All posts tagged books

Swoon-worthy characters

I think one of my biggest goals as a writer it to write male characters that will make female readers swoon. We all like a fantasy male and good romances need someone we all want to fall in love with. So for some inspiration, I thought I’d share my favourite male characters in YA literature, ones that made me swoon and wish they were real!

My top 5 YA swoons are

Dimitri – Vampire Academy

Reasons for swoon-worthiness: tall, dark, handsome, bad-ass i.e. can beat scary vampires, wise, Russian so has sexy accent, gives life to protect others. Forbidden as he’s older and a mentor to Rose, which makes it deliciously naughty.

Lucas  - Easy

Reasons for swoon-worthiness: good body thanks to muscles gained doing martial arts, lickable abs according to the girl, protective, able to beat bus who are no good up, tattoos, lip piercing is interesting, floppy dark hair, motorbike if you’re into that, tortured but able to love despite this, good at drawing his love interest, intelligent.

Edward – Twilight

Reasons for swoon-worthiness: Gorgeous, strong, protective although can be a bit too controlling, very rich, gorgeous. Just ignore the fact he wants to drink your blood and that you’ll have to get married before anything naughty happens.

Jace – The Mortal Instruments

Reasons for swoon-worthiness: Gorgeous, strong, good in a fight, tortured but still able to love, falls in love even though you might be his sister but it’s okay you’re not really, related to angels and fights for good, fit body. Sadly not going to be played in the film by Alex P above but he fits the picture in my head best.

St Clair – Anna and The French Kiss

Reasons for swoon-worthiness: Can speak French, buys heroine book on love poetry, good Paris tour guide, gorgeous obviously, good kisser. Plus chooses his future to be close to Anna

So there we go completely un-shallow reasons to swoon for male characters! But hey they are page turners ;)

Who are your favourites?

Victoria

xoxo

19 Comments
by Victoria-writes on August 17, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Fun
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on August 17, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/08/17/swoon-worthy-characters/

It is a truth universally acknowledged ….

…. that when you fall in love with an author, that love lasts a lifetime.

There are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.
Jane Austen

Well, true for me anyway. I fell in love with Jane Austen’s six novels back in my teens when I watched the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I loved the language, the costumes, the chaste courtships, lively Elizabeth Bennet and tall, dark and handsome Mr Darcy. That kick started a love of Austen that has stayed with me. I read all the books, went to her grave in Winchester, her house in Hampshire and the museum in Bath. I’ve watched all the TV adaptations and films that were made. And decided that she is my favourite author, and that Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book.

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.
Jane Austen

It’s been a while since I read the novels. But with a holiday approaching and the need to stock up on holiday reads, I decided to keep my new books for that and delve once again into Austen world. I wondered if they would stand the test of time for me and if I would still love them. I needn’t have worried – I have been frantically turning the pages and swooning once again over her wit, irony, language, relationships and characters. They are romantic comedies that actually have romance and comedy. And they are a treat to read.

A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything,should conceal it as well as she can.
Jane Austen

Time has changed some things though. My favourite has always been and still is Pride and Prejudice. But some of the other novels have either moved forward or back in my affections reading them again. I used to love Persuasion second, didn’t really get Northanger Abbey and didn’t really enjoy Mansfield Park. But this time around, I’ve found more to enjoy in NA and MP and was less impressed with Persuasion. Sense and Sensibility is still delightful with a great lesson about falling for the bad boy, and Emma is as clueless as ever (hopefully the Austenites amount you will get that reference :) )

It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.
Jane Austen

I guess that’s what marks a favourite author – they move with you as you grow and you find new things to love in their books, new discoveries that allow you to fall in love with their writing all over again. I like that some of my other favourite writers also adore Ms Austen like JK Rowling, Helen Fielding, Stephenie Meyer and Dodie Smith. Perhaps the world of Austen left a mark on them that inspired their wiring and helped their success. Even if it had nothing to do with it, it does show how Jane Austen continues to touch our hearts so many years after she wrote despite enjoying little success in her own lifetime.

My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me

Jane Austen 

I am sad to have finished my Austen revival but am pleased to know she is always there when I need her. And that her books have proved to me that true love really can last a lifetime. I’m pretty sure I’ll still be picking up her books when I’m old and grey ;)

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Jane Austen

Which author has been with you through your life?

Victoria

xoxo

26 Comments
by Victoria-writes on July 12, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, inspiration, My fave things
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on July 12, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/07/12/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged/

The end is nigh

A lot of books I read are part of series. YA especially is full of them. When I find a good one, I love a books series as you can really invest in the characters and have your own ideas on how things will pan out. I’m currently reading a few series and some are coming close to the end. I approach final books nervously – some you can tell who they will end and the pay off is good, others through a curve ball or don’t wrap things up well enough for you to feel fully satisfied. Regardless, I’m always impressed when an author creates a series as it’s hard work and if you get hooked and have to read everyone, it’s job well done for the writer.

These series are almost at an end for me :( :

  • The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
  • The Fallen series by Lauren Kate
  • The Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris
  • The Wings series by Aprilynne Pike
  • Paranormalcy series by Kiersten White

As a reader you invest a lot in a series and you want to get the ending you want. There’s a lot of pressure on writers but I’d love to have a series of books one day, it seems like lots of fun!

Probably the three most popular series ever:

How do you feel about book series? 

Victoria

xoxo

24 Comments
by Victoria-writes on June 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 8, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/06/08/the-end-is-nigh/

Inspiration from The Help

I love a good inspirational story – especially when I’m feeling down in the dumps. So yesterday when it rained for maybe the twentieth day in a row and I kept thinking about everything that was wrong with my WIP, I was pretty desperate for something inspirational.

And along came The Help.

I read the book a couple of months ago and approached the film like I do every film that adapts a book I enjoyed – nervously. The story if you don’t know it by now is about black maids in 1960′s Mississippi who look after white children. When Miss Skeeter, a young white woman just out of college, decides to tell their story she forms a unique friendship with two of the maids and rocks the town of Jackson and the publishing world. Although the story looks at racism and Civil Rights, it focuses on friendship and the inspirational women who lived in that time and place.

The film captured the heart of the book for me – it was funny, moving and a brilliant character study. The actors were who I imagined the characters would look and sound and act like and the setting was perfect on screen. I had tears in my eyes at the end.

The story of The Help is inspiring in itself but so is the story behind it. The author Kathryn Stockett was rejected by over sixty literary agents but she never gave up, so determined to tell the story. She in turn was inspired by her own black maid growing up. The film also has its own inspiring story – her friend decided to film the story even before she had an agent or a book deal but no studio wanted to back it. Once she got published and the book started selling, the big-wigs read his screenplay and backed him. Again, they could have both given up but they didn’t and they got a best-selling books and Oscar-winning film in the end.

In an interview with the author on the DVD, she says that when anyone tells her she can’t have or do something, it makes her want it even more. If that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what it is :)

Did anything inspire you this weekend?

Victoria

xoxo

 

 

27 Comments
by Victoria-writes on May 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Films, inspiration, Reviews
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 8, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/05/08/inspiration-from-the-help/

Boarding school stories

I just started reading “The Name of the Star” by Maureen Johnson which is set at a London boarding school. It got me thinking about how many books I’ve read that are set at a boarding school.

I find the fascination literature and films have with boarding schools weird. For one, I don’t think many people in the world go to them and for another, they’re written as fun and magical places full of midnight feasts, sneaking out and playing games. They never really deal with things like bullying and homesicknesses, which I’m sure are just as big a part of life for kids there.

I wonder where we came to view them as places of fantasy, places we wished we’d have grown up in. I never really felt that way growing up. Even reading the Enid Blyton classics set there, they were fun to read but I never wished to go myself. I think the one boarding school that I’d go back to being a kid to attend is Hogwarts but that’s really more to do with the magic than being away at school plus the ghosts there would creep me out :)

My favourite boarding school stories growing up were:

Malory Towers – Enid Blyton

Trebizon – Anne Digby

St Clares – Enid Blyton

The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy

What’s funny about there being so many boarding school stories is I could easily write one myself even though I’ve never even visited one. I could just remember all the things books and films have told me happens while you’re there. Things like common rooms, housemistresses, prep, playing far too much sport, dormitories, shared bathrooms, playing hockey in bad weather and pillow fights. But I just don’t believe that’s what they’re really like.

Probably due to Harry Potter, there’s now a ton of YA books set in boarding schools with supernatural elements. I’m not sure what Enid Blyton would make of vampires threatening midnight feasts but they have injected something new into the well-worn genre. Lately, I’ve read some great YA boarding school books both realistic and supernatural and it looks like boarding schools will continue to fascinate writers and readers.

I think I’d steer clear of writing my own boarding school story though, I prefer living with the fantasy versions safe in the knowledge I’ll never have to attend one.

My favourite YA boarding school stories:

Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead

The House of Night – P.C and Kristin Cast

Harry Potter series – JK Rowling

Night School – C J Daugherty

Anna and The French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins

Do you like reading books set at boarding school – what are your favourites? Would you have wanted to go to boarding school yourself?

Victoria

xoxo

18 Comments
by Victoria-writes on May 4, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Musings, My fave things
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 4, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/05/04/boarding-school-stories/

Getting back to YA

I’ve read a few adult books recently (Before I go to sleep, A discovery of witches, Miracle on Regent street) and much as I love reading, I felt young adult withdrawal kick in and I was desperate to pick up a YA book and leap in. The more I read (and write YA), the more it sucks me in and the more I’m addicted to it. I love the pacing, the way they catch me from the first page, the coming-of-age stories and what they explore like first love, social issues or supernatural powers – and wish I had some of my own :)

Here are my recent YA reads:

Fracture by Megan Miranda

This YA contemporary thriller is about a girl who falls through the ice crossing the lake. When she wakes up in hospital, she finds out she died for eleven minutes. Now she’s drawn to people who are dying but could she be causing the deaths herself? She meets a mysterious older boy who seems to have the same power, she’s drawn to him but is he as good for her as he claims to be? Add in a cute boy next door and a small town setting in depths of winter, Fracture is a creepy pacey page turner. The book promised to send chills down my spine and it delivered.

The Last Echo – Kim Derting

This is the third book in The Body Finder series about a teenage girl called Violet who is drawn to dead bodies and can sense the imprint of death on the people who killed them. In this book, she’s started to work for a team of teens with extraordinary abilities helping the FBI solve murders but when she gets too close to a case, a killer turns his attentions on her. I’ve a big fan of this series, all the books have been real page tuners and Violet’s powers are original and intriguing. There’s also a cute boy-next-door in this series too but in this book, Violet is drawn to one of her team and wonders if their connection could be romantic. Despite the love interest, this book is focused on the solving of murders and being hunted by a killer. It will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Next on my to-read list is Switched by Amanda Hocking. She was one of the first self published authors to sell a million copies and now has a publishing deal so I’m interested to check out the book behind the hype!

Do you ever get YA withdrawal?

Victoria

xoxo

12 Comments
by Victoria-writes on April 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Friday Finds, Reviews
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on April 27, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/04/27/getting-back-to-ya/

The Hunger Games vs. Twilight

I went to see The Hunger Games yesterday. I won’t post another review as I’m a long way behind the rest (although I will say I loved it). Instead, in honour of the film and another favourite of mine Twilight, I thought I’d pitch the YA series’ against each other.

Warning: contains spoilers so don’t read if you don’t know how they end!

Let the battle begin:

The world

Twilight is set in present day Forks – a small town in Washington, which gets a lot of rain. Dark, gloomy and green. This world is inhabited by both humans and supernatural creatures namely vampires and werewolves (no witches or faeries as far as we know). And the supernatural’s live in secret mostly; until a girl called Bella comes along and guesses the truth. Some of the supers are good; others are evil and will drink your blood.

The Hunger Games is set in the future in a country that used to be America and is now called Panem. It’s a pretty bleak place made up of 12 districts ruled over by The Capitol. People in the outer districts are poor and hungry whereas people in The Capitol live in luxury and have really crazy hair. Every year the country watches The Hunger Games – a reality TV show where kids compete to their death.

Verdict: I’d rather live in Twilight’s world – there’s food and the reality TV shows may be depressing but they’re not brutal. Plus I’d have Edward. Just sayin’.

Twilight – 1, HG – 0.

The hero

Bella Swan is a teenage girl who falls for a vampire. She’s’ pretty average looking but pale and uncoordinated. She doesn’t really have a quest – most of her existence is there to be in love with Edward. Then she decides she wants to be immortal so she can love him forever. She finally becomes a vampire, which she is suited to very well.

Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl who has lived her life fighting for survival. She leads her family, hunting for food and selling it so they can live. She is fiercely protective of her younger sister, volunteering to tale her place in The Hunger Games. Which’s she kicks ass in while staying someone we can root for. Plus she wins.

Verdict: Katniss is scary in the best possible way. I’d probably be the first one to die in the games so I’m pretty impressed by how she handles it.

HG – 1, Twilight – 0.

 The love triangle

Bella Swan loves Edward but then he leaves her (it’s for her own good) so she starts hanging out with Jacob, who turns into a werewolf. He loves her a lot but she’s not sure. Then Edward comes back and she runs back into his arms. Jacob kisses her and she decides she loves them both but Edward is her soul mate. Then they have a baby who is Jacob’s soul mate. So everyone is happy.

Katniss Everdeen isn’t sure who she loves. There’s Gale her friend and hunting partner who’s really good looking. And there’s Peeta, her fellow competitor in the HG who says he’s had a crush on her since they were kids. They pretend to be I love for the cameras but I feels quite real. Then Gale comes up with an idea that leads to her sister being killed so she chooses Peeta.

Verdict: For me, I knew who they would both choose in the end but I was more unsure what would happen in The HG so I’ll go with that love triangle. Slightly more believable.

HG- 1, Twilight – 0.

 The villains

In Twilight, The Volturi are pretty scary vampires who rule the community and you don’t want to meet them in a dark alley. Like, ever.

In HG, the villain is pinpointed as the President but you could argue the true villain is control. Snow is killed by Katniss in the end and the country takes back some of their freedom.

Verdict: Twilight has a defined group of villains that are creepy and who live on after the books. They’re invincible, which beats Snow who is destroyed.  

Twilight – 1, HG – 0.

Final score:

It’s a tie in my battle between Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Who would win for you?

 Victoria

xoxo

 

18 Comments
by Victoria-writes on April 5, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Films, Fun, Pop culture, Reviews
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on April 5, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/04/05/the-hunger-games-vs-twilight/

Tearjerker

I cry easily especially at TV shows or films, usually during death scenes. Anything involving Nicholas Sparks gets me every time. But I don’t tend to read books that lead to tears. It’s been a while since I was heartbroken or moved enough by an ending in a book – I remember Black Beauty, Little Women and Anne of Green Gables sending me there when I was younger. And the ending of The Help was emotional for me but tears still didn’t spill.

That all changed yesterday when I finished reading John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. I actually had to put the book down as it was making me too emotional and the tears spilled several times during the last few pages. It’s a young adult story about a girl called Hazel who has terminal cancer and meets a boy at her support group. She falls in love for the first time with one foot in the grave. To tell you more of the story would ruin you discovering it for yourself. But I will tell you that it’s funny, sad, witty and tragic all at once. It makes you think about the Big things – love, mortality, family, the afterlife, illness and death. And it doesn’t provide easy answers about any of it.

The story is moving, the writing sharp and beautiful and the characters settle themselves in your heart. It’s a really special book and one that I both can’t wait and dread to read again. It will be a while before I can as it affected me so strongly. I might have closed the book when I finished but it’s wrapped itself around my brain and won’t leave me yet. It’s left me heartbroken in the best possible way.

Another side effect of reading the book is I have writer’s envy. John Green has a bag load of talent. Damn it :)

What was the last book that made you cry?

Victoria

xoxo

23 Comments
by Victoria-writes on April 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Reviews
Tagged , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on April 3, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/04/03/tearjerker/

There’s nothing wrong with reading YA

A few writers on Facebook are up in arms following an article published in NY Times online. You can read it in full here. The writer of the piece thinks that adults should only read adult books and not books for teens or children. He says video games and Pixar films are okay as they don’t require brain cells but reading should be to learn and you can only learn from adult books.

Yawn. We should be reading for pleasure as well as learning. I love reading, it provides escapism and the chance to imagine and this is true for me whether I read an adult or a young-adult book. Okay, I’m slightly biased as I choose to write YA books and so I do read a lot of them but this article just reeks of someone declaring something is rubbish when they’ve never experienced it for themselves. He admits he’s never read The Hunger Games. Great so don’t criticise it then. If you haven’t read something, you can’t judge. And especially you shouldn’t judge those you have and have enjoyed it. We all like different things. How boring would the world be with just one type of book on the shelves?

I also think he’s wrong on the learning front. You can still learn from books aimed at teenagers and children even if you are an adult. In fact, when you’re an adult sometimes you forget about the important things in life that YA books embrace wholeheartedly - love, friendship, bravery and fighting against evil. When you close yourself off to experiences then you won’t learn but if you try new things, you might not only learn something new but you might find you were completely wrong and discover that it is amazing. Which YA is – just sayin’.

So for me it doesn’t matter what age you are or what age a book is targeted at, if you want to read it do it and let yourself have some fun and enjoy books. That’s what they are here for, regardless of target age or genre. Unless it’s a school textbook obviously but so people still enjoy those anyway :)

 Adults can read YA in the same way teenagers can read adult books.

Okay – rant over. And now breathe.

What do you think?

Victoria

xoxo

 

38 Comments
by Victoria-writes on March 30, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Musings
Tagged , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on March 30, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/03/30/theres-nothing-wrong-with-reading-ya/

Pretty Little Liars & Somebody Else’s Life (Friday Finds)

 My latest TV obsession is Pretty Little Liars. It’s an American teen drama about a group of girls who are stalked by the mysterious ’A’ after the death of their Queen Bee. ‘A’ somehow knows all their secrets and they have a lot of secrets! This show is weirdly compelling with some real scares thrown in alongside the typical teen angst and the central mystery of who the stalker is will keep you hooked. It’s so bad, it’s good.

I recently finished ’Somebody else’s life’ by debut British YA author Katie Dale. It’s about a teenage girl called Rosie whose Mum Trudie tragically dies from Huntington’s disease. Rosie is terrified that she will inherit the genetic illness until her Mum’s best friend reveals she’s not Trudie’s real daughter after all. Rosie sets out to discover who her real parents are but her quest doesn’t go to plan.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so I finished it in a day as it’s a real page turner and I was desperate to find out how it ends. It’s an exciting mix of family drama, mystery, romance and heartbreak. It also poses a moral question about whether you would want to know if you had a genetic disease or not.

What did you discover this week?

Victoria

xoxo

18 Comments
by Victoria-writes on March 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, Friday Finds, Reviews, TV
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Victoria-writes on March 2, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/03/02/pretty-little-liars-somebody-elses-life-friday-finds/

« Older Posts
Newer Posts »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,430 other followers