Friday, August 5, 2011

Guest Blog: P.J. Hoover: Top Ten Songs That Go Along With Solstice

Today I welcome P.J. Hoover, author of Solstice who is sharing a top ten list which is a playlist for Solstice (and it looks like a great one).  So check it out, I already have the songs going in my head.





SOLSTICE by P. J. HOOVER: TOP TEN SONGS THAT GO ALONG WITH
SOLSTICE!


Thanks so much for inviting me to guest blog over here! I love top ten lists! For those
who don’t know, my debut young adult novel, SOLSTICE, was just released in May.
SOLSTICE is what happens when MATCHED meets THE LIGHTNING THIEF and is
largely set in a future where global warming is destroying the earth.

So one of the most fun things I did for SOLSTICE was come up with a playlist. It was
easy to come up with the first seven songs, but I’ll have to brainstorm for the final three!

1) (DON’T FEAR) THE REAPER by Blue Oyster Cult*
2) COME AWAY by Isaac Angel
3) EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by The Police***
4) I’M BURNING FOR YOU by Blue Oyster Cult*
5) RIO by Duran Duran**
6) THANK YOU by Led Zeppelin
7) ROADHOUSE BLUES by The Doors**
8) BOHEMIAM RHAPSODY by Queen
9) LIPS LIKE SUGAR by Echo & The Bunnymen
10) SUMMER IN THE CITY by Lovin’ Spoonful****

*I realize I have a special place in my heart for Blue Oyster Cult. I saw them in concert at
the most awesome venue in Georgetown, Washington DC back in high school. We were
so close to the band. Loved that!

** Look for hidden lyrics in SOLSTICE from these songs J Does anyone else hide lyrics
in their writing?

***Fun Fact: The inspiration for Piper’s dad in SOLSTICE is Sting from The Police.

****This song just makes me sweat. Always has. It’s the “back of my neck getting dirty
and gritty” line that really does it. So descriptive in so few words.

And of course there is the music I used for my book trailer. It was perfect and haunting
and I knew it was the right song the first time I heard it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWezTGdTkg

You can check out my playlist here along with a bunch of other fun extras!
http://www.pjhoover.com/extras_solstice.php

Thanks so much for reading, and may your summer be a sizzling one!

SOLSTICE is available as a $2.99 eBook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords,
and iBooks. SOLSTICE will be released in paperback this summer.

Author website:
http://www.pjhoover.com

Link to Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWezTGdTkg

Link to publicity photos and book covers:
http://www.pjhoover.com/downloads.php

BIO:
P. J. Hoover first fell in love with Greek mythology in sixth grade thanks to the book
Mythology by Edith Hamilton. After a fifteen year bout as an electrical engineer
designing computer chips for a living, P. J. decided to take her own stab at mythology
and started writing books for kids and teens. P. J. is also a member of THE TEXAS
SWEETHEARTS & SCOUNDRELS. When not writing, P. J. spends time with her
husband and two kids and enjoys practicing Kung Fu, solving Rubik's cubes, and
watching Star Trek. Her first novel for teens, Solstice, takes place in a Global Warming
future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade
fantasy novels, The Emerald Tablet, The Navel of the World, and The Necropolis,
chronicle the adventures of a boy who discovers he’s part of two feuding worlds hidden
beneath the sea.

*****


Book Review: Homeward by Melody Carlson



Homeward by Melody Carlson
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink
Publish Date: September 27, 2010
eBook
Fiction, Christian, Romance
 ASIN: B00457VKK8



My Review:
Homeward is a a republished earlier novel of Melody Carlson's and I'm glad it was republished or I probably would have missed out on it.  Since I read my first Melody Carlson a year or two ago I have grabbed everything new by her whether it was for adults, pre-teens or teens so I jumped when the chance to review Homeward came about.

Homeward is a beautiful novel about families, forgiveness and God's love with a romance thrown in there for good measure.  I loved this book from the beginning.  You have a woman who has experienced a rough patch in her life so she decided to return home to her family that she left almost 20 years ago and make amends.  In some ways it's easy and in some ways it's not.  Slowly through family members and opportunities Meg learns what God has in store for her life.  There are of course bumps in the road, but they make life interesting.  I really liked Meg.  She was strong and stubborn, but she was interesting and knew when to bend at times too.  I liked her sister Erin, Sunny and her grandmother as well.  Matthew, Clive, Addy and so many others round out an interesting cast of secondary characters that bring the small town to life and also bring the story to life.  I think the characters were well done, interesting and all of them really added to the story.

The plot moves well and I quickly read the book over the afternoon and evening and kept turning pages on my Kindle to see what would happen next.  I especially liked it when the romance started, it was just one more facet that I really felt added to the book.  Homeward is just one of those great feel-good books that has a great lesson in it and makes you happy in the end of the book.  Ms. Carlson hits a home run with this book for me.
 
My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:
From bestselling author Melody Carlson comes this award-winning story of three generations of Lancaster women. For twenty years Meg Lancaster has avoided Briar Hedge, the Lancaster family estate. Now she has been drawn back to her grandmother's home to uncover secrets that have been hidden for decades and to try to regain the family she long ago abandoned.

About the Author: 
Melody Carlson has published over 200 books, making her one of the top 20 most prolific authors of all time. With total sales of over 1.4 million her award-winning books include:Homeward, Love Finds You in Sisters, Oregon; Limelight; the Diary of a Teenage Girl series; the True Colors series; and the Charter House Girls series.


Melody has worn many hats: from pre-school teacher to political activist to senior editor. Currently, she writes full-time, and freelances from her home. She has two grown sons and lives in Sisters, Oregon with her husband, Chris, and Bailey, her chocolate lab.


 
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FTC Information: I received this book through Glass Road PR for an honest review.