Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for Austin] 

Hey everyone and help me welcome Julianna today! She's a character in the upcoming Never Eighteen and she has agreed to answer a few questions for us today!

If you could change one of your past choices, change one decision that you made, what would it be?

I wish I'd never said yes to Ben.

Austin worried about you, because of the situation with your boyfriend, and made sure to talk to you, to try and persuade you to get out of a dangerous relationship. Do you have any intention of following Austin's advice? Of getting help before it's too late?

It’s already too late. I have no doubt in my mind that if I try to break up with Ben he’ll hurt me again, maybe even kill me this time. He’s threatened it before and I have no reason not to believe him. I stood up to him once—told him I was tired of his shit and that he better stop or I was going to call the cops. You know what he did? He laughed. Then he choked me to the point that I passed out. When I woke up he was leaning over me. Scared the hell out of me. I’ll never forget what he said. “Try to leave again and next time you won’t wake up.”

Austin spent a lot of time thinking about how he wanted to spend that weekend and you were definitely one of his priorities. Does knowing that trying to make sure you would be safe was one of his priorities make you more inclined to listen to his advice? What does knowing that mean to you?

Austin lost his right to care when he broke up with me. I mean, he comes over to my house with Kaylee? Things didn’t exactly end well between us. I was in love with him and he broke my heart. Just because he’s seeing the world through death glasses, doesn’t mean he has the right to butt in where he has no business.

How did you feel at the party, when Austin stepped in front of you?

I wanted to hit him. Such an idiot. He just made everything worse. I got a good beating after that party. One of the worst. Ben didn’t even bother to hit me in places that wouldn’t show like he normally does. I had a black eye, a swollen lip. I had to lie to my parents about what happened. If he wasn’t already dying, I might just kill him.

What would you say has been the defining moment or experience of your life so far?

Defining moment? I don’t have any defining moments. The only thing that defines me is Ben. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh Julianna! It's never too late! This interview is breaking my heart, because I know that there are people who feel this way. So I'm going to take a moment here to just say — There is never such this as too late. Find people who you can talk to, who can help you. There are always options!

ALSO — Megan has been generous enough to donate some fun & awesome swag!! Just leave me a comment with your email address AND a statement related to Never Eighteen or the character interview above!


The swag pack includes a bookmark, sticker, bracelet, notebook, pen, temporary tattoo, a button, pack of tissues and a CD of songs that inspired the novel. This giveaway is also open Internationally and will close in 10 days, on November 9.

Every city throughout the United States has been impacted by the recent economic recession. The combined forces of the credit crisis and the foreclosure crisis led to plummeting home prices in every region of the country. The ripples were felt from San Francisco condos to homes for sale. However, some metropolitan areas were able to avoid the worst of the turmoil and are now emerging from the mess faster than the rest of the country.

The recovery is swiftest in those areas that didn’t have as much of a housing price run up to begin with, either because the economy in those areas has stayed healthy or the economy has been limited for decades and residents have adapted or left. The top recovering areas also had lower rates of sub-prime and negative amortization loans financed in the years leading up to and during the crash.

In December of 2009, Forbes Magazine released a list of the number of loans that were foreclosed upon in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Forbes then calculated the percentage of loans that were descending into further delinquency versus those that were improving.

For example, the number of foreclosed homes in Austin was examined to see which loans continued towards the path of complete default versus those which inched their way back towards normalcy. The lower the rate of deterioration was for a given area, the higher their corresponding ranking with regard to recovery.

1. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.
2. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
3. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah
4. Buffalo, NY
5. Knoxville, Tennessee

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (12/09/2009)

The Pennsylvania region of Harrisburg, and the Austin area of Texas were rated the best, followed by Ogden, Utah and Buffalo, NY. The homes seem to be recovering quite well as that region came in fifth in the study.

VIA «Top 5 Recovering Real Estate Markets in the U.S.»

THE SITTING SWING begins as Irene Watson enters Avalon, a 28-day recovery center. In the following chapters, Irene relays, through flashbacks, her troubled and abusive childhood.Born to parents who had already buried their first child, Alexander, their over protectiveness appeared to be an attempt to compensate this loss.

For from the time she was a young girl, she was never allowed to be far from her mother's side.Irene's actions also seemed to be measured by her dead brother's potential. "Why can't you be more like your brother? was the unspoken reference point by which I was measured."

A very poignant and telling part of the book was the description of the sitting swing: a swing built up against a rose bush. Any swinging (straying) would result in getting stabbed by rose thorns. "The swing was built so I could be watched and slowly learn that I was to be monitored and cared for without fail."

The first noted abuse book place when Irene attempted to run away from home. Her mother catches her a quarter mile away, and drags her back home.

"As I walked indoors...she threw me onto our couch, picked me up by my feet and beat my butt red. She was screaming as I'd never heard her scream before. I was screaming as I'd never heard myself scream before. And the beeting went on and on until I could no longer stand and she could no longer hold me up."

Thus began a legacy of beatings from her mother. Her father would witness the bruises, but never said a word.

Irene continued through school, and high school, and eventually marries a young man, Bob, the most popular boy from her high school.The reader is once again brought back to Irene's stay at Avalon. Irene is forced to look back at her childhood, and her marriage to Bob, and trace the tracks of her co-dependency. In her journal she writes of her inability to express her needs or wants. It seems as though no one wants to listen. Her thoughts of suicide continue.

Things change when Jean, a woman she recognized from church, arrived at Avalon. This wasn't Jean's first experience the recovery center. She returned because during her first stay a lot had been revealed about her life, and her eyes were opened to a number of different issues she wanted to work on. Jean became Irene's first "Avalon friend."

By the conculsion of the 28 day period, Irene was able to create a new script for her life. She realized her own self worth and learned that conceeding to other's wishes did nothing to honor her own worth.

THE SITTING SWING is an incredibly emotional and empowering book of one individual's journey to self realization. A bit graphic at times, but this was demanded in order for the reader to truly experience the horrible childhood Irene was forced to endure. My only complaint would be that the tale skips from Irene's childhood and young adulthood right to the "present." It was apparent that her codepency continued during her marriage, and I believe it would have been helpful for the reader to be able to experience that part of her life. I highly recommend THE SITTING SWING to anyone that is or has experienced codependency.

About the author:

Irene Watson, author of award winning The Sitting Swing, was born and raised in a tiny hamlet of Reno in the northern area of the province of Alberta in Canada. It was a farming community, mostly settled by immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and Poland during the early 1900s.

Two books that had the deepest impact were Change me into Zeus’s Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss, and, Lost and Found by Babette Hughes. Reading both books inspired Irene to write about her own life’s journey, from growing up in a semi-abusive home to finally accepting that experience as a path to a spiritual understanding of life. She now shares her story in The Sitting Swing.

Irene is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Irene received her Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Summa Cum Laude, in Psychology from Saint Edward's University in Austin and her Master of Arts, with honors, in Liberal Studies: Psychology, from Regis University in Denver.

Today, Irene lives beside Barton Creek in Austin, Texas with her husband Robert of 43 years, and their Pomeranian, Tafton; their calico cat from a rescue shelter, Patches; and their rescued cockatiels, Clement and Elgin.You can visit her website at http://www.irenewatson.com/ or her blog at www.irenewatson.typepad.com/irenes_weblog.

CONTEST DETAILS! I have two autographed copies of THE SITTING SWING available for giveway.

• To be entered once, comment on this post
  


• For extra entries, blog/tweet about this book/post. Be sure to include a link to your post or tweet in your comment.
  


• All entries must provide an email address!
  


• Contest ends Friday, June 26th.
  

Today's interview is with a writing duo. Yvonne and Sandy have written quite a few books together and while I've only read two of them so far, they have both been lots of fun to read, and exactly what I was looking for at the time. Lots of fun, a little bit of fluff and just overall enjoyable.

What is it like writing as a team? How do you get past disagreements on pieces of the story?

We've been writing as a team for over a decade, and it’s still fun. The toughest part is picking one of many ideas floating like balloons over our heads, and focusing on just one.

Over the span of 10 books, we’ve had to develop a three-stage technique to shoot down each other’s ideas in a way that isn’t hurtful:
1. Listen to the entire idea, nodding and smiling;
2. Offer lukewarm praise; and
3. Present new idea so obviously superior that the first one is instantly forgotten.

Seriously, though, you can’t get too attached to your ideas when you’re a team. You have to trust than another, better one will come along, because it always does.

How did the two of you meet? How did you decide to become writing partners?

We met as teens working in a public library. We were friends for years—and even roommates after college—and the idea of writing together never occurred to us. But one day, Yvonne went looking for a non-fiction book for her nieces to answer their questions about relationships with boys, friends and family. She couldn't find a book with the right, light-hearted tone, so she suggested we write one. That led to Totally Me: The Teenage Girl’s Survival Guide. It was a natural fit, since we've spent our entire friendship talking about relationships with boys, friends and family.

Have either of you written alone? Or written with a different partner?

We've only collaborated with each other. In some cases one of us has written “more” of a particular book than the other person, depending on our schedules. But we developed our voice together, so I doubt anyone could tell who wrote what. In fact, sometimes we compliment each other on our own lines, forgetting we wrote them!

What are the differences to writing alone vs as a team and what are some advantages/disadvantages to both styles.

A huge advantage to collaborating is simply the “we're in it together” feeling. It’s nice to share the highs and lows of publishing, and the weight of deadlines. The only disadvantage—other than the loss of full creative control!—is that you have two schedules to coordinate. We have other jobs and commitments and they don’t always sync up as we’d like.

Why Contemporary?

We started out that way and just kept going. Spending time with our teen friends keeps us grounded in the present and we’re intrigued by the challenges they face.

But to be honest, we have always wanted to give paranormal a try and soon... we will! Expect something a little different from Collins-Rideout in a few months.

I've heard talk that *Love, Inc.* is actually a series. Is there any truth to that rumor? If so, is there any information you can share with us?

Yes! We just released the sequel to Love, Inc. It’s called Trade Secrets, and it will soon be available across all electronic platforms. You can already find it on Amazon

Here’s a short overview:

Kali Esposito and her best friends Syd and Zahra revive Love, Inc. to help the lovelorn break-up, make-up or take-up with someone new. A die-hard romantic, Kali can turn the most socially-challenged clients into confident charmers and the “Kali Method” takes Love, Inc. to new heights. But when a competitor corrupts her method to turn regular guys into players, Kali must reclaim Love, Inc.’s trade secrets before every girl in Austin gets her heart broken.

Speaking of sequels/series, are they harder to write than the first book? Do you *like* them or do you prefer writing a standalone story?

The challenge with sequels is trying to recap the first book for new readers without boring returning readers, who already know the back story. But on the whole, sequels are easier to write in that you’ve already developed the key characters, and their world. Our favorite book of all is the third book in the Vivien Leigh Reid series: Diva in Control. By that point, we’d hit our stride and could just enjoy getting poor Leigh into trouble. We’d still love to do a sequel to The Black Sheep. Judy is our most obnoxious villain ever—she deserves another outing.

What made you decide to self-publish Trade Secrets? Will you continue to self-publish all your future books? Will Trade Secrets also be released in a hard copy edition (I'd love to have a hardcover to match Love, Inc!)

It all started when Sandy bought a Kobo for her mom for Christmas... and kept it for herself. If a hard-core book lover like Sandy can fall for an e-reader, it can happen to anyone.

So we started researching e-publishing, and it just seemed to suit our needs. First, you can get books out faster. We have always wanted to write more than one book a year, and also, different types of books. Now, with e-publishing, it’s a lot easier to follow your heart—as long as you hire experts to rein you in! We’re pretty excited by this new opportunity and expect to e-pub our next few books. But we've been around the book biz long enough to know that you have to stay flexible.

If there’s enough interest in paper copies of Trade Secrets, we’ll look into making that option available.

Is there anything you can share with us about your current work in progress or upcoming stories?

We’re working on a bunch of projects right now, including a paranormal novel, and possibly, if people enjoy Trade Secrets, more from our Love, Inc. trio. It seems like their story wouldn't complete without another cycle of revenge hits, led by Sydney Stark.

We love hearing from readers, so please join us on twitter @collins_rideout or visit our websites: collinsrideout.com and loveincbook.com

Thank you both, so very much! I loved hearing from you and I'm definitely excited to read Trade Secrets! Hopefully, I will have a review up soon! I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but I do have some copies to giveaway!! Yvonne and Sandy have generously offered copies of three of their novels as giveaway prizes! Enter below! The hard copies are US/CND only but the ecopies are International!
*edit — I can't believe I forgot the Rafflecopter widget! SO sorry! I will still allow those who entered through the comments to maintain that as their entry, because this is my error, but anyone entering now needs to use the widget!*

The move follows investigations led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York, Baltimore, Austin, Texas, and New Haven, Connecticut, the department said in a statement.

One of the most significant items that was returned is a limestone statue depicting the head of the Assyrian King Sargon II, an eighth century B.C. ruler.

Immigration and Customs agents seized the looted artifact in August 2008 after an antiquities dealer based in Dubai shipped it to New York. The investigation led to the identification of an international network dealing in illicit cultural artifacts, the statement said.

Other artifacts repatriated to Iraq include gold-plated items, such as a soap dish, looted from the private airport and palace of executed former President Saddam Hussein.

Bronze objects, including a Luristan ax from early Sumeria, and clay reliefs and glass objects were also returned.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit has returned more than 1,200 items to Iraq in four repatriations since 2008, the statement said.

Source: Reuters [March 16, 2015]

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson: A Novel

by Jerome Charyn is to be released in February. When I saw the cover I had mixed feelings, I'm in an Emily Dickinson class right now and fiction about Dickinson makes me a bit antsy. She is so complex and difficult that I am afraid a character would ruin her for me. Nonetheless, I'm planning on reading this book.

Here is the product description from Amazon:
An astonishing novel that removes Emily Dickinson’s own mysterious mask and reveals the passions and heartbreak of America’s greatest poet. What if the old maid of Amherst wasn’t an old maid at all? Her older brother, Austin, spoke of Emily as his “wild sister.” Jerome Charyn, continuing his exploration of American history through fiction, has written a startling novel about Emily Dickinson in her own voice, with all its characteristic modulations that he learned from her letters and poems. The poet dons a hundred veils, alternately playing wounded lover, penitent, and female devil. We meet the significant characters of her life, including her tempestuous sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert; her brooding father, Edward; and the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, who may have inspired some of her greatest letters and poems. Charyn has also invented characters, including an impoverished fellow student at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, who will betray her; and a handyman named Tom, who will obsess Emily throughout her life. Charyn has written an extraordinary adventure that will disturb and delight. 9 illustrations.

Has anyone else had these feelings about books with authors as characters?

VIA "The Expenables 2" Teaser Poster & Plot Synopsis!