Blog Tour: Interview with Toni de Palma (author of The Devil's Triangle)

The Devil's Triangle

Author: Toni de Palma

Summary:

When 17 year old Cooper dies in an attempt to burn down his school, he finds himself in the afterlife. Lucy, the Devil's sister who has crossed party lines, decides to give Cooper another shot at heaven. The deal? Cooper returns to Earth and has to find a girl named Grace. The rest is up to him.

While Cooper figures out his mission, he's thrown into the life he's always wanted. Great parents, a spot on the Varsity football team and a real future are all within reach. But what he really wants is Grace, a feisty girl with an abusive boyfriend who can pound Cooper into pulp if he doesn't watch out.

While Lucy plays demonic-puppeteer, clues to an unknown past between Cooper and Grace start to unravel. Cooper discovers that what's keeping him and Grace apart is far more sinister than anything this bad boy could have ever imagined.

Published February 15th 2013.

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As part of the blog tour, I'm interviewing the author, Toni, with a book-centric theme. Reading through these questions will allow you to better understand what the book is about and decide whether it is something you will like to read!

YOUR BOOK

Describe your book to us in a sentence. 

Seventeen year old Cooper gets another chance at heaven when Lucy, the Devil's sister, sends him back to life to meet a girl named Grace, with whom he shares a past.

Tell the readers, why should we read your book? 

Aside from being a paranormal YA, The Devil's Triangle is really funny.

How did you come up with the title, "The Devil's Triangle"? Here comes a question that is burning in all our minds: Does the title hint at a love triangle? 

Without giving away too much of the plot, there is a love triangle of sorts. And that's all I'm gonna say about that :)

What is one song that can best represent the central theme/relationship in THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE?

When I was writing this book, Train's song Drive-By was popular and it seemed to fit Cooper a lot.

Which character did you have the most fun writing? 

Cooper has some great one liners, but Lucy is saucy and naughty. She was a lot of fun to write.

A peek into the characters' lives: Describe to us the content in Lucy, Grace and Cooper's wallets/purses & the secrets within ;) 

Grace's purse is tidy. She has her cellphone with her at all times so Blake, her boyfriend, can call on demand. She has tissues for crying and cover-up for...well, you'll see. Lucy has a hotel keycard probably from one wild night in Vegas and some guy's phone number whose name doesn't ring a bell. Cooper's wallet is filled with family photos of people he doesn't recognize and a condom, he's seriously hoping he will finally get to use.

That's funny :) I guess Grace has some serious issues that she has to deal with!

YOU

Three interesting facts about yourself. 

I was born in Brooklyn. I speak Italian. I lived in the Italian house at college where I was cast as Dante Alghieri in Dante's Inferno (I had to wear a prosthetic nose for the part).

Favourite book(s), genre(s), song(s) and film(s). 

Too many books to list and I read all types of fiction. I just read a middle grade novel by Rebecca Stead that I loved. I love films and talking about film with my son who is a filmmaker. My favorite this season was Silver Linings Playbook. I got to see it at its opening in New York and Bradley Cooper and Robert Diniro were in the audience. It was very cool.

What are some of your favourite book covers? 

I like clean-lined, photographic covers so I really like mine. My publisher, Crescent Moon Press, does some awesome covers.

If you could travel back or forward in time to any historical era, where would you go? 

My dad lived in Italy during World War II and he often talked about that. It was a difficult period, but I'd be curious to experience it for one day.

If you could rewrite the ending to any novel, what book would you choose and how would you choose to write it? 

A writer writes what they feel so I wouldn't ever change their vision.

Would you rather be the angel or the devil? :) 

I am SOOOO ready to be a devil :) Though, according to my mother, when I was five I was pretty devilish. That year, I kicked a priest and put gum in my aunt's hair while she was sleeping. I'm better now. They won't admit it, but maybe they performed an exorcism on me!

Anything you want to say to all the aspiring writers out there! 

Each writer has a devil inside of him or her. That devil is the evil censor who tells them they're not good enough. Tell your devil to put a cork in it and keep writing.

THIS or THAT

Bad boys or nice guys? Bad boy for the short term. Nice boys for the long haul.

Action movies or chick flicks? Neither. I like foreign films, indies and some sci fi

Heels or sneakers? Sneaks

Thai food or Chinese food? I've had a lot of bad Chinese food, so definitely Thai.

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Thank you, Toni, for the great interview!

I like how this book is about the devil and the love triangle is pretty obvious (judging from the cover).

What do you think about the cover?

xoxo,

Sel

Review: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers

Summary:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? 

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. 

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Published 3 April 2012.

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Grave Mercy. It’s no simple YA book.

Yes, it has that slight dose of magic.

Yes, it has the excitement and thrill of adventure beyond your wildest dreams.

And, yes, it has the romance that will make your heart sigh with dreamy contentment.

But, Grave Mercy is more than just that. Because, for once, not only did a YA historical fiction met my impossibly high standards and ever-growing expectations, it also earned itself a worthy place in my best reads of 2012. Without a single doubt.

Grave Mercy took my breath away.

Taking place in medieval Brittany, this novel follows the adventures of Ismae. Escaping from an abusive arranged marriage, Ismae ends up in the St. Mortain convent. She is a daughter of the God of Death and in an age when women are can be traded as sheep, she is to learn the thousands of ways to kill a man. 

I think that was when I first fell head over heels in love with this book. Perhaps it's just the case for me, but it was like seeing all of my dreams come true in that one single moment. In that precious times of our fast childhoods, we always have some tiny dreams tucked away under our pillows and in our hearts. Those dreams of being an undercover spy, of being identified as a lost princess, of getting on that train to Hogwarts... That is why books like Harry Potter and Princess Diaries are immortalised in our hearts. Simply because we can never outgrow our outlandish childhood daydreams. They stay with us. And when we see them take shape within the pages of a book, the dying embers of our dreams are revived. 

It's the same thing when we become teenagers. With angst, we say we don't dream any more. But, we do. We yearn for things more pragmatically, but still with pinch of fairy dust. To be a Broadway musical star, to be the rags-to-riches Cinderella extraordinaire, to be that girl who falls in love on that one fateful night in Paris... We turn to people like Stephanie Perkins (that's me), Sophie Kinsella (that's me again) and all those contemporary goddesses and the occasional god (like Jay Asher and John Green). 

That is precisely why I put my whole heart and soul into reading Grave Mercy from that moment onwards-- the moment when Ismae sets off to the high court of Brittany to aid the young duchess in securing the nation’s freedom and independence. I had always wanted to do that, to be an assassin in the royal courts. To dance amongst feathers, masks and glittering gowns, with a stiletto and dagger in my boot. 

So I readily lost myself within the pages, and got delighted again and again by an author who packed all the realities of my daydreams into one brilliant package set within the exotic cage of the palace walls. 

Manoeuvring in dangerous waters filled with the duchess’ treacherous enemies and hungry suitors, Ismae puts her assassin skills to full use by hiding behind doors and sneaking into dangerous rooms. But it is only when her convent sends her the final order to assassinate a noble whom she has fallen in love with does Ismae finally dare to open her eyes to start seeing the truth for herself. 

Does she follow the words of the abbess or her heart? Does she dare to go against the convent who had brought her here in the first place? How far can she stray from her duty to St. Mortain before it is too late to turn back? 

Grave Mercy sets forth some startlingly deep questions. What is Death in the first place? As Ismae witnesses the death of a close friend, we finally realize along with her dawning understanding. Death, is not vengeance, but mercy. 

Quoting Robin LaFevers herself,

You know that book you’re terrified to write? The one that is too hard, too scary, too weird, or too damn intimidating. Yeah, that one. That’s the one you need to write.

She wrote that book, the one that is the hardest and the most daunting. Because she dared, she dared to put her most bizarre and outrageous thoughts to words, she dared to play them out on the epic stage  of history, her book is one with a heart and with a soul.

It has the soul of a girl with an unwavering sense of truth and the heart of a girl who dares to take the leap for love.


Source: Gifted (from my best friend, ZJ)

xoxo,

Sel