I have SUCH an awesome thing to share with you guys,especially those of you who are aspiring writers.
I am happy to announce that What A Nerd Girl Says officially has FORUMS!
Yes, you heard me right: Forums!
Exclusive Interview with Artist Cassandra Jean!
I am very pleased to share this interview with you today. As a huge Shadowhunter Chronicles fan, case I have enjoyed the artwork that Cassandra Jean has produced for the fandom, and am excited about the new things coming, like the calendars and The Secret Treason graphic novel.
For those of you who don’t know, Cassandra Jean is an artist. She works on many things, like original graphic novels, and does artwork for other YA novels, like Beautiful Creatures, The Lynburn Legacy, Shades of London and The Raven Boys. You can check out her website, and her artwork, here.
Cassandra Jean became known to me when she started doing the artwork for the Shadowhunter tarot card series.
Here are some examples:
There are SO many more of these, and you should check them out, because they are SO cool.
After this, I decided to check out Cassandra’s website, where she does a multitude of artwork, all of it so talented and beautiful. I enjoy any time she does work, and especially when its from the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Occasionally she does “sneak peek” or “spoiler” work for City of Heavenly Fire, or to celebrate a holiday and such.
Just recently, she unveiled the Men of the Shadowhunter Chronicles calendar, featuring all of our favorite hotties from the series. You can see all those by clicking here.
Now, I’ve had the awesome opportunity to interview the lovely Cassandra. Enjoy!
Sara: What is your background in art? When did it become something that you were really passionate about?
Cassandra: I’ve pretty much always wanted to be an artist since I was a child. I think there might have been a year in elementary school where I considered being a veterinarian (animals!) but that didn’t last long. I have always wanted to draw. I come from an artistic family so they’ve been a big influence on me and have always encouraged my artistic side. My mother writes, my father paints, my grandparents were art teachers, photographers, writers, seamstresses… so, yeah, I’ve basically always been into art. I majored in Illustration in college and started working on graphic novels straight out of school.
Sara: How did you get involved with doing artwork for Cassandra Clare and the Shadowhunter Chronicles?
Cassandra: Through my fanart actually! She liked a drawing I had done of Will Herondale and approached me about working on the Shadowhunter Codex. I said YES (of course!) and the rest is history! Since then I’ve had the pleasure of illustrating a lot of things for her, she’s so much fun.
Sara: How do you approach a piece of artwork based on something that has already been written?
Cassandra: Working on something that someone else has written is a lot different from creating your own story from scratch. While working on an original artwork, you are using a character who is unknown and you have complete control over who they are and how they look. But while working on something that has already been written, you’re interpreting something that already exists. Neither one or the other is better, but both processes have their own pros and cons. When I work on something already written, I get to skip the whole script writing stage! But, there is a lot of pressure to get things right. Because these are characters that people have already read about and fallen in love with, and the fans will notice if you mess something up. So in order to get things right, I read the book, and while reading, I take careful notes about the characters. I write down their names, their family, their appearances (hair, eyes, facial structure, fashion sense, quirks, habits, etc) so that when I draw them later, I can consult my notes.
Sara: So many people know you as the artist behind the Shadowhunter tarot cards, the City of Heavenly Fire sneak peeks and now the Shadowhunter Men calendar, but what other art do you do?
Cassandra: Well! At the moment my life is pretty Shadowhunter-ed up! But I work as an illustrator for YenPress. I’ve done the graphic novel adaptations of “Beautiful Creatures” and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” and a short comic titled “Something Wikkid”. And I have more books lined up!
Sara: What is your process like? What sort of mediums do you use?
Cassandra: I work almost entirely on a computer. Sometimes when I’m sketching up thumbnails for comic pages or trying to decide on the layout for an illustration I will use pencil and paper, but most all of my process is done on the computer these days. I use a tablet so that I can draw digitally into programs like SAI and photoshop.
Sara: What is sort of your goal when you are doing a piece of work? How do you work to capture the essence of a character?
Cassandra: Uhm… hard question! Well, I read the book first and foremost. Since that’s the best way to get to know a character. When I draw them, I try to keep in mind their personality. If they are sexy and flirty, or shy, or quiet and moody. Our personalities, and the character’s personalities, effect how they dress or how I would pose them. Often when I draw a picture I try to focus on the overall mood. Like if I’m in the mood to draw something sad, or happy, or sweet. Then I try to pick characters to draw that suit the mood I’m in. It seems to work out more naturally that way.
Sara: You’ve worked on so many different projects besides The Mortal Instruments like mangas, and Beautiful Creatures and Raven Boys artwork. Are there ever any challenges in doing so many different things or do you like the challenge of that?
Cassandra: I like the challenge. In fact, I kind of need it. No matter how much I love something, I can get exhausted drawing it over and over without any variety. That’s the sort of thing that can send me into a slump. So that’s why I draw so many different subjects. It’s refreshing, and I feel like it keeps me on my toes. Especially when it comes to comics. A comic can take me 8-9 months to finish, and every page is filled with tons of drawings of the same characters. So working on a variety of fanart and projects at the same time prevents me from falling into a rut.
Sara: What are some projects that you’ve worked on that some people don’t know about but you’d really like them to?
Cassandra: I used to illustrate an online comic called Land of Lions! I haven’t been able to work on it for several years now, since Yen Press started hiring me for work, and these days I’ve improved a lot so the artwork in it is a bit old. But I’m still pretty proud of what I did with it. If people were interested I’d be flattered if they took a look at it. It’s up on a website called MangaMagazine.net In fact that website has a lot of awesome stuff you should check it out some time if you’re interested in reading original works online.
Sara: What are some of your hobbies besides artwork? Do you read, and have you read the books that you’ve done the artwork for?
Cassandra: Art kind of eats up my life. It’s my work AND my hobby. But I do read a lot too. I have of course read all the books I’ve done artwork for. I try not to draw characters for things I haven’t read because I think that if I didn’t, they wouldn’t turn out right. I wouldn’t have a very good grasp on what the characters looked like, how they acted or dressed… (with the exception of the Dark Artifices and TLH which have not been written yet, but Cassandra describes the characters to me in detail so that I get them right) So yeah! All the series I’ve done drawings of, I’ve read, and I’ve read plenty that I haven’t done art for either, sometimes I like to just read. I also play a lot of video games when I get the chance. And rearranging my book shelves. Does that count as a hobby? Because I love doing that.
Sara: What are you working on now and what can we expect from you in the future?
Cassandra: Lately, I’ve been trying to slowly hash out an original story that I’d like to illustrate. But I think it will be quite some time before that’s ready to show off. I’m also drawing the Shadowhunter Calendars still.You can also expect the “Miss Peregrine” graphic novel to be in stores in October along with the Shadowhunter Codex (some of my illustrations are in there, though I haven’t seen the book yet myself so I’m not sure which ones made the cut!) Also the next book I’m working on, which was leaked a few days ago, is The Secret Treasons with Cassandra Clare. So please look forward to it!
Sara: What can you tell us about The Secret Treasons, and what and when can we expect that?
Cassandra: I can’t tell you much about it other than what you already know. It follows Valentine and the Circle back in their younger days. I’m looking forward to drawing not only the younger versions of Valentine, Jocelyn and Luke, but also drawing the characters that we never got to meet in the books because they had already passed away. Stephen, Michael… I’m so excited about working on a Shadowhunter comic. Hopefully soon, the publisher (Yen Press) will release more information about it for you guys to feast on.
Sara: A nice little fun question that I ask all the people I interview: who is your fictional crush?
Cassandra: Crush? As in just one? UH…Ragnor Fell! My big cranky green lima bean. What’s that? No, he’s not dead! He’s just…hibernating!! [sound of gross sobbing in the distance]
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I hope you all enjoyed this interview with this awesome, awesome artist and super cool person. This was a super fun interview to do, and Cassandra had a lot of new stuff to share with us all.
I hope you all will check her out. You can find her at:
Her Website
Her Tumblr
Her Deviant Art Site
Her Twitter
Happy Reading everyone!
Pure by Jennifer L Armentrout Book Review
Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout
You Can Find the Book At:
GoodReads Summary:
There is need. And then there is Fate…
Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn’t exactly awesome–especially when Alexandria’s “other half” is everywhere she goes. Seth’s in her training room, medications outside her classes, pill and keeps showing up in her bedroom–so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, troche like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do–and sacrifice–for her.
When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies–lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon… and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn’t blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude… or killing her.
When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.
My Review:
Please note that while this review will NOT have spoilers for this novel, it most likely will have spoilers for the first novel, Half Blood. You can read the review for that here.
These books literally just keep getting better and better. I absolutely loved the first one but I’m not going to lie, I saw a ton of similarities between it and the first Vampire Academy novel. But I really loved the characters, and I love the story, and the idea of the Greek gods, and the way she represents it as opposed to others. I was even more relieved when I read this second book, and realized that it took a much different direction than the storyline of VA.
I really love the issue that Jennifer L. Armentrout creates. Alex is the second Apollyon of the generation, which makes her better than any pure blood, half blood or mortal but she has been a half blood her entire life, and she still technically is a half blood. She still feels the pains of being a half blood. You either train your butt to become a Sentinel or a Guard, or you drink the elixir, and became compliant, a slave. One step, one TOE out of line and thats it for a half. Pures are everything: they have a say in how the world is run, and the laws are all in their favor. They have no regard for the halfs, and some are so high strung that the death of a half means absolutely nothing to them.
So I think its very hard for Alex. She is the Apollyon, and so much is on her shoulders but she still feels that sting of being a half blood, especially since most of her friends are half bloods and I think that internal struggle and that issue she has with trying to figure herself out, now that she has even more to learn, is really what makes the core of this novel. There’s a lot of action but I think so much of what makes this novel so easy to bust through is the fact that there is so much tension, mentally and emotionally and in the politics and in the relationships and friendships that she has. Everything seems so calculated and everyone seems to have their own different opinion and plan for her and its a lot for her to sift through. She doesn’t know who to trust completely, or who to listen to.
Which leads to me to the whole Seth and Aidan thing. Aidan is a pure, her trainer, but she’s madly in love with her, even though they most definitely canNOT be together. Then there’s is Seth, the first Apollyon, who Alex is bonded to, and so they have this intense attraction to each other, but she’s so unsure if she really feels that way or if its just the bond. And even this bond can’t take away the love that she feels for Aidan. The triangle would normally bother me incredibly but it doesn’t so much because neither one of them really gives her much, which only serves to frustrate her more, which frustrates me to no end either. I adore them both for different reasons, though I’m totally rooting for Aidan. I think that the differences between the two: Aidan, a pure Sentinel and Seth, a half blood Apollyon, only makes her conflicting thoughts on what is going on in her community even worse.
In all, it was a satisfying sequel to the first novel that I enjoyed so much. I think it really takes the issues of the first book, expands it, and expands the universe that she has built. She really presents real conflicts, conflicts that exist anywhere, and have existed, and so they feel so much more real, especially since Alex is a half blood, and she’s on the bottom scale of everything. I love all the characters of this novel, and the story. I’m about half way through the third book, which I can’t wait to review for you all. I’m catching up fast!
Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Men of Shadowhunter Chronicles Calendar!
Now, viagra buy as if Cassandra Jean, couldn’t get any cooler than she already is, a Shadowhunter Men calendar for 2014 was announced.
For those of you who don’t know, Cassandra Jean is an artist, most known for her Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices fan art. She also does work for original graphic novels, and other YA works like Beautiful Creatures and The Raven Boys. She did a set of tarot cards using the characters from the various Shadowhunter series: The Infernal Devices, the mysterious TLH, The Mortal Instruments, and The Dark Artifices.
So when I found out there would be a calendar, featuring all the steamy men of these series, done in the brilliant artwork of Cassandra Jean, I was SO excited!
Here are the art pieces for each month!
January 2014: Featuring James “Jem” Carstairs of the Infernal Devices trilogy
February 2014: Featuring Magnus Bane and Alexander “Alec” Lightwood of the Mortal Instruments series celebrating Valentine’s Day
March 2014: Featuring William “Will” Herondale from the Infernal Devices trilogy
Hubba Hubba
April 2014: Featuring Matthew Fairchild of TLH, the parabatai of James Herondale.
May 2014: Featuring Jaime Rosales of the Dark Artifices trilogy
June 2014: Featuring Jace Wayland Morgenstern Herondale Lightwood (depending on what you call him) of The Mortal Instruments series.
I call him Jace Lightwood. I can do that because I’m so marrying him. Sigh <3
July 2014: Featuring Julian Blackthorn of The Dark Artifices trilogy
August 2014: Featuring Mark Blackthorn of The Dark Artifices trilogy, brother to Julian.
I think I’m going to really like Mark…
September 2014: Featuring Simon Lewis of The Mortal Instruments series.
Can I just say, the fact that his shirt references the Oregon Trail game is just too hilarious for life?
October 2014: Featuring Raphael Santiago of The Mortal Instruments series, looking very creepy for Halloween haha.
November 2014: Featuring James Herondale of TLH
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Aren’t all those pictures absolutely amazing? AND super steamy and hot. I don’t know about you ladies but I’m pretty excited about those Will Herondale and Jace Lightwood months…
And I know what you’re wondering, where’s December! December is going to be a GROUP picture, and its coming soon. Even better news, there will be a GIRL character calendar as well.
I am so excited!
And a little surprise for you all, I have an exclusive interview with the artist herself coming tomorrow!
What do you guys think of the Shadowhunter Calendar artwork? Which ones are your favorites? As always, share in the comments!
YALL Fest Interview: Veronica Rossi
Don’t forget to check out YALL Fest on their website and Twitter! This one of a kind awesome event with a ton of young adult authors is hitting South Carolina in November and if you’re in the area, information pills you’d be a fool to miss it!
Today’s interview is with author, about it Veronica Rossi!
Veronica Rossi is a young adult author, best known for her Under the Never Sky trilogy, which so far includes Under the Never Sky, Through the Ever Night and the prequel novella, Roar and Liv. The final chapter of this trilogy, Into the Still Blue, will be hitting bookstores in January of 2014. The books follow the story of Aria, who has always lived in the dome, until her mother goes missing, and she’s outside of the dome. She meets an outsider, a savage by the name of Perry, and together they will help each other out, to survive and to each find the person they are looking for.
Check out the interview below!
Q: What is the hardest line to write-the first or the last?
A: yeah, those. And all the ones in between!
Q: Best writing tip you ever received?
A: $5. Just kidding. Um…tip…I think it’s probably to allow yourself to suck when writing early drafts. It takes away a lot of fear of generating good material. It’s not easy to be creative when you’re judging your work.
Q: Tell us five random facts about yourself
A: 1. In the past year, I discovered a deep love of Brussel sprouts
2. I talk to myself. Heck. Sometimes I argue with myself.
3. I’m arguing with myself about including that last point at this very moment.
4. My favorite animals are elephants
5. Dresses with pockets make me happy
Q: Where’s your favorite place to write?
A: I usually work in my home office, but I love working in hotel rooms. No distractions!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Something I’m very excited about! Can’t divulge yet, but its an idea I’ve been mulling over for years!
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I hope you enjoyed today’s interview with Veronica Rossi! Come back soon for more interviews, and don’t miss out on this awesome event!
Book of the Week: 3:59
Last week, illness I had the chance to meet the awesome author Gretchen McNeil again. I have had a chance to read her book Possess but her brand new book, 3:59, had just released. She had talked it up at the Ontario Teen Book Fest in May so I was definitely ready to dive into this novel.
The wait was worth it, and I definitely am glad that I picked up this book, and you will be too!
3:59 by Gretchen McNeil
GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository
Genre:
young adult, science fiction, thriller
Part of a Series?:
Nope
You May Like if You Liked:
Unremembered by Jessica Brody, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Age Recommendation:
This is a new feature on the Book of the Week. As most of the reviews I do are YA, and YA is starting to break apart into YA and NA, and that sort of thing, I will be recommending an appropriate age for the books. Keep in mind this is MY personal recommendation and it varies on the maturity of the reader.
12+: Mild Violence
Plot Summary:
From GoodReads:
Josie Byrne’s life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she’s betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can’t get worse.
Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.
Jo’s life is everything Josie wants: she’s popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they’re just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo.
Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo’s perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.
But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo’s boyfriend, he hates her. Jo’s mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.
By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?
From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had – and how they just might kill you.
The Bad:
I honestly just wish it would have gone on longer. I really wanted to get to know the characters more and really dive into the differences between Jo and Josie, and the different parents and Nick and all of that. I think that I wanted more character exploration in this book. I am so used to books that are multiple books in a series that I was surprised to have a story wrapped up in one book and I had to tweet Gretchen to make sure that this was just one book. So I think maybe if I go back another time around, I may find more to the character development than I saw the first time around because I was prepared for it to happen so fast.
The Good:
Okay, first off, I have to really give Gretchen a round of applause for pulling this off. Currently I’m writing a novel where I bounce back and forth between the past and the present, with the same group of characters, and its been really tough for me. But I can’t imagine having to write two parallel universes with characters that have to be the same, except with small differences. That sounds like a headache to me, and I know that it can’t have been easy to write and I seriously applaud her for that.
And I think that’s what really makes this book so intriguing and addicting at first, because you’re so curious at the small details and at the mystery that it builds. You know that each side is different but its interesting to find out exactly how each one is different. I think that Gretchen really is so subtle with creating each side, that you are caught right off the bat, because you’re just dying to know what is going on. We figure out that there are two different worlds, with these two girls that look exactly alike, and yet we don’t know anything else. I don’t know how many other people were so apprehension and a little scared when Jo and Josie decide to switch so easily. They don’t know anything about each other’s worlds and they jump so easily to switch places. That is insane! But I think that’s what’s great. We aren’t told everything so we’re clutching the pages in excitement as these girls take on the unknown.
I also love how intelligent Gretchen made these characters, especially Josie and her friend Penelope. I think it took a lot of research and some brain power for Gretchen to have this wrapped up in so much physics. My head was reeling at all of the physics talk but she both made it incredibly confusing and mind boggling but made it so it was totally believable that this sort of thing could exist. I really think its great that Gretchen made her characters so intelligent and capable of understanding these kind of phenomenons. A few days ago, it was discussed at a book event that, in YA literature mostly, strength in a female character is literal physical strength and the capabilities of being physically strong. I think that there is something to say when a character is incredibly smart and is able to save the day with the intelligence she wields.
Oh, and I am just going to say this: Gretchen’s ability to create two parallel Nicks, one who is sleazy and awful and you want to punch in the face, and the other who you won’t to throw against the wall and make out with, is awesome. That’s the magic of this book, that she is able to create all these doppelgängers and you are able to feel so differently to each one because of those subtle differences.
Lastly, I really enjoyed the story, especially since it wasn’t at all what I expected. I knew that it was science fiction, but I thought it was mostly going to focus on the idea of those two worlds existing, but what really comes forward from that is so surprising and super fun. Its all thrilling and scary, and I literally was breathing heavily because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I was terrified. If a movie was made of this book, I would probably hide under the covers, and watch it with it was in the middle of the day, and the sun was shining. The story is exciting, unexpected and addicting. One minute you’re in a romance, the next in a drama and then its action packed. It has everything that a YA sci-fi novel needs, with that little added twist of thrill and it was fun to read.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5 Stars
Recommended or Not?:
Definitely. Gretchen is fun to read, and it was worth the time, even just for the unexpected twists and turns that kept happening in the book. Every time I felt like I had figured it out, I was totally wrong, and the book went veering in another direction. Definitely pick up this book, and head out to meet Gretchen, who is doing a TON of events soon!
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I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of the Book of the Week. Stay tuned in soon for more book reviews and a special guest interview with Gretchen herself!
Happy Reading everyone!