{Author Interview} Cat Hellisen

Bio: Cat Hellisen lives by the sea and writes about people. She accepts gifts of alcohol and truffles.
Contact: Website | Goodreads | Twitter

After seventeen-year-old Felicita’s dearest friend Ilven kills herself to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven's death has called out of the sea a dangerous wild magic. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned . . . or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg's caste system, and the whole city along with it.  

 1) Describe When the Sea is Rising Red in a single sentence.

This one always throws me, because my brain just goes HOW? But I'll do
my best.  A fantasy about a girl who has to choose between her family
traditions and privilege or freedom and and the harsh reality that
comes with it.

2) What inspired When the Sea is Rising Red?
Originally I wrote another book set in the same universe, and an adult
Felicita and her husband are two of the side characters. There was
something about their relationship that made me want to explore how
this woman of rank turned out the way she did, why she made her
choices. So I wrote When the Sea is Rising Red to work it out.

3) If you could re-title When the Sea is Rising Red, what would you
call it and why?
Before this is was called The Alchemy of Falling Girls, from a line in
the book. I still adore the title, but for various reasons we decided
to use When the Sea is Rising Red. The final title comes from one of
the skip rope rhymes that the Hobs use to communicate their plans for
revolution through the city, so I quite like the idea that there will
be an AHA! moment for the reader.

4) How does it feel to be a South African author, published by an
American Publishing House? It's pretty amazing!
when I first started writing there seemed to be no local publishers
interested in fantasy. Things have changed since then, and I think if
you write a very specifically South African fantasy or SF, then local
pubs will be more interested, but for secondary world fantasy (which
is primarily what I write) the best path seems to be to approach UK or
USA publishers and agents.

5) The cover for your book is both eerie and gorgeous, do you think
it accurately represents When the Sea is Rising Red?

The image on the cover doesn't relate to any particular scene in the
book, but was designed to capture more of the mood - ominous and
dream-like. I love the grey feel because so much of the Pelimburg
setting is about weather, and that particular kind of sea-town weather
filled with rising mist and storms and unexpected rains.

6) What book would you recommend to all of those people who are floating out there in the universe and why?  Eep, now you've got me. I normally recommend Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones, because it's one of my all-time favourite books, but I'm going to mix it up a bit because I just finished Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn and it was so beautiful and sad and comical and pointed and human. It's fable and allegory and observation on human behaviour, and it's wonderfully written.

 Thank you so much for stopping by Cat!

{Cover Crazy} 15: Endlessly by Kiersten White

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Endlessly by Kiersten White

The third book in the Paranormalcy trilogy. 
The final chapter of Evie's adventures. Old friends, new ones, all wrapped up in impossible decisions. And some ball gowns. Because what's a life of normal and paranormal drama without a ball gown or two?

Purple! Its purple and it also matches the covers for Supernaturally and Paranormalcy! Did I mention it was purple?! For some reason Evie reminds me of Luna Lovegood on this cover, I guess it's just because of the blonde hair, I am a huge Luna Fan...anyways, back to the cover; I like the cover in its entirety and cannot wait to have it beside my copies of the first to books and gape at them all. I love how the sky is purple, yet still stormy and dramatic at the same time. Purple!

What Cover are you Crazy for this week?

{Cover Crazy} 14: Until I Die by Amy Plum

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love. 
As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy. 
In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series.

I think this whole cover just works extremely well and I especially like the swashes on this cover. They are very prominent and were done beautifully. If you look close enough at the cover you will see that they actually trail down the alley/road.

What Cover are you Crazy for this week?

{Cover Crazy} 13: Rapture by Lauren Kate

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Rapture by Lauren Kate

The sky is dark with wings. . . .
In RAPTURE, the highly anticipated fourth and final novel in the FALLEN series, Luce and Daniel are together . . . but for how long? Can history be rewritten? Or are some punishments eternal?

The covers for Fallen and Torment were great and I really enjoyed the books as well, as for Passion; well I didn't enjoy it that much and I didn't like the cover all that much either. But this cover, for the fourth and final novel is just stunning and I can't wait to see how this series will end. This cover is all dramatic and such in all its wondrously beautiful glory! I apologize for my obsessive gushing but it all just works so well and ties in with all the other covers.

What Cover are you Crazy for this week?

{Cover Crazy} 12: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Girl of Nightmares by Kandare Blake

In this follow-up to Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas begins seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep, and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong. These aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears. 
Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor.

I love the cover for the first book in this series; Anna Dressed in blood and I like the fact that these books have such an eerie feel to them and we get to see a face on the cover! I don't have much to say about this cover other than the fact that I think it fits the blurb perfectly. I find that those two figures reaching out are a bit freaky and I think that it will represent this book perfectly.

What Cover are you Crazy for this week?

{Waiting on Wednesday} 14: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

{Cover Crazy} 11: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

The Selection by Kiera Cass

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon. 
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. 
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I think that this may very well be one of the best covers of 2012 for me so far! I like the "icy" feel that the cover gives off. I also find the girl to be intriguing and for some off reason she reminds me of a swan. I am baffled as to whether those other girls are the reflection of the girl in the center or if they are completely different people entirely. My eyes are playing tricks on me!

I think the font that was chose for this book was perfect for the title, it is simple and elegant and it matches the crown embellishment that is placed above the title, perfectly!

What Cover are you Crazy for this week?

{Review} Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Release Date: 4 October 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eBook

Pages: 352

Rating: 4 Stars- Great 

Their love was meant to be. When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís. But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

My Thoughts:

 Carrier of the Mark was one of the books that I had greatly anticipated right from the beginning of 2011 when the news broke that Leigh would be the first Inkpopper to be published. I instantly logged on to my un-used account on Inkpop and read a little of Carrier and let me tell you I was instantly drawn into the story. I had to refrain from reading too much as I wanted to read the actual book when it released.

Leigh Fallon sure has an extremely-well flowing writing style which makes the story easy to absorb and fun to read. This book is filled with everything from fantasy to romance to awesome powers!

The characters were actually all awesome and I thought that the elements which the four Marked could manipulate/control suited each character very well. I thought that Fallon did an amazing job with Rian and I loved reading about him. The setting- Ireland; also made this book very interesting and I loved that it was set somewhere different as opposed to what you would find in other YA books.

Some of the vivid images which Leigh creates are truly incredible! The moth scene as well as the scene in which Adam and Meg are on the yatch and he creates a dome of water were great.

With all of that being said, I had read several reviews before I read this book and many people did not hesitate to point out that this book had many similarities to Twilight(no vampires in this book); I did see these similarities and I am a huge Twilight fan, but I would have liked to see something a little different to a girl who moves to a small town in which everyone knows one another and it expecting her and so on. I had to be honest there.

Do not fear, this book is filled with an intriguing story and the world is enticing. The fact that it is like Twilight should not put you off because this is actually a very different story to anything I have ever read and found it oh so addictive.

Leigh; I thank you for this wonderful book which I thoroughly enjoyed and I look forward to the sequel!   

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

| Amazon |

{Waiting on Wednesday} 12: Illuminated by Aimee Agresti

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.
As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

{Top Ten Tuesday} 7

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It was created because of their love of lists.

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books I'm Excited to Read in 2012 

(in no particular order)

1. A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford: A Touch Mortal was an awesome book and was definitely a book I would recommend to all, it is something very different and awesome. Leah has an amazing writing style and an even more kick-ass story to be told in this series. A Touch Morbid is really going to have me going insane when it hits shelves.
2. Fever by Lauren DeStefano: well Lauren is one of my favorite authors as her style is so magical and poetic, it flows beautifully and quite frankly- it's addictive. I cannot wait to see what happens in Fever as the first book; Wither, had an interesting ending that changes everything in Rhine's world.
3. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver: I am excited to read this book because Delirium was the first Dystopian novel I had ever read and I found the world she had created to be riveting and it has a really interesting concept which is well applied.
4. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi: This will be Veronica's YA debut for 2012 and I am excited to read it as it just sounds so interesting and different, I also have to mention the fact that the cover is awesome and electrifying.
5. Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood: the cover is amazing and who doesn't love books about witches? 

6. Endlessly by Kiersten White: Kiersten's writing has me in stitches and it serious at times but is also great and so unique to me that I just loved Paranormalcy to bits! If you haven't read her books then please do so, also the covers are just brilliant.

7. Insurgent by Veronica Roth: Veronica had written a great debut; Divergent and I really want to see if Insurgent- which has an awesome cover by the way- will live up to the great standards which were set with Divergent.

8. Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr: I couldn't leave my favorite author out of this list and I am so excited to read this compilation of short stories! It has a few stories in which I have already read, but most of all I am excited to read the story that sparked the entire Wicked Lovely world which I fell head over heels for. Melissa's writing is just brilliant.

9. Slide by Jill Hathaway: this book sounds very promising and I cannot wait to read it!

10. The Selection by Kiera Cass: The blurb of this book makes it out to be very similar to Wither by Lauren DeStefano which is a book that I love so much; but I'm hoping it will be different and a story/world of its own because the blurb sounds fantastic and I don't want this book to be a dissapointment, so far it sounds as though it is fantastic though!

{Cover Crazy} 6: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

This cover is extremely different to anything I have ever seen before and only makes the book's blurb sound even greater. With this book's cover I really like the smaller details and how it adds to the over all feel for the book. Some of the small details I am referring to are; the white swashes behind the title and  how the girl's hair splits down the middle( which compliments the splitting of the wings)

{Waiting on Wednesday} 9: SLIDE by Jill Hathaway

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 SLIDE by Jill Hathaway

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Leave a link and I'll be sure to check it out!

{Cover Crazy} 5: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Cover Crazy is hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms! Stop by and join in on the fun.

This week I am crazy about the cover for:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

I am only a fan red and black as a combo on some book covers but I find that I like this cover more and more the more I look at it(I don't think I have ever used the word more so many times in one sentence!) But I love this cover and how the dress fades in to the smoke and this cover was done extremely well over all!

What covers are you crazy for?