International Giveaway: 3 Ebook's (Kindle or PDF) of Being by T.R. Mousner

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!


Hey everyone I have an awesome giveaway for you! A chance to win a Ebook copy of T.R.Mousner's book Being. Am so grateful to Tamara for offering 3 Ebooks to give away (Kindle or PDF). Check out my review of Being here: Being Review So here's how you enter:

Rules:

*Giveaway is International! :)
*You must be a GFC Follower (Leave follower name)
*You must leave a comment on Tamara's interview, link below:
Tamara's interview

*Once you have commented on the interview come back here and leave your follower name and tell me you have commented on the interview*

Extra Entries:

*Follow Tamara on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TRMousner +1 (Leave twitter name with your comment below)
*Leaving a comment on the post below:
Being's cover! What do you think? +1 (Tell me you have commented)
*Tweet about the giveaway: +1 (Leave link)
*Follow the Being Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/fG14ox  +2 (Leave facebook name)

Giveaway is sponsered by the author T.R. Mousner
Once the winners are chosen the winners email address will be forwarded to author
Giveaway Ends: 31st May 2011

Megan :)

Author Interview: S.M.Reine

Hey Sara. Thanks for taking the time out to do this interview with me. Can you tell everyone who doesn't know what your debut novel Six Moon Summer is about.

Six Moon Summer is about a girl who gets attacked by some kind of beast at summer camp, only to learn that it was a werewolf-- and she's now cursed to become one in three months.
 
Where did you get your inspiration for Six Moon Summer?
 
It's hard to pinpoint any single event as an inspiration for the book.  Six Moon Summer came from many exhausted, sleepless nights laying around with my son after he was born, but I can't recall any particular incident that gave me the story idea.
 
I love the cover of Six Moon Summer. Did you have any input in the way you wanted the cover?
 
Thank you!  I had a lot of input because I designed it myself!  I tossed around a few cover ideas and made a few rough drafts until I came up with something I liked that reflected the mood of the book.
 
 
 
 
I saw that you have a habit of judging books by their cover (same er he he) is there any book you can think of that you judged purely on the cover not knowing anything about the book that was a great read?
 
I recently picked up "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City" by Jeremy C Shipp on Amazon solely because of its fantastic cover.  It's a stark, monochrome, Frank Miller-esque thing.  It turned out to be a short story rather than a book, but it was so much better than I could have expected.  Highly recommended.
 
 
How does it feel to be debuting your novel? That your book is going be out there for the whole world to read and critize.
 
It feels pretty good, actually.  I'm inured to criticism.  I've been part of many harsh critique groups that tore apart my writing, and I've found that it's a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience.  Of course, preliminary reactions so far have been positive, so I'm hopeful that the response after the release will be good too!
 
Is there any new releases this year that you are looking forward to reading?
 
Oh gosh, so many books.  There's a few series by other indie authors I'm really excited about, like the next book in The Knight Trilogy and An Apple for Zoe series.  I'm kind of behind on traditionally published books, though, since I tend to pick them up when they drop to bargain prices long after the release.
 
Which book do you wish you could have written and why?
 
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin.  It's creative and beautifully lyrical.  Really unique fantasy.  It just went up for a Hugo award, too!  I kind of cribbed on the title for my next release (The 19 Dragons), but they're completely different projects.
 
 
What was your favourite book as a child/teenager?
 
When I was a kid, it was definitely Peter Pan, but everything by Tamora Pierce and Christopher Pike tie for a close second.
 
Finally do you have any advise for young aspring writer's?
 
Be persistent and be patient.  The first book you write probably won't be great-- in fact, the first half dozen books you write probably won't be great.  But if you doggedly seek criticism and never give up, you'll eventually find yourself getting places.
 
Six Moon Summer is now avaible to buy:
 
 
Find Sara here:
 
http://www.sixmoonsummer.com/
 
Megan :)

 

Being Event: Day 2: Interview with author of Being T.R. Mousner


Hey Tamara. For all those that don't know about your awesome book Being can you tell us a little about it.

Megan, thanks so much for hosting the Being Event, giveaway and interview.  I greatly appreciate it.  

Being is the first book in the Being series.  It’s a story about an elite extraterrestrial pilot, EBN (pronounced Ee-ben) whose ship crashes in California during the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis after it collides with space trash orbiting Earth.  Although there are three narrators (EBN, her younger brother Aix (Ace) and a human teen, Shale) EBN’s troubles are the main focus of the three intertwining storylines.   

Where did the idea for Being come from?

I wish I had the answer to that question.  The best way I can describe it is, it just popped into my head while I was watching a television show about unexplained lights in the sky / extraterrestrials.  I thought, what if some UFO sightings were the result of wayward extraterrestrial teens?  What if they were attempting to let us know that we’re not alone in the universe?

An aspect of Being I liked was that the book is about an alien coming to Earth but I love that it's told from EBN's perspective of us as the "aliens". Do you think that EBN's and her society's perspective of Earth is right? Fighting among ourselves, our enviroment being bad etc.

Personally if I was an alien coming to Earth I would probably think the same.  This is a very complicated question.  It saddens me to say that I do identify with EBN and her people’s perspective.  I’m a Gulf Coast resident (Houston, Texas) and I’m answering this question on the one-year anniversary of the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis.  I wish I could defend humans and our actions, but in less than one year, human error has caused two of the worst environmental catastrophes in recorded history: the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis and the on-going, epic nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

The Gulf Oil Spill Crisis devastated this region, poisoned the waters, destroyed the economy and ruined peoples’ lives.  Over the past year, hundreds of dead dolphins (approximately ½ of them babies) have washed ashore along Florida, Mississippi and Alabama coastlines.  Furthermore, there's still an immeasurable amount of oil in the water, sitting on the ocean floor and beneath the sand.  And that's just the portion we know about. 

Regarding the situation in Japan, radiation continues to spew from the damaged reactors and will continue to do so for at least 3 more months.  What are we doing to ourselves, our environment and at what cost? Our ineptitude and stubborn refusal to change sickens me.  Situations like the aforementioned crises make me embarrassed to be human, because I know we’re capable of so much more.  Perhaps my standards are too high. 

Please understand, I love our world and I love most everyone in it.  But we’ve got serious problems we need to fix.  Now, you may be thinking, everyone’s got problems and I would agree.  But the problems we’ve got never had to happen in the first place and they’re problems we can prevent from happening again.  No more oil spills.  No more nuclear devastation and in America’s case, no more wars we shouldn’t be fighting. But we have to want it in order to make it happen. We can do it.  I believe in us. 

So, for those who might say that EBN and her people view we humans through a narrow scope, I would remind them that we give them good reason to do so.

What sort of books do you like to read yourself?

Really, really great ones.  I adore Water for Elephants and The Historian to name a few. 

 

Is there any books you are excited about reading or have read this year? 

I’ve been reading non-fiction titles lately for research purposes, but I’m very excited about the next installation in Charlaine Harris’ southern vampire series, Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse book 11.)  Guilty pleasure. 


Which book do you wish you had written?

That’s easy.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but not because of its success, but because Rowling’s love and care created a magical work of literature.

What was your favourite book as a child/teenager?

Illusions by Richard Bach.


Do you have any writing advise for people who want to be author's?

Do I!  How much time you got?  For those still in school, I recommend a dual course of study.  These days, unless you’re a celebrity or the child of a celebrity, the road to publication is long, arduous and mountains of fantastic work never gets published for various reasons.  There’s not a lot of money in being an author unless Hollywood comes knocking, and even then, just because your story gets optioned, it doesn’t mean the project will get made into a film.  So it’s important to have marketable skills to pay the bills.

Otherwise, read incredible books, write your heart out, study the craft, learn from the masters and grow a thick skin.  Never stop studying.  Always aim to be better and learn more. 

Finally. Do you believe in Aliens?

I believe in the extraterrestrials residing in my head, the characters in my book.  I think the majority of unexplained phenomena people see and report is secret military craft.  However, I have seen some inexplicable video footage that almost made my head explode.  The universe is ineffably big and I have a hard time accepting that humans are alone in it.  Nevertheless, until I meet an extraterrestrial, I shall remain cautiously skeptical.   

A huge thank you to Tamara for this awesome interview! Being is now available as a Ebook.

For UK buyers: http://amzn.to/fO0ATs
For US buyers: http://amzn.to/hZIQ6b

Don't forget to check out Tamara's website http://www.trmousner.com/ . Also why not follow Tamara on Twitter for all the lastest Being updates http://twitter.com/#!/TRMousner as well as the Being facebook page, http://on.fb.me/fG14ox 

Tamara will be popping by over the next few days to check out your wonderful comments and any questions you may have!

P.S Commenting may earn you an extra entry into the Being giveaway coming tomorrow were 3 Ebooks of Being will be up for grabs for three lucky winners!
Megan :)

Being Event: Day Two: Cover reveal!

Hey!

A few week's ago I was happy when Tamara sent me the cover of Being! When I saw it I thought it was so beautiful and it had one of my favourite creatures on the front. BUTTERFLIES!! So I want to know everyone's opinion on the cover, do you love it as much as I do!


Tamara will be popping by over the next few days to see everyone's lovely comments and answering any questions you may, have so comment away!

Check back later today for an awesome interview with T.R Mousner :)

P.S. Leaving a comment could earn you an extra point in the Being giveaway coming tomorrow :)

Megan :)

Book Release: Six Moon Summer by S.M.Reine

Today is the 29th of April 2011, a very special day in British histroy as Prince William marries Kate Middleton BUT it's also an exciting day for Sara Reine as she debuts her novel Six Moon Summer.


"Rylie's parents are going through a messy divorce.  They send her to summer camp to get her out of the way of their fighting lawyers, but she's just as miserable at the girls' camp as she was at home-- there's nothing vegetarian for her to eat at the mess hall, she hates hiking and archery, and the other campers taunt Rylie mercilessly.

One night, the bullying goes too far, and Rylie runs away.  She doesn't get far.  It's a full moon, and she isn't alone in the forest.  A wild animal mauls her.  She's certain she won't survive.
     
Instead of dying, she wakes up unharmed in her cabin the next morning.  The only sign that something has changed are the healed scars on her chest, her increasingly keen senses, and her sudden craving for raw, bloody meat.  A boy from the other camp seems to know what's happening to her, but Rylie isn't sure if she can trust herself with Seth.
     
Rylie soon learns that she only has until the end of summer before she becomes just like the monster that attacked her: a man-eating werewolf hungry for human flesh.  Unless she can find a cure, she's only six moons away from transforming forever and losing her life to the hunger..."
Six Moon Summer by S.M.Reine
Check back later on today for an interview with Six Moon Summer author Sara Reine!
Megan :)

Being Event: Day One! Introduction to Being by T.R Mousner

Hey!

Welcome everyone to my first ever self-ran event. Am so excited to be the FIRST UK BLOG to debut Being by T.R. Mousner.

Being is a debut novel from the awesome mind of Tamara Mousner. Already it has TEN 5/5 STAR REVIEWS on Amazon.(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004R9QQ8U) & THREE 5 STAR REVIEWS on Goodreads with loads of people adding the book to their to read list (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10832421-being) Also Being is currently up for a Global E-book award which you can vote for here http://awardsforebooks.com/book-writing-contest/fiction-sci-fi-fantasy-paranormal/being/ 

So without follow ado may I introduce you to Being by T.R Mousner!

"For elite extraterrestrial pilot EBN-Reyoz-X, awaiting rescue while hiding out in a trailer park in Lancaster, California, is a grueling nightmare. She’s injured, lacks proper supplies and can’t blend in with the indigenous population because she’s seven feet tall and can’t control the trail of wildflowers blooming in the wake of her footsteps. She’s unprepared to begin sexual maturity in the alien land and when she develops feelings for Shale, the mute teenage boy next door, she’s convinced circumstances can get no worse.

Except rescue never comes and once word spreads that her touch holds miraculous healing abilities, EBN must find a way to fix her ship, evade capture by the United States Air Force and survive long enough to return home. "

So what does everyone think? I want to know your opinion's on your first thought's of Being!

*Coming up in the next few days is an interview with Tamara, my review of Being and 3 lucky people will get the chance to win their own Ebook copy of Being.*

Also please check out Tamara's website http://www.trmousner.com/ , follow her on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/TRMousner & like the Being facebook page  
http://on.fb.me/fG14ox   . If you do it will help get you extra entries into the giveaway that will be put up on Saturday!


*Tamara will be popping over to the blog to check out all your wonderful comments and answering any questions you may have so comment away :) *

Megan :)


BloodyBookaholic's epic giveaway!

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Bloody Bookaholic is having a Spring Clean! And guess whats she is giving away. Brace yourself guys:

40 Books

So do you want to win some of these books! Head over to Bloody Bookaholic's epic spring giveaway

Megan :)

A signed Arc of A forest of Adventures by Katie John winner!

Hey

Congrats to Jadey! the winner of the signed Arc copy of A forest of Adventures by Katie John. I have contacted Jade and forwarded her address to Katie for her to send out the book. I hope you enjoy the book Jade.


P.S. If you haven't heard already am having an event for a book called Being by TRMousner next week the 28th-30th of April. There will be an interview with the author, review, giveaway and a few more posts. So please spread the word :)

Megan :)

Winners of Nightspell bookmarks signed by Leah Cypess

Hey

So here are the winner my giveaway of a signed Nightspell bookmark by Leah Cypess. All entries were checked and all names were put in a hat including extra entries. The winners are:



*Bea
*InvaliceAlliance
*Kulsuma
*Thestoryqueen
*BlackPlume



I will send the winners email's asap. The winners will then have three days to reply, or new winners will be choosen.

Congrats!

Megan :)

*Thanks to Leah Cypess for sending me the signed bookmarks*

Review: Awakened by Ednah Walters (Book One of The Guardian Legacy series)


From the first page I was hooked by Awakened. I was instantly transported into Lil's world. Lil is a sixteen year old girl who has moved around all her life with her Grandfather, never having a place to call home. When she discovers what she really is, which is a Guardian, " a being with super powers charged with killing demons and protecting humanity." Her life changes completely. She learns all about who she really is and the role she plays. I loved following Lil's journey as she learned all about her home world, her past and what her future holds.

Fighting alongside Lil in riding the world of Hermonites are the other Guardian trainees. Sykes the energy guardian trainee is a little full of himself, he thinks all the girls love him and he's not wrong they do. He also has a crush on Lil, who he nicknames Red, which she hates. However with all the arrogance he has he is a good guy. There is also Remy, the earth guardian trainee who is the total opposite of Sykes, he is the leader of the trainee guardians, he takes charge and is really good with people. The other two that make up the guardian trainees is Kim, the air guardian trainee and Izzy the time guardian trainee. I liked Izzy, she is a girly girl and is nice to Lil when she joins the "team" unlike Kim who is a total b*itch and is nervous around Lil because of her unusual powers. Even though Kim comes good in the end, I still don't trust her fully!

You can't have an awesome book without a romance and the romance in this book is between Lil and a guy called Bran. Bran is a mysterious guy who turns up asking Lil to give her grandfather a message. Bran is the one that helps to unknowly  release her powers and start Lil to question who she really is. Lil falls for Bran and Bran for Lil but he has a secret that could destroy everything. I won't tell you what it is you will have to read Awakened to find out!

Overall I love the book, I read it within a few days. I loved how quick the story got going, we didn't have to wait chapters to find out what Lil really is. I loved Bran and Lil's relationship and I can't for the next book in the series, Betrayed, to see how their relationship develops and what evil await the Guardians.

*I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to Ednah for sending me the book in a giveaway I won a few months ago, I loved it so much*

Rating: 5/5 Butterflies

Megan :)

Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard


I got my copy of Pretty Little Liars though a giveaway I won were I got to pick some books from the book desporitary. I choose Pretty Little Liars as I had seen the first few episodes of the Pretty Little Liars series and thought the books might be good.

Review:

I read Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard during Dewey's 24 hour Read a thon a few weeks a go. For all your guys that have never heard of Pretty Little Liars it's about five best friends, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Alison. One night at Spencer's house, Spencer and Alison have an argument and Alison leaves and disappears. The book starts three years after Alison's disappearance and all the friends have drifted apart and don't speak anymore. However all the friends have secrets that only Alison knew and they thought their secrets were safe now that Alison was gone. But suddenly the all the girls start to receive text messages, letters and email's signed A indicting someone else may know their secrets or is it Alison? This is the question that kept me hooked, was it Alison sending them or someone else. It also made me question some of the other characters because if it wasn't Alison sending them who was. One person I questioned was Maya am not sure why I just have a feeling something isn't right there.

At the beginning of the book you get an insight into the sort of person Alison is and this makes you think she could be capable of sending the messages. She seems very manipulating of the other girls, making little comments about their secrets, basically she sounds like a right B*itch! From the insight of Alison's character it made me think that one of the friends could have flipped with Alison and killed her by accident and covered it up!

All the characters are very relatable, Spencer just wants to be noticed by her family as her sister gets all the attention, so she works hard to achieve good grades, is apart of loads of clubs and societies, sometimes she tries to much. Aria is trying to find out who she is, she's tried "Punk Aria, artsy Aria, documentary film Aria...." Who is she really? Hanna is the girl that wants to be "popular" and she does achieve this but at what cost? And finally Emily she goes with the flow, is a swimmer and has good grades and a good boyfriend, some would see this as a perfect life however she is struggling with her sexuality.

Overall I thought Pretty Little Liars was a good read, with a good storyline and relatable characters. I will differently be picking up the next book in the series.

Rating: 3/5 Butterflies

Megan :)

Being Event! (28th-30th April)



Hey

I just want to tell you all about a mini event am having starting tomorrow the 28th to the 30th April. The event is for an awesome book called Being by T.R.Mousner! I will have an interview with the author, a review of the book, plus a giveaway of 3 E Books on behalf of the author. I hope you will all check out the event. Please spread the word on this awesome event!!!

Megan :)

Taylor Lautner: Abduction Trailer!!

Hey

I just had to do a post on this!! I am a HUGE Taylor Lautner fan! To tell the truth I first liked him because he played Jacob in the Twilight series and am of course Team Jacob, but I have grown to love him as an actor. I heard about Abduction about this time last year and I was really excited to see him in another movie rather than the Twilight movies, don't get me wrong he is great in them but I wanted to see what else he had to give us. From watching the Abduction trailer all I can say is we have a new action movie actor move over Matt Damon and welcome the new talent of action/adventure that is Taylor Lautner. I have watched this trailer a few times and I keep getting more and more excited. It looks awesome!! I love action movies to begin with but Taylor makes it way better. So after all that excitement you need to watch the trailer. Go ahead you know you want to!


So what do you think? Are you a fan of Taylor or Twilight?

Megan :)

Review: A Discovery Of Witches



One word for A Discovery of Witches......... AMAZING!!!! I loved this book so much! Historian Diana is a witch who doesn't want to use her powers and acts just like a human, trying to ignore the other creatures around her. She hasn't wanted anything to do with magic after the violent death of her parents when she was a child but it turns out she can't escape who she really is. A powerful witch! Diana discoveries a magical Alchemical manuscript when doing research in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. In Deborah Harkness' world there is witches, vampires and daemons who blend in with human society. I found it interesting that the daemons in A discovery of Witches are not your typical daemons, scaly and monstrous. They are born from human parents, they are described as " ..creative, artistic creatures who walk the tightrope between madness and genius. "Rock stars and serial killers " was how Diana's aunt described these strange, perplexing beings.

Once Diana has discovered the manuscript all the creatures want it for there own reasons. They are also want to know how Diana was able to "call the book from the stacks" as many had tried for hundreds of years without success. Diana is in danger! Step in Matthew Clairmont the sexy, enigmatic geneticist, oh I forgot an important point, he's a vampire! He has interest in the manuscript for his own reason's but he also wants to help and protect Diana from not just the other vampires and daemons but her own kind as well.

I really don't want to say too much about what happens throughout the book as its great to discover all the twists and turns of the story yourself, but WOW it is amazing. But one thing I will say is Matthew and Diana do start to fall in love with each other, and A discovery of witches is an amazing journey that they go on to figure out the mystery of Diana and the manuscript and their fight for the right to love each other. I cant wait for the next book!

Rating: 5/5 butterflies!

Megan :)
Review:

I have had a REVELATION!!

I had to make this post as I have had a bit of, how can I put this a REVELATION! Usually each year I read a lot of books and enjoy them but usually only one or two really stick with me as my favourite reads, the sort of books I read so fast and fall in love with the characters and couldn't put it down sort of books, which as I said only usually happens to me a few times a year. Anyway, we are only FOUR months into 2011 and already I have LOVED so many books. And I have come to one reason why, a connection between the books. Are you ready for it:



Yes, love! Most of the books I read have so far this year have had two amazing characters fall in love, and I love going on the journey's with the character's. I loved:

*Sarah & John ( I am number 4 by Pittacus Lore)
* Phoniex & Darina ( Beautiful Dead series byEden Maguire)
* Matthew & Diana ( A discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness)
* Lil & Bran ( Awakened by Ednah Walters)

I just thought I would share my little revelation with you all. Do you like following characters journey's when they are falling in love with another character?

Megan :)

Winner of Across The Universe by Beth Revis


Hey

I just picked the winner of the paperback copy of Beth Revis' novel Across The Universe. Before I announce the winner I just want to tell you how the winner's name was chosen.

How the winner was picked:

I made sure everyone who entered met the entry critea by commenting on my Beth Revis Interview and commenting in the giveaway post. I then checked that everyone followed my blog Reading Away The Days and that they were from the UK as the giveaway was only UK based. I then checked all the extra entries i.e twitter followers, following the other blog for an extra entry etc I then wrote down all the names on scraps of paper for example say a person named Sarah entered and had met the main rules, commented on interview and followed my blog then I wrote Sarah's name down once then say she followed me on twitter her name got written down a second time and so forth. I then put them all in to a bowl, mixed them then randomly picked a name out of the bowl. That how the winner was determined I hope it sounds fair to everyone!

So finally the winner is:

* Jules (The Great, The Good and The Bad)

Congrats Jules I will email you ASAP for your addy. Please check you spam box as well. My email address is: meganmcdade2008 (AT) yahoo (DOT) co (DOT) uk

The winner has 3days to reply once email has been sent or a new winner will be announced.

I currently have two other giveaways going on that you should check out:

Giveaway of a signed ARC of The forest of Adventures by Katie John (UK ONLY) Ends 21/4
5 signed Nightspell bookmarks by Leah Cypess to give away! (INTERNATIONAL) Ends 19/4

Megan :)

Giveaway: Signed Nightspell bookmarks by Leah Cypess

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Hey

Last week over on Leah's twitter page she was holding a giveaway to win some signed bookmarks of her new book Nightspell. Am happy to say I won some and when I got the bookmarks in the post I was happy to see Leah had sent me not one but 7 signed bookmarks. So I thought why not share them with you guys!

So whats up for grabs is 5 signed Nightspell bookmarks!

*This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL*

To enter:

*Tell me why you want to win ONE of these bookmarks
*Be a GFC follower (Leave you follower name in the comments)
* Leave a email address for me to contact you if you win

Extra enteries:

*Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TeamWolf1988 (Leave twitter name) +1
*Tweet about the giveaway ( Leave link) +1

Giveaway ends: 19/4/2011
Winners will be selected at random.
I will email the winners ASAP after they have been choosen and they will have 3 days to contact me!

*Thank to Leah Cypess for the signed bookmarks. Check out Leah's website for info on her books. Nightspell is released May 31st 2011* http://www.leahcypess.com/

Check out my other giveaways:

*A signed ARC of A forest of Adventures by Katie John (UK ONLY) Ends 21/4

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part one DVD (2 disc)

*BEWARE SPOILERS IN THIS POST*


Hey!

I don't know if you all know this, but am a Harry Potter fan. I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, the first in the series, when I was about fifteen and from then on I was captivated by the world of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part one is the first part in the final book in the Harry Potter series and one of my personal favourite's in the series. Yesterday I went straight out and bought the DVD as I was so excited to watch the movie as I couldn't get to see it in the cinema last year. OK! Enough of my blabbing on to the review!

Review

With the book and portrayed in the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is much darker and creepier than the previous movies. It's an emotional movie however still with the action and magic we all know and love. Voldemont being back is now public knowledge and he is infiltrating the Ministry of Magic. While his Death Eaters are continuing to cause death and destruction by killing incident witches, wizards and humans. Harry is still grieving over the lose of Dumbledore and is trying to continue Dumbledore's quest to find the remaining Horcuxes!

The movie was amazing, just as I knew it would be! I love that the movies stick so close to the books. Some of my favourite Harry Potter moments:

*The opening scenes were really sad but set the mood of the movie perfectly. Seeing Hermione having to make her parents forget who she was and wiping all knowledge of her existence was so sad.

*I loved the "seven Harry's" scene it was amazingly well done and it must have taken alot of work but this scene read like it was straight out of the book.

*The scenes with Harry, Ron & Hermione looking for the Horcruxes were some of my favourite scenes. I also loved to see Ron and Hermione's relationship start to develop.

* One of the saddest scenes was near the end were Dobby the house elf died. OMG I was crying it was such a sad scene!

Overall I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see the second part in July!!!!

Do you like Harry Potter? Which is your favourite movie?

Megan :)

Dewey's 24hour read a thon round up!


First off I want to thank all your awesome peeps for dropping by and cheering me on, the support has been awesome. I also want to say a thank you to all the people involved with organising and running the read a thon. I sadly didn't last the full 24 hrs. I lasted 12 1/2 hours which I think is good going for my first read a thon. I really enjoyed doing the read a thon and will defiantly be doing the next one.

Am a little disappointed that I only managed to read one book, Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard but next time I will  pick shorter and quicker books to read so I can read more than one. Be on the look out for my Pretty Little Liars review in the next few days. Also before the read a thon I finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness so a review of that will also be up in the next few days.

Don't forget I currently have two giveaways going on at the moment, one of a paperback copy of Across The Universe by Beth Revis (UK ONLY) and a signed ARC of the first book in Katie John's Knight Trilogy (UK ONLY) Don't worry I will hopefully be having an International giveaway very soon for all my awesome International followers!

Thanks again!!

Megan :)

Dewey's 24 hour Read-a -thon updates! (1PM 9th April- 1PM 10th April)

*Hey guys this is the post I will use to update you all on my progress during the Read-a-thon!*
*Hey I have went 11 and half hours and cant go anymore I need to sleep! I may be back in a few hours!

Books to read:

*Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (Book One) 290/290 pages (Completed) 11hrs
*Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (Book One) 332 pages
*The Secret Circle: The Initiation - 211 pages. The Captive part one- 98 pages
*Awakened by Ednah Walters - 256 pages
*Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens - 280 pages

Total pages altogether: 290/1467 pages

Hey everyone. Starting the read a thon few mins late but getting started now. Starting with Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard!

*3.00PM : Hey the first couple of hours have been ok! Found it a little hard to get into Pretty Little Liars but getting into it now. On page 41/290! Hope to read more alot more before I next check in. See ya at 5.15PM!

Mini challenge one!

1)Where are you reading from today? Northern Ireland2)Three random facts about me… My fave snack is crisps, I wear glasses & I love Taylor Lautner3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 5 books4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I want to try and read all of the five books thats my target5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? This is my first read a thon but my advise would be to just enjoy!

*5.15PM Still reading Pretty Little Liars. Am getting into it now. Its getting interesting! I didn't realise before the read a thon how slow I read lol. On page 96/290. I have read more these pass few hours than before woop woop. Going grab a burger now for tea then sit out in the last of the today's sun and continue reading. Next check in at 7.30PM!

*7.30PM Had a few mishaps these last few hours, decided to go out and sit in the last few hours of the nice sun and got attacked by bees so now am back reading in my safe free from bees bedroom. Am on page 152/290 pages so I have read a similar amount of pages as in my last update about 50 are so. Am feeling my progress is a little slow. Next update at 9.45pm. Hopefully will have Pretty Little Liars finished or there about!

*9.45PM We are now nine hours into the read a thon! Not quite finished Pretty Little liars yet 215/290 pages only 75 more pages to go. I really want to have this finished by my next check in at 12AM and possibly another started! During this read a thon I have released that am a really slow reader! I don't think am going to be able to read all 5 books at the rate am going, but am going keep going. Thanks to everyone cheering me on so far. Your awesome.

*12.00AM Yay *claps* I finished Pretty Little Liars. I know it's one book and it has taken me 11hrs but I feel an acheivement I stuck at it and didn't give up! Now I know I have a list of another 4 books to read but am thinking for a little while am going blog hop round a few blogs to see how everyone else is doing. Now I was going to go to bed at 2AM til 6AM then get up and finish so technically I wasn't going to do the whole 24hrs but am going to see how I go I might stay up, finishing the first book has made me more awake for some reason. After I have done some blog hopping am actually going to try and finish an ebook I have started for review called Being rather than any of my books in my to read pile. But don't worry wotever books I dont get read in the read a thon I will read them at some point!! See everyone at 2PM!

Mini challenge

1. What are you reading right now? Being by T.R. Mounser2. How many books have you read so far? One :(3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I had to cancel a day out with my best friend but she understood :)5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yes first off music being played in the house, I need quiet! Also tried to get some of the last of the days sun but got attacked by bees and then had to do the dishes and bring in washing which couldn't be avoided :(6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That everyone is so supportive I knew you all would be but its great peeps leaving encourging messages. Also I have to admit am finding it hard going I love reading but its tough!7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It's perfect
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Pick smaller books, quick reads. 9. Are you getting tired yet? Yes its nearly 1am in the morning and am the type of person that needs to sleep! :(10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Have a supply of chocolate seems to be keeping me awake lol!

So I have decided am going to check in with everyone every few hours. Am going to take a 10-15 min break every few hours to update you guys and check out how everyone else is doing. This is my check in times:

3.00PM- Updated above!
5.15PM- Updated above!
7.30PM- Updated above!
9.45PM- Updated above!
12.00AM- Updated above!
2.00AM -
6.15AM
8.30AM
10.45AM
1.00PM

Hope everyone enjoys the read a thon!

Megan :)

Dewey's 24hr Read-a-thon!

Hey everyone. This weekend am taking part in Dewey's Read-a-thon. For all you that don't know what it is here's a little bit of info:

It’s sort of a reading challenge, only everyone participates at the same time. For 24 hours, we read books, post in our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day.

SOURCE: http://24hourreadathon.com/

So on Saturday 9th (this weekend) I will be participating in my first read-a-thon and an excited but slightly nervous! My start time is 1PM on Saturday 9th -1PM Sunday 10th! I have already decided on a list of books I want to read and how am going to do it i.e. including breaks etc. First up you still have time to sign up for the read a thon! Why not head over there now and then come back to see what am going to read!

http://24hourreadathon.com/

Ok so I have selected 5 books to read, and I know this may not sound alot to hardcore readers but to me its a challenge as am a slow reader! So the books I have selected are:

                                                   
The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part one!


Awakened by Ednah Walters(One of my April reads)


Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (Book one)


Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens


Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (Book one)

So what do you think of the books I have chosen? I will put another post up tomorrow of the about how am going keep your guys all updated on my progress during the read-a-thon. I hope you will all drop by on Saturday to cheer me on and check out how am doing!

Megan :)



Author interview with Katie John & Giveaway


GIVEAWAY CLOSED


Book one in the Knight Trilogy: The Forest of Adventures
When seveteen year old Mina Singer falls in love with the devestatingly handsome new boy at college, she finds herself catapulted into a fairytale realm. But magic isn't for children and magic can be deadly...especially in the hands of  a jealous Morgan Le Fay.

Held at the heart of an ancient prophesy, Mina risks losing all those she loves the most.

Caught between two worlds. Torn between two hearts.  The adventure begins...
Hey everyone! Let me introduce you to the wonderful Katie John, author of The Knight Trilogy: The forest of Adventures (Book one) & released on ebook August 25th 2011 & paperback January 2012 The Knight Trilogy: Immortal Beloved (Book 2)!

Hey Katie. Thanks for doing this interview with me. The second book in the Knight Trilogy, Immortal Beloved is this autumn (ebook). Are you excited for it's release?

I am so excited about it. Although I love the first one, I have a real special connection with the second. It's where I see my characters really start to grow up and take shape (not always entirely as we expect) We see a lot more of Delta - my favourite character and I can't wait to share her with you. The second book is very much a book of two halves. The first deals with the fall out of the ending of 'The Forest of Adventures' and the second half takes a much darker, more magical turn as we all head off to Egypt on Adventure. 'Immortal Beloved' is a blending of Egyptian and Celtic mythology and none of our gang come back quite the way they went out. (Got to stop now before I spoil it!)

Where do you get your ideas for your books? Real life stiuations/ imagnations? Or both?

The inspiration for the books has come from a lifetime of being a passionate reader and a keen (but rubbish) artist. I have always been fascinated by mythology and also been captivated by the idea of where the line between reality and fantasy lie. I'm a great believer in it not being quite as defined as we think. A lot of the scenes in 'The Forest of Adventures' are based on experiences that I had as a teenager and the settings are very much the places where I grew up.

What is a typical writing day for you?

Firstly I have to go and do my 'proper' job! I teach English at a London Secondary School for four days a week and I love it. Then I come home and do my Mummy job and then about eight o.clock I get to sit down and start writing. At weekends I have the lay in shift on a Saturday morning and so I choose to use that time writing rather than sleeping. As you can see, it's not quite the romantic vision of the writer...but one day!!!

What sort of books so you like reading yourself?

I love all YA paranormal, especially the works of Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Meyer and Becca Fitzpatrick. My absolute favourite reading is dystopia; Orwell, Golding, Huxley and more recently Collins' Hunger Games. I also love traditional Gothic horror; loving Stoker, Shelley, Poe and Lovecraft.

Who is your favourite author?

George Orwell. His works changed my whole life.

What was your favoutrite book as a child?

I loved Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol and a book called The Garden of Dor. (I can't remember who the author was and I leant my copy out fifteen years ago, never had it returned and have never been able to find another copy :(

Is there any book you wish you had written?

Oh definitely 'The Hunger Games' Trilogy.

Finally do you have any advise for anyone that wants to get into writing?

Don't give up. Work hard and make it happy. The only difference between fantasy and reality is making it happen!

A big thanks to Katie. Check out the links below for info on where to buy Katie's book and why not follow her on twitter and tell her how awesome her book is when you have read it!

Check out Katie's website: http://www.theknighttrilogy.com/

Follow her on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/knighttrilogy

Buy a copy of Forest of Adventures:

GIVEAWAY!

Katie has kindly offered to give one lucky blog follower a signed ARC copy of  'The Forest of Adventures' ! Sorry to all my International peeps but this is only opened to the UK! I promise to do a International giveaway soon! So on to the rules of the giveaway :( There has to be rules!

Rules!

*You must be a GFC follower (Leave follower name)
*You must be from the UK
*You must comment on this post

Please leave an way for me to contact you!

Extra entries:
*Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TeamWolf1988 +1 (Leave the name you follow me on twitter in the comments)
*Follow Katie John on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/knighttrilogy +1
*Tweet about the giveaway +1 (Leave a link)
*Leave a comment on the post below: +2
Contest ends on 21/4/11 @12PM GMT
Winner will be announced soon after.
Winner's address will then be forwarded to the author who will send it out

*I have the right stop this giveaway at any time if a problem occurs*
*This giveaway is sponsered by Katie John*

Megan :)

Author Interview: Jennifer Laurens!


Hey Jennifer. Thanks for doing this inteview with me. Can you tell me a little it about your new book Overprotected out this month?
 
Overprotected is released on April 15th. It's a coming-of-age story about a girl fighting for freedom from her overprotective parents. Her obsessive father only hires men who are too old, or that he knows she despises in an effort to keep her close. When he hires her old childhood nemesis, his plan backfires.


What is a typical writing day for you?
 
After the kids ( I have 6 ) are out the door, I write from 9-5, simultaneously promoting and chatting with readers on Facebook and Twitter.


Where do you get your ideas for your books? From real life situations or just you imaganation?
 
Ideas come from a combination of reality ( my own life ) and imagination.

What sort of books do you like to read yourself?
 
Like most readers, I have moods: sometimes its about pure escapism with a light, romantic comedy. Sometimes its about admiring craft by reading something beautifully written like Notes on a Scandal or Endless Love, and sometimes its something dark and disturbing like The Monstromologist or A Lifetime Burning.
 
There are loads of great books released this year. Is there any you are particualy looking forward to?
 
I'm writing constantly. If I read, I'm very particular. Usually, the more popular a book, the less it fits into my taste.
 
Who is your favorite author of all time?
 
HARD!!! Probably Nora Roberts. ( her older titles are best )

What was your favourite book as a child?
 
Time at the Top by Edward Ormandroyd, Nancy Drew Mysteries, Jane Eyre, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Laura Ingalls Wilder.


Finally do you have any advise for anyone that wants to get into writing?
 
Read a lot. Write a lot. Join a critique group who will be honest with you about your work.

Thanks to Jennifer for taking the time to answer my questions. Check out all Jennifer's books at the link below:

http://www.jenniferlaurens.com/

Also follow Jennifer on twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/jenniferlaurens

If you want why not check out my sister's blog A little bit of Everything were she has up a review of Jennifers Laurens new book Overprotected!

http://kerry-ann-mcdade.blogspot.com/2011/03/arc-review-of-overprotected-by-jennifer.html

Megan :)

My April Reads!

Hey!

So last month I didn't reach my target to read six books in March :( At the beginning of the month I was on a two week course and didn't have time to read and I just never caught up on all the books! :( I only managed to read two out of the six, which is terrible. If you want to see my reviews of the two I did read you can click the links below.

Review of Bloodline by Kate Cary

http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-bloodline-by-kate-cary.html

Review of Life as we knew by Susan Pffefer

http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-life-as-we-knew-it-by-susan.html

So as I failed last month am determined to meet my target this month. This month I want to read six books to make up for not reading six last month. They are:




Am also reading an Ebook called Being by T.R Mousner.

So hopefully I will meet my target. Also this month am taking part in Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon. I will post a list of the books I want to read during the read-a-thon sometime next week.

Megan :)