Guest Author: U.L. Harper & Giveaway

Today I am thrilled to present U. L. Harper, author of The Flesh Statue, one of my favorite recent reads. You can read my review here. The Flesh Statue is an amazing book and I'm glad not only to have this little chat with the author, but also to share his amazing novel with my readers. 

So, first, please, let's give a warm welcome to
U. L. Harper

1. How much are you and Langley alike? Is Langley's story your story? Myself and Langley do have our similarities but we're not the same. My family did deal with Alzheimer's but it was with my great grandmother, not my grandfather. My father didn't murder my mother. In fact, although they're not together anymore they're still friends. You know how fiction is. I made some stuff up. However, to keep the emotions real Langley's home in the suburbs is my place when I was a child. The setting isn't where I lived but the physicality of the house is. The part that rings most true is that his grandfather is in a wheelchair and had suffered a stroke. When this happened to my grandfather I seriously never spoke with him again. Not out of angst or anything but I was actually a lot more shy than Langley and couldn't find the words...for years. I still sort of regret that. I think that that particular emotion came out in the story.
2. When did you start to write? I've been writing very short stories since I was twelve. At the time I didn't show anybody because I couldn't figure out why I should but I was finding paper and writing since, yeah, about twelve.
3. What influenced you to write The Flesh Statue? I don't know if it was so much that something influenced me to write this particular story or rather I found that the story was there and that I was going to write it. Several of the scenarios were already there. I had started writing them as short stories or I had completed the short stories. Now, when I expanded on Bert's story, his way to stimulate the economy, I was like, this could be really interesting. Believe it or not, Langley and his grandfather were probably the last element. As you can tell by reading it, Langley ties everything together. He doesn't move the story; he's just part of it. 
4. What are you currently writing? I'm writing something that for now I'm calling Once Human, Now Food. And, no, it's not vampire or werewolf YA. It's four stories combined. Each of the four main characters know each other as children but for whatever reason have to go their own way. In all their journeys they separately hear about a 15 foot tall guy who eats people. But they never actually meet him. At the end they find out--and I'm not going to tell you what the scenario is--who of all the characters has kept their human qualities through all their life trials, because those who have not, well, you guessed it, the 15 foot tall guy winds up eating them. Sounds crazy but it's a lot more down to earth when you're reading it. Kind of like how a small town goes to the revolution but for only a week. As far as I'm concerned, if I can make that seem down to earth than a 15 foot tall guy is a cinch. 
5. You write beautiful poetry, and you beautifully implemented it into your novel. Do you have a preferred form (poetry or prose) to express yourself? You might find this interesting. At the time of writing this novel I wasn't a fan of poetry. I have a poetry background but I was never that good at it. I was never bad, but I was never the person who stood out. The problem I had with poetry is that I found a lot of it was people drooling over themselves and kind of drooling on me about themselves and I was supposed to clap. Not too much into that. For The Flesh Statue the poetry is used to further bring out each character. It also is specifically about them. The reader, if they read between the lines, can discover things about the characters that they might not find in the dialogue or in any independent action. Recently at my book readings I've been reading poetry from the book and inviting poets to perform with me. This has been amazing. Of course it reaffirms that I'm not the best poet out there but it also shows that there is some great poetry happening. Truly amazing poetry. On my new website which will be up shortly, (some time in April) I read the big Langley poem. It's on my jukebox. A friend of mine reads some Bert poetry and I'm thinking about running a contest for who wants to represent Cinci. But to finish your question, I prefer prose. That's where I live.
6. Who are the authors that you admire? Is there an author not many people know about and you believe he/she deserves more publicity? I really like what Cormac Mccarthy does as far as dialogue and setting. I love Kurt Vonnegut for his wisdom and voice. I haven't read a lot of Joyce Carol Oates but she presents many styles and it seems like she's mastered all of them, somehow. And Clive Barker, although his novels are sometimes way out there, he has several on my favorites ever list. One more. Isaac Asimov. The Foundation Series changed the limits of what I thought I could write.
7. If you were supposed to make a soundtrack for The Flesh Statue, it would include... Eric Dolphy, Miles Davis, Napalm Death, and Radiohead.

Thank you!

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GIVEAWAY TIME:

courtesy of the author, one of my dear readers will win a copy of The Flesh Statue. As for always, my only condition is that you are a follower through Google Friend. Extra points for spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook, blog sidebars etc. To enter, just leave a comment with a way to contact you if you win. Since the book will be sent to you by the author himself, this giveaway is restricted to residents of USA. The winner will be announced on April 17th.

Good luck!

TSS Classics, vampires, football and a giveaway

Since I didn't post any proper review this week (which doesn't mean I didn't read anything!) here are three quick mini-reviews for the books I read on bus last month.

Cirque de Frique: The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan ( from the library)


I heard a lot about this series, especially now the movie is in the theaters, but never really felt so keen on reading it. I picked it up randomly at the library, and now I'm glad I did!
First I thought it would be a lean back, take your time, let your thoughts wander book.

Boy, I was wrong!

The vampires in this series are more freakish and fierce than in many other vampire books aimed at older readers, and this is supposed to be an MG book! I'm not quite sure I'd let any kid under ten read this, though the main character is nine or so.
I'll read the whole series as I heard it's just getting better. It's bloody, creepy and twisted. I loved it!
The writing itself is nothing special, but Darren as MC is just magnetic. The movie looks good, though the characters are older. Can you imagine Salma Hayek as The Bearded Woman?



Daisy Miller (1878) by Henry James (from the library)


I actually finished this novella even before I got on the bus. It has only 60 pages and you can read it online here.
It's about a young girl from America who travels through Europe with her family and meets a gentleman who studies in Switzerland. Basically, it's a very simple allegory-Daisy represents the New World, a family from a new class of rich American who travel to Europe just for a trend, completely ignorant of it's customs, culture and habits. On the other side there is Winterbourne, an American expatriate who takes it all a bit too seriously-even more than the Europeans do. It's a great introduction to The Portrait of a Lady, which I'm reading now and where this topic is explored deeper.

Bleachers (2003) by John Grisham 
(paperback, from the library)

A group of former high school football players return to their hometown to say their last goodbye to their coach who, using quite some radical methods, managed to pull out the best out of his players and shape the boys to men. They reminisce old victories and try to let go of old grudges and gasp what an impact coach Rake really had on their lives-even long after they left the field.
This one left me with mixed feelings. It made me think about the people who influenced my life, pushed me to give my best and whose approval I'm still subconsciously seeking, even if they are not around any more. It is nostalgic and sad, but I have to admit that I expected more. Maybe it's my fault for picking up a book about football when I really have no clue about it, but I really thought that 180 pages of boasting about scores would pay off. It didn't. The last speech left me cold. It failed to capture the full importance of this one man on his players (and that's what it's supposed to be about) and completely focused on-guess what-scores and championships.

This week was crowded but nice. It's just 12 days to Christmas (do you hear me singing?) In the light of that-don't forget to enter my giveaway for Lauren Kate's Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. Lauren was kind enough to answer a bunch of my questions and donate a signed copy of her book. I'm preparing some more author interviews and giveaways, stay tuned!

Lots of love, hugs, kisses and cuddles from your festively Ivana!

TSS My fictious life

I'm so glad this week is over. The last two weeks have been a nightmare. Life got too difficult to deal with and what did I do? I ran away and hid in books and writing. While this is great news for this blog, it's not all that good for my real life. Those things I couldn't ignore crushed me to pieces. I felt miserable. The last thing I felt like was writing reviews. If they had been written in this state of apathy, I would have hated everything and everyone. But...it's over, everything is not fine, but endurable and life goes on.

This week I posted two reviews for my Global Classic Challenge, The Age of Innocence and Wuthering Heights. I don't know what I'll be reading next for this challenge, have to check the libraries. Speaking of which...last week I went to renew my membership in the town library in Osijek, and they had the Open Door days. I got an annual membership for free. Another good news is that they expanded the Foreign Languages department. There are tons of new(er) books in English and German. Hallelujah, God has heard my prayers.

I'll be reading Cleopatra's Daughter this week, since I forgot it in Osijek and didn't read a single page since Wednesday. The first two chapters I read were great and I can't wait to get back to it.
Since I keep traveling to and fro and the two-and-half hour bus drive is terribly boring, I always have a book with me. I try to pick books that are easy to read and not so voluminous so I can read them in two rides. This week's 'bus-book' was John Grisham's Bleachers. It was my first Grisham and I liked it, though I have no clue about football(in Europe it's all about soccer). It's about the influence of one man, the football coach, on the lives of his high-school players. It was quite nostalgic and made me think about those people who influenced my life, people whose approval you seek even long after they are gone. The review will be posted next week, probably Thursday.

I'm finally writing something more than random scribblings in my notebooks. That is, I still write in notebooks, but more often and in larger quantities. I miss the days when I could sit at my computer for hours, just typing and typing. Now I can't afford that luxury, only small treats.

I found a great blogger yesterday, or better to say, she found me. StephanieD blogs at the Misfit Salon. She says in her blog descriptions she would "invite artists, writers, poets, musicians, intellectuals, all manner of interesting people with provocative thoughts. And we would sit by a fire if it was cold outside or out in a terraced garden overlooking a lake if it was warm. We would dine on rich feasts, have chocolate cakes with good, strong coffee, maybe sip absinthe, all the while discussing the wondrous, troubling, moving, or beautiful things we had read or seen, heard or thought of....".
Now, if that's not a great invitation to visit her...I think I'd pass the absinthe, but I'd like to be there. Please, make sure to check out this great blog. I started to read one post and stayed there much longer than just one. She is also running a cool contest for an autographed first edition of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlet. Click here to enter. Ends 11/30.

What did you read this week? What are you looking forward to in the next seven days?

Happy Sunday!

Win a Kindle2, Sony E-Reader or Nook!

Park Avenue Princess hosts the ultimate giveaway in celebration of Mathew Carter's debut novel, Liquid Soul. The Grand Prize is a choice between one of these awesome gadgets, the Second Place Prize( two winners) is a signed hardcover copy of Liquid Soul and a $20 gift card for Amazon.com and Third Place Prize (five winners) signed trade copy of Liquid Soul.

Check out the rules here. 

The contest is open until 12/24.

Oh, and it's international, so what are you waiting for?