Suze Reese's Blog

I just received this pic today from my friend at Barnes and Noble! Made my day! (And you'd better hurry if you're tempted. Looks like there's only one left.) =)

Welcome to the 23rd monthly I Heart YA Blog Carnival! I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every 2nd Tuesday I’ll post a blogging prompt that celebrates the best reading genre possible--YA fiction.

Today's topic? School, of course! I happen to love, love, love school! Mostly now that I'm sending my kids instead of going there myself. But even back in the day I was a fan. (You have to be a bit of a school nerd to pick writing as a hobby, right?)

I happened to get an email this morning inviting me to a Q&A on Goodreads with Lois Lowry, which took me back a decade or so to a reading assignment for one of my daughters. She's a bright thing (my daughter that is. Lois is too, obviously) - has her master's degree even (daughter again). But sometimes assignments for great literature come at a time that we have more important things going on (like trying to figure out how to get #1 hottie-of-the-month to ask us to the dance) and we can't get past the fact that the book has a bazillion words and we only have a few hours to read it.

That's how it was with my daughter and The Giver.She came to me all frustrated because her teacher told her to find themes of "choice" and she couldn't find a single thing that had to do with choice. (ie. she was skimming for the word and hadn't found it.) I hadn't read it, but grabbed it up and was immediately immersed in the story. But it was lost on dear daughter.

For me it was The Hobbit. Great book, I know. But to me at that particular time in history it was this gigantic word count about some elves and magic. (I KNOW! They are NOT elves!) I never got past it, to me that's all it's about. Even when the fam wants to watch Lord of the Rings, I'm all - it's just a story about elves and magic! (YEAH, I KNOW! They're NOT elves. Enough already!)

So what about you, did you ever have a story that was ruined by being given as an assignment at the wrong time? Or better yet, were you introduced to something that opened a world you'd never imagined? (That is the point, right?)

Share your thoughts! (And don't forget to add your blog to the Linky Tool, and share the link in the comments!)

For a few months now I've had a file on my computer named 'ExtraNormal Title Ideas'. It's a Word document that looks like this:

ExtraNormal (ExtraNormal #1)
Lame Idea (ExtraNormal #2)
Another Lame Idea (ExtraNormal #3)

ExtraNormal (ExtraNormal #1)
Lamer Idea (ExtraNormal #2)
Another Lamer Idea (ExtraNormal #3)

Every week or so I would open the file and play with the list: adding, changing and subtracting. Eventually it filled a couple of pages. One lame idea after another, with nothing exactly right. Sometimes I'd even announce to my family that I'd picked a title. I'd say it proudly, and then watch them chew on their food and stare at me like disinterested cows. (Not that they look like cows. I happen to have very beautiful children. Just that the suggested title was apparently a big snore.)

But I am happy to announce that I've finally picked a couple of winners! They fit perfectly and I love them. Even the fam gave me thumbs up. So if you hate them please don't tell. I couldn't bear to open that file again.

And finally...at long last...books number two and three in the ExtraNormal series are as follows:

Extinction Order (ExtraNormal #2) AND Exhiled (ExtraNormal #3)

Woot! Woot! Doing virtual backflips here! And now I must get back to Extinction Order! It won't write itself you know!

Welcome to the 22nd I Heart YA Blog Carnival! (Every 2nd Tuesday). I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every month there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.

And here we go! 

Summer is winding down (sadness) so the natural topic of the day is Summer Love! If you want to participate, I'll leave the rest to you and your fertile imagination. Did you love a book you read this summer? Was there one with a perfect love story? Did you have a summer romance? (If you did, that MUST be your topic. Seriously.) Did you get through your summer reading list? Did you just play instead? Just include summer and love in the topic and you're good to go!

As for me, my only summer romance is one that has been a spring, summer, fall, and winter romance for the last 30 years. Yep 30. Which I know makes me old, but it's also kind of a phenom in the romance department. Still, it doesn't make a juicy summer romance story, so I'll settle for a look at my reading list. 

I'm looking at the reading pile sitting next to my bed (Not to mention the one in my "cloud".) feeling a little bit like a failure. My plan was to put in solid writing time every day, interspersed with reading time while trotting around with the kids and grandkids. And while I did PLENTY of the said trotting around, the reading and writing part didn't happen nearly as much as I'd hoped. Though I have to say I don't regret for a minute spending time IN the pool instead of lounging next to it. Or playing miniature golf, or walking through a museum with "real" dinosaurs or...oh wait. We're talking books. Now you see how I get distracted?  

And back to books...My unread (but dying to get there) list includes Broken by C.K. Bryant. Become, by Ali Cross. SoulKeepers by G.P. Ching. And a book I picked up at Costco called The Shapeshifter's Secret by Heather Ostler. I don't even think it's an ebook, but it has a beautiful cover and looks intriguing. And I did actual squeeze in quite a bit of reading. I'm on a big Megg Jensen kick. She got me hooked with Anathema (though I have to admit it took me a while to get into it, but the solid writing kept me going, and by the end I was hooked.) 

But (finally) to the meat of my thoughts - a surprise summer read recommendation! This is a book I have to admit I would have never picked up if the author hadn't asked. And I also have to admit my expectations were low. It's called "The Son of Rage and Love" by Thomas Raymond. This is a story of a 12-year-old boy who is the son of a larger-than-life celebrity. He spends his days drugged up on ADHD medication while his narcissistic grandmother controls every aspect of his life--which consists mostly of television and video games. That is until his mother decides to improve her tarnished image by adopting a Haitian boy, who turns all their lives upside down. 

The book only took a couple of hours to read, and was absolutely fun. I loved the little digs at some well-known celebrities, whether they were intended or not. And the big escape by the boys in a toy Jeep. My only problem with the book is that I'm not sure where to place it. Even though the main character is a 12-year-old boy, I didn't feel like handing it over to my 13-year-old son. Not that it was inappropriate (though it does deal with some heavy issues like drug addiction, child abuse, and child pornography), but because it isn't the type of thing he's in to. I may still put it on his nightstand and see what happens, but for older teens and adults I whole-heartedly recommend it. 

So what about you? What have you loved this summer? 

Share your thoughts! (And don't forget to add your blog to the Linky Tool, and share the link in the comments!)

Share your thoughts! (And don't forget to add your blog to the Linky Tool, and share the link in the comments!)

I'm so excited to be hanging with a bunch of local authors celebrating the launch of Tristi Pinkston's new book "Turning Pages". If you happen to live in or near Pleasant Grove, Utah, drop by and say hello. Details are here. There will be cookies, authors, signed books, and a chance to help out the local library. Good times!

Welcome to the 21st monthly I HEART YA Blog Carnival! (Every 2nd Tuesday). I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every month there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.


And here we go!


One sign of a great story is when you can't stop thinking about it even when the book is closed and you're going about your regular life. 


Even better is when you think about it long after you've finished the book. 


And even better than that is when you're so moved by a character that he or she has an impact on your real life. 


I think we all have wished we could be as brave as Katniss. Or as smart as Hermione. But has a fictional character ever inspired you to take some kind of action in your real life? I'm not talking about saving an entire planet, though that would make a great story. But maybe there was a time that somebody's story was so pathetic it made you feel better about your own life? Or maybe you just couldn't resist getting a pink streak in your hair after reading about a certain character with a wild streak? 


I'm going to tell my own "inspirational" story (for inspiration of course) to get the ball rolling. And I have to apologize for bringing up this book again. But if you were a pre-pubescent girl in the '60's, nobody was as inspirational as Judy Blume and her revolutionary "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." After passing the book (covered in plain brown paper) around the playground, and whispering about all the taboo topics that Margaret dared mention, my group of friends set out on a plan. 


We figured our 4th-grade bodies needed training bras, even if our mothers hadn't noticed yet. And, in fact, we didn't even need to even ASK our mothers. Or tell them! If Margaret did it, why shouldn't we? (And honestly I'm not even sure if that was part of the book. But we ASSUMED that was something Margaret would do. 


So we decided that we would give ourselves a month to secretly save our pennies and nickles: check couch covers, skip buying milk, keep eyes open while walking. When the month was up we picked a day to tell our mothers that we would be late coming home from school. We each came to school with our handful of change. After school we headed off on foot to a nearby department store where we would each pick out and purchase our very own training bras. (Talk about excitement!) 


But then the MOST embarrassing thing in the entire world happened! I had picked out my bra, and stood in line with the other girls. But when it came time to make my purchase I was short one nickle. The girls all started counting their own change to see if they had extra.


 Amid the crisis, a grown man who was in line behind us put a nickle on the counter. I was mortified that an adult male was in on our conspiracy.


But I ignored my hot cheeks, thanked the man, and continued with my purchase.That's what Margaret would have done. =)


So what about you? Has a fictional character ever inspired you in real life? (For better or worse?)


Share your thoughts! (And don't forget to add your blog to the Linky Tool, and share the link in the comments!)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might know that I hold a special place in my heart for those battling cancer. I also hold a special place for young people. And today I'd like to introduce you to one of the most amazing young people I've ever met. Her name is Tiffany.

Here are some things Tiffany is: beautiful, happy, smiling, laughing, joking, optimistic and incredibly inspirational. Tiffany would be all of those things even if she wasn't in a fight for her life. But considering that she is, she's downright amazing. Tiffany has been fighting a very rare cancer for two years now. Through it all she's been so downright happy that most folks forget what she's going through. Last month doctors realized her latest round of chemo wasn't working. So they sent her home, with the hopes that when she turns 18 (in July) she could enter a study for late-stage cancer patients that is very promising. Trouble is, she needs the help of some medication for her to last that long. And the medicine costs $11,000 per month! You can imagine the burden that puts on a family that has been paying for cancer treatment for two years. You can read her whole story here.

So if you feel like you can help Tiffany, please click on the widget on the right and offer a donation. Grabbing the widget for your own blog would be great too. For the months of June and July I'll be donating the proceeds of any paperback purchases of ExtraNormal through Amazon. And I have to say the paperback version is so stunning you really shouldn't pass that up.

So pretty simple. It's a great cause for a great girl. Thanks so much.

Welcome to the 20th weekly (acch! MONTHLY!) (see below) I HEART YA Blog Carnival! I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every Tuesday there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.


Before I go on, I need to make an announcement regarding the carnival. As an author, I've been trying like crazy to balance blogging with book writing, and honestly I'm coming up short. When I focus on the blog the writing doesn't get done, but when I focus on the book (like lately) the blog suffers. So I've decided it's time to transition this carnival to monthly rather than weekly. Not only will that free up my days a little for more writing, but it will allow me to focus on the carnival on the day its held, and turn it into something super fantastic. (How's that for hype!) So starting today, the I HEART YA Blog Carnival will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. So mark your calendars and come back next month - Tuesday July 10. 


And now back to our regularly scheduled carnival. In case you live on the moon and haven't heard, the world lost a literary giant this past week. Ray Bradbury lived to the ripe old age of 91, and from what I understand he lived each of those years to their fullest. 


Here's a quote from Ray Bradbury's official website:


Throughout his life, Bradbury liked to recount the story of meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. At the end of his performance Electrico reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched the boy with his sword, and commanded, Live forever! Bradbury later said, I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.


Does that not sound like it came straight out of a novel or fantasy movie? I love it. 


Bradbury published something like a million (or maybe it was 500) stories, but is best known for Fahrenheit 451, which was published clear back in 1953--a dystopian novel about a firefighter in the future whose job is burning books rather than putting out fires. According to Wikipedia: "Bradbury has stated that the novel is not about censorship, but a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature."


 And remember, this was back in '53. I'm not even sure how much television they had back then.


So for today's carnival, I'm going to open it up to a thought or fond memory of Bradbury or one of his books - or thoughts on the premise to Fahrenheit 451 - does too much television mess with reading? Is it something to worry about, or are we too far gone? Share your thoughts.

And don't forget: 1. Add your link to the linkytool (Only once is necessary. Links will be removed after two months of not participating.) 2. Add your link to the comment section so we know you participated this week. 3. Grab the button if you haven't already. 4. Check out the other blog posts. Ready...set...go! (And see you on July 10!)


1.Author Suze Reese2.SupaGurl Books3.Sarah Belliston - My First4.PidginPea's Book Nook5.Cortney Pearson6.And Then There Was That One Time7.Emily @ confessions8.A Little Dversion9.CP Slayer10.Scribble and Edit11.Jennifer Hoffine12.Kako biti prvi na Google-u ?Submit your link:Link Title:

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I'm feeling the need to give a big shout out of thanks to the folks who have taken the time to downloaded and read ExtraNormal. I'm amazed that it just keeps selling. I especially need to thank those who have gone the extra mile to track me down either here, or on Facebook, Twitter or Amazon. I know you're busy just like me, so it's totally heart-warming to know you took the time to find me and give encouragement in my writing. It makes the hours of spell-checking and nit-picking over grammar totally worth it.

So if you're reading this - KUDOS!!!!

Welcome to the 19th weekly I HEART YA Blog Carnival! I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every Tuesday there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.


Last week we had a little show-and-tell, so I figured we'd run with that theme for another week. This time the show-and-tell is your current read. I just started "The Golden Queen" by David Farland. It's a little off-course from my usual reads, but my son is a fan of Farland so I thought I'd give it a try. It's apparently a re-release of a book published by the same author using a different name in the 80s. Here's the book description from Amazon: 


When Gallen O’Day is hired to as a bodyguard to escort a young woman through the woods to the forbidden ruins at Geata Na Chruinn, it seems like an ordinary job—but all too soon, he finds himself fleeing for his life from creatures that seem like escapees from a nightmare—the alien dronon, led by their golden queen. With his best friend, a genetically engineered talking bear named Orick, and his girlfriend Maggie, Gallen soon finds himself tangled in an interstellar war that he never knew existed, racing across a host of worlds, confronted by a future unlike any that he had ever imagined. 

I'm only on the second chapter so I can't give a complete review, but I can say the writing is excellent so far. Maybe a little too flowery for my taste, (like the author swallowed a poetry book) but excellent none the less. I'm looking forward to delving into it. 


So what about you, what's your read for today?



And don't forget: 1. Add your link to the linkytool (Only once is necessary. Links will be removed after two months of not participating.) 2. Add your link to the comment section so we know you participated this week. 3. Grab the button if you haven't already. 4. Check out the other blog posts. Ready...set...go!















1.Author Suze Reese2.SupaGurl Books3.Sarah Belliston - My First4.PidginPea's Book Nook5.Cortney Pearson6.And Then There Was That One Time7.Emily @ confessions8.A Little Dversion9.CP Slayer10.Scribble and Edit11.Jennifer Hoffine12.Kako biti prvi na Google-u ?








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