BLOG TOUR - THE TALE OF MALLY BIDDLE BY M. L. LEGETTE AUTHOR INTERVIEW + GIVEAWAY

 

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten”

Hello , Melissa, and welcome to our little corner of the blogosphere! I’d like to start with the statement above about fairy tales. What do you think?

I think it's beautiful and empowering.

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Oddly enough it was my mom who suggested the profession. I was busily penning my first novel and telling her all about it when she asked, "Melissa what do you want to do when you grow up?" (I was probably 15 at the time.) I said, "I don't know." (And I really didn't.) She then said, "Why don't you be a writer?" The question rather blew me away. It had never dawned on me that I could be a writer. But it was so obvious. I haven't looked back since.

BOOK REVIEW - QUANTA STELLA C'E' NEL CIELO BY EDITH BRUCK (2009) - SOON AN INTERNATIONAL MOVIE, ANITA B., BY ROBERTO FAENZA

I came to read this book after hearing that Italian director Roberto Faenza was making a movie out of it  (Anita B.) and I’m so  glad I discovered both novel and author. It’s been a great read which I happened to find  just when I was working on 20th century literature with my oldest students.  I couldn’t actually use it in my lessons,  since it hasn’t been translated into English and I teach English not Italian  literature,  but I think it gave indirectly a great contribution to my introduction of the general  background context and to  suggest my students connections and links coming directly from witnesses who lived and survived the tragic reality of WWII.

There's no grammar mistake in the title, it was just meant to sound "How much star is there in the sky",  like in   Sàndor Petöfi's ballad.  

Edith Bruck,  like Anita the young protagonist of  “Quanta stella c’è nel cielo”,     survived being imprisoned in a concentration camp and this is what makes the narration even more touching though it is never too sentimental nor melodramatic.  

 Edith Bruck won the Premio Viareggio Narrativa 2009 for this novel. She’s been living in Italy  since soon after WWII and has become a writer in the Italian language since the Hungarian tongue brought painful memories back to  her mind, the memories of being a rejected, persecuted Jewish child imprisoned in several Nazi concentration camps (Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen). 

She tells she  couldn’t even say “ciao” in our language when she arrived in Rome as a  desperate orphan, but wanted to learn Italian and use it in order to be born again,  into a new life, in order to forget those memories which were  poisoning her. 

She felt welcome here in our country. Italy and her were extremely poor at that time and she felt immediately at home in Rome. The experience  of Anita B., the protagonist of the book, is quite different, though. 

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2013 - VAMPIRE LOVE & GAY LOVE

The 2013 Cannes Film Festival, officially opened by The Great Gatsby,  has just turned off its glamorous lights on this year's  red carpet.  I was thinking how curious it is that just on the day when thousands of French people protested,  marching along the streets    in Paris,  against gay marriages, the experts at the Festival have chosen as best movie the French film "La vie d'Adèle" (based on the French graphic novel Le Bleu est une couleur chaude (Blue is the Warmest Colour) . Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the film won the Palme d'Or  (see a clip here).

What are the true colours of France today? 

Yes, because this film features "the most explosively graphic lesbian sex scenes in recent memory" according to Justin Chang writing for Variety and may require some editing (censorhip?) before it is screened in cinemas. 

At the beginning of the story, 15-year-old Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) has no doubt : a girl must date boys. Her life is turned upside down when she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), a blue haired young woman, which allows her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and an adult. In the look of others, Adèle grows, looks for herself, loses herself and finds herself again. 

SHOOTING HAS STARTED FOR THE PARADISE SERIES 2

Apparently they started shooting THE PARADISE series 2 at last! (Check HERE but beware of spoilers!)

Do you remember? A couple of months ago I was wondering what would happen at the beginning of the new series in one of my posts , which has become quite popular in fact being the one with the highest number of hits in the latest weeks. The worries I wrote about  have just been dissolved by the article I linked above. If you are as curious as me, just follow the link,  but I must warn you, there may be a huge spoiler and if you prefer to be surprised, don't click and go on reading here.

THE GREAT GATSBY: THE BOOK, THE MOVIES AND THE VALUES

(by guest blogger Prima Santika)

When I heard that Baz Luhrmann was taking on this classic novel into his production, I was thrilled with great expectations. And to put a long story short, after seeing the movie at its first day screening in Indonesia, May 17th 2013, I walked out from the cinema with GREAT satisfaction. Baz Luhrmann did a remarkable job! I do LOVE the movie!

BOOK BLAST - ABOVE RUBIES BY JACLYN M. HAWKES

 

Tour Schedule

Above Rubies

His chivalry was strangling her. He thought he was helping her—and in truth, he was. She was in desperate straits. But as honorable as he was, he was also breaking her heart. Her attraction was drowning him. When World Champion rodeo cowboy Rossen Rockland and his friends rescue a young runaway who has been abused by her foster father and take her home to his parents’ ranch, he expects her to turn out to be a pain in the neck. And sometimes she is. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that she has way more than her allotment of troubles—and far more than her share of gifts. Lovely, talented, and ravingly brilliant, Kit Star is too young, unbelievably humble, and oh, so loveable. Knowing that she needs his protection and time to grow into her potential, Rossen also figures out that what she really is, is a pain in the heart. Watch for more of the Rockland Ranch Series!  

Praise for Above Rubies:

I absolutely could not put this book down. It had me laughing, crying, angry and pretty much every other emotion. I can not wait for the next one in the series to come out. Keep them coming!!! ~Addicted to Books This is the second book in the Rockland Ranch Romance Series. It can be read as a stand alone or copies of Peace

BOOK BLITZ - THE BOY NEXT DOOR BY ANNABELLE COSTA

About Annabelle Costa

Annabelle Costa is a teacher, who writes in her free time. She enjoys the wounded hero genre, involving male love interests with physical disabilities, who don’t follow the typical Hollywood perception of sexy.

About The Boy Next Door

Through middle school, high school, bad dates, and an ill-advised punk phase, Tasha has always been able to count on Jason. Since the day he moved in next door, he’s gone from the weird kid in a wheelchair to Tasha’s most trusted friend. But lives change and the friends are going in different directions. When Jason and Tasha rekindle their friendship, sparks fly. After years of being a wild soul, now the ex-lead of a band turned music teacher is just looking for a relationship to last.

When none other than Jason introduces her to a man who can give her what she wants, Tasha is on the verge of throwing passion and love away just so she can forget her troubled past and settle down. But Jason isn’t ready to give her up just yet.

Excerpt

I wasn’t too happy when my parents told me that I had to try to make friends with the crippled kid who just moved in next door.

BOOKSHELF TOUR & AUTHOR GUEST POST - THE WIFE OF A LESSER MAN BY SANDY APPLEYARD + $15 AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY

Like most authors, all my books have been inspired by real life experiences.  The Wife of a Lesser Man is no exception.  Inspiration strikes me at the strangest times.  The story line for my first romance came right after reading another romance novel and eating an inordinate amount of cheese. 

The Wife of a Lesser Man came to me after having a discussion with a friend about married people who have affairs.  A question came to light regarding the safety of the person who has the affair.  “What if the person is a stalker or serial killer or something?”  We laughed about it at first, pointing out the irony, but then I thought this would make a great story. 

Hence, The Wife of a Lesser Man was born.  As I wrote the book, I absolutely loved the idea of writing about a police chief.  Writing crime scenes, mystery, clues and suspense was such a stimulating experience that I wanted to do it again and again.  And I am.  The sequel has already been written and the third novel in the series is started.

Writing a mystery is a lot like writing a story backwards.  You know what you want the outcome to be; you also know what clues will lead to the solution.  The trick is to make the clues mesh into the story so they’re not too subtle.  As I wrote the victims into the story, I used my inspiration from one or two of my not-so-favourite people.  Have you ever heard the saying ‘Never upset a writer; you might end up dead in their next book’?  It’s true ;-)

SANDY  APPLEYARD

How to Encourage Young People to Read Educational Books

(by guest blogger Pam Johnson) In today's world, it can be difficult to motivate young people to have a passion for reading. Yes, it is even harder when you want to get them to read educational books. How can you make this wish into a reality?

Ask Many Questions

One of the ways to inspire young people to read is to ask an array of questions. For example, let's say that you have a specific educational book that you want them to read. Ask them a lot of questions to which they can find answers in the book. You might send them on a hunt to find the answer to one specific question. After that, they may be inspired to read the book. Of course, you want to make the questions engaging and challenging to really get them involved in the process.

Some Tough Love

At first, you might need to resort to some old-fashioned methods to get them to read the book. Let's say that you are teaching a class of high school students, and you need them to read a particular educational book. Tell the students that a major test is going to be given on the book at the end of the term, and it will count for a large percentage of their grade. Knowing their grade is at stake can be enough motivation to read, and they might find that they actually love reading in the process.

AUTHOR GUEST POST - LONDON CASEY, THE BOYS OF DOWNCRASH

Writing a series isn’t quite like writing just a book.  And when you throw in connecting characters, story lines, and a band… it’s like creating everything.  At the end of it though, it’s quite amazing to see what’s been created. 

When I first started writing The Boys of DownCrash, I envisioned the series as something fast, even novella-like.  But the second I finished the first couple chapters and really got to meet the guys in the band (Tripp, Tatum, and Logan), I knew this wasn’t going to be short.  Or fast.  Or even easy to write.

These guys were cute, sexy, hot, and complicated.  They were together as one of the most popular bands going but individually they were so very different.  And maybe that’s what makes the series so fun… to write and read.  I didn’t want to have the same stories appearing in each book and I didn’t want the guys in the band to be the same either. 

JOURNEY OF PROMISE BY VICKIE HALL - BLOG TOUR AND GIVEAWAY

Tour Schedule

 

Journey of Promise When converts Richard and Leah Kenyon leave Wales and heed the call to Zion, they are unprepared for the toll exacted by the journey. To face the incredible odds mounted against them they call upon the Lord's tender mercies to see them through and strengthen their love for one another. Their story will remind you where to turn during your trials. 

ROCK & ROMANCE: INTERVIEW WITH KAROLYN JAMES ABOUT THE BROTHERS OF ROCK SERIES

  

Hello and welcome, Karolyn. It is a  great pleasure to have you as my guest at FLY HIGH!

I love rock music, I love romance and I love reading!  So I was curious to know more about your Brothers of Rock series of books.  Can you tell us more about the project? 

Thanks SO MUCh for having me! J

Brothers of Rock is a romance series following the rock band, Chasing Cross.  Each band memeber gets their own book and the books focus on the band off the stage.  Together, on stage, they’re ‘brothers’ in the sense of music and show.  But off stage they are five different men.  The series doesn’t just get into romance, it also tackles several other issues... addiction, recovery, loss, abuse, etc.  It’s jam packed with drama and love!

In Book 1, All Access, Jess meets Johnnie. She doesn’t recognize him as the famous lead singer of a hugely successful band. Between them is love at first sight. Do you believe in that kind of special “click” mysteriously connecting two people on their first meeting?

Why Reading Classic Literature May Give Advantages in Your Education

(by guest blogger Pam Johnson)

Reading classic literature has never really been your idea of fun. However, you have started to realize that doing so might have some serious advantages for your career. Instead of pushing these novels to the wayside, start to consider the possibilities that they can offer to you.

Understanding Allusions

Whether it is in modern literature, history or class in general, allusions are often made to works of classic literature. Basically, an allusion is a reference to something else in its most simple form. However, if you do not read these classic works of literature, then you are not going to understand the allusions. This lack of understanding might cause you to fall behind in the coursework or to not fully understand what it is that the professor is trying to explain.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - ANNE EASTER SMITH, ROYAL MISTRESS BLOG TOUR - IF HISTORY WERE TAUGHT IN THE FORM OF STORIES

My guest today is Anne Easter Smith.  A native of England, Anne spent some of her childhood in Germany and Egypt and the rest at boarding school. She came to the US in the late ‘60s for two years and is still here, living in Newburyport, MA with her husband, Scott. Anne is the author of five novels about the York family in the Wars of the Roses, all published by Touchstone at Simon & Schuster. She has been a secretary, a PBS auction coordinator, the features editor at a daily newspaper, a folksinger and the administrator at a music school. When she is not writing, Anne is usually to be found either acting or directing in community theater productions, beach-walking, practicing yoga, or watching “Mad Men.” Her latest novel, Royal Mistress has just been published and she's here today to share her passion for history, the Ricardian cause and writing with us. Join me and welcome Anne at FLY HIGH! 

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere, Anne. It’s a pleasure and an honour to have you as my very special guest on FLY HIGH!

This is my first question. I know you love quoting Rudyard Kipling with his “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten." Does that mean we can learn the truth about our past and roots reading historical novels more than or as well as researching on documents?

I wouldn’t say that! Of course you will gain far more by reading the chronicles, letters and histories of the period. But what historical fiction does is bring those people to life and perhaps give you an appetite for doing more research on your own. However, just like watching a bio-pic on TV -- you shouldn’t believe everything you see. I try very hard never to have a person in the wrong place at the wong time--I will do my best to see if there is any evidence that someone was or was not at a certain castle when I want them to be, but I will not mess with history. If I cannot find anything that says Cecily Neville never met Joan of Arc, but the research tells me these two women were in the same building at the same time (one in the royal apartments and the other in the dungeon) then I feel it’s plausible that they did meet. As a reader of Historical Fiction, I think you have to learn to recognize a writer who respects the history rather than one who, with one obvious anachronism, can have me throwing a book across a room! If you question something in an historical novel, then go and seek out the truth in the non-fiction shelves. Fiction is fiction after all!

BOOK BLAST - THE TALE OF MALLY BIDDLE BY M.L. LE GETTE + $50 AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY

The Tale of Mally Biddle by M.L. LeGette 

When Mally Biddle agreed to spy upon the King of Lenzar and his overbearing knights she knew she was heading into danger. She didn't know she'd find a family unlike any other. Posing as a servant in Bosc Castle, Mally serves tea and tends fires for the most dangerous men in the kingdom. Her goal is to learn the truth of what happened sixteen years ago, when the infant princess met her death ... a death that is surrounded by more questions than answers. Along her search for the truth, Mally meets the energized Lita Stump, the strict and matriarchal Meriyal Boyd, and the opinionated Archibald Diggleby. Then of course there are the knights: Leon Gibbs who is slicker than a greased hog, Adrian Bayard, hot tempered and violent, and the worst of the lot: Sir Illius Molick, Captain of the Knights. And then there is Maud, a mysterious woman who just might know everything...

Amazon * Barnes & 

Noble * Amazon Kindle

ANITA B. - ROBERTO FAENZA DIRECTS ROBERT SHEEHAN AND ELINE POWELL

Robert Sheehan  and Eline Powell as Eli and Anita

Roberto Faenza has started shooting his new film, Anita B.,  in Bolzano, Italy, with an international cast: Robert Sheehan, Eline Powell, Antonio Cupo, Nico Mirallegro are among the young protagonists. The movie is based on a novel by Edith Bruck (read about her HERE), titled Quanta stella c'è nel cielo, which,  for what I know, hasn't been translated into English so far. 

The book

Edith Bruck won the Premio Viareggio Narrativa 2009 for  «Quanta stella c'è nel cielo». There's no grammar mistake in the title. It was just meant to sound "How much star is there in the sky" in the quoted line of Sàndor Petöfi's ballad.  
Anita (Eline Powell) , who's  only 16,  has just the great Hungarian poet's  lines to warm her heart and little else sweet left in her mind.  She keeps so many ripping memories inside herself, memories nobody wants to listen to.  She survived the concentration camp, is beautiful and sensitive, life trials have tattoed her soul forever. She's running away from a Hungarian orphanage to join her aunt, Monika. 

WORKING IT OUT BY RACHAEL ANDERSON - COVER REVEAL & $25 AMAZON CARD GIVEAWAY

Author Rachael Renee Anderson

Rachael Anderson is the author of four books: Divinely Designed, Luck of the Draw, Minor Adjustments, and The Reluctant Bachelorette. She's the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can't sing, doesn't dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

Blog * Facebook * Twitter

Working It Out

A chance encounter . . . 

Grace Warren's life is safe and predictable—exactly the way she likes it. But when she gets roped into going

How to Read Effectively and Efficiently - Tips for young readers by Jason Harter

Reading is both fun and enjoyable when you are good at it. If you have trouble grasping written words, then chances are you do not enjoy it. One of the best ways to become a good reader is to find things that you actually want to read. The more you read than the better you will get. Use the following tips to help you become to most effective and efficient reader possible.

1) Read for Fun

One of the best ways to become better at reading is by practicing it. Pick of trashy books and fun magazines that pique your interest. You will be reading for pleasure, and it will teach you to become a better reader. You do not have to read things that are hard just to better understand wordy complicated texts. It will get easier with time, but only if you are willing to try and make reading fun first.

Women and Difficult choices - Blog Tour - David's Song by A.R. Talley: Guest post + giveaway

  

For those who have not read  book yet, in David's Song, the protagonist, Annie has to make a choice between her husband Jeremy and their fifteen years of marriage and David Andrews, a lost love from years before.  When I wrote David'sSong, I had been contemplating the 'what ifs' of different choices earlier in my life, and ultimately decided that I was happy with the course my life had taken.  But the idea still intrigued me and I wondered what another woman might choose if given the chance to revisit that 'First love.'

BOOK BLAST - THE NEWSTEAD PROJECT BY MELANIE SCHULTZ + GIVEAWAY OF A $50 AMAZON GIFT CARD OR PAYPAL CASH

The Newstead Project

The giant.

Joel Cranston shouldn’t exist. He just doesn’t know that yet. He’s lived a pretty normal life for the last sixteen years. If you consider being almost seven feet tall and good at about every sport you’ve ever played normal. Normal ends the day Newstead shows up with an invitation to come to their school.

The school.

Newstead is a private high school in Central Vermont by the Green Mountains. It’s a great place to hide a few hundred people who shouldn’t exist while you train them to become tomorrow’s rulers, tomorrow’s dictators, tomorrow’s gods.

The unexpected.

Rachel Newell thinks she’s just passing through. She never stays any place more than four months and with Newstead so close to Weston, she has even more reason to make this her shortest stop ever. The last thing she expects is to have a reason to stay. Together Rachel and Joel uncover the truth behind what is the newstead project.

Amazon * Amazon Kindle

SPRING FLING GIVEAWAY HOP - LET'S READ THE CLASSICS

Happy Spring Time, dear readers. Do you like giveaway hops? Lots of blogs participating and a great deal of chances to win great prizes. I am a reader not a writer hosts this May giveaway. The deadline to enter all the contests in the hop is May 7th.

What can you win here at FLY HIGH? One of the classics in these pages at the Boodepository.com, one of your choice. Surf through the pages, choose your title and take your chances to win in the rafflecopter form below. Mind you, the classics you can choose among are only those shown in the pages linked HERE. 

1 paperback for 1 winner is my prize, open worldwide, and... Good luck, everyone!  

CLICK, CHOOSE YOUR PRIZE, THEN COME BACK AND FILL IN THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW. FINALLY, DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL THE BLOGS IN THE LIST BELOW!