Vacation!

I am currently on vacation from October 5th to October 14th. I will be starting my vacation in La Vegas then  after I spend a few days there I will be driving to LA to do some sight seeing there and stay a few days. My vacation will end in San Francisco where I am going to see ALCATRAZ!!! This is on my bucket list and I am really excited to cross it off the list.

I will have some post scheduled while I am out of town, however I may be a delayed in contacting the winner of the Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft giveaway which I apologize for but I am going to bring my tablet so I may be able to connect to the internet at one of the hotels and email the winner.

This will be my last vacation unfortunately for awhile since the boyfriend is insisting we have to save money for an event I am not informed about at this point according to him. I will include some pictures when I get back.

Is anyone else planning a vacation soon? Leave a comment below so I can check out where you will be heading!

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft Q & A and Giveaway

I have been honoured with the opportunity to read Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft and to do a Q & A with Jody regarding the book and her writing in general.

1.When did you start writing?

I attempted my first "novel" when I was eight. It was actually a very long letter sent to my best friend, a fantasy about us riding around on our flying dogs. For me writing fiction has always been about visiting imaginary worlds. I still tend to think of novels as long love letters—to a place, a time in my life, a person, a feeling. 

2.  What inspired you to write Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft?

I just really love the topic: witchcraft. I'm totally a pagan at heart; even as a kid, I sensed a mysterious power running through the natural world. I think witches know how to interact with that power, and that appeals to me. Growing up here in Northern California, I was lucky enough to meet some people who practiced witchcraft, so it wasn't that foreign to me. I wanted to explore what I knew about real witches but also create a world where their power could be even more breathtaking.

3. How did you come up with the title?

The title on the very first draft was The Witch Next Door. That was such a different book, you wouldn't even recognize it. Later it became Audrey's Guide to Better Living Through Witchcraft. When we started to design the cover I realized just how unwieldy that title was, so I shortened it.

4. What kind of research did you have to do for this book?

I read all kinds of witch books; for a somewhat complete list check out my entry about it on my blog.

5. Did you design the cover for Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft or any of your other published works?

Yes, my husband and I designed the cover for AUDREY. We had a blast doing it, but it wasn't easy. All of my other book covers have been designed by major publishers like Penguin. While I love having creative control over the look, I also have fresh appreciation for what the pros go through, balancing one's creative impulses with what seems most appealing to book buyers.

6.Who are the people who support you the most?

My family has always been supportive, which makes me feel very lucky. My father and my husband are my first readers, because even though they're not in my target audience (neither one is female or a teenager, obviously) they generally think I'm a genius. That's so important when I'm working on early drafts, just to be adored. Later I need critique and guidance, but in those tender first stages of building a book, I need love. I also have a writing group, and they're great at giving feedback as well as talking me down when I get nasty rejections or bad reviews.

7.What interest do you have outside of writing?

Playing guitar and writing songs, making amateur movies, doing yoga, windsurfing, seeing theatre and thrift-shopping are a few of my passions. I also really love coffee, tea, hummingbirds, chocolate and pistachios. Oh, and I like to travel. I used to speak Japanese, but I've gotten a bit rusty over the years.

8.Can you tell me a little about your current project?

I'm ridiculously superstitious about works-in-progress, but I am planning a sequel to Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft (and a third book after that, if all goes well. It's supposed to be a trilogy.) The working title for the second book is Audrey's Guide to Slaying Zombies and Breaking Hearts, though recently I've been thinking about shortening it. Do you sense a pattern here?

9.Who is your favourite character to write about from Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft?

Naturally, I kind of love all my characters, but Sadie was my favorite person to create in this book. I'm intrigued by her relationship with nature, and I admire her willingness to mentor Audrey even though she's pretty clueless about Audrey's actual power. I also really dig Megan even if she can be a brat. She's so charismatic in front of a crowd, which I'm really not but I wish I were. Sometimes characters let us live out a fantasy.

10.What was the hardest part of writing this book?

It took me quite a few years before I found the right protagonist to tell this story; in fact, it took me seven years on and off writing many, many drafts. Audrey was the trickiest character for me to find. She started out as a totally different person--literally, with a different name and history and everything. Once I finally found her voice, the story started to gel.

11.  If you could change anything would you?

Honestly, I can't think about that too much or I'd go crazy. Once a book is done, it's done. Seven years is long enough to tinker!

12. Are there any books or authors who inspire you?

So many writers have influenced me at different times in my life. Some of my favorites in the realm of “classics” are Nabokov and the Brontes (especially Charlotte). Southern writers like Ellen Gilchrist made a big impression on me when I was in high school. I love funny contemporary British writers like Helen Fielding, Nick Hornby and Sophie Kinsella. I read a lot of YA these days and some of my favorite writers in that world are Beth Fantaskey, Nina LaCour, Maggie Stiefvater and Katie Crouch.

Thank you again for the opportunity to be able to do this Q & A. It was a lot of fun. Now last and certainly not least is the giveaway. There is one signed copy available to win for US/Canada residence only and the e-book version  is open internationally. 

Here is some links if you would like to check out Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft and Jody's other books.

http://www.jodygehrman.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/jody.gehrman

http://www.facebook.com/AudreysGuideToWitchcraft

https://twitter.com/jodygehrman

http://www.jodygehrman.com

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Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft- Jody Gehrman

Title: Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft
Author: Jody German
Source: Sent by the author
Series: Yes
Rating: 3.5/5













Falling in love, baking a magical cake, fighting an evil necromancer—it’s all in a day’s work for Audrey Oliver, seventeen-year-old witch-in-training. When her mother goes missing and her mysterious "cousin" shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

I miss witches. It has been awhile since I have read a good witch novel so this one completely got my attention and I decided to read it.

Audrey lives with her sister and her mother. When she comes home from school one day her mother is missing and in her place is a "cousin" she has never heard of but claims to know where her mother is. Audrey soon finds out that she is a witch and so is her mother. She soon starts her witch training in order to help her mother. 

I enjoyed all the recipes throughout the book, Audrey's love of baking is not pushed aside immediately when she finds out she is a witch which really added some depth to the story. I did not feel like Audrey was a easy character to connect with, she was very impulsive and a little selfish. I found her to be completely frustrating at times and it was hard to get completely lost in the story because of this. I absolutely adored Sadie and I hope there is a lot more of her in the next books.

Audrey's family were all great. Her mother was so devoted to Audrey and her sister Meg. I thought Sadie did a really good job of making them feel like a family throughout all of the turmoil happening around the. Audrey's selfishness did rear it's ugly head a few times, she was very jealous of Meg and she was very unconcerned about Meg's feeling for Julian.

Julian was a strange one, the first time he meets Audrey he is completely brushed off by her but he goes back for more. His infatuation of Audrey is hard to understand, she completely brushed him off and treated him poorly but he is completely googly eyed over her.

The story was well written overall and there some pretty funny parts but I felt completely detached from the main character.  She did get more mature towards the end which did help a lot. The ending was really good and I had to finish it once I started it because I needed to know how the story was going to end. 

I have high hopes for the next book, the story is laid out and the back story is starting to emerge, the ending left a lot of unanswered questions that are begging to be answered and made me want to read the next book to see what happens next. 

September Wrap Up

I normally combine my wrap up with my TBR for the next month but since I added an explanation to my October TBR I decided it was easier to separate them for this month because I didn't want the post to be too long.

In September I had the goal of reading 23 books on my TBR. I read 21 books in total. I only read 9 off of my September TBR which was awful and I hope to remedy that this month.

In September I read...

Home Front- Kristin Hannah

Trafficked- Kim Purcell

One More Step- ShereeFitch

Ready Player One- Ernest Cline

Skulduggery Pleasant- Derek Landy

You Are Not Here- Samantha Schutz

Black Box-Julie Schumacher

The Looking Glass Wars- Frank Reddork

The Boy Recession- Flynn Meaney

 The Unidentified- Rae Mariz

Swim the Fly- Don Calame

Second Chance Summer- Morgan Matson

Catch the Sun- Lee Zemlock

Dead Men Kill- L. Ron Hubbard

Enshadowed- Kelly Creagh

Virtuosity- Jessica Martinez

Coastal access- Walter Ramsay

The Vespertine- Saundra Mitchell

Possess- Gretchen McNeill

The Raft- S.A. Bodeen

Beat The Band- Don Calame

October TBR

This month I have decided to try something a little different for my TBR pile.I actually got the idea from both Katie over at Katie's Book Blog and Priscilla over at The Readables. Katie chooses two books that have been on her shelf for a while and Priscilla chooses a variety of books including a classic, adult and YA. This month I am going to create my own version of there ideas and the rest of the books on my list will be ones to read once I complete this list. I also sort of have a Halloween theme this month, I tried to pick books that are spooky or have a supernatural element to them.

I am going to try this out to bring more variety to my reading. This will also help me to re-read some books I want to read again but keep putting off.  I hope it works. 

Classic
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson

Adult 
 Dark Lover- J.R. Ward

YA 
Social Suicide- Gemma Halliday

E-Reader
Jenny Pox- JL Bryan

Re-Read
Divergent- Veronica Roth

The remainder of the list
Body of Evidence- Patricia Cornwell
Bitter End- Jennifer Brown
Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire
Gone- Michael Grant
Coraline- Neil Gaiman
The Replacements- Brenna Yovanoff
The Dark Divine- Bree Despain
The Demon Trapper’s Daughter- Jana Oliver
Die for Me- Amy Plum
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You- Ally Carter
I hunt Killers- Barry lyga
Wicked Game- Jeri Smith-Ready
Enclave- Ann Aguirre
Cold Kiss- Amy Garvey
Bargains and Betrayals- Shannon Delaney
Monster High- Lisi Harrison
Asylum- Patrick McGrath
Dead is a Battlefield- Marlene Perez
Generation Dead- Daniel Waters
Rot and Ruin- Jonathan Maberry

The Agency: A Spy in the House- Y.S. Lee

Hearts At Stake- Alyxandra Harvey

What do you plan on reading for October? Do you have a theme? Leave a comment below so I can check out your TBR.