Record Your Fan Fiction at Comic Con

Hi, all! If you're lucky enough to be attending Comic-Con this week, I have some interesting news for you. Random House is running a contest for fan fiction authors and the prize is a recorded audio book of their work! Here are the dets:

Random House Audio Invites Fan Fiction Authors to Record Their Stories at Comic-Con International in San Diego

One story will be selected by RH Audio producers to be recorded professionally and streamed online

NEW YORK, NY (July 2, 2012)—At this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA, Random House Audio will be recreating an audiobook studio right on the convention floor--inviting authors of fan fiction to record a sample of their work for a chance to have their story recorded and released as a digital audiobook.

Stories from the following fandoms are eligible for the contest:

Star Wars®

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Aspiring authors (who must be legal residents of the U.S. and 18 years or older) can sign up for a time slot to record their five-minute sample during the convention, July 12-15 at the San Diego Convention Center. Random House Audio producers will listen to the entries (no mashups, please) and select one to be professionally recorded and mixed by Random House Audio for streaming at www.randomhouseaudio.com. The grand prize winner and five runner-ups will have clips from their stories featured on the Random House Audio weekly podcast.

Sessions will be available Thursday through Saturday, July 12-14, from 10am-12pm and 1pm to 4pm at the Random House Audio booth #1515. Registration for morning slots is open now through July 10 atwww.randomhouseaudio.com, and afternoon slots will be available for same-day sign ups beginning at 9am the first day of the con on a first-come, first-served basis.  

Don’t see your fandom included on the list above? Sunday, July 15 is Open Mic Day! Fans of other series will get their chance to record their stories as well from 11am to 3pm and enter to win a collection of audiobooks.

Even if you’re not a writer, be sure to stop by the Random House Audio booth (#1515) for exclusive Comic-Con giveaways, including buttons, posters, headphones and mini microphone recorders.

For complete contest rules, click here.

New Releases 7/10/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

15 Seconds by Andrew Gross

Playing With Matches by Carolyn Wall

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

Flight From Berlin by David John

Getting Over Mr. Right by Chrissie Manby

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

Year Zero by Rob Reid

Size 12 & Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot

House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier

Shadow Show ed by Sam Weller and Mort Castle

The Girl in the Blue Beret by Bobbie Ann Mason (pb)

The Time in Between by Maria Duenas (pb)

City of the Dead by Daniel Blake

Albert of Adelaide by Howard L. Anderson

The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker

I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

The After Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Back Fire by Catherine Coulter

Night Watch by Linda Fairstein

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Diva by Jillian Larkin

My beef over Jack Reacher

Hollywood and publishing have a curious relationship. For an industry that is constantly searching for new movie fodder, it would seem that publishing is a virtual candy shop of options. And it is. These days, popular titles get signed for the big screen even before they go to print. In a lot of instances, rights will be purchased and adaptations will never come to fruition for a variety of reasons. For those that do make it through the process, most of the authors have very little input or say with regards to any aspect of the adaptation (I say most because there have been cases where authors have a lot of input and rare cases where the author actually gets to put together the screenplay based on their work).

Sometimes the adaptation works and is true to the original tale, sometimes it isn't. It's the nature of the beast.

As a reader who also happens to be a huge movie buff, any adaptation news comes with a mixed sense of excitement and trepidation on my part: Are they going to do the book justice? Will it do well? Who will they cast to play my favorite characters?

It's this last one that really irks my nerves, though, and shows just how clueless Hollywood can sometimes be.

The first official trailer for Jack Reacher is out. This is a project that has had me gritting my teeth with frustration for some time now. Fans of the series are generally displeased with the casting of Tom Cruise as Reacher. He's wrong for the part. He's fine for a general action movie, but he's not Reacher. That's just the way it is. It seems to me though that Hollywood doesn't really give a fig about fans of the series. A bestselling and longtime series. One that Hollywood still assumes needs a big name attached to in order to draw viewers? Wha?

And the title -- Jack Reacher -- is cheeseball to the extreme. I know the idea is to create a Reacher franchise so what, will the next movie be called Jack Reacher 2. Lame.

I have absolutely no doubt that moviegoers unfamiliar with the Lee Child series will enjoy this movie. I also have no doubt that fans of the books will go see it. We're all curious. Even I know the movie will probably be good. Regardless, it will still be a disappointment because it will not live up to my expectations as a fan of the series.

And I repeat, Hollywood doesn't seem to care.

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Morning, everyone! I'm on the TLC blog tour for Carlos Ruiz Zafon's latest, The Prisoner of Heaven, a book I have been on the edge of my seat for. Unfortunately, my copy didn't arrive in time for a regular review post, so I'm going to do something a bit different here. Consider it a sort of Pre-Pub Post as well since the book officially hits shelves on July 10 -- and I want you all to be dying to read it by then!

Zafon made his US debut with the truly incomparable The Shadow of the Wind. This book is amazing  in depth and scope. It's a gothic tale for readers who love everything bookish and literary!

For his tenth birthday, Daniel's father takes him to the Cemetery of Lost Books. As a gift, Daniel must choose one of the books as his own - to read and keep and cherish. The book he chooses will change his life forever. La Sombre del Viento by Julian Carax takes just en evening for Daniel to complete. As any good reader does, Daniel goes in search of more works by Carax only to discover that the author is virtually unknown. But when someone begins seeking out and destroying any and all copies of Carax's remaining works, Daniel becomes obsessed with learning more. 

With Angel's Game, Zafon takes readers back to Barcelona with a sort of prequel to The Shadow of the Wind and now, The Prisoner of Heaven returns us back to Daniel and the aftermath of The Shadow of the Wind.

Here is the description from Zafon's site:


It begins just before Christmas in Barcelona in 1957, one year after Daniel and Bea from The Shadow of the Wind have married. They now have a son, Julian, and are living with Daniel's father at Sempere & Sons. Fermin still works with them and is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. However something appears to be bothering him.

Daniel is alone in the shop one morning when a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters. He spots one of their most precious volumes that is kept locked in a glass cabinet, a beautiful and unique illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. Despite the fact that the stranger seems to care little for books, he wants to buy this expensive edition. Then, to Daniel's surprise, the man inscribes the book with the words 'To Fermin Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future'. This visit leads back to a story of imprisonment, betrayal and the return of a deadly rival.


Now, if you've not read The Shadow of the Wind or Angel's Game, I highly suggest running to your nearest bookstore and snatching up a copy of both. Dive in this weekend (because once you start you won't want to stop -- you'll want to clear your schedule completely!). I promise you... no, I swear to you that The Shadow of the Wind will be hands down one of the most wonderful reading experiences you will ever have. There are so many fantastic books in the world but every once in a while one will shine amongst all of the others, staying with you well beyond finishing the final page. The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books for me. 


If you have read Zafon's other works and are waiting on pins and needles for The Prisoner of Heaven, your wait will soon be over. Until then, check out this excerpt (also on Zafon's site) to tide you over until Tuesday.


Click here for more stops on the TLC Prisoner of Heaven tour and for more on Carlos Ruiz Zafon check him out on facebook and twitter (note, the tweets are Spanish).

Finally, if you're a Zafon aficionado or if you love the Shadow of the Wind books and want more of Zafon's work, the author has two YA titles out and a third on the way. They are: The Prince of Mist, The Midnight Palace, and The Watcher in the Shadows (2013). 

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Urban fantasy is filled with uber talented authors, unique worlds, and fabulous characters. One of the early (and now longtime) players in the genre is Kelley Armstrong. Her debut, Bitten, was released back in 2001 and kicked off her highly popular Women of the Underworld series. This month, the series wraps up with the release of Thirteen.

One of the interesting things about Armstrong's series is the fact that much of it can be read in just about any order you like. The narrators are different and the stories do typically stand alone -- for the most part. With the finale coming up, a host of characters are making appearances and I'd really like to know who they all are before hitting the final title, so I'm starting from the beginning and filling in my reading holes.

First up, Bitten.

Elena is a werewolf. Not by birth and not by choice, but it's a fate she's learned to live with. Her abrupt introduction into the were world was softened by support from the local Pack. After years alongside them, though, Elena has finally struck out on her own. Now she's got a solid relationship, a steady career, and in spite of the difficulty hiding who she is, she's doing alright. But when the Pack summons her, Elena knows she has no choice but to return. After all, they've vowed never to contact her unless it's an absolute emergency. And this is an emergency. Survival of the Pack means staying under the radar and a mutt is preying on humans in Pack territory. If they can find the mutt and stop him before it's too late, the Pack might be safe. If they can't contain the mutt, all hell could break loose!

Elena has been a peripheral character in some of the titles I've read, but this is my first time reading her story. In fact, I've discovered that she's by far the most popular lead in the series (in terms of number of books), serving as narrator in Bitten, Stolen, Broken, and Frostbitten as well as a number of shorts.

Given that my introduction to the series has been through Savannah Levine, I've been excited about getting to the witch installments (Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic) but I have to say that now I'm temped to skip around and continue with Elena!

Elena is one cool cat... er... wolf! She's strong and she's opinionated. She's all around the perfect heroine for a slightly gritty, slightly romantically tinged, paranormal series! I'm curious as to whether she was intended to carry the whole series or if Armstrong always planned to introduce other leads? Probably something she's addressed throughout the years...

As for the series itself, I love the various elements that go into each story. They're thrillers, they're mysteries, there's some romance (as mentioned), and then there's the paranormal aspect. It's our world as we know it but with weres and witches and demons and ghosts sharing our space.

Thirteen hits shelves on July 24, so there's plenty of time to dive into the series or play catch up like me. There's a new especial available, too.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Happy Monday, all! It's Sunday night as I write this and I'm hoping that this week will prove to be easy peasy -- it's a holiday week (July 4th is Wed so that's a little strange but I won't complain) and then Saturday is my b-day.

My b-day is always sort of a toss up for me: I'm at that point where I just want to pause my aging. Yes, I'd just like to settle a bit and get used to being in my 30s before moving further into them. Too much pressure to be all grown up now. Makes it kind of appropriate that I'm blogging about a YA book today :)

When I first started coming across murmurings about Courtney Summers's This is Not a Test, I knew it had to go on my desperately want/must have list. It's zombiepocalypse for one! Who can resist that? Not me. For another, PW called it "The Breakfast Club, George Romero style." What, what?! Even better!

Sloane Price wants out. Her sister is gone and her home life is nothing to get excited about, but when the dead begin to walk, Sloane's choice is made for her. She and five other teens have managed to make their way to the high school, boarding up doors and windows and holing up in the auditorium to wait out the attack. They're all sure that help will be on its way soon, but as the days pass, that hope starts to wither. Desperate, each of the teens is confronted with the ultimate fear: what if no one is coming? What if they're all alone? What do they do next?

Publisher's Weekly definitely had it right in that This is Not a Test is an intense character study -- teens facing the end of the world as they know it, relying on each other for survival with no parents around to guide them or help them along the way. Summers adeptly combines true supernatural horror with the horrors of real life giving depth to an already gripping story. It's a win all around in my opinion.

New Releases 7/3/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

Criminal by Karin Slaughter

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

Gold by Chris Cleave

Die a Stranger by Steve Hamilton

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (pb)

Night Seeker by Yasmine Galenorn (Indigo Court #3)

The Last Minute by Jeff Abbott

The Last Refuge by Ben Coes

The Nightmare by Lars Kepler

The Good Dream by Donna VanLiere

The Sacrifice Game by Brian D'Amato

Discretion by Allison Leotta

Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

Potboiler by Jesse Kellerman

Ransom River by Meg Gardiner

Advent by James Treadwell

What You Wish For by Kerry Reichs

East of Denver by Gregory Hill

The Hollow City by Dan Wells

Elza's Kitchen by Marc Fitten

The 13th Target by Mark de Castrique

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Once by Anna Carey (Eve Trilogy bk 2)

The White Glove War by Katie Crouch (Magnolia League #2)

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
God Save the Queen
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Dark Companion by Marta Acosta