Mundie Moms

Monday, April 30, 2012

Blog Tour: Fateful by Claudia Gray



More on the Unexplained: Why Claudia Gray Always Loved the Titanic

by Claudia Gray


I was a weird kid.

Not that I’m so much less weird now. But still. Weird kid.

And weird kids like to read about weird things. This is why weird kids often grow up to be the most interesting people. Certainly it’s also why I became fascinated by the Titanic many years ago, when I was a small child.

Now, why does the Titanic count as something peculiar?  It’s a real event, which happened to real human beings … in other words, very unlike vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, which (I REALLY HOPE) are not real at all.

But that’s how the Titanic was often classified when I was growing up.  When I was young, and cavemen walked the earth while pterodactyls soared through the skies, the wreckage of the Titanic had not yet been found.  The sinking felt less like a historical fact and more like an unexplained mystery, one that we thought might never come to light. The Titanic was as much a ghost ship as the Marie Celeste.

(What was the Marie Celeste, you might be asking? Look that up sometime, when it’s broad daylight and you have friends around, and you don’t feel like you’d go to sleep early that night anyway.)

Before we’d seen the shipwreck on the ocean floor, a lot of facts about the sinking remained in dispute. I distinctly remember reading a book about it that showed sketches from one survivor, which portrayed the ship breaking in two just before it sank. And in that book, they talked about how this was TOTALLY CRAZY and NOBODY else out there that night saw it, and so this was probably him being hysterical, no more than that.

Of course, now we know that the Titanic snapped in two during her final minutes, because Bob Ballard found her in two segments on the ocean floor.  And everybody acts like it’s totally obvious. It wasn’t obvious; that one survivor whose account everyone made fun of was in fact one of the only people that night who fully understood what he was seeing.

Other bits of trivia were even spookier. Did you know there were rumors of a cursed mummy in the hold of the ship? No, there wasn’t one – as much as it would have explained. But one passenger, earlier in the voyage, had told a ghost story about it to amuse and frighten his friends. Afterward, naturally, they wondered if he’d been telling the truth.

One far-out tale from the Titanic that is 100% true? A novelist, Morgan Robertson, wrote a book about a terrible disaster at sea. The world’s wealthiest people were all aboard, he wrote, on a cold April night when the captain failed to heed ice warnings. When the ship struck an iceberg, they realized there weren’t enough lifeboats for all the passengers. The ship’s name: Titan.

Maybe that sounds like he didn’t try very hard to disguise the fact that he was writing about the Titanic. The catch – Robertson wrote FUTILITY, OR THE WRECK OF THE TITAN in 1898, fourteen years before the disaster.

The next time anyone asks you if it’s possible to see the future – tell them about that one.

Of course, other people wrote stories about disasters on the North Atlantic before the wreck of the Titanic – one of whom was W.T. Stead. Some people afterward claimed he must have had precognitive ability to see it coming … but if he had, he wouldn’t have boarded the Titanic as a first class passenger and gone down with the ship.

Honestly, though, most of the reasons I was always interested in the Titanic are the same reasons most people are still interested today. The incredible irony of building a luxurious, “unsinkable” ship that never survives its maiden voyage – the frustration of knowing that they had room for enough lifeboats but failed to put them on board – the curiosity we feel about whether we’d make it to a lifeboat in time, if we’d been there – the glamour of the ship’s beauty – the death of a more optimistic, confident era: It’s all there.

Finding the shipwreck may have removed some of the mystery, but none of the fascination.


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Fateful Blog Hop Tour Guest Posts!

The Book Heist:  Sinking Into Titanic Research
Hippies Beauty and Books Oh My: Tip of the Iceberg: Climax Themes and Challenges
Songs and Stories: Switching from Port to Starboard – From Vampires to Werewolves
Live to Read: On Board with Tess Davies
The Book Cellar: On Board with Alec Marlowe
Bellas Novella: On Board with Secondary Characters
Mundie Moms Book Reviews: More on the Unexplained: Why Claudia Gray Always Loved the Titanic


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Fateful
A novel by Claudia Gray

Eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, troubled family she serves. It’s 1912, and Tess has been trapped in the employ of the Lisles for years, amid painful memories and twisted secrets. But now the Lisle family is headed to America, with Tess in tow. Once the ship they’re sailing on—the RMS Titanic—reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out and create a new life for herself.

Her single-minded focus shatters when she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets of his own. He’s in a hurry to leave Europe, and whispers aboard the ship say it’s because of the tragic end of his last affair with the French actress who died so gruesomely and so mysteriously. . . .

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him—and now her, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.

In Fateful, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray delivers paranormal adventure, dark suspense, and alluring romance set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic’s first—and last—voyage.


AUTHOR INFO

The Vicious Deep Blog Tour

I'm thrilled to be the next stop in The Vicious Deep blog tour. Today I not only have a guest post from author Zoraida Cordoval, I'm also hosting a giveaway for a copy of The Vicious Deep thank you to Source books.




 Things You'll Find on a Mermaid's Nightstand:

1. A golden comb. It doesn't rust, and perfect for detangling. 
2. A dagger. You never know who's swimming near you. *shiver* Eels...
3. Spiced sea weed. Swimming burns extra calories. 
4. A mirror, if only to reflect on the beauty of my kind. 
5. Jellyfish lamp... the sea gets rather dark at night. 




For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave. 


He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. 

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods. 

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back -quoted from Goodreads

You can pick up The Vicious Deep TOMORROW (May 1st) in stores or pre-order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Be sure to follow Zoraida on her Website | Twitter | Facebook


The Giveaway:

To be entered to win a copy of The Vicious Deep, leave me a comment telling me what your favorite Mermaid/Merman story is. If you don't have one, that's okay you can still enter. Don't forget to leave me  your email address along with your comment.

* US Resident only
* 13 Yrs & Older
* This Giveaway ends on May 7th, 2012

Good luck!


Thank you Zoraida for stopping by today and to Sourcebooks for hosting the tour and giveaway!

City of Lost Souls Snippet: 8 Days Left

We're down to the finally count down! There's only 8 days left and as Cassie previously mentioned, she's going to be posting a COLS snippet a day now through May 8th. Enjoy COLS snippet #1.


Alec followed the line of Magnus’ gesture and saw a small silver box perched on the opposite side of the big wooden table. He reached over and picked it up. It was like a miniature metal chest set on small feet, with a curved top and the initials WS picked out in diamonds across the top.
W, he thought. Will?

City of Fallen Angels Read A Long Day 13: Girl Found Dead



Welcome to Day 13 of the City of Fallen Angels Read-A-Long. You can follow the entire read-a-long and find each of the day's posts here. Remember there's no right or wrong way to participate. Your comments can be as long or a short as you'd like them to be. You can answer one or each of the questions asked, it's totally up to you, BUT, in order to be entered into the COLS giveaway (which you also had to sign up to win), you do need to be actively participating in the read-a-long. 

Today's discussion is about: Chapter 13: Girl Found Dead
  • I don't know why, but Alec's surprise over Magnus and Camille's past makes me snicker. I can totally picture the look on his face and hear the surprise in his voice when acknowledges Magnus dated not just a vampire, but at "girl" vampire. Over all, were you surprised with Alec's reaction to Camille and Magnus or were you excepting him to to be more dramatic about it? 
  • We finally get our answers as to what's been going on with Jace and we also get to see him with his guard down as he tells Clary about his dreams, why he had the knife, his fear of him killing Clary and his thinking that he deserves this. I found it interesting how he phrased his thinking that Jace Lightwood deserves what's going on and Jace Morgenstern doesn't. Clary makes an interesting point. She said she thinks someone is doing this to him. Jace mentioned it could possibly be Sebastian, Clary thinks he's dead. Who do you think could be controlling Jace in his dreams? 
  • We learn more about the Shadow Hunter rituals from Jace & Clary's visit to the Silent Brothers, seeking their help for Jace. We also learn that Clary upset the balance of life and death, good and evil (at the end of COG). In bringing Jace back from the dead, he came back unprotected from all the previous Shadow Hunter rituals given to him as protection. Do you think the Silent Brothers will be able to protect Jace and stop whomever is possessing him?
  • Camille confesses to Magnus that she killed the Circle Members, but someone more powerful than her had her do it, though she doesn't regret it. Do you think the same person behind this could be the same person controlling Jace?

    Please DO NOT POST SPOILERS. There's some fans who are joining the read-a-long who are reading COFA for the first time. 

    Mundane Monday #133


    Happy Mundane Monday!! One MORE WEEK until COLS is out! In honor of today's COFA Read A Long post, a little Alec and Magnus moment. For some reason Alec's reaction to the scene in Chapter 13 cracks me up. It's so easy to picture his surprise over Magnus and Camille's past history. 


    image found here

    "You dated a vampire? A girl vampire?"
    -Alec, City of Fallen Angels, page 251


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    Today's TMI trend is kicking off at 9 am CST and we're using the #8DaysUntilCoLS

    Sunday, April 29, 2012

    May 2012 YA Releases

    This is the month we've all been waiting for!!! I can't believe May is just a few days away. Here's what goodies you can except to find on book store shelves.

    May 1st:
    May 8th
    May 15th
    • Gilt by Katherine Longshore, Penguin Teen
    • Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout, Entangled Teen, 2nd edition
    • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Hyperion Teens
    May 22nd
    May 29th

    I know I'm missing some releases. I don't know why, but it was hard finding a list of upcoming releases, when I was working on this list. So I pulled from books that I knew were coming out with ones that are on my shelves. Please leave me a comment if you see any books I've left off my list so I can add it. Thank you! 

    IMM #121: Books, News & Other Things

    Happy Sunday! I'm changing up my IMM name just a bit. This weekly post is still featuring the goodies I got in the mail (which is an IMM post), but I'm thinking of changing the name of IMM to something that fits more of what this post is. It features more than book. I want to change the name of the meme to better fit what I was posting about here on MM's, because it's about Books, News & Other Things. This meme was inspired from The Story Siren's IMM, which I'm still labeling this post as on my blog, but don't be surprised if you see a name change for it in the coming weeks.

    I hope you guys have had a great week. It's been a crazy busy, but fun one for me. I was hoping to do a video today, but my office is still torn apart from being painted yesterday. Hopefully next week I'll get one done. Here's some of the goodies that were added to my bookshelves this week:

    Books:

    Upcoming Reviews:
    Purchased:
    I am so excited this order finally arrived! 
    Thank you to: Deb Shapiro, St Martin's Press, Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins for this week's reads. 


    News:

    Cassie's latest news that was posted this week on the blog

    Other Things:
    Have a great week!

    City of Fallen Angels Read A Long Day 12: Sanctuary



    Welcome to Day 12 of the City of Fallen Angels Read-A-Long. You can follow the entire read-a-long and find each of the day's posts here. Remember there's no right or wrong way to participate. Your comments can be as long or a short as you'd like them to be. You can answer one or each of the questions asked, it's totally up to you, BUT, in order to be entered into the COLS giveaway (which you also had to sign up to win), you do need to be actively participating in the read-a-long. 

    Today's discussion is about: Chapter 12: SANCTUARY
    • The talk Izzy and Simon have broke my heart for Izzy, but it also allowed me to understand her a bit more. She's a tough girl, and I really admire her strength, though I totally feel for her and that brokenness she has. Where you as shocked as I was to find out about her parents?
    • *sigh* These sweet Jace and Clary moments are killing. Cassie knows how to lure us in and than break us a bit each time something happens between the two of them. This scene totally killed me at the end. I loved the two of them finally get to just enjoy each other and talk, and then .... What the heck is wrong with Jace!?! *for those of us who have read it know, but please do not say anything spoilery in your comments*
    • I LOVE that Magnus and Alec are back. If you've not yet read the Infernal Devices, were you shocked to find out that Camille and Magnus once dated? To those of us who have read it, I'm seriously really curious over why Camille would only want to talk to Magnus. Do you think it's because she trusts him?

      Please DO NOT POST SPOILERS. There's some fans who are joining the read-a-long who are reading COFA for the first time. 

      Saturday, April 28, 2012

      TMI/ID Unidentified Snippet & TMI Twitter Trending


      Cassie treated fans to a TMI snippet yesterday:

      “You are the Lightwoods — you are all that is left of the Lightwoods.”

      She also posted that starting this TUESDAY through May 8th, she'll post a COLS teaser each day!! Be sure to follow her on tumblr so you don't miss the teasers. I'll also be posting the teasers here on the blog as well as in the COLS forum. a


      * In other TMI related news, we've got only two more Monday's until COLS is out!! I'm excited to have teamed up once again with TMI_Source, TMIspanish News, TMI Examiner and The Mortal Institute to bring you this week's TMI Trending Topic. 


       This Monday's Twitter TMI Trending Topic will be: #7DaysUntilCOLS  


      We'll be kicking off our tweets at 9 am EST/ 8 am CST! We've been successful at making our last three topics hit #1, #2 and #3 for the world wide trends! We're hoping to get this week's topic in the top spot again. Everyone is invited to join in! 

      City of Fallen Angels Read A Long Day 11: Our Kind


      Welcome to Day 11 of the City of Fallen Angels Read-A-Long. You can follow the entire read-a-long and find each of the day's posts here. Remember there's no right or wrong way to participate. Your comments can be as long or a short as you'd like them to be. You can answer one or each of the questions asked, it's totally up to you, BUT, in order to be entered into the COLS giveaway (which you also had to sign up to win), you do need to be actively participating in the read-a-long. 

      Today's discussion is about: Chapter 11: Our Kind
      • For some reason Izzy to me is a character who has surprised me the most in this book. I feel like I've finally gotten to see more of the real her, and I totally love her character. I enjoyed the Izzy/Clary bonding moment that happens in this chapter when they're talking about their relationships. I also liked that she was the one that Clary called about the Demons, and told her where to meet her. Were you surprised that Clary turned to her for help? What did you think of their girl talk? I love that Izzy just says it how it is.
      • Camille... She makes a comment when the Shadowhunters come for her about them hating her kind, and in reading COFA this time around and I picked up on the fact that it seems she still very much as a grudge against the Shadowhunters. Did any of you pick up on that? Where you surprised that Camille said the only person she'd talk to was Magnus? Why do you think that is?

      Please DO NOT POST SPOILERS. There's some fans who are joining the read-a-long who are reading COFA for the first time. 

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