Review of Exiled

I'm super excited today to tell you about RaShelle Workman's new novel, Exiled, as a part of the Dark C.A.R.MA Blog Tour.

The Blurb (from Goodreads): Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become a kelvieri, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.

Now she wants revenge.

First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate. Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.

Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters—alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.

Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week. Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.

But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—her.

What a fantastic read! For days, I didn't want to put it down (though life got in the way). I found myself mentally enveloped in Venus's world, thinking about it whenever I couldn't be reading. Her journey and struggle capture the imagination long after the story ends.

Workman develops a fascinating world of upheaval and betrayal that force Venus into exile on Earth. Workman's prose donates extra flare to the story, weaving together vivid images of setting and characters. And her exceptional storytelling seizes the reader and doesn't let go.

My only complaint about this book is that it's a part of a series, and I have to wait to find out what happens next. I'm not exactly known for my patience.

Recommendation: Read this. It would make a great holiday gift for anyone who loves a good fantasy novel.

RASHELLE WORKMAN lives in Utah with her husband, three children and three dogs. When she gets a quiet moment alone, she enjoys reading about faraway places. And, in case you were wondering, yes, she does believe there is other life out in the Universe.

Blogfest... Interrupted

Today I'm participating in Blogfest...Interrupted, hosted by Sasha Conte. Thanks, Sasha, for hosting. 

On Saturday, June 26th, post a 500-1000 word scene of your characters being interrupted - doesn't matter what they're doing, doesn't matter what's interrupting them (end of the world, knock on the door, little voice in their head...), they just need to be interrupted.

So, here we go. This is an excerpt from my WIP, Fighting Fate. It's raw, not super well edited, and rather first-drafty. But, nonetheless, people are getting interrupted. All comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy it :)


Marcus arrived in his suite and glanced around. Of course he had maid service, but he still straightened a few pillows on the couches. He walked into his bedroom, making sure again that he had tidied it enough. He hadn’t felt this nervous going to Anabelle’s home. Why was he so restless now?

Finally the door to his suite opened and then shut again. He heard voices, “Is it okay now?” “Yes.” “No cameras?” “No cameras.”
 

Anabelle and Lily began to materialize, at first translucent, until the invisibility subsided.
 

“Marc?” Roger’s voice sounded from nowhere.
 

Of course. It was Marcus’s spell, so he had to be the one to remove it. It disappeared faster than Anabelle’s spell had, and from top to bottom as if a sheet had fallen off.
 

Once he became visible, Lily smacked his elbow. “You scared the frut out of me. How dare you sneak up on us all invisible like that.”
 

“What else should I have done?”
 

“I don’t know, but not that.”
 

Roger glared at her for a moment before turning to Marcus. “Something’s a-buzz. I kept getting calls on my headset, but couldn’t respond. I need to go check in and see what’s going on.”
 

“Fine,” Marcus said. “Go. We’ll be here.”
 

“Great,” Lily said. “Leave me behind as third wheel.”
 

Roger shut the door a little too hard behind him.
 

“You’re not third wheel,” Anabelle said.
 

As she spoke the words, however, her eyes told a different story. Marcus couldn’t believe how lucky he was that this beautiful commoner had had enough gumption and enough personal magic to find him, even if she hadn’t wanted to meet him. And here she stood in his suite again. Fate had played in his favor this time.
 

“Can I give you a brief tour?” he asked.
 

“I’d like that,” Anabelle said.
 

Lily rolled her eyes. “Oh, give me a break.”
 

Anabelle slipped her hand through Marcus’s elbow and he led her around. He had three more rooms off of the main sitting room: his den, Roger’s office, and his bedroom. He showed her the rooms in that order, ending in the bedroom. He slipped the door shut behind him.
 

“It’s very big,” she said.
 

“I’ve heard that before.”

She shoved his chest playfully, and he grabbed her hands, pulling her close. He loved the feel of her body against pressed against his, her lips against his. Pressure hit him in two solid points against his chest where she had the stones tucked inside her bra. How had he gone so many years without her embrace? He couldn’t imagine—

A heavy knock beat against the door. “Marc! Get out here. Now.”

She pulled away. “Is that Roger?”

He would so lay into Roger later. What could be so important as to interrupt them? And so rudely?

The knock came again, louder this time. “Marc!”

Marcus felt his nostrils flare. “Coming.” He inhaled deep into his lungs before leading Anabelle out into the sitting room. “What?”

Roger and Natalie stood outside the door. Natalie said, “You are in some serious kruk right now.” Roger shoved something against his chest. Marcus took it and unrolled the newspaper—tabloid, really—until he saw the cover photo.

Any guesses as to what's in the photo?

Getting to Know Your Characters Blogfest

Welcome to my entry for the Getting to Know Your Characters Blogfest, hosted by Elizabeth Mueller and Jeannie Campbell. Thanks to both of them for hosting and the great idea behind it.

Rules: Pretend you are your MC and answer all three of the following questions.

Preface: (by Rosie)

Anabelle fought me on this. She did not want to answer these questions, and she didn’t want to feel psychoanalyzed. She just wanted to get on with her life and pretend like everything was normal instead of talking about fears and accomplishments and regret. I hope I’ve persuaded her, and she’s not jerking me around here.

Name: Anabelle Michelle Lindsky

Age: 19

Question 1: What is your greatest fear? 

Being alone and being abandoned. In my life, I only have two people, my mother Betsy and my best friend Lily. My father died when I was a baby, or maybe before I was born—my mother’s never been very clear on the matter, and I can’t ask her about it because it’s too hard for her to talk about. I see the pain she goes through every day after having the love of her life snatched away from her, and I know I can’t endure what she does. I try not to let people into my life, though that got turned on its ear and I’ve had no choice. All I can hope is that I withstand the coming events without losing my loved ones.

Question 2: What is your biggest accomplishment?

Ha! Okay. This is great. Lily and I got to start wearing bras in fourth grade, whether there was anything to hold in place or not. Nothing was more important than wearing one, at least among the girls. The boys made fun, of course, because that’s what boys do. And there was this guy, Lionel Davis. He told all the other boys that I had let him see my bra during recess. The next day a bunch of boys from our class cornered me on the way outside after lunch, asking to see my bra. I sucker punched one in the gut, and refused. Of course, if Lionel had gotten to see it, why couldn’t they? I ran away.

No, that’s not the accomplishment. Hold on!

The next day I was so angry. The boys kept teasing me, loud enough for the teacher to shush them. I wanted to die, I was so embarrassed. At lunch, I found a pack of Hostess cupcakes in my lunch, and felt the peck of inspiration, and then made the fateful mistake of whispering the idea to Lily. She found it so hilarious that when I hesitated, she dared me to do it. “What?” she asked, “Are you chicken?”

Lionel sat two tables away. I stood, a cupcake in each hand behind my back, and marched over. I told him to get up, that I had something to show him, which inspired lots of ooooohhs and aaaahs from both the girls’ and boys’ tables. The girls behind me could see what I had in my hands, but the boys couldn’t. Lionel stood, a huge grin on his face. In retrospect, he probably had a crush on me, but it wouldn’t last long. When he faced me, I shoved each of the cupcakes against his chest, smearing brown cake all over his white polo shirt. I mounded the cupcakes as best I could and stood back. “Looks like you need your own bra,” I said, “so quit trying to look at mine.”

I got suspended for three days. My mom wouldn’t talk to me for days without yelling. She had to take off work one day because she couldn’t afford a babysitter. I felt horrible for disappointing her, but something had to be done.

On the other hand, that was the first dare I’ve ever taken from Lily. I’ve never refused a dare since. I just try to make sure my dares don’t affect my mom the way the first did.

Question 3: What is your biggest regret?

This is hard one to answer because I have quite a few. I regret not using magic on Lionel Davis to make those brown cupcake mounds stick, because they fell off before the principal arrived. I regret going to prom with Sammy Gilespie because of his grabby fingers and post-prom expectations. I regret turning James Bunnell down when he asked me to prom because Lily had wanted him to ask her (but so had I, and then neither of us went with him).

But, I guess if I have to pick just one, my biggest regret would be not enjoying time with my mom as much as I should. I love my mom, of course, but when I was in high school I didn’t think it was cool to hang out with her. Now that I’m in college, I don’t see her much even though I live at home. I just wish I’d appreciated my time with her before my life turned upside down.


Don't forget to check out the other entries in the Blogfest. Go to Elizabeth Mueller's blog for a list of all the participants.

What about you? What are your characters' biggest fears, accomplishments, or regrets?

Still on Sabbatical, but Blogfest Alert

Hi folks,
I'm not really here. Really. But I wanted to tell you about the cool blogfest that Tara is hosting on Saturday, June 18th.

It comes with prizes, so please go check out her post about it. It looks like fun.

No promises that I can participate (even though I signed up). Here's hoping I can get a post up on Friday.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. The reunion was busy but pretty fun. Now off to work. Catch you next week!

What's the Score Blogfest, and Some Thanks

Happy June 1st. Today's my nephew's birthday, so I want to send a shout out to him.

Happy Birthday, Gabe!

Also, yesterday was my one-year blogiversary. It's hard to believe I've been blogging for a year, and I can see a huge difference in the way I blog then and now. Also in the way I write. I'm lucky to have stumbled into this bloggy world, to have made the friends I've made, and to have learned everything I've learned so far. You're all a part of that, and so I say

THANK YOU!

I could go in to thanking particular people, but that would take the entire next year, and the music just started playing, and they will soon usher me offstage. So, please know that you're all awesome and amazing, and I appreciate each of you for your individual creativity and spirit.

So, uh, Blogfest anyone?

In celebration of my blogiversary, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than with a blogfest. There are even prizes, and there's still time to play. Haven't signed up yet? Is it past midnight in your timezone? No worries. Send me an email at rlconnolly [at] gmail.com and I'll add your name to the Linky List.

What can you win? Check out the announcement. And stop by on Monday, June 6th, when I'll reveal the winners!

What's My Score?

I love my WIP. I've spent years with it, so I ought to. I think about it when I'm walking to and from classes and work, and the soundtrack makes it easier for me to concentrate (and aren't you glad I'm thinking about my WIP instead of oncoming traffic?).

Here are a few of the best songs from my soundtrack. While I have a huge one for the entire three-book series, I tried to stick to songs that apply to book 1, since that's what I'm slaving over right now.


"Had to Go" by the Heartless Bastards
A few lines in this song sound as if they had been written with my WIP in mind.

"Winter Blue" by Heather Nova
I had my iPod on shuffle and this came on. I just about stumbled with how well it seemed to fit, and then I added it to my playlist.

"Everything She Does Is Magic" by the Police
Cliche? Maybe. I don't care. :)

"Starlight" by Muse
This song sounds like my male MC talking to me.

"Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga
Minus the line about eyeliner, this works pretty well, too. (I didn't pick the official video to link here, though, because I just don't get it.)

"Fool's Gold" by Lhasa de Sela
It's not so much the words to this song (although they kind of work) but the mood. Not to mention that her voice is one of the most amazing I've heard in my lifetime.

"Weird Fishes" and "15 Steps" by Radiohead
Wish I could explain these. They just move me and make me think of my WIP.

"Conspiracy" by Paramore
Okay, maybe this one doesn't ONLY apply to the first of the three. It applies to the whole thing.

What about you? What's your score?

Don't forget to visit the other participants today!

Scores, Strings, and A Crazy Little Thing Called Memberships

First, remember to sign up for the What's the Score Blogfest for June 1st. List songs you'd like to be in the soundtrack to your WIP, and win prizes just for participating. Click above or on the right for more details.




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Jessica Bell is organizing the promotion for her upcoming release, STRING BRIDGE. Think you might be interested in getting an ARC and posting a review? Being involved in the Amazon Chart rush? Her Blog Tour? Hope over to Jessica's blog and sign up.

If you missed the trailer:

_____________________

For those of you new to my life and woes, there's something you need to know:

I'm a recovering linguist.

This means several things for my writing. First, when I write, I have to focus A LOT on the voice, because I'm still trying to purse the academicese from my writing. Keeping my prose clean of the dry, scientific, observational sentence structures is tough. Seriously.

Another remnant of my linguist days are my society memberships. I'm a member of LSA, SLS, and  AATSEEL. I even freelance as an editor for the publisher of the journal associated with SLS. I'm in deep, folks... at least until I have to renew again in the winter. Then I can let those memberships laps.

But thinking about those has got me thinking about memberships in writerly organizations, and I don't know which are the best for a budding writer on a limited budget. For example, SCBWI is $85 for the first year. I'm sure it's worth it, but that figure about makes me want to faint. Membership in LSA was only $20! I could stay a linguist for four more years and still be able to buy lunch.

Okay, I'm done complaining.  SCBWI offers lots of great services and perks to members. The question is: do I belong there?

Really, that's the problem. I don't know where I belong. I could join SCBWI, but my work straddles YA and adult. Would SCBWI be a good fit for me? What about RWA (at $110)? I don't really consider myself a romance author, though there are strong tones of romance. How about SFWA? Well, a quick look at their website indicates that I'm not eligible, anyway.


So, help me out. What societies are out there for a writer trying to make her way? If you're a member, do you feel you get your money's worth from the dues? How do you make the most of your memberships?

Laughter is the Best Medicine Blogfest

 Jokes. I'm not the best joke teller.

But when I saw this on Leigh's blog, I had to join. I've been needing more reasons to laugh lately, and I hope being a part of this blogfest will give me a couple giggles.

Thanks to Leigh and Lydia for hosting today!

So, here's my attempt at telling a joke, which is neither writerly- nor work-related. It's kid-related. Maybe that's cheap. If you think so, sorry. But, then again, you don't have to read it :)

When I was a kid, I had a real problem with this joke:

What's black and white and read all over?

(It doesn't seem so hard to figure out when it's written down, does it?)

I never understood "read", but only "red". I knew the answer was a newspaper, but I had no idea how a newspaper could be red. I can't remember if anyone ever tried to explain it to me or not, either. If someone did, I was too stubborn, or else I promptly forgot again.

One day my parents were reading the paper over breakfast. My mother complained about a recent PETA incident, with people throwing red paint all over people (I was too young to understand what PETA was or why they would throw paint). But from this I realized the answer:

What's black and white and red all over?

A newspaper that pissed of PETA.

Let the collective groaning commence.

What to read more jokes that are (hopefully) much better than mine? Check out Leigh's entry for today, with the linky list at the bottom.

A happy, giggly Monday to you!

Changes, Constants, and the Big Announcement

Anyone know what happened to Blogger over the past few days? I suppose that’s what I get for delaying my announcement.

So, as some of your may know, I just finished my time in graduate school. Hurray! I’ve decided to move on to other things—like writing (plus a part-time gig)—to while away the hours. For a while it didn’t look possible, but my husband was offered a pretty nice new job with his shiny new PhD. We’ll be moving in August, though just across town. My life is full of changes right now, though they’re all for the better.

But I’ve got one consistent thing in my life… okay, yeah, I’ve got TONS of them, considering we’re not moving to South Dakota or Peru or something. But, when it comes to the relevance of this blog, I have something that’s strongly consistent.

The blog itself.

May 31st marks my one-year blogiversary!

And you know me. I HAVE to celebrate. What does that mean?

BLOGFEST :)

To celebrate, I’m hosting the What’s the Score Blogfest.

On June 1st, post any number of songs, artists, composers, posers, who/whatever that you might want to include in the soundtrack to your WIP. YOU’RE IN CHARGE! You make the soundtrack the way you want it.

Don’t have a WIP? Is your WIP’s soundtrack personal and not something you want to share? No problem! Take your favorite book, or the book your reading right now, or a book you remember well, and make a soundtrack for it.

Want to enter? The Linky List is at the bottom of the page.

Are you thinking, “Meh. Too much work?” Can I add a little incentive?

No celebration is complete without prizes, right?

Prizes:

• Every person who participates is automatically entered to win either a $20 AMAZON GIFT CARD.
• Every person who participates is automatically entered to win a BOOK OF HIS/HER CHOICE from Amazon.
• Anyone who WANTS to have their name added to win either a CHAPTER CRITIQUE or a QUERY CRITIQUE, just let me know in a comment ON THIS POST.

Odds of winning?

Honestly, I have no idea, and I’m horrible at statistics, so I can’t really answer that.

HOWEVER, would you like a better chance to win?

• +1 participating
• +2 current follower (as of 5/13/11) / +1 new follower
• +1 for Tweeting (max. 3; include @rosieanabelle in your Tweet)
• +1 for Facebook post (please provide a link)
• +3 for adding the graphic to your sidebar (please provide a link)
• +5 for posting about it (please provide a link)

That’s a total maximum of 15 points. Talk about increasing your odds!

Well, I hope the announcement was worth the wait, especially with Blogger being funny. Hope to see you on June 1!