A Discussion on Book Blogging Safety

Item: Frost
Rating: 5
Author: Jana

Posted July 24, 2012 by Jana in Discussion / 15 Comments

The Internet has never been a safe place, and we book bloggers are not above those online dangers. Just because a person is an author, it does not mean that they are a good person. And just because a person claims to be an author, it does not mean they actually are. These days anyone can publish a book. They can be a terrible person offline, and an amazingly likable author online. How do you know which one you’re talking to?

Visualize this with me. You’re out late at night on a dark street all alone. You hear a noise behind you, and you speed up in the direction of your car. You glance behind, and there’s an ominous looking person following you that you know you want absolutely nothing to do with. You break into a run, jump in your car, lock the doors, and drive off. Hours later, that person turns their computer on and adds the finishing touches to their new young adult novel, presses the publish button on whichever online publisher they use, and begins to contact bloggers for reviews, asking if they can send them a complimentary copy to their book. Come to think of it, there might not even be a book! But now they have a bunch of addresses of people they can go after. And if they searched for bloggers in a certain area (I’ve seen a lot of “About Me” pages that give out way too much info), you might be really close by. Would you give that nighttime stalker your address? No! Would you give your address to a random person online who thinks you’re amazing? I doubt it. So why would you give your address out to an author you’ve never heard of, who might not even be an author at all?

And of course, this does not just go for authors. This goes for our fellow bloggers as well. How do you know that the blogger you’ve been tweeting back and forth with is not someone with less than honorable intentions? How do you know if they really want to send you a birthday present, or if they just want to get your address out of you? I see so many bloggers throwing their addresses around like beads during a Mardi Gras parade, and it scares me so much.

I adore all of my blogging friends, and I would just die if any of them got hurt as a result of being too trusting. I’ve seen friends give out personal information to people who they have no reason to trust. So, I’ve thought up a list of things you can do in order to have a safer experience blogging about books.

Top Ten Ways to be a Safe Book Blogger

1. Don’t accept physical books from self-published authors unless they go through a professional publicity company with a good reputation. Go for eBooks instead. I’m not saying self-published authors are bad people, I’m saying that they usually have nobody to vouch for their credibility. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Some of my greatest friends in the blogging world are self published authors, and I love many of them. It only takes one person with malicious intentions to raise the needed for extra precautions, though. I’d definitely still accept physical books from the major publishing houses, though. They are trustworthy, and it’s their job to get the word out.

2. Don’t link your personal blog to your book blog. Register with a separate e-mail address, or remove your personal blog from your blogging profile. You don’t want just anyone in the world reading about your personal life!

3. Don’t include your location or last name in your “About Me” page or Goodreads profile.

4. If you have a Facebook page for your blog, don’t “Like” that page. If people search the blog fans on that page and recognize your picture, all of a sudden they’ve got your last name.

5. Utilize Facebook privacy settings and don’t allow your location to be shown to people who are not your friends.

6. Don’t include your last name in your e-mail address or signatures.

7. Don’t enter giveaways that require you to enter your full name upfront. Use your blog’s name instead of your last name. I doubt there is someone out there with your exact blog name, as well as your exact first name. The giveaway host does not need your last name in order to tell you apart from other entrants with the same first name.

8. Don’t enter giveaways that require your home address upfront. Why do they need every single person’s address anyway? They only need the winner’s. Some giveaways I’ve tried to enter mention that it eliminates the extra step of e-mailing the winner and waiting for their response. I think that’s kind of a lame reason. I’m assuming they can wait a day before sending you your book, especially since most people do not mail out the book the day of/after the giveaway results are drawn.

9. Don’t take on extra blog contributors without really knowing and trusting them first. You could lose everything.

10. The ARC tours are kind of scary… Anyone can be a part of those, and you have no control over who has your home address. These books will be released one day, so don’t risk your safety for the opportunity to read a book a few months early. It’s not worth it.

All in all, minimize how many people you give your personal information to. No book or bookish opportunity is worth risking your safety for. I care about you. Yes, you. I’m pointing at you now. Please be safe. :)

So, let’s discuss this. What do you think? Do you have any ideas for how to be safe, yet still enjoy the bookish community? Have you learned anything through your own experiences?

Frost by Kate Avery Ellison (Book Review and Giveaway)

Posted July 23, 2012 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Review, Giveaway, Young Adult Fiction / 12 Comments

Frost by Kate Avery Ellison
Series: Frost Chronicles #1
Also in this series: Thorns
Published by CreateSpace on April 18, 2012
Genres: Dystopia, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance
Pages: 194
Format: eBook
Source: Author
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In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, compassion might get a person killed, and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After the monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides, she can't afford to let her emotions lead her astray. But when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest, a young man from beyond the Frost named Gabe, Lia does the unthinkable. She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the "Farthers," as ruthless and cruel. Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent-and handsome. And she might even be falling for him.

But time is running out. The monsters in the forest are growing bold and restless. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Is compassion-and love-worth the risk?

Welcome to my stop along the official blog tour for Frost by Kate Avery Ellison, hosted by AToMR Tours! I’m quite excited to tell you what I thought about this book! Basically, I loved it, and I was surprised that I loved it, just because I’d never heard of it book before I was given the opportunity to be a part of the tour. I am SO glad I got to read it! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. When I say this book is refreshing, I’m being extremely literal. This is such a great read for a hot summer day, because this book takes place in probably the coldest place ever: The Frost. It’s cold and snowy and windy, with blizzards and fires in the fireplace and short days, with long nights. I loved it!

“It was cold, the kind of cold that made bones feel brittle and hands ache. My breath streamed from my lips like smoke, and my feet made wet, crunching sounds in the snow as I slipped through the forest.”
“The snow swirled around me, like fat white moths in the darkness.”

2. The writing is gorgeous, and it grabbed me within the first paragraph. Kate Avery Ellison has this amazing knack for presenting ideas like love, and the intense coldness of the Frost, in a beautiful way.

“Just thinking abut it took my breath away. I gazed at the world of snowy white around us, at the feathery pines and moonlit hollows. What forgotten secrets lay beneath this icy visage?”
“The wind blew, stinging my cheeks and carrying with it the taste of ice. I slogged down the hill to the porch. My legs were weak with relief.”
“He kissed me at first like he was afraid I’d break, and then he kissed me like it was the last thing he’d ever do.”
“He looked at me like I was made of unbearable light and I was blinding him.”
“Love is a perilous dance too, you see. And if we stop dancing, we’ll die. Don’t ever stop dancing.”

See? Beautiful! Don’t some of those quotes make you went to melt into a puddle?

3. I love the storytelling. We are given just enough information to not feel completely unaware, but not enough to make things predictable. I loved the mystery and the unknowns. Like the monsters (Watchers)… Why are they here? What do they want? When will the show up? We are given information as we need it, not as we want it. I was flipping through the pages SO fast. The creativity behind this work is amazing!

4. The characters are all so likeable. Lia is strong and sensible. Her parents are dead, and she has to take care of her crippled twin brother and younger sister. She brings to the story that maturity a person gains when they are all of a sudden a teenage parent to children their own age. He siblings are so sweet and protective of her, but never try and hold her back from doing what she knows she has to do. The villain jumps out at you from nowhere, and the guy you thought you hated ends up being nothing you thought he was.

5. Gabe is swoonworthy, which is why he needs his own bolded number. I mean, he’s got this brooding hardened exterior, and is a man of few words… but the words he actually does say are perfect. He says the most amazing things to Lia. I melted. And he’s from this forbidden people, so we’ve got the tension that goes with “I have a major thing for him, but I’ve been brought up to fear and loathe him.” situation. Also, there’s this slow build up with him. The romance is actually barely mentioned, since it’s in the beginning stages. I bet the next book will include more. There’s no instalove, though, so I am SO willing to wait longer. :)

6. The forest is a character all its own, and I loved it. It sounds so mystical and gorgeous, yet it freaked me out! Every time any person ventured into the trees, I got so scared for them. And as the sky grew darker and darker, and the monsters began to appear… OH MAN. Good stuff, I tell you!

7. The ending is amazing! It’s suspenseful, charged with romance, and ah-ha! moments. Again, you are given the info you need to understand, but there are so many things screaming from inside of me, begging for the sequel. I can’t wait!

This book is a hidden gem. Again, I love being a book blogger, because I get to find all these amazing lesser-known books and then tell you to buy them! I’d recommend this to dystopia lovers, people who believe that monsters lurk in the dark, and swoonworthy male leads!

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Stop by the other tour stops for more book reviews, excerpts, deleted scenes, interviews, & more!

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Posted July 20, 2012 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Excerpt, Giveaway / 5 Comments

Hello! Welcome to my stop along the On the Island virtual blog tour, hosted by AToMR Tours.

You might remember back in March when I participated in another blog tour for this book (also with AToMR). Of course, I adored it, and have been shouting its praises from the rooftops for months now.

Since then, On the Island has taken the world by storm. 5-Star reviews went up all over the Internet, and the book gained a lot of publicity. Plume (an imprint of Penguin) snatched this book up, gave it a new cover, and re-published it! MGM has even bought the movie rights! During all of this, Tracey has become a great friend of mine, and I am SO excited for her. When I saw the opportunity to participate in another blog event for her book, I jumped at it immediately.

Make sure you read the book excerpt (haha. I was assigned one of my favorites!), and enter the giveaway to win one of ten signed copies of On the Island after this event announcement!

Here’s what you can expect throughout the tour. It sounds like so much fun!

In addition to reviews and promotional/celebratory posts, keep an eye out for key words in a special scavenger hunt! Select blogs will be hosting one word from two of Tracey’s favorite book quotes (one from each of the main characters in the book: Anna and TJ). Visit each stop and collect the words (they will be numbered, and I have Anna’s quote, word #6 at the end of the excerpt!). After July 22nd, submit your answers here. Random entrants will be selected to win books and swag. Those winners will be chosen and notified by July 29th.
On Monday, July 23rd, at 8:00 PM come join us as we live chat with the author on Savor Chat. You can sign in there with your Twitter or Facebook information.
Be sure to follow the Twitter hashtag, #ontheisland, to see random shout-outs to win books and swag. (@Tale_of_Reviews)
On the Island has been available in bookstores, both brick and mortar and online, since July 10th. If you happen to see it “in the wild”, take a picture and tweet it using the event hashtag (#ontheisland), or post it to Facebook). Make sure you also submit those tweets/posts here.

On the Island Book Excerpt

We were eating lunch when a chicken walked out of the woods.
“Anna, look behind you.”
She turned around. “What the heck?”
We watched as the chicken came closer. It pecked the ground, not in any kind of hurry.
“There was one more after all,” I said.
“Yeah, the stupid one,” Anna pointed out. “Although it’s the last one standing, so it’s done something right.” It came right up to Anna and she said, “Oh, hi. Do you not know what we did to the rest of your kind?” It tilted its head and looked up at her as if it were trying to figure out what she said. My mouth watered. I thought about the chicken dinner Anna and I would have. But then she said, “Let’s not kill this one, T.J. Let’s see if it lays eggs.”
I built a small pen. Anna picked the chicken up and put it inside. It sat down and looked at both of us like it was happy with its new house. Anna put some water in an empty coconut shell. “What do chickens eat?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You’re the teacher. You tell me.”
“I taught English. In a major metropolitan area.”
That cracked me up. “Well, I don’t know what it eats.” I bent down by the pen and said, “You better lay eggs because right now you’re just another mouth to feed, and if you don’t like coconut, breadfruit, and fish, you may not like it here.” I swear to God that chicken nodded its head. It laid an egg the next day. Anna cracked it into an empty coconut shell and scrambled it with her finger. She put the coconut shell near the flames and waited for the egg to cook. When it looked done, she divided it between us.
“This is fantastic,” Anna said.
“I know.” I finished my share in two bites. “I haven’t had a scrambled egg in so long. It tastes just like I remember.”
The chicken laid another egg two days later. “That was a good idea you had, Anna.”
“Chicken probably thinks so, too,” she said.
“You named the chicken, Chicken?”
She looked embarrassed. “When we decided not to kill it, I got attached.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “Something tells me Chicken probably likes you, too.”

Scavenger Hunt: Anna’s Quote, Word #6:
Underwear

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Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson (Mini Book Review)

Posted July 17, 2012 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 9 Comments

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
Series: Flirting in Italian #1
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers on June 12, 2012
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

Ok, guys… This just might be the biggest disappointment of the summer. I was SO excited when I found out about this book, and even more excited when I found out I was approved for it on Netgalley. Seriously. I was in a local creperie, and I might have made a smallish scene when I checked my e-mail and saw that I could download it. At that time, I was about to leave for Italy myself, and I love themed reads! I never got around to it while on my trip, though, but I still thought it would be fun to read it as I reminisced.

The summary on the back of the book tells very little about what happens in the story. Violet is our main girl, and she finds out about a centuries old painting that looks just like her. It’s in Italy, so she figures out a way to get herself there as part of a program that is basically finishing school for Italian girls. Her neurotic, overbearing, and borderline insane mother about has a flip-out session, but lets her go. She gets to spend the summer at a house in Tuscany with 3 really stuck up girls (another English person, and two Americans) and some rude Italian girls… and gets in too deep with a playboy, all while searching to find out whether or not she was adopted, and who this doppelganger was.

So… within the first 50 pages of the book, I almost gave up. I love art history so much, so I was really excited with the mystery posed at the beginning of the book, about the heroine’s doppelganger in a centuries old painting. And I love Italy, and was enjoying reading all about the scenery, and the Tuscan countryside. I’ve been to Pisa, so I know what it looks like in that area. It was fun to reminisce. And then the girls showed up. First off, the American girls are made out to be materialistic valley girls, and I was embarrassed. They act so dumb, snobby, rich, and entitled. I hope the author does not believe we’re really like that.

And then the high school mentality set in. These four girls are terrible (well, one of them was not so bad, but it was only because she was so insecure that she couldn’t be cocky)! They constantly think about how someone is fat, or that shade of green makes her skin look putrid, or “thank goodness I have been self tanning for a while”, or how the blonde has nothing between her ears, etc. The bullying and rude thoughts are so annoying! And Violet, our main character is exactly the person who made my life miserable in school. She’s rude, cocky, gossipy, and downright mean! I mean, come ON. I thought we were supposed to like the main character. Why should we stick with the book if we don’t? I had no interest in reading such rude thoughts and mindless gossip and backbiting. The mystery at the beginning of the book fades away, and it turns into one big mess of rude, unintelligent girls partying and hanging out with the guys you’re, as a general rule of thumb, supposed to avoid. The main love interest, Luca, looks down his nose at Violet, and comes off as being a bit of a lunatic. Violet realizes this, but goes back and forth from loving him and hating him. It was just weird. There’s no real character development, and I cared about nobody.

The book is all partying. It’s like spring break in Cancun in book form. Violet’s mission to go to Italy to find out about herself is completely forgotten. Towards the end of the book, another mystery (which ends up being very unrealistic) surfaces, but honestly, it’s too little too late. The book was already unsalvageable at that point, so trying to make up for that by adding in a mystery that is seriously hard to believe, does more harm than good.

AND… there’s a companion novel. So… crud! Haha. The ending was just a mess! I suffered through it only to be told that I have to read another book if I want to know what happens. I put the book down wondering why I wasted the time on it, and I have no interest to read the next book.

I loved the idea. LOVED it. And I know that it could have been done so much better. I’m so disappointed in it! I’d heard it was in the vein of Anna in the French Kiss. Heck. No. To be honest, I feel a little deceived with that marketing statement. I’m going to tell you right now to not bother with this one. There are many better choices out there.

Cecilia Gray’s Writing Do’s (Author Guest Post)

Posted July 16, 2012 by Jana in Blog Tour, Guest Post / 1 Comment

Cecilia Gray lives in Oakland where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She has written 7 books, the most recent of which (Fall for You) is the beginning of the young adult contemporary romance series, Jane Austen Academy. Two of her other novels: A Delightful Arrangement (The Gentlemen Next Door #1) and An Illicit Engagement (The Gentlemen Next Door #2) have spent time on several romance bestsellers lists in Spain, Italy, the UK, and the USA.

I’m delighted to have Cecilia here today to discuss some writing tips as part of the AToMR tour celebrating her newest book, Fall for You.

Dieting has never worked for me. The second you tell me what I can’t eat, it’s all I can think about is eating it. No carbs? I’ll eat a pizza. No fat? I want bacon.

The same is true of writing. Don’t tell me what I can’t do. I’ll want to do it. No starting a story with a dream? I’ll give my heroine a 300-page nightmare.

Instead, I’d rather focus on should I should be doing.

I should be eating more vegetables and lentils. I should be going organic. I should be eating nonfat yogurt.

Here are my writing “you-shoulds”:

You should draw the reader in by posing a question.
I don’t mean an obvious question-with-a-question mark. I mean a sentence that begs a question, any question.I was listening to the new Maroon 5 song and the first line is, “I’m at a payphone trying to call home all of the change I spent on you.” The sentence brings up all kinds of questions. Who is he trying to call? Why is he trying to call them? Where in sweet hell did he find a payphone? Even though I know nothing about the situation in the song, I sympathize with the singer, because he’s desperately trying to reach someone and I know the feeling.Your first sentence should engage the reader to question what is happening, and more improtantly, to care about what is happening.

You should force the reader to set their own stage.

This is a fancy way of saying show don’t tell, and the reason it works because it switches the reader from reading passively to reading actively, and if a reader is more actively drawn into a story, they have more stakes in the outcome.

“She was sad” says less than “She fought the sting of tears at the corners of her eyes.” (Apologies for both sentences being pretty lame….)

Both beg the question, why is she crying. But the second also makes you realize she doesn’t want to be crying, that she is desperate not to cry, which adds depth and dimension to her emotional state.

You should invite the reader to complete their own story.

Consider the following endings (my apologies for any spoilers):

–    Life of Pi when the veracity of Pi’s story is thrown into doubt and you must decide whether he was really in a boat with a tiger or a man who murders his mother
–    The ending of Inception when you must decide whether the hero has found happiness with his family or is trapped in a coma
–    Before Sunrise or Before Sunset when you have to decide whether the couple will stay together – and whether it’s the right decision
–    The Giver when you must decide what journey the hero takes
These stories have powerful endings precisely because their resolution depends on the reader.

This doesn’t absolve you of telling a satisfying story, but consider whether the satisfaction really comes from tying up every loose end. Is there a thread better left untold? Is there a question you want to leave for your reader?

All three Do’s have one thing in common: reader engagement. Each Do is a way of waking up your reader, forcing your reader to read deeper, asking your reader to care more, think more, do more.
Getting your reader to do more is more work for you, but if you’re stressing about it – you could always eat a pizza.

Thanks, Cecilia! Stop by the tour schedule and visit the other tour stops to read reviews of Fall for You, more guest posts, book excerpts, and other cool things!