What Books Changed Your Life?

Reading was a big part of my childhood. Every night before we went to sleep, my mom or dad read to us and I got to escape into a new world. Sometimes we went to Middle Earth, other times to a Little House On the Prairie, but each night it was something new, and made me imagine from a young age all the places I could go and things I could do.

One of my youngest memories (I was probably about 3-4 years old) is sitting on the living room couch, holding a brightly colored children's book, The Hobbit. Despite the fact that the book/record set came with a plethora of books, The Hobbit was the one I couldn't get enough of. The book came with a record that allowed me to listen and follow the words as I read. I remember jumping up and down on the couch, ecstatic when I recognized the word "and." I started trying to find other words, then I'd go through my mom and dad's newspaper, not understanding what I was seeing, but pretending I could read. Every once in awhile, a word I knew from The Hobbit, would jump out on the page. Granted, since I wasn't reading the Middle Earth Times, there weren't a lot of similarities between The Hobbit and the newspaper, but words like: and, the, but, and or were easy enough to find. I couldn't stop dreaming about one day when I'd be able to read the newspaper all by myself and know every word. Reading has always been important to me, but there are some books that have truly changed my life. Here are some of them...

The Hobbit-Even though I was only reading a children's picture book version, this is the book that made me fall in love with other worlds and want to spend all of my time reading.

The Fairy Rebel-My school librarian, Mrs. Asay, gave me this book when I was in first grade. I wanted to stay with the blue haired fairies forever. Then I realized that even if I couldn't stay there, I could write my own stories that readers might want to live in as much as I wanted to live with the fairies. This was the book that made me believe I could be an author and craft worlds of my own.

Gone With the Wind-I admit, I LOVE a good love triangle...and Gone With the Wind has one of the best. Okay, so most people think Scarlett should be with Rhett. He does seem a better match when it comes to Scarlett's wit and stubborness, but he also tries to reign her in for a good part of the book, and I don't like that. Ashley is the man Scarlett's always wanted and pines for, but he's not good at taking charge and not strong enough to counter Scarlett's strong personality--until one important scene. Maybe it's because I'm putting it in the context of when it was written, but the first time I read it, I put the book down, took some deep breaths and read it a few more times. Then I officially planted myself in the Team Ashley camp for a good long while. However, the amazing thing about Gone With the Wind (for me at least) is that it's a book where I change teams depending on when I read it. Sometimes I want Scarlett with Ashley, other times I want her with Rhett, and a lot of times I think she's far better off on her own. This book, and the Ashley/Scarlett scene especially, taught me how to write romance.

Their Eyes Were Watching God- *Happy sigh* Their Eyes Were Watching God reads like poetry. It taught me how to write different types of love and the prose is so stunning it will stay with me for the rest of my life. I even used this book to answer one of the essay questions on my high school AP English test. The lyrical writing is so beautiful that I keep quotes from the book on my wall. My favorite is: "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide, for others, the sail on forever on the horizon, never changing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by time." The quote always reminds me to never turn away from dreams.

So, now I want to know, what books changed your life???

Eternal Starling on Goodreads!

Eternal Starling is now listed on Goodreads.com!!!

If you have a Goodreads account and want to add it to your to-read shelf, here's the link!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11160341-eternal-starling

And here's my author page!

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3015664.Angela_Corbett

Thanks so much to everyone for being so supportive of my books!

Books You Love...or Hate

While searching through my streaming Netflix options the other day, I found a new Masterpiece Theater version of Wuthering Heights, one of my favorite books. I immediately put it in my queue and settled in to watch Heathcliff and Catherine behave badly. The movie reminded me how much I love the book and I got out my highlighted, margin written, dog eared copy to read my favorite scenes.

In doing so, I was reminded that even though I LOVE Wuthering Heights, my BFF, Amazing Ashley, HATES it. As long time blog readers know, Amazing Ashley is an English Lit. professor. Our tastes in books run parallel 99% of the time. Wuthering Heights is the one book we disagree on. Ashley is not a fan of how awful the characters are to each other, and despises the fact that most people misinterpret the book as a great love story.

I, on the other hand, think it's absolutely a love story--one laced with a potent combination of jealousy, revenge, and hatred. Catherine and Heathcliff's actions are deplorable. They are so horrible to each other and the people around them that they can't be anything but soul mates. They are the only two people who truly understand each other. I also love the characterization and dialogue, as well as the strong emotions the characters and story provoke. There are some scenes between Heathcliff and Catherine that are so heated, you don't know whether anger, love, lust, or a combination of all three is driving the scene.

I applaud any book that makes people question what they believe, and Wuthering Heights crossed lines that both invigorated and infuriated people. Emily Brontë wrote one novel before she died. Wuthering Heights was originally published under the male pen name, Ellis Bell. It caused an uproar in England for it's immoral themes and became even more scandalous when people found out it was actually written by a woman who was the daughter of a vicar. In fact, the first time I read it, I remember thinking repeatedly: Holy 1800s! How did Brontë get away with that? Yes, it was shocking at the time, and to an extent, it's even shocking now. Yet, Wuthering Heights still remains one of the most popular books of all time and it's never been out of print.

My Wuthering Heights disagreement with Amazing Ashley made me wonder about books that have been divisive in other people's lives. So, here's my question: What books do you love/hate that friends, family, or the general public disagree with you on?

Book Covers

The other day, my husband and I were in the bookstore perusing the YA Paranormal Romance section (read: I was perusing, husband was rolling his eyes wondering where the section on cars and sports was at). Anyway, my husband stopped rolling his eyes long enough to look at the books in the section and then asked why most YA Paranormal Romance covers are black. The truth is, I have no idea. Maybe it's because the YA Paranormal Romance trend started with Twilight and all the Twilight covers are black? I posed the question on Twitter and one of my friends responded saying she thought it was just a way the genre was grouped.

But I really have no clue? Anyone have any ideas?

Speaking of covers, I want to highlight some of my favorites...

Intrinsical, by Lani Woodland. Isn't this cover gorgeous?! And Lani took the photo herself! It was done under water and is just stunning. I'd read the book based on the cover alone.

Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I have a feeling I'll like all the covers in this series, but I think the first one is stunning. Maybe it's because my favorite color is purple, I don't know. I also love the matte background on the cover and the raised texture.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I'm a major fan of metallic anything. I love the silver on this cover and the falling angel tells you exactly what the book is about before you even open the page.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I'll admit, the first time I saw this cover and read the blurb, I thought it was a little too sci-fi for me. But I'm so glad I picked it up because the series is one of my favorites now. I love that the Mockingjay is on every cover and I even carved a Mockingjay in my Halloween pumpkin. :)

What are some of your favorite covers? Do you like that most YA covers are black, or does the cover color not really matter to you? Post below!!!

Big News!!!

I've been waiting a long time to be able to write this blog post, and now that it's here, I can't think of anything clever to say. So without further ado, here is my big news...

I received a book deal for my YA paranormal romance trilogy, the Eternal Trilogy, from Pendrell Publishing!!! The first book, Eternal Starling, will be published in late 2011.

I was so excited that when I got the email, I had to read it 20 times to convince myself it was real, then Pippin, our Pomeranian, and I danced around the house laughing and screaming, much to the befuddlement of the contractor who was working on our basement at the time. Of course, as soon as I got the email, I immediately called my husband, Dan. Then he couldn't talk, so I had to wait to give him the news. At that point, I called my best friend and beta editor, Amazing Ashley, she didn't answer the phone either. So I tried my mom. Yeah, no answer there. Then my dad, you guessed it, no answer.

The most exciting news of my life and no one was answering their dumb phone!!! I finally got a hold of everyone and my mom was screaming so much that I couldn't understand a word she said for at least 5 minutes. My incredible husband brought me 2 dozen roses and made dinner reservations for us to celebrate. It was truly one of the best days of my life and I'm so excited for the next steps in the process! I couldn't ask for a more fabulous publisher.

So, details!

Eternal Starling will be released in hardcover and as an ebook in late 2011. When I know more details, I'll post about them here, and on The Eternal Trilogy Facebook page.

If you're a book reviewer, you can read about Pendrell's ARC policy here. I'm VERY excited and can't wait to hold my book in my hands! Thanks so much to all my fans and everyone who has been so supportive and stuck with me through this long process! Also, a huge thank you to the reader at Pendrell who liked Eternal Starling so much, and to my incredible publisher, Kamilla Quast, for this opportunity!

Well-Meaning People...

When I tell people I'm a writer, the conversation often goes something like this:

Well-meaning acquaintance: "You're a writer? Where can I get your books?"

Me: "You can't yet. I'm in the querying process and still looking for a literary agent."

Well-meaning acquaintance wrinkles their nose: "An agent? What in the sam hill do you need one of those for?"

Me: "Agents make sure I get actual money in exchange for my book instead of, say, a chinchilla."

Well-meaning acquaintance, who looks surprised that I would be displeased with a chinchilla payment: "So once you get an agent, your book will be in stores?"

Me: "Not quite. After the agent decides to represent me, we have to go through the submission process all over again, only this time, it's with editors at publishing houses."

Well-meaning acquaintance: "Huh, that seems like a lot of work..." And because some people think they're book experts just because their high school English teacher made them read The Grapes of Wrath, what inevitably follows is a suggestion so insane that I file it away to pull up every time I need a good laugh and The Daily Show isn't on.

This blog post is dedicated to the well-meaning people who have NO idea how the publishing industry works, but endeavor to advise my career anyway. And, of course, I've added commentary.

"Why don't you just call Stephenie Meyer? She's sold a lot of books. I bet she could help you out."
Yes, because like Edward and Bella, Stephenie and I have a bond...one the transcends the fact that we've never met. I keep her number in my address book right next to Obama's and Angelina Jolie's.

"Hey! Know what you should write? Something with a wizard, vampire, and fairy...and they could search for the Holy Grail." *Pause* "Oh, and the vampire and wizard should be in love with the fairy. Love sells."
OMG!!! It's the next bestseller! Why hasn't anyone else thought of this? Agents and editors will cause a riot trying to get their hands on it...to burn in the fiery pits of hell, the only place worthy of such a masterpiece. Then said agents and editors will find you and stab you repeatedly with sporks.

"You have a love triangle in your book! I told you love triangles sell! Does that mean I get credit for the idea? Do you need to know how to spell my name to list me as the co-author?"
Yes, please. Because mentioning one ambiguous aspect of a story I'd already come up with means that you helped write the book. No need to mention the fact that I'm the one who sat my butt down for countless hours writing and revising, came up with the entire plot, argued with fictional characters, and spent wee hours of the morning pacing the room and discussing plot points with my dog. You should probably contact Stephenie while you're at it and tell her she owes you royalty money for Edward and Jacob fighting over Bella. Hold on, I have her number.

"Why are you writing other books? Authors just have to write one to be rich."
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
*breathe*
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"Getting an agent can't be that hard. There are lots of crappy books out. Yours has to be better than those. Just find an agent who represents crap."
Thanks for the encouragement. I will continue my quest to get my writing up to "crap" standards. Then I'll be sure to mention the "crappy books" the agent represents in my query. Brilliant.

"How about Oprah? Man! If you got on there, you'd sell, like, TONS of books! And you better do it fast because her show ends soon."
Oprah's number is in my address book right next to Stephenie's.

"You're a writer? No, I mean, what's your real job?"
I do have another job besides writing, but this question always makes me want to give a snarky comment along the lines of: "Oh, so you're in management? Gosh, a job where you only work 40 hours a week instead of being on the clock day and night, constantly carrying notepads, and having characters jump out at you wanting something at the least opportune times--like when you're talking to someone about what you do for a living and it reminds you about the character you need to kill. You know, the one who's so stupid he gets pecked to death by an ostrich he thought was dead and the only part of him still identifiable is his yeti-like hairy back, covered in muddy ostrich footprints. Also, it looks suspiciously like he might have been stabbed with sporks.

I know I'm not the only one who gets this kind of advice. I'd love to hear some of the gems you've been told. Please post in the comments if you have some of your own. :)

A Vegetarian at Honeybaked Ham

When I was tasked with getting a Honeybaked Ham for Christmas dinner, I thought, why not? How hard could it be? I'll just go to the store and grab a hunk of meat.

It turns out that getting dropped in the middle of an angry group of warlords and their rhinoceros bodyguards would be less intimidating. Keep in mind that I became a vegetarian at age 5 after a traumatic experience with my babysitter involving a rather vivid visual of Betsy the big brown-eyed cow no longer roaming the grassy fields because she was now on my hamburger bun. When I discovered that Wilbur the pig, Chicken Little, and the cute Thanksgiving turkey were also being killed in the name of dinner, I conducted research via my farm animals pop-up book and gave my parents an itemized list of cute animals I would no longer be eating.

My parents thought this was just a phase, but after a few weeks, they realized what a stubborn little girl they'd birthed, and resorted to guerilla tactics--like hiding meat in my food...which I found. This then forced me to go through a lengthy food inspection at each meal and before long, I'd invoked a hunger strike. Eventually, and with some trepidation, my parents shook their heads and gave up, slightly terrified of my will and worried what that force of nature would turn into during my teenage years.

I still feel the same about little animals, and have been a vegetarian for 25 years. I won't prepare meat or cook it myself, but it doesn't bother me when other people eat it, which is why I agreed to the Honeybaked Ham trip. I arrived at the store, thinking I'd park, grab a ham, and get back to my coffee in the car. As I walked up to the door, I saw a line. And not just any line, this line stretched out the door, and wound its way into a neighboring store, complete with poles and tape as a guide to get people through the maze. This feat of people herding put the airport security line to shame.

I looked around, wondering if there was some sort of Justin Bieber concert--I mean, that would be the only logical explanation for a line long enough to last through Valentine's Day. But Bieber was no where to be found and after sidling up to a few people in the line herd, I surmised that this was, in fact, the ham exodus. I bided my time Twittering and Facebooking about my experience, then decided to play Duck Hunt on my phone. Here's a tip: Turn off the sound if you're playing a game where you shoot guns while in a very crowded ham line.

After 45 minutes, I finally got to the front of the line--which felt a lot like being in a concert mosh pit at a Neil Diamond concert--and it was there that I was confronted with a rather uncomfortable situation: the order. Here's the thing...sending a vegetarian into the Honeybaked Ham store is a lot like telling one of the orcs from the Lord Of the Rings that they are about to be the lead in The Nutcracker Ballet. Like a lumbering dancing orc, I was completely clueless, and out of my comfort zone.

I muddled through the order, not sure what exactly I was buying, or how to prepare it. The nice clerk helping me took the time to unwrap the ham and show me my purchase. When she asked if it looked okay, I noted the pinkness of it and gave a slight nod, then looked at her with a disconcerted expression and said, "I'm a vegetarian," cue the gasps from the people surrounding me. Worried about the angry patrons and not wanting my obituary to read that I was bludgeoned to death by a Honeybaked Ham, I continued in a quieter voice, "I really don't know what it's supposed to look like. Does it look all right to you?"

She nodded and gave me a concerned smile as she glanced behind me, clearly worried about the crowd. Then she handed me the ham with no warning that I needed to prepare my arm for a chunk of meat heavier than Hercules' bowling ball. I made it to the check out stand as I put my shoulder back into its socket, paid for my ham, and sat in my car taking a few cleansing deep breaths. Then I turned the key in the ignition and started to drive away when my car began beeping at me, clearly unhappy with the meat passenger I'd mistakenly plopped in the front seat. Apparently my car's weight sensor thought my ham-child needed to be buckled in.

When I got home, I put the ham in the fridge and breathed a sigh of relief that my Honeybaked adventure was over. Next Christmas, my carnivore husband can go to the store.

Happy Holidays!