Guest Post: Meredith Zeitlin

Meredith Zeitlin

Books: 
-Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters

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Meredith Zeitlin is a writer and voiceover artist who lives in Brooklyn with two adorable feline roommates. She also writes a column for Ladygunn Magazine, changes her hair color every few months, and has many fancy pairs of spectacles.

In case you're wondering whether any of Kelsey's experiences are based on Meredith's own, the answer is NO WAY. When she was fourteen, Meredith looked and behaved perfectly at all times, was never in a single embarrassing situation, and always rode to school on her very own unicorn.

When I first moved to Brooklyn, I babysat for an awesome little girl... who is now taller than I am, by the way. (Why?!?) Anyway, I would read her YA books while she did her homework, and with few exceptions, I found myself very bummed out by them. I thought they seemed cookie-cutter and not very well-written and, most importantly, not at all the sources of comfort I grew up with, which were filled with relatable characters who were awkward and desperately trying to figure things out. Instead these were all about super rich and sophisticated kids, the likes of which I certainly never met when I was fourteen.

Since then, I've been turned on to lots of amazing contemporary YA writers – they are definitely out there! But at the time, I was so disappointed. I thought, maybe I'll write something myself.

I had been writing a personal blog for a few years at that point (mostly to keep the creative juices flowing while I bartended and babysat and temped), which was basically an account of all the ridiculous things that always seem to happen to me. Of course, since I was a so-called adult, some of the recent adventures were a bit on the racy side, but I thought: What if I wrote a story that's about the disastrous things that happened when I was growing up? After all, I've almost completely recovered!

See, my own freshman year was a lot like Kelsey's. I started at a new school that year – an all girls' school, mind you – and had to deal with all the usual stuff plus not knowing anyone. I was a mess, naturally, and had all my I HAVE A GREAT PERSONALITY, CAN'T YOU TELL?! defense shields up from the moment I walked through the door. (Of course, I say that now, looking back from a distance of many years. At the time, I thought I was fooling everyone into seeing a totally confident and awesome gal who hardly minded her horrible bangs, braces, and the nose she hadn't grown into yet. Oh, the magic of hindsight.)

Like Kelsey, I did make friends and do interesting school things and have lots of fun. I also pissed off a scary junior who tortured me for the next two years (not to mention a REALLY mean teacher who held a grudge against me for four). I was in plays where insane things happened, and thought playing a sport I'd never heard of called lacrosse was a good idea, and went to a prom with a guy I barely knew who got kicked out for smoking pot and left me totally stranded. There were misunderstandings with friends and boys I agonized over and all the wrong ones who liked me and one mess after another. I figured I had more than enough material for a book.

So I came home one afternoon and sat down in my living room and wrote the first sentence – the same first sentence that you'll see in the finished version. I wrote a few pages and closed the computer. Then I watched a bunch of TV and ate some ice cream and thought: “I should really work on that some more.” Then the Procrastination Monster and I did everything BUT write for a while. And that was how the book got written, over about six months. When inspiration struck, I'd write something – for five minutes, or thirty – and then I'd do something else. And eventually... it was finished.

And there you have it: the book about a catastrophe-prone fourteen-year-old is actually about a slightly older (yep, that's what I'm going with) Brooklynite who loves candy and TV. And sometimes pulls it together long enough to write a book that she hopes kids (and their babysitters!) will relate to and love.

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Darkfever

Author: Karen Marie Moning
Release Date: August 28th, 2007
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Interest: Series
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands…

Moning knows how to write works of art. Her beautifully, well woven tales of love, secrets, and betrayals keep people coming back for more.

I was not sure what to expect when I picked this book up, besides that it would surround the Fae as her other book series did. I should have known thought that it would be just as awesome and give the readers a lot more to go on.

After the death of her sister, MacKayla Lane, or Mac as she's called, travels to Dublin in order to find her sister's killer. What she finds though is a world of dangerous, alluring faeries that have come into her world to create chaos, and a dark and mysterious Jericho Barrons, who insist on keeping Mac close at hand. Not to mention she has a death-by-sex fae, V'lane, following her around.

Mac is an incredibly witty, smart, and down-to-earth girl who has a fashion sense like no other and an unwanted heritage that has caused her to be every Fae's number one Most Wanted creature.

And than there is Barrons, who is a ball of mystery that I feel like the only way to find out anything about him is to actually read the entire series because I have a bad, bad feeling that Moning won't even let the reader's know who Barrons is until the end of the series. He is sexy and dark and something about him always makes Mac come to life.

This novel was a true masterpiece, and though it didn't focus too much on the romance area, it leaves tons of room for possibilities as Mac and Barrons are on the search for the Sinsar Dubh (have fun saying that word!) which, according to Mac, is corruption all on its own.

The book ends leaving readers wanting more. This is so worth the read, especially if there are paranormal, mystery lovers out there! I highly encourage this book.

Interview With Author Meredith Zeitlin's Cats.mov

The Deserter by Peadar O. Guilin

Title: The Deserter
Author: Peadar O. Guilin
Release Date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 336
Format: Advance Readers Copy
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: The Inferior
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 4 Stars

The humans are weak and vulnerable. Soon the beasts that share their stone-age world will kill and eat them. To save his tribe, Stopmouth must make his way to the Roof, the mysterious hi-tech world above the surface. But the Roof has its own problems. The nano technology that controls everything from the environment to the human body is collapsing. A virus has already destroyed the Upstairs, sending millions of refugees to seek shelter below. And now a rebellion against the Commission, organized by the fanatical Religious, is about to break. Hunted by the Commission's Elite Agents through the overcrowded, decaying city of the future, Stopmouth must succeed in a hunt of his own: to find the secret power hidden in the Roof's computerized brain, and return to his people before it is too late.

This is the second book that I have read that is the second in the series. I should really pay attention to what I request before I request it, but either way this book did in some ways make sense.

I'm not going to lie, I highly recommend reading the first book, which I wish I did. But after a while the reader can keep up with who is who and the main drama surrounding the novel, which I think worked well for Guilin. Even if someone doesn't read the first book, they at least won't be completely lost.

Stopmouth spends much of the novel looking for his love as he travels to a civilization that is supposed to be mainly utopian, but soon the discovery of the dystopia that is hidden beneath this novel. The novel did not differ from other traditional SF setting and the villains were pretty predictable as far as they are concerned. His own originality came with the basic plot-line, because I have not read a book with a character like Stopmouth before.

The ending felt a little rushed, but I think overall the novel did well to get it's point across. I think that Guilin could have done a little more to make some of the characters believable.

It didn't go too fast and it didn't go to slow, which I think helped Guilin a lot as well. I'm not sure what to say about this book that would not give too much away, because this book was good, but I felt like it could be better. Maybe it was just that I needed to read the first book for this to click for me a lot sooner or maybe it was just that there was something in his writing that turned me off, but I just felt a little meh about it.

It was good enough to receive a four in my book, but I feel like it needed a little something to add that spice to it. But I think it would be worth the read, for those that are looking for something.

Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Beyond the Highland Mist
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Release Date: March 9th, 1999
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Interest: Series
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

He would sell his warrior soul to possess her....

An alluring laird...

He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir.No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart--until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland.Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresistible challenge to the sixteenth-century rogue.Coerced into a marriage with Hawk, Adrienne vowed to keep him at arm's length--but his sweet seduction played havoc with her resolve.

A prisoner in time...

She had a perfect "no" on her perfect lips for the notorious laird, but Hawk swore she would whisper his name with desire, begging for the passion he longed to ignite within her.Not even the barriers of time and space would keep him from winning her love.Despite her uncertainty about following the promptings of her own passionate heart, Adrienne's reservations were no match for Hawk's determination to keep her by his side. . . .

I would never have found out about this book and this series if not for some of my friends who knew about my little obsession with men from the Highland. This was book was everything I had imagined and more.

Adrienne was this spark of light to Hawk, who was in desperate need of a wake up, got. She was funny, outgoing, and full of her own secrets that just added this mix of mystery and the need to find out who she is and where she came from.

And Hawk, if there ever was a man that I would want (as much as Jamie Fraser) it would have to be Hawk. I could not stop laughing long enough after Adrienne basically shot him down over and over again, and the way he just keeps coming back for more. I love how persistent he is, but I love more how he was getting a taste of his own medicine.

The sexual tension between the two was so strong that if anyone tried to get between the two they would just be thrown back. I was surprised that these two lasted for so long away from each other!

And of course there is Adam Black. I was not expecting that at all; when they said faeries, I was not thinking that the Fae would be around. But with all the Shakespeare that was being thrown into this book, I should not have been surprised at all. I was surprised that he would become such a bother for our two lovers and I just wanted to jump in and punch the bastards face in. Just saying.

Anyways, this book was great and I am falling in love with Moning's writing. She is not writing a novel, but poetry with her words. Just the first page sings of her wonderful well-deserved praises because I was trapped from the first sentence.

She is amazing and I won't be able to stop until I have finished all her novels, because this woman is amazing. This book is for all the romance lovers in the world and even for those that aren't. Buy, read, love, cherish. This book is so worth it.

Bloggers Block

So, I have a question for all those wonderful book reviewers out there - and just general bloggers even - how is it that you deal with bloggers block?

Let's face it: We have all had that moment where we come to our blogging site and get ready to write something really awesome, whether an amazing book or movie review or talking about the latest gossip or posting the newest Photoshop image that someone made or something or another. But then, when the blank page appears, it's like the mind just went blank and there is nothing to post.

Writers go through this and I fully believe that bloggers can go through this as well; I should know, I'm currently suffering from said Bloggers Block and writers block -- a double whammy.

And I think I have found the source of my own block and essentially it comes down to that my brain is so cluttered with everything else going on in my life that at the end of the day I end up looking like this:

Granted, not as pretty, but you get the picture. 

So when a day comes that I do have time (which may or may not be a sign that the Apocalypse is coming, that is still up in the air) shockingly I don't want to read or write anything because that's exactly what I have been doing 5 to 6 days a week. And when I don't read that completely defeats the purpose of a book reviewing blog, because I would obviously have nothing to review. 

Now the question comes in on how to defeat bloggers/writers block. Because granted, we are all busy, we all have lives, and we all get extremely exhausted at the end of a really busy week that all we want to do is feel a warm shower and a warm bed. 

I have yet to completely master defeating bloggers/writers block -- currently suffering right now, but I think I can come up with a few tips on how to get back into the funk of writing:

1. Take a break from reading. And I don't want to see the "No shit" face from anyone. I get it, this apparently defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to say, but if you are like me, as I believe the majority of you are, you are in school. Whether high school or college, school sucks the life out of you. And with school, especially college, there is so much reading to do. This semester I decided to go the suicidal route and take an eight week 400-level English class, in which we would have to read six books and write a twelve-page paper, and pray each day that our very pregnant professor would not pop in class. The class ended on Wednesday (March 7th) and I am so tired of reading, I don't want to look at another book again. When you're essentially reading a book a week it gets exhausting, so when it comes time to reading a fun book, that can feel more like a chore. 

I honestly believe that if someone wants to get back into the right mind-set of reading books they love and for fun (and not have the tendency to pick up a pencil to make notes, like someone would for a school book) then not reading would help. As much as most of us love books and reading, so much that we dedicate an entire blog to that, I think it's safe to say that there comes a time when people just get sick of reading. Active readers use way too much brain power, and I should know this because when I'm not reading, my brain actually has time to settle down and it screams GO TO BED. 

So I think a break from reading now and again always helps uncluttered the brain.

2. Go out and enjoy the day. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of reading outdoors and there are people out there that are and that's really great, but I think when it comes to the majority of people putting a book down or stepping away from the computer is always a great way to release some tension. With books people can get so lost in the world of imagination and creativity that some lose sight of our own world and I think that if a beautiful day comes along, people should go outside and enjoy it. Especially if someone lives in Wisconsin, where summer/spring is only two months long, and the rest of the year is winter. If it's sixty degrees and not a cloud in sight, go outside and enjoy the day. Who knows when that will happen again? 

And for those indoor readers like me, try reading outside. While I get that's completely the opposite advice that I gave above, it might be something to look into. A change of setting might be what someone needs. 

3. Get rid of your stress! I can pretty much say that this would embody my first two points, but I think that this is the primary cause of bloggers/writers block. It's something that I deal with on a daily basis and sometimes I have to remind myself to calm down. I am such a busy freshman; I'm out and about from eight in the morning until ten at night. If it's not school, it's work, and if it's not that it's some other crazy commitment I've made. College is supposed to be fun and I'm pretty much ruining it by making myself busy, even though if I wasn't busy I would probably complain that I'm bored, but that's beside the point. 

Stress does not let the brain work (unless you are someone who can only work under stress than this does not apply to you so please proceed to the rest of this post). A person under stress is constantly worried and active and has no time to sit down and actually read. And when someone does sit down, they fall flat on their face exhausted. The brain has too much on its mind to focus on reading or escaping or something else. With so much going on there's no time to think of some witty blog post or comment on the excellence or suckishness of a novel, because they are just too tired. 

This has worked for me in the past and I think it could work for some people; if a weekend comes up, do nothing! Like I said before, we all very busy people and have busy lives, but it is okay to turn off the cell phone, to turn off the internet and TV; believe me, you will not die. The world won't end if you don't answer your phone or check your Twitter or email or Facebook or MySpace (is anyone even on there anymore?) or Pinterest or whatever social networking site you are a complete addict of. In some serious cases I would strongly recommend that a person find a trustworthy friend to take said addictive technological device and move to a different, secret room somewhere. I know it'll be hard for some people, but I have complete faith that you can let go of technology for a few hours. 

While these three points are just somethings I would suggests everyone is different and so I would love to hear about some of your methods to avoid bloggers/writers block and what you do to avoid this situation:

Waiting on Wednesday

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

+May 1st, 2012

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences? This is life for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil.

Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

A cross-country trip forces Anna to face the reality that hope and love are not options for her kind. Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?