WINNER of the Touch of Power Contest

Hopefully, everyone is having an eventful and pleasant holiday. I have been very blessed to spend the last few days with my amazing in-laws in Northern California. Surprisingly, there is no snow this Christmas. The upside is not having to bundle up in five layers to take the trash out.

Alright, I will get to the good part! The winner of the contest is:

DeAnn from Butterfly Books

Make sure you check out and follow her blog! It seems to be a pleasant mix of reviews, opinions, and other such tidbits. One post was a wishlist of books and Touch of Power was number one. Glad to help Santa out on that one. ;]

Congrats, DeAnn!

Since I am still on vacation until Tuesday, I will not be posting my review of Maria's novel until then (along with many others throughout the week). I am so excited for the next two weeks that entail me working only one job. That means, book review catch up! I have about five or so to post and lots more reading to do!

Until then, Happy Holidays to everyone and no matter what you celebrate, enjoy family and friends. That is the most important part!

Your Book Heroine

Interview with Maria V. Snyder & Contest!

Today, I am lucky enough to have Maria V. Snyder visiting the blog!  She is the author of the Study series, the Glass series, and the Insider series.  As always when reading Maria's books, I fell for her latest characters and quickly got on board with a whole new story.  When I first asked Maria for an interview, Outside In (book 2 of the Insider series) had just released and Touch of Power was finishing up.

BH:  Thank you, Maria, for taking the time to answer a few questions.  Since you are one of my favorite authors, I must say that it was difficult keeping the list to a minimum!
MVS:  Thank you for inviting me to your blog.  I am honored to be one of your favorite authors.


BH:  After two wonderful series, both set in the lands of Ixia and Sitia, what made you break away and begin a whole new world of adventure in the Insider series?
MVS:  Even though I thoroughly enjoyed writing the Study and Glass books, I was ready for a new creative challenge.  It's fun to create a new world and meet a number of new characters.  It also helps to keep my writing fresh and interesting...at least I hope it does!


BH:  You have chosen incredibly strong females as your protagonists in all four of your series.  Were they a reflection of yourself or inspired by someone you know?
MVS:  As a reader, I've always been drawn to strong female protagonists.  Growing up, my mother and father always encouraged both me and my sister to be very independent and be able to take care of ourselves, and I think that translated into all my lead characters.

BH:  What made you lean toward a more dystopian genre and pick a science fiction setting for the Insider series?
MVS:  Actually, I didn't pick the genre or the setting - the story came to me in a dream.  I dreamt about Trella, Cog and Broken Man, the Pop Cops, the twists, the setting all in one dream!  I haven't done it before or since (wish I knew what I had for dinner the night before).  In fact, I didn't really consider it a dystopian until my editor mentioned how it was similar to the "Hunger Games".

BH:  Have these stories been building for many years now or did their inspirations come together quickly and unexpectedly?
MVS:  Both.  The Study and Glass books started with an idea for a food taster to be the main character of a fantasy novel. I thought it would be a stand alone book, but it turned into three books and spun off the Glass series.  "Inside Out" was one dream in one night!  A gift from the sandman ;>

BH:  You've done a lot of research for your books, like glass blowing, horseback riding, and even studied poisons. What was that like?
MVS:  I love doing hands-on research for my books.  It's the best way for me to be able to translate an experience into words.  All my classes and lessons have been loads of fun and sometimes scary (horses are big and kilns are hot!) and I learn so much more than what goes into a book.  I would love to do more with glass, but I don't have the time or resources right now.  What I like best is exploring new subjects and skills - I don't need to become an expert at anything, but I learn enough to be dangerous ;> I have a legitimate reason to be a dabbler.


BH:  If you could be any one of your countless characters, whom would you be and why?
MVS:  Avry who is the main protagonist in "Touch of Power".  She's a healer and I've seen so many friends and family members suffer with various problems, that I wish I could just...heal them.  All the money in the world is nothing compared to good health.  Also as a mother - healing would be wonderful.  I hate to see my kids sick or hurt.  My second choice would be Valek - 'cause, well...he's Valek ;>

BH:  You have a new book coming out December 20, Touch of Power.  Will you give us a little synopsis of what we can expect out of the first book in the new series?
MVS:  "Touch of Power" is a fantasy novel about a healer set in a world that is recovering from a deadly plague.  Avry's world has blamed the plague on the healers and has hunted them down.  She is finally caught only to be rescued by a group who wants her to heal their Prince.  The group's leader, Kerrick, knows the healers aren't to blame for the plague and that she could do some good for a change instead of hiding.  Unfortunately, she believes this Prince is the one who started blaming the plague on the healers so she isn't risking her life for some pampered Prince.  As they travel to the Prince's hidden location, they're pursued by others who have realized having a healer around might just be a good thing for them, but not necessarily for her.


You can read the first chapter of Touch of Power here: http://www.mariavsnyder.com/books.php

BH:  If you could choose your theme song, what would it be and why?
MVS:  This isn't quite a song...but I would choose the little ditty Dory sings in the movie "Nemo".  She sings, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." when it looks like all is lost.  I really love that attitude and it's so true with writing. Just keep writing and submitting and eventually things will happen. That's exactly what happened for me.


BH:  What was, is, or would be your favorite toy to play with in the bathtub?
MVS:  I used to take in my Fisher Price toys - those little plastic people with the cars and various furniture.  I'd set up an underwater city for them and they'd have to fight off sea dragons and other denizens of the deep.  LOL - I haven't thought about that in years!


BH:  What's quirky and unusual about yourself that one wouldn't read about in a typical biography?
MVS:  I love office supplies.  My office lacks for nothing and my kids refer to my well-stocked supply closet as "little Staples".

Want to get more info about Maria V. Snyder and her books? You can learn about her and even read the first chapter of all her books as well as a number of free short stories!

www.mariavsnyder.com

Did you know she's a blogger? Stay in touch with new books and learn more about this splendid author!

http://officialmariavsnyder.blogspot.com

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Now for the best part...

The Contest!

Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Maria's newest book:

The contest will end: Saturday, December 24 at 11:59pm ET

Inside Out & Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

☆☆☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 315 / 326
Genre: YA: Sci-Fi Dystopian
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 037321006X / 0373210116


I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper Levels? The only neck at risk is my own...until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution. -Netgalley


Imagine being a number, one of thousands who live in the same rooms, eat in shifts, work for ten hours, rest for ten hours every day at the same job that was assigned to you before you were five. For the scrubs, that is normal. Walking through the lower levels of Inside is like pushing through a hallway with a herd of cows. The smells, the noise, the light always on. Could you survive?


Trella is a lower that escaped her confines as much as possible. Her job was to clean the pipes that wound through the levels, so she knew the maze of metal with even her eyes closed. Often, she took that for granted to nap in silence and darkness that would wrap around her like a blanket. Trella also took advantage to explore the upper levels, a life that she could never hope to obtain.


Prophetic rumors of a gateway wound through the conversation of scrubs, giving them a little hope to latch onto in their pitiful lives. Trella never believed the prophets or her best friend who constantly lapped up every word, until one day when one of the story-tellers grabbed her attention and peaked her interest. Claiming to have evidence hidden in an upper level room he once held, this prophet fed into Trella's curiosity until she finally ventured into the pipes to find the truth. -The Book Heroine


Maria has done it again. With characters that hook your heart from the first page, you chase the adventures they lead with tears, laughter, and an entire mix of emotions until the last page. Trella is the little engine-that-could in this dystopian tale. A girl with nothing to hope for other than the few moments of silence she can take in the ducts she calls her escape, she is driven into a spiraling adventure.


I tend to lean towards one character or two in a novel, but I could hardly choose a handful. Even the villains take a hold of you in their mission to take control. Trella is real. I felt the grime of the walls and smelled the odor of so many bodies around as she tried to escape them (or it could have just been my dirty laundry piling up). Cog makes you want a friend as loyal and trusting.


I can't help but compare Trella to Yelena, one of Snyder's past characters in Poison Study. Both are strong-willed, but equally unsure of their abilities to lead change. There is something in Trella that doesn't let her give up on being slightly different, a wonderful characteristic in a leading female role.


Romance? Of course. Does Snyder go overboard in this category? Not even close. She only touches on the tingles and butterflies Trella experiences in light of the rebellion. As the reader, you are rushed through a series of struggles and adventures, torn between fighting for life and fighting for love. And since it is a series, Snyder does not give away all in one book. You are left with the same hope for the heroine's love life on the last page of Inside Out as you were halfway through.


Although I gave Inside Out five stars, Outside In resulted in four for one minor reason. I wasn't as drawn into the tale as the first. Without giving too much away, it was much more predictable than the outcomes of the first and that lost the sequel a bit of luster for me. Trella's continued adventure was still exciting and perilous and I wouldn't have stopped reading just because of my guessing being correct. Maybe it was just luck! I also had a hard time keeping track of the measurement of time that she had set up. It seemed a lot of significance was placed on this, yet it didn't place quite as relevant once I read them through.


I would recommend this series to any fan of Maria V. Snyder, dystopian fiction, or a teacher hoping to add another incredible heroine to their bookshelves! I cannot wait to read what this talented author has in store for us next.