Danny Marks YA
The Readables
Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and after spending the last sixteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand, she’s finally moved back and now lives on the Sunshine Coast. When she’s not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let’s just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)
She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010. Her latest release, Fairy Bad Day, has been selected by Voya as one of their Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012.
Cels: Firstly I have to say a big congrats on having four new releases hitting shelves this year, three of which are your first offering’s to the primary school aged market. Did you find your writing style and process had to change with the “Mixed up Magic” series?
Amanda: Thank you! It’s definitely going to be an exciting year! As for whether my writing style had to change for “Sophie’s Mixed-Up Magic” series, unfortunately it did! Well, I say unfortunately because I hadn’t really expected there to be any difference. However, when I started to write the books I quickly realized that it’s a lot harder for a regular eleven year old girl to get out of the house on her own than it is for a teenager. In fact, it’s almost impossible and suddenly I understood why there are so many fantasy books out there for this age group (and why they are all orphans, because seriously, parents get in the way. A lot!!). And you would think that because I own an eleven year old daughter of my own, that it wouldn’t be so difficult, but it still was.
Thankfully, after I finished writing the three Sophie books, I went straight into my next YA book, Demonosity, which was a complete joy to write and I had my heroine sneaking out all over the place!
Cels: I adored Zombie Queen of Newbury High and Fairy Bad Day and was blown away by your unique and hilarious take on some of our favourite
imaginary beings. Can you tell us a little about the worlds and fabulously funny characters (and annoying little faeries) that inhabit them for those who haven’t yet discovered them?
Amanda: I’m so pleased that you enjoyed Zombie and Fairy. I always feel slightly embarrassed when I talk about my ridiculous books. Most of the time I write things for my own amusement and don’t really stop to consider that other people might one day read them.
With Zombie Queen of Newbury High, Mia is living in a normal world until she decides to do a love spell. Unfortunately, she actually ends up doing a very different spell and turns her entire senior year into zombies. Mia doesn’t realize what she’s done until she gets a visit from the school new-boy, Chase. Chase works for the Department of Paranormal Containment and the pair of them have to find a way to reverse the spell before the virus moves into stage four and the zombies all come looking to eat their queen, Mia!
There is something so inherently funny about the word zombie, that I had loads of fun writing this entire book. To show the students moving through the various stages of the virus, I had them eating lots of beef jerky and hamburgers. They also tried to fatten Mia up by giving her lots of snack food and every time they saw her, all they could smell was chicken! Hands down my favourite scene is when Mia’s hypochondriac best friend Candice, and Mia’s arch nemesis, Samantha are both sitting in the back of the car bickering over who will get to eat Mia when they turn into zombies.
As for Fairy Bad Day, unlike Mia, Emma isn’t a normal girl living in a normal world. She goes to a prestige slaying school and is desperate to follow in her dead mother’s footsteps by becoming a dragon slayer. Instead, she discovers that her new vocation is to be a fairy slayer. She is completely horrified and determined to make her principal change his mind.
Unfortunately, the more she tries, the angry he gets and she finds herself stuck with them. At this point—because I’m cruel—I took it upon myself to make the fairies as ridiculous and irritating as possible just to annoy her! And so, instead of using swords and weapons in her slaying kit she is forced to resort to Skittles, nail files and hairspray (and actually, I swear that Rupert, Trevor and Gilbert all receive a lot more fan mail than I do!)
However, Emma then discovers that there is another kind of fairy that no one can see–a killer fairy. Unfortunately, thanks to her over-zealous efforts to get out of being a fairy slayer, no one believes her and she becomes the girl who cried wolf (or invisible fairy) and so she has to turn to the one person she hates more than anyone. Curtis Green, the guy who took her dragon slaying spot.
Cels: Where are some of your favourite places to write? Do you have any certain “rituals” or process to put yourself in the “zone”?
Amanda: Kitchen table! For the longest time I never had my own study so I would just take my laptop to wherever it was warm and sunny. However, since we moved back to Australia I do now have my own desk, but I’m so used to being a nomad that I tend to only put books and bills on it! I don’t really have any great rituals. I will put a playlist on if I remember, but that’s not essential and I will normally have some water and Diet Coke within reaching distance.
Cels: Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?
Amanda: Malik!!!! I always tend to have a sassy side-kick in my books but Malik is the sassiest of them all! He is a two thousand year old dead djinn who looks like Zac Efron, loves American Idol and is addicted to Cheerios and it’s his job is to show Sophie the ropes. Unfortunately, all he manages to do is create chaos and Sophie is constantly getting into trouble with her teachers and with her mom because of the mess that Malik creates! But despite the fact he is a walking disaster, he always means well and when Sophie isn’t trying to kill him, she is actually grateful to have him there!
Discover more about Amanda and her books.
Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. What are you going to get the one you love, especially if your wallet is a little skinny and your bank account is dwindling?
You can whip up a really nice card yourself rather than pandering to the Hallmark giants. Having trouble thinking of something romantic to put in the card? Find a really nice quote from a book of quotes; you should be able to find one at your local library.
If you don’t have the budget for store bought jewellery, you can make your own for her. Be sure to take notice if she wears mostly gold or silver, then what colour she wears often. You can make a memory wire bracelet, for under $10 if you spend a little more on focal beads and use seed beads as fillers.
Or try this Celtic Heart knot
from TyingItAllTogether with satin ribbon cord, a bead on either side of the heart, and a knot to hold the beads in place. Pass the cut ends carefully through a candle flame to seal them and avoid fraying. This would be great for a bracelet or a necklace.
Rather than buying an expensive bunch of flowers, you can make them with origami or tissue paper. From How to make these, is a tutorial on origami Tulips…
Staying with the origami theme, you can make a heart shaped gift box for whatever you decide to buy or make. This tutorial, thanks to Jo Nakashima, is really pretty and looks simple enough.
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You don’t have to spend a fortune to let someone know you care about them. It really is the thought that counts, and a handmade gift shows you thought hard. As a bonus it will be something nobody else will be given. Good luck!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
“This is the way the world ends – not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.” Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way – not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.
Set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, Hollowland tells the tale of Remy who, upon escaping a zombie attack at the quarantine station she had been living in, heads out into the world to find her younger brother Max. With her is Harlow, another survivor of the attack and on the way they meet Blue, a doctor, and Lazlo, a once-famous musician.
This is the basic premise of Hollowland, and I was slightly disappointed that it mirrored so many other horror stories. One thing that kept popping into my head was the movie 28 Weeks Later and I found many similarities among the two: the teenage protagonist, the younger brother who’s immune to the virus… These are only two, but there are many more.
However, despite the plot not being the most original one, the main character – Remy – stands out. One thing that particularly surprised me was that Remy is ruthless when she needed to be. Her goal is to find her brother and she doesn’t let certain feelings such as pity get in the way. If she has to leave someone behind for the sake of her brother, she’ll do it and that really impressed me.
Another thing that stood out in Remy’s character was that she had plenty of common sense. She has to survive and she is smart about it; she doesn’t go about wasting ammo and doesn’t trust strangers immediately. At times, she was a bit too capable, but it still works.
The supporting characters were a bit of a letdown. Harlow struck me as a shallow girl, Lazlo was the obvious love interest, Blue is basically just a doctor who never loses his temper… I’m almost tempted to call them “cardboard”, but I came to care about them halfway around the book. The romance (albeit I always take romances set in a zombie apocalypse with a grain of salt) was heartwarming and, in a way, reflected the despair one would feel when the world ends.
The writing in itself is pretty fluid and not overcomplicated. The action scenes are well-done and easy to picture. They were also pretty much inventive in the way Remy used things around her as weapons so that she didn’t waste ammunition.
With a strong, capable lead, and an ending that makes you want more, Hollowland is a fun, action-packed read that will satisfy anyone in the mood for a post-apocalyptic adventure.
Publisher: CreateSpace (September 28, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1453860959
ISBN-13: 978-1453860953
Summary:
Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries.
Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead.
Everyone except Jenna Fox
This is a sequel to The Adoration of Jenna Fox if you have not yet read that book, beware this review will contain spoilers.
260 years after leaving Jenna’s story we travel across what used to be the United States to the Eastern states. We find out that unbeknownst to Jenna’s father, one of his co-workers kept a copy of Locke and Kara’s information. They have been brought back to life to be visual examples of Dr G’s business. He keeps them hidden away in his mansion and displayed for wealthy businessmen to come and admire for the technology. Even though they are illegal specimens, it is known (because of Jenna) that it is possible, medically to reconstruct so much of the body with only the minimum cell samples. Early in the story Kara is unsatisfied with their current situation, and now that she has heard that Jenna is still alive, she has some questions that need answering, and they decide to escape.
This side of the story is told from Lock’s perspective. He is concerned about Kara’s determination to find Jenna, she has mysterious and dangerous thoughts in her head and he fears for Jenna’s safety. He is also still deeply in love with Jenna and desires them to all be reunited.
I found the author’s vision of the future in this book was very interesting. The United States being separated into two sections run by politics. The Republicans and the Democrats and you can only move to a different side of the country every 8 years. There are also added factors of the nomads in which she refers to as “land pirates” as well as super fast moving cars, trains and more intelligent robot/cyborg beings. It is highly imaginative and yet a believable and interesting look of what could be possible for our future.
My mind had a hard time grasping some of the emotions that occur within Jenna, Locke and Kara. Most of them would include huge spoilers for you, but mostly I felt it hard to grasp onto how many emotions they have for being reanimated people. They not only experience human emotions of hate, anger, love, guilt and depression but it’s the level in which they “feel” these emotions I had a hard time understanding. It’s all very dramatic and overly emotional even for humans. Also, in the first book we are also introduced to the fact that Jenna must eat only a bag of nutrients only every couple of hours to sustain her system, but in this continuation of the story, I don’t remember there being any emphasis on the nutrients supplements, even in one part it refers to Lock eating off plates, but I don’t remember being filled in with any information or changes in the technology that allowed them to be able to handle real food.
The narrator for the audio book did a great job. There were times that I had to remind myself that this is somebody being reanimated after centuries and very confused about what was going on in the world because there were huge sections of just information about what he was thinking and “feeling”. He is in a body that is similar to the one he has always known, but doesn’t seem to be quite the same or work the same way.
Although there is a lot of traveling from the East coast to the West coast and we get to meet a lot of different types of dangerous people along the way 80% of the story is just Locke’s thoughts about what is happening, or did happen to him in the past. The narrator for the audiobook does a really good job of voicing the side characters as well. It is an interesting and unique twist to a science fiction look into our futures. How one day the advances in medicine and technology can bring us so close to being able to live for centuries at a time and still maintain our most basic of human emotions and instinct to survive.
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