Promo Post: Another Girl By Allison Burnett

Back in August I was contacted by Lauren from Shooting Stars Mag and asked if I might be interested in doing a promo for his new book.  It's not necessarily my normal type of book, since it's really NA as opposed to YA, but the story sounded interesting because it does have to do with online friendships and other types of online relationships. And so I wanted to talk about the online friendships I feel I have, both the ones that are just online, as well as the ones where I've actually been able to meet them in person!

I feel like I have had online friendships for a long time, since clear back in the late 90s.  I belonged to an online discussion group on AOL for people who loved dachshunds.  One of them was so nice that when I had a science teacher conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived, she came and picked me up from the airport and drove me to the hotel.  She even took me out for dinner one night that I was there as well. 

In more recent times with Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, I've had more opportunities to talk to authors online, as well as even get to meet them!  The first one I want to talk about is Cara Lynn Shultz.  Her book, Spellbound, was actually the first e-galley I ever got.  And as I read it, I first looked to find her on Twitter, as I do for any new author, and she followed along with me as I read and loved and reviewed her book.  We became good "Twitter buddies" and found all kinds of things we had in common. We both loved New Kids on the Block when we were younger (I still do) and listened to the same kinds of music, as well as loved movies like Twilight.  When my younger sister moved to NYC, I was tweeting about all the places I went to visit when I got to go stay with her.  And when I suggested maybe we could meet somewhere, she said yes!  We ended up meeting in a public place, over by the New York Public Library that is located by Bryant Park.  It was November, so we went to a little bar they had in the park by the ice skating rink. We talked for hours!  Then she took me and my sister to see a little speakeasy in Grand Central Station, and we talked even longer.  Here we are that first night when I got to meet her.

Another author that I had followed online, and then recognized while standing in line at my first BEA in 2012 was Michelle Madow.  But I didn't even think to ask for a picture with her until the last time I saw her, my 2nd time at BEA in 2014.  And then I had just tweeted about hoping to run into her when she walked right by me while I was in line to see Becca Fitzpatrick.  Here we are:

I feel like I haven't had as much chance to meet a lot of bloggers in person as I would like to. In fact at times, I feel the blogging world can be a little "clique-ish", as I've had bloggers I knew were somewhere at BEA, but the didn't seem to want to meet up.  Others I've met in line at conferences and immediately had great conversations and definitely made friends with.  But there are many that I feel I talk to regularly and that we do make sure to go back and forth and comment on each others' blogs all the time, even if we may never get to meet in person.

Okay, enough about me.  Let me talk a little about this book that I'm sharing with you today.  Another Girl is actually a sequel to another book by the author, Undiscovered Gyrl, which was made into a movie that is now available on Netflix, called Ask Me Anything.

Here is the Goodreads blurb for the first book:

Only on the internet can you have so many friends and be so lonely.
Beautiful, wild, funny, and lost, Katie Kampenfelt is taking a year off before college to find her passion. Ambitious in her own way, Katie intends to do more than just smoke weed with her boyfriend, Rory, and work at the bookstore. She plans to seduce Dan, a thirty-two-year-old film professor.
Katie chronicles her adventures in an anonymous blog, telling strangers her innermost desires, shames, and thrills. But when Dan stops taking her calls, when her alcoholic father suffers a terrible fall, and when she finds herself drawn into a dangerous new relationship, Katie's fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge.
Sexually frank, often heartbreaking, and bursting with devilish humor, Undiscovered Gyrl is an extraordinarily accomplished novel of identity, voyeurism, and deceit.


Purchase links for Undiscovered Gyrl:
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307473120/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307473120&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2
Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undiscovered-gyrl-allison-burnett/1103375212?ean=9780307473127

 Purchase link for Another Girl:
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Another-Girl-Allison-Burnett/dp/1516887514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440376812&sr=8-1&keywords=another+girl 

Here's the movie poster:

I haven't seen it, but I am a fan of Justin Long, so may have to check it out soon!

So, do you have any awesome online friendships you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear about them!

Bookish (And not so Bookish) Thoughts - January 22nd, 2015

Well, things have led to me not getting my book finished in time to post a review today like I'd hoped, so I searched Thursday book memes online and found this one that Bookishly Boisterous hosts.  It sounded like an easy one for me to do today so that I can keep up with my goal of a post every day this year.  Basically it is just to allow you the blogger to post whatever random thoughts you might have for the day, related to books or not.  So, that's a good one for me today.

1.  Last night I went to an early showing of the movie The DUFF.  It's a book I've wanted to read for awhile, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.  The movie was really good.  It started out and I was a bit worried it might be kind of lame, but then it got pretty funny, and there was even a part where I just understood completely what the main character was going through and had tears streaming down my face.  I highly recommend seeing this one for a fun teen movie.  It touches on things like cyberbullying, and just being yourself.  There's a locker room scene that was hilarious, as well as a scene where the "Duff" is teaching the "Jock" how to kiss.  I still smile when I think of those parts.

2.  I really need to start exercising.  Several years ago I lost a ton of weight by walking, and also doing Weight Watchers.  Since then I've tried going back to WW, but they changed the program and now it really doesn't work for me.  There is a park I like to go walk at, and the weather has actually been pretty decent for January here, like in the 50s and 60s.  But on the days that I have had time to go walk, I've instead cleaned house, something I don't like to do anyway.  Or been lazy and said I didn't want to get dressed for the day.  All my clothes are too tight, and I refuse to buy any bigger sizes than the sizes I have.  So yeah.

3.  I joined eHarmony this week.  I should say rejoined, because years and years ago when it first came out I belonged for awhile.  It's so expensive though!  I'm going to try it without paying so that I can try not to be shallow about looks like I think is the problem when I try sites like Match.com.  So, wish me luck on that.

4.  I had to go back to working part time at my bookstore job.  Which don't get me wrong, if I have to work part time, it is the perfect place to work.  But last year this time I went seasonal.  And it was so nice to not have to go work anywhere else.  To be able to just go home and watch tv, read, etc.  I have to work tonight is why this is on my mind, because it means that I won't have time to read my book like I want to.

5.  I'm starting the editing process of the novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo last November.  I've gotten some good feedback from two people, one of them was my writing partner.

6.  I love YA Book Exhange, but.  The issue is that I can't trade with a lot of the people because I don't have anything new enough to trade with them for the newer ARCs.  And that makes me sad.  Especially when they got an ARC that they didn't want, or they get two of them.  Or it makes me jealous? Both?

7.  I'm so excited that this week it was announced that NKOTB would be touring again, and they're coming to my city in May!  American Express pre-sale tickets are tomorrow.  Hoping to get some good seats.  I always go with one of my cousins and now a friend of mine that I didn't know was a fan until last year.  And, the announcement that Jonathan Knight and his partner/boyfriend are going to be on the Amazing Race next season was exciting as well!

8.  I'm missing going to the movies as much as I used to.  I had a really good friend, whose mother worked for AMC corporate, and so she had free passes.  And we went almost every Friday, often seeing 2 movies at a time!  I've had to learn to think which movies do I really want to pay to go see in a theater, and which ones can I wait till I can get them at Redbox.

Hmm, I think that might be all of the thoughts I have to share today.  Any random thoughts you'd like to share with me? 

Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros

I have to say, this is one of the first chick lit books I have read in a long time that I was dog earing the pages that had things I wanted to talk about when I blogged. The first one I'd literally laughed out loud over and over as I was reading it. I don't think I've ever read a book by Teresa Medeiros before. I seem to only remember her books in the romance section. And believe it or not, I usually don't read those books, preferring my chick lit from the straight fiction section at our store. I am now intrigued enough to read more of her books.

I decided to read this book because it was told in mostly all tweets, you know, like on the social network Twitter. And I was hooked right away.

This is the story of an author who had a bestselling, critically acclaimed first novel, and it trying, but stuck on her 2nd novel. So her agent suggests getting on Twitter like many authors are these days. (Authors on Twitter are my favorite people to follow!) When she first joins, she is immediately tweeted by an English professor on sabbatical. It's fun reading as they get to know each other and flirt (I must find the "tweeting" name for flirting) through Twitter. I understand the flirting part, did a bit of that myself in the past, not that it turned out well for me, but still, it was fun at the time.

Anyway, I didn't see the twist towards the end coming. So I will say you won't be able to expect what is coming, but it is a good twist. And now, onto the things I had to bookmark.

First, as I myself follow Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, I love that one of her tweets was about her. Right after that, she learns about hashtags, and they do one on How2Lose Followers. And I love that they point out insulting any president as being a way to lose followers, as I've unfollowed certain celebs that I didn't want to hear their political rhetoric anymore. I also love that the main character is a fan of Sean Astin, who is one of my childhood crushes!! Even after his turn as a hobbit.

In chapter 5 she is on the treadmill and talks about how she prefers to walk outside, which is also me. I love to walk outside, I could walk all day outside if I had the time. She thinks Heathcliff is a misogynistic asshole, as do I. She talks about Edward Cullen and being Team Jacob. (I'm Team Switzerland myself.) She talks about Stephen King's It, one of my favorite books ever, also the one that made me scared of clowns. She's a Spike woman as opposed to Angel, me too. I LOVED all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer bits. Like her cat is named Buffy the Mouse Slayer. Later on she talks about a New Kids on the Block lunchbox. I love NKOTB.

Later on in the book she starts thinking in Tweets. I do that too. The problem is that by the time I can then get to my twitter, I forget the really creative things I had to say.

So that's just a bit of the things in the book that I enjoyed, but the whole thing was good and I highly recommend it.

Last thought. I'm debating, a lot of bloggers rate the books. 4 out of 5 stars, etc. I have so much trouble rating. I have to really hate something to give it a 1, and usually if I hate something that much I won't finish reading it. So, I end up with lots of 3's and 4's. So, I might start rating, but we'll see.