Moving!

Hey y'all!

I know it has been A LONG WHILE since y'all've heard from me.

I took a pretty massive break from the book blogging, and blogging in general, and that is why.

BUT. After my break, I made some blogging decision, one of which was to move blogs.

Though my new blog isn't strictly book-related, I'm such a bookish little thing that there is a LOT of chatter about books at the new site. And also about random crap I like. :)

I won't delete this blog, because I can't bear to think that all the content I wrote and created and put up here would just—POOF, be gone. So, this blog will hang out as is. Just in case you were wondering.

So, if you'd like to follow/subscribe/change links over to my new blog I would very much love to have you over there! The web address is: bethanyelarson.wordpress.com.

Hope to see you at the new place!

In Which I Explain My Blog Negligence

So, back in September I started dating this guy.

This guy is great.

Things were going well. I was constantly shocked he kept calling me since I'm such a spaz and he's, well, not. But he did keep calling. This was a good sign.

Fast-forward to the week of Thanksgiving. He came over to my apartment and we were watching Castle (because Nathan Fillion is The Best.) and then said, "I have some news that's going to upset you." He then proceeded to tell me that he'd be moving to Singapore for a (kick-ass) new job. He'd be there for a year. He'd leave in January.

Now, sometimes I have this curious problem of overreacting. And y'all. I seriously overreacted. I turned into Bella Swan for about a week and a half. That lead to a lot of wallowing and not a lot of reading.*

Then after Thanksgiving, Boyfriend and I sat down and talked about everything and reached an agreement on how to proceed. (We are going to proceed, for those of you who were wondering.) But because he's leaving January 7th and I basically won't see him (with the exception of maybe two weeks when I take my vacation to go visit him.) for a year, I've been spending as much time as possible with him. Which means that I've been doing not a lot of reading and a lot of spending-time-with-Boyfriend.

But fear not! I love this here bloggy blog something fierce and I WILL return to it in 2012 when I will have beaucoups of time to read and blog and not be sad at all.

So! That's my story. Judge me as you see fit. Leave your judgment in comments if you so choose. And, above all, have a wonderful, fabulous, joyous, relaxing, delicious, merry, and bright holiday season!



*For the probably two of you who are curious about the status of my work-in-progress, it's still around. It's also be neglected due to my emotional derailment/realignment. But I'll start working on it again soon. Thank you for your concern. :)

Review: Between the Sea and Sky

Title: Between the Sea and Sky
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Pages: 240
Release Date: October 25, 2011
Format: ARC Tour by Good Choice Reading (Thank you!)

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren—the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood—a dashing young man named Alander, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alander band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.—Goodreads


The problem with writing a book about mermaids is that the demographic of readers in YA is probably familiar with Disney's The Little Mermaid and will then, even if they try really hard not to, compare it to the beloved movie. As I picked up this book to read it I said, literally out loud, "I will not compare this to The Little Mermaid."

And then about halfway through I found myself thinking, "Esmerine is sort of a mix of Ariel and Belle." (And she really is.) I just couldn't help myself. But that aside, Between the Sea and Sky (btw, I adore the title) is a really sweet little love story.

However, I had a couple issues with the book. The first is that the main premise of the book—Esmerine leaves her water world to search for her sister Dosinia when she goes missing and Esmerine is JUST SURE she's been kidnapped by those evil, lustful human men—annoyed me. I couldn't understand why Esmerine never considered that Dosinia had run away (this isn't a spoiler, as it's in the description provided to Goodreads by Bloomsbury). It was just so obvious to me and I sort of wanted to slap some sense into Esmerine.

Then, and this is admittedly a small thing, I couldn't ever figure out what was going on with the time period. Sometimes the clothing and settings and even speech patterns used seemed very Renaissance, and then without any reason at all, it would switch to something akin to Jazz Age America. It probably shouldn't have been such a big deal, but I was seriously distracted by it.

In the end, the story is very sweet. If you love mermaids and quests for identity and run-away sisters and like books that are light on the sexytimes, you'll love this book.

Tune In Tuesday: Josh Ritter . . . Again

It's no secret that I have a major crush on Josh Ritter's music. (And let's be honest, Josh Ritter.)

The other day I was in a very Ritter kind of mood and headspace while I was writing (I cannot write when in silence. Silence distracts me.) and "Naked as a Window," a song that I've heard probably a million times came on.

But for some reason, this time it seemed louder than all the other times. It's a short song—not even a minute and a half long. But it is gorgeous. It's simple and honest and heartbreaking, but heartwarming too.

It really did a number on me and I put the sucker on repeat for about two days. It's a quiet little thing and it slips under the radar pretty easily. I'm glad it decided to scream at me.

BTW, in this video, "Naked as a Window" is used as the intro song to "Girl in the War" another of my fave Ritter songs. :) 

Happy Tuesday!

Tune In Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReadsBooks! 

What I'm Writing: NaNoWriMo Week Three Update

This week in the wonderful world of writing-frenzy, I'm struggling a little.

I'm a few thousand words behind word count. I mean, not to the point that it's going to be impossible to catch up, but still. I'm behind.

And it's all because I think I've written my poor little characters into a corner that I am not a fan of, and I'm not quite sure how to get them out of it without GOING BACK and REVISING which are kind of the only NaNo-NoNos.

So. That.

And the only other way I can see getting the out of this stupid, pointy corner is to change the ending I've conceived of all along.

I am loath to do that.

When I started this, I had a very specific vision of the ending. It was going to be spectacular and breathtaking and leave my eventual-readers going "Oh!" But not in a cliffhanger-way. This was going to be in a "I-can't-believe-she-did-that" kind of way. And I was all excited about it. The ending was what was really going to make this book different and leave every pub house IN THE WORLD clamoring to buy it up.*

And now I think I have to change it. Or go back and revise. Or something.

*headdesk*

So those are my writing woes for this week. Hopefully after going to brunch and getting day drunk and then seeing Breaking Dawn will give me some INSPIRATION. *grins*


And, for those of you who have any sort of interest in what my crazy draft-writing contains, here is your snippet for the week (Be warned! There are probs typos/word-choice issues. You may judge, just don't judge too harshly.):

As I turned to go to the register, I ran into a person. I still had my headphones in, so I mumbled an apology without looking up and kept making my way to the front of store. But I realized I wasn’t going very far since the person I ran into had grabbed my hand, which was highly weird. With my free hand I yanked the headphones out of my ears and whipped around, trying all the while to free my enslaved hand.

 “Um, please let go of . . . ” my words trailed off as my brain recognized the person I was looking at. Then I picked up again with, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” If there was ever any doubt I was a New Yorker through and through, it was all lost with that exclamation. 

©Bethany Larson, 2011

*I do not know if this is going to happen as I am not any sort of oracle or psychic. If I were, this whole writing a book endeavor would probably be MUCH EASIER.

TGIF: Giving Bookish Thanks

Believe it or not, today is the Friday before Thanksgiving. I would reflect on where the time has gone, but that sounds depressing so I will SKIP it. Instead, I will write far too much about the question the lovely, fabulous, wonderful Ginger at GReadsBooks has posed this week:

Giving Thanks: Which books are you most thankful for receiving from other bloggers, friends, family members, or publishers?

Where She Went is the first ARC I received from a publisher. It surprised me in the mail, about six weeks after I'd started this blog. I was FLOORED that I'd received it because I didn't request it (Hell, I didn't even know how to request an ARC at that point) and because there'd been SO MUCH buzz surrounding it. I'm still just shocked that I got this and thoroughly confused as to how it came to me. But I loooooooved it and am so so so glad and honored that I received an ARC. 

I was the first of my friends to jump on the Harry Potter train, but not without a lot of prodding and a good bit of boredom. I received this book from my grandmother the week that it was first released in the U.S. I was eleven and in that period where I did not want to read anything with a cartoon of a boy on the cover. I don't even think I read the jacket copy. I just put it aside and continued to read my Magic Attic Club and Saddle Club and every other girly series that ended in "Club" books. But my grandma kept calling my mom and asking if I'd read the book yet. So, finally, after several conversations where my mom was like, "Bethany, just read the book so she'll stop asking." I sat down and read it. And I couldn't stop. When I finished it, I immediately re-read it. So, yay for my grandma and her book-picking skillz! :)

So, this one is sort of abstract in that my introduction to John Green didn't come in book-form. My super-awesome sister sent me an email one day that included this video with the message "OMG YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS." So I watched and was like, "HOLY SHIZZBALLS THIS IS THE BEST." So I started watching the Vlogbrothers videos from the beginning forward. I developed a huge huge huge crush on John Green and when I realized he writes books that are, you know, buyable I immediately sought out everything by him. And then I read the two books I could get my hands on at the time—Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines—in order of publication, so my first John Green book was LfA. And I fell in love. [I have a feeling I'll tell more of this story during John Green Week, so I'll go ahead and stop here.] But without my sister sending me that inaugural video, I probably would have never read these books. 

I got Hourglass via my very first ARC tour, hosted by Heather at Fire and Ice (whom I am also thankful for for sending me The Name of the Star). From the first time I saw the stinkin' cover for Hourglass, I KNEW this was a book for me. I was SO excited to get in on the ARC tour, and couldn't wait until it showed up on my doorstep. Fittingly, it arrived while I was watching a Doctor Who marathon on BBC America. And it was literally love at first word for me. I was super sad that I had to send it to the next person because I wanted to keep the book and love it and pet it and kiss it and read it again. But! I couldn't do that and I wanted others to have the opportunity to read it as well. 

And these days I have TWO copies of Hourglass. *ponders what to do with the extra copy*

Alright, so that is my very long-winded post. I could go on and on about this. And I should probably take a moment to give a HUMUNGOUS thank you to Miss Ginger for sending me not only her ARC of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but for also buying me a copy of Sloppy Firsts (which I have yet to read. I KNOW, I'm on it.) and for just being an all-around awesome blogger and friend and person. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous Thanksgiving!

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReadsBooks.

Waiting on Wednesday: Dreamless

Title: Dreamless (Starcrossed 2)

Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 400
Release Date: May 29, 2012

As the only Scion that can enter Hades at will, Helen descends to the Underworld in search of a way to overcome the Furies and end the cycle of revenge that has cursed the Scions. But she’s running out of time. Each descent weakens her both in mind and spirit. A mysterious stranger might be her only salvation, but the price may be her love for Lucas Delos.

As an unforgettable love triangle emerges, Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding. The eagerly awaited sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed, Dreamless delivers with a huge emotional impact that will leave readers satisfied—and longing for more.—Goodreads

So, I saw Immortals this past weekend. While I had a grand ol' time watching the gore and the shirtlessness and Henry Cavill's awesome spear attacks and spin moves and The Chick who Played Athena's Buffy-inspired Fan Kicks of Doom, I found myself wanting something . . . else.

And I found myself thinking about Starcrossed, a book about demigods I read earlier this year. And then I remembered that there is to be a sequel! So I took my happy little self over to the Goodreads website and lo and behold there is a cover and a description and release date for the sequel, Dreamless.


And it's going to be all kinds of hellish with Miss Helen going off to Hades and chillin' with those kids. And apparently one of them is a mysterious stranger. Interest = peaked.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.