Blog Tour: Uses For Boys + Author Guest Post!

I'm really excited to be part of the Blog Tour for Erica Lorraine Scheidt's new book Uses For Boys! She kindly agreed to do a little guest post for me to share with all my lovely followers, so here you go! :)

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My question: What do you love the most about YA books?

Taylor, what do I love about young adult fiction? Good question. My answer? Everything.

I tell this story pretty often: About seven years ago, I walked into a bookstore in San Francisco (Christopher’s Books on Potrero Hill) and bought two books by Francesca Lia Block for no other reason than I liked the covers. They were Echo and Violet & Claire. After I read those, I bought everything I could by Francesca Lia Block and read those and then I fell into this universe of young adult books and each was better than the last. 

I read Stargirl and then It’s a Kind of Funny Story and The Wrong Hands and The Book Thief and Looking for Alaska and How I Live Now and I couldn’t stop. I would walk out of my library with stacks and stacks of books. And more recently, Imaginary Girls and Brooklyn, Burning and Sacred and Wonder. 

These books have had such a huge influence on me. Here were all these stories, as diverse and wondrous and startling as there were kids. And it made me want to write again. I think what happened, in that first moment with Francesca Lia Block, is that I discovered whole world of writers who were curious about the interior lives of kids. And I wanted to be a part of that world.

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Thanks again for doing the post Erica! :)

Now for those of you who haven't heard of her book here's all the details for ya ;)

Title: Uses For Boys

Author: Erica Lorraine Scheidt 

Genre: YA/New Adult - Contemporary

Publication Date: January 15, 2013

"Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.
Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses For Boys is a story of breaking down and growing up." ~See it on Goodreads

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Be sure to check out Erica's Official Site and follow her on Twitter! Now last but definitely not least, did I 
mention that there was a giveaway? Yep, that's right! It's tour wide and all you have to do to enter is fill out the Rafflecopter form below :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Guest Post: Pixie Lynn Whitfield (Author of "Darkness Comes This Way")

I'm super excited to have the lovely Pixie Lynn Whitfield here on the blog today as a part of her blog tour for her debut novel, "Darkness Comes This Way". Be sure to check at the bottom of this post for links to her book and blog(s), as well as the link for the next stop on the blog tour! Now on to the fun stuff!

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What I Share and Don’t Share With My Characters

By Pixie Lynn Whitfield

  

So, there’s a common question nowadays among all writers from readers once their book is read:

Did you craft your MC or any of your characters after you? 

Here’s a simple answer on behalf of Darkness Comes This Way: No.

I didn’t.

It doesn’t mean though that I didn’t happen to craft Zarah or any of the others with some similar personality traits. It happens. And yes, she’s also a redhead like myself, but a different shade of red, so let’s just get that out of the way now. Her hair is a much darker shade. Mine is light, probably more strawberry, hers is dark--perhaps almost a dark brown with reddish hues. Dark auburn. Get it? Haha. This was how I envisioned her. Writers can be a bit crazy. When we say our characters pick their own voice, style, etc., it’s true.

So, what do I share and don’t share with Zarah?

Zarah is a bit on the shorter side. So am I. But, she’s still taller than me, so she gets points for that. She’s very crafty and makes awesome things like homemade gloves and duster jackets and cross-stitches. Well…I know how to cross-stitch. But not very good. And it’s a bit boring actually. I’m also crafty, but not near that crafty. I can’t sew for crap. I can barely sew on buttons. Yes, I’m terrible. My craft-work mostly lies in wood-working (wood burning images), homemade bookmarks, journals, and some painting.

She also kicks a lot of ass, okay? I’m a tough cookie if I need to be but I couldn’t professionally box. I know how to shoot guns though, so I guess I share that common knowledge with her. And we both love fast, pretty cars and good rock music. I do not like her “messy” lifestyle. She calls it “chaotically organized”. Whatever. She can be a bit lazy.

Last but not least, I most definitely do not drink blood.

At least, you hope not, right? 

Thanks for having me at your blog, Taylor!

With all the love,

Pixie

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Thanks so much for the wonderful post Pixie!

Be sure to visit her authors blog: Pixie Lynn Whitfield and also check out her book blog: The Bookaholic.

You can follow her on Twitter: @addiction2books, and you can also find her on Goodreads and add Darkness Come This Way to your TBR lists!


Also be sure to check out the next stop on the blog tour over at Kayla's blog: Kismet Kayla on June 15th!!

Happy reading lovelies!!