'Pictures of Lily' by Paige TOON

From the BLURB:

'Will you marry me?' I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. 'Lily?' he prompts. It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak...

Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

‘Pictures of Lily’ is the fourth book from contemporary romance author, Paige Toon.

Lily came to Australia when she was fifteen. She and her mum moved halfway around the world (and took a 24-hour plane trip!) to come and live in Adelaide with her mum’s new fella she met on the internet.

Lily was initially reluctant. Not even her sexy quasi-stepbrother, Josh, could sweeten the deal . . . and then she met the kangaroos, and koalas. Lily’s sort-of-stepfather, Michael, worked at a local conservation park, and Lily found herself enthralled. She discovered a love for nature photography, and developed a special bond with a joey koala. And then Lily met Ben. A fellow ranger at the conservation park, Lily and Ben soon became good friends. It didn’t matter that he was 28 to her 16. They connected, and Lily soon fell in love . . . and then Ben admitted to having a fiancée. A fiancée who lived in England, where he soon moved.

Ten years passed, with Lily constantly pining for what could have been. But she eventually, slowly, moved on. Moved on to Richard, her lovely boyfriend (née, fiancée). Moved on to Sydney and forgetting about Ben.

Until the day he reappears to turn her life upside down.

If ‘Pictures of Lily’ was a packet of chips, it would be plain flavour. Never have I read a more scintillating blurb (underage romance and love triangles!) with a more tepid execution.

I'm not sure what readership Toon is aiming for, whether adult or young adult? The romance is so PG13 that it reads like a thirteen-year-olds diary entry for all the “his arm brushed against mine, his eyes are blue like water” prostrating that Lily keeps up (even into her late twenties). The romance is so innocently dull that I was somewhat disturbed by Ben’s interest in sixteen-year-old Lily. It would have been one thing if Lily had acted older than she was – if she and Ben had partaken of some canoodling or serious flirting – but Lily is so innocent, and she reads so much into the most nonsensical gestures that she does come across as very naive.

The believability of Ben and Lily’s love affair is further hampered by the quick time-frame – from Lily’s arrival in Adelaide to Ben’s leaving for England, the entirety of their ‘romance’ spans a few weeks. It’s not nearly enough time (and nothing really actually happens . . . outside of Lily’s imagining) to warrant her ten-year-pining for the man who supposedly broke her heart.

Even if I didn’t love Lily and Ben’s ‘older man, younger woman’ love affair, I kept reading. I do appreciate a good love triangle, and I wanted to at least see if Toon could turn up the heat when a third wheel was added into the mix.

Sadly, no.

I slogged through 172-pages of Lily’s girlish infatuation in the hopes that her twenty-six-year-old self would be a bit more scintillating. Skip ahead ten years and Lily is engaged to Richard, a fairly nice bloke who is unaware of the affection Lily still carries for the one who got away. Poor Richard is even more clueless when Lily bumps into Ben (now divorced, how convenient!) and starts an affair that will end in tears for all three.

This isn’t fair. I love them both.

Somewhere deep inside me the chasm that cracked and broke open when Ben left splits even further apart. I can’t lose Ben again. But I don’t want to lose Richard, either.

I'm really amazed that between an older-man/younger-woman storyline and a love triangle, ‘Pictures of Lily’ remains determinedly tepid throughout. I could have handled the lukewarm romances if Lily at least had a bit of charisma to carry the narrative. Once again, sadly not. Lily is as tedious as her love life. She’s not funny – though Toon had plenty of opportunity for funny stories about a Pom assimilating across the pond.

I guess the majority of my frustration stems from the ambiguousness of the target audience for ‘Pictures of Lily’. If it’s meant to be a young adult read, then that explains the PG13 romance, but not why the novel skips ahead to twenty-six-year-old Lily coping with an adulterous affair? If this is meant to be for older readers, then why the kid-gloves with the romance?

It feels like ‘Pictures of Lily’ is two different books, mashed together. And as a result, the young-adult half feels unfinished while the adult second-half feels like it was holding back. And what a shame, because the bones of each storyline are scintillating and interesting enough.

1.5/5

'Snowdrops' by A.D. MILLER

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

A. D. Miller's Snowdrops is an intensely riveting psychological drama that unfolds over the course of one Moscow winter, as a young Englishman's moral compass is spun by the seductive opportunities revealed to him by a new Russia: a land of hedonism and desperation, corruption and kindness, magical dachas and debauched nightclubs; a place where secrets - and corpses - come to light only when the deep snows start to thaw - Snowdrops is a chilling story of love and moral freefall: of the corruption, by a corrupt society, of a corruptible young man. It is taut, intense and has a momentum as irresistible to the reader as the moral danger that first enchants, then threatens to overwhelm, its narrator.

‘Snowdrops’ is the debut novel from British writer, A D Miller.

Nick Platt is a British lawyer living and working in Moscow, Russia. The city is a hedonistic dream – nightclubs, women and with enough money you can get anything you desire. Moscow is a playground for wealthy businessmen, ex-KGB and one lonely Pommie ex-pat.

One night, Nick meets and beds two beautiful Russian women, and falls in love with one of them (‘Masha’ to her friends). To help Masha’s aunt, Nick gets involved in the Russian real estate business. But nothing in this city is at it seems and everything comes with a price.

‘Snowdrops’ is the perfectly inconspicuous title for this psychological chiller. ‘Snowdrops’ refers to Moscow slang, a corpse that lies buried or hidden in the winter snows emerging only in the thaw. It’s a perfect title for this unassuming little book that has quite the chilling bite to it.

Miller has written in one of the most sophisticated but difficult literary traps – an unreliable narrator. Readers wade through Nick’s first-person narrative with seeming trust – but pretty soon he slips up. Little details are missing or disturbingly swept under the rug and reader’s slowly come to realize that Nick’s perspective is somewhat skewed;

When I got home that evening I found a smear of blood along the inside walls of my building, running up the stairs at about waist heights. Outside one of the doors on the second floor the blood plummeted downwards, as if the person leaning against the wall and leaking it had collapsed there. Underneath there was a little blood puddle, and next to the puddle a pair of old black shoes, standing neatly parallel to one another with their laces done up.

When I went downstairs in the morning the blood had been washed off the walls, but the shoes were still there. It was one of the alcoholics on the top floor, someone told me later. He fell. It was nothing to worry about, they told me.

It took a little while for me to realize that Nick wasn’t the most reliable of narrators . . . and quite frankly, in a novel of many twists and turns Nick’s unreliability was one of the biggest and best. Miller is right up there with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Alfred Hitchcock for his perfectly-pitched unreliable narration. Brilliant.

‘Snowdrops’ is a psychological thriller. You have to go through the novel separating the wheat from the chaff – truth from fiction and cover-up. And it’s ever harder to do when the backdrop is Moscow. I have never been to Russia myself, but Miller evokes a time and place that seems outlandishly real. Russia as a city torn down by history and the decline of the USSR. A place of double-dealings and shady corners; at once eerily beautiful and unremorsefully seedy. It’s all encapsulated in that one metaphor for snow and ‘snowdrops’ – something of purity that blankets a place and makes it look pristine for a little while, until the thaw comes to reveal the bodies underneath . . . chilling and apt, where Russia is concerned.

A.D. Miller’s debut novel won’t be for everyone – his writing is stark and unremorsefully tangled, unreliable and beautiful.

5/5

'Crossed' Void City #3 by J.F. LEWIS

From the BLURB:

COMMITTED. CONFLICTED. AND UTTERLY CHAOTIC.

In spite of his continuing hot-blooded affair with his soon-to-be sister-in-law Rachel, Eric’s plan is simple: Give his vampire girlfriend Tabitha the fancy wedding she’s always wanted, then head off to Paris for their honeymoon in the hopes of tracking down his sire, the Empress vampire Lisette. The City of Love proves anything but romantic when the True Immortal rulers of Europe try to block Eric from entering the Continent—and subject Tabitha to a series of challenges to prove her vampire worth. Back home in Void City, Eric’s volatile daughter Greta is getting lonely and bored—and that’s not good news for anyone. And when, like a bat out of hell, Lisette descends upon Void City to wipe Eric and his brood off the face of the earth—forever—this much is clear: the honeymoon is over.

Hey little sister what have you done

Eric is back and cruder than ever in J.F Lewis’s epically awesome ‘Void City’ series.

A lot happened in the second book ‘Revamped’. Eric and his Mouser, Talbot, defeated a demon and incurred the wrath of Hell. Eric finally got wise to the wily ways of tantric witch, Rachel and agreed to keep her as his thrall if she stayed in line. Eric also turned a bunch of Sweetheart Row prostitutes into thralls and now has a ready supply of servants/snacks at his remodelled Demon Heart (now a bowling alley). Eric also discovered who his maker is – a French aristocrat emperor vampire called Lisette.

Oh, and he proposed to his girlfriend/latest vampire child, Tabitha (despite having a sidelines affair with her sister, the very same witchy Rachel).

‘Crossed’ begins on the day of the wedding . . . and if you think Eric taking to the aisle is going to reform him, the first page is a rude awakening. Eric is about to say “I do” but before the nuptials he and Rachel have a little fun in the rectory. Still, despite the single most unromantic wedding speech (with Eric promising to cheat and eventually forget the bride’s name), the crazy vampires do get hitched and hitch a ride to Paris, France for the honeymoon.

Except that Eric’s maker, Lissette, pays a visit to Void City to meet with her creation. And Eric and Tabitha have to face off against Europe’s true immortals if they hope to stay in Paris.

Rachel has plans of her own to crash the honeymoon and the power behind Void City has a scheme brewing.

You can bet that the honeymooners won’t be having a grand old time in the city of love.

Hey little sister shot gun!

I loooooooove the ‘Void City’ series. I maintain that the books are not for everyone – yes, there are hot girls on the covers, but the characters within are morally bankrupt and the storyline is often a twisted fare. In other words, J.F. Lewis is writing vampires as Bram Stoker intended – gloriously mean. They snack on people, kill without consequence and to hell with all the rest.

And Eric may just be the most unrepentant of them all. Eric has rage blackouts when he turns into über-vamp – a blackened, winged monster who is the embodiment of Eric’s anger. Eric is also incapable of feeling, much – like with Tabitha, he knows he doesn’t love her but he doesn’t hate her all the time and that warrants a wedding. Still, Eric has flashes (however dim and brief) of decency. He has firm rules about not harming children, and in fact he saved his adopted ‘daughter’ Greta from a human monster years ago. Eric also maintains that the love of his life is Marilyn – the human woman who he was once engaged to but who also cheated on him and perished in the explosion at Demon Heart.

With Eric, it’s a game of checks and balances. Overwhelmingly, he’s corrupt and morally bankrupt. But if he was completely villainous and devoid of redemption, then he wouldn’t be interesting to read. The true brilliance in his character is wading through the snark and murk and crossing your fingers that Eric does something somewhat ‘nice’, for once;

He wanted a song that could vanquish demons and save the world. He wanted me to be a hero, a golden soul . . . like in El Segundo. I swear to God, you save the world one fucking time and some people never let you live it down.

But then, I guess everybody has their little eccentricities. Talbot’s is that he thinks I'm a hero. Whoever bought him DVD copies of Angel ought to be shot.

Rachel is another villainous all together. I would wage that she’s worse than Eric, partly because a death by leukaemia and a trip to hell changed her for the worse. Rachel is so teeth-grindingly awful; and it’s made doubly worse by the fact that Eric has a soft spot (blind spot!) for her. Still, she’s one of those ‘evil’ characters who is so outlandishly, gut-wrenchingly awful that they bypass annoying and head straight into fascinating reading.

The same can be said of Eric’s adopted vampire daughter, Greta. Part of ‘Crossed’ is told from Greta’s perspective and it’s so twistingly psychotic that she’s a (sick) delight to read. Greta had a traumatic childhood, and even though she’s been an adult vampire for years now, she’s still living in the fall-out of post-traumatic stress. Greta’s mindscape is at once childlike and chillingly primal. She’s hungry; so she (over)eats. She wants to know what a ribcage looks like; so she kills someone and feeds them to Fang (Eric’s vampire car).

I love J.F. Lewis’s characters. They can be cut and dry awful, but it’s his glimpses into the gray areas that keep you coming back for more (like a martyr) in the hopes that the redemption finally overtakes the cruelty.

It's a nice day to start again

I definitely get the feeling that ‘Crossed’ is all about ‘the long game’ for J.F. Lewis and his ‘Void City’ series. Many new players come out of the woodwork and show their sleight of hand. From Ebon Winter, the singing God and son to Phillip . . . to Phillip’s staked show-case, Percy. I had a feeling that these bit players would step to the forefront eventually, I was just ridiculously happy that Lewis trotted them out in this third book. Percy, especially, has me grossed-out and intrigued . . .

‘Crossed’ also marks the mention of Eric’s ‘destiny’. There are many references made to Eric’s place in the grand scheme of things – and many characters reveal how they have a hand in Eric’s trajectory. I cannot wait to see how this all plays out . . . Lewis has left many bread-crumbs throughout ‘Crossed’, and I can’t wait to see where they lead to.

It's a nice day for a white wedding

As J.F. Lewis is prone to do, ‘Crossed’ ends on a giant chasm of a cliff-hanger. I'm talking heart-in-your-throat-ass-on-the-edge-of-the-seat kind of cliff-hanger. It will greatly affect Eric and his ‘destiny’, and especially impact on Tabitha and the un-life she and Eric have embarked on.

I will say that I hope the next book in the series has more Eric/Tabitha interaction. We’ve never really read them together for extended periods of time (what with Eric banging her sister and all) . . . but these two at the end of ‘Crossed’ were hilarious (like a twisted Lucy and Ricky) and I'd love to see more wicked banter between them.

It's a nice day to start again

‘Crossed’ is yet another tantalizingly abhorrent instalment in the ‘Void City’ series. J.F. Lewis keeps getting better and better, and Eric keeps getting nastier and nastier. I love it! I especially love reading these books to catch snatches of Eric’s prospective soul and evidence of his (possible) redemption. ‘Crossed’ is definitely looking towards the ‘Void City’ long game and what is in store for Eric . . . yes, there’s a Grand-Canyon-sized cliff-hanger, but it’s all worth it for the grand new turn the series is taking. Plus, I can’t begrudge Lewis a cliff-hanger ending when he wrote one of the funniest and twisted references to make me cackle: Chitty Chitty Fang Bang. Touché, Lewis.

5/5

'Beast Behaving Badly' Pride series #5 by Shelly LAURENSTON

From the BLURB:

Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can't get the smooth-talking shifter out of her head. Now he's shadowing her in New York-all seven-plus feet of him-determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is...

Let sleeping dogs lie. Bo knows it's good advice, but he can't leave Blayne be. Blame it on her sweet sexiness-or his hunch that there's more to this little wolfdog than meets the eye. Blayne has depths he hasn't yet begun to fathom-much as he'd like to. She may insist Bo's nothing but a pain in her delectable behind, but polar bears have patience in spades. Soon she'll realize how good they can be together. And when she does, animal instinct tells him it'll be worth the wait...

‘Beast Behaving Badly’ is the fifth (and coolest titled) book in Shelly Laurenston’s epically awesome ‘Pride’ series.

Bo Novikov is a demon on the ice . . . well, a hybrid half lion/polar bear to be more precise. He is one of the most feared ice hockey players in the game. He has a take no prisoners approach to the sport, he doesn’t play fair but he does put the ‘ME’ in team. It’s his puck, after all.

During one particularly bloodied game, Bo spies the little wolfdog, Blayne Thorpe, in the crowds and is instantly intrigued. Perhaps it’s not a good omen that upon first introductions, Blayne mistakes Bo and his hulking form for a would-be serial murderer;

“Blayne – ”

Blayne gasped, cutting him off. “How do you know my name? How long have you been hunting me? Well, you can take your cellar of death where you keep all the bodies of the women you’ve slaughtered over the year and go to hell. Because this target, which you probably refer to as ‘it’ in your head to keep me as merely an object, is not going down without a fight!”

But once Blayne calms down enough to realize that Bo is in fact a hockey star and not a serial killer, she turns advantageous. Blayne begs and pleads Bo to break his rigid training schedule and help her train for her derby battles. Soon, the pair forms an unlikely friendship that is soon thrown into danger when Blayne is hunted down by humans who want her for their hybrid cage-fights. Bo whisks Blayne away to Ursus County and his fellow bear family where things take a turn for the steamy. . .

It’s no secret that I love Shelly Laurenston and worship at the altar that is her ‘Pride’ series. ‘Beast Behaving Badly’ is yet another paranormal romance triumph and worthy of high-praise.

First off, Bo and Blayne have one of the kookiest and funniest first meetings of any couple I have ever read. Yes, she thinks he is a serial killer and hides away from him in a bathroom where he is forced to rip a door of its hinges in order to invite her out to coffee. It’s awkward and hilarious and I loved it!

Blayne was first introduced in the fourth ‘Pride’ novel, ‘The Mane Squeeze’. I loved her then but I adore her after reading ‘Beast Behaving Badly’. Blayne is constantly running at full-tilt; she says what’s on her mind and can be as entertained by a squirrel as she can by chasing her own tail. Badgers are out to get her and sugar sends her nuclear. She is hyper and incredible and I loved her.

Bo is Blayne’s polar (ha!) opposite. He’s inflexible and determined – he likes lists and schedules and detests tardiness. He needs a little Blayne in his life to shake things up and wake him up. These two are too cute (as all of Laurenston’s couples tend to be) they were snarky but lustful;

“Don’s sashay away from me,” he murmured, enjoying the view.

She gasped, stopped. “I do not sashay anywhere.” She talked with both hands now without facing him. “I may saunter. Even glide. But I do not sashay. That is for the ladies of the night.”

So, I read ‘Beast Behaving Badly’ with a somewhat heavy heart. Because now I'm at the end of the ‘Pride’ series, for the time being. The sixth novel is ‘Big Bad Beast’ and will be about Ric Van Holtz and the wolf who has him in a tizzy, Dee-Ann Smith. But I have to wait until May for the release. MAY!?! I'm going to have to go through Laurenston’s pseudonym G A Aiken backlist just to tide me over.

That being said, I do hope that ‘Big Bad Beast’ won’t be the last in the pride series. I really want to read Johnny and Kristan’s story – the wolfdog and wolf teenagers of Jessica Ann’s pack. These two are so cute and I'm loving their puppy-love side story. Fingers crossed they get a full-blown book!

5/5

Book #6 - May 1st 2011

'Sweet as Sin' by Inez KELLEY

Received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he's driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.

Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the temptation that is John Murphy won't lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she's as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?

What do you do when a hunky bit of temptation moves in next door? Most people would jump and pant at the opportunity . . . but pastry-chef, Livvy, knows a dangerous thing when she sees it. And John Murphy is trouble encased in ass-hugging jeans. She’s tempted by his wicked smile and flirtatious words . . . but John is clearly not the sort of boy you bring home to mother. He’s a one-night-stand dream-boat and a heartbreak waiting to happen for Livvy – because she wants the minivan, white picket fence and a bun in the oven. Livvy wants what her sister Andrea has, a devoted fiancée and a march down the aisle.

But John is more than just a cock-sure grin. He makes Livvy laugh. He’s the young adult author of a new series about lovable monsters that is taking American by storm. He is a protective big brother to his little sister, and the coolest uncle to his nephews . . . and all of this means that Livvy is sure to lose her heart to the one man who is guaranteed to break it.

Because John doesn’t believe in love. He rejects hope and distrusts affection. He spent his childhood years cowered and beaten, and now as a grown man he still hasn’t gotten over the lessons that were crushed into him. John doesn’t just write about monsters, he lives with them.

‘Sweet as Sin’ is a new Erotic Contemporary Romance from Inez Kelley . . . and it’s incredible.

I want to start out by saying that ‘Sweet as Sin’ has hidden depths. The cover and blurb don’t accurately reveal just how complicated and compelling this book is. Yes, there is hot sex and a tender romance . . . but I found myself primarily drawn into the characters and their complicated pasts.

Livvy is living on a shoe-string budget as she tries to get her pastry business off the ground and profitable. She’s also hearing a ticking clock that’s only getting louder when her younger sister starts living the dream of kids, marriage and stability. Livvy wants to start settling into life and contentment – but nothing is really going according to plan . . . least of all, her love life. When John Murphy moves in next door Livvy is almost repulsed by her desire for him. Because she knows he’s a good time and nothing more; the most she could hope for is a one-night-stand and amicable neighbourly fallout when their dalliance inevitably ends. Livvy promised herself that she wouldn’t fall for such a clear womanizer – her mother did it and struggled with the heartbreak of a cheating spouse for the rest of her life.

“The big deal is he lives next door. What if things end badly? Then what?”

“Then you put up a privacy fence and we egg his house. Just because you’re in the market for a minivan doesn’t mean you can’t test drive a hotrod.” Andrea stopped with her hand on the door handle. “And if the engine purrs the right way, take several trips around the block.”

Livvy struggles and rails against her feelings for John. Regardless, something grows amidst her denial and Livvy discovers John’s hidden depths and faded scars. John is not your typical Erotic Romance hero. He’s tall, dark, handsome and could tempt a nun to sin. But Kelley has written a lustrous character in John Murphy – he’s a man as complicated as he is devilishly delicious.

John had a horrendous childhood. Ghosts are still plaguing him well into adulthood and it’s only by opening up to Livvy that John is able to recognize how raw his old wounds still are. Now, I loved the romance between John and Livvy – it was playful, tender and sizzling. But more than anything else, I loved how complicated it was.

‘Sweet as Sin’ is not your typical fairy-floss erotica read. This is not a story that you can read for a bit of fun and erotic frivolity. Kelley digs deep and serves up a romance that is at once romantic and darkly complex – as Livvy tries to find her way through John’s murky past and help him battle his inner monsters.

The novel isn’t all doom and gloom. I found myself smiling and laughing out loud a number of times, and I was oddly surprised by how erotic Kelley makes pastry;

“Remind me to bring you a Chocolate Orgasm.”

His fork halted in front of his mouth. “Chocolate orgasm? They come in flavours now? Damn, I didn’t think it had been that long since I got laid.”

But the real show-stopper of ‘Sweet as Sin’ is John and his tumultuous past. I found myself equal-parts flabbergasted, horrified and angered by John’s revelations – the shocks about his past are as much a rollercoaster as his and Livvy’s romance and it made ‘Sweet as Sin’ a far fuller and fulfilling read.

Inez Kelly has written a heartbreaking and scorching contemporary erotic romance in ‘Sweet as Sin’. Enjoy the sex and romance, but read it for the disturbing and enthralling journey that Kelley has written for one of the most endearing characters you will ever encounter.

5/5

Q and A with Laura BUZO

I absolutely fell head-over-heels into fandom when I read Laura Buzo's 'Good Oil'. It's a novel of highs and lows - teenage triumphs and puppy-love heartbreak. It's so raw and real and vicariously fantastic.

So I jumped at the chance to pick Buzo's brain and ask some burning Q's...

♥

Q: How did you get published, agent or slush pile?

I sent my manuscript for Good Oil in to a few competitions. It got shortlisted for one. Then I decided to send it to Margaret Connolly and Associates. Margaret loved it and took me on. She sent it to the Young Peeps section of Allen and Unwin and they offered me a contract for G.O and a second, unwritten novel. Yay me.

Q: Your father was the famous and genius author playwright, Alex Buzo. So was it inevitable that you’d grow up to be a writer?

I don’t think it necessarily follows that I wanted to be a writer just because of my father. My father’s father was an engineer, so you know we all come up with our own crazy shit. But certainly his example taught me a love and respect for writing as an art form, and I find his writing inspiring. I think coming from a family where the humanities are valued helped me along in a general way.

Q: I loved ‘Good Oil’ because it was an unconventional YA romance, often uncomfortably truthful and heartbreakingly honest. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from Chris and Amelia’s experiences with love. What do you hope your young readers take away from the novel?

I hope they see some truths about themselves in there, I hope they see a message about acceptance of realities that are hard to swallow, I hope they see that everyone has their own ‘narrative’ and we don’t necessarily understand other people’s… that sometimes we judge our parents too harshly, that you have to be your own ‘little trooper’ in your own tale of war, a sense that friendship is a powerful and can change people… and a sense of the excitement that comes from reading and responding to literature.

Q: The novel does have a chasm of a cliff-hanger ending . . . which is at once brilliantly realistic and slightly maddening. Did your agent/publisher/editor ever push you to write a ‘happier’ ending with no loose ends?

My editor never pushed for a ‘happy’ ending with Chris and Amelia getting married and having perfect babies in a nice house in the suburbs. Most people got that Amelia and Chris were not going to ride off into the sunset within the scope of this story. There were a few changes made for Amelia to have the final ‘say’ of the book and made her feelings on Chris’ departure more concrete, but in essence the ending remained as I had originally envisaged. Which is to say – WIDE OPEN.

Q: At some point in your youth did you work in the Land of Dreams (aka ‘Woolworths’)? If so, how closely does the ‘Good Oil’ storyline mimic your experiences?

Yes I did put in a stint behind the checkout at Woolworths, circa ages 14 – 17. The book mirrors a lot of aspects from my own life, particularly the falling in love with a person – and subsequent people - who, for whatever reason, can never be mine. A skill I developed young, and have continued to perfect.

Q: I loved Chris! . . . but I only started to warm to him once we got his perspective and understood his vulnerabilities. How hard was it to keep his character realistic (often making stupid mistakes) but still crush-material for Amelia?

I freakin’ loved writing him. Everyone assumes that Amelia is me, but honestly I see a great deal of myself in Chris. Chris was inspired to a degree by an old friend of mine but in large parts was pure creation and loved that process. I relished getting into a male headspace and imaging how they see the world, women etc. As for his being crush-worthy – I think some readers find him crush-worthy and some find him a bit of an A-hole. Says a lot about the readers…

But I wanted to show how you can fall in love with someone through conversations – and fall in love with how you feel in their company.

Q: Did you always intend to change narrators between Chris and Amelia? And where exactly did you get inspiration for Chris’s voice? He was such a *boy*! I could have sworn ‘Good Oil’ was a duo-job (à la Rachel Cohn and David Levithan) because Chris’s male perspective was chillingly truthful.

Yes. That device appealed to me straight off, to see the same events through different perspectives, to see how each of the characters perceived each other and how they were aware or unaware of the other’s struggles. The diary….seemed a good way to do that, and the fact that we know Amelia gets to read Chris’ diaries adds a layer of richness and closeness to their relationship. Hmmm, I guess Chris was pretty honest, and sometimes the truth isn’t pretty. I have had some close male friends over the years, and like to think that I have comprehended something of what it is to be male through them.

Q: Okay. This is the question on EVERYONE’S lips . . . will there be a sequel to ‘Good Oil’? (Pretty please with a cherry on top?)

Possibly. I think it would be very exciting to see how Chris and Amelia relate to each other in the next chapter of their lives. Right now is not the time for me to write a sequel. The novel I am working on at the moment is completely unrelated to Amelia and Chris. So the answer is definitely maybe.

Q: When can we get our greedy little hands on your next novel?

YA again. For Allen and Unwin. Hope to get a manuscript to them by July. Bigger canvas. It seems.

Q: What other books/projects are you working on?

Number one project is about yea high, three years old, gorgeous, and usually dressed in pink with fairy wings. I also work a few days a week (I’m a social worker), and fit writing around the above. Working on the new novel at the moment, although I’m expecting the editorial report for the American publication of Good Oil to arrive soon, from Noo York.

Q: Favourite author(s)?

Hmm. Kate Jennings for sure. Eleanor Dark, Margaret Atwood, J.M Coetzee, Helen Garner, Lionel Shriver, Christopher Koch, Susan Johnson, Catherine Jinks, Kathleen Stewart, Kate Grenville, Carl Hiaasen…and, I have to say, my father. Screen writers Aaron Sorkin and Joss Whedon. I could go on. I know I’m forgetting someone majorly favourite…. I’ll remember when I’ve pressed ‘send’ on this questionnaire.

Q: What’s the hardest thing about writing for a Young Adult audience?

I don’t really think about it that way on a conscious level. I try to keep it relevant to experience of being young I suppose. Thus far. Writing is hard in general, I find, no matter who the target audience will turn out to be. I hope that my work will be read and enjoyed by people of many age groups.

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

Get a wife.

And also, don’t try to do it all on a laptop. Even is all you have is a laptop, buy a separate keyboard that you can set up to reach ergonomically. Seriously. Look after those tendons. You only have one set.

'Burn Bright' The Night Creatures Book One by Marianne de PIERRES

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Retra doesn't want to go to Ixion, the island of ever-night. Retra is a Seal - sealed minds, sealed community. She doesn't crave parties and pleasure like all the others. But her brother left for Ixion two years ago, and Retra is determined to find him.

Braving the pain of her obedience strip to escape the only home she's ever known, Retra finds herself drawn deeper into the intoxicating world of Ixion. Come to me, whispers a voice in her head. Who are the Ripers, the mysterious guardians of Ixion? What are the Night Creatures Retra can see in the shadows? And what happens to those who grow too old for Ixion?

Retra will find that Ixion has its pleasures - but its secrets are deadly.

Marianne de Pierres’s Young Adult sci-fi novel is the first in a new series called ‘The Night Creatures’.

Ixion is paradise for the young. It is a secret island, inhabited by wanton partiers whose only purpose in life is to burn bright and live free.

Young people escape to Ixion every day. On the back of a draculin bat or on the barge through Spiral. They come from far and wide to taste the sort of excess that Ixion demands.

Retra is amongst the newest crop of residents to Ixion. She is a Seal – from the Seal compound. Her life could not be more different from the endless nights of Ixion. Back at Seal, all women must wear veils. Men rule and punishments are handed out by the Wardens. Retra’s spirit was further broken when her beloved older brother, Joel, ran away from home to live on Ixion. When Joel left, Retra had only a heartbroken mother and tyrannical father keeping her in Seal . . . so she ran too. She ran to the island of revelry to find her brother . . .

But what Retra discovers is Ixion’s darkest secrets. The Ripers who control the island and dictate to its inhabitants. She finds Ixion segregated into gangs and groups who are becoming increasingly agitated by the violence of the Ripers. And worst of all, the Ixion natives are becoming restless about what will happen to them when they get too old for the revelry of the island and are 'withdrawn' . . . what happens when you get too old to burn bright?

‘Burn Bright’ is an epic and mystifying new novel from Australian writer, Marianne de Pierres. The novel is a cross between ‘Logan’s Run’, ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘The Beach’ with a healthy dose of sci-fi steampunk thrown in for good measure. It is incredible, and should most certainly be appearing on everyone’s ‘Must Read’ list for 2011!

Marianne de Pierres writes with an eclectic frenzy that is at once infectious and utterly unique. Yes, ‘Burn Bright’ is sci-fi, but de Pierres is drawing on so many fantastical genres and themes that the novel is as wonderfully haphazard as the island of Ixion. Back at the Seal compound Retra’s school teacher was a mechanical head in a box, but this alternate universe is also peppered with mystical flying bats and other creatures that lurk in dark places. These sorts of mishmashes are peppered throughout ‘Burn Bright’ – cable ‘kars’ carry party-goers to their clubbing destinations around the island, carriages sprout legs and the only places of rest on Ixion are the various chapels and churches specifically designed for partiers ‘come down’. I loved that Marianne de Pierres made the world of Ixion as diverse as the residents – a mixture of high-tech steampunk and animalism where residents are ruled by their base desires.

The silence became taut as if the crowd breathed in accord.

Lenoir laughed, feeling it. Though many could not see him as well as she could, he mesmerised them with his voice alone.

“Fear not. All we want . . . is for you to pleasure yourselves,” he said.

A cheer went up, discharging the tension.

He waved his hands once more for quiet. “In Ixion music and party are our only beliefs. Darkness is our comfort. . .”

Retra is a fantastic protagonist through which to experience the world of Ixion. She stands out amongst her fellow celebrators – she cannot shake the lessons that have been beaten into her since childhood. Retra cannot lose herself in the burn – both because she is hunting for her run-away brother, and because she can't help the perverse feeling that Ixion is wrong and something is looming above the merrymaking.

‘Burn Bright’ also features a cachet of wonderful secondary characters. The various gangs of Ixion read like Peter Pan’s lost boys – Kero, Clash and Krista-belle. Then there are those who are new to the island and become fast friends with Retra – Rollo, Suki and Markes. Retra forms the first friendships of her life on Ixion, at the same time that her loyalty and trust are put to the test by the island’s inhabitants. The secondary characters are made all the more fascinating for their quick bonding with Retra – it seems like the island of Ixion inspires heightened emotion and unions are formed quickly and intensely amongst friends and lovers.

‘Burn Bright’ is a novel of intriguing complications. Ixion seems like a haven for the young – where people are encouraged to burn bright, live free and be without consequence. But of course, freedom has a price. Marianne de Pierres is writing some subversive moral lessons for her characters – some are obvious, like the disastrous effects of eating the ‘pods’ that Ripers hand out like lollies to revellers. Other messages are murkier and will take more books to wade through and pick apart – like deciding what price you’re willing to pay for change and betterment.

‘Burn Bright’ is an epic new young adult sci-fi novel. Marianne de Pierres has written a beautifully frantic book that meshes sci-fi with fantasy and steampunk, while also exploring base human nature and the consequences of chasing the dream and living to burn. Impressive and addictive. I eagerly await second novel, ‘Angel Arias’.

5/5