Blog Tour + Guest Post: Red by Alison Cherry

Hey everyone! I'm excited to announce that I have a guest post from Alison Cherry to share with you all today! Alison's new book Red came out on October 8th, and it sounds like a fantastic read. Make sure you all check it out! Without further ado, here's Alison Cherry to share her typical day as a writer...

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A Typical Writing Day for Alison Cherry

For some reason, I was under the impression that the moment I became a full-time writer, I would magically turn into the kind of person who sat down at my desk at the same time every day, turned off the internet, and churned out words like a machine. I’m sure this will shock no one, but… that didn’t exactly happen.  It turns out that when there’s no boss standing over my shoulder, I am really, really terrible at having a schedule. But I am happy to report that mysteriously enough, I still manage to write books!

Here’s what a typical writing day looks like for me now, insofar as something with no consistency whatsoever can be considered “typical”:

9 AM-ish: Wake up. Check email. Reach for whatever book I fell asleep reading last night and continue reading. Because reading is research, right?

10 AM: Start feeling guilty for not working. Sit up in bed and grab my computer, fully intending to do something productive. Instead, spend an hour reading Twitter and chatting with writer friends.

11 AM: Shower. My brain likes to present me with great story ideas at the least convenient moments possible, so the shower is one of its favorites. I ended up installing a white board IN my shower, so I can now write things down while washing my hair.

Sometime between 11:30 AM and 2 PM: Drag myself and my trusty MacBook Air to my local coffee shop, which has the tastiest waffles ever. (It has gotten to the point where the barista sometimes greets me with, “Hi, Alison! Waffles, right?” I have become that person.) If I can get a writer friend to meet me at the coffee shop for a work date, I am generally way more productive—feeling like I’m accountable to someone helps a lot. In fact, my friend Michelle is sitting across from me as I write this post, and she’s probably the only reason I’m concentrating so well.

Afternoon hours: WRITE! If I’m drafting something new, four hours is usually my limit. (Revising is easier for me, so I can often keep working for eight hours.) I start by going over what I wrote yesterday, which helps me get back into the voice and the rhythm of the story. Then I try to write 1500-2500 new words, but I’m okay with doing less if it’s one of those days when writing feels like pulling teeth. I usually work from a rough outline, and I tend to write in order—if I allow myself to skip around, I’m afraid I’ll just write all the juiciest scenes first and then abandon the project altogether.

I am not a super focused writer; I constantly stop to read and respond to email, check Twitter, eavesdrop on other café patrons, and get up for more tea. (Always decaf—caffeine makes me dizzy.) Strangely, I find that multitasking helps me think better. Shifting my focus around keeps me from getting stuck and allows me to come up with more creative solutions.

6:00-ish: Brain starts to melt. Back up files, reward myself with cookies, and put the work-in-progress to bed until tomorrow!

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I want to thank Alison SO much for being here today and giving us all a peak into a day in her life! Now that you know all about how she does it, make sure you guys check out her newest release Red!

Red

By Alison Cherry

Release Date: October 8, 2013

Summary: Felicity St. John has it all—loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she’s right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.

Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power—and everybody knows it. That’s why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:

I know your secret.

Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she’d be a social outcast faster than she could say "strawberry blond." Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it—money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school.

Felicity isn’t about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?

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For more information on Alison Cherry and her newest release, check out the following links: 

Blog // Goodreads // Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Indiebound

Stacking the Shelves (71)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what they got throughout the week!

From Barnes & Noble

My AMAZING mother bought me this book while I was home last week and words can't even describe how excited I am to read this one. It's about two books deep in my TBR pile, so it's close to reading time! That's the only downside to blogging...too many books to review that I can't immediately read the books I'm dying to read. But as soon as I have time, I am going to absolutely devour this book. I loved the first one and can't wait to fill in all of the missing details. I know I only got one book this week, but I am more excited for this one than if I had twenty new books. Hopefully I love it!

That's all for me! What did you all add to your shelves this week? 

Follow My Book Blog Friday (107)

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Question: What are some of your favorite magazines?

Answer: You know, I actually don't read magazines that much. There is one, though, that I always read because my sister subscribes to it. And that magazine is...

This magazine is SO AWESOME. I am a huge movie buff, so whenever this comes in the mail, I always try to steal it from my sister so that I can read it first. It has everything you could possibly want to know about current movies, and they also talk about books a lot! I always get excited when the cover is a movie/show I love or has a movie that's based off of a book I love. I was definitely super excited when the Divergent and Hunger Games issues came in the mail! 

And that's pretty much the only magazine I regularly read! What about you guys? Are there any magazines you like to read? 

Book Review: Asunder by Chloe Aridjis

Asunder

By Chloe Aridjis 

Release Date: September 17, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: Marie's job as a guard at the National Gallery in London offers her the life she always wanted, one of invisibility and quiet contemplation. But amid the hushed corridors of the Gallery surge currents of history and violence, paintings whose power belies their own fragility. There also lingers the legacy of her great-grandfather Ted, the museum guard who slipped and fell moments before reaching the suffragette Mary Richardson as she took a blade to one of the gallery's masterpieces on the eve of the First World War. After nine years there, Marie begins to feel the tug of restlessness. A decisive change comes in the form of a winter trip to Paris, where, with the arrival of an uninvited guest and an unexpected encounter, her carefully contained world is torn open.

Asunder is a rich, resonant novel of beguiling depths and beautiful strangeness, exploring the delicate balance between creation and destruction, control and surrender.

Review: I really wanted to love this book. I visited London over the summer and the National Gallery was one of the favorite museums I visited while I was there. So I thought reading a book about a woman who was a guard at that museum would be really cool. While the London aspect of this book was awesome, the rest just fell flat for me. 

As a guard in London's National Gallery, Marie is used to living a life of invisibility. After nine years, though, Marie's starting to want something more. So when the chance to take a two week trip to Paris comes up, Marie can't pass up the offer. Marie continues to contemplate life and what she really wants out of it. 

Like I said, this book had so much potential. In the end, though, I didn't really care all that much about Marie's character. Her hobbies were strange to me (Moths? What?) and her life wasn't interesting to me. I wasn't excited to read what would happen to her next or see where she ended up. 

The setting of this book was what made it worth reading to me. I loved reading about how she moved about London and what rooms she would work in while she was guarding at the National Gallery. I absolutely love London, so I was fascinated when she talked about her life in London. 

While the setting was great, nothing else really stuck out to me. I wasn't a fan of the other characters (like her friend Daniel or his poet friend who visited while they were in Paris) and the whole women's rights activists plot didn't make sense the me. Maybe I just missed something, but I didn't really get why they were trying to destroy art and how they had to do with Marie now when what happened with the one lady was when Marie's grandpa was a guard at the Gallery. Like I said, a bit confusing. 

In the end, this was just an okay read. It was short, so it went by pretty quickly, but nothing super interesting ever happened. It's just a book about a woman thinking about her life. And that's pretty much it.

Waiting On Wednesday (113)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of!

Alienated

By Melissa Landers

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Summary: Interplanetary relations have never been more exciting! The first in a funny, romantic YA sci-fi series.

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

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After reading the Lux series by Jennifer L Armentrout, I've been much more open to reading books about aliens. And this one sounds great! Hosting an alien that turns out to grind on your nerves, but in a totally flirty way? I can't wait to see how this one turns out and to find out what the fuss is over Aelyx!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was "Forced" to Read

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given. So hopefully I'll have a new list to share with you all each week!

This Week's Topic: Top Ten Books I Was "Forced" to Read

Hmm, it's really really hard to force me to read something, because I'll probably want to read it anyways. But there were books I wouldn't have thought about reading if it weren't for school turning me on to those books. Some I picked up after a librarian or teacher commented on them, and others I read for class. So here they are! 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I had to read this one for my AP Lit class in high school and I absolutely LOVED the story. I don't think I would have picked it up otherwise, so I'm incredibly happy that my class required us to read this one. 

Crime and Punishment by Fyoder Dostoevsky 

Another AP Lit read. There's something about the Russian authors that is so intimidating, but this book was so interesting! I ended up really liking the story and I couldn't put it down. 

1984 by George Orwell

Taking AP Lit was probably one of the best decisions I ever made for my literary life! I think this is the last one I read for that class, and it was definitely not what I was expecting at all. The world Orwell created was so bizarre and I loved reading it. 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld 

I remember our librarian giving us a talk in middle school about books to pick for our free choice and she had Uglies in her hand and talked about the premise. After her little summary, she said whoever wanted any of the books she talked about to come on up to the front. Right when she finished, I raced to the front to check out that book for my free read. I ended up loving the book and Scott Westerfeld became one of my favorite authors. 

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Yes, Twilight. My class had taken a trip to the Columbus Metropolitan Library where the librarians had tons of book on display to share with us. One of the librarians raved about Twilight, a couple of months before it became super popular. I was really intrigued by the book and once I got home, I went to my own library and checked out a copy. And I loved the book. The series went downhill from there, but it was really enjoyable before the movies ruined everything. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

At school I decided to start a Jane Austen book club because I loved Jane Austen but had no time to read her. There's no motivation to read a book like a book club. The second book we read was Pride and Prejudice and it is by far my favorite book by her. I'm so happy I finally took the time to read it!

Frankenstein by Marry Shelley

I took an English class on Romanticism and we had to read Frankenstein at the end of the semester. It was not at all what I was expecting, but definitely in a good way. Frankenstein's monster is such a complex creature and it was interesting following its story. 

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I actually had to read this novel two different times for two different classes. I had to read it my sophomore year in high school and my freshman year in college. I definitely enjoyed it so much more the second time around, and really liked the book. If it wasn't for the second read, though, I probably wouldn't have the appreciation I have for it today. 

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Another Jane Austen for book club! This was the first book we ever read for the club and it was so much better than I was expecting. I loved Anne and Wentworth so much!

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I had to read this one for my Victorian Literature class last semester, and it was so good! I had no idea what the story was going to be about, but boy that ending! I loved coming to class and talking about the novel. I didn't even mind that I had to take a final exam on it (okay, I did mind, but at least I liked the material I was being tested on!). I'm so happy I had a chance to read this one in that class. 

Book Review: Attitude by Robin Stevenson

Attitude

By Robin Stevenson

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Source: Librarything

Summary: When Cassie comes to Vancouver from Australia for an intensive summer program at a prestigious ballet school, she finds it hard to fit in. A clique of girls who have been at the school a long time don't want the newcomers to get any attention. At first Cassie tries to go along to get along, but when she realizes that some of the visiting summer students are being bullied and threatened, and that she herself is being sabotaged, she finally speaks out--and finds out how far some girls will go to succeed.

Review: I won a copy of Attitude from Librarything Early Reviewers, and looking at the cover I couldn't wait to read it. I love reading books that involve dancing or the performing arts, so I was really interested to see how this ballet story would turn out. So you could say I was disappointed to find a juvenile story that lacked any real substance. 

When Cassie gets into a summer dance program in Vancouver, she couldn't be more excited to take her dancing even more seriously. But Vancouver is a world away from Australia, and once she arrives she finds it hard to fit in. With girls who think they own the world, Cassie doesn't know where she should align herself. So when some of the girls take their bullying too far, Cassie decides to stand up to them, which proves to have many more consequences than she could have ever imagined. 

Like I said, this was a pretty juvenile story. I think that the characters could have been a bit more mature and not as naive for being 13 or 14 years old. Also, the characters seemed to act in a cliche way. You had the main bully who thought she was the best and her best friend who did anything she said to stay in her good graces. Enter the new girl who doesn't want to take their crap and stands up. Like I said, your typical story. 

I didn't really care for Cassie because everything about her and her friends kind of seemed forced. And the ending? It ends so suddenly and after only 134 pages. I felt like there should have been some extension to the story so that the ending didn't feel so abrupt. 

While the story sounded promising, Attitude was not the book for me. The characters were too naive and I didn't get into the story at all. It went by super fast, but the story was left hanging open where a lot more could have been added. If you're looking for a performing arts novel with a great and engaging story, I'd skip over this one.