remember thinking that she was the coolest girl in the world.


Best sci-fi/fantasy mash-up:


THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN
Anne McCaffrey
This series began back in the 1960s and, at this point, consists of twenty something books. It deals with a society of people on a far away planet who have genetically engineered dragons to help fight a deadly thread that falls from their skies and destroys crops and kills people every so many years. (The dragons can burn the thread with their flames.) Each dragon is bonded to a rider at birth and the rider and dragon have a telepathic connection and can talk to one another. There are also mini dragons called Fire Lizards that are just so cute! And there’s some time travel elements as well that are particularly inventive and cool. This series can seem a bit daunting at first if you’re new to it, seeing as there are so many books, but it’s well worth the time and effort to give it a try. I would suggest starting with the omnibus edition of the first three books to whet your appetite.


Best non-fantasy setting:


TEMERAIRE
Naomi Novik
Imagine an alternative history of the Napoleonic Wars where soldiers use dragons to take down the enemy. This is the set-up for the long running Temeraire series, written by Naomi Novik. In this series you get plenty of action and intrigue from the war backdrop, but also a sweet, heartfelt story of a Captain and his unexpected friendship with a very special dragon. With so many dragon stories set in far off, medieval’esque kingdoms, this series is refreshingly unique and really, really cool. And the bond between Captain Laurence and Temeraire will tug at your heartstrings and make you both laugh and cry.


* * * * * * * * * * 

ABOUT THE BOOK
By: Mari Mancusi
Published by: SourceBooks
To Be Released on: September 1st, 2015
Series: Scorched #3
Pre-Order from: Amazon | B&N IndieBound 
Add It To Goodreads

Once upon a time the world burned.
Until a girl and her dragon smothered the flame.
But the spark that ignited the apocalypse never went out.
And the scorch is about to begin…

When Team Dragon rescues Emmy from the government lab, they think the future is finally safe. But they soon discover that Emmy has a secret—a secret so dangerous it could trigger the very apocalypse Connor and Caleb were sent back in time to prevent.

As a dragon hunter, Connor has committed his life to saving the world. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to complete his mission…even if it meant betraying his brother and losing Trinity’s heart. Even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

But a desperate choice meant to prevent The Scorch, may be the spark that sets the world aflame once more.

The epic conclusion to the genre-bending Scorched series, which Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times bestselling author of the Blue Bloods series, called  "A heart-pounding, twisty, time-travel fantasy.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mari Mancusi is a two-time Emmy award-winning television producer and author of novels for adults and teens. A graduate of Boston University, she now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and young daughter. When not writing or producing she enjoys traveling, snowboarding, reading fantasy novels, and her favorite guilty pleasure: video games.

THE GIVEAWAY
Thank you to SourceBooks, I've got one copy of Smoked to giveaway to one lucky reader! Open to residents in the US / Canada only. To enter, please fill out the form below. Good luck!

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Fire & Thorns Series Read-Along: The Crown of Embers, Chapters 21-30 #ReadingRae



Welcome to this week's #ReadingRae post! This week we're wrapping up our thoughts on The Crown of Embers. Today's discussion is for chapters 21-30. Since it's the end of the book, I also wanted to include my over all thoughts on the entire book, which I'll be sharing later this morning via a book review. Before I share my thoughts, and incase you're just joining us, here's a little bit about the sequel aka book #2 in the series:

ABOUT THE BOOK



By: Rae Carson
Published by: Harper Collins
Released On: September 18th, 2012
Series: The Girl of Fire and Thorns #2
Add it to Goodreads

She does not know what awaits her at the enemy's gate.

Elisa is a hero.

She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't.

Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from foreign realms and even from within her own court. And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled.

To conquer the power she bears, once and for all, Elisa must follow a trial of long-forgotten—and forbidden—clues, from the deep, hidden catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her go a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man whom—despite everything—she is falling in love with.

If she's lucky, she will return from this journey. But there will be a cost.


My Thoughts

Oh my word! Rae Carson what have you done!?! This book..... I'm so glad I have The Bitter Kingdom to dive right into. Oh wait, I already did when I accidentally picked it up instead of this book. I knew what to except, but I wasn't excepting that ending! Oh my heart! 

Okay before I get to the good stuff. I did not see those betrayals happening. Wow! As I said in last week's post (here), I love the women, and leader Elisa has grown into! She's taking charge and leading the way, and I love it! Romance wise, FINALLY! I swear Elisa and Hector just might be the two most stubborn people in this entire series. Right now, I'm so glad Elisa is even more stubborn than Hector, because I'm emotionally torn between crying and cheering with the end of this chapter, and what Elisa does. 

This is one of my favorite sequels. Instead of having her character revert, like often times I feel happens in sequels, Carson's characters flourished and grew into the characters I had hoped they would be and then some. I loved the direction this story took. I loved seeing the characters growth. I loved the romance, the friendships, and even the shocking twists. Loyalty is at it's finest in this book. I love Hector, Mara, and Belen. Yeah, I know. I never thought I'd say that about Belen. I didn't say this last week, as I didn't want to have any spoilers, but I really like Hector's brother Felix, and learning more about Hector. I loved this book!








Find out what these fabulous bloggers had to say about last week's post, when we discussed chapter 11-20: 

Next week we'll be talking about the final book in the series, The Bitter Kingdom!

ENTER TO WIN
Thank you to Fiktshun, we've got a sweet giveaway~ find out how you can enter to win below:

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Cassandra Clare Answers Fan Questions on Twitter / Mundane Monday #254




Happy Mundane Monday Shadowhunters! We're catching up on a few of Cassandra Clare's latest tweets answering fan questions about her writing, her books, the Shadowhunters TV show, and more. 

On Her Books / Writing
On Shadowhunters TV
Fanart 
From Shadowhunters TV

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Will, Jem & Tessa Featured On The End of The Repacked TMI / TID Posters




Cassanda Clare shared the end of the repackaged poster for her The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices poster yesterday on Tumblr. Check out Will, Jem and Tessa! 

Here's what Cassie said about the poster:

The end of the repackages poster. Tessa, Will and Jem. These posters will be free giveaways at signings and in some bookstores. Keep an eye out!

We'll definitely be keeping an eye out! 

Shadowhunters TV Weekly Wrap Up



Happy Sunday Shadowhunters! Check out this week's Shadowhunters TV Weekly Wrap Up! Check out what the cast and crew shared with fans this week on Twitter, from the set.
Check out some more pictures and videos of the cast from set the shows Stunt Coordinator, second unit director, S. Johnstone Luncesuc (@Lucescu on Instagram) shared recently. If you're not following him on Instagram or Twitter, I highly recommend that you do! **Click the Instagram links embedded in each tweet to see the videos/pictures*
Check out these videos Cassandra Clare with fans on Twitter yesterday!

Check ShadowhuntersTV.com, to stay up to date with their latest news about the TV series. Follow them on Twitter, and Facebook.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Recent Book News!


Hello Book Readers! I hope y'all had a great week. School is back session! With my kids back at school, I would have thought I would have had more time to online this week, but that wasn't the case at all. This was my catch up on everything that didn't get done during summer vacation week. The few times I was online this week, I did manage to catch some exciting book news. Check out some of this last week's book news featured on Twitter, below.

Cover Reveals




Excerpts

Upcoming Author Chats 

Other News

Book Events: Book Festivals, Comic Con Panels, and Signings

 Happy Reading, and have a great week!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Snippet From AWAKE by Cassandra Clare (It's Jace's POV from the Opening Scene from City of Bones)



Check it out Shadowhunters! The repackaged The Mortal Instruments series will be hitting book stores this next week! To celebrate, Cassie shared a snippet from AWAKE, which is the opening scene from City of Bones from Jace's point of view. You can ONLY get this story in the Barnes & Noble special edition copy of COB, which will also be the only book out of the series that will also be a sold as a hardcover. All the books will be sold in paperback form, except the B&N special edition (get it here). 

In her post on Tumblr from this morning, here's what Cassie said about the repackaged TMI series, and the special edition copy of COB from Barnes & Noble:
The repackages of the TMI books are coming out this week and next — expect them to trickle into bookstores near you. The special edition of City of Bones is the only repackage that’s hardcover. 
It is only available through Barnes and Noble. Unless people decide to sell it on Ebay, it will never be available anywhere else. 
All the repackages have maps of New York (TMI) or London (TID) and forwards by me talking a bit about why I wrote each series. Only the B&N edition is 1) in hardcover 2) a book that contains the opening scene from City of Bones from Jace’s viewpoint.
It’s called “Awake”, from this quote: It was like he was always half-awake where other people were concerned. And then we met you, and he woke up.— Isabelle to Clary, City of Glass

Check out this snippet from AWAKE!
Jace glanced over at Alec and Isabelle. Killing a demon in front of a mundane, unless there was an immediate threat, was something of a no-no. Mundanes weren’t supposed to know about demons.  For one of the first times in his life, Jace found himself at a loss. They couldn’t leave the girl with the Eidolon; it would kill her. If they left the Eidolon alone, it would escape, and kill someone else. If they stayed and killed it, they’d be exposed.
“Knock her out,” Alec muttered, under his breath. “Just … whack her on the head with something.”
“Just go,” Jace said to the girl. “Get out of here, if you know what’s good for you.”
But she only planted her feet harder. He could see the look in her eyes, like exclamation points: No! No! 
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “If I do, you’ll kill him.”
Jace had to admit that was true. “What do you care?” He pointed at the demon with his knife. “That’s not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and bleed like a person. But it’s a monster.”
“Jace!” Isabelle’s eyes flashed. They were depthless, black, angry. Isabelle never got angrier than when Jace risked getting himself in trouble or danger. And he was risking both, now. Breaking the Law — talking about Shadowhunter business with mundanes — and what was worse, he was liking it. Something about this girl, her stormcloud of red hair and her snapping green eyes, made him feel as if his veins were filled with gunpowder and she was a match.
As if, if she touched him, he’d burn up. But then, he loved explosions.

* * * * * * * * * *

Aww, Clace! I've missed reading about these two. I need more from Jace's point of view. I've got my special edition pre-ordered! Do you? Get it here!

The Soul of A Book: TV And Film Adaptations



Nothing is more exciting as a reader than when the announcement comes that one of your all time favorite, beloved book series is being made into a movie or TV series. It's an exciting possibility to see the book world you've fallen in love with and its characters come to life. The possibilities are endless. What scenes will be featured, which of your favorite lines will be said, how will the book series be adapted for the screen or TV, who's going to be cast etc, etc. It's exciting. It's also a chance for others who haven't read the books to see what it is you love about the series so much. 

But above all, the book is coming to life!

As a reader, and having been a part of the book to movie/book to TV fandom (both Twilight and Shadowhunters) for eight years now, I know that it is impossible for the movie/tv show of any book to be exactly like the book. Nothing will ever be the book. Ever. The book is adapted for the big screen or for the TV show. Changes have to be made in order to create the book's story into something that not only book fans will love and support, but a new audience who's not read the books, will also be supportive of. That's no easy feat. 

Lately I have been super saddened to see "fans" of the unreleased television show telling longtime book fans that of course everything in the show will have to be different, from the characters' ages, to the way the magic works, to the jobs everyone has, to the entire plot.

I just wanted to reassure the overwhelming majority of fans who've read the books, and are hoping to see some of what they loved in the books onscreen — that that is not true. It is possible to create a film or TV adaptation that's both faithful to the spirit of the books, and yet has changes that grab the interest of those who have never read or heard of the books and enough new stuff to keep books fans on their toes. How do we know that? Because we have seen it. 

The Hunger Games, Twilight, Harry Potter, were all very faithful to the books they were based on, and were successes. Movies that diverged from the books they were based on, from Percy Jackson to Beautiful Creatures to City of Bones, were flops.

Is it different for TV? No. Quality shows like Outlander and Game of Thrones are enormously faithful to the books they are based on, and their success has ushered in a new generation of television. Everything points toward faithful adaptations of American Gods, the Magicians, and Shannara. No one is bored by Game of Thrones because it sticks to the plots of the books. No one slept through the Red Wedding because it unfolded as it had in the books. Entertainment doesn't work that way. A huge quantity of people who tune into a show or watch a film based on their favorite books want to see the scenes they love unfold on screen. If there are no scenes from the books at all, they will walk away. That's just how it is.

It is simply a fact that all the evidence we've seen so far for Shadowhunters TV — sides, leaked pilot scripts, behind the scenes shots, what the cast and crew have said — points toward a show that doesn't just make changes, but makes enormous, sweeping changes. Can a show that changes so very much about the source material be something that book fans could still enjoy? I just don't know.

I, in no way want to upset any of you, I wish I knew what to do about it myself. I would love for the show to be good. I would love to think I was going to see a scene, any scene, from the books come to life. It just doesn't seem, from the evidence of the sides, the auditions, the pilot, and the comments made by cast and crew, that this will be so. Per an interview Kat McNamara recently had with Zap2It (you can read her interview here), she had this to say about the show,


Picture Source: Tweet via TMI_India on 8/13 here

The problem there is that "Cassie's interpretation of the books" is just the books and what's in them. If they're not doing that, then what are they doing? It's not like there's anything wrong with interpretations, but when news first broke about Shadowhunters TV, it was said that the show would be based on Cassandra Clare's books. For book fans, that was beyond exciting. It was a chance for us book fans to see a redemption from the flop the Shadowhunters movie was. With credible sources whom have purchased the slides which contain the actual script for the show, we know that the story has completely been re-written. As in not even the same story as the books. True, the character names are the same, and there's a Shadowhunter world, and some of the relationships are similar to the books, but that's it. Valentine lives in a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl in this show. Alec is the head of the Institute. Luke is a cop. Isabelle hates her mom and loves her dad. Simon has a girlfriend who isn't Clary or Isabelle or Maia. Faeries (sorry "Seelies") are forcing Alec into an arranged marriage with a girl. The Institute isn't deserted, but full of people. The Shadowhunters don't dislike technology, but are covered in iPads and expensive computers. Michael Wayland is alive. Does any of this sound to you, Shadowhunter fans, like the books you read? More importantly, does it sound like books you'd want to read?

Only an individual fan can answer that for themselves. Recently some Shadowhunter fansites have spoken up about the changes. They are not lying, they have not created these changes out of thin air. They're changes any fan can read for themselves via the script sides that can be purchased on showfax.com. While I want the Shadowhunters series to be successful for Cassandra Clare's sake, reading all the changes (interpretations) that have been made is hard. Having been a huge fan of the Shadowhunters world since 2008, my loyalty lies with the books, not the show. That doesn't, however mean that I'm not supportive of the show, but it does mean that my loyalty will always side with the original story because that is what I cared about first. So while I understand that people may be upset when they see other fans angry about the changes . . . it is hard for me not to feel worried and heartbroken too.  

I think it's important for fans to remember that no matter our stance is on what's being done with the Shadowhunters TV, the only reason we are even interested in the show, the only reason there is this debate happening, is because these are books people care about. How much change can be wrought on the stories and characters without destroying them is something people can only decide for themselves. But every fan and fansite deserves to have their own opinion, because we all share something -- we share a passion for these books and this world, which will be around long after the show has ended.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Shadowhunters TV #NYCC15 Cast Pictures



Check out the Shadowhunter TV cast pictures for their #NYCC15 announcement! Cassandra Clare shared their pictures here. They'll be at the NY Comic Con on Saturday, October 10th at 11 am. Also joining the Shadowhunters TV panel are Cassandra Clare, McG and Ed Decter. 







Comic-con, Shadowhunters, and Lady Midnight



Cassandra Clare took to Tumblr yesterday sharing more information about her panels at the NYCC as well as the Shadowhunters panel. AND, she also surprised fans by letting us know that the cover for LADY MIDNIGHT will be revealed there!! Check out what she shared on her Tumblr page below:


I will be at New York Comicon this year, in October, both on my own and with the Shadowhunters TV show! Here’s the two panels I’ll be doing — also ABC will have a whole Shadowhunters day on Saturday and be giving away swag and so forth. And read to the end for the final neat piece of news:
Friday, October 9, from 12:30 pm- 1:30 pm in Room 1A10 : Cassandra Clare Q&A and a sneak peek of Lady Midnight
Cassandra Clare is the #1 bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments series, soon to be adapted into the Shadowhunters TV show on ABC Family, as well as the Infernal Devicestrilogy and the Bane Chronicles. A global phenomenon, her books have more than 36 million copies in print worldwide. In conversation with Entertainment Weekly’s Amy Wilkinson, she’ll discuss her career and give a sneak peek at her new book, LADY MIDNIGHT, the first in the Dark Artifices trilogy, which comes out on March 8.
Saturday, October 10, from 11:00am-12:00pm on the Empire Stage
SHADOWHUNTERS
ABC FAMILY COMES TO NEW YORK COMIC CON THIS OCTOBER WITH FAN FAVORITE SERIES AND STARS
New Footage of “Shadowhunters” to be Revealed
The new ABC Family television series “Shadowhunters,” based on the New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, follows 18 year-old Clary Fray who finds out on her birthday that she is not who she thinks she is, but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters - human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons. When her mother Jocelyn is kidnapped, Clary is thrown into the world of demon hunting with mysterious Shadowhunter Jace and her best friend Simon. Now living among faeries, warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Clary begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns more about her past and what her future may hold. “Shadowhunters” is set to premiere in early 2016.
The panel will include exclusive footage and a Q&A with cast members Katherine McNamara (“Clary”), Dominic Sherwood (“Jace”), Harry Shum Jr. (“Magnus”), Alberto Rosende (“Simon”), Emeraude Toubia (“Isabelle”), Matthew Daddario (“Alec”) and Isaiah Mustafa (“Luke”) as well as showrunner Ed Decter (“Helix”), Executive Producer McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Chuck”) and book author Cassandra Clare.
Also, the COVER OF LADY MIDNIGHT will be revealed at Comicon. Stay tuned for when and how and by who :)

Cassandra Clare also answered fan questions on Twitter about the cover for Lady Midnight and Comic Con.




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