{Blog Tour: Review + Random Things + Giveaway} The Wishing World - By Todd Fahnestock

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Author: Todd Fahnestock 

Website 

Release Date: 10/25/2016 

Purchase Info: Amazon ~ B&N  

In the Wishing World, dreams are real. You can transform into your own hero, find wild and whimsical friends, and wield power as great as your imagination. But Lorelei doesn't know about any of that. All she knows is that a monster took her family.

It happened during a camping trip one year ago. Hiding inside the tent, she saw shadows, tentacles and a strange creature. By the time she got up the courage to crawl outside, the monster--and Lorelei's mom, dad, and brother--were gone.

Lorelei is determined to find her family. When she accidentally breaks into the Wishing World, she discovers a way. It's a land more wonderful than she could have imagined, a land of talking griffons, water princesses, and cities made of sand, where Lorelei is a Doolivanti--a wish-maker--who can write her dreams into existence.

There's only one problem: the monster is a Doolivanti, too. What he wishes also comes true, and he's determined to shove Lorelei out, keep her family, and make the whole Wishing World his. To save them, Lorelei must find the courage to face him, or her next wish may be her last.

Fun & Exciting!

The Wishing World made me feel young and carefree again. It took my imagination to places it hasn't been in years. Ever page was a twist in the adventure and it didn't stop until the end.

Lorelei is bound and determined to find her family, and during her quest I found that the author was able to do a great job of keeping her young, but allowing her to grow up with each challenge that came her way. There wasn't a single moment that didn't shape Lorelei or seem out of place for her. It was very well written.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was that there was equal amounts of whimsy and danger. The battle of Good vs. Evil waged throughout the entire book and some of the characters that the author was able to develop really made me smile. Like the Griffin, the mouse, and even those god-awful flowers....you'll have to read to know what I'm talking about!

Overall this entire story was a fast-paced charming read for any age. It will take you places you've never been, and allowing you to take a break from reality...just for a moment. 

4/5

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Random Thing About Todd Fahnestock

Favorite Holiday Tradition?

My favorite holiday tradition is our Christmas Eve “Island of Misfit Toys” event. This will require a two-part explanation:

Part 1: There was an old stop-motion animation show back in the 1980s about Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In one of these episodes, he visits the Island of Misfit Toys, a place where broken or weird toys band together to create a sense of belonging and strength with each other and rise above being cast-off by the world at large.

Part 2: In college, I spent most of my time with a group of friends who called themselves The Clan (like The Clan of the Cave Bear). What started as a hodge podge of friends who weren’t leaving the campus for the holidays turned into a ritual get-together. Nowadays I have my own family, but on Christmas Eve we invite anyone we know who doesn’t normally celebrate Christmas, doesn’t have family to spend Christmas with, or is away from family over the holidays. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I dislike that the holidays have become so much about buying and spending and gifts. This coming together of friends and family is, to me, the true essence of the holidays, and why I remain optimistic and happy about the holidays. 

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About the Author

TODD FAHNESTOCK won the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Award for one of his short stories, and is the author of the YA bestseller Fairmist as well as The Wishing World. Stories are his passion, but Todd's greatest accomplishment is his quirky, fun-loving family. The Wishing World began as a series of bedtime stories for his children. 

 Website

 Twitter

 Goodreads

 Facebook

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Giveaway

- Skype or phone session (personal or school class). 

- A bundle of Starscap Books.

- Two Signed Copies of The Wishing World by Todd Fahnestock.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Evolution of a Blog Pt. 2** This makes me sad......

As some of you know I have been blogging for over 5 years now. 

(CRAZY!!!)

I've had my fair share of ups and & downs, posting slumps, and even a reading slump....but I've pushed through the mental haze and forged on.

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Today I was visiting a review on Goodreads from a few years ago, and as I'm scrolling down the page through the other reviews I see one from a fellow blogger I use to be pretty close with. Out of curiosity I click on her profile, then proceed to her blog only to find out she stopped blogging roughly 2 years ago!

My first reaction was,  "I'm a horrible friend, I mean I should have noticed this right?!"

Stunned & saddened as I'm reading her post of literary resignation, I notice on the sidebar are names of all the Blogs she supports, or supported I should say. Instantly I'm ecstatic because I recognize the name of each blog on that list! 

"YAY, let's see how everyone is trucking along!!"

Well guess what?!

90% of those bloggers have stopped blogging too....and quite frankly it makes me sad!

What pushed my friends to stop?? 

The pressure to keep up? 

The pressure to be "New & Exciting"?

 Or the pressure to be make your next post better than your last? 

Yes this online community is growing, it's evolving,  and every day there is a new blog on the block trying to standout and make a bigger impact than the one before them. Though I'll be the first person to give props and kudos to anyone trying to take a step into this world of literary review. It's not easy. 

Keeping up on posts, reviews, trying to make sure agents/authors/tour hosts, shit even other bloggers, see what you can do.

But then these questions are constantly floating in the back of your mind:

Are you original enough? 

Should I add a some extra UMPH to that post?

Have I gained followers, received comments, retweets, "Likes"?

Not only does this take it's toll on new bloggers, but old bloggers alike.....and will mentally exhaust you at some point or another. I know that in the past it has for me.

So my little tidbit of advise for you is this:

Have fun with it, be goofy, be explicit if you need you, do not hold back for anyone try to hold back sometimes, do not lie/cheat/borrow or steal, and be genuine

 Everyone in the literary community appreciates someone who tells it from the heart, even if it's brutally honest.

Remember stay true to who you are, always know why you started doing this in the first place, and always take a breath.

I don't want to stumble upon your blog one day to see that you've virtually posted your Blogger letter of resignation too.

The Evolution of a Blog (Pt. 1)

The evolution of a blog.......just think about it......

Have any of my fellow bloggers ever taken the time to look back at your posts from the early days?

Now when I say easy days I'm talking 4-5 years ago, before we become engulfed with publishers, promoters, blog stats and networking. It almost seemed like my thoughts back then were more pure and original.

Please do not get me wrong, I am beyond thankful to have the connections and people that are in my literary life. Without them I would be lost at times, they are truly a blessing! 

But, there are times when I look back at my earlier posts and feel like I was WAY more honest, sort of like a part of me is missing from my posts.

No one worry though! What I'm missing will come back!

 Through hell or high water I will start inserting myself piece by piece back into these posts. Who knows, maybe I'm the only blogger who's ever dealt with this, or maybe I am part of a large community I never realized I was a part of......like an AA support group!

Whatever the end result is I will keep touching on the subject and hopefully I'm able to shed a sliver of light onto this subject of Blog Evolution with other literary nuts I know!

{Blog Tour: Review + Random Things + GIVEAWAY} Guardians - By SusanKim & Laurence Klavan

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Author(s): Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan 

Website

Release Date: 3/24/2015

Purchase Info: Amazon ~ B&N

The Emmy Award-nominated and Edgar Award-winning duo of Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan deliver a heart-pounding finale to the postapocalyptic teen world of the Wasteland, filled with dramatic twists and turns. Bestselling author of Criminal, Karin Slaughter, called Wasteland "a Lord of the Flies for future generations. An irresistible page-turner."

No one dares to leave the District—the towering structure of glass and steel that is their protection against the unruly bands of Outsiders that roam Mundreel and the deadly rain that carries the disease that kills all over the age of nineteen.

This skyscraper stands amid the urban devastation, the city rumored to have once been called "Montreal." Esther and her allies have created a haven on the rooftop, a garden that flourishes, and a home for her new baby, hidden from all but the very few who know her secret. But as Gideon's power grows and factions form, the ultimate darkness is born from greed, and Esther must find a way to save the citizens from themselves.

I 

Am

Hooked!

From page one you could tell there was a power struggle in this diverse group that would define this book. Not having read the first 2 books

In this

Series I was a little lost in the beginning, but the authors had such a great way of giving all the back stories without dragging the story line out. You could tell there have been some pretty big issues in that the characters were able to overcome, but there are those specific characters who just can't let things go.

I felt as though Esther took a lot on in this book, she seemed a little emotionally unhinged at times....but I mean with some of the characters killing each other off I would be too. Plus that's one aspect of this book I really enjoyed. No one was safe, it made for a more interesting story, because just when you thought you'd fallen for a someone...BAM! They're gone! Esther did take on a lot to keep her people safe, she knows what needs to be done and I felt as though she genuinely struggled to make those tough decisions throughout the entire book.

I really, really wish Gideon had been one of those characters who got the "BAM", because he was an asshole....sorry....no one likes a power hungry tyrant....no one.

Overall I highly enjoyed the story line in this book, it was meticulously thought out, and I foresee the series going to great places!

4/5

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Random Things About Susan & Laurence:

Susan:

1.       I was in a comedy improv group called Spontaneous Combustion. We toured around other colleges and also spent a summer performing at the Royale Lounge in the old Mount Airy Lodge (“your host with the most in the Poconos”.) It was a great experience in that it was genuinely trial by fire: you will never appreciate what rejection feels like until you try making a roomful of surly, drunk people laugh.

2.      I majored in English and theatre, but adored psychology and almost tried to do a triple major. 

3.      Most of what I wore was from thrift shops. Some of my favorite pieces: a Boy Scout uniform shirt, a stewardess cape from Qantas, a rugby referee shirt, a striped mini-dress from the 60s, and a green silk bomber jacket that said “Korea”. As Macklemore sang, my idea of a great time was popping some tags.

4.       I had a terrible (as in nonexistent) work ethic. At the library, I’d talk so much, my friends stopped asking me to study with them. I’m actually kind of amazed I graduated.

5.      Even though I mostly took theatre and literature classes, I appreciated that you were encouraged/forced to study other things. Two of my favorite classes were intro geology and playing the Javanese gamelan. 

Laurence:

1.       I went to college in New York City and once accidentally dropped my books on the subway tracks.

2.       Maybe it wasn’t accidental.

3.      I worked in publishing during college but was laid off when the company was sold.

4.      I broke up with my high school girlfriend during college.

5.      Actually, she broke up with me.

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About the Authors:

SUSAN KIM is a playwright, TV writer, and author. Her two graphic novels w/co-author Laurence Klavan, “City of Spies” (artwork by Pascal Dizin) and “Brain Camp” (artwork by Faith Erin Hicks), were published by First Second Books in 2010. “Flow: the Cultural Story of Menstruation” (co-written w/Elissa Stein) was published by St. Martin’s Griffin in 2009. Plays include the stage adaptation of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (Dramatists Play Service) and various one-acts that were produced in the EST Marathon, including Death and the Maiden, Rapid Eye Movement,Dreamtime for Alice (Dramatists Play Service and Farrar Strauss), and Memento Mori (Smith and Krauss). Her work has been produced internationally. Ms. Kim has been nominated five times for the Emmy and four times for the Writers Guild award for her work in both non-fiction and children’s TV; she won a WGA award in 1996 for Best Documentary. She lives in New York City, teaches dramatic writing in the MFA program at Goddard College and currently blogs for the Huffington Post.

LAURENCE KLAVAN wrote the novels, “The Cutting Room” and “The Shooting Script,” which were published by Ballantine Books. He won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the novel, “Mrs. White,” co-written under a pseudonym. His graphic novels, "City of Spies" and "Brain Camp," were co-written with Susan Kim and published by First Second Books at Macmillan. His short work has been published in The Alaska Quarterly, Conjunctions, The Literary Review, Gargoyle, Louisville Review, Natural Bridge, Pank, Stickman Review, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, among many other journals, and a collection is forthcoming from Chizine Publications. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics of "Bed and Sofa," the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York and the Finborough Theater in London in 2011. His one-act, "The Summer Sublet," is included Best American Short Plays 2000-2001.

Webiste

Twitter

 Susan's Goodreads

Laurence's Goodreads
 Facebook

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GIVEAWAY:

Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

2 Signed Copy of Guardians by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan.

a Rafflecopter giveaway