Thursday, June 23, 2011

JK Rowling Announces...


I'm still not a hundred percent sure what exactly will be happening at Pottermore, though I did catch the bit about JK sharing additional info about the world of Harry Potter that she's been hoarding for years! 
Have you seen the announcement? What do you think?

UPDATE: For more info about Pottermore, read today's Publisher's Weekly article.
I think I understand better now what will be on the new site :-)


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Another Game of Tag!

I was tagged by both Amy and Laura in the same day!

1. Do you think you're hot?

Right, since everyone else seems to be avoiding the real meaning of this question, I'm just going to go for it.
HELL YES!
(Okay, that was a joke, people, a JOKE! Stop looking so shocked! I'm actually really cold right now...)

2. Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.

I have Windows 7 and my Desktop is set to the slideshow option of the landscape photos.



3. When was the last time you ate chicken?

At lunch time.

4. The song(s) you listened to recently.

This was playing on the radio when I drove back from gym just now...


5. What were you thinking while doing this?

I need to do this tag thing before I forget.
I think I pulled a muscle at gym. Why didn't I warm up properly?
I should dry my hair. Wet hair is probably why I'm still sick a week later...

6. Do you have nicknames? What are they?

Rach (That was kinda obvious, wasn't it?!)
My sister and I call each other Poo (or Poop). Can't quite remember why... I think it started out as Poodle.

7. Tag 8 blogger friends.

Okay, I'm gonna tag some of my newer followers :-)



Friday, June 17, 2011

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Website

Perhaps all you Harry Potter fans have seen this already, but just in case you haven't...

"Rowling Launches 'Mysterious' Website" is the title of an article published yesterday by TheBookseller.com. Apparently there was this "Secret Street View" challenge where fans eventually pieced together the name of J.K. Rowling's new website, Pottermore.com.


If you click through to the website (which I know you've already done, you crazy Potter fans, you're probably not even reading this anymore!) you'll see that you can click on either of the owls. And that takes you to this awesome YouTube page with owls and branches sticking out everywhere (how do they DO that?) and a clock counting down the time until...

J.K. Rowling's announcement!


Eeeeeee!


Monday, June 13, 2011

Book Review: Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Today I am launching into exam-marking mode (which shall last for approximately two weeks) so this review shall be a short one. Like, record short.


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

(Summary from Goodreads)

You know that post-awesome-book depressive slump you go through because you're so bummed that it's over and you're not interested in reading anything else because you're convinced nothing else could be as good and—let's face it—you just didn't want to leave Tris's world, dammit!
You know that feeling?
Yeah. DIVERGENT is that good. Well, I thought so anyway! Plus the cover is really shiny and I can't stop looking at it.


~ ~ ~


And if that wasn't a good enough review for you (come on... shiny cover! What more do you need to know?!) then you can check out the reviews at Goodreads. DIVERGENT currently has a 4.55 average rating!



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We have a winner!

Yes, the time has finally come to announce the The Power of Tension Blogfest winner!
(I won't waste any time waffling...)



First Prize:
Congratulations, Trisha!


I make it to the corner store with minutes to spare.

Rushing down the kitchen and bathroom aisle, I dart around the corner and see the storeroom door. Suppressing a yell of triumph and relief, I fly at the door and rattle the handle—it turns. I fall on it, push, slip inside. My breaths are harsh in my ears, but at least they’re still coming.

Read More...


Trisha has won a $15 Amazon voucher plus an interview on my blog and Cally’s blog OR a 1st chapter beta read by both Cally and me. Let us know what you’d like, Trisha!



Second Prize:
Congratulations, Gabriellan!

For the past week, I’d had a countdown clock of sorts in my head. Now, the countdown clock read 00:00:01.

The door to my cell opened. Slowly, the steamy interior of the cell cleared.


“Angelica.”
“That’s not my name.” I made my voice as cold as I could.


Gabriellan has won a $10 Amazon voucher plus an interview on my blog and Cally’s blog OR a 1st chapter beta read by both Cally and me. Let us know what you’d like, Gabriellan!



Third Prize (is a tie!):
Congratulations, Damyanti!

I mean to kill. I know it is only a matter of time today, I’ve chosen my spot well.
A man on the hospital escalator going down watches a woman on her way up. A staircase separates the two escalators, perhaps for busy doctors who can’t get enough cardio into their week. The man turns, raises his head to gaze at her trim little figure. She does not notice him watching her, nor does he know I hold him in my sight.

Read More... (violence warning)


Third Prize (is a tie!):
Congratulations, Sarah!

Emily walked the bird block. Large almost-birds hissed and whispered in the trees—Bird hater, bird hater.

This last block to school belonged to the birds for a week now, though no one else heard them. Emily didn’t look at them. If she did, they would slide around on the branches like shadows. She wouldn’t be able to tell where their beaks ended and their heads began. The largest of them would open his mouth in a great yawn, and for a second, Emily would feel all swallowed up. That’s what happened the first day. The day after they’d lost the softball championship.

Read More...


Damyanti and Sarah have each won a $5 Amazon voucher.


Honourable Mentions

Honourable mentions go to our two remaining finalists, J. C. Martin, Fighter Writer and Steph from Word by Word. Between them, they received over 20% of the votes in the competition, which just shows how close the results were.


~ ~ ~

Thanks again to everyone who entered the blogfest, to everyone who voted, and to everyone who commented. You helped to make the competition a wonderful success!

Yay for tension!