The Shapeshifters Secret: Character Interview & Blog Tour

 

Like any sixteen-year-old, Julia's used to dealing with problems. From her overprotective father to her absent mother to a teacher who definitely has it in for her. But everything changes when Julia's reactions become oddly vicious and angry?more animal than human. This action-packed adventure has it all: humor, romance, and a plot that'll keep you guessing to the very last page

   I am very excited to have two characters from The Shapeshifters Secret here for an interview today. Introducing Terrence Daniels (Left)  and Caleb Glyndor (Right).   

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• Good morning Terrence and Caleb, thank you for being here at My Life With Books today. How did you two meet?

Terrence: “We met in the Soldier Union when Caleb joined the ranks. I had worked with his father, Liam Glyndor, for quite some time and I was looking forward to working with Caleb.”

• Are you two friends?

Terrence: Nods. “Yeah, definitely. All of the soldiers are my friends.”

Caleb: Looks unenthusiastic. “We’re friends…enough.”

• Caleb, How did Julia go her whole life and not know about you?

Caleb: “While Julia was growing up in New York, I was in Ossai—our world—attending school at Lockham Castle. She wasn’t allowed near Ossai, and she didn’t need to know the truth until her shapeshifting abilities began.”

• Caleb, how did you feel about attending human public school in order to protect Julia?

Caleb: “I found public school to be monotonous and slow paced, but it was safest option we had for Julia. I needed to watch over her in case she shapeshifted into her werecat.”

• Terrence, how do you feel that Caleb was watching over your girlfriend?

Terrence: “Well, at the time she wasn’t my girlfriend. But I really am extremely appreciative for everything that Caleb has done to keep Julia safe—including risking his own life. We have our differences, but ultimately we’re fighting for the same cause.”

• Terrence, what did you think of Julia the first time you saw her?

Terrence: “The first thing I noticed about Julia was her eyes. They’re stunning.” He smiles. “I was first attracted to her because of her looks, but then I fell in love with her because of her personality.”

Caleb: Opens his mouth to say something, but then quickly closes it.

• Caleb, what did you think of Terrence's reaction to her?

Caleb: “I think they claimed they were in love way too early. I really don’t understand their rush, or how they thought it was okay to keep their relationship a secret from Julia’s father.”

Terrence: Turns to Caleb. “If I recall correctly, you and your girlfriend fell for each other rather quickly as well.”

Caleb: Avoids eye contact. “That is extremely different.”

• What did each of you think the first time you saw Julia transform?

Terrence: “Julia was fast and unbelievably strong. I remember thinking that her white tiger werecat was beautiful—just like her.”

Caleb: Clears his throat. “I was worried for Julia when she first shapeshifted. She didn’t know her own strength. She was scared and confused. It was lucky that I caught her in time before she did any real damage. Terrence on the other hand encouraged her to shapeshift prematurely, endangering herself and others.”

Terrence: Rolls his eyes slightly. “She was fine. No one got hurt.”

• Terrence, how do you feel about Caleb and Julia's friendship?

Terrence: “I understand that Julia has many friends. Sierra, Gabriel, and Caleb are all important in Julia’s life. Though sometimes it’s difficult knowing how close Julia is with Caleb’s family when she hasn’t even met mine.”

Caleb: Smiles complacently.

• Caleb, how do you feel about Terrence and Julia?

Caleb: “I think it’s obvious that I disapprove of their relationship. The fact that they were sneaking around is proof enough that Terrence is a bad influence.”

Terrence: Lets out a small laugh and raises his eyebrows. “It’s Julia’s decision to make.”

• Terrence, when did you realize you loved Julia?

Terrence: Grins. “I knew immediately when I met Julia that something was different about her. She was so passionate and spirited. And though I do believe in love at first sight—“

Caleb: Scoffs.

Terrence: “—I’d say I first knew I loved Julia when I helped her shapeshift at the beginning of the school year.”

Caleb: “Which once again, was incredibly dangerous.”

Terrence: Sighs.

• Thank you Terrence and Caleb for taking the time to answer these questions. Good luck with your future missions in the Soldier Union.

Terrence: Nods. “Thank you for having us.”

Caleb: “Thanks.”

***** The Shapeshifters Secret Launch party will be at The Kings English in Salt Lake City Utah on June 14th at 7 PM. If you cannot attend the event, you can pre order an autographed, personalized autographed copy or unsigned copy by going to their webpage. If you want your copy personalized you can call
 them (801-484-9100) or email them (onlineorders@kingsenglish.com). You can pick up your copy in the store or have it shipped to you. Yes they do ship internationally.  *****
Pre order The Shapeshifters Secret at The Kings English Bookshop, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Author Website: http://www.heatherostler.com/ Author blog: http://heatherostler.blogspot.com/Publisher Blog http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/Publisher Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cedarfortbooks Publisher Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/cedarfortbooks 

Giveaway, Tour & Review: The Book Bloggers Cookbook by Christy Dorrity

 

The 2012 Book Blogger's Cookbook is a community project from some of the blogosphere's best book bloggers in a simple, easy to read format. The cookbook combines a love of reading and dining to help you find books you'll devour and recipes you can't put down.

You’ll love The Book Blogger’s Cookbook because….

The Book Blogger’s Cookbook has 50 different book reviewers from every corner of the blogosphere. It bridges the gap between author and reader—putting you in touch with book reviewers who can separate the 5 star books from the mediocre.

The Book Blogger’s Cookbook showcases great reads and provides an interactive experience with links to author and book reviewer websites. The cookbook is created for those who like to experience what they read long after they’ve closed the book.

The Book Blogger’s Cookbook tells why each recipe complements its companion book. Recipes and books combine to make the reading experience satisfying and entertaining.

Book launch and Contest:

Every person who comments on one of the blogs during the tour will be entered to win a grand prize: a copy of every book featured in The 2012 Book Blogger's Cookbook (22 in all, over $200 value).

About the author:

Christy Dorrity loves to read about cooking and cook about reading. She was taught early to have a discriminating taste for both books and food. Christy grew up on a trout ranch in Star Valley, Wyoming. She taught elementary school and lives in the mountains with her husband Devon and their five young children. When Christy's not reading or writing, she's probably trying out a new recipe in the kitchen.

http://www.christydorrity.com/

christy@dorrity.net

twitter: @christydorrity

My Thoughts:

No doubt you are here reading this post on this blog because you love books just as much or more than I do. There is nothing like a literary adventure to escape your own world, find a new love, fear for your life or solve an unsolvable murder mystery. Sometimes these adventures seep out into other aspects of an avid readers life. For instance, you will hear about authors that have composed a lovely play list to go along with their novel. I too have found myself thinking of Shiver's Sam and Grace when I hear Trains - Hey, Soul Sister or of Rose and Demitri's forbidden love when the soulful rendition of Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley sooths my mind.

Author Christy Dorrity takes us one step further in The Book Bloggers Cookbook by adding another one of the human bodies amazing senses to her love of books. By creating and sharing recipes that easily accompany some of her favorite books, Christy has written the second edition of The Book Bloggers Cookbook.

The evolution of recipes merging with literary loves only seems natural. After all, every time I make Venison Chili I think of Katniss and Gale, or Apple Pie reminding me of The Dark Divine and even Chocolate Frogs taking me back to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. Yes, even food ties me to my favorite books and now that you think about it, you may be realizing it does the same for you.

Not only does The Book Bloggers Cookbook have delicious recipes - all 22 of the recipes are paired with the description and cover of the inspiring book. For example, the recipe that I know will be a family favorite at every summer picnic, reunion and camping trip is Root beer Cookies. Inspiration for this recipe comes from Shannon Hale's Austenland, a book I have not yet read, but have discovered I will enjoy because of this great Cookbook.

I recommend The Book Bloggers Cookbook for any book blogger or cook out there; especially those of you that have a passion for the Young Adult genre. In addition to excellent book recommendations and recipes you will find quotes from many of today's popular book blogger's.

The Book Bloggers Cookbook recieves a five skully review from My Life With Books by combing two things I all love and must have to survive - good books and food.

You can purchase The Book Bloggers Cookbook on Amazon.com.

Recipe Highlight:

With permission from Christy I would like to share the Modern Day Root Beer Cookies recipe:

Modern Day Root Beer Cookies When the romantic regency era setting that she always dreamed of immerses Jane, in Shannon Hale’s Austenland, she is pulled between her fantasy and reality. A quick root beer drinking fling with the "gardener" is just what she needs to ground her and help her see what she really wants. Root beer stars in this cookie recipe that will remind you of summertime root beer floats.

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon root beer extract

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons root beer extract

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk and 1/2 teaspoon root beer extract. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Stir in walnuts.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Place on a wire rack to cool. 

Combine the frosting ingredients and beat until smooth. Frost the cooled cookies and watch them disappear! Yields about 5 dozen cookies.

In addition to sharing this recipe, I had the opportunity to ask Christy a couple of questions regarding The Book Bloogers Cookbook:

Will you continue to do The Book Bloggers Cookbook?

I plan to do the cookbook annually until I have at least 5 volumes. At some point I will combine the volumes and print physical copies.


Who gives you the recipes (Are they from the authors)?

The recipes come from my kitchen. They are family favorites that have been passed down, and new recipes that I find in my experimenting. When I read a book, I am always on the look out for a possible match of food or theme that can be represented by one of my favorite recipes.
How do you decide which books will be highlighted?

I read quite a few books in a year and I just read whatever sounds interesting to me. I include mostly YA because that is what I read most of. I do read other books that are not included in the cookbooks and I leave them out if I don't like the read, or if it is not mainstream. For example, I read quite a few books that are written for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I don't feel that they are mainstream enough for the audience of the cookbooks. Also, the reads I include are clean and have little violence. Every year I try to include at least a few self-published ebooks that I feel are high quality and worth the read. 
 

Thank you Christy for writing such a great recipe book and stopping by My Life With Books today.

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For links to additional tour stops and reviews for The Book Bloggers Cookbook check out Christy's Website. Remember that every person who comments on one of the blogs during the tour will be entered to win a grand prize: a copy of every book featured in The 2012 Book Blogger's Cookbook (22 in all, over $200 value).

To enter leave a comment below - do you have any food that makes you remember your favorite book? A recipe you would want to share that was inspired by a book? Tell me about it, I would love to hear how your love of reading has seeped into other aspects of your life. Maybe it's not food, maybe just music or of some other book attribute - just tell me about it for your entry into the contest.  

Happy 13th Anniversary and an Embarrassing Moment

This past week was my 13th wedding anniversary so I thought I would share a little about myself in celebration of the fun years my husband and I have had together. And to make it worth your while, I will end this post with one my husbands favorite memories and one of my many embarrassing moments.  How it started: Kenny and I met in January 1998 at a kava party. He ask me to dance in Club Kitchen and I said yes. He was the perfect gentleman dancing arms length away from me. Oh your wondering what club kitchen is? All those good looking guys in one house and the plethora of parties they threw inspired a disco ball as a kitchen light. The music was always loud and the crowds were always coming and going - dancing was a must.  Our first kiss was on March 17 1998. He kissed me goodnight on my for head.  It was the sweetest kiss I have ever gotten.  We dated through the summer and I had to tame him of his wild ways before he thought about settling down. I was not nor had I ever been into the lifestyle he was currently living. By July he told me he loved me. I knew I loved him with that first kiss on my for head. :)  I knew he was serious about me when he bought a gun and gave it to me. That was long term commitment from him.  We were engaged on October 3, 1998 and married in April 1999.  Our marriage: I am not one to boast about perfect relationships. I feel like most of the time people self promote their perfect relationships is for selfish reasons. The person who needs to hear it is the one you love. So instead of professing our "perfect love" I will share with you memorable snip its of our life together.  Two months married and I was going insane. That man never replaces a roll of toilet paper. After finally having the last time I was willing to be stranded on the toilet we had a little talk. I told him how it really bothered me that he would leave an abandoned toilet paper holder knowing it needed to be replaced. In turn he said ok, it really drives me nuts that you don't shut the cabinet doors all the way. You walk under them, I walk into them.  I looked at him and said "WHAT? I'm not perfect?" Then we laughed and found our happy medium of telling each other how we feel. I highly recommend it because it makes life easier.  Our heartbreak: After seven years of no pregnancies we elected to pursue infertility treatments. In June of 2006 we did in vitro fertilization. It failed, meaning his little men and my eggs were both missing genetic receptors that allow fertilization to occur. The embryologist and reproductive specialist were floored. They had never seen anything like it before.  Our joy: In January 2007 we adopted a very beautiful little girl. Followed by a little boy February 2008. Our family is complete.  Quirks: Now here is the fun stuff ;-)It drives me crazy that he puts things in high places. True he is 6'4 and eye level is one foot higher than my own eye level; but when I have to look on top of the fridge for the remote control or other important stuff it gets old and I feel short. I get after him and he just laughs.  It drives him nuts that I unlock the truck door get in and then ten miles down the road people start honking at us and pointing to the door. Yup I left the keys in the lock. I giggle. :)  I love that Kenny is big, strong and intimidating.  I love that he makes me feel safe all the time.  I love that an old man in a wheel chair rammed into to Kenny (with said wheel chair) and said " Didn't I see you on WWF last night?"  Or when the the 100 year old black gentleman told him he always wanted his daughter to marry a guy like him because "big boys make good cotton pickers." Then the old man laughed hysterically with his toothless grin, slapped Kenny on the back and said just "messin' with you."  I love that he gracefully was hit on by a very attractive man in Seattle. Kenny ordered a meatball sub and the sub maker said "I'll make a special meat ball sub for you mister." Kenny blushed and the sub maker giggled. I think Kenny made his day.   I love that he handle's all of these situations with a sense of humor.  I love that he handles me and my emotions..  I love that  he loves me.  So thank you for indulging me by letting me reminisce about good times and bad times. As promised, here is one of Kenny's favorite stories to tell about me and happens to be one of my most embarrassing moments.  ***** While we were dating I went on a deer hunting trip with Kenny and a camp full of Kenny's closest hunting buddies.
We were hiking through the aspens stalking a deer and I had the BIGGEST gut bomb coming on. I told him to go ahead and walk ahead of me I wanted to enjoy the views. He was about 30 yards in front of me when I felt it was safe to "let one go".

It was loud.
Louder than I thought it would be.
After I felt the immediate relief he turned around and put his finger to his lips and said "shhhh your going to scare the deer."
I wanted to die. I just knew the relationship was over.

To this day I still blush because of the horrendous noise and he still loves me despite it.

Oh and his hunting buddies, they all thought it was funny too.

The blue dart jokes were endless.......

    

What I'm Reading

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

 

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

 

 

Utah Author Events - May 3-5

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May 3 2012 7:00 pm @ The Kings English Bookshop - Melanie Thorne will read and sign her highly praised new novel, Hand Me Down.

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May 4, 2012 from 5 to 6:30 PM @ The Provo Marriot there will be a book signing featuring authors that are participating in the LDStorymakers Conference.  Some authors that will be signing are Lani Woodland, Kevin J. Anderson and Dave Wolverton. There could potentially be over 100 authors signing. Follow this link to see a list of authors participating in the conference.

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May 4, 2012 @ 7:00 PM The Kings English Bookshop Spring into Summer reading event will showcase a selection of authors for young adults including Luisa Perkins (Dispirited), David Smith (The Dark Eagle's First Flight), Cindy Hogan (Protected and Watched), and Elizabeth Anderson (Impressions).

       

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May 5, 2012 @ 7:00 PM The Kings English Bookshop presents a night with Pendrel authors including Angela Corbett and her debut novel, Eternal Starling, Lani Woodland, author of Indelible and Intrinsical. California writer Dan Haring, author of Oldsoul, will round out the program. I have read these books and they are all wonderful - a definite do not miss event if you're in the area. And as always if you can't make it give Kings English a phone call and order your own autographed and personalized copy.

     

And just so ya know - I am absolutely GIDDY to meet these three authors! :)

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If you are attending the event's let me know - I would love to meet you!