This week's writerly news: Swag September, #giveaways, #Shakespeare, + more

Happy Friday, ya'll! School officially started here yesterday (here's a platter of brownies. I'm celebrating.) Let's get straight to the news, shall we?

1) Amber at Paradise of Pages is hosting something called Swag September, and I'm happy to say I've sent some swag to celebrate! Check out the description, below:

Swag September is organized by Amber at Paradise of Pages. It will occur through the whole month of September. You don't need to worry how much you read during the month, the only thing you need to do is when you do read, read only the books that you have swag for. If it isn't on a piece of swag you read, don't read it. There will be guest posts, interviews, excerpts, a read-a-thon, and lots and lots of giveaways. Where can you go wrong? For any information or questions you may have as well as updates, visit Amber over at Paradise of Pages. ~From Amber at Paradise of Pages 

(To participate, sign up HERE)

2) The Chasm's Summer Bash is full of fun, summery posts and giveaways, and I was delighted to be able to participate with both a giveaway, and post: Top Ten Character's I'd Want to Spend My Summer With Stop on by, enter the giveaway, and say hello! :D

3) In case you missed my recent Facebook post, The Mossy Foot Project (the organization to which 10% of all sales proceeds from my Flora series are donated) was featured at Operation Change on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) this week. It's hard to believe that something so simple as shoes and a treatment of soapy water can change lives so drastically, but that is seriously all it takes. Not only does The Mossy Foot Project help treat the beautiful people in this area of Ethiopia who deal with Mossy Foot, but TMFP also gives loans out to patients ostracized by their communities (due to the disease), enabling them to support themselves, and their families. I am so grateful for doors opening like this so that more people can learn about and possibly support this project! I've put the video that was aired in its entirety below (or you can go here to watch the video and read informative, interactive stats on the sidebar):

4) TeamNerd Reviews is hosting #IHEARTYA2014 and celebrating with lots of guest posts and a pretty huge giveaway. My post goes up next week, and let me tell ya, it's a doozy! (Oh and Dahlia gets interviewed, too!)






5) ICYMI: My lovely pal Nikki was this month's Reader Interview. I think it's safe to say that she loves books more than I do (the amount of authors she's met already at only fourteen years old is basically insane). Click the links to check out part one and part two of the interview!

Last...



6) Shakespeare announcement: I am incredibly excited to announce that I will be part of a YA Shakespeare retelling anthology coming out next year!!! *throws coffee bean confetti* There's about 15 of us so far (that's a whole lot of retellings), and I can't wait to see how everyone does their versions! The title of the anthology hasn't been decided yet, but the moment I can share it with you, I will! Yay!



Have a blessed weekend, guys! :D

April's Reader Interview with Eugenia, part two

Welcome to Reader Interviews, a monthly feature here at Let Me Tell You a Story.

Welcome back to this month's reader, all the way from Australia... Eugenia from Chasm of Books! This the second of a two-part interview (click HERE to read the first half)!

I love asking readers this question: What is the first thing you read when you get a book? (Acks, blurb, et cetera.)

After the cover (obviously!), I like to read the synopsis to see what I’m getting myself into.

Are there any books not yet released that you're really looking forward to reading?

Honestly I’d have to say at the moment the second book in the Flora series  - Open Thy Heart by you! After that ending of If I Speak True I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Aw, thanks, Eugenia! I'm pretty excited about it, too! :)

You write a lot of reviews (which I think is spectacular). What is your process? Do you make notes as you read? I know a lot of readers would like to try their hand at writing reviews as well, but feel overwhelmed at the idea. If you could give them one piece of advice, what would you tell them?

Why thank you :) It depends really, sometimes I will write notes if I’m reading a paperback and there are some important points I want to say in my review which I don’t want to forget like quotes etc. If I’m on my ereader I’ll usually highlight and annotate where I feel the need. Otherwise, sometimes I’ll just read a book and see what comes to me as a write. The hardest part is always starting a review, and once that first few sentences are done the rest usually falls into place.

For those of you looking into writing reviews just give it a try and write about how you felt about the book – what you liked and maybe what you didn’t. It doesn’t have to be too long and you’d be surprised at what you come up with!

Besides books (duh), do you collect anything else?

Hmmm not really, although I do have quite a few bookmarks lying about and I do like my sparkly gel pens when I’m writing notes for reviews.

What is your favorite cover of all time, and why?

There are of course so many absolutely stunning covers out there but what took the top spot for me is The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski. The dress, colour scheme and placing of the title all work wonderfully together to create a beautiful design.

I know you've been to a few author signings now. What has been your favorite part of interacting with authors face to face?

Getting to see Gabrielle Tozer and Jessica Shirvington in person and realise that they are really down-to-earth was great. It’s so exciting to be able to tell them how much you love their work and of course get books signed which you can treasure forever!

If you could ask your favorite author one question, what would it be?

I think I would be too speechless in awe to say anything at first but what I would probably come up with is ‘How on earth do you do it?’ Authors have so much talent and I really believe it is a gift.

Is there a book you'd love to see adapted into a movie? (Doesn't have to be currently in the works.) What element would you look forward to seeing on the "big screen"?

There are always two sides to movie adaptations, because I would love to see it as a film but wouldn’t want the book spoilt by it either. I think Genesis by Lara Morgan (the first book in The Rosie Black Chronicles) would make a fantastic movie. I’d love to see how the futuristic setting and elements of space would turn out and of course the great action!

Thanks so much for letting me interview you, Eugenia! :D

Eugenia's bio:

Hi there, my name is Eugenia and - as you may have already guessed - I love books, reading and anything bookworm-related. I have two very cute little guinea pigs who love to lounge around all day and an ever-growing pile of books to read (but hey - you can never have too many books right?) I mainly read YA of any genre, from historical to science fiction and love getting to know authors to discuss their books with them. Being a teen blogger, book lover and fangirl, you’ll always find me with a book nearby!

Connect with Eugenia on Twitter | Goodreads | Chasm of Books

April's Reader Interview with Eugenia, part one

Welcome to Reader Interviews, a monthly feature here at Let Me Tell You a Story.

This month's reader is Eugenia from Chasm of Books! This the first of a two-part interview... come back tomorrow to read the second half (including advice on getting into reviewing if you've been thinking about it)!

Hi, Eugenia! Thanks so much for being this month's reader! :D

Thank you for having me! J

My pleasure! 

Along with last month's interviewee, you are also a co-blogger. Would you like to share how that came about?

Well I’d been writing reviews on Goodreads for a while and so I thought it would be a good idea to enter the realm of book blogging. Since I didn’t have any experience with it, I looked at some of the blogs I had started to follow to see if they were looking for co-bloggers, and came across the lovely Stephanie at Chasm of Books. I expressed my interest in getting involved, we started collaborating together and the rest is history!

What are your favorite two things about co-blogging?

Definitely having someone else to fangirl with over books you love and share ideas. As the saying goes ‘two brains are better than one’ and it’s great to see what the other person is posting about and you can work together to make the blog the best that it can be.

Was there a specific book or series that got you into reading? If so, what was it? Tell us what made it so special.

Ever since my parents read picture books to me as a child I had this fascination with books and the stories they could tell. I had a few different ‘phases’ of what really got me into reading, but the first set of books which I really loved was the Thora series by Gillian Johnson. I remember sitting and reading the books for hours at a time because I was so immersed in the story. After that I continued with the ‘mermaid phase’ with The Tail of Emily Windsnap before moving on to some historical fiction by Jackie French which I also really enjoyed.

I love to ask readers who their favorite male and female characters are and what made them stand out. Have you had any characters jump out at you more than usual recently, and if so, what about them made that happen?

This is a tough one! For male characters, Will from the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover is a stand-out for me. Not only can he write really beautiful poetry but he was a really caring character who put everyone else before himself which was really sweet. For females I’d have to say Penryn from Angelfall by Susan Ee – she was one feisty and witty character, and I loved how she made everyone know who was boss. Let me tell you, there were some great quotes to be found in that one!

Most recent book that made you laugh:

The Intern by Gabrielle Tozer – there were some really funny situations in that book and it was so much fun to read.

Name one character you'd never ever want to trade places with.

Liesel from The Book Thief – that book made me cry so much.

How about a character you'd hate to be stranded with on a deserted island?

Pretty much anyone from Beauty Queens by Libba Bray – I think they’d just really annoy me and not be much help when it comes to survival.

Loving your responses so far!

Come back tomorrow for advice on reviewing, Eugenia's favorite book cover of all time, and more!

Eugenia's bio:

Hi there, my name is Eugenia and - as you may have already guessed - I love books, reading and anything bookworm-related. I have two very cute little guinea pigs who love to lounge around all day and an ever-growing pile of books to read (but hey - you can never have too many books right?) I mainly read YA of any genre, from historical to science fiction and love getting to know authors to discuss their books with them. Being a teen blogger, book lover and fangirl, you’ll always find me with a book nearby!

Connect with Eugenia on Twitter | Goodreads | Chasm of Books