New Reviews from Michelles

I came across two new reviews for Freefall last week. Both of the reviewers happen to be named Michelle! Click each link to read the full reviews.

Michelle at GalleySmith said: It is in watching [Seth's] evolution [through Interpersonal Communication class] that Scott works her magic best. She shows Seth at the lowest of lows and then challenges him to become a better person. To become a more stable person. To become the person he wants to be. This doesn’t come without cost — loss of friends and family — but in the end he is far richer for it.

Michelle at Michelle's Bookshelf said: I find Freefall to be an amazing contribution to the contemporary world of YA. It is honest and true to real life, does not shy away from difficult subject matter and is narrated through the eyes and voice of an authentic and well etched individual. If you are a fan of contemporary novels with fantastic characters then I 100% recommend this novel to you!

Thank you to both Michelles for sharing your thoughts about Freefall! :-)

Blog: A happy memory of a song

At this moment, I can't write about The Happiest Time because if put a lot of thought into this and try to quantify it, I will never end up posting anything. And that would defeat the purpose of a blog Writer's Block prompt, yes?

So this is about A Happy Time. The song was "Luka" by Suzanne Vega (probably not Vincent Vega's cousin). It might seem like an odd choice since the lyrics are about a boy who is being abused. I didn't fully grasp that at the time, though. Also, I'd assumed that Luka was the name of the woman performing it.

I was around ten years old when "Luka" came out and I remember singing along with the radio and my Aunt Tracy, who was 23 at the time. I didn't have a great singing voice, but I'd belt it out with a lot of sincerity and she'd laugh. Whenever I think of this song, it always takes me back to that summer and spending time with my super-cool aunt. :-)

"My name is Luka. I live on the second floor. . . "

New diary entry added.

I added a new entry from the diary I kept at age 14, and wow! It is filled with rage toward "Curt." It's been a while since I've typed up a new diary entry because I've been really busy writing my second book, Live Through This. But also! The real Curt and I reconnected earlier this year. It has been really cool catching up with him. This is silly, but I felt self-conscious about adding this particular angry entry from when I was 14, knowing that he could see it and that he'd definitely know it's about him. I posted it, though. Just for you, The Internet! Plus, all of this stuff happened almost 20 years ago, so we really have moved on from it. :-D

GReads Recommends emotional contemporary YA titles

At GReads this month, Ginger recommended books from her "'oh this book is so dark & heavy, yet SO emotionally rewarding!' pile". I am pleased that Freefall is a recommended title on the list, which also includes Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, and Recovery Road by Blake Nelson. I've read all of these except Recovery Road. I'm going to have to remedy that soon!

Video review of Freefall

My Google Alert Manager (a.k.a. my husband) let me know that Freefall was reviewed in a video this week. Kennedy from Peace, Love, and Peaches put together a five-minute video where she talks about the book and some of her feelings about it. She didn't go into too many plot spoilers, so if you haven't read the book and want to hear a little more about what it's like without hearing too much, I think it's pretty safe to watch. :-)