The Belgrave Daughter Blog Tour

Synopsis: 

The Septemgeminus Prophecy states: "A powerful sorceress with blood laced in gold sevenfold shall determine the fate of the world."

Fawn Belgrave's magical powers are the coveted prize in a bet between God and the Devil.

When she meets Caleb, the dark angel assigned to seduce her, Fawn's life is turned upside down.

About the Book:
 Title: The Belgrave Daughter

Author: Zara Hoffman

Series: The Belgrave Legacy #1

Expected release date: November 25th, 2013

Category: Young Adult (YA)

Genre: Fantasy Romance

View or buy at:

Goodreads, Amazon Kindle (US), Amazon Paperback (US), Barnes & Noble, CreateSpace, Kobo, or iTunes.

About the author:
Zara Hoffman is a teen author. She spends most of her time doing homework and writing new stories. When she isn’t wrapped up in projects, Zara can be found relaxing with friends and family, listening to music, reading and writing, or playing with her dog, Riley.

You can find Zara at:

Website: http://zarahoffman.com/

Blog:  http://www.zarahoffman.com/blog

Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorZaraHoffman

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AuthZH

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/authzh

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7259405.Zara_Hoffman

Promo:

So you decided to write a series! Most people–even in the writing world–will call you crazy for embarking on this long and arduous journey, but the satisfaction of writing your story over multiple books and getting to know your characters and plot super well will be worth it in the end. But before you jump head-first into writing the first book, you need to plan your series–even if only a preliminary sketch that will most likely change over the course of writing the series.
I've only read one book on fiction series, and that was Writing the Fiction Series by Karen S. Wiesner. I highly recommend it for everyone, even people who aren't writing a series because it speaks a lot about consistency, and everyone can use some more help with that. In addition to that, I really love The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing. It has great advice from many renowned writers. Both of these books I consider must-buys for all writers.
I'm a semi-plotter, semi-pantser. Or as Stephanie Morrill of Go Teen Writers says, I'm a "Plantser." Let me explain. I start writing the first scene that comes to mind and keep going until I get stuck. Then I go back and re-outline. I do this for non-series books, too. But with a series, after outlining the whole first book, I go ahead and roughly outline the next and maybe 3rd book. If there's more in the series, I may try and put something down for them too, but it depends. Then I go back and revise the first book to hint at what comes in the subsequent books (Karen Wiesner calls these "Series Plants" in Writing the Fiction Series, and honestly, they're genius devices).
My process involves lots of revision, no matter how good the first draft is, because if I do something in the first, it will always affect the later books, and I go back to the later outlines to reflect that.

If you're writing a series, you're in it for a long haul. Don't half-ass anything and cut corners. It will leave your story somewhat flat, and readers will lose faith in you incrementally as the series progresses unless you have it all together.

Enter the Giveaway, with a prize of five signed eBook copies of The Belgrave Daughter!
 http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6aea4a3/

Find the tour schedule here.

Young Adult Blog Party: Do Authors Have a Responsibility to Their Readers?

It is a miracle; I am posting. Actually posting. Thanks to Matt over at The Little Engine That Couldn't and his wonderful Blog Party, I have an actual idea for a post. Hurrah!

The blog party is all about a genre known best as YA, or Young Adult. I've seen a lot of talk on YA review blogs lately about what is actually appropriate for books for teens, and it's made me wonder: do the writers have a responsibility for the appropriateness?

My first answer would be very loud and very in the negative if you asked me this question. In fact, I might even slap you upside the head for comedic effect. Unfortunately, my second reply would be a quiet and begrudging yes. But not in the way you might think.
 A lot of aforementioned bloggers have talked about the sexual and explicit content of books. In fact, I'm pretty sure the (what seems to me when I have done no research whatsoever) rise in the 'Christian' genre is linked to this. Adults want their kids to read something 'clean' that affirms their own views and makes them accessible to what one adult calls 'the people of the tunnel', who laugh cynically at anything they need to believe in that isn't a fanon OTP. And that's good for them. I'm not going to go into that because it's a whole different kettle of morals.
 What I am going to go into is this idea that our young, impressionable minds can be dirtied and manipulated more than those of adults. This is where my emphatic, instinctive 'no' came from. Our society acknowledges that the media can manipulate us... but they also think that our generation -- the turned on generation, the one that will go and look for its own answers if it doesn't like the ones it finds -- are more likely to be twisted, simply because of our age. I have a giant issue with this. I may be gullible, but the rest of my generation aren't as stupid. If we see sex in a book, we're not going to be ruined like a maiden in Victorian literature. If we read a swear word in a book, it's not going to make us go around repeating it (after all, by the time you've made your way into the 'Young Adult' section of WHSmiths, you've already learnt a lot of things your parents never wanted you to know). We don't, as much as adults might feel it is their duty to do so, need to be protected from these things in our literature.

We need to explore them.

 And this is why I think that authors -- and not just the authors, but their editors and publishers too -- have a responsibility to us, their young readers. These people have a responsibility to show us the entire world, preferably objectively, and let us make up our own ideas. Like I said before, we're the internet generation; if we don't like what we hear, we'll Google search until we see something we agree with more. But we need to know we don't like it before we go a-looking. And we can't do that if we have clean, or even worse, biased novels shoved down our throats. The longer I spend on this earth, arguing my views with opposing parties, the more I think that, however right my political and philosophical views seem to me, it is wrong to try and force people onto my side. As a writer, I don't want to be writing novels as propaganda for my own beliefs. Not any more. I want to write something that will make people think about -- explore -- something. If they happen to find that they believe what I believe, then hurray. But that shouldn't be the main aim.

 In short, authors do indeed have a responsibility to their readers: not to censor things they don't need to know, but to let them think about the very things that the rest of the media restricts and come to their own conclusions.
At least, I think so.

Charlotte out!

Umm, guys... guys... GUYS!

YOU NEED TO VOTE FOR NOAH AGAIN! HE'S UP AGAINST DAEMON FROM OBSIDIAN AND ONYX AND ALL THOSE BOOKS!

I know, right? This is gonna be a tough one.

Thankfully, Noah is hot, considerate, dreamy, sexy, funny, and British, while Daemon is just a sorta-people-shaped light alien.

You know who else were glowy and sorta-people-shaped once?

Yeah, the Cybermen, right before they ripped their way into our world.

Now, I'm not saying Daemon's a Cyberman... but he's certainly not as feels-full as Noah. Daemon and Kitten's relationship is hot enough for sparks and broken laptops, I suppose, but Noah? Mr Shaw can make fires even on his own -- and I'm not just talking about his love of cigarettes, ladies. He is hot.

So what are you going to do, ladies and gentlemen, lovers of Noah all? Well, you're going to vote for Noah Shaw, of course!

Charlie out (to go vote)!

YA Crush Tourney Round Two

Yes, it is that time again; time to vote for Noah Shaw in the YA Sisterhood's Crush Tourney! For anyone who has forgotten why Noah Shaw from the Mara Dyer books is worthy of your votes, here's a quick recap:

• He's an animal lover
• He's from England (the place to be, I'll have you know)
• He has a 'panty-dropping smile'
• He's a book-worm
• He is almost constantly dishevelled
• He's brilliant at innuendos

By Anabelle at Mara Dyer Phillipines

You really need to know more? Head on over to The Page Sage's blog to find out more.

And then vote, minions, vote!

Charlie out!

Noah Shaw is in the YA Crush Tourney!

At this very moment, Noah Shaw, everyone's favourite fitty from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, is going up against Augustus Waters in the YA Crush Tourney. He could be losing at this very moment (I don't know, however, because this post is pre-written). We can't let that happen. It is time, 'rinos, for me to call in your loyalty. It is time for us to cast our votes at the YA Sisterhood blog.

Who can honestly resist a guy who swims with his clothes on?

No? Not impressed? Fine. I shall resort to bribery. Noah's advocate, Sara the Page Sage, is holding a giveaway at 5pm EST, aka 10 o'clock in England. All you have to do is vote for Noah (duh) and answer a trivia question correctly using the hashtag #VoteNoahShaw, for your chance to win a Noah Shaw bookmark.

Vote, minions, vote! Charlie out!

Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Yes, I'm back again with a lovely book that I don't really have the credentials to review. Enjoy!

Review: Heroes by Robert Cormier

So this one was for my ENGLISH LIT EXAM! You'd think that meant I hated it, but no, so therefore I am reviewing it.
 PS, this review will be just edging on the spoilery, especially if you're good at reading between the lines.
 Francis Cassavant has just come back home from the War and he has no face. But that's how he wants it to be. The War -- and the events that occurred before he left to fight it -- have taken their toll, and he doesn't want to be recognised. Not before his final mission is complete.

Review: Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Yes, I am back. But only because I need to vent/procrastinate/...alright, I'm too scared to go get the revision book for Physics back off my twin brother because he's an arse, okay?
But really, I needed to vent about this one.
Evangeline has lived at the convent for half of her life, but soon it will no longer be safe: her meeting with a seemingly innocuous art historian, Verlaine, have started wheels turning that should never be turned. A treasure will be unearthed, and life might just go to Hell. Literally. Sort of literally.

Book Review: Slated by Teri Terry

Kyla was a criminal in her past life, but now? She's been Slated: her memory has been taken away and she's been given a chance to be someone different. But Kyla isn't like other Slated kids, and as time goes on, she wonders whether she wants to be...

I have several things to say before normal viewing resumes...

Okay, number one: I have a lot of ideas (more on why in a later post) so you are going to get a lot more posts from me than usual in the next few days/weeks, depending on when I want to share them, since I'm gonna draft them now, mwahahaha... they'll be (hopefully) exciting!

 Number two: yes, for those of you who noticed that I did a book review yesterday, I have stopped reading Les Miserables. There'll be more on that later too.

Number three: I am attempting to write my first ever script (it's for a drama thing at school) so if anyone has any general tips, comment away!

Number four: I am also (yes I always put a lot on my own plate, I'm greedy and have an attention defecit) writing a modern-times-set short story retelling of Hamlet. Exciting!

Number five: It is snowing buckets here. Yay! Apocalypse time!

Number six: I'll leave you with this... FIERY HEART EXERPTS! THANK YOU RICHELLE MEAD AND PENGUIN! They are here and here. Exciting!

Bloodlines fan out!

Book Review: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

( For those of you crazy folks who actually follow all my posts, yes, I have hit pause on the Les Mis reading. More on that later, hopefully.)
 Evie thought she had a lot on her plate with staying out of the teen asylum -- thanks to her mum and her visions. She was wrong, of course. Her visions came true in a shocking, apocalyptic flash, and now she's fighting for her life. Add a bad boy to the mix, and what do you get? Tarot cards.

TCWT Blog Chain!

Yes, it's here! The Teens Can Write Too! Blog Chain! Yay!
And here's all the awesome blogs involved:

March 5^th – http://letsgetwriteral.blogspot.com   

March 6^th – http://themysteriousscribblingbook.wordpress.com/

March 7^th – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com/

March 8^th – http://charlieeatmybook.blogspot.co.uk/

March 9^th – http://kkazulwolf.wordpress.com/

March 10^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

March 11^th – http://fida-islaih.blogspot.com/

March 12^th – http://sarahhudsonscribbles.blogspot.ca

March 13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

March 14^th – http://aprilmayjay.blogspot.com/

March 15^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

March 16^th – http://oliviasopinions.wordpress.com/

March 17^th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/

March 18^th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/

March 19^th – http://paulinaczarnecki.wordpress.com/

March 20^th – http://notebooksisters.blogspot.com/

March 21^st – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com/

March 22^nd – http://myswordandpen.wordpress.com/

March 23^rd – http://mirrormadeofwords.com/

March 24^th – http://eatwritedie.blogspot.com/

March 25^th – http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com/

March 26^th – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com/

March 27^th – http://insatiablebeforedeath.wordpress.com/

March 28^th http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain)

 So, the prompt was 'Write a letter to an antagonist'. To be honest, I found it pretty hard to find an antagonist who I had the feels for, because I honestly have the mind of an actual sieve. However, if there's one antagonist that I feel kinda sorry for/has irritating ideas to cause havoc, it's Valentine Morgernstern from The Mortal Instruments. I apologise to those of you who haven't read TMI, because, although everyone hates spoilers (even River Song, chaotic murderer-extrordinaire), my letter might have just a few spoilers for the first three books of TMI. Sorry.

Charlotte Hall,

Eat My Book,

TCWT Blog Chain

Valentine Morgenstern,

A ditch somewhere,

Idris

Dear Valentine,

This is not a Valentine’s Day letter. Do not worry about that. Sheesh. Mucho creepy. Besides, it was last month – I suppose all your scheming makes the days fly by. It’s March, in case it was bothering you.

Anywho, I know you don't have a clue who I am and don't really care, but I just thought I’d write you to tell you about these brilliant parenting classes that they have on at my local library (they do all sorts there). I’m sure they’d benefit you. They cover all sorts of things, like how to teach your children to love. That’s one you have to work on, I’m afraid. You spend a lot of time teaching them how not to love, which isn’t beneficial. There’s other things too, of course, like health and safety; being cruel to be kind probably comes up – it’s right up your alley, you see?

How do you know all these things, I don't hear you say? Well, I've been hanging with some demon types, you know, that lot who are best friends with you and all that? The ones that you hate but actually are basically your work colleagues... woah. You're like the supernatural version of my dad. I'll hook you two up, see if you can't sort your problemos out together.

 But back to the point: health and safety is probably one of the most important parts of the parenting class. That’s what it says on the leaflet. It’s all about putting covers over fireplaces, cooking things thoroughly, not poisoning your children with demon and angel blood while they’re in the womb, that kind of thing.

 However, I’m afraid to say that, as far as I can tell, sibling relationships don’t come up, which is a bit of a let-down, I know. You really could have handled that whole thing better, especially since you told them they were brother and sister when they weren't. On the bright side, the class probably does cover lying to your children, which I'm sure is a bonus.

 Don’t get me wrong, I know it’ll be hard for you to get here, since you’re both dead and in Idris, but I honestly think it’ll be worth your while. Truly. Plus, if the parenting class goes well, there’s also this other class on for divorced men. You could learn how not to kidnap and torture your ex-wife.

 I hope you take what I’ve said into consideration. This class could really change your life, if you let it.

Yours sincerely,

Charlotte Hall

Good news, everyone!

Those of you who follow anything or anyone VA-based will probably already know this, but I'll tell you anyway:

Fiery Heart (Bloodlines No.4) will be out on 19th November... THIS YEAR!


I know, right? We don't have to wait a whole year! Just 6 months and 29 days! Hurrah!

Fangirl out! 

Book Review: Shadows by Ilsa J Bick

Alex had made it through the first few months of the apocalypse, but not unscathed. Is she really safe in Rule? And what about Ellie? Or Tom?
Only one way to find out.

Book Review: Ashes by Ilsa J Bick

 All Alex wants to do is escape from it all -- the doctors, the chemo...
 Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, because now Alex is trapped in a forest with no electrical goods and a stubborn eight-year-old who just watched her grandfather die, and, best of all, they're not the only creatures in the woods...

Having a rubbish Valentine's Day?

Me too, my friends, me too. But thankfully, help is here!
 Three words: The Indigo Spell.
It came out on Tuesday, so of course I finished it yesterday, and not only was it brilliant, but, Sydrian fans, reading it today will DEFINITELY make you feel better. Trust me. I was screeching like a teenage girl. Probably because I AM a teenage girl, but whatever. The feels will make your brain implode. I was not expecting how amazingly happy one book could make me feel. It's ruined any sort of relationship I will ever have, because there is nothing more amazing that can ever happen than Adrian and Sydney, but there you go.
Read it.

VA/Bloodlines fangirl out!

Just A Quick Note...

... Angelfire (#3 in the series) by LA Weatherly (no, not the other Angelfire by some other author that keeps coming up on Google searches) will be out in November, according to Goodreads. Read the blurb my friends. Excitingy-witingy.

That's all, I'm out!

Review: Sanctum by Sarah Fine

Lela has dreamt of hell for years... and now she's going back there. Willingly. Lela is desperate to save her friend Nadia from her fate, but Malachi, Captain of the Suicide City's Guards, isn't as eager. He may be ruthless and necessarily dangerous, but he doesn't want Lela risking her second life.
 Unfortunately, she's the one other human in the city with a mind of their own.

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Yes, 18 days after its release, book 2 in the Mara Dyer trilogy came in the post! Yes! Then I read it in about six hours. Damn.
 Mara's family are even more worried about her mental health, but that's not Mara's biggest problem. Or at least, she doesn't think it is. That's before she's a prisoner in her own home, a home that is no longer safe. At least she still has Noah...

Review: Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue lives with a load of psychics, and she's known her whole life that if she kisses her true love, he'll die.
But that never seemed quite so close to happening until her half-aunt Neeve turns up at her door, announcing that this is the year. Now Blue is running with boys from the local posh school, despite her family's warnings. Because one of them is either her true love, or the man she will kill.
And he's not her boyfriend.