Top Ten Tuesdays: Top 10 Series I didn’t finish

September 25, 2012September 19, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 1 Comment

1) House of Night by PC Cast

Product Details

I really enjoyed the first couple of books from this series. But after a while, I just got tired of Zoe stringing along every.single.guy.in.the.series. Plus the timeline doesn’t make sense. School just started like a week ago by book what, 50?

2) In Death Series by JD Robb

This is my go to series when I run out of books, but I have a hard time keeping up with books I’ve read versus books I haven’t. Pretty formulaic, but the biggest reason I haven’t finished this series because new books come out all time time

3) Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine

I actually really enjoyed this series, but the books are so expensive and it’s such a short read, that when a plot line ended and a new one picked up (around book 11 I believe) I took that opportunity to stop reading the series.

4) Dragonlance by Margaret Weiss and Tracey Hickman

Lets face it, awesome series but there is no way anyone will ever have enough time to finish every single book in it. I made a point to read any new ones by the big two writers of it (see above) but they took a super long break between trilogies (multiple years) and I haven’t picked it back up yet

5) The Hollows by Kim Harrison

I like this series, I just haven’t gotten back to it since Pale Demon. I’m so far behind on all my reading

6) Anita Blake by Laurel K Hamilton

I read the first of this, and it was… I’m just not an erotica reader. That’s all.

7) Parker Blue’s bite me series

I really liked the first book. I would have liked the second book, except that they did this thing with internal dialogue WHERE WHEN A TELEPATHIC CHARACTER SPOKE IT WAS ALWAYS IN ALL CAPS. EVERY SINGLE LINE OF SPEACH FROM THIS ONE CHARACTER WAS WRITTEN LIKE THIS. IT WAS VERY JARRING.

I couldn’t finish the book, so I can’t finish the series. Which is such a shame because it was SO good

8) Evermore by Alyson Noel

I really couldn’t get into this series. It made no sense to me. I don’t know what kind of mental barrier I hit, it sounded interesting, but it just… I couldn’t understand the characters or their motivation.

9) True Blood by Charlaine Harris

I really like Mrs. Harris, her Shakespeare town series is awesome. I just couldn’t get past the first book for this one. I know, I’m a traitor to all poplar fiction.

10) So you want to be a wizard by Diane Duane

One of my favorite childhood series came out with a few books many many many many years after Wizards at War. I just haven’t picked it back up yet.

The Search for Cerberus

September 20, 2012December 13, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 3 Comments

If you’ve read Persephone, then you know that Cerberus, the giant three headed guard dog of the Underworld has been missing ever since Hercules borrowed him and drank from the Lethe.

Hades still misses his dog, so the search is on. I’ll be hosting a search for Cerberus web quest that will be going on until the sequel to Persephone, Daughter of the earth and Sky, is released on January 4th.

I need a few things from my readers. First, a picture of Cerberus in some unlikely location. I’ll be accepting entries, and we’ll be voting on them until December 1st. The winner will get a mention in the sequel as the person who discovered Cerberus in that unlikely hiding place. You’ll also win an advanced copy of Daughter of the Earth and Sky

December 1-31 the webquest will go live. Anyone who finds Cerberus and comments on his location will have a shot of winning one of three free copies of Daughter of the Earth and Sky.

Let the search begin:

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 authors I want to meet

September 18, 2012September 11, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / Leave a comment

1) Kelley Armstrong- love her books!
2) Peter Beagle- I met him at dracon con once but was so tongue tied my husband ended up introducing us and filling the awkward silence I provided
3) Frank Peretti- he was one of my favorite authors when I was little
4) Scott Westerfeld- loved uglies so much, I want to meet the mind that made that happen
5) Gail Carson Levine- Ella Enchanted is one of the best children’s books ever written.
6) Karen Hesse- I’m so close to actually meeting her but so far. She’s my friends mothers friend. She wrote Out of the Dust.
7) Laurie Halse Anderson- Again, I just love her book
8) Phillip Reynolds Naylor- I loved her witch series, it’s still one of the scariest books ever
9) L.J Smith- my earliest influence
10) Christopher Moore- I think he’s hysterical. If you haven’t read Fool, run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore and get a copy

Win copies of Persephone for your book club!

September 13, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / Leave a comment

Win a copy of Persephone for your entire bookclub and a skype session with me. It’s really easy. Sign up here
http://euterpe-ya.blogspot.com/2012/09/back-to-school-with-kaitlin-bevis.html

Taking a moment to remember

September 11, 2012September 3, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 1 Comment

I just wanted to take a moment to remember all the lives lost on this day. I’ll never forget sitting in my chorus class freshmen year and listening to my principals garbled voice on the intercom saying something about a plane crash. Or was it a building? We couldn’t tell.

I remember leaving chorus class and thinking that school seemed oddly quiet. The bell had rung, but no one was out in the hall. All the televisions were on in all the classrooms. I went to PE next, and it wasn’t until lunch that I realized what happened.

I have family in New York, and an Uncle who works for the Pentagon. I called my mom to make sure everyone was okay, and learned a friend of the family was missing. I remember sitting in Biology class and crying while watching the news, thinking about all the kids in New York that would be waiting for their parents to pick them up from school, hoping their parents weren’t in the building that day.

And I remember knowing the pain I felt that day was nothing compared to those who had truly lost someone. People lost husbands and wives and parents and friends. However sad I was, it was nothing compared to them.

I remember, and I’ll always remember. It seems so strange to me that I have a PTO meeting tonight, and that my husband has an interview this afternoon. Life goes on I guess, but I just wanted to take a second to stop and to remember.

Over 3,000 people lost their lives on this day so many years ago. I won’t forget you.

Top Ten Tuesday

September 11, 2012September 3, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 1 Comment

Todays Top 10 books are books that make you think:

1) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Amazing book, really made me reconsider how we look at beauty in society. Great what if premise

2) Life as We Knew It

This book made me feel cold and hungry when I was reading it. It was the dead middle of summer and I was curled up under a quilt doing a mental inventory of the food in my house. I actually started buying non perishables to keep on hand, just in case, thanks to this book.

3) Keeper of the Universe

Keeper of the Universe

Really puts free will into perspective. I changed my mind a couple of times while reading this book

4) I don’t remember the name of this book, but it was amazing. It was about a group of kids whose parents join a cult that believes the rapture is happening on a particular date on a mountain top. Very thought provoking

5) The Face on the Milk Carton

Made me wonder what if I’m not who I think I am

6) Locomotion

Made me cry

7) Wintergirls

Gave me a whole new perspective on anorexia

8) Shadow Eyes

Spoilers

9) Go Ask Alice

Chilling book

10) Traffic Jam

I can’t go into it without giving it away

Thursday Review: Traffic Jam

September 6, 2012September 3, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / Leave a comment

The world echoed, faded, and went dark”First, what an awesome line! Sorry, writer fan girl moment. Back to serious review stuff.I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up Traffic Jam. This was not my happy young adult world of cool powers, and romantic relationships (though there is a bit of romance). This was a much darker, much more realistic place that we all like to pretend doesn’t exist.

Groeling writes dread well. I read this book with baited breath and a twisted stomach, terrified at what I’d find on the next page but unable to stop reading. The book was well named on a bunch of levels and reading it was like driving by a car accident, in a really good way. I had the same feeling when I read The Lovely Bones. The subject matter was horrific, but the writing was beautiful, the plot compelling, and the characters felt real. They mattered.

Val was amazing. I love how real her reactions felt. She would see something and freeze, or become speechless, and later, when she had time to process what was happening, furious and protective, and fierce and vulnerable.

As far as the subject matter goes, Groeling handled that with a skilled hand. The content was horrifying, but never gratuitous. No lines were crossed, in fact the book was downright chaste.

I keep talking about the subject matter, so I want to be clear that this book isn’t just an issue book. I never felt like I was being preached at or given a public service announcement. I never had a secret life of the american teenager moment, where in the middle of the story a random character starts spitting out statistics and medical stuff. This was a story that happened to surround an issue, not an issue with a plot to inform and interest the masses.

I could write about this book all day, but the gist of it is I couldn’t put it down. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see this novel become the next big thing everyone’s talking about.

Want to learn more about Melissa Groeling? Click here.

Top Ten Tuesdays

September 4, 2012December 13, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 1 Comment

This weeks Top Ten are top ten books to be read this fall

From Broke and Bookish

My real top ten are boring. Until I take the GRE Lit test, I’m not reading anything fun. So I’m putting up the top ten books I wish I could be reading!

1) City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (I love this writer, and I have a ton of her books to catch up on

City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments)

2) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

3) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

4) My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent (If you haven’t read these books, buy it now)

5) If I die by Rachel Vincent

6) Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

7) The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht

8) When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald

9) Maze Runner by James Dashner

10) First Frost by Liz DeJesus

Sharon interviews me about Persephone

August 28, 2012December 13, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / Leave a comment

This blog was originally posted on Sharon’s website here. Sharon interviews several young adult writers, and has written an amazing book called The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantas.

I want to thank and welcome author, Kaitlin Bevis for sharing her personal writing journey with us on my blog today. Her book, Persephone, can be purchased fromMusa Publishing, Amazon, and other on-line bookstores.

How long have you been writing, Kaitlin?

I’ve been writing all my life. Before I could write I played pretend. I’ve always loved writing and loved reading. I’ve never been shy about revising. If something I read or watched didn’t end the way I wanted it to, I’d rewrite it. I’ve taken every creative writing class I could find in high school and college, and spend a good chunk of my weekends with my writers group.

Where did you get your idea and inspiration to write Persephone?

Oddly enough the Clash of the Titans trailer. The tag line “damn the gods” somehow got my Brian thinking about Persephone. The trailer was awesome. The movie was so bad that I actually managed to get the entire book drafted in my head while watching it.

What sets Persephone apart from other books in the same genre?

For one thing the gods themselves are the main characters. Not Demi-gods, not humans caught in the crossfire. The myths aren’t back story, they are in the process of happening. Also, Hades isn’t the bad guy. He’s not even a bad guy that the power of love can change. He’s a genuinely decent guy, who was just trying to help save a damsel in distress.

As an author, Kaitlin, what is your writing process?

I get a very rough outline and then start writing. My first draft reads a lot like a synopsis with short bursts of description and dialogue. Then as I start fleshing out my plots, subplots and characters the story gets longer and longer and longer. My next draft deals with details. I’m really bad about getting all of the details into place for a strong setting, so I tend to overcompensate. That’s my longest draft. After that I cut all the places I went overboard on details, submit the draft to my writers group, revise, and submit again. Then I let a different group of friends read it, revise based on their suggestions and sent it to my good friend who’s also a copy editor for a final look over before submitting it to my editor.

How long did it take for you to start and finish Persephone?

I started the summer of 2009 and submitted it December of 2011. I didn’t really count it as finished until after it went through two rounds of content editing with my editor and copy editing. That just got finished this summer. So three years?

Do you have any advice for other writers, Kaitlin?

Join a writers group, and listen to their critique. No matter how awesome your story is you don’t know more than they do because you’ll always be the writer of your story, not the reader. You know why everything is the way it is, so really you can’t tell if you did a good enough job conveying it. They can. If only one or two people in a group suggest a change, you can take it or leave it. But if the entire group is telling you “yeah, I really don’t get this scene” don’t get all smug and act like they’re idiots. Because that’s the exact scene that’s going to stop your book from getting published when a slush reader (who is still not you and is not in your head) reads it and goes “huh, I don’t get this.” and rejects it.

What’s next for Kaitlin Bevis the author?

Books two and three. Book two has gone through the whole process, so it’s just waiting for my editor. Book three just got started. Once I finish with the third book, I’ve got another trilogy in mind, set in the same universe, and a single book in mind that’s set in a different universe. I can’t decide which one I want to work on next. It’s a moot point until book three is done anyway. I’m very excited about the direction the third book is taking.

Okay, here’s one for me, since I’m writing a time travel series – If you could time travel anywhere into Earth’s past, where would you go and why?

That’s a tough one! I like Jane Austin times, because of all the pretty clothes and dances and the nice manners. I wouldn’t want to stay too long though. I really enjoy indoor plumbing, and air conditioning, and having rights. Then I would travel a bit further in the future, make some deposits in high yield savings accounts, invest in some stocks and such. Otherwise I’m really happy where I am.

Blurb:

The “talk” was but enough, but how many teens get told that they’re a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn’t until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.

Links:

Musa Publishing: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=326

Blog: www.kaitlinbevis.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaitlin-Bevis/224768864266454

Twitter: @kaitlinbevis

Sick

August 24, 2012 / kaitlinbevis / 2 Comments

I am sick. It’s just a cold, but I feel like I’m on deaths door. It’s amazing how easy it is to wave off colds. How quickly I forget. Scratchy throat, headache, stuffy nose, ugh. Luckily my cold waited until the end of my super busy week to smack me down. Unfortunately it didn’t notify my daughter that Mommy needs rest. It also doesn’t care all that much about the book I’m working on.

I’m experimented with the point of view in the third book. I was torn between a dual narrative between Hades and Persephone, or Aphrodite and Persephone. Now I’m thinking of doing all three. Crazy? Probably, but I’ll get the official verdict from my writers group next Saturday. IF I can get over this cold long enough to write.

Ugh…