Guest Post + Giveaway: Calista Lynne, We Awaken

We Awaken | Calista Lynne

YA Fantasy

Out July 14th from Harmony Ink Press

Victoria Dinham doesn’t have much left to look forward to. Since her father died in a car accident, she lives only to fulfill her dream of being accepted into the Manhattan Dance Conservatory. But soon she finds another reason to look forward to dreams when she encounters an otherworldly girl named Ashlinn, who bears a message from Victoria’s comatose brother. Ashlinn is tasked with conjuring pleasant dreams for humans, and through the course of their nightly meetings in Victoria’s mind, the two become close. Ashlinn also helps Victoria understand asexuality and realize that she, too, is asexual.

But then Victoria needs Ashlinn’s aid outside the realm of dreams, and Ashlinn assumes human form to help Victoria make it to her dance audition. They take the opportunity to explore New York City, their feelings for each other, and the nature of their shared asexuality. But like any dream, it’s too good to last. Ashlinn must shrug off her human guise and resume her duties creating pleasant nighttime visions—or all of humanity will pay the price.

Available for pre-order at: 

harmonyinkpress.com/books/we-awaken-by-calista-lynne-399-b

Giveaway

Calista is giving away a copy of We Awaken!

 More information can be found here: Win We Awaken

The Ace of Inspiration

by Calista Lynne

My goal was to write a post about the asexual inspirations for my novel- it features two ace protagonists- but the truth is that I can’t think of any. There is a simple explanation for this, though. I can’t name a single piece of media where a character specifically states that they are asexual. That itself is part of the inspiration for this book, because not speaking about the sexuality doesn’t make it go away. It just makes a lot of hormonal teenagers (not to mention a fair amount of adults) really confused and convinced that there’s something wrong with them. Occassionally a celebrity will come out asasexual, take Tim Gunn and Janeane Garofalo for example, but there is truly a lack of ace role models for anyone.

Hopefully asexual readers of my book will see something of themselves in the characters.

So because I can not name any distinctly asexual influences, I will instead explain what led to the formulation of my plot line. At the start of my writing career, I built my resume by getting poems published in unimpressive magazines that did not pay. Many of these had themed issues which they encouraged writers to draw inspiration from. One theme was fairytales and I had an ingenious idea: I would write a sonnet about a woman who fell in love with the sandman and became addicted to sleeping pills in order to see him. A tragedy, of course.

Around this same time a publisher rejected a short story I wrote for a contest and instead of moving along my whole brain went screw ‘em I’m gonna write a book that they’re gonna love. And I knew it was going to feature asexuality and girls loving girls.

Combining these two concepts into a romp of asexual teenage girls getting up to strange antics and dancing hadn’t entered my mind yet. The drug addiction and tragedy was dropped in favor of a happy ending, which doesn’t even need justification. My main characters, Ashlinn and Victoria, were born while I was lying down one day and imagined another girl waking up only to find someone else in her bed. A naked female who made dreams. That scene, although it is in the middle of the novel, is the first one I wrote and the story unfurled in either direction from there. The sonnet was never written. Thank God. As you can see, my writing process isn’t very straightforward.

While the sexuality of my characters isn’t based on any previous work, my greatest influences are the two people I dedicated my book to, Roald Dahl and Bruce Coville. These authors sculpted my childhood which was the foundation for everything that has happened since. Whether my fantasy world was that of The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or a bit more cheesy with Aliens Ate My Homework, the authors wrote worlds I never wanted to leave. So I haven’t. By writing fantasy I try to maintain the dreams of my youth. They also led me to my current favorite authors, Neil Gaiman and Douglas Adams, who are the frontrunners of fantasy. There are definite trends in my taste.

So this rambling post has hopefully explained to you where I draw a bit of my inspiration from. May you always feel represented and if not, I hope you feel inspired enough to write some representation yourself.

About Calista Lynne

Calista Lynne grew up on the American East Coast and is currently studying in London. She is having difficulty adjusting to the lack of Oxford commas across the pond and writes because it always seemed to make more sense than mathematics. Look for her near the caffeinated beverages.

calista-lynne.tumblr.com

calista-lynne.blogspot.com

@calistawrites

Guest Post: Julia Ember's Favourite Literary Creatures

I am so thrilled to have Julia Ember on Syntax Reviews today. If you've read my review of Unicorn Tracks, you'll know I loved it, and you'll know the creatures were one of my favourite parts. I'm delighted to have a guest post from Julia about her favourite literary magical creatures.

Want to know more about this amazing f/f fantasy? Scroll down for the blurb & links.

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If you’ve read the synopsis for Unicorn Tracks, or have any familiarity with the book’s mythical safari topic, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that I adore magical creatures and beings. When Saruuh asked me to write a guest blog post featuring some of my favourite creatures in books, I was very excited to dive in! I’m not going to talk about Unicorns because I think my love of them is kind of a given and I might be a *little* biased in my book selections.

 

Dragons

 

                I love dragons of all types – from the dangerous beasts of the Trinwizard to the mathematical intelligentsia of Seraphina. As a former medievalist turned fantasy writer, I get particularly excited imaging medieval people discovering dinosaur skeletons and constructing elaborate mythologies based on them. I don’t know if that’s how dragons became such a universal feature of human myth or not, but it’s what I like to think. Here are my picks:

 

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman – I loved the shape-shifting dragons in Seraphina! Most stories depict dragons as instinctual, emotional creatures that need to tame their inner rage. Not so in Hartman’s world! Her dragons are super intelligent, analytical creatures who weed out emotional reaction and attachment in their society. They make excellent scientists and mathematicians. The dragons can shift into a human form in order to live in human cities. Seraphina herself is a half-dragon, with traits from both creatures. However, in their true dragon form, Hartman’s dragons are monstrous and huge!

Tell Me A Dragon by Jackie Morris – One of the most richly imagined children’s picture books I’ve ever seen. This book depicts dragons of all types and sizes, from tiny lizards tucked behind children’s ears to great feathered ice dragons flying over the arctic. The book doesn’t tell much of a story, although it has words to encourage children to imagine their own dragons. However, each page is a work of art and well worth having in your collection!

The Ice-Dragon by George RR Martin – I picked up the beautiful new edition with illustrations by Luis Royo last year in a book shop. This bittersweet little book totally blew me away, both with the heart-breaking narrative (it’s George RR so he can’t let you be happy even in a children’s story) and the amazing blue-tone illustrations. There are many types of rideable dragon in this book, but it’s the illusive ice-dragon that steals the show. The ice-dragon is the bringer of winter and made of frozen crystal. The story fits nicely with the Song of Ice and Fire mythology because as long as the dragon remains it will stay winter.

 

Mythical Birds

 

                Confession time: I have a Phoenix tattoo on my thigh. I absolutely love phoenixes with their fiery feathers, symbols of rebirth and personal growth. Equally beautiful, but less known is the Caladrius. The Caladrius first appears in Roman Mythology, and is said to be able to take the sickness of a person and fly away with it, leaving them healthy again. They are usually depicted as all-white, but sometimes with blue and purple feathers.

 

                The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig – This magical debut novel opens in a bustling Indian market, where the protagonist and her dashing thief love-interest are bartering. Securing a Caladrius, they manage to escape the market with the bird. The Caladrius provides eery foreshadowing – it won’t look at someone if their condition isn’t cureable. When Nix shows the bird to her father, it won’t look at him.

 

 

                Harry Potter by JK Rowling – Okay, I feel like this is a predictable choice, but I couldn’t avoid it. Fawkes the Phoenix is pretty badass. His tears are able to heal Harry after he suffers a fatal wound and he’s able to regenerate in a puff of smoke.

 

About Unicorn Tracks:

Unicorn Tracks | Julia Ember

Published by: Harmony Ink Press, April 21st 2016

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Mythology

Pages: 180

After a savage attack drives her from her home, sixteen-year-old Mnemba finds a place in her cousin Tumelo’s successful safari business, where she quickly excels as a guide. Surrounding herself with nature and the mystical animals inhabiting the savannah not only allows Mnemba’s tracking skills to shine, it helps her to hide from the terrible memories that haunt her.

Mnemba is employed to guide Mr. Harving and his daughter, Kara, through the wilderness as they study unicorns. The young women are drawn to each other, despite that fact that Kara is betrothed. During their research, they discover a conspiracy by a group of poachers to capture the Unicorns and exploit their supernatural strength to build a railway. Together, they must find a way to protect the creatures Kara adores while resisting the love they know they can never indulge.

About Julia Ember:

Originally from the Windy City, Julia Ember now resides in Sunny Scotland where she learned to enjoy both haggis and black pudding. She spends her days working as a professional Book Nerd for a large book wholesaler, and her nights writing YA Romantic Fantasy novels.  She also spends an inordinate amount of time managing her growing city-based menagerie of pets with Harry Potter themed names. Presently, she is the haggard slave Sirius Black and Luna Lovegood the cats and Bellatrix Le Snake. She also owns a freakishly adorable cob pony called Africa.

A world traveller since childhood, Julia has now visited over 60 countries. Her travels inspire the fictional worlds she writes about and she populates those worlds with magic and monsters. In the coming year, she really hopes to visit Iceland and participate in a Saga Tour — viewing the stunning countryside by pony-back.

Top Five Reasons to Swoon Over Jack Vincent of Night Owls + ARC Review

I am crazy happy to have a guest post from Jenn Bennett, author of Night Owls, on Syntax Reviews today. I read this book in a blur and loved everything about it - especially Jack. (He's super cute but swoony at the same time and if you want to know more about him, this post is for you.)

Top Five Reasons to Swoon Over Jack Vincent of Night Owls

 No matter what you’re looking for in a hero, there’s practically a smorgasbord of hot boys in YA literature. Want a tough footballer with a heart of gold or the shy guy who can write all the poetry to melt your heart? What about the damaged rich kid with the horrible abusive parents or that cute boy next door with one month to live? You found him, you read him, you wept all the tears, and now you’re ready for your next book boyfriend. Could Jack be the one? Let’s find out, shall we?

…………….

Reason #5: Jack Vincent is an anonymous seventeen-year-old graffiti artist who’s been spray-painting enormous gold words across San Francisco (BEGIN, FLY, BELONG, JUMP) under the Golden Apple tag, attracting attention of local media—not to mention the police. No one can figure out what the words mean, exactly, but he’s got the whole city buzzing. (Admit it: this is kind of cool.) No one knows who is is…until my heroine, Bex, meets him on a midnight bus and puts two and two together.

Reason #4: One word: pompadour. I mean, come on. Bex jokingly describes Jack as the offspring of David Beckham and James Dean. He wears a vintage leather jacket, has great boots, and is into Rockabilly music, which will always be cool.

Reason #3: Think you’ve got him pegged as a rebel and a bad boy? Think again. He’s a vegetarian and a self-described “really bad Buddhist.” Jack’s dealing with something super depressing at home. I can’t tell you what it is, because that would be a huge spoiler. But trust me, it’s not fun or easy. A lot of people in his situation might have reacted differently—lashed out, drowned their troubles in drugs or alcohol, given up trying at school. Instead, Jack started going to meditation classes at the local Zen Center. He’s not very good at being a Buddhist, which he fully admits, and his teachers probably wouldn’t be down with his whole secret graffiti agenda, but he tries.

Reason #2: The boy can kiss. If Jack and Bex’s first kiss doesn’t melt you into a pool of goo on the floor, then you aren’t alive. (Did I mention that this book is sex-positive? It is. Big time.)

Reason #1: He’s madly, passionately, CRAZY in love with Bex. He knows it from the first time they meet on the bus. He does stupid (illegal) things to prove himself to her and get her attention.  He doesn’t try to make her jealous with other girls, and when something from his past comes up, he immediately clears it up, because he does not want to lose Bex. And best of all, he likes Bex for who she is—quirky, kind of weird, kind of dark, and a girl who’s got her own agenda and goals. He supports that. He’s cool with that. Heck, he even helps her.  That’s swoon-worthy gold, right there, folks.

His name is Jack Vincent, and he’s your next book boyfriend!

Night Owls | Jenn Bennett
Published in the US as The Anatomical Shape of A Heart

Published by: Simon & Schuster UK, August 13th 2015

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster UK

Feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco's night bus—turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive...and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists.

But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

I wanted to read Night Owls pretty much as soon as I learned the main character was into anatomy and wanted to get into a Willed Body department to draw the cadavers. That's not the kind of heroine you find everyday. I hoped - rightly! - that her interest in anatomy would only be the start of this book's charm and quirks. I did not, however, expect Jack.

The love interest in this made me swoon and squee and make a tonne of ridiculously cheesy grins. He flips from being adorable, to being haunted, to being hot as hell without warning and it totally took me off guard. He charmed me, well and truly, and because of Jack I fell in love with Night Owls (I do think the US title fits the book better than ours but I'm nitpicking.) Reading this book just felt real, in a way I've wanted a bunch of contemporary books to before - but they never did, and this book achieved the impossible. I loved everything, the anatomy stuff, the family issues (what? I liked issues? Who has this book made me into?) because they weren't run of the mill, because they were interesting.

Other things I liked: Bex's gay brother (thank you for the diversity), Jack's mentally ill sister (also thank you for the inclusion), kids using public transport (because hella realistic), how every minor character had their own life (Bex's boss was my fave), and how the relationship grew at a natural pace, sparked merely by curiosity about Jack's nighttime activities (I wanted to know EVERYTHING about him too.)

This book was everything I hoped for and never expected to get. My favourite contemporary, for the swoony love interest, the awesome and complex and wholly interesting main character, and for the romance. Dear lord, the romance. Read this immediately.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★☆☆

Writing ★★★★☆

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Stolen Songbird blog tour

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of Stolen Songbird. It's been getting amazing reviews, and rightly so. But what is it? you ask. Well, it's a high fantasy YA novel, and it has trolls, magic, and an under-mountain city in it! Not to mention a curse, kidnapping, and a heart-wrenching romance. It's thoroughly enchanting. If you need more reasons to read it, I direct you to my review.

Since I adore this book so much, I am extra honoured to feature the author Danielle. L. Jensen on my blog today! Here she is talking about the amazing setting of Stolen Songbird:

The Chicken or the Egg: Story or Setting?

The question of why Stolen Songbird takes place in a cave is probably best answered by my explanation of what inspired me to write the novel. Like so many authors before me (sparkly vampires!), and so many who will come after, the idea for my story came to me in a dream. “What a cliche!” you say, but it’s the honest truth. I had a dream about a beautiful city that had been buried, but not entirely destroyed, by rock. Even now, all these years later, I can still close my eyes and remember walking through collapsed corridors, with only the faintest bits of light coming through to illuminate fabulous paintings, sculptures, and fountains. In my dream, the only way to reach this city was by swimming under water, which might jog the memory of those of you who have already read Stolen Songbird. 

My vision of this place stuck in my head for days afterward, and I began to daydream a story to fit the place. I thought about how a city could be buried, I thought about what sort of magic would keep it from being destroyed completely, and I thought about why a race of people would choose to stay in such a place. They, in my mind, would only stay if they had no choice, and that was how the curse was born.  I then thought about what would happen to a people who are not naturally denizens of the dark if they were isolated from the world and kept from the sun. How would they change? What would they be like? How would they become little more than a myth to most of the outside world, and what would that myth be?  And most importantly: what would these creatures want more than anything else? The answer to that is obvious – to be free. And that was how the plot for my buried city was born.

There is, of course, a world outside of Trollus. You see a bit of it with Cécile, and there are certainly references to it throughout Stolen Songbird. A few readers have asked me why I provided so little information about the outside world. I have many, many reasons for that, but I’ll share the important ones. The first reason is that I thought limiting the information about the outside would compound the sense that Trollus is quite isolated, almost an entirely different world.  The second was that it would raise a lot of questions with readers – questions that I’ve every intention of answering in the subsequent two books. Hopefully reading Stolen Songbird will leave readers hungering to find out more about the world I’ve created for Cécile and Tristan. 

Thank you to Strange Chemistry and Danielle. L. Jensen for gracing me with this fabulous guest post!

Stolen Songbird | Danielle. L. Jensen

For those who have loved Seraphina and Graceling comes another truly fabulous fantasy...

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.