What is Happening Thursday

Hello lovely readers of A Midsummer Night’s Read! It’s Jessica, and I just wanted to pop in and tell you how much I really appreciate you reading my reviews and participating in the contests and author interviews!

Things have been somewhat sparse this week and the previous week here because I am nearing the end of my Master’s degree and have been outrageously busy!

Never fear! My Master’s exit exam is this Saturday (March 31) and my thesis defense is in the first week of April, so things will go back to normal with reviews soon!

In fact, here is a preview of what is to come here at A Midsummer Night’s Read!

Interview with Illuminate author, Aimee Agresti
Review of Kady Cross’ The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
Review of Melina Marchetta’s Froi of the Exiles
Interview with Partials author, Dan Wells
100 Follower Giveaway (woohoo!)
Review of Lissa Price’s Starters

That is just a sneak peek!

So wish me luck as my Graduate education comes to an end, and I will see you next Monday, April 2 once I am free of this exam!

Waiting On Wednesday

Every week over at Breaking the Spine hosts a book meme where all of us book bloggers can get together and share the books we are desperately waiting to be released!

This week I’m waiting on The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long.

Release Date: August 16, 2012

The trees swallowed her brother whole. And Jenny was there to see it. Years later, when she returns to the woods where Tom was taken to say good-bye at last, she finds herself lured into a world where stunning beauty masks the most treacherous of evils, and strange and dangerous creatures await—creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with allegiances that shift as much as his moods. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack’s help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where nothing is what it seems, no one is who they say, and she’s faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice—and not just her own.

Not only is the cover gorgeous, but the synopsis sounds great too!

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Now Reading: Starters by Lissa Price

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . .

Top Ten Tuesday!

Every week over at The Broke and the Bookish a weekly meme called Top Ten Tuesday is held!  Every Tuesday has a different Top Ten Topic (posted ahead of time for participants) and this week’s topic is:

Spring Fever: The Top Ten Books I’d Play Hooky With

1. Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (Fever #5)

This book may be almost 600 pages long, but it is 600 pages that I read in one day the first time around, and skipping work and class to read it again is just what the doctor ordered for Spring Fever! (Fever…Fever…hehehe) Plus, how did I go this long without reliving the hot relationship between Barrons and Mac?

If you haven’t read the Fever series, go pick up the first one, DARKFEVER now!

2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The main reason I love this novel is that it was the first book that ever gave me proper nightmares.  Vera’s noose? C’mon, one of the most haunting scenes in modern murder mysteries! In addition, I still can only read this book during the daylight, because it still freaks me out a little.

3. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

With the release of the second novel in her Lumatere Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles, I want to sit down and re-read Finnikin of the Rock in all of its brilliant glory.  Not only was Finnikin my first Marchetta book, but it is probably my favorite.  (I haven’t read Froi yet) Where better to escape during a hot Spring day than laying in a beach chair reading a fantasy novel?

4. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Tuck Everlasting might not be long enough to encompass an entire day of reading, but it is a book that everyone should sit down and re-read.  Not only does this novel explore the theme of immortality (which is so popular in Young Adult fiction today), but it conquers the topic of first love and loss.  Heartbreaking and memorable, you need to read this if you haven’t!

5. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Dessen is the master of contemporary Young Adult realist fiction.  Not only does she live in my home state of North Carolina, but she is talented to boot.  Whenever I need a pick-me-up I turn to Dessen’s This Lullaby, which is a love story between two unlikely teens, Remy and Dexter.  One of my favorite quotes about love comes from this novel, and it lightens my heart everytime I re-read it.  I’d definitely play hooky to get to read this again!

6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

For the past year I have been working on finishing my Master’s thesis, which is on the subject of dystopia in Young Adult literature focusing specifically on Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series.  I’d love to have a day to sit down and enjoy The Hunger Games for its brilliance and story telling rather than to sit and dissect it for political and social commentary.  I need to enjoy this story for itself again and not for its political significance!

7. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

I’m a notoriously huge fanatic of Alice in Wonderland and all of its characters.  But, since I’ve been in grad school, I’ve seriously neglected my favorite childhood heroine and I regret it!  Sometimes when the weight of the world is on my shoulders, I need a little bit of Alice’s nonsense to help lift the weight.  If you’ve never read the original novels, you should, because no movie version does them justice. 

8. Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper

I’ve loved mermaids since I saw The Little Mermaid as a kid, and Hooper’s Tangled Tides made me love the lore just as much as the Disney version.  Not only does this novel have a wonderful love story, (ahhh, Treygan), but it conquers topics of family, self acceptance, and trust.  If you haven’t read it, go read it.  You’ll want to play hooky like me to read!

9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Not only is Bronte’s novel considered a timeless classic, but it is an epic story of heartbreaking loss and the redemption that comes along with it.  Catherine and Heathcliff are such great characters (“I love my murderer, but yours, how can I love yours?”) and they go through so much considering Catherine only lives through about halfway through the novel.  Young Catherine and Hareton are so great for each other.  If you haven’t read this classic, do it. You haven’t lived! \

10. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Young’s debut dystopian novel deserved a chapter in my Master’s thesis, but alas, I did not discover her amazing novel until after the chapters had been approved.  Just as powerful as The Hunger Games, Blood Red Road also tells a story based on the importance of family, the discovery and development of friendship, and understanding your purpose.  I’m yet to read it a second time so I can try to pick up on more details than I did the first, so it is definitely worth playing hooky for!

What books would YOU play hooky for?  

Book Review: Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

I have seen mixed reviews of this novel. They range from “I abandoned this book” to “OMG! I LOVED IT!” There’s no accounting for taste, and what are book reviews but our own glorified opinions? (P.S. Thank you for reading my opinions!) Anyway, back to Illuminate by Aimee Agresti… I liked this book, a lot.

Let me start with the strengths: I think that the male characters in Illuminate are so well developed that I wish we could have some bonus scenes (hint, hint) from their point of view. In fact, the entire cast of secondary characters were so fully realized that I would cringe with their actions and insults. My favorite character in the whole novel was probably Lance, and I think it is because he snuck up on me. When he is first mentioned in the first few chapters, he doesn’t have much of a strong presence and I thought he was going to be the random third kid thrown in this magnificent internship and that would be it. However, he was much more important to the narrative and to the main character, Haven.

Speaking of Haven, she might not be the most strong female character that I have read lately, but I think that makes her that much more relatable and believable. She is skeptical of everything surrounding her, and strives for perfection and acceptance (much like all of us did when we were in high school). I don’t think the story would have been the same had it been told from another characters point of view, or even from third person, because Haven’s perspective is so imperative to the development of the plot.

About the plot: I agree with some reviewers when they speculate that a sudden internship at a illustrious hotel for three seemingly random chosen students in the middle of a school semester is a tad farfetched. Okay, a lot farfetched, but it provided an explanation as to why our heroine and her sidekicks were removed from their families and living in a hotel. Other than that, I really didn’t take much issue with the plot. It flowed well, and I really enjoyed the development of Haven’s realization of her familial origins (Lance’s too! Dante’s wasn’t really explored.)

I also really liked how Agresti managed to make this story about more than just a love story (in fact, the love story really wasn’t that important at all after we discover Lucian’s true motives). Although I really do love Lucian and the other character that becomes romantically important. The real main dramatic question was about the peculiar happenings at the hotel and how will Haven and her friends survive it and possibly stop it.

The only thing that really bothered me about this text was the length. Illuminate is extremely long for a debut novel, and there were definitely some scenes that seemed superfluous that could have been edited out. In addition, there were some elements at play in this novel that seem to run rampant through YA fiction lately: the girl who is pretty who doesn’t think she’s pretty, etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Agresti’s novel and figuring out Haven’s story as it developed. 4 Bards.

Author Spotlight: Kady Cross

Kady Cross is a pseudonym for USA Today best selling author Katheryn Smith. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and a pride of cats. She likes singing with Rock Band on the 360, British Guys, Vietnamese food, and makeup (She’s hopelessly addicted to YouTube makeup tutorials!). When she’s not writing, Kady likes to catch up on her favorite TV shows, read a good book, or make her own cosmetics. 

The Steampunk Chronicles: 

The Girl in the Steel Corset –  2011

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar– May 2012 

A Midsummer Night’s Read (MSNR):  Hello, Kady! I want to welcome you to A Midsummer Night’s Read, and thank you for giving us the honor of interviewing you for our readers!  Congratulations on the upcoming release of your second Young Adult novel, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar.
Kady Cross (KC): Thank you! And thanks for wanting to talk to me!

MSNR: Now, you are already an extremely successful author of fiction novels.  What made you decide to write a series for Young Adults?
KC: In 2001 I wrote a YA romance called Anna and the Duke. It was followed up by Emily and the Scot. I had so much fun writing these books that I knew I wanted to do more YA books. However, it was 2009 before editor Krista Stroever (she’s responsible for me becoming published in the first place) approached me about writing for Harlequin Teen. I jumped at the chance.

MSNR: Can you tell our readers a little bit about the inspiration for the Steampunk Chronicles?
KC: I love the Victorian era. I also love fantasy and science fiction. When Krista and I spoke it was just before Steampunk started to become popular again. I told her I had this idea for teen X-Men meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. She was the one who called it Steampunk. It just seemed natural to combine two of my favorite things – fantasy and history.

MSNR: Clearly the story of Jekyll and Hyde was a huge influence on the creation of Finley as a character.  Will there be any more references to the original novel in The Girl in the Clockwork Collar?
KC: Not really. Maybe a couple? Finley’s moving forward, becoming more and more of a union of her two halves. It’s a bit of conflict between Griffin and her, because the *real* her is neither completely good or completely bad. Griffin is such a powerful character – more powerful than he may never know – that he has to have a strong partner. Likewise Finley is such a strong character, she needs someone who can match her as well, support her and sometimes challenge her. But there will be more literary references in the books, I’m sure. I hope!

MSNR: John Gardner specifies in The Art of Fiction that the most important task for an author is to make the story world believable for the reader.  How do you blend reality and fantasy together in this series? Are you careful to remain within the confines of history as we know it?
KC: I try to hang on to a bit of reality in the books to ‘ground’ them. But I think the believability comes from the characters. You have to relate to them on some level. Finley might be able to kick serious butt, but she is still a teen age girl. I hope a lot of readers will see a bit of themselves in her or Emily – or in Sam, Jasper, Griffin or even Jack! As for remaining in the confines of history, I will if it suits the story, but I have no problem jumping out of it. It’s funny, because some people have very strict ideas of how things should be. I had readers get upset that Finley or Emily wore pants, but they had no trouble with sentient automatons!

MSNR: There is an interesting Wickham/Darcy dynamic between Jack Dandy and Griffin.  Did you play on the Victorian use of foils when constructing your characters?
KC:  Not really. I just knew that Jack had to appeal to part of her, and so did Griffin. Both of them will play a part in Finley figuring out who she really is. One is destined to be her best friend and the other is going to have her heart. On the surface Jack seems dark and Griffin seems light, but both are more complex than that. With Darcy and Wickham, Austen wrote both of them to prove the point that no one is ever exactly as they present themselves, and I think that might be the best way to think of Griffin and Jack, though Jack is a lot more honorable than Wickham, and Griffin is a bit more relaxed than Darcy.

MSNR: Can you give us any insights into The Girl in the Clockwork Collar?
KC: Nope. LOL. Sure. It’s set within weeks of the end of Steel Corset. It starts with them arriving in New York looking for Jasper, and then quickly jumps to Jasper’s point of view. You’ll learn a lot about Jasper’s past and what kind of person he has been and has become. Finley and Griffin’s relationship changes as well, and there is the beginning of a new arc involving Griffin that will take a couple of books to bring to fruition.

MSNR: Why decide to remove our heroes from England and place them in 19^th Century America?
KC: I thought it would be fun – and it was the perfect place to tell Jasper’s story. A lot of Steampunk stories are set either in England or the Old West, so I wanted to set it somewhere between. What’s interesting to me is that an early reviewer said that she didn’t think this book was as Steampunk as the first, and I wonder if it was the different setting – so many people think London when they think Steampunk. That’s the only explanation I can think of when there are airships, personal flying machines, automaton horses, mysterious gadgets and Tesla involved!

MSGR: How many novels will there be in the Steampunk Chronicles?
KC: I’m hoping to write 5. I know for certain there will be 4.

MSNR: Since you are such a veteran of the industry, could you give our readers a little advice about breaking into the publishing world?
KC:  It sounds trite, but you need to read like mad and keep writing. Study the authors you love, learn from them and then find your own way of doing things. You have to be tenacious. In my opinion, publishing is not a job you should get into unless you eat, sleep and breathe writing. It’s a hard business, and your ego will take a beating at times, but it is also so amazingly rewarding! So, read and write – and most importantly, finish the book!

MSNR: Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to drop by A Midsummer Night’s Read!  We really appreciate it, and we love your novels!
KC: Thank you so much for having me! People like you and your readers are what makes this job so fabulous!

Book Review: Partials by Dan Wells

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the world’s population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. The threat of the partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to the disease in over a decade. Humanity’s time is running out.

When sixteen-year-old Kira learns of her best friend’s pregnancy, she’s determined to find a solution. Then one rash decision forces Kira to flee her community with the unlikeliest of allies. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that the survival of both humans and partials rests in her attempts to answer questions of the war’s origin that she never knew to ask.

Since Dystopias are largely my area of interest and are somewhat of an expertise for me, I have to say that Partials is everything a traditional dystopia would be. Technological advancement and dystopias tend to go hand in hand, and man’s need to succeed in that field leads to the abuse of technology and its subsequent power over humanity. Dystopias are also seen, in current years, as a way of social commentary for readers to learn lessons and important values that could affect the future of humanity.
That being said, Partials is an extremely well-constructed science fiction and dystopian blend.

I’m going to beat John Gardner into everyone’s mind, but if the author writes the story world convincingly enough then the reader will believe that the world exists. Wells does an excellent job of providing the reader with enough details concerning the outbreak of RM and the development of Partial technology and the rift between the surviving humans and the man-made Partials.

Kira, as a heroine, is intelligent and strong, but she is not without her flaws. She is impetuous and stubborn, which leads to problems throughout her story. Wells does an excellent job creating a main character that readers can relate to, because she is flawed. Marcus, and the other secondary characters, all serve the story importantly and they provide Kira with a strong group to fall back on when the dictatorial government will not support her attempts to find a cure to RM.

For me, the characters, other than Kira and possibly Samm, were somewhat lackluster, but the plot and the narrative arc are what stood out to me.
Not only does Partials provide a look about what it really means to be human and what acts are truly inhumane, but it provides commentary on certain unalienable rights. Currently in the press there has been an uproar about the idea of birth control being regulated and the new law in some states requiring a woman to have an intra-vaginal ultrasound prior to having an abortion. Partials, however, examines the other side of that argument. How would society react if the government was requiring teens as young as 16 to get pregnant and get pregnant as frequently as possible?

There are so many themes running rampant through this text that would be fun for a literary critic to play with and examine, and I think that Wells has a real winner with this series. (I would love to look at this novel through a feminist lens and discuss the implications of turning women into nothing more than breeders) The twist at the end was unexpected, but it fit so well with Kira’s story.

The only negative thing I can say about this story is that the narrative starts off a little slow and tends to be bogged down with information in some places. However, I think that since the story is from Kira’s point of view this is tolerable because she has such an analytic and scientific mind (she is a 16-year-old medic, by the way).

4.5 Bards to Wells’ novel.

Feature and Follow Friday!

Each week, the wonderful and beautiful Parajunkee and Alison Can Read host a meme for book bloggers to help us connect with one another and accrue followers! Both host blogs feature a book blog and has a question for all of us to answer.


This week, the question is:


What is the longest book you’ve read? What are some of your favorite 600+ page reads?

I honestly don’t think I’ve ready many books that are 600+ pages, and if I have then I am drawing a complete blank. I have read Duma Key by Stephen King, but it clocks in at just 609 pages. I have read a complete works of Langston Hughes which is well over 600+ pages, but it is a collection and not just one novel. Sadly, I have not read the final Harry Potter books, which are above 600 pages as well.

I feel like I need to expand my heavy reads…what are some of your favorite 600+ reads that you can recommend?

Now Reading: Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

Author Spotlight: Gretchen McNeil

After I read Gretchen McNeil’s Possess (You can check out the 4.5 Bard Review HERE), I knew I had to jump at the chance to speak with her about Possess and her upcoming novel, Ten.

Gretchen McNeil is an opera singer, writer and clown. Her YA horror/paranormal POSSESS debuted with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins in 2011. Her second novel, TEN – YA horror/suspense about ten teens trapped on a remote island with a serial killer – will be released September 18, 2012. Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4’s Code Monkeys and she currently sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. Gretchen is also a founding member of the vlog group YARebels where she can be seen as “Monday.”

A Midsummer Night’s Read (MSNR): Thank you so much, Gretchen, for taking time out of your busy schedule to indulge some of your fans here at A Midsummer Night’s Read!  We loved Possess, if you couldn’t tell!

MSNR: You seem to be somewhat of a “jack of all trades”! Opera, Voicing characters, AND Writing? Is there anything you can’t do?

Gretchen McNeil (GM):  Please don’t ask me to draw anything.  Stick figures are a challenge.  And I’m not great with anything that involves power tools.

MSNR: Possess is a story about demonic possession and the act of exorcism. What drew you to this subject matter?
GM: Some of my fondest reading experiences from my childhood and teen years involved scary stories.  Horror, gothic, ghost stories – anything that would send a chill down my spine, make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and force me to sleep with the light on.  I wanted to write that kind of story.  And when I thought about what scared me the most, exorcism and demonic possession were at the top of the list.

MSNR: Did you do a lot of research into the Catholic Church and its doctrines on performing exorcisms during the writing process?
GM: I did a ton of research.  “First hand” accounts of exorcisms and possessions, demonology and angelology, the Apocryphal texts from the Bible.  I’m kind of a research junky, and I find that the nonfiction always inspires the fiction for me. 

For example, I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of exorcism and demonic possession, and by the fact that the Catholic Church is the only western religion with a codified exorcism ritual.  But what I didn’t know is that Pope Benedict the XVI issued an edict instructing all archdioceses around the world to send one priest to the Vatican for official exorcist training.  How freaky is that?  Absolutely inspired some of the story line in POSSESS.

MSNR: Bridget’s narrative voice is extremely strong. Does her personality and sarcasm reflect on any of your personality traits?
GM: Heh.  I’m probably not the best judge, so let me put it this way: a lot of my friends in real life said, “Wow! I could totally hear you in Bridget.”  

MSNR: Is Possess currently a stand alone, or will there be a follow up?
GM: It was written as the first in a series, but so far, the second and third books have not been picked up.  (Psssst – if you’d LIKE to see the sequels, I suggest you contact HarperCollins.  Just sayin’.)

MSNR: I know you have mentioned that And Then There Were None is one of your favorite novels.  How influential was Christie’s text on your next novel, Ten?
GM: The books are very different, but clearly I was inspired to write a YA homage to one of my favorite books of all time.  The set up is similar: ten teens brought to an island for a party soon discover that things aren’t what they appear.  I love the idea of being trapped on the island, which is practically a character in itself in both novels.  Add stress and stir.  Paranoia and distrust begin to influence decision making, and things go from bad to worse very quickly. 

So in that regard there are similarities.  Narrative and plot, however, are unique in TEN. 

MSNR: Is there anything information beyond the synopsis that you can give readers about Ten without giving away any major plot elements?
GM: Yikes.  TEN is one of those stories that starts quickly and moves fast.  There isn’t a lot of set up beyond the pitch – ten teens trapped on an island with a serial killer – and the mysteries and clues (and body count) start piling up quickly.  I can, however, tease the trailer that HarperCollins and I are working on. 

There is a scene early on where the teens discover a DVD marked “Don’t watch me.”  They do, of course, and the experience is kind of The Ring-like.  The DVD is described shot-by-shot, and we’re recreating it for the trailer.  Which should be awesome and ridiculously creepy.

That full chapter will also appear in the paperback version of POSSESS as a tease for TEN.

MSNR: Are you currently working on another novel? (If so, can you tell us a little about it?)
GM: Novel #3 is underway!  This is something completely different yet again.  YA sci-fi horror, tentatively titled 3:59, which I pitched to my editor as Sliding Doors meets Event Horizon.  It’s about a girl who starts having dreams every night at the same time, of a girl who is her but not her, and who’s life appears to be everything she wishes hers was.  She thinks they’re just dreams until one night she wakes up and finds her doppelgänger standing at the end of her bed.

Things…go wrong from there. 

MSNR: How does it feel to be a published author?
GM: Freaking crazy!!!!  Especially when fans getting excited to meet me. I feel very undeserving.  There’s nothing special about me!  I’m just Jenny From the Block!

MSNR: Do you have any advice to readers who might be interested in the world of publishing for a career?
GM: First off, if I can do it, anyone can do it.  I firmly believe that.  There’s a lot of work involved – usually of the introspective and deeply self-critical variety – so if that’s not your bag, run away now.  And there is an element of luck.  You need to write the right book at the right time.  That said, if you stick with it, I’m convinced you’ll find success.

MSNR: Thank you so much for stopping by A Midsummer Night’s Read and answering some of our questions!  We look forward to reading Ten, and wish you all the best!
GM: You guys rock.  Thank you so much for having me!